Blackpool Pleasure Beach

[Coaster]

Vampire Beach 2016 writeup;

 

I've attended Vampire Beach in 2014, 2015 and 2016; and this year's was the best event yet IMO.

 

The atmosphere in the park was spot on, with a good mix of Halloween music, live acts and the park was busy.  Ride capacity was good, with queues moving fast aside from a few rides, however the staff were working as fast as possible which was great to see.  I feel that PMBO and Grand National both deserve a mention; dispatch times on The Big One were fantastic, and we queued from well below the steps on Grand National; I was expecting to wait 40+ minutes, but we were on within 20!

 

The horror maze was better than last year, however I would love to see BPB introduce at least one indoor, high-calibre horror maze to the event next year.
The use of green netting added to the effect of the maze, as did the actors positioned throughout.  Lighting was also much better with coloured lights throughout the maze, but we did miss the strobes from last year!  I feel that audio could have been used better, as there were sound effects but no music as such, and it didn't seem to be playing throughout the entire maze.

 

The fireworks display was fantastic, The Big One made a spectacular backdrop and I really liked the fact that it was synced to Halloween music.  It was a shame that the smoke gathered too much, but that's my only niggle with the display.
With that said, the earlier closing of rides was a shame, and whilst I really enjoyed the fireworks, I think I'd rather the rides stayed open later; but that's just my personal opinion!

 

There was a Werewolf which drove a vehicle around the park, and then stopped at points and stood up; it was really clever, and drew a large crowd every time it appeared.

 

The live acts created a good atmosphere within the area however we didn't stop to specifically watch them, the area seemed very busy though which was great to see.

 

There was 'Creepy Hollow' in the old Planet Rock building, however you wouldn't get me anywhere near it as I hate spiders/insects!

 

Parkwide theming was much, much better than last year, with lots around the ticket centre, entrance area and extending around the whole park.  There were loads of scarecrows which were very effective.

 

General park shots;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live acts at FY4;

 

The roaming Werewolf was fantastic;

 

Parkwide theming;

 

 

 

 

The Trauma Towers building looked amazing;

 

The Big One makes a superb backdrop for the fireworks;

 

Overall Vampire Beach 2016 was a fantastic event, it was great to see the park so busy and they coped with the crowds brilliantly.  I really hope BPB expand on it year by year.

[Coaster]

Quote

Blackpool, England: Gardeners at Blackpool Pleasure Beach are celebrating after scooping a top award at this year’s North West in Bloom Awards as the attraction was Gold Medalist for Large Tourist Attraction.

It is the 16^th consecutive year that Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been awarded for its gardens.  Although guests visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach for the fantastic rides and attractions, the beautiful gardens and greenery are all part of the visitor experience.

The attraction was praised for its stunning flowerbeds and displays, as well as the hard work and knowledge shown by the three members of its garden team, Ian Howlett, Wendy Maynard and Sergiy Moloshtan.

The North West in Bloom awards have been held annually since 1964 and recognise excellence in horticulture across the region.

On winning the award, Head Gardener Ian Howlett said, “It is a testament to the skill and dedication of the team here that we have won a Gold Medal for an amazing 16^th year running. The guests are always commenting on how great the gardens at the attraction look and we are very proud of them. To get great comments about your work is always very special.”

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Managing Director Amanda Thompson OBE said: “We are delighted to have won this award. All the spectacular floral displays look fantastic and add to the ambience of the attraction for all our guests. Many congratulations to the gardening team for their hard work and making the gardens look so good.”

http://www.amusementparksnews.com/gardens-at-blackpool-pleasure-beach-look-blooming-fantastic

[Ian-S]

Perhaps we'll go there next year, we were supposed to go to Alton but couldn't and by all accounts it was just as well if you've seen some of the complaints on fb.

[PasajeDelTerrorFan]

I visited the Pleasure Beach for the first time this year and I have to say I had a really good experience there! not much to complain about except from the operations which were sometimes quite bad... other than that think it's a great park... and also Amanda if you are reading this then BRING PASAJE BACK TO LONDON!!! 

[Coaster]

There's plenty of footers down already for Construction 2018

[Matt 236]

Project 2018 latest.

Ground work certainly seems to be off to a great start. Can't wait to see all the follow ups to this potentially great ride.

 

Source- Pleasure Beach Experience 

[Coaster]

There's a video with interviews and footage from the area;

https://youtu.be/yYv1AL9g9Oc

 

[Mattgwise]

Awesome. looking forward to following this more than SW8.

 

Confirmed to reach 100kmh. strange that the construction 2018 site still says 80kmh.

[Coaster]

Wristbands are £16.25 (booked online) during Feb/March weekends, fantastic value IMO.

https://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/wow-weekends-at-blackpool-pleasure-beach/

[pluk]

 

Pleasure Beach facebook. It's actually happening!

[Matt 236]

Yes! Bring on the most exciting new ride of 2018!

 

 Can't wait to see this ride being constructed. 

[MattyMoo]

As a supplier of reinforcement mesh and bar, that's one intense mesh double layer there just waiting for concrete, lads.

[Coaster]

An article detailing some of the winter work that's been taking place at BPB:

 

Quote

From the Promenade it’s easy to believe Blackpool Pleasure Beach has been packed up for the winter.

 

But behind the closed gates the park is a hive of activity with an army of painters, engineers, cleaners and handymen making sure everything is ready for the new season.

 

The Pleasure Beach is packed with workers carrying out essential tasks which can only be carried out when the crowds are shut out. In one corner Valhalla has been drained, the boats high and dry while painters work below the waterline

 

At the back of the paint show cars from the Big One and Avalanche are drying having been given a fresh coat, ready for the 2017. The Grand National is also being given a spruce up, scaffolding surrounding the art-deco station building as bags of rubbish, recovered from under the ride and piled up ready for collection.

In Nickeolodeon Land a team of technicians are making sure the log flume is in working order ready for opening day, when punters will be able to enjoy thrills and spills for a cut price. And at the furthest corner of the park a team, in full mountaineering gear and safety harnesses are ready to scale the Big One, their track inspections an essential part of the closed season activities at the park.

 

And amid it all dozens of workers are racing against time to get foundations complete for a new £16.25m rollercoaster, due to open in 2018. Pleasure Beach bosses say excitement is building towards the big opening day.

 

A spokesman said: “The weeks running up to the opening day of the season are always an extremely exciting part of the year at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. There is a real buzz about the place as staff come together to make sure everything is ready on time for our guests to have a fantastic 2017 season. “With February 11 very much on the horizon, everyone is working hard to make sure that the park looks pristine for the big day.

 

“We hope that many guests will join us and take advantage of the half price wristband offer which is currently running.” With opening day just weeks away the park is ready to launch its big recruitment drive for the new season.

 

The annual Job Shop is taking place on Saturday in the Casino Building at Blackpool Pleasure Beach between 9.30am and 2.30pm. Anyone who is interested simply needs to turn up on the day and speak to an advisor. Hundreds of seasonal staff are required to fill positions including ride operators, catering assistants, park rangers and sales advisors.

 

The park opens for WOW Weekends from February 11 until March 26 and then daily from Monday April to Sunday November 5. During WOW Weekends, Unlimited Ride Wristbands will be £16.25 per person when booked online until midnight the day before the visit at www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.comPlatinum passes, offering unlimited rides for every day of the 2017 season, are also available, priced £130

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/video-behind-the-scenes-as-blackpool-pleasure-beach-gears-up-for-2017-season-1-8345684

 

There's a video as well, well worth a watch to see behind the scenes during closed season.

 

It looks like lots of work is happening to refresh the park such as fresh paint on some of the ride trains as well as new paintwork on Revolution, Valhalla and Grand Prix.

[pognoi]

The majority of that is completely standard for every theme park you know. because of H&S laws all rides at all UK theme parks must be inspected which includes a lenghty strip down to nuts and bolts and a rebuild, being inspected at every stage. 

 

I agree, the work that's taking place is great, especially considering they're taking the time to repaint the trains which is a bit extra, but as I say the majority of things going on are just happening because they have to. Of course they're going to be excited for a new ride. It's a new ride; who isn't. But at all parks repaints take place, ride tests have probably already started, and I imagine a lot of gardening goes on. BPB isn't a special case with this, just because they've had an article written, doesn't mean anything. It is nice to hear and see the park get some much needed attention though, as much as I sometimes get repelled by the state of things here and for them then to be passed off as 'authentic' blackpool was my favourite UK park last year so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

 

[Coaster]

Of course, the majority of work has to happen but repainting the rides, trains etc. is something they don't have to do.  Never said other parks don't do the same, just that it was nice to see BPB taking care of the park's appearance.

 

Nevertheless the article (and video) is an interesting insight into the work that takes place during the winter.

[SteveJ]

This is the problem that Towers Loving Care is going to cause. Theme parks never used to have to make a promotion of their behind the scenes work.

 

However places like Alton Towers had been under-maintained and had almost no scenic schemes for so long, that they needed social media to prove to the management that the public do care when things look better.

 

Blackpool and soon most parks will need to showcase similar maintenance works (which may have been going on every year anyway without us knowing, or are so basic that they should be happening anyway) in order to keep up with the image Towers Loving Care are portraying.

 

So it's a good thing if it leads to more improvements, but pretty embarrassing when they dress up basic maintenance as something special.  And when it becomes poor quality work or cheap remedies dressed up as "improvements" and "£800k upgrades" (see Tomb Blaster redo at Chessington), it is truly awful and stops people being able to think for themselves.

[Benin]

It's only the Blackpool gazette, like it actually matters...

[pluk]

Good to see what's going on.

 

Quote

The Grand National is also being given a spruce up, scaffolding surrounding the art-deco station building as bags of rubbish, recovered from under the ride and piled up ready for collection.

 

Hopefully they're not collecting up that rubbish from under the station of Nash station just to put it with all the other rubbish under the rest of Nash. That ride was in a terrible state this year; the horrible condition of the ride itself (which needs a re-tracking and repainting sooo desperately) is bad enough, but that they've stored decades worth of crap under it is dreadful. Beyond the shiny station it really looked completely unloved in a park that I thought was otherwise very well presented. 

[Coaster]

2 hours ago, Wumbamillio said:

This is the problem that Towers Loving Care is going to cause. Theme parks never used to have to make a promotion of their behind the scenes work.

 

However places like Alton Towers had been under-maintained and had almost no scenic schemes for so long, that they needed social media to prove to the management that the public do care when things look better.

 

Blackpool and soon most parks will need to showcase similar maintenance works (which may have been going on every year anyway without us knowing, or are so basic that they should be happening anyway) in order to keep up with the image Towers Loving Care are portraying.

 

So it's a good thing if it leads to more improvements, but pretty embarrassing when they dress up basic maintenance as something special.  And when it becomes poor quality work or cheap remedies dressed up as "improvements" and "£800k upgrades" (see Tomb Blaster redo at Chessington), it is truly awful and stops people being able to think for themselves.

I think the difference is, this article is sharing some of the work that's been done - but not "promoting" it as such.  Personally, I find it interesting to get an insight into the work that takes place over the winter, but not in such an in-your-face way as Towers Loving Care.

 

Blackpool have always carried out cosmetic work to the park so it's not like it is only being done for promotion.

 

1 hour ago, pluk said:

Hopefully they're not collecting up that rubbish from under the station of Nash station just to put it with all the other rubbish under the rest of Nash. That ride was in a terrible state this year; the horrible condition of the ride itself (which needs a re-tracking and repainting sooo desperately) is bad enough, but that they've stored decades worth of crap under it is dreadful. Beyond the shiny station it really looked completely unloved in a park that I thought was otherwise very well presented. 

Grand National needs new trains more than anything else, the current rolling stock are heavier than the ride was designed for hence the track is under much more strain than it would have been in the past.

 

That said, it's one of my absolute favourite coasters and I'd be gutted if it were ever up for removal.

[SteveJ]

Oh yeh there's no problem with this article, but I can quickly see it becoming the norm with social media and British theme park enthusiasts' such misaligned view of how parks run themselves.

 

Parks would be able to promote anything as being well worth the £100s to get in, even if it's practically falling apart behind the scenes, just because look - we've painted over some railings! Or telling people every change they make is "looking much better" even if its just a bodge fix with some cheap contractor or paintjob, etc.

 

Its like rubbish propaganda and it sucks, yet people will fall for it by and large because they don't know (and to be fair, shouldnt be expected to know) how parks REALLY should be maintained.

[Coaster]

Latest Construction 2018 Update from BPB;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XYYXzLVDoU

 

[Matt 236]

There's certainly been a fair amount of progress there, especially on the foundations.

 

I'm assuming the Pleasure Beach Express will be out of action for most/all of the season given it's close proximity?

[Coaster]

On 27/01/2017 at 6:35 PM, Matt Creek said:

I'm assuming the Pleasure Beach Express will be out of action for most/all of the season given it's close proximity?

Pleasure Beach are hoping to have groundwork finished by the time the park opens full time at Easter, so it should hopefully be open from then onwards.

[Marc]

 

Completely unacceptable.

[Benin]

Bet half the train is full of sandbags to boot...

 

This is why Feb half terms end badly, UK parks never seem prepared for the numbers who turn up...