I’m going there in August from the US. Never been before. I’ll be with my 12 year old daughter and 80 year old mother. Any insider tips and recommendations — places to stay, eat, to do and take a pass— much appreciated. We’ll be there two nights and a full day.
Glad to hear you’re Going Up The 'Pool…
Sorry, but now I can’t get the Jethro Tull song out of my head.
Catchy, and it does have suggestions for you (from 45 years ago):
The candy floss salesman (cotton candy for you Yanks)
watches ladies in the sand…
And along the Golden Mile
They’ll be swigging mugs of tea.
There’ll be buckets, spades and bingo,
Cockles, mussels, rainy days,
Seaweed and sand castles, icy waves…
Deck chairs, rubber dinghies,
Old vests, braces dangling down,
A suntanned stranded starfish in a daze.
Make sure you get some Blackpool Rock
And ride the trams.
Ehhh…
The Pleasure beach itself is fine, but Blackpool is the drunken Hen/Stag night capital of the North, and every time I went there I had an extremely unpleasant encounter with one of them. I grew up about 30 miles away. I remember it being a nice day out when I was a kid, but in the last 20 years or so the nice seaside town has turned into a depressing place full of dingy casinos, street vomit and places selling giant inflatable willies, with a side order of drunken flashers.
Again, the Pleasure beach can be a fun day trip for a kid, and there are other things which are good, but the evening entertainment in the rest of the town is largely decidedly aimed at drunk adults. Especially if you happen to be there on a Friday or Saturday night.
I would definitely advise against trying to have a nice evening walk through town with a 12 and 80 year old. It’s not dangerous or anything, but in my experience it is quite likely to be unpleasant. There’s probably some shows or something on for the evening, and I would suggest booking evening entertainment before you go so you’re not walking round looking for things to do.
If you haven’t already done so, try asking on the TripAdvisor forum:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g186332-i314-Blackpool_Lancashire_England.html
Sadly I agree. The Pleasure beach is great and a pretty inexpensive way to ride to great rollercoasters, especially some classic wooden ones.
But I wouldn’t venture much further than that. It can be a bit of a faded, depressing place. Especially in the drizzle.
Mind you, you are going in August so the drizzle may be a bit warmer then and busier so it may have a kitch-y buzz.
The last time we went with the kids was last October on the way up to see our family in the north-east and we had a fun few hours in the pleasure beach then drove an hour up the road and had a drive through the lake-district which was a delight (and was as much of a contrast as you can get in single day)
Thanks for the responses. We’ll be there sorta by fluke. We’re going to Scotland and found it was quite a bit cheeper and worked better with our schedule to fly in and out of Manchester. I’d heard about Blackpool and kind of wanted to go there, as I’ve always had a thing for leisure time Coney Island type amusement areas. Not enough to plan a whole trip around it, but still, I thought since we’ll be right there, what the hell. I was/am a little leery of the vomit factor, but I figure a little queasy sleazy is an essential ingredient to those type of places. Based on what’s been said however, I’ll make sure to have an escape plan in my back pocket!
Rather than Blackpool which has all the problems stated above.
If you want a theme park to visit you could try Alton Towers.
Oh fine, as a passing diversion for you then it’ll be perfect. I’d still recommend dropping by the Lake District though, and if you are driving up the M6 motorway to Scotland I recommend stopping at Tebay services. Best in the country.
I go to Blackpool 3-4 times a year (gf lives there) so have some insider knowledge.
In addition to the Pleasure Beach for the kiddo there’s Sand Castle, an indoor water park. And central and south piers have rides and such. The zoo is quite good and well away from the seafront throngs.
There’s a traditional circus at Blackpool Tower. Two or three shows a day in August except Fridays when they’re closed. There are always shows of some sort on in the Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre.
Winter Gardens
Blackpool Tower
The first 4 days of August is Rebellion 2019, better known as the Punk Festival. Thousands of punks from around the world decend on the Winter Gardens for a music festival.
For food, Mamma’s and Nunzio’s are good family-run Italian places.
Just up the coast you’ve got Lytham St-Annes (literally the next town along). When you’ve had your fun at the pleasure beach, go to Lytham for a walk around. Its very nice.
waves at One And Only Wanderers
tries (and fails) not to mention the football
what’s football?
Wow What luck! That’s exactly when we’ll be there. At least for the opening day. This little jaunt is looking better and better.
Blackpool and Thorpe are almost must-visit-parks for the hardcore fans of amusement parks like my wife and our friends. 178 of “us” did like 14 parks in 11 days and those are the two most people extended their stays to hit again. The steeplechase is the must-ride IMHO.
Personally I prefer Alton Towers but ---------- Oblivion just is my thing. And the Snail Ride at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. I want to own my own personal snail ride.
It’s surprisingly scary! I’m also fond of the Grand National - proper old-school.
True! The one thing us “colonials” love about parks in the Old Countries (England and GB especially) is the kind of stuff you would never see in this country due to liability issues; we do tend to sue at the drop of a hat. In mainland Europe (I think it was Bonn-Bonn Land in Denmark) some of the rides were basically operated by the patrons; “last person in hit the red button and take your seat quickly”. Us ACErs and Coaster Zombies loved the heck out of all that kind of stuff.
Speaking of Bonn-Bonn Land ----------- all hail the Dog Fart Rollercoaster! 