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Blackpool Pleasure Beach | Icon | Mack Multi-Launch

Robbie said:
It's been confirmed today that Blackpool had 400,000 fewer visitors this year than last (mostly day trippers). BPB and Blackpool Council have blamed the train chaos, but that can't be the only reason.
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Is that BPB or the town as a whole, out of interest? Whichever one it is, that's a large decrease, in my opinion.
 
Matt N said:
Is that BPB or the town as a whole, out of interest? Whichever one it is, that's a large decrease, in my opinion.
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It's the whole town/city. Interestingly enough the number of overnight visitors was the same, so it was 400,000 fewer day trippers. I don't think BPB release gate figures, or if they do i can't find them.
 
Yeah Pleasure Beach never actually release their visitor figures - people say it's so no-one is like oh why was there such a big drop off when they swapped to a (bit of a) paid entry model, but that was so long ago now I just don't think they feel the need to release them.

Everyone's saying their numbers are down and not where they need to be after Icon but who knows?

If they didn't hit the numbers you can blame the shoddy marketing and PR though.
 
Day Trippers falling off does suggest that trains were a big factor. In the decades in which Blackpool has struggled more, it hasn't been short of day trippers, rather the people who would stay a whole week. Even in the 80s there were plenty of families that did that.
 
Ben said:
Yeah Pleasure Beach never actually release their visitor figures - people say it's so no-one is like oh why was there such a big drop off when they swapped to a (bit of a) paid entry model, but that was so long ago now I just don't think they feel the need to release them.

Everyone's saying their numbers are down and not where they need to be after Icon but who knows?

If they didn't hit the numbers you can blame the shoddy marketing and PR though.
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The BBC TV News report directly quoted Pleasure Beach as blaming the trains for a fall in numbers, so they’ve definitely had a drop. According to the same report the only Blackpool attraction to see a rise in visitors was the zoo, which is up thanks to the new elephant house and baby animals.
 
I mean, that’s not what your post said - your post said they were commenting on visitor numbers dropping to the town. So sorry if I read your post and took what it said... that quote in the Blackpool Gazette is very cleverly worded not to mention their visitor numbers either they talk about the town as a whole.

Either way they’re not exactly gonna go ‘we advertised our new ride really badly lol’
 
Ben said:
people say it's so no-one is like oh why was there such a big drop off when they swapped to a (bit of a) paid entry model, but that was so long ago now I just don't think they feel the need to release them.
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Would that be why Pleasure Beach was listed on 2007's TEA report as having 5.5million visitors, but then mysteriously weren't present in 2008's version?
 
Having rewatched the BBC News report (on iPlayer here until 6.30pm UK time tonight, 7 minutes in) they compare 1 months drop of rail visitors against the whole summer's drop in visitors. I see the Gazette does a similar job of cherry-picking but if that bus replacement rail drop continued all summer that does account for over half the drop. It's significant the zoo is a place you have to drive to. Blackpool Grand had a poor panto season last year because of the travel issues, it's definitely a big factor in people staying away.
 
Don't forget the weather. Most of spring was a washout, and June & July were so freakin' hot that most of us pasty-faced Brits stayed indoors fanning ourselves and moaning about how freakin' hot it was.
Bet the waterparks did well though.
 
Watching this interview with BPB engineering, apparently they approached Mack, Vekoma and Intamin about the project and it was "only really a fag paper between all of them". Apparently the proposal that Mack gave initially "wasn't that exciting compared with some of the others, but we had a lot of faith in those guys as designers". Nick Thompson was inspired by Cheetah Hunt.

Hmm. So basically we could have had a "more exciting" mini Taron. I am assuming they were much more expensive than Mack or maybe they thought the Mack layout was more family friendly.

And also fun fact: Some initial Mack designs had issues with "exceeding what the train was capable of doing" due to the compact layout so there were lots of revisions.
Confirmation that they've stopped painting the woodies as well.
Interesting.
 
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One of the main reasons they chose the Mack layout over the other two companies was because of the high-5 element over The Big Dipper.
I’d arguably say that’s one of the dullest moments of the layout almost all the time, but when timed perfectly it does provide a brilliant interactive element to both rides.
 
owentaylor121 said:
One of the main reasons they chose the Mack layout over the other two companies was because of the high-5 element over The Big Dipper.
I’d arguably say that’s one of the dullest moments of the layout almost all the time, but when timed perfectly it does provide a brilliant interactive element to both rides.
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*checks pov so I remember which bit you're talking about* I assume it's the bit at the end where it kind of overbanks over it. When you said high-5 I was imagining a rmc style one thinking I don't remember that bit lol! I knew there would be some random reason!
 
The last section of Icon lets it down IMO, the oddly-banked airtime hill and high five look great on paper but aren't taken fast enough to have a good enough effect, meaning that (IMO) you always hit the brakes without that "wow" feeling that you get on rides like Taron. I do appreciate the limited space and the fact they tried something different to utilise the space available, though.

A very interesting interview.
 
SilverArrow said:
Apparently the proposal that Mack gave initially "wasn't that exciting compared with some of the others, but we had a lot of faith in those guys as designers"
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I think the use of 'initially' here might imply that whilst the original layout might have been a bit lacklustre, the park had the mind set on Mack from the beginning so would rather push them to create something more thrilling, rather than snake them out. Because I'm pretty sure the park's been quite close with Mack for a while.
 
elephant58 said:
I think the use of 'initially' here might imply that whilst the original layout might have been a bit lacklustre, the park had the mind set on Mack from the beginning so would rather push them to create something more thrilling, rather than snake them out. Because I'm pretty sure the park's been quite close with Mack for a while.
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Yeah I was just quoting what the guy said as he's unlikely to specify stuff like that but still kind of interesting anyhow.
 
I think it's also no secret that BPB and Mack have a good relationship. Not saying that BPB wouldn't use another manufacturer if the product was better, but you're going to be working with this company for a long time, during a complex project, an existing good relationship can be the deciding factor.
 
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