Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

[Poisson]

Oh and as I forgot under entry price etc: Take a leaf from many other parks and operate with a half price evening ticket for say the last 3 or 4 hours on the later openings. Something to try and entice some more guests through the turnstiles later on in the day.

I don't think the park is done, I just think it needs a clearer direction, a bulldozer to some of the crap they have (River Caves, Bowl-a-Drome, that empty arcade near Wallace) and a rational person at the helm. Mandy is amazing but also clearly as insane as the rest of the Thompsons

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Oh and as I forgot under entry price etc: Take a leaf from many other parks and operate with a half price evening ticket for say the last 3 or 4 hours on the later openings. Something to try and entice some more guests through the turnstiles later on in the day.

I don't think the park is done, I just think it needs a clearer direction, a bulldozer to some of the crap they have (River Caves, Bowl-a-Drome, that empty arcade near Wallace) and a rational person at the helm. Mandy is amazing but also clearly as insane as the rest of the Thompsons

Please don't suggest destroying river caves, they're 115 years old!

 

[Poisson]

Please don't suggest destroying river caves, they're 115 years old!

Then do something with them. They were utter dross last time I went on. Theme them properly or theme them with a bulldozer

 

[Dave]

Oh and as I forgot under entry price etc: Take a leaf from many other parks and operate with a half price evening ticket for say the last 3 or 4 hours on the later openings. Something to try and entice some more guests through the turnstiles later on in the day.

I don't think the park is done, I just think it needs a clearer direction, a bulldozer to some of the crap they have (River Caves, Bowl-a-Drome, that empty arcade near Wallace) and a rational person at the helm. Mandy is amazing but also clearly as insane as the rest of the Thompsons

River caves won’t be going anywhere. It’s an old attraction and doesn’t risk killing anyone. Also a large part of Wallace and Gromit sits above it.

 

[Dipper_Dave]

As an example of rides removed and not replaced, here is a postcard picture of North Park in what I guess is late 60s / early 70s.




You can see in between Nash & Mouse were sandwiched The Whip and Paratroopers (later Haunted Hotel / Tagada). So in the space between Nash and River Caves there were 3 rides at one point. In that area is now are zero rides, some fake grass and 'The Hub' bar area that only seems to open at limited times (I'm yet to see it open). Oh and the fountains which are nice to be fair, though FY4 bar area isn't the same without Wild Mouse. The Eli Wheels on the right were not replaced with a ride, not that you could fit much there anyway. In the foreground is Noah's Ark which is SBNO. Its listed so unlikely to ever be removed, but won't operate as an attraction again either. Of course the area is now dominated by The Big One's turnaround, and I know that Paratroopers was just a simple fairground ride, but still, I make that 5 rides just in that one area which were not replaced (including Noah's Ark).

Just round the corner, the Dome arcade once had Astro Swirl / Millenium Bug in it, which always seemed popular back in the day. I guess Meteorites have had their day, and it wasn't my bag anyway, but stands as another example of an area which became a total dump. I wonder what they will do there now its all boarded up. That's now up to 6 rides. Adding in Monorail & Cableway gets it up to 8 rides round there, gone and not replaced. Again, not that you could do much to replace those two, but they are still missed. Space Invader, replaced by a pizza restaurant, Superbowl dodgems replaced by the sculpture 'gardens'. I could go on but was mainly commenting on the area in the photo

Of course I am not saying that the park should never evolve, but look at that picture compared to that area today. We don't want North park becoming any more sparse than it already is. The area desperately needs an excellent ride that grabs people's attention.

 

[rob666]

You don't need to get rid of any more rides, off peak and low season, just rotate the flats for an hour or two during the day...dodgems and skyforce, flying machines and derby racer, Alice and ghost train.
Easy and cheap to do, save a bomb on staff in the low season, and better than stealth closing the coasters...Nash closures midweek, and Big One on "windy windless" days.
Keep the bars open mind.

 

[Coaster]

I honestly think BPB has too many attractions personally for them to remain profitable.

Immediately you might think.....WHAT?! An enthusiast complaining about having too much to do? I'm definitely not complaining. I'm merely pointing out that for every ride they have there it requires staff to run it and regular maintenance.

And I'd imagine that you could take away 15% of the rides at PB and it would barely make an impact on most people's day out.

I don't think cutting back the ride line-up any further is an option, it's already much more sparse than it used to be! Look at the park on a busy day, the ride queues are mostly overflowing, take any more away and it wouldn't be worth being there at all!

Making the park successful should be the priority, not making (more!) drastic cuts to the ride line-up.

 

[pluk]

Adventure Island does have the headline of free entry, but BPB actually offers better value for non-riders than theme parks do, and I don’t feel they shout about it enough.

A point was made on PBE’s Facebook page a while back that BPB are the only major park in the U.K. to offer a non-rider fee. For £5 (as it was then), people can visit for the whole day with their family and not have to cough up full price. This is actually a great offer and BPB should shout about it more. If the theme parks introduced a non-rider £10 entry change, people would be praising them, yet BPB are labelled as villains for doing it, purely because people can’t let go of the park’s former funfair style of operation.

I understand the thought process but I think the £10 charge would be a hard sell to the public. While it does allow cheapish access as someone accompanying a rider I can imagine the casual visitor thinking it's free at most comparable places and not good value in its own right. Kind of the worst of both worlds rather than an attractive compromise.

 

[Benjsh]

I don't think cutting back the ride line-up any further is an option, it's already much more sparse than it used to be! Look at the park on a busy day, the ride queues are mostly overflowing, take any more away and it wouldn't be worth being there at all!

Making the park successful should be the priority, not making (more!) drastic cuts to the ride line-up.

Every ride they have needs staffing and maintenance. I don't think they have a consistent enough attendance to warrant so many rides personally. Not to forget that all the older roller coasters need a lot of love and care.

So basically damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I don't go for quantity over quality. I'd rather they had half the number of coasters they do but they were all more comfortable and enjoyable personally.

 

[Coaster]

Every ride they have needs staffing and maintenance. I don't think they have a consistent enough attendance to warrant so many rides personally. Not to forget that all the older roller coasters need a lot of love and care.

So basically damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I don't go for quantity over quality. I'd rather they had half the number of coasters they do but they were all more comfortable and enjoyable personally.

Surely the answer then is to improve attendance?

I don't see why anyone would want BPB to go from 10 coasters of great variation to 5 dull modern ones that can be found elsewhere? Seems odd to me.

 

[Dave]

The main problem Blackpool Pleasure Beach has is as a day destination it’s car parking access is terrible and wildly overpriced. I know with local knowledge you can get Parked but most people want to drive straight to the park and get a space. Cruising around the backstreets of Blackpool does not appeal.

Not that there is an easy solution for the above, but it’s true. As for walk up guests last time I was in Blackpool, North promenade was rammed with people but south promenade was dead, no one even bothers to wander down there now they have to pay to get into the pleasure beach. I can understand the desire to stop walking guests because of the antisocial behaviour but it will have had an impact on guests numbers and the spend.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I understand the thought process but I think the £10 charge would be a hard sell to the public. While it does allow cheapish access as someone accompanying a rider I can imagine the casual visitor thinking it's free at most comparable places and not good value in its own right. Kind of the worst of both worlds rather than an attractive compromise.

It’s the “comparable places” point which I think it’s worth considering.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, people who advocate going back to free entry keep making the comparison with other seaside parks. But this isn’t comparing like for like.

BPB is much larger, has more rides and is much more of a full day experience than any of the other seaside parks in the U.K.

It seems logical that park management think this too, hence why they have moved away from the seaside parks business model and more in favour of the theme park model.

I know that many of the old school BPB fans are determined it doesn’t work, but as I keep saying, visitor habits are different now to what they were in the 90s and, unless BPB were to trial the old entry system for the next few years, only then could we make a true comparison between which method works (and it would need to be for a few years if we’re measuring long term guest satisfaction and retention as well as short term financial gain).

Family business or otherwise, I’m sorry, I just can’t see them knowingly Pershing the wrong business model for the sake of “stubbornness”

 

[jon81uk]

The main problem Blackpool Pleasure Beach has is as a day destination it’s car parking access is terrible and wildly overpriced. I know with local knowledge you can get Parked but most people want to drive straight to the park and get a space. Cruising around the backstreets of Blackpool does not appeal.

Not that there is an easy solution for the above, but it’s true. As for walk up guests last time I was in Blackpool, North promenade was rammed with people but south promenade was dead, no one even bothers to wander down there now they have to pay to get into the pleasure beach. I can understand the desire to stop walking guests because of the antisocial behaviour but it will have had an impact on guests numbers and the spend.

Its been about 7/8 years since I last went up to Blackpool but I remember huge great big car parks as soon as you arrive in from the main road, never remember having a major issue finding somewhere to park?

It’s the “comparable places” point which I think it’s worth considering.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, people who advocate going back to free entry keep making the comparison with other seaside parks. But this isn’t comparing like for like.

BPB is much larger, has more rides and is much more of a full day experience than any of the other seaside parks in the U.K.

It seems logical that park management think this too, hence why they have moved away from the seaside parks business model and more in favour of the theme park model.

I know that many of the old school BPB fans are determined it doesn’t work, but as I keep saying, visitor habits are different now to what they were in the 90s and, unless BPB were to trial the old entry system for the next few years, only then could we make a true comparison between which method works (and it would need to be for a few years if we’re measuring long term guest satisfaction and retention as well as short term financial gain).

Family business or otherwise, I’m sorry, I just can’t see them knowingly Pershing the wrong business model for the sake of “stubbornness”

If Blackpool want to charge the same as Alton Towers then they need to offer a similar quality of ride experience. Its been said before than Icon was the better coaster compared to Wickerman on paper, but the theming and the way the experience is presented on Wickerman is very different.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I have to admit that I’m not entirely up to speed with ticket prices since I tend to either book heavily in advance or use Tesco vouchers.

Back in July though, I know that I got BPB for £25 (booking 7 days ahead) which considering what I got was, in my opinion excellent value for money.

Alton I paid £35 I think for advance booking, as well as the obligatory parking charge, which you don’t have to pay at BPB given that there’s plenty of free parking on the roads near the park.

Of course, as I say, I may not be entirely up to speed with current pricing, but from my experience I’ve nearly always paid less at BPB than at Alton and always felt like I’ve had really good value.

Drayton on the other hand... Well I guess that’s a different discussion haha.

 

[rob666]

South Beach car park, on the prom south of the Sandcastle, is big and very cheap compared to the BPB car parks...free parking is at a premium...as it is at the Towers(!), but there are four (expensive) BPB car parks, and a large number of road spaces, either free or a quid an hour on the prom, within a five minute walk of the park entrance.
My season pass for next year was the fine sum of £48.

 

[Benjsh]

Surely the answer then is to improve attendance?

I don't see why anyone would want BPB to go from 10 coasters of great variation to 5 dull modern ones that can be found elsewhere? Seems odd to me.

Tastes.

Most of the coasters at Blackpool either bore me or just hurt me. Variation is great if the rides are actually enjoyable in the first place.

 

[shakey]

It’s the “comparable places” point which I think it’s worth considering.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, people who advocate going back to free entry keep making the comparison with other seaside parks. But this isn’t comparing like for like.

BPB is much larger, has more rides and is much more of a full day experience than any of the other seaside parks in the U.K.

Yes BPB is easily the biggest seaside fun fair in the country, but it is still a seaside funfair with literally millions of potential punters going right past its doors every year. And for that reason alone it is a closer fit to other seaside parks than it is to Alton Towers, which is a dedicated theme park destination with zero passing trade.

I know that many of the old school BPB fans are determined it doesn’t work, but as I keep saying, visitor habits are different now to what they were in the 90s

I am not just saying it doesn't work for the sake of it... It actually doesn't work - A loss of over £17 million since 2006 is pretty damming evidence of that! - And yes visitor habits have changed, making it even more important to be able to visit for a couple of hours because people are in Blackpool for a shorter length of time than they were 30-40 years ago.

I firmly believe that free entry and sensible PPR prices - along side wristbands - would increase revenue but Its pretty obvious BPB will not be going back to free entry (not under Amanda's watch anyway), and in all likelihood the park will be completely Pay One Price very soon.

But they do have other options as @Poisson and others have suggested. Open at 12pm and close at 9pm. Have an evening wristband for £20 available on the gate.

As for the current prices, the parks advance online peak price jumped from around £25 to £35 some time during late summer. With £32 the new off peak advanced price. More evidence that the park is in a bad situation financially.

 

[Dave]

South Beach car park, on the prom south of the Sandcastle, is big and very cheap compared to the BPB car parks...free parking is at a premium...as it is at the Towers(!), but there are four (expensive) BPB car parks, and a large number of road spaces, either free or a quid an hour on the prom, within a five minute walk of the park entrance.
My season pass for next year was the fine sum of £48.

See you are making the assumption everyone has the same knowledge or does the same planning as you do. People follow the sat nav for pleasure beach and then find a small over priced car park.

What exists and what people perceive are two different things

 

[jon81uk]

See you are making the assumption everyone has the same knowledge or does the same planning as you do. People follow the sat nav for pleasure beach and then find a small over priced car park.

What exists and what people perceive are two different things

But by not following the Sat Nav and just getting to Blackpool and following the brown tourist signs to car parks, I've almost always ended up at the South carpark on Yeardon Way https://goo.gl/maps/SBBGkdYdirnREt9RA
Therefore finding a fairly big car park.

 

[MakoMania]

BPB desperately needs to invest in a multi-storey car park with the limited space they have.