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Pleasure Island to close down

Adam said:
It does say a lot about the current state of the UK theme park industry that while Alton Towers are currently building what will most likely be another £10M+ rollercoaster, a small park such as this one has had to close down.
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Sounds like the sorta thing people say when football clubs get wound up and go out of business...
 
At the end of the day, some parks prosper while others suffer. It's the same with any business. I'm sad to see Pleasure Island go, of course, but I don't think we can put the blame on Alton Towers/ Merlin for this. Pleasure Island is a regional theme park which isn't near any major Merlin attractions. It's closed due to poor trading and, possibly, a lack of support from its original owners Flamingo Land.

On another note is anyone planning a visit? Or has anyone visited since the announcement? It's only open for another 5 more day.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
On another note is anyone planning a visit? Or has anyone visited since the announcement? It's only open for another 5 more day.
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it actually closes after the fireworks display on oct 29th, the last day of the season/half term.
I'm hoping to plan a visit during the half term.
 
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There's a lot of rides in that park that could really bolster other parks.

Hell, Pendulous (Huss Frisbee) would even look good at Towers.
 
So I made a trip out to Pleasure Island yesterday to get on some of the rides before the park closed for good next weekend. It's strange visiting a park when you know it is set to close down, it's not something I have ever done before but I think it really makes you see certain things that, even if not that good, will be a shame to lose.

I wasn't expecting much from the park but had a lot of fun. It was totally dead, there can't have been more than a few hundred people there, meaning walk on rides. I've done two Vekoma Boomerang's previously (Pleasurewood Hills and Bellewaerde) and hated them both. However Boomerang was actually smooth and far more enjoyable because of this. I still don't like going backwards but I'm pleased to have been on a smooth variant. Mini Mine Train is a decent little Vekoma Junior coaster and also turned out to be my 200th known credit! :D

For such a small park there is a very good line up of flat rides. Hyperblaster (S&S shot tower) is only 90ft tall but packs a real punch whereas Hydromax (Fabbri Booster) was running on a nice long cycle and was a lot of fun. Alakazam (Huss Flyaway) is just bizzare but I'm glad to have tried it. I'm not a fan of standard Huss Frisbees so didn't ride but it's another impressive flat for such a park. Terror Rack looked like a total death trap so that was avoided whereas Voltar and Obliterator were both closed all day.

There are also two dark rides. Shreiksville is a decent ghost train and Tommy Tinkaboo Boat Ride is a delightful little boat ride full of bright colourful scenes. Oh and despite the fact that this park closes next week there as still more shows than at Alton Towers!

I'm sure some of the rides will find new homes quite easily. The Boomerang would go nicely at Lightwater and they might even be interested in a few of the flats. Hydromax is rather tall so it may be harder for it to find a home but I hope it does as it is an impressive ride.

Finally the staff here deserve a lot of credit. They're all going to be losing their jobs next week so you could forgive them for sulking and not really making an effort. However they were all really friendly and upbeat, a real credit to the park.

It's no surprise the park is closing. Would I have gone if it wasn't? Probably not and that sums it up really (although I'm now really pleased that I did visit). We got in for £11 each thanks to vouchers in a local paper and if you assume that there were no more than 500 guests in the park paying on average that price the takings on the gate can't have been more than £5000. They can't have made much more than that on sales around the park either with lots of people bringing their own food. Even the main gift shop was closed when we left. I'd imagine that they have been operating on a loss for quite a while now.

So there goes, another one bites the dust. Which UK park will be the next to fall?

:)
 
Flamingo Land may take a few flats what with Terroriser/Circulator/Obliterator and Voltar starting off there. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of the Gravitron.
 
It's saddening to see another park closing, I hope the rides can be salvaged and live on in other parks in the UK.

They have to be commended for seeing the season out and going out with a fireworks display.
 
I read on another site that it's rumoured that the boomerang won't be moving far and will end up at Fantasy Island, I imagine they may pick up a few of the other rides as well
 
I think this was my first ever theme park, its always sad to see a theme park go.

Actually hope maybe even Alton pick up a few flats for cheap.
 
Off on Friday, not been before. Not expecting much, with the 3 creds they have (I think) and one is a go gator. Boomerang is apparently decent and the flats look good too.
 
I'll be there Saturday, saying goodbye to one of the two places that sparked my theme park interest as a kid
 
I would have liked to have visited before closure but sadly lack of money is preventing me from making the four hour drive.

It will be interesting to see why happens, the site was previously a zoo which ultimately closed down, it was then purchased by Pleasurewood Hills who were planning to build a second park, this also fell through and ended up being run by Flamingo land and ultimately sold off and now closing down, it seems like whatever gets built on that site is doomed to failure sadly. It's no surprise, Cleethorpes isn't that big and is visited mainly by older people. It's not on the way to anywhere and is quite a trek for most people. Not a great location for a theme park at all really, I'd looked at staying in the summer and there's barely any hotels in Cleethorpes, just a few caravan parks, it's not even a holiday resort really.
 
I think I've seen somewhere that Grimsby Town Football Club are considering the site as a location for a possible new stadium.

:)
 
i think that the Hyperblaster would work well at Alton Towers, as it has a small footprint, packs a punch and isn't too tall.
 
DP ;) but I reckon Hydromax, Hyper Blaster, Boomerang and some of the tiny generic rides should be sold but some other piles should be scrapped

Would Hydromax fit footprint and height on the Submission memorial garden
 
Poisson said:
Would Hydromax fit footprint and height on the Submission memorial garden?
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no, as I'm pretty sure that the support structure would be too wide to fit in that area and the arm's height would exceed Towers' height restriction.
 
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I'm pretty sure it would be quite a bit higher than Oblivion. Also the throughput is nowhere near high enough for Towers.
 
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