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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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Is it just me or has BPB been shaving time off their opening hours for this week? I swear when I was looking before Tier 3 was announced that the park was open from around 10am until at least 5 or 6pm. It then changed to 11am to 5pm, and yesterday it was showing 11am to 4pm. I was planning on going on Friday however I'm really not sure if it'll be value for money when the opening hours are so short. I don't want to pay only to stand in queues...
 
Yup, openings have shrunk by the month as the virus rules increase.
There will be very short queues on friday I think...poor forecast.
You could easily get a couple of dozen rides in due to a gross lack of punters.
 
I would guess that staff outnumbered punters today...
Things are so bad I couldn't get a beer in Crevettes!
They must be losing money hand over fist at the moment, can't see them opening for winter weekends after half term sadly.
 
MakoMania said:


Perhaps a very cheap and affordable addition that BPB could look into with Ice Blast.
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Probably quite similar to Absolutely Insane in terms of ride experience. Bet it operates for a while longer though...

Looks like quite a cheap and pragmatic solution to adding a new lease of life to their tower rides.

Certainly makes you wonder how Intamin ended up with Falcon's Fury ... Not like them to massively over complicate something ... Oh, wait.
 
I went yesterday for a few hours and it was absolutely dead. Walked on to everything and a number of things closed. Those little cars were closed along with Streak and Airbender. The park closed at 4 but lots of rides closed at 3 including Avalanche and Stepplechase.

Not great if you paid full price to get in but visit for a few hours with a season pass it was a nice afternoon.
 
Orange Ribena said:
The park closed at 4 but lots of rides closed at 3 including Avalanche and Stepplechase.
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I was going to reply along these lines when it was posted that the closing time had come forward to 4, but I forgot. I was going to say exactly this, that on 5pm close rides were starting to close from 4:15 ish, so I bet on 4pm close some would shut not long after 3.

Poor really, especially for those who travel from a few hours away. If you’re local and a season pass holder it’s not too bad, but they should just close for the season now if they really can’t be bothered and hardly anyone can visit anyway
 
I saw queues for the Dipper and Steeplechase, despite staff outnumbering punters.
Had to queue for Icon, but only because they shut for cleaning as they saw me walking down the steps!
No beer sent me home early, but the park was as quiet as I have ever seen (when open).
Only time I have walked the park more empty was on a Sunday morning when I sneaked in through the Arena half an hour before opening!
 
MiserableMonkey said:
Blackpool SOS to PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-54649958

Advanced bookings for all the attractions next week are said to be woeful, from Merlin to BPB and the Zoo. How long is this sustainable?
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It’s not sustainable. Blackpool had a good summer, but that likely only made up for the spring closures. This should traditionally now be their busiest time and it is deserted. From the major attractions, to the pubs, to the doughnut stalls - everyone is now hurting. It will inevitably lead to closures and a poorer experience for those in the future.

Support them however you can. Skipping Velvet Coaster for a local pub would be a nice way for people to spread the money around.
 
You see I know places have to slightly cut back at the moment, but I've been wanting to go to Pleasure Beach again this year before it closes, and reading that they're starting to close rides from 3, I wouldn't bother. So surely they'll lose more custom from that than just leaving them open an extra hour?
 
They are in a dire situation, should be a busy time of year, but the park has been very quiet indeed for half term illuminations time.
The Tartan invasion just didn't happen this year.
The rides with actual punters have remained open, if a ride has zero customers for a while after mid afternoon, they close after a lengthy time with no actual riders.
My last few visits have been quiet, very quiet, or absolutely dead.
Only queues I have seen recently were for Steeplechase and Dipper, and that was probably around cleaning time.
Skyforce and the Nash have been shut on weekdays as well, so you can get round all the rides that are actually open in a couple of hours, and you can't even have a beer break any more... a real fun killer for me personally.
They have had virtually zero punters from outside the local red zone recently.
The half term weather forecast of rain every day won't have helped.
Can't see the winter weekends happening, unless they are under some sort of obligation to the council.
They must be losing loads of money, more staff than punters on a regular basis, reduced punters but considerably more costs due to covid.
 
siralgenon said:
You see I know places have to slightly cut back at the moment, but I've been wanting to go to Pleasure Beach again this year before it closes, and reading that they're starting to close rides from 3, I wouldn't bother. So surely they'll lose more custom from that than just leaving them open an extra hour?
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I ended up skipping BPB this week as I was driving nearly 6hrs and couldn't justify the price/opening hours. I ended up going to AT on Thursday instead and had an amazing day. The price was less as I had a voucher, and I spent 11 hours in the park. I was a very happy boy
 
rob666 said:
They are in a dire situation, should be a busy time of year, but the park has been very quiet indeed for half term illuminations time.
The Tartan invasion just didn't happen this year.
The rides with actual punters have remained open, if a ride has zero customers for a while after mid afternoon, they close after a lengthy time with no actual riders.
My last few visits have been quiet, very quiet, or absolutely dead.
Only queues I have seen recently were for Steeplechase and Dipper, and that was probably around cleaning time.
Skyforce and the Nash have been shut on weekdays as well, so you can get round all the rides that are actually open in a couple of hours, and you can't even have a beer break any more... a real fun killer for me personally.
They have had virtually zero punters from outside the local red zone recently.
The half term weather forecast of rain every day won't have helped.
Can't see the winter weekends happening, unless they are under some sort of obligation to the council.
They must be losing loads of money, more staff than punters on a regular basis, reduced punters but considerably more costs due to covid.
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That's such a shame, i do love BPB, it's a bit too far for me to go for a day, so have to have an overnighter which bumps the price up, but always try and go a couple of times a year.

Only done it once this year to the various local lockdowns affecting Blackpool and where i come from too.
 
siralgenon said:
You see I know places have to slightly cut back at the moment, but I've been wanting to go to Pleasure Beach again this year before it closes, and reading that they're starting to close rides from 3, I wouldn't bother. So surely they'll lose more custom from that than just leaving them open an extra hour?
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This is always a quiet time of the year for Blackpool anyway so I don't think it will be a big problem. I think they are more worried about Sturgeon telling people in Scotland to stay away and a possible downturn this week if people don't show up for the half-term because they are worried.
 
Illuminations at half term is usually very busy, one of the Blackpool peaks, not a quiet time at all usually.
Schools in Scotland are going back now, it is half term for the rest of us.
Vampire Beach has been very busy for the last decade...but not this year.
 
No sign the pleasure beach are cancelling winter weekends at the moment.

You can still book for a NOT very reasonable £35 winter weekend Saturday - This is for 11am to 5pm opening and guessing quite a few rides will be shut.

I really can't see many people attending apart from a few season pass holders.
 
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I just watched the Bloo Loop V Expo video ‘The Power of a Dark Ride’. It’s one of the more interesting discussions from the expo. Amanda Thompson’s one of the panelists. Aside from making a rude joke about beavers, she mentions that they’re currently doing work on Valhalla, which will hopefully include making it less wet.

You do have to sign up to watch it.

https://blooloop.com/bloolooplive/
 
Funcone said:
I just watched the Bloo Loop V Expo video ‘The Power of a Dark Ride’. It’s one of the more interesting discussions from the expo. Amanda Thompson’s one of the panelists. Aside from making a rude joke about beavers, she mentions that they’re currently doing work on Valhalla, which will hopefully include making it less wet.

You do have to sign up to watch it.

https://blooloop.com/bloolooplive/
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Thanks for the info @Funcone

You can also find the video on youtube
 
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