Blackpool Pleasure Beach Guide

Our Blackpool Pleasure Beach Guide will help you plan your visit to the park.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach opened in 1896. The park was founded by A.W.G. Bean and his partner John Outhwaite. The park has remained family owned and the current managing director, Amanda Thompson, is Bean’s great-granddaughter. The original park was built on the sand dunes along the promenade and consisted of a few roundabouts, a bicycle railway and several Gypsy stalls. However in 1903, after being inspired by a trip to Coney Island, Bean purchased 30 acres of land in Blackpool and set to work on expanding the park. After the impacts of both World War I and II passed, the park has been able to grow from strength to strength. Today, Blackpool Pleasure Beach is home to more wooden coasters than any other park in the UK, as well as a variety of other fantastic coasters and attractions. 

Location

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is located in Blackpool, Lancashire, a seaside resort on the Irish Sea coast of England. 

Address

Ocean Boulevard

Blackpool 

Lancashire

FY4 1EZ

Time needed

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is a full day amusement park. The park can get very busy at the weekend and during British school holidays. During the off-season, the park can have short opening hours so be sure to check opening times on the website before your visit. 

Attractions at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is split into three sections; North Park, South Park and Nickelodeon Land. The park is home to 38 attractions. Many of the rides at Pleasure Beach are built over and under one another, making it one of the most attraction dense parks in the world. Pleasure Beach currently has 10 coasters, 4 wooden and 6 steel. The newest coaster at the park is Icon, a multi-launched Mack steel coaster. The Big One, an Arrow steel hypercoaster, was the tallest coaster in the world when it opened in 1994, standing 235 feet above sea level. The park also has several flat rides, dark rides and water rides.

Many of the attractions at the park are iconic within the theme park community. The park itself is often referred to as a museum for amusement park attractions. For example, the Ghost Train at Blackpool opened in 1930 and was the first in the world and is where the ride name “Ghost Train” originates. Another stand out attraction at the park is Valhalla, a Viking-themed dark flume ride.

Shows at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Hot Ice– Ice skating show performed seasonally at The Arena. 

Ken Webster: Mentalist Hypnotist– A seasonal adult comedy hypnotism show performed by veteran hypnotist Ken Webster. Webster’s show at the Pleasure Beach is the longest-running comedy hypnosis show in the world, which has played at the resort for over 25 years.

Evolution of Magic– A Las Vegas-style magic and illusion show performed by award-winning magicians Craig Christian and Elizabeth Best. Performed seasonally in The Horseshoe.

Different and additional shows are often added each year to the Pleasure Beach Show schedule. For the most up to date information check out the parks official website. 

Top 5 coasters at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

1. Icon 

2. The Big One

3. Steeplechase

4. The Grand National

5. Avalanche

FastPass

Speedy Pass is Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s option for skipping the lines. The Standard Speedy Pass costs £25 per person and gives you the ability to avoid standing in long lines. With this pass you wait the same time as the normal queue without standing in line. A second option, the VIP Speedy Pass, costs £50 per person and reduces your wait time to 10% of the normal queue length. 

Food at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool Pleasure Beach offers a variety of food places to eat and drink. Outlets throughout the park offer food from around the world from Italian to Chinese. More unusually, the park also has several outlets which serve more traditional British seafood items such as crab sticks, prawn cocktails and mussels. 

Coasters is the park’s premium table service restaurant. Coasters currently serves Mexican cuisine such as fajitas and taco bowls. The restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating. We particularly enjoy sitting outside on the restaurant’s balcony where we can take a break from our day at the park, enjoy some nice food and watch the brilliant Icon coaster whizz round. 

Events at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Late Night Riding featuring FY4 Club DJ is the main event that Blackpool Pleasure Beach holds. During these nights rides stay open until 10pm and club music is broadcast throughout the park from 4pm to 10pm. These nights happen several times throughout the year, most commonly on a Saturday. 

Journey to Hell- Freak Nights is the park’s Halloween event, held throughout October. During the event, many areas of the park are themed and full of scare actors. The event consists of a group walk through these zones and then ends with a walk through the ‘Pasaje del Terror’ attraction located by the park entrance. Guests must be 13 or over to attend and guests under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Hotels

Blackpool Pleasure has two onsite hotels; Big Blue Hotel and Boulevard Hotel. The Big Blue Hotel is a family hotel with a four-star AA rating. The Boulevard Hotel, also a four star hotel, opened in 2019 featuring 120 rooms and 10 suites. There are also many bed and breakfasts and a few off-site hotels located near the park. 

Stuff to do nearby

Blackpool is full of attractions outside of the Pleasure Beach. Located near the park entrance is Adventure Golf, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! And the live, interactive and terrifying horror house, Pasaje del Terror. 

Opposite the Pleasure Beach is the famous Blackpool Beach and further down the road is Central Pier and the iconic Blackpool Tower. Other attractions in Blackpool include Blackpool Zoo, the Sea Life Centre, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon Escape Rooms and the Winter Gardens, the country’s largest theatre. 

If you are specifically interested in obtaining an extra rollercoaster credit to add to your coaster count, be sure to ride the ‘Crazy Coaster’ on South Pier. This coaster is only 300 yards from the park! 

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Guide Top Tips

• Book tickets online in advance to save money. You will also save time doing this as you will avoid the queues at the park entrance.
• Remember that you can join a ride’s queue up until closing time, it is the queue that closes not the ride. 
• On quiet days, it is not unusual for the Big One not to open until midday. If you do arrive at the park before this and see that the Big One is closed don’t be disappointed. If you spot that the ride is being teste, it can be a good idea to head towards the coaster as a queue often forms before the ride opens. 
• Weekdays outside the British school holidays are usually very quiet and provide a great opportunity to ride the big attractions with very little wait time.
• Pleasure Beach opening day, usually a Saturday in March, is always extremely busy. This is because the park is usually the first major theme park in the UK to open for the new season. If you do want to go to Blackpool on opening weekend, then remember that the Sunday is often substantially quieter than the Saturday. 

For more information, visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Official Website.

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