Blackpool April 2010

Coral Island

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Attraction | "An Island Of Fun"

Coral Island Photo - Coral Island, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool is often said to be the North of England’s Las Vegas and it is true that it can be brash with loads of flashing lights and slot machines everywhere you turn. Coral Island is Britain’s largest amusement arcade and attracts a staggering 4 million visitors through it’s doors each year. It means that it is the biggest and brashest amusement arcade out there but as well as being tacky it can also be a lot of fun.Coral Island is on Blackpool promenade near to the tower and between central and south piers. You can’t miss the building as the outside is decorated in the shape of a pirate ship with an enormous skull and bright green fish complementing this theme. The arcade has several ent...Read More

Blackpool is often said to be the North of England’s Las Vegas and it is true that it can be brash with loads of flashing lights and slot machines everywhere you turn. Coral Island is Britain’s largest amusement arcade and attracts a staggering 4 million visitors through it’s doors each year. It means that it is the biggest and brashest amusement arcade out there but as well as being tacky it can also be a lot of fun.

Coral Island is on Blackpool promenade near to the tower and between central and south piers. You can’t miss the building as the outside is decorated in the shape of a pirate ship with an enormous skull and bright green fish complementing this theme. The arcade has several entrances, each has notices trying to lure you inside whether they offer free use of the toilets, cheap meal deals in the family café or simply tell you to walk through as a shortcut as they are hoping that you will end up spending a couple of pounds once you are through the doors.

Coral Island is largely a family friendly amusement arcade, there is a section with the big prize machines roped off for over 18s only but on the whole they are trying to get families through the doors. The main attractions are a ghost train and a monorail train which rides high around the room and there are smaller coin operated rides for small children. They have a donkey derby where you roll the balls along a chute to try and score points and make your animal win the race which is 50p a shot and always good fun, winners can choose from a selection of prizes to take home.

There are plenty of machines which are suitable for kids, 2p push machines with small trinkets as extra prizes are especially popular and I know many adults love them too as they get to play without losing too much money in the process. They also have grab machines and dozens of games machines where you can win tickets to swap for gifts from the shop. The teenagers will enjoy playing classic arcade games or dancing on the dance mats and the whole family will enjoy the likes of a roulette or horse racing machine. The 2p machines seem to be set so that you can get a fairly long play for £1 worth of coins, you will lose your stake eventually but will enjoy several wins with a bag of 2 pence pieces.

The more serious gambler will enjoy the traditional slot machines which generally take 10p for a roll of the reels or play the drop machines with 10p stakes. I never visited the over 18’s section as I am not a serious gambler by any means and prefer to stick to playing for a 2p stake!

I ended up playing Bingo in the hall at the back of the arcade, you simply turn up and have a seat and it is 20p a go. Luckily the machine detects when you win as someone who is new to the game like me will not be able to keep track of the numbers as they are called out pretty quickly and I also had trouble understanding the broad Lancashire accent. I was really surprised when I went and sat in the bingo section to be brought over a free cup of coffee and sandwiches, I suppose they want to get you settled into a seat so you keep feeding money into the game. Each win at bingo gives you half a ticket which you can swap for the likes of a tea towel or save for bigger ticket items.

Coral Island is loud and brash and a bit tacky, you are highly unlikely to win any great prizes and it would be very easy to spend a fortune in here but it is still great fun! The great thing about it is that it is all indoors so you can hide here if there is bad weather and the choice of machines means that there is something that will appeal to everyone in here. Of course you need to be responsible about how much you spend, set yourself a limit and as long as you don’t have the expectation that you will win big prizes you will enjoy yourself.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 13, 2010

Coral Island
Promenade
Blackpool, England

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Blackpool (General)

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Attraction | "A Short Break In Blackpool"

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I was madly jealous of my friend who got to go to Blackpool every summer when we were kids. I was invited to go to Blackpool more than once as an adult but the seedy image of a holiday resort full of beer swilling Brits wearing Kiss Me Quick hats while they rode donkeys along the beach put me off. I made my first visit for a day in 2008 when we visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the distance meaning it is a four hour drive from central Scotland and we were able to travel there and back in one day. Blackpool was not nearly as seedy as I thought it would be so we ended up booking a short family break in 2009 so we could explore the town more fully.There is a massive choice of accommodation to...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 6, 2009

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Blackpool Tower

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Attraction | "Blackpool's Answer to the Eiffel Tower"

Blackpool Tower Photo - Blackpool Tower, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 after being commissioned by the Blackpool Mayor after he had visited the Eifel Tower and been impressed with its design. This iconic 158m high structure is visible for 30 miles from Blackpool and when we visit the town catching sight of the tower is always a sign that we have almost arrived. Because the base of the Blackpool Tower is enclosed within a huge building, there is lots for visitors to do and see within the tower making it one of Blackpool’s most popular tourist attractions.The first thing that you come across when you enter the tower is the aquarium which was opened in the 1870s while the tower was being built. This has seen better days to be hones...Read More

Blackpool Tower opened in 1894 after being commissioned by the Blackpool Mayor after he had visited the Eifel Tower and been impressed with its design. This iconic 158m high structure is visible for 30 miles from Blackpool and when we visit the town catching sight of the tower is always a sign that we have almost arrived. Because the base of the Blackpool Tower is enclosed within a huge building, there is lots for visitors to do and see within the tower making it one of Blackpool’s most popular tourist attractions.

The first thing that you come across when you enter the tower is the aquarium which was opened in the 1870s while the tower was being built. This has seen better days to be honest and is simply a square room with large tanks of fish around the walls and is rather dark and gloomy. They do have Clown Fish made famous by Finding Nemo and a few other interesting tropical fish and some very amusing turtles. Little kids seemed to love looking at the fish but there’s not much in the aquarium to keep older kids or adults happy for long.

Moving up a level and you have the Jurassic walk and cinema, the walk has huge plastic dinosaurs set amongst foliage. The dinosaurs moved and roared and in one amusing scene a T-Rex was lying bleeding and being eaten by another dinosaur. We did not visit the 3D cinema showing as we did not want to wait for the next show to start but I have got a feeling that this is one that is best for little boys.

The next attraction on our list was the famous Tower Ballroom. Ballroom dancing seems to have fallen out of fashion of late but in it’s heyday was a popular pastime and the TV series Come Dancing was broadcast from the tower. It was like stepping back in time the second we entered the ballroom. The room itself is simply stunning with huge crystal chandeliers, lavishly painted ceilings and all kinds of sculptures in gold on the stalls. The famous Wurlitzer organ sits on the stage and couples twirled around the room in time to the music. There is a café selling cream teas in the ballroom and also a bar so you can partake of refreshments and sit for as long as you like soaking up the atmosphere in this amazing room.

Now it was time to go to the top of the tower. The only way to the top is via lifts which leave every 5 minutes during peak times and look rather ancient, I certainly would not want to get stuck in one of them! The lifts are made of glass and it is brilliant watching the view as you climb higher, you can see the innards of the tower as well as being able to see over to the sea when you get higher.

There are three levels to explore once the lift reaches its destination, the first one contains the Walk of Faith which is a glass floor 380 feet up in the air with views down to the street below. The walk of faith is brilliant, intellectually you know that the glass is strong enough to hold several elephants but your instincts are screaming out that it is dangerous to walk over a glass panel and these instincts are backed up by the outline of a body with the word ouch next to it painted onto a rooftop below! I did manage to walk over the glass floor while looking straight ahead but some brave souls were sitting and lying down on the glass and enjoying the view.

There are narrow staircases taking you up a further two levels. The views from the top of the tower are simply stunning and well worth the climb, unfortunately the views are shielded somewhat by the netting that surrounds each level but I suppose if the netting was not there then some people would decided to jump. You can see as far as Wales and the Isle of Man on a clear day but even looking at the proms and seafront along Blackpool is fascinating.

One of the biggest attractions of the Blackpool Tower is the circus and admission is included with your entry ticket. I will admit that I hate circuses so I went and found myself a quiet café and read a book while my daughter and her friend went in and saw the show. They loved the circus which has a spectacular water finale and also included genuine monks and Mookie the clown and displays of acrobatics. The circus lasts for 2 hours and there are three shows a day.

Other attractions within the tower include Jungle Jims soft play area, an exhibition celebrating Charlie Cairoli who was one of the original clowns in the circus and restaurants and amusement arcades.

I enjoyed my visit to Blackpool tower and there was plenty to keep us occupied for a few hours meaning it is an ideal place to visit on a wet day. It is especially good for kids because they will love the soft play area and dinosaurs but adults will enjoy the ballroom and tower top. An adult ticket currently costs £17 with a child ticket costing £14 so it is an expensive place to visit but considering the amount of entertainment provided is fairly good value. The tower is showing considerable signs of wear in some areas like the aquarium and I read with interest that it has been bought by Merlin Entertainment in 2010 and it will be interesting to see how they change the tower over time.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 20, 2010

Blackpool Tower
The Promenade
Blackpool, Lancashire FY1 4BJ
01253 622242

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Premier Inn Blackpool Central

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Hotel | "A Good Nights Sleep, Guaranteed?"

Premier Inn Photo - Premier Inn Blackpool Central, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool is meant to have more hotel rooms in the town than in the whole of Portugal. The problem with having this level of choice is that it is daunting to know where to look when you choose a place to stay and the horror stories about bed and breakfast landladies were at the forefront of my mind when I was choosing accommodation. I planned to take a short break in April and wanted on site parking and a clean and safe hotel so decided to book two nights at the Premier Inn on Yeadon way for the cost of £50 per night.Premier Inn is the UK’s largest hotel company with over 580 hotels and new ones seem to be springing up all the time. I had never stayed in one of their hotels before but ha...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on April 16, 2010

Premier Inn Blackpool Central
Yeadon Way, South Shore
Blackpool, England FY1 6BF
+44 8701 977032

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Blackpool Pleasure Beach

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Attraction | "A Pleasure Filled Day"

Pleasure Beach Photo - Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England

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Blackpool Pleasure Beach was founded in 1896 with the aim of building an American style theme park which made adults feel like children again and has grown until over 100 years later it is now Britain’s top theme park and rates as the 14th most popular amusement park in the world. I have now joined the ranks of 5.5 million people flocking there annually and have visited twice, the first time in 2008 and we had such a good time there that we were inspired to book a short break in Blackpool in 2009 to visit the theme park again.The Pleasure Beach is situated on Blackpool’s promenade just opposite the seafront. There is some limited parking in the areas around the Pleasure Beach, the last t...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 6, 2009

Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Ocean Boulevard Promenade
Blackpool, England FY4 1EZ
(0870) 444-5566

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