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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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I wouldn't say it only struggles against other Macks, it feels weak compared to Intamin launches and feels sadly on par with Booster Bike launches. It is just....meh. Big chance wasted and the Valhalla 'improvements' news are ominous
 
It’s definitely the rate of acceleration which makes Icon’s launch feel weak.

It’s been a while since I rode Blue Fire, so I had sort of gotten used to Icon’s. Blue Fire actually took me aback after being conditioned to Icon’s launch. And remember, Blue Fire’s launch isn't exactly known for being fast...
 
Coaster said:
British Theme Park Archive has uploaded an incredible documentary about Valhalla from 2000! It's incredible and definitely worth watching through to the end.

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That was a great documentary; thanks for sharing @Coaster! I must admit, Valhalla certainly was ahead of its time when it first opened in 2000, and I imagine it would have seemed like quite an unprecedented ride for a park like Blackpool at the time!
 
That was a really good little documentary, I'm surprised it's not been shared before. Am I right in thinking Icon had nothing like that when it opened? No OTT press launch or anything?
 
The ride footage towards the end of that excellent Valhalla video gave me proper shivers at the recollection of how good it once was, and a deep sadness of what it has become.
What an attitude they once had there, of actually trying to be the best they could be. A genuine strive for excellence, knowing that's how you get and maintain a strong customer base.
Where has that attitude gone?
 
ScottPBE said:
The Big One retrack is complete, testing is likely to start in the next couple of days but I think they need to build a new evac platform first.



They're pretty confident (weather permitting) it'll be ready for opening day.
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Where would this platform be on the layout?
 
pluk said:
What an attitude they once had there, of actually trying to be the best they could be. A genuine strive for excellence, knowing that's how you get and maintain a strong customer base.
Where has that attitude gone?
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Their overdraft. They're still paying for it.
 
I really don't know the answer to this, but others will...

How much was the investment in Valhalla to blame for the financial troubles BPB has been dealing with since then? It was expensive to build and operate, has the ride justified that investment or just been a burden since then?
I appreciate the world changed around BPB, customer patterns altered etc.... not interested in why, just the if it was a good move in hindsight?
 
G.T. was reputed to be a showman, but no accountant.
The park has often suffered from cash flow issues over the years, it has always been weather dependant, suffered from the move to continental travel, and the general shifts in popularity of the resort...it hasn't always been grotty inshore!

Valhalla was rumoured to be well over budget, the boss insisted on changes to the design, and tried to cram too much into the space available, so corners, quite literally, had to be cut.

In the longer term, it wasn't the interest payments on the capital investment that made things so difficult financially, but the horrendous running costs of the ride.
Popular, a shadow of its former self, and a financial millstone to the park in the days of all day wristbands.
 
Yes, Valhalla was very much built with the park's former PPR business model in mind. The wristband model trickled in around the time of it opening, so it was soon a financial folly.
 
Just watching the Valhalla documentary and G.T was truly a captivating man there’s just something about him would have loved to have met him


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I doubt anyone who has the information to properly answer this question is here to do so. On one hand you’d need to know how much it cost to build and run. I think £15 million was advertised as the cost to build it. Clearly the fire isn’t cheap and water rides are generally expensive to operate and maintain.

Then you’d need to know how much money it bought in. How many ponchos were sold and what were the profit margins? How much profit was generated from other merchandise? How much was the sponsorship deal worth (was it News of the World or The Mirror who originally sponsored it? I’m sure it was one of the two). How many onride photo products were sold, and again what were the profit margins? How much did they make on token sales? How many wristbands does it help to sell? Can they charge more for a wristband/season ticket because they’ve got Valhalla compared to if they didn’t. Does Valhalla help to make the Pleasure Beach a premium product than can command a premium price?

Even Universals has moved away from live special effects. Clearly it must cost a lot to run and could be something of a millstone. But without seeing any figures it’s difficult to quantify. I suppose a problem with rides with high running costs is that the revenue tends to fall away over time, for example the sale of onride photos and merchandise will drop off. But the high running costs stay the same. I think it’s lost its sponsorship now? Over the years a lot has been written about Valhalla on forums, but it is based on speculation (perhaps sensible speculation) rather than a proper financial analysis of any figures.
 
Agree with the above. It’s fascinating to consider the changing dynamic of the park post-2000; there are so many factors at play which radically impacted on their operating model - a real period of upheaval.

I do wonder how much poncho sales go towards subsidising Valhalla’s operation though.
 
Most parks in Britain struggle to get new coasters equalling more guests.

Icon.

Swarm.

Alton Towers don't suffer this issue.

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The Daily Star Mr Funcone.
Covered the ride with a big pull out and vouchers.
And the Beach managed to pull in the punters with the Big One.
 
venny said:
I do wonder how much poncho sales go towards subsidising Valhalla’s operation though.
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Probably not very far to be fair, even if we throw in whatever cut they get from the Haystack People Dryer. I can see why so many people suspect it's lost the Pleasure Beach a lot of money. Even with all the revenue streams it creates (or revenue trickles in some cases), I can see that trying to finance a ride as expensive as Valhalla might feel like a little kid shaking their piggy bank upside down to see if they've got enough money for an X Box.

Ah, thanks Rob. Explains why I was struggling to find the answer on Google.
 
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