Blackpool

Our disappointing trip to the illuminations 2012

Best Of IgoUgo

Story/Tip

Quote:

Last month my friend and I made our way to Blackpool for the day with the intention of heading to the arcades, having some tea and then driving through the illuminations. The illuminations are on from September until early November I believe in Blackpool and they are a series of lights which fill the whole promenade and are usually nice to look at when the nights are dark.As we walked down the promenade in Blackpool there were of course people around selling the flashing toys which are always so popular in Blackpool around the time of the illuminations and whilst people do walk down the road trying to sell these to people in their cars we decided to purchase them from the street and were ...Read More

Last month my friend and I made our way to Blackpool for the day with the intention of heading to the arcades, having some tea and then driving through the illuminations. The illuminations are on from September until early November I believe in Blackpool and they are a series of lights which fill the whole promenade and are usually nice to look at when the nights are dark.

As we walked down the promenade in Blackpool there were of course people around selling the flashing toys which are always so popular in Blackpool around the time of the illuminations and whilst people do walk down the road trying to sell these to people in their cars we decided to purchase them from the street and were charged a very reasonable three pounds each for them. Had we purchased them off someone on the road they would have been at least five pounds and so we were happy with our savings.

After we had eaten our tea we got back in the car to drive down through the illuminations and we soon found that the traffic was pretty much at a stand still as we tried to make our way through them. Whilst we know that the traffic is usually bad during the illuminations and worse at a weekend this was the worst that we had ever seen it. What was frustrating was one side of the road seemed to be moving a little better but as we tried to make our way to that side the other side of the road cleared and again we were stuck in stand still traffic. If drivers would just drive at a nice slow pace through the lights instead of stopping there would be so many less issues like this and I do think it is something that Blackpool Council need to look at and perhaps make provisions for.

We were able to make our way towards Blackpool Pleasure Beach to see the Nickelodeon themed illuminations which were characters from SpongeBob squarepants and Dora the Explorer and so the children were pleased with them but we turned round just after these to try and make our way back towards the Tower end of Blackpool and so we had basically to see the same lights we had seen before and as the traffic was so bad it took us over an hour and a half to do this and it was 10pm and the children were exhausted so we had to call it off as a bad job which was such a shame.

There are some lovely lights in Blackpool during the illuminations and the moving ones down past the tower are lovely to look at each year. I love how the Tower is lit up and changes colour and whilst it is a little bit tacky it is a nice traditional thing to do with your family but the traffic problems just make it a nightmare. Whilst we could have left the car on a car park and walked through the lights we felt our children were too small to do this as it is a massive walk to get through all of the lights and so we are hoping to visit again before the lights are shut off and see if we have a better experience. I would say if your child is in a buggy to walk through the lights as it will make your life a lot easier but you will need to wrap up warm as it is always freezing by the sea!
Read Less

Cheer!
Flag

McDonald's Rigby Road

Best Of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "McDonalds, Rigby Road Leisure Park"

Quote:

My friend and I had taken our children to Blackpool a couple of weekends ago with the intention of spending some time in the arcades then going to Frankie and Benny’s for tea before driving through the illuminations. When we got to Frankie and Benny’s at 7.20pm we were told that we would have an hours wait just before we were seated and it wasn’t fair to make the children wait around for an hour before eating as it was already way past their usual time of eating. When we saw a McDonalds just over the road we decided it would make more sense to go over there for some fast food before attempting the illuminations.==McDonalds==I would be quite surprised if anyone hasn’t heard of...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 3, 2012

McDonald's Rigby Road
Rigby Road Leisure Park
Blackpool, England
01253 291908

Cheer!
Flag

Coral Island

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Coral Island, Blackpool"

Coral Island Photo - Coral Island, Blackpool, England

Quote:

==Where is Coral Island?==Coral Island is situated on the main promenade in Blackpool and is down by the tower and so you are unlikely to miss it. From the outside it certainly looks the best of the amusement arcades in Blackpool as it has a large pirate style ship sitting above the front entrance to it and it looks to be quite well presented in a town where you do expect the bulk of the places to be quite tacky for want of a better word.There is a car park very near to Coral Island which you do pay for but it is an excellent place to park and is handy for visiting the beach, the sea life centre, the tower and of course Coral Island.You can find Coral Island itself...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 29, 2012

Coral Island
Promenade
Blackpool, England

Cheer!
Flag

Nickelodeon Land

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Nickelodeon Land, Blackpool "

Spongebob! Photo - Nickelodeon Land, Blackpool, England

Quote:

==Booking and Prices==Given that it is quite expensive to go to the theme park my friend and I decided to use some tesco clubcard vouchers to purchase an adult wrist band each which cost £9.50 in vouchers but if you were to purchase them using cash they would have cost us £35.00 at the time that we went which is obviously peak time. We both purchased a child’s wristband online which cost £20.00 each but this did allow us to go on other rides around the park as well as Nickelodeon Land.==Arriving==We arrived around 10.30am and the park opened at 10am. Times change obviously depending on the season and so it is worth checking out the website before you go. We parke...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 19, 2012

Nickelodeon Land
Pleasure Beach
Blackpool, England

Cheer!
Flag

Big Pizza Kitchen

Best Of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Big Pizza Kitchen, Blackpool "

Quote:

During the summer holidays my friend and I took our children to Nickelodeon land which is situated in Blackpool pleasure beach. It is quite frustrating that Blackpool pleasure beach will not allow you to take sandwiches or drinks in with you for your lunch and so you do need to either eat in the park or head out of the park and get your hand stamped so you are able to return a little later on. We had planned on heading out of the park to eat because we thought that it would be cheaper but whilst in Nickelodeon land we noticed the Big Pizza Kitchen which offered all you could eat lunch and decided to try there instead. The restaurant opens at 11am and shuts an hour before the rides shut ...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on September 19, 2012

Big Pizza Kitchen
Pleasure Beach, Flylde Coast
Blackpool, Lancashire

Cheer!
Flag

IgoUgo

Blackpool Journals

Upload Photos

Write a Review

Create a Trip Plan

Make a Journal

Blackpool

Our disappointing trip to the illuminations 2012

McDonald's Rigby Road

Coral Island

Nickelodeon Land

Big Pizza Kitchen

About the Writer

More Journals by louisechackett

More Blackpool Journals

Blackpool Tips & Stories

Popular Blackpool Hotels