SirDossa
TS Member
Hello all!
I visited Blackpool for the first time in nearly five years last weekend, and thought I’d share some thoughts on the visit.
I went there with my fiancé and her family, and stayed at the King’s Boutique hotel which was ideally located for the BPB. Our stay there was very nice, and the owners were extremely pleasant. We would definitely stay again.
We arrived Friday lunchtime, and spent the day pub hopping around Blackpool. The weather was perfect, and we also did a few attractions on the pier including the spinning Crazy Coaster(think that’s what it’s called) which was a new cred for me. A couple of us also did the Bungee jump sling shot thing which was a good laugh although probs not worth the £20 charge. The sun setting as we did it definitely enhancing the experience though.
We had a few drinks at the Velvet Coaster (why no grill/steak menu?!?) before ending the night at the Casino with varying levels of success.
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and were on park shortly after opening. We were really hoping that everything would be open, but were sadly spited by the Big One and the Big Dipper (although this did open later on in the day). We had noticed work taking place on the Big One the day before, but were hoping that it would be open for the weekend. However, this sadly wasn’t the case. Not an ideal start to the day especially as it was the ride my fiancé was most looking forward to (she hadn’t been on it since she was a kid). It was obvious that these rides being down combined with the hot weather would mean queues would be longer than we had envisaged, but we weren’t going to let this dampen our spirits. Before I go on, I just wanted to offer my thoughts on the entrance ticket policy. We had an 86 year old with us, and a couple of others who just wanted to go on park for nostalgic reasons. They weren’t interested in riding any of the main rides, and I can’t help but think that having to fork £100 for the three of them to have the privilege is completely unjustified and this needs to be re-considered. Experiencing the new ticket system was also frustrating, and I still can’t get my head round why it’s needed for each and every ride.
We started with a few of the more leisurely rides- Wallace and Gromit, River Caves and Flying Machines. The heavens opened whilst we were on the Flying Machines which wasn’t ideal, but Valhalla had opened by the time we came off so thought that we’d get this done whilst already drenched. This was the ride I was most looking forward to as I loved both of my previous rides on this, and was looking forward to experiencing Valhalla 2.0. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. All of us who went on it really loved it, and I was happy to see so many effects working. It’s still a complete soaker (too much so tbh), but those of us who did ride it all came off very impressed indeed. My fiancé’s brother declared it as the best ride he’s ever been on!
We then got some lunch and beer at Loki’s. I had heard good things about the food there, and have to say that it was very enjoyable indeed for Theme Park fare, and the service we received in there was excellent.
After lunch, it was time to get on some of the coasters. Queues seemed to be longer than stated on the app, and it was clear that we weren’t going to get on all the coasters (even with Big One and Dipper still down). We started with a lap on the National, and I have to say I enjoyed it much more than my last ride on it 5 or so years ago. Maybe it was the Beer, but I only noticed one real rough moment which gave my knees a bit of a battering, but other than that I had a lot of fun on it.
We then gave Icon a go even though the queue was spilling out of the entrance. Ops seemed pretty slow despite the 2 train service, and I can only assume this is a knock on effect from Enzo? Icon is probably my favourite UK coaster, and I think it still is after my ride on Saturday. I do wish the launches were more forceful, but it’s still a really enjoyable coaster, and the airtime really makes it.
In between Beer stops, we managed to get a few more rides in- Infusion, Revolution and Steeplechase. I tried talking the others out of Infusion as Big Dipper had finally opened, but they were set on Infusion. Weirdly they all quite enjoyed it, but they don’t really know any different as enthusiasts they are not! I had only ever been on Steeplechase once before, and I enjoyed it much more this time. It’s worth noting that park close was extended one hour until 7 pm. We wanted to get on Valhalla again before leaving, but the queue looked to be an hour or so still just after 6 pm so we decided to leave it.
We closed the day out with a nice meal at the Taj Mahal restaurant which was in the town centre.This was followed by a few more drinks at some other of Blackpool’s finest watering holes. It was also really nice seeing the illuminations on both nights.
All in all, a great weekend was had. There were a few annoying niggles at BPB, but we didn’t let them spoil our day. My last two visits had been off peak with pretty much everything walk on so the ride count from this trip was not ideal, but this definitely wasn’t helped by Big One and Dipper being down (for most of the day).
I really do have a soft spot for Blackpool. I spent many an October half term there as a kid, and it’s always good to be back.
I visited Blackpool for the first time in nearly five years last weekend, and thought I’d share some thoughts on the visit.
I went there with my fiancé and her family, and stayed at the King’s Boutique hotel which was ideally located for the BPB. Our stay there was very nice, and the owners were extremely pleasant. We would definitely stay again.
We arrived Friday lunchtime, and spent the day pub hopping around Blackpool. The weather was perfect, and we also did a few attractions on the pier including the spinning Crazy Coaster(think that’s what it’s called) which was a new cred for me. A couple of us also did the Bungee jump sling shot thing which was a good laugh although probs not worth the £20 charge. The sun setting as we did it definitely enhancing the experience though.
We had a few drinks at the Velvet Coaster (why no grill/steak menu?!?) before ending the night at the Casino with varying levels of success.
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and were on park shortly after opening. We were really hoping that everything would be open, but were sadly spited by the Big One and the Big Dipper (although this did open later on in the day). We had noticed work taking place on the Big One the day before, but were hoping that it would be open for the weekend. However, this sadly wasn’t the case. Not an ideal start to the day especially as it was the ride my fiancé was most looking forward to (she hadn’t been on it since she was a kid). It was obvious that these rides being down combined with the hot weather would mean queues would be longer than we had envisaged, but we weren’t going to let this dampen our spirits. Before I go on, I just wanted to offer my thoughts on the entrance ticket policy. We had an 86 year old with us, and a couple of others who just wanted to go on park for nostalgic reasons. They weren’t interested in riding any of the main rides, and I can’t help but think that having to fork £100 for the three of them to have the privilege is completely unjustified and this needs to be re-considered. Experiencing the new ticket system was also frustrating, and I still can’t get my head round why it’s needed for each and every ride.
We started with a few of the more leisurely rides- Wallace and Gromit, River Caves and Flying Machines. The heavens opened whilst we were on the Flying Machines which wasn’t ideal, but Valhalla had opened by the time we came off so thought that we’d get this done whilst already drenched. This was the ride I was most looking forward to as I loved both of my previous rides on this, and was looking forward to experiencing Valhalla 2.0. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. All of us who went on it really loved it, and I was happy to see so many effects working. It’s still a complete soaker (too much so tbh), but those of us who did ride it all came off very impressed indeed. My fiancé’s brother declared it as the best ride he’s ever been on!
We then got some lunch and beer at Loki’s. I had heard good things about the food there, and have to say that it was very enjoyable indeed for Theme Park fare, and the service we received in there was excellent.
After lunch, it was time to get on some of the coasters. Queues seemed to be longer than stated on the app, and it was clear that we weren’t going to get on all the coasters (even with Big One and Dipper still down). We started with a lap on the National, and I have to say I enjoyed it much more than my last ride on it 5 or so years ago. Maybe it was the Beer, but I only noticed one real rough moment which gave my knees a bit of a battering, but other than that I had a lot of fun on it.
We then gave Icon a go even though the queue was spilling out of the entrance. Ops seemed pretty slow despite the 2 train service, and I can only assume this is a knock on effect from Enzo? Icon is probably my favourite UK coaster, and I think it still is after my ride on Saturday. I do wish the launches were more forceful, but it’s still a really enjoyable coaster, and the airtime really makes it.
In between Beer stops, we managed to get a few more rides in- Infusion, Revolution and Steeplechase. I tried talking the others out of Infusion as Big Dipper had finally opened, but they were set on Infusion. Weirdly they all quite enjoyed it, but they don’t really know any different as enthusiasts they are not! I had only ever been on Steeplechase once before, and I enjoyed it much more this time. It’s worth noting that park close was extended one hour until 7 pm. We wanted to get on Valhalla again before leaving, but the queue looked to be an hour or so still just after 6 pm so we decided to leave it.
We closed the day out with a nice meal at the Taj Mahal restaurant which was in the town centre.This was followed by a few more drinks at some other of Blackpool’s finest watering holes. It was also really nice seeing the illuminations on both nights.
All in all, a great weekend was had. There were a few annoying niggles at BPB, but we didn’t let them spoil our day. My last two visits had been off peak with pretty much everything walk on so the ride count from this trip was not ideal, but this definitely wasn’t helped by Big One and Dipper being down (for most of the day).
I really do have a soft spot for Blackpool. I spent many an October half term there as a kid, and it’s always good to be back.
