Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon - 2018 Mack Double Launch Coaster

[Spin-Ride-Lover]

They can (apparently) barely afford to run the lights on the train, do you think they could afford lights in the track?

Who told you that?

I thought they where battery powered?
How can they barely afford to run the lights on the train if they arn't even using means power to use them?

Himm sounds a bit fishy too me.

 

[Plastic Person]

On an almost entirely unrelated note - does anyone know how much rides cost at the time wristbands were first introduced? I'd be interested to try and get a ball-park figure of how much they'd be charging for rides now if PPR was still the main payment option rather than a "if you're not here all day we don't care about you" price. I can't imagine the headline rides being any cheaper than £5 even if tickets were the only option, with family rides at around £3.

PMBO was a AA at 4.20 a ticket when the wristband was widely introduced in 1999, rising to 4.50 in 2000, alongside Valhalla. A tickets - Grand National, Ice Blast, Revolution, Dipper - were 2.25, Bs were 1.75 and C/Beaver Creek was 1.25.

I knew my penchant for remembering utter nonsense would come in useful one day!

 

[MiserableMonkey]

Ok. Hardly anyone pays £55 then (unless they are getting the AT season pass). The point is that a gate price of £27.50 is readily available at AT whereas you cannot pay less than £39 on the gate at PB unless they happen to make a last minute decision to reduce afternoon wristbands.

AT is in the middle of nowhere with nothing else nearby. It has a complete captive audience and people come to AT for the day and generally will plan the visit in advance.

BPB is in the middle of a seaside resort which attracts 10s of millions of people each year. It is surrounded by loads of other attractions within walking distance. And It has a coaster which can be seen from miles around.

Logically which park do you think should have the lower gate price?

Oh yeah, logically Alton Towers should be the bigger rip-off, definitely. £39 is ludicrous for a seaside amusement park.

But I do think we underestimate the number of people who just pay it. The majority of these people probably never come back, and I can’t say I’d blame them.

I do think BPB have overpriced themselves, but then the industry in general is overly inflated.

 

[Plastic Person]

£39 is ludicrous for a seaside amusement park.

£39 is ludicrous for BPB, but I still think it's better value than Alton right now, even at £27.50. But it's apples and oranges, as has been established.

Any upkick in Icon advertising yet? I still know people who literally are on the Flyde coast with no idea as to it's existence.

 

[MiserableMonkey]

I’m yet to see an advert outside of social media.

Even with Icon opening this year, I’m still struggling to motivate myself to part with cash and visit. And I live 30 minutes away. There’s no real buzz or excitement about this ride at all. The only place I have even seen people talk about it is on forums and BPB social channels.

 

[Unicorns_are_lovely]

Who told you that?

I thought they where battery powered?
How can they barely afford to run the lights on the train if they arn't even using means power to use them?

Himm sounds a bit fishy too me.

This (I assume!) came from a post last week where someone was upset that the lights weren't on during the sunniest day of the year .. storm/teacup!

 

[MakoMania]

There’s no real buzz or excitement about this ride at all.

Really!?

Do you mean amongst enthusiasts or amongst the public (in which case I would agree)?

 

[Graham73]

My take on the £39 on the day wristband price is it's BPB's way of trying to get people to commit to spend their day with them and take advantage of secondary spends etc.

Alton Towers uses an artificially high entrance price to try and get more money from the people who have become used to getting into the park with bogof offers and most likely wouldn't go without something similar.

BPB use a slightly different trick with the on the day price by putting the online wristbands at discount, even now you can book a wristband for tomorrow at £28 saving you £11.00, if you book more than 7 days in advance you save even more as the peak wristband is only £25 and the off peak £23

They use this tactic I believe as basically they want people to commit to going to the park, so they dangle the carrot of decent reductions in the hope they will do just that. If people pay up front and commit then BPB have got their money and are no longer reliant on people who don't fancy going on the day because they don't feel like it, weather not great etc. Far better to have X amount of people who have already paid than rely on trade on the day itself.

 

[Dipper_Dave]

Really!?

Do you mean amongst enthusiasts or amongst the public (in which case I would agree)?

Why would anyone say there is “no real buzz or excitement amongst the public about Icon” ? Forget social media for a minute, advertising, whether your mates or the average man in the street has heard of it, etc, and take actual real people, real human beings in the park riding Icon. I’d say when I went on Weds this week there was both excitement and buzz from those riding Icon. Most of them loved it. You can tell by their faces on the brake run, by the sounds of fellow riders when you’re on it and by the conversations on the exit path & stairs.

That is totally inaccurate to say that the GP aren’t getting buzz or excitement from Icon. If that was the case then there would be no queue stretching to the gate, there would just be the same 20 coaster t shirt wearing nerds in the station riding it over and over and comparing it to Blue Fire and Helix

 

[MakoMania]

Let me rephrase, the GP that are not riding Icon seem to have no interest/enthusiasm in it.

It's a fab ride nevertheless!

 

[DiogoJ42]

No it isn't.

BPB £39
AT £27.50 (because everyone knows that half price vouchers are readily available. Nobody pays £55)



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See, there's all this constant talk about how no one has ever paid the "gate price" to get in to Alton in the history of the universe... Not once have I seen anything to back this up. I personally believe that the proportion of guests who "just turn up" is far higher that most people would have us believe.

Of course, I'm not trying to call any one person out here. I would dearly love to see some evidence that proves me wrong. But until then, Occam's Razor dictates that more people pay the full price without questioning it, than seek out a discount.

 

[shakey]

See, there's all this constant talk about how no one has ever paid the "gate price" to get in to Alton in the history of the universe... Not once have I seen anything to back this up. I personally believe that the proportion of guests who "just turn up" is far higher that most people would have us believe.

Of course, I'm not trying to call any one person out here. I would dearly love to see some evidence that proves me wrong. But until then, Occam's Razor dictates that more people pay the full price without questioning it, than seek out a discount.

Well some purely anecdotal evidence from me...

Last year I was stood in the queue line to get into towers armed with my half price vouchers when a man tapped me on the shoulder and said he had a spare voucher and would I like to use it. I declined as I already had one so he proceeded to ask everyone else in the queue (must have been around 40 people), and every single person refused the voucher, presumably because they already had one.

My take on the £39 on the day wristband price is it's BPB's way of trying to get people to commit to spend their day with them and take advantage of secondary spends etc.

Alton Towers uses an artificially high entrance price to try and get more money from the people who have become used to getting into the park with bogof offers and most likely wouldn't go without something similar.

BPB use a slightly different trick with the on the day price by putting the online wristbands at discount, even now you can book a wristband for tomorrow at £28 saving you £11.00, if you book more than 7 days in advance you save even more as the peak wristband is only £25 and the off peak £23

They use this tactic I believe as basically they want people to commit to going to the park, so they dangle the carrot of decent reductions in the hope they will do just that. If people pay up front and commit then BPB have got their money and are no longer reliant on people who don't fancy going on the day because they don't feel like it, weather not great etc. Far better to have X amount of people who have already paid than rely on trade on the day itself.

Yes, it is pretty obvious why BPB charge a ridiculous gate price to force people to book in advance, but the problem is that many people simply do not want to pay in advance or don't realise that booking in advance gives them a massive discount or only decide they may want to visit when they are in the vicinity . As I have stated before, something like - £23 for a week in advance. £26 the night before and £29 on the gate would be better. They need to capture walk up trade especially during peak times, it's not rocket science.

 

[Spin-Ride-Lover]

This (I assume!) came from a post last week where someone was upset that the lights weren't on during the sunniest day of the year .. storm/teacup!

I think they were upset because the The lights weren't Switched on when it was at 9 o'clock close okay I know it doesn't get dark at this time of year but even so, I think it's more likely that the Ride ops simply forgot to put them on or just being lazy.

It was frustrating but I seriously doubt it was anything to do with running costs as like I said the battery powered so why would it make any difference to the running costs if it's not taken any mains Power to run them.

 

[Dipper_Dave]

Let me rephrase, the GP that are not riding Icon seem to have no interest/enthusiasm in it.

It's a fab ride nevertheless!

Sorry but I don’t get this. There are other rides in the park. What’s to say that someone riding Ice Blast or Steeplechase at any given time ‘has no interest or enthusiasm’ for Icon? You can only go on one ride at a time. They probably just went on Icon or were about to go on it soon after.

 

[Graham73]

Yes, it is pretty obvious why BPB charge a ridiculous gate price to force people to book in advance, but the problem is that many people simply do not want to pay in advance or don't realise that booking in advance gives them a massive discount or only decide they may want to visit when they are in the vicinity . As I have stated before, something like - £23 for a week in advance. £26 the night before and £29 on the gate would be better. They need to capture walk up trade especially during peak times, it's not rocket science.

I completely get what your saying about trying to catch the walk up trade but I think those example prices completely devalues what BPB offers compared to other parks. A quick example is Adventure Island, with the greatest of respect to them as I think its a great little park, the walk up price is £30 at this time of year.

If you don't offer big enough discounts for booking in advance then people will choose to hold back and wait for the day as they would only be saving a small amount, thus BPB could lose out on these people due to changes of plans, weather etc

One good thing they have done is to reintroduce the evening wristband at £22 on the gate and promote it, that said a couple of times I think it has literally been for just 2 hours how long people could get use from it which won't drag anybody in. I would like to see them lower the on the gate price to try and drag a few more impulse day trippers into the park, something around the region of £34 would be the price I would set it at. That still offers around £10 saving for people booking online which would get people to commit, but be a price that should attract people walking down south shore.

Another thing they need to do is introduce sensible PPR prices as some of the eye watering prices this season are just way too much.

I think they were upset because the The lights weren't Switched on when it was at 9 o'clock close okay I know it doesn't get dark at this time of year but even so, I think it's more likely that the Ride ops simply forgot to put them on or just being lazy.

It was frustrating but I seriously doubt it was anything to do with running costs as like I said the battery powered so why would it make any difference to the running costs if it's not taken any mains Power to run them.

I think it was more a case of it being pointless putting the lights on for a 9pm close at that time of year as you would barely have noticed them due to how bright it was at the time. Even back in the day PMBO didn't have it's train lights switched on until the light was starting to fade.

As for the mention of it being cost related, I really can't see that being the case at all when you consider that the cost would be absolute peanuts up against the operating costs of the ride. Also just the other night PMBO was getting repainted around Nash turnaround, to me another sign the parks finances are ok at the moment.

 

[MiserableMonkey]

Really!?

Do you mean amongst enthusiasts or amongst the public (in which case I would agree)?

The general public. Even in Blackpool, it’s almost as if nobody knows it’s there or the majority simply don’t care.

Why would anyone say there is “no real buzz or excitement amongst the public about Icon” ? Forget social media for a minute, advertising, whether your mates or the average man in the street has heard of it, etc, and take actual real people, real human beings in the park riding Icon. I’d say when I went on Weds this week there was both excitement and buzz from those riding Icon. Most of them loved it. You can tell by their faces on the brake run, by the sounds of fellow riders when you’re on it and by the conversations on the exit path & stairs.

That is totally inaccurate to say that the GP aren’t getting buzz or excitement from Icon. If that was the case then there would be no queue stretching to the gate, there would just be the same 20 coaster t shirt wearing nerds in the station riding it over and over and comparing it to Blue Fire and Helix

I mean outside the park gates really. In general day to day business, I have heard far, far more about Wickerman and even Walking Dead (in Lancashire!) than I have Icon. I fear they are really ballsing this up at the moment.

There should be public hype, excitement, word of mouth - especially in Blackpool. But more often than not, it’s “there’s a new ride?”

 

[Plastic Person]

Sorry but I don’t get this. There are other rides in the park. What’s to say that someone riding Ice Blast or Steeplechase at any given time ‘has no interest or enthusiasm’ for Icon? You can only go on one ride at a time. They probably just went on Icon or were about to go on it soon after.

They (presumably) mean people who aren't at the park, who aren't aware of Icon, not those inside the park, riding it. It seems to have made zero-impact on the collective public conciousness compared to other large rides that have opened at BPB and elsewhere.

 

[shakey]

If you don't offer big enough discounts for booking in advance then people will choose to hold back and wait for the day as they would only be saving a small amount, thus BPB could lose out on these people due to changes of plans, weather etc.

Yes, they may take a hit if the weather is poor, but it doesn't seem to bother AT having an effective gate price of £27.50 . Which is actually cheaper than their online price !!

 

[Coaster]

This (I assume!) came from a post last week where someone was upset that the lights weren't on during the sunniest day of the year .. storm/teacup!

I wouldn't say "upset" is the right word, but that would be me.

1) Helix at Liseberg I believe has the lights on all the time, which sets a precedent for Icon and what the technology is capable of.

2) The front train lights and spotlights on Icon look(ed) really effective in the station and made up for the lack of dispatch lighting.

3) The LED strip lights were visible in daylight as the train navigates the layout.

I can totally see the viewpoint that I'm being picky or harsh on BPB, but ultimately I feel that aiming for higher standards is a good thing, particularly on a brand new coaster.

 

[ringo]

latest survey after visiting BPB this week asks if you were aware of ICON, did you visit just for ICON, should there be more PR for ICON, is ICON better than everything at Alton Towers.

Silly questions tbh, it’s like they need customers to tell them there isn’t any PR to then go to Mandy and say see we told you what you planned wasn’t enough.