Supposedly Britain's favourite seaside resort my first and so far only visit to Blackpool was last here for my boyfriends birthday, we went for a long weekend, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it...we stayed in a cheap hotel, although it was cheap it was simple and clean, just right for getting your head down...
The Pleasure Beach was better than I expected with a wide range of rides, so many we couldn't fit them all in on one day...the pier was so-so and Blackpool in general was in a word FANTASTIC.
The Journey
From Swindon a supposed 4 hour journey, this however was not the case as we left middle of the afternoon (2pm) and hit all the traffic on the motorway. Ended up taking 6 hours!
The general motorway route is M5 then M6 then M55 junction 4. With my excellent map reading skills it was pretty easy to find, and it's well signposted when you reach Blackpool, we kind of stumbled upon the main Blackpool Promenade and then proceeded to try and find the hotel.
You can also reach Blackpool by train and plane.
Hotels
Look up the hotels around Blackpool and there are always great deals and it really has a wide variety, depending on your budget. We didn't want to spend loads on the hotel as we didn't plan on spending a lot of time there anyway.
Our hotel worked out at a great £25 per person per night, and was a small guesthouse, with a bar downstairs. The only downside was probably the shower being down the hallway and so you had to take everything with you to change after your shower or risk running down the hall with a towel wrapped tightly around you.
This did for us though; there are so many guesthouses, literally next door to each other all the way down the promenade. I would advise booking in advance and not just to rely on turning up and finding a place, as you would be surprised how quickly these places fill up on a weekend.
The President Hotel - this was situated right on the front of the promenade and seemed really popular, this looked like a nice place to stay and was one of the slightly more expensive ranging from £35-60 per night depending on the time you go. There website is extremely helpful at there are loads of pictures of the rooms, which look rather posh (oo err)
www.thepresidenthotel.co.uk
Blackpool Piers
The North Pier - Opened in May 1863 and a massive 1,405 feet long, 27 feet wide and built from 12,000 tons of metal.
Central Pier - Started building in started in June 1867 and completed in May 1868.T he pier was 1,118 feet long with an iron jetty (which reached a further 400 feet into the sea) and 24 feet wide. It cost £41,000 altogether.
South Pier - Built from iron and steel, was completed in March 1893
There are many numerous family amusements which line Blackpoll's Promenade & attract thousands of visitors every year with their slot & fruit machines suitable for everyone from families, couples, the young & the old.
You can spend hours having fun playing on the wide range of entertaining amusement machines & games; in turn you get the chance to win
some brilliant prizes from teddy bears, watches & even cash!
Don't get suckered in however, we decided to check out what the South Pier had to offer on our first proper day in Blackpool and ended up spending close to £40 in under an hour, when you walk past the stores, with the massive teddies and get called over to have a go, they really are quite impossible.
We played one which was with darts you had to hit 5 of these tiny stars surrounded on a board with lots of circles and squares to win a big Teddy
The one game we really lost out on was loads of glass jars big and small and little table tennis balls, the bloke even gave us a massive basket of them for a £10 and we still didn't get one in.
This is ok to play as long as you set a limit, then WALK AWAY, don't be tempted to have just one more go. Bless my boyfriend was determined to win me something. Eventually I got a look-alike Winnie the Pooh Ted, which was tiny! lol
We walked on through all the fruit machines and towards the rear of the pier were some rides, a bungee jump of the end of the pier and various other, dare devil rides. Nothing which tempted me however and the prices were no less than £15 which was a bit steep, especially after are expensive walk through the pier.
The Pleasure Beach
It's mission 'make adults feel like children again'. Well this certainly made me feel like a kid again, With any theme park that I tend to go to, I get the excited buzzing feeling of seeing all the rides, the prizes and the big ooo's and aaaa's as you see the people before you going on these rides. Blackpool is quite deceiving as I never realised quite how good the theme park was.
The park is open from March until November, at various times so you would have to check firstly. There website is good for this.
There are two options on the tickets you purchase for the park there are wristbands which costs £30 and these gives you unlimited entry to all the rides or there are tokens and each ride tells you how many tokens you need to get on there, I think they were around £2-3 a token. This would be better if you only wanted to go on a couple of rides, if you want to go on as many as you can as many times as you can then the wristbands are great value for money.
Also on the website there is a discount for buying online and you can get family deals and combined with theatre show tickets.
The Rides
~ Avalanche ~
The UK's only true bobsleigh ride. A unique rollercoaster with a guaranteed thrill. We didn't unfortunately go on this ride, but it looked stunning.
The traditional wooden rollercoaster where World record rollercoaster marathon rider Richard Rodriguez rode the Big Dipper for an incredible three months non-stop, day and night!
This was one of the first rides we went on and it was quite incredible, it's quite a creaky old thing but boy does it go, it's also quite bumpy when it goes round the corners, I was bumping my sides all over the place. Did have a bit of a bruise the next day on this one, but apart from that it was ace!
Height restriction: 46"/117cm.
~ Bling ~
A real experience for riders as they are lifted a massive 100 feet above the ground and spun through the air on giant glittering gondolas in three different directions at speeds of 60mph as the ride pulls 2.5gs. And oh my god did this look amazing. We were sat eating our Burger King watching this go round, up and down, and we queued up for a bit afterwards, but I chickened out at the last minute, I don't think my stomach would have quite resisted this.
Europe's first twin-track racing coaster was constructed in 1935 and remains one of the most popular wooden rollercoasters in the world. This was another rickety looking ride and it certainly was rickety to ride, another bruiser, also over the humps I'm sure we left the tracks a couple of time (eeek)
Height restriction: 46"/117cm.
~ Ice Blast ~
HOLD ONTO YOUR STOMACH!
The first of its kind in the UK, Ice Blast catapults riders vertically up a 210 foot tower at 80mph and thrusts them back again for an incredible hair raising free-fall descent. This was absolutely amazing; I don't know what was worse being catapulted into the air at 80mph hour or waiting to be catapulted into the air. Before I actually experience the ride, I removed my shoes and valuables and sat waiting in the seat, regretting ever agreeing to go on this one. The views however if you can keep your eyes open were amazing. Never again though : - )
Height restriction: 52"/132cm.
~ Irn Bru Revolution ~
Europe's first 360 degree looping rollercoaster. This was a more unusual ride to queue up for we had to climb about 5 flights of steps and were on this platform awaiting this rollercoaster, it didn't seem pretty safe to start with, especially when you get the kids who seem to have no fear, rocking around trying to make this vulnerable looking structure wobble.
This was an amazing ride though first of all you do the loop the loop facing forwards and then you do it all over again backwards. This was one of my favourites.
All I can remember me saying on this one was 'I don't like it, I want to get off NOW' lol
The tallest fastest rollercoaster in Europe. 235ft high and over one mile of twisting and turning at speeds of up to 87mph. This was an amazing ride and one of the scariest of all I've been on. Although you are quite secure, I didn't feel like it and immediately as we started are accent up this 235ft death trap I wanted to get off. But one you must experience if you go to Blackpool, and I recommend you experience it before lunch.
Height restriction: 52"/132cm.
~ Space Invader 2 ~
A rollercoaster with a difference. You fly through outer space in near total darkness, this was another of my favourites lots of little twists and turns and not nearly as scary, but you had that adrenaline feeling without feeling like your going to lose your stomach completely.
Height restriction: 48"/122cm.
~ Spin Doctor ~
A very expensive £1 million Spin Doctor consists of two rotating 'propellers' which spins you 360 degrees through the air to heights of 120 feet at speeds of over 60 mph. We didn't go on this one, but it looked amazing as well, it was really high and it kind of suspended you in the air for what seemed like minutes, I think this put my off a little bit. I seemed to rapidly lose my head for heights.
Min Height restriction: 52"/132cm. Max Height restriction: 76"/195cm.
~ Steeple Chase ~
This looked like really good fun and I wished we went on this one now you could race against your friends on a 3-lane steel coaster ride. You actually sat on these oversized horses, up to two people and raced against two others going round this track, there were straps to strap you in, but I would imagine you would have to hold on tight for this one.
Height restriction: 50"/127cm.
~ The Log Flume ~
The world's longest log flume, this will get you very wet so be warned, I sat at the front, which probably wasn't the best idea, I was also wearing jeans which take ages to dry out and are so heavy when they are wet, so I got my bum and most of my legs soaking, but it was a great ride and so much fun to go on we went on twice!
There is no height restriction.
~ Valhalla ~
This is the biggest and most spectacular water-borne dark ride in the world and was designed and constructed at the Pleasure Beach. Costing a whopping £15 million, Valhalla is a high speed thrilling ride with unique features, highly themed and incorporating a host of multi-sensory elements. Valhalla is the journey to the immortal resting place of Viking warrior souls combining elements of fire, water, snow and ice.
This
Pictures of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Pepsi Max Big One
was huge it was all inside this massive structure which looked like a mountain, there was water rushing down the sides and smoke rising from the top. There were water proof coats on sale (those little plastic ones) but not thinking we would get very wet (naive I know) we decided against these. We actually got wet just standing waiting to go on as little spits of water were coming down from the sides, as we started out on a two by 4 like log flume, there was like a waterfall that we had to go through, but the water suddenly stopped as we went underneath. Then it was all dark with fire flame effects and then it went really cold. We then started a slight accent, seemed to stop right at the top and then go towards an opening in the side of the structure. I thought the ride had broken down and we were going to fall over the edge, but this seemed part of the ride (phew)No joke by the time we had come to the end of massive drops and splashes I was soaked through, I may as well have gone and jumped in a swimming pool I was that wet.
So be warned, I would invest in one of those rain jacket things they were selling!
Height restriction: 46"/117cm.
Children's Rides
We went on a couple of the smaller more relaxing rides like:
~ Dodgems ~
The self-driving bumping and bashing cars, this was really fun and I love going on them whenever I go to funfair or theme park, there absolutely great whatever you age.
Height restriction: 52"/132cm.
~ Chinese Puzzle Maze ~
A walk through maze of hedgerows, this was supposed to be a quick look of what this was like but we ended up being completely lost for about 30 minutes trying to find a way out of this maze, was very frustrated by the end of it (grrr)
~ Flying Machines ~
The first ride at Pleasure Beach constructed in 1904 and designed by Sir Hiram Maxim. We went on this to dry off, it was above a restaurant on a massive like maypole with around 4 like planes which spun around, a very relaxing ride, was a bit chilly in the wind, so don't go on if wet : - )
Other Children's Rides were:
Alice Ride Alpine Golf Gallopers Derby Racer Convoy Ride Ghost Train Go Karts Gold Mine Helicopters Impossible Magic Mountain and loads and loads more...
Indoor Attractions
Blackpool Pleasure Beach also hosted many indoor attractions, if the weather isn't up to much or you fancy something not so full on then there were some interesting weird and wonderful things to do...
~ Pasaje del Terror ~
Dare you enter Pasaje Del Terror, the spine chilling interactive horror experience? As we entered the park there was the entrance to this horror experience, with TV's showing people coming out screaming, they didn't show why or what it was all about, obviously you would have to go in to find out. This wasn't however included with the wristband price and so was extra, we didn't have time to go in and discover what was so horrifying, but it looked really good.
Admission is £6.00 per person.
~ Ripley's Believe it or Not ~
Located on two floors with 8 galleries and 10 televisions. It is fun for all ages. We didn't enter this attraction either, because of the extra we were on a very tight budget at this point, but this looked really interesting and something I would definitely investigate when I go back again.
Normal admission prices are £5.50 adults and £3.50 children/OAPs/Students.
Other indoor attractions include:
4D Cinema - You will need your 3D glasses as you experience water sprays, air blasts, vibrating seats and even leg ticklers!
There is an amazing wide range of places to eat, and also fast food places, if you want to grab something while you're walking around. There are over 35 restaurants offering a variety of great food. Some of them include:
Beach Restaurant - serving hot and cold food, sandwiches and snacks mostly.
These are great for an evening at a show, also a pleasant way to spend a family evening there are a variety of shows that are available to see.
~ Eclipse ~
Showing from 16th June to 5th November 2006.
This is a circus musical, a mixture of elegant and death-defying feats that will amaze and astound, sounds like a must see!
~ Hot Ice ~
From 7th April to 4th November 2006
This is a dancing on ice spectacular, the show is performed by Olympic and world class skaters so it looks promising for a fantastic show.
~ Mystique ~
From 5th May to 5th November 2006
A cabaret of magic and illusion. Starring the famous illusionist Richard de Vere. The slinky, stylish costumes give this show a sexy edge with creative choreography.
We didn't see any of these shows again because of the money, but they looked amazing and would definitely like to see at least one next time.
The prices for this vary if it's an afternoon show the tickets for adults are around £12.50, children also £12.50. Evening tickets are £22.50 for adults. Concessions £14.00 - £20.50.
Nightlife
There are a few nightclubs that are available to go to, we didn't really venture out to them as we were pretty knackered from the day. It seemed quite lively though and soon to be a Casino opening, so I'm sure that will attract the night owls among us.
It was quite nice just to take a stroll along the promenade in the evening and all that fresh air and riding all day took it out of us, so we brought a bottle of wine an enjoyed it in our room.
Sealife Centre
As my boyfriend is in love with the great creatures of the ocean, a great way to spend a day is in the Sealife centre. This is also a great family day as there is so much to see and will keep the kiddies entertained for the day or even afternoon.
There's was a new shark exhibition to see and with some of the worlds finest marine and freshwater creatures that you could see, we walked all the way through an caught some of the feeding times which was amazing to see, make sure you get a good space though as these get quite busy. Also we walked though the tunnel where you can see all the sharks above you, some of them actually sit on the tip, so you are inches away from them. It was an amazing experience and we took some great pictures.
There is also a touching pool, where you get the chance to hold starfish and other little creatures. The whole place is great and was really nice way to spend the day.
We paid £17 for the both of us which aren't too bad; there are family tickets available as well.
There is also a chance to visit Blackpool Tower which is 518-foot, which has a magnificent ballroom, an Aquarium, and a beautiful Victorian ballroom.
Adults - £12.00, Child £10.00
Overall Opinion
I think Blackpool is absolutely fantastic a great way to spend an English holiday by the sea. There is so much to do I didn't even realise, a weekend is definitely not long enough and there was loads that I didn't get round to seeing and doing.
The restaurants are mostly further up towards the North Pier, we were down by the Pleasure Beach and South Pier but there was a tram that was only a couple of pound that took us up the Golden Mile along the promenade. So there was no excuse not to explore.
There was also horse and carriage rides, if you fancied heading up the Golden Mile in style but it was a bit pricey at £15.00 but a very romantic way to do things.
If we had more money more time, then there would have been loads more to do and see. Blackpool is a great family place to go, a great place to go with your mates and as a couple. There is so much going on and it's always getting better and expanding. Soon to open is the much anticipated Blackpool Casino.
I would recommend Blackpool to everybody, there is something for everyone and a place I think I will be going back to again and again.
Thanks for reading. Lisa x
Useful website: www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com
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Advantages: Fantastic rides, fairly cheap, clean and tidy, a brilliant day out Disadvantages: Some of the rides a bit uncomfortable, have to pay extra for some things
Mar 20th, 2006
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