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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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South Park is where the Big One station is. The rides which close are those which pass through that area, so Big One, Icon, Big Dipper, Infusion, PB Express, Steeplechase, Sky Force et cetera.
 
Unfortunately night rides on The Big One are very rare these days, the queue is supposed to close at 9pm for the fireworks but often closes earlier depending on the queue, I've seen them close it at just after 7 (Vampire Beach last year) when it was advertised as 9pm because the ride was on one train with a horrific queue. They don't light the ride up anywhere near as well as they did a few years back either, seems to be since Icon opened...

Operations on The Big One become a joke in general on the 10pm days due to Speedy Pass being used more and slowing the operations down to a standstill, it's a farce really that the signature coaster runs less efficiently on the busiest days than it runs on "medium" days... it's why I haven't had the patience to go back since April.

Icon as said is much easier, but again be wary that they may close the queue earlier than the advertised 9pm. I've seen the queue closed at half 8 with a manager standing outside the gates stopping people going in until 9, when the gates were closed.
 
Alsty said:
@Matt N are you at the TS meet?
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No; I'm with my parents. We're staying in the Big Blue Hotel and I don't think my parents want to enter the park until about 12pm, whereas I think the meet starts at opening time. We may well see you around the park, though!
 
It's important to mention that the first few hours of a 10pm close day are much quieter.

Whenever we've been to one, we've arrived at the ticket centre for half past 9 and managed to get on Ice Blast, Alice, Nickelodeon Streak, Avatar Airbender, Avalanche, Steeplechase and Revolution before the inevitable massive queues build up later in the day.

Following that we usually go on Icon and then join the queue for PMBO once both trains are fully open.
 
Matt N said:
No; I'm with my parents. We're staying in the Big Blue Hotel and I don't think my parents want to enter the park until about 12pm, whereas I think the meet starts at opening time. We may well see you around the park, though!
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You're literally staying on-site! I know it's a family trip, but having first dibs on rides is surely one of the bonus points of being at The Big Blue. Get up before they do and sneak on...
 
On fireworks nights you really need to get speedypass or you will spend most of your day stood in queues from early afternoon onwards.

Speedypass will make your day much more enjoyable and is well worth the outlay.

I don't like the system but it is now used so much on busy days that not getting one could leave you very frustrated.

And if you are staying in the big blue then you may have to go in earlier than 12, before they shut the hotel entrance, or you will have to walk round.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
Plastic Person said:
You're literally staying on-site! I know it's a family trip, but having first dibs on rides is surely one of the bonus points of being at The Big Blue. Get up before they do and sneak on...
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My parents did initially say to me that they didn't want a full day in the park, so I'd best stick to what they do. Although I suppose they might find it more bearable if we broke it up into two blocks in the park; maybe we could go in early, leave the park for a few hours mid-afternoon and then go back in for the final bit of the day?
EDIT: I've talked to them and they sound up for this as a strategy. They would like to ask; is there any sort of ERT if you stay in the hotel?
 
I'll probably get a lot of grief for this post but here goes.

I love BPB, and have since I was a kid, and I've been there when days have been busy, and days when it has been ridiculously dead. I accept both those days, because when its booming, FANTASTIC, the park is bringing the money in and the vibe is brilliant, alternatively when it's dead, it's not the best, but you accept it, because have you seen the price of plane tickets to European parks nowadays?

All I see on here are either people whinging about it being too quiet and how they are 'worried' about the park, OR people whinging that it's too busy and that they are sick of queues, make your minds up!

Take a look at Disney, where you can wait an entire day to get on a new ride there, is BPB really that bad?

Put your faith in the owners to get this right, fill the gaps and make the park successful. Accept that this isn't the 90's any more, and that the owners are looking at the park trying to always keep it up the scratch. Remember where the park has come from and be excited for where Amanda and co is going to take it, instead of CONSTANTLY criticising her and her staff for things that sometimes are simply out of control of the park.

Now I'm not getting rid of all blame on the board as they do make mistakes time and again, but what company doesn't?

That's my rant.
 
I can't have faith in them any more, sorry.

Strike #1 - Mashing up Pleasureland (rather than just walking away)
Strike #2 - Chopping up a popular and unique historic attraction and selling the pieces in a gift shop
Strike #3 - Charging £10 for overnight parking in hotels (up from £0)

I love the rides, I love the park, I love the Big Blue. I want to believe but I just can't.
 
Jamiec94 said:
Put your faith in the owners to get this right, fill the gaps and make the park successful.
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I really wish I could Jamie.

The thing is, the enthusiasm I personally have for this industry isn’t based on actually riding the rollercoasters. I have an admiration for the creative and business elements. Yes, I enjoy a day out as much as the next man, but my interests run deeper.

This is where BPB starts to grind my gears. Just 20 minutes stood in their ticket building will show you that a HUGE portion of their walk-up customers either don’t want to pay the price or are confused by the array of ticket options for the same product. And this is only one of many baseline issues the park has in my opinion.

The park is great - it could do with something here and there, but essentially it’s a solid park. The business acumen of the current board however, not so much. They’ve done a fantastic job modernising the park with little funds and dragging the place into the 21st century - all I want to see now is them drag the actual business itself out of the depths, because at the moment, it functions but could be earning them so much more dollar.
 
Jamiec94 said:
Because have you seen the price of plane tickets to European parks nowadays?
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Yeah, and hey still seem pretty reasonable to me? Sure, it's no longer ninety-nine pence territory as you could often find a decade or two ago, but with good planning, you can still easily get to Phantasialand and Efteling with ease, especially.

As for BPB, I too would love to trust the park, and I think were they excel, they do a great job. I also think that there's a whiff of nostalgia from enthusiasts, some of which is borrowed, that means people misunderstand the current direction. Nonetheless, I do worry that there's a stubbornness to the management's approach which is holding it back. It's also surreal and just a little bit sad seeing people waiting three times as long for the PMBO as they did twenty years ago.

I would agree with @MiserableMonkey in their assessment that PBB is a very solid park, more so than Alton. It literally has something for everyone.
 
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Plastic Person said:
Yeah, and hey still seem pretty reasonable to me? Sure, it's no longer ninety-nine pence territory as you could often find a decade or two ago, but with good planning, you can still easily get to Phantasialand and Efteling with ease, especially.

As for BPB, I too would love to trust the park, and I think were they excel, they do a great job. I also think that there's a whiff of nostalgia from enthusiasts, some of which is borrowed, that means people misunderstand the current direction. Nonetheless, I do worry that there's a stubbornness to the management's approach which is holding it back. It's also surreal and just a little bit sad seeing people waiting three times as long for the PMBO as they did twenty years ago.

I would agree with @MiserableMonkey in their assessment that PBB is a very solid park, more so than Alton. It literally has something for everyone.
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No this is my point, it is very easy to get to European parks, which, compared to even the best UK parks, are on another level
 
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