Should Blackpool Pleasure Beach Bring Back Free Entry? | June 2023

Should Blackpool Pleasure Beach return to being a free entry amusement park, or bring back the entry pass? In this video, Scott and Mike give their opinions about this Blackpool Pleasure Beach subject.

[CoasterRob]

Most definitely not everyone wants to do the rides and some cant due to medical reasons but still want to soak up the park atmosphere however i definitely agree with mike to charge a discounted admission so more money can be spent on food and merch some money is better than no money

[topps]

What really annoyed me was that even although you need to pay to get in you still need a wristband/phone app to get on the rides. Why?

[russellb]

Spot on Mike, completely agree, with young children, having a grand parent visit with us, who doesnt go on rides, would make a great day out and a probable overnight stay

[benbradshaw]

The crucial point you make is that BPB is an amusement park, not a theme park. No one is taking grannie on holiday to Alton Towers, but they will take her to Blackpool. A family wont pay £40 for grannie to go in BPB, neither will they dump her outside, hence whole family gives it a miss, probably heading to the piers instead. Simple solution: a £6 entry pass that allows grannie to watch the family have lots of fun and perhaps she gets to go on the train ride and enter the maze. £6 price also deters any dodgy groups from walking in for free. Great vlog guys.

[Owen]

Walk around pass should definitely come back, I’ve had family not come on the pleasure beach because they didn’t want to pay the £38 since they weren’t going on rides. E-tickets have gotta go, they’re just a hassle and slow down operations with how long they take from getting your phone out and however long it takes to scan it(if it even works at all) i was stood in the Avalanche queue and it took 3 minutes for the reader to scan my E-ticket

[stevieg]

I think they should bring back the £5-£10 walking fee which includes river caves, pleasure beach express and the maze because pleasure beach was known to bring in the entire family, kids, parents and grandparent's. The grandparent's used to like watching the classic rides go around and watching the big one and then go see Hot Ice in the afternoon. They aren't going bother if they have to pay £50 to get in. To get reduced prices now you have to plan in advanced where as going pleasure beach wasn't really planned. It was go for a treat kind of thing.
I agree school holidays should be open until 7pm minimum i reckon then 9pm friday - saturday.

[seprishere]

I think there should be a non-rider ticket of some form, either free or cheap (say £10 or less), perhaps with the option to buy ride tickets. Would be very useful for older family members, or people only in Blackpool for the day and doing other things while there.

[jasonjones]

From a differenr perspective, used to get a walk around pass as part of the hot ice ticket, used to bring elderly relatives and it meant we could get dinner before hand and do a few of the side shows. Since the pass has been withdrawn we do the same, but its a town centre restaurant and the piers that get the money now.

[keithsmith]

For me it's not so much the price aswell .but the closing time is shocking .I really miss the rides .but to pay the amount they want and to close at 5 is just nuts .my 2 local l fair grounds nr me close at 10pm . ..I remember the good old days of the pleasure beach walk in and the place still used to be open at midnight .

[lordkeith.]

I used to love the pleasure beach back in the day, I was never one of those I must ride every ride, but I used to really enjoy spending the day out walking around taking in the ambience of the pleasure beach, the sounds of excitement and fun was great for me, I used to spend a good £100 in drinks and food and my nephews and nieces went on the rides along with disabled brother, he loved the mini railway, the daisy cups and one of his favourites was the turtle chase, after they decided to stop people walking around freely, he refused to go back, sadly he isn’t with us anymore and I would love to visit in his memory, we even live just a few miles up the tram tracks from Blackpool but I still refuse to visit whilst they are charging, it isn’t as you say a theme park, it’s just a seaside pleasure beach, it’s meant for people to have fun, not to pick people’s pockets on a daily basis, im pretty sure that Mr Thompson would be turning in his grave, May he R.I.P.

[ThethmanFC]

Brilliant video. I remember not so long ago we went to pleasure beach and my other half was 6 months pregnant and wasn’t planning on going on anything for obvious reasons! Still had to pay full whack to hold bags so the rest of the family go on. Absolutely bonkers.

[MusicRelatedCandy]

All great points made. I think a local residents discount would be a good idea. Sandcastle has one and definitely encouraged me to go there recently!

[justgaming]

look agree to an extent, but lets be honest, wasnt for money they stopped free entry years ago, it was to stop the trouble, same why the night riding is few and far between. free entry means any rocket or chav can just be treating the place as a hang out. Defo agree on non riders getting a cheaper pass, completely agree on that. But to have free entry and constant night riding would mean the park is basically unsafe and BPB will need spend an absolute fortune on security and im sure the police would have concerns about that aswell. Things are just more tightly controlled and considered nowadays im afraid. Also getting good staffing levels, the correct standard of staff especially in security is extremely difficult in todays world

[RogEdwardsTV]

They need to do this NOW. I’m biased. When I was a teenager I went to BPB every day. It was free to walk round. I would sometimes just play on the Defender or Pac-Man machines. Other days I’d do a few rides. I’d always buy food. If I’d had to pay to enter I wouldn’t have gone. They’d have lost the money I spent.

Jump forward 30 years and if I go to BPB with the family - my wife has no interest in the rides so why would we pay full fee for her to go? So as a family we won’t go. By all means charge a token fee to walk around, but expecting people to pay full fees to walk around is why the park is empty on Bank Holidays.

The fact someone as business savvy as Amanda Thompson can’t see this is utterly beyond me.

Great video Scott and Mike! 👍🏻

[boblaw]

First of all thanks for making this, , I have to agree with everything you both said from the opening times to the entry price, and at last someone who says the same as me PB is an amusement park in a family holiday resort not a stand alone theme park so why not cater for family’s who will no doubt spend money while in there.

[HolyFreakinDragonSlayer]

I agree with the 5 quid entry pass. Funny enough I mentioned it to one of the security staff just after covid as I wanted to just run in and purchase something I'd missed from the icon gift shop and was told I'd have to pay a full price park admission again (kinda knew it was gonna happen but was worth a walk up n asking at the time) also taking into account families with disabled members or people on certain medication who may not want or be able to ride but make family memories with a day on park and have to spend the 40 -50 quid entry fee. Great video guys, I'm glad you have brought this for discussion.

[Northernlightshow]

As a family of 3 and our lad is 6, the prices make it a no go due to the limited rides for him.
Looking forward to taking him when he’s older.
I remember my dad getting reduced books of tickets when I was a kid from his works. How times change.

[Cablesmith]

When you’ve got a family of 4 and often another few friends etc to have a day out with, if only 1 of that group don’t like rides, the whole group is going somewhere else.
If it had the free entry you’d get that group for the day out and the one that doesn’t like rides will happily have a day out, food and games etc.

[sizzlermark]

This seems to be a hot topic at the moment.... I don't see it as unreasonable for say a £5 non rider entry... I'd pay that... I still think it's value for money for the experience

[Mitjitsu]

What annoys me is having to scan tickets every time to go on a ride. If they need to track how often people go on a ride and at what times, then you can easily use turnstiles to count riders.