BPB for first time in years

[dumbdumb]

I'm taking my nephew to Blackpool for the day on weekend of 16/17 September (haven't been since 2011). I'm struggling to decide which one to book. Any experts got any views on whether Saturday or Sunday is best? Saturday hours are 10-6 and it's Oktoberfest and Sunday is open 10-5 - I'm old school and used to it being high capacity and open until midnight . Any tips?

 

[rob666]

Sundays are much quieter generally than Saturdays.
If you get there for opening, you can get most of the coasters done (if open!) in the first couple of hours.
Do Icon and Big One later, they get queues early on, often before the rides open.
If it is a nice weekend it will be busy...loominations.

 

[dumbdumb]

Sundays are much quieter generally than Saturdays.
If you get there for opening, you can get most of the coasters done (if open!) in the first couple of hours.
Do Icon and Big One later, they get queues early on, often before the rides open.
If it is a nice weekend it will be busy...loominations.

Thank you very much! Yep - bring back 90s operations across the UK

 

[rob666]

You are more than welcome to join me in the regular "Pay Per Ride is far better than Pay One Price" discussion, we have it every few weeks on here.
The other advice...big breakfast, then 'spoons by the south pier on the way out.

 

[dumbdumb]

So we went yesterday - thought I'd quickly share my thoughts as haven't been for 11 years...

The park was pretty quiet. We arrived early and it looked like it was not opening that day, then everything kicked into action, although most of the middle and south of the park did not open until 10:30 or 11:00.

Rides

Nickelodeon Streak - smoothest woodie
The Big One x 2 - was fun in front of back carriage but in the front of fourth carriage, the bottom of the drops were brutal on the back
Steeplechase - my nephew (first time) hated it, but I still enjoyed
Revolution x 2 - still the scariest ride in the UK!! Loved it.
Icon (back seat) - So impressed. Much more thrilling throughout and launch more forceful than I expected. Nice to have something smooth at this park! Best coaster in UK alongside Nemesis. This should have done wonders for the park and kick started an investment frenzy.
Icon (Enso) - Had to be done once - and it was awesome. We were encouraged to ride separately and I'm glad we did
Big Dipper - Looks good, rides ok
Infusion - First half was great, second half was awful - never again - unless it gets lap bars - currently like being in a body vice
River Caves - Nostalgia overload - glad it's largely unchanged and still popular
Wallace & Gromit - So impressed with this - what a fun and exciting ride
Ghost Train - Looked really fresh inside and had lots of updates, but missed the Gold Mine mountain framing the top of it
Ice Blast - Still packs a punch, albeit 80% of what it was
Sky Force - got nearly upside down but didn't manage a roll - nice addition though
Derby Racer - why do they not go forwards and backwards anymore?
Grand National - Oh dear - used to be my favourite - great layout - rough as hell - ouch
Avalanche - much more intense than I remember
Valhalla x 2 -

Spoiler

Is it wetter than before haha!? Some scenes were great, some not so good. It felt like there was a loss of 'epicness' after the first lift hill, but it has been a long time since I visited because it was closed the last two times (2006 and 2011). The lead up to, turntable and first drop taken forwards felt better to me. The loss of the ice room was a real loss. Vortex, hammers and spiked log worked. The new scenes at the top section of the ride need some cloaking of mechanisms but looked like good effects, just not quite executed right. Only had one fire ball first ride and none the second, but had the square of fire each time. Overall it's still a theatrical wonder and all three drops are brilliant.

Other notable points

Pros

• Smart new ticket area and shop in the casino building
• Newly painted areas
• Eating area and dancing fountains by the old Bowl-a-rama
• Staff were all excellent - so friendly and helpful
• New landscaping
• Icon design, interaction and area
• Shops all around the park are very good
• Valhalla Plaza
• I thought £38 was a bargain (compared to old ticket prices)

Cons

• Park hours - I can't complain at the ride count, but it would have been nice to have time for more sitting, going on the train, the maze, etc..
• Disused Black Hole and Astro Swirl buildings
• Landscaping under Big Dipper/Grand Prix
• Exposed backstage areas
• Loss of access provided by Tom Sawyer bridge
• The old South Entrance not in use
• Loss of Monorail, The Whip, Turtle Chase, Noah's Ark, Tagada, Haunted Hotel and Wild Mouse
• No replacement for Trauma Towers or it's previous separate iterations
• The gaping hole where the Wild Mouse was - it used to look great and I loved that ride
• Operations - all coasters on one-train operation, which was frustrating - it's not about the queue time, it's about the queue speed and progress. The Avalanche queue was painful.
• Miss the atmosphere you got with late opening and payment booths at each ride
• Scanning to get into every ride when everyone's paid to get in
• The woodies were all rougher than ever and they all used to be great fun (is it just a need for re-tracking, or is it the longer four-row carriages that are also an issue? Or maybe it's me)

Still a great day out and I'm glad nolstalgia remains, but there is room for improving the experience, TLC required on the older rides (dark rides were great) and a need for a couple more modern smooth coasters and flat rides to make it world-class.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

The constant ticket scanning is a pain in the ass, but it's a data mine for BPB. They get to find out who goes where, when and under which circumstances. How long it takes for one person to go from one attraction to the other. If there are changing weather conditions during a person's visit, what do they do? Etc. I'm not sure they actually do anything with the information, but it's the reason it's collected.

 

[rob666]

But when half the scanners/screens/tickets don't work, they just override the system anyway!