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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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I fully understand closing early due to weather, but during half term for example they closed an hour earlier just because it was quieter than they expected. Closing time was still advertised as 6 when we set off only to be told when getting wrist bands that they'd decided to close at 5. That’s what really annoys me. Weather wasn’t great but wasn’t bad aside from a few showers and we have a 4 hour round trip.

It’s just not acceptable
 
Poopoohead said:
I fully understand closing early due to weather, but during half term for example they closed an hour earlier just because it was quieter than they expected. Closing time was still advertised as 6 when we set off only to be told when getting wrist bands that they'd decided to close at 5. That’s what really annoys me. Weather wasn’t great but wasn’t bad aside from a few showers and we have a 4 hour round trip.

It’s just not acceptable
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I 100% agree with you, however, from a business point to of view you can understand why they do it. The visitor numbers to themepark are sporadic and you never know what the weather will do in the future. BPB has to be pragmatic to be here.

For all we know, the summer could be a washout - if this is the case, the park will loose millions. Hedging the spend now, could be the difference in surviving.

Companies like merlin are different. They have a number of attractions so the risk is spread and if weather is poor, the indoor attractions can ballance the books.

Whilst I get that closing early is frustrating, it is better doing that and having a park that will be able to invest in the future IMO. I also think BPB are very fair in their policy of issuing return tickets.

Personally I also think closing three whole park early is better than only opening half the parks attractions for the day to save costs.
 
I completely understand the argument that if it saves the park, then it has to be done. What that needs to be balanced with though is that some of these decisions which are saving money in the short term, may not save the park in the long term.

If you upset customers with these decisions, they don’t return. You’ve saved a few quid today, but potentially sacrificed larger amounts of future ongoing revenue.
 
ScottishChris said:
I 100% agree with you, however, from a business point to of view you can understand why they do it. The visitor numbers to themepark are sporadic and you never know what the weather will do in the future. BPB has to be pragmatic to be here.

For all we know, the summer could be a washout - if this is the case, the park will loose millions. Hedging the spend now, could be the difference in surviving.

Companies like merlin are different. They have a number of attractions so the risk is spread and if weather is poor, the indoor attractions can ballance the books.

Whilst I get that closing early is frustrating, it is better doing that and having a park that will be able to invest in the future IMO. I also think BPB are very fair in their policy of issuing return tickets.

Personally I also think closing three whole park early is better than only opening half the parks attractions for the day to save costs.
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They aren’t a charity though, when I purchase X in good faith I expect to get X, not X-1 or whatever.

Offering half price returns is great except if you are a season pass holder who these are utterly useless to. Not every pass holder lives round the corner and can pop back when the weather is good, 3/4 visits a year pays for the pass and these require planning so reducing hours at the drop of a hat is extremely annoying.

I fully agree that yes they may be saving a few quid now but it has much greater potential to haunt them long term. Hopefully not, I really enjoy the place, it’s just bloody frustrating at times
 
Poopoohead said:
I fully understand closing early due to weather, but during half term for example they closed an hour earlier just because it was quieter than they expected. Closing time was still advertised as 6 when we set off only to be told when getting wrist bands that they'd decided to close at 5. That’s what really annoys me. Weather wasn’t great but wasn’t bad aside from a few showers and we have a 4 hour round trip.

It’s just not acceptable
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If they're closing an hour earlier because it's going to be significantly quieter than was budgeted, you'll likely get on more rides in the reduced time than if it was as busy as expected with the additional hour. Especially at a park like the Pleasure Beach where walking time between rides is minimal.

I understand the conundrum but I'd just shrug it off for the above reason *shrug*
 
Rick said:
If they're closing an hour earlier because it's going to be significantly quieter than was budgeted, you'll likely get on more rides in the reduced time than if it was as busy as expected with the additional hour. Especially at a park like the Pleasure Beach where walking time between rides is minimal.

I understand the conundrum but I'd just shrug it off for the above reason *shrug*
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Other than the odd whinge on here not much else you can do other than shrug it off really.

I will just add though that the half term week closing an hour early, everything was on reduced/minimum capacity meaning avalanche was an hour from the start of the ropes (1 train) so operations like that totally took out any benefit of being quieter
 
Further to my Big Blue parking rant a few pages back, I can report that I was able to park literally every day opposite the hotel entrance for nothing, and I was much closer than I had been when I'd previously used the official parking.

The hotel opposite is currently under renovation though, as are a couple more around the corner. I can't imagine parking will be quite so easy once these are filling the streets.

I very much enjoyed my stay, and standards of service and cleanliness were excellent as ever, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the place was not as sharp as it once was. In particular the wooden frames and paneling in the room we stayed in were battered and chipped. Also the paint work lines foul the fixed furniture, giving the appearance that they were painted without being properly masked. Not world ending stuff, but I hope they see fit to give the rooms a proper refit this coming closed season to keep them in line with Boulevard.

What was world ending however was biscuit allocation, which had tumbled from 2 packets of Funshine biscuits a day down to 1 packet. Unforgivable!
 
We’ve had a few rooms in Big Blue which had similar issues. It seems to be a bit of pot luck as to whether you have a slightly dogged room or not.

A sweep of the rooms would definitely be worthwhile to ensure standards are maintained. With Boulevard opening I get the feeling that there maybe a slight diversion of attention.
 
WillPS said:
What was world ending however was biscuit allocation, which had tumbled from 2 packets of Funshine biscuits a day down to 1 packet. Unforgivable!
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These cost saving measures are going too far now !!



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The Big One is closed all week this week (Mon to Fri).

More cost saving perhaps ?

Possibly there is a genuine reason but it would be no surprise at all if its closed to save money, even though it seems crazy to shut the headline ride in the park !!

Very worrying times for pleasure beach.



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shakey said:
The Big One is closed all week this week (Mon to Fri).

More cost saving perhaps ?

Possibly there is a genuine reason but it would be no surprise at all if its closed to save money, even though it seems crazy to shut the headline ride in the park !!

Very worrying times for pleasure beach.



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It's probably some sort of maintenance; maybe a replacement part is needed? That happens all the time on coasters!
 
skyscraper said:
Valhalla was closed for a few days last week for maintenance, so the Big One is probably closed the the same reason.
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Wouldn't surprise me; maybe they're doing their necessary part replacement before all the summer holiday crowds come in?
 
shakey said:
The Big One is closed all week this week (Mon to Fri).

More cost saving perhaps ?

Possibly there is a genuine reason but it would be no surprise at all if its closed to save money, even though it seems crazy to shut the headline ride in the park !!

Very worrying times for pleasure beach.



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It’s down for track maintenance I believe


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skyscraper said:
Valhalla was closed for a few days last week for maintenance, so the Big One is probably closed the the same reason.
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Maintenance for 5 days ?

They've only just started opening 7 days a week this season so I can't see why they would need to shut the ride for 5 days.

Or indeed shut Valhalla for several days last week.

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shakey said:
Maintenance for 5 days ?

They've only just started opening 5 days a week this season so I can't see why they would need to shut the ride for 5 days.

Or indeed shut Valhalla for several days last week.

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Valhalla was only closed for 3 days.
 
It's most likely because The Big One needed track-work doing in the closed season but they cut maintenance hours so they're having to do it now instead.

Valhalla's closure was probably because it sunk a boat full of riders... again!
 
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