Fans of Blackpool Pleasure Beach have been left ‘hurt’ and disappointed after arriving at the resort on this season’s opening day only to find several of the rides not running.
Thousands of thrill-seekers are expected to descend on the iconic attraction this weekend as it reopens its gates after the closed season.
Teams at the park have been testing rides and carrying out maintenance since November but several, including the resort’s most famous roller coaster ‘The Big One’, have failed to get up and running in time.
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Today (Saturday) visitors were told ‘The Big One’ and ‘The Ice Blast’ will not be running in a series of Tweets on X by the resort’s chief executive Amanda Thompson.
Amanda, who is the great-granddaughter of Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s founder, broke the news in a Tweet this morning that read: “Wishing all the Pleasure Beach team a fantastic 2024 season. Thank you for all your hard work in getting the park ready. I am so sorry the #BigOne isn’t quite ready….. that was truly beyond my control.”
In a further blow she later added in a second Tweet that the ‘Grand Prix’ will not operate this year as the park is planning a new attraction and ‘The Play Station’, known to most as ‘The Ice Blast’, will not be operating until later this season as the resort is still awaiting parts.
Her second Tweet reads: “To all PleasureBeach fans, the Grand Prix will not operate this year as we are planning a new attraction. Don’t ask me any more questions about this, I will tell you when I have made the decision.
“Re the play station or as you all call it the ice blast. That will be operating later this season we are awaiting parts. So stop guessing and listening to ridiculous rumours. I know the facts……. Have a great season with lots of fun and memory making days.”
The news has been met with fury from fans of the park who have questioned why they were not told in advance that the rides would not be open on the resort’s website or social media pages.
One person Tweeted: “Could have communicated it in advance though no? Transparency and all that?
“Charging more today than a 10am-10pm day and one of the signature rides isn’t available and was never going to be available. You must understand how that hurts?”
Another said: “But the park isn’t ready – we left after an hour as all the rides were closing. Terrible start to the season.”
A third added: “Never heard of a place closing an attraction before they even know what’s going in its place – usually it’s kept open as long as possible – but you do you.”
One woman who visited the park today told the Manchester Evening News: “First opening at Blackpool was a big failure. Only ‘Icon’ is on and all the big rides are shut. People are just lookin at all the baby rides. It’s a joke.”
‘The Big One’ ride has failed to reopen due to a sensor malfunction(Image: Dav Cooke)
A spokesperson from Pleasure Beach Resort said ‘The Big One’, which is the UK’s tallest roller coaster, has suffered a sensor malfunction and offered anyone who visited the park today a chance to return tomorrow for free.
They said: “Our teams have been working around the clock to get the park ready for opening. We experienced a delay on ‘The Big One’ ride due to a sensor malfunction. The team is continuing to work hard to open the ride as soon as possible.
“We would like to offer anyone who visited us today the opportunity to return to the park tomorrow, free of charge.”
This weekend’s visitors will also be the first to see the resort’s controversial new rebrand. After being known as Blackpool Pleasure Beach for more than 125 years the park changed its name to Pleasure Beach Resort earlier this year.
The logo has also changed to yellow writing with a navy blue background, a difference in their previous branding of blue writing on a white background.
In February the resort quietly changed their Facebook profile image and website branding triggering public uproar.
Some likened the new logo to Ikea’s branding, whilst others said it looks similar to cash and carry wholesaler Makro, the former video store Blockbusters, and airline RyanAir.
Comments included: “Blockbusters is looking amazing” and “Instantly thought of the MegaBus branding.” Another said: “Will you be serving Swedish meatballs in the food outlets and flat pack merchandise in the shops?”
Some meanwhile focused on the omission of ‘Blackpool’ from the name. One person commented: “Where is Pleasure Beach Resort please? What happened to Blackpool Pleasure Beach? Is it not in Blackpool anymore? What on earth? Why the reason for this odd brand change?”
A spokesperson from the resort said the changes depict a “more modern era” for the company, with the ‘resort’ addition referring to their full offering.
They said: “Pleasure Beach Resort has recently announced our new name which incorporates our full offering. The park will always be the centre piece of the resort, but we also have two large hotels, the Pleasure Beach Arena, The Globe theatre, White Tower Restaurant, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Adventure Golf, WG Beans Coffee, and an exciting array of shows and events in our venues throughout the year, including Hot Ice.
“In 2023, we undertook a large scale research project to fully understand what is important to our current visitors, as well as those who have not visited us in a while. Our change reflects these findings. We are very proud of our history, heritage and location, but we cannot continue to rely on these alone to drive attendance.
“We’re one of the top 10 parks in the world and the top 5 in Europe; the change to Pleasure Beach Resort is aligned with the wider attractions industry and just the start of a more modern era for us.”
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