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 were expected to descend on the iconic attraction this weekend as it reopens its gates after the closed season, reports Manchester Evening News.
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.
Yesterday (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.
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?”
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.”
A spokesperson from Pleasure Beach Resort 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.
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.
