• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Graeme said:
The problem with Pleasure Beach in my eyes is that the whole place is tacky.

Yes I get the nostalgia and the old rides etc etc but I've never got it. I never will get it. The whole place needs modernisation. It's not a place you would go and enjoy walking around with your family. I know it's not supposed to be a "theme" park per se but it's just a complete mismatch. It's stuck in the 80's.

Like I've said before, I've never "got" Blackpool....think it's a northern thing.
Click to expand...
I think the attempts Pleasure Beach have made at modernisation are what have made it tacky.

BPB used to be a charming vibrant park full of character and colour, with so many interesting little details achnowedging the park's history, fun additions like the themed bins and much more theming outside rides than there is nowadays.

In the last 5 to 10 years, so much of that character has been ripped out and replaced with cheap plastic, dull grey tones and a lot of the more historic features removed.

Ultimately, Pleasure Beach is NOT a modern park. They have some modern rides (which can be marketed as such) but the reduction in features around the park and grey colour scheme on everything makes the park feel dingy, grimy and tacky. They have chosen to try and make the park something it isn't and the whole park atmosphere has suffered for it.

Some changes at PB have been good and it's usually clean nowadays but too much of what made the park special has gone. It's a weird obsession they have with being "perceived as modern" when really, they should show off the fact that they can offer something different to other parks. It's an empty shell of what it used to be and the aesthetic is so bland.

The wooden coasters used to look much better cared for and the historical signs showed that the park was proud of them. Ironically, whilst the park have been so focused on making everything look modern they have neglected the appearance of the woodies which goes against their own logic surely?

The park's identity is so confusing and they don't seem to know what they want to be anymore. They operate a convoluted and messy theme park model rather than running it as a seaside amusement park, but then they don't maintain effects/audio and rip out most of the park's theming without bothering to replace it? Like, what is the place even supposed to be these days? It's all so disjointed.

Other issues are lazy and broken park audio, poor condition of dark rides and horrendous presentation of FY4 since Mouse and Trauma went. Still waiting for this new development they promised to appear...

Kennywood is a perfect example of how Pleasure Beach should have been treated. That park is full of colour and atmosphere and they are very proud and vocal about their history. It feels so much nicer than modern day PB and isn't tacky at all because everything is well maintained to original standards rather than cheaply glossed over.
 
Last edited:
Never found BPB to be disjointed. It is a park with something for everyone, and layers of history; including the layers of current changes they have made to try and make the place more modern.
The North park is thinner on attractions than it should be, but space offers options for new developments down the line.

The last few years we (as in a family) have mostly gone to AT or BPB, and found each visit to AT to be enjoyable, but the same day each time. Each visit to BPB has been unique, with a different set of rides or attractions done, because there is so much to choose from. The benefit of having Blackpool promenade outside is also a bonus, e.g. for the illuminations, chip shops etc.

I'd like to see the independents join together and make an alternative to the Merlin pass. A single pass that got you into BPB, Paultons, Flamingo Land, Drayton, Pleasurewood Hills and discounted entrance at smaller aquariums, parks, big wheels etc. outside of the main ones at similar prices to Merlin would be very marketable.
 
Pleasure Beach Experience have recently posted a new closed season update from 24th January 2020:

Some interesting things to note:
  • Bits of the Noah's Ark facade have been removed in a similar fashion to what occurred with the Bowl-A-Drome last closed season.
  • Big One's new track is still not in place, however visible work is taking place in other parts of the track and one of the trains is reportedly almost ready to go back onto the track.
  • Grand National has apparently had quite a bit of wood replacement over the off-season; could this potentially lead to a smoother, more enjoyable ride experience in 2020?
 
I know that Bowladrome is likely a building on borrowed time, so big spending isn't sensible, but that brilliant white look just looks unfinished.
Put some lettering like "Blackpool Pleasure Beach Amusements" on there (needs to be long), a few banners advertising events, annual passes, SpeedyPass etc., and it would suddenly be a location.
 
The Bowladrome looks hideous now. I really hope it was a case of the scenery needing to come down and not wanting to spend money rebuilding it if the area is due to be redeveloped. Rather than 'hey this will look swish in GREY!'
 
I do love a good white plastic sheet. They’d already put some up above the left hand exit door before the end of last season.

Noah’s Ark is generally in a mess and needs some attention. Everyone seems to want to get rid of it, but it’s a unique feature and the last thing we need is another piece of Pleasure Beach history disappearing, only to be replaced by some more inevitable white plastic cladding.

To be fair, there’ll probably be some grey too.
 
Going nowhere...listed.
They were only built between the two world wars.
So it deserves to be maintained properly, let's have a decent thickness of plastic sheeting there, and screws, not nails holding it down.
Shut for over a decade now.
Absolute disgrace, one of Strickler's finest.
 
On a different note; even though I adore Icon, some key criticisms of it from the general community ever since it opened have lied in its pacing, as well as its launch acceleration. Well, I was reading through the old Icon construction topic over on CoasterForce Forum, and I stumbled across this rather interesting post from Temleh, who did not believe the announced speed figure to be true (it later was true, as it turned out):
Temleh from CoasterForce Forum said:
Also, I too do not believe the 80kph figure. All the concept videos showed 100kph. "+100kph" is even spray painted on the ground at the start of where Launch 1 will be. I believe in a few months time we will see another announcement for the name, theme and improved top speed.
Click to expand...
Do we reckon it's true that Icon was originally designed to go 100km/h (approx. 62.1mph in imperial units)? I must admit that it almost seems like too big of a speed increase from Icon's present running speed of 80km/h (approx. 49.7mph) to seem true, but it would certainly explain why everyone says that Icon's launches were some of the weakest Mack have ever produced, and it would also explain why the pacing seems somewhat weaker than on some of Mack's other large-scale creations. What are our thoughts? Temleh seems to have been pretty reliable in delivering Pleasure Beach inside info in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me if this is true, but it almost seems as though a 62mph launch would generate forces too big for riders to experience!
 
That top hat would be lethal at any higher speed. The issue is that once it's done the top hat, the rest of the ride for the most part is just meandering around.

As much as we all wanted to see a Mack Mega in this country, Icon hasn't done the tech any justice and the pre-Mack plans looked much more exciting.
 
Whenever I discuss Icon, I feel like I either must be riding a different coaster to the rest of you, or I need to ride more Mack launch coasters, because Icon felt like it was running relentlessly to me at the Late Night Riding event in August; both my rides in August, especially the sunset ride towards the back, were phenomenal rides, packed full of ejector air and wonderful pacing! Definitely cemented the ride's place as my #2 coaster!
 
Matt N said:
Whenever I discuss Icon, I feel like I either must be riding a different coaster to the rest of you, or I need to ride more Mack launch coasters, because Icon felt like it was running relentlessly to me at the Late Night Riding event in August; both my rides in August, especially the sunset ride towards the back, were phenomenal rides, packed full of ejector air and wonderful pacing! Definitely cemented the ride's place as my #2 coaster!
Click to expand...
I rode it for the first time last year and it was my first "proper" launch coaster, not to mention my first Mack Launch. What did it for me was the smoothness (bar the slight rattle towards the end), think that was the smoothest coaster I'd ridden so far! Yes it's not the most powerful or forceful (even Nemesis is more so- hence why I rank it higher), but what it has done is made me determined to ride a bigger one in the future, namely Helix (which looks fantastic). :)
 
Last edited:
Even with the slow launch the ride isn't dull until the last section where it could have put a couple more inline twists in and it'd be so much better than a dull side to side motion.
 
Blackpool PB ought to get a Premier Rides Skyrocket II. They are fast, forceful and compact, although capacity could be an issue.
 
Matt N said:
Whenever I discuss Icon, I feel like I either must be riding a different coaster to the rest of you, or I need to ride more Mack launch coasters, because Icon felt like it was running relentlessly to me at the Late Night Riding event in August; both my rides in August, especially the sunset ride towards the back, were phenomenal rides, packed full of ejector air and wonderful pacing! Definitely cemented the ride's place as my #2 coaster!
Click to expand...

Personally I think Icon is a good ride. It is technically very good and really aught to have a better reputation that it does. I think there are a few things that could make the ride even better:
1. Increase the acceleration. I don't think speed is the issue - it just needs more of a 'Launch feel'. I actually think this would benefit the second launch greatly - something to pin you into your seat!
2. The turn-around. When you drop into the trench - it is just a bit of a ditch really. Some rock rock to make it feel more enclosed, or maybe have water at the bottom of the trench and waterfalls... just something to give the near miss feel.
3. More near misses. I think there is opportunity to add some near miss elements into the ride - particularly the second half.

That said, I do love the thing, and it is my second favourite UK steel coaster.
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top