The Freaky Dark Rides of Blackpool Pleasure Beach 

Some trivia about the Alice ride. Walt Disney had actually visited Blackpool while touring European parks to plan Disneyland. Years later when Disneyland was a hit he told blackpool they could copy any Disney ride they wanted as a thank you. They picked Alice.

I always laugh at the fact Alice has "I've got a golden ticket" playing as music, and has done as long as I can remember having visited all my life! I've lived here now for 10 years and recently went again, smells exactly the same haha

It's really nice to see what the "low budget" stuff can do. Sometimes we get so caught up in spectacle we lose appreciation for local artistry.

As an American, I really appreciate you making videos highlighting parks outside of the typical U.S. ones. While I of course love the Disney and Universal videos, your analysis of parks like this one are what sets your channel apart.

UK based park goer here, glad to finally see you give some attention to Blackpool pleasure beach. Im an hours drive from the park and went alot as a child so i may be biased, but its my favorite park in the UK. Even though the park has had several reinvention, and visually is different from the park I visited in the 90s, theres still plenty of classic rides, making the nostalgia levels of the park incredible

Walt visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach a lot while researching for Disneyland. He gave them permission to use the Disneyfied Alice as thanks.

The River Caves ride used to have a section (now illuminated purple with the starry ceiling) where it was overlooked by a cafe/bar and also the Gold Mine ride (now Wallace and Gromit) passed overhead on a bridge type section of track. Was a very interesting feature indeed, quite relaxing too as you sat with a drink watching the passengers of both rides pass by. The park, in my opinion has a unique and atmospheric feel during a visit in the Autumn months during the annual 'Blackpool Illuminations'.

As a brit this is gonna be very interesting

This is so crazy - I'm from Blackpool ( I grew up 20 mins from this park ! ) and lived there for almost 20 years ! The Pleasure Beach and the town as a whole has a really interesting history. All the footage made me feel back home. Loved the video !

I'm 59 years of age and 53 years ago when I was 6, my Auntie (bless her soul) took me on 'Alice in Wonderland' it was my first ever ride and I loved it and always ride it whenever I go back up North to Blackpool....Such a happy memory, thank you for this video!

The UK has actually had some pretty good dark rides in the past, such as Terror Tomb, Bubbleworks, Fifth Dimension and Haunted House. Unfortunately, you'd never get large scale dark rides like them in UK parks today, which is sad. Immersive dark rides are really what 'theme' parks are supposed to be about in my opinion.

I might be biased because its my home park and my friend literally works there but we are honestly a one of a kind park. It's like no other place ive visited with such a rich history. Thank you so much for bringing more attention to our struggling towns amusement park!! I'd also like to note, most rides run well and often. but sometimes not. everything is expensive and the coasters hurt but theyre so rich in history its almost forgiveable. and Icon is a very good thrill ride. impressive for what we are. I hope you visit soon and enjoy it!!

Man, I'd be truly thrilled if you started covering old dark rides at various parks more often. There is just such a special vibe to those old rides, no matter how run-down or cheesy they can be. Much like you, I find them really fascinating and am enamored by the charm of those rides, and I'd love to see more of them documented like you have done here. I mean, there are only a handful of original Pretzel dark rides that are still operating (if I'm remembering correctly), so making a series focused on documenting those rides, along with other rides from by-gone eras like that, would be super helpful in preserving them in a sort of time capsule for generations after we (and the rides) are long gone. You're doing a great act of service by preserving the history and documenting those rides at amusement parks all over the world. As I see it, a lot of those old rides are actually historically significant places and should be recognized as such, and maybe at some point they _will_ be recognized. Either way, I feel their history is culturally significant to this whole country (and even for a lot of the world) and deserves to be documented and preserved. I feel like you are one of the very best RU-vidrs when it comes to getting into the nitty gritty of stuff like this, so seeing you help document more of those rides would be awesome. You would leave no stone unturned, and if I were to trust anyone to give an in-depth and accurate historical account of these rides, it'd be you. Really loved this video!

All of these are iconic. I really love the mysterious atmosphere they all have, especially Alice, ghost train and river caves. River Caves especially is very nostalgic for me. Also the park has 4 woodies, not 3. They’ve got a blue junior woodie called ‘blue flyer’

Another wonderful video. Valhalla is one of the those white whale rides that I've always heard about that just know I'll probably never see. It's always cool to hear people talk about it and what is has lost since its opening. I remember when it was opening it was marketed as the ride that couldn't be built in disney or something similar. Obviously it was to catch eyes because it's such an unique dark ride, that looks like you get soaked on. Keep up the great work and good luck out there!

As always a great, well researched and entertaining video. 👍🏻 Your extreme high production standard throughout your videos ist also very noticeable. Really appreciate the amount of work you invest. 😉

Wow, these were awesome and I appreciate seeing different stuff like this. I love your coverage!

So there used to be an amazing, very unique dark ride called "Trauma Towers" which was a walk through experience, through a haunted hotel (from what I remember as a kid, it was pretty scary! With lots of interactive elements) and at the very end, you went into the "dining room" which was a really great themed Tagada ride, which was in the dark and had music/sound effects... and Gargoyles would spit water at you. The walk through portion of the ride definitely was inspired by The Haunted Mansion, and I do believe when the ride closed a few of the props and figures ended up in the ghost train, and I'm pretty sure one of those things was the man playing the church organ (so I don't think he's The Phantom Of The Opera!) he used to be playing the organ in the Ballroom in the hotel, just before you loaded on to the Tagada ride at the end. It was such a unique, and long attraction... I absolutely loved it, and was gutted when it closed (a bit like the Noah's Ark ride!) I have no idea why they did. The building stood there for years as well. I remember as a kid I used to ask staff why it was closed, and if it was coming back and I used to get "fob off" answers such as "we had to close it because water from the fountain shows outside was getting on the floor of the queue and making it slippy" 😑 To that, I said then get rid of the fountains!! Who chooses a fountain display over such a unique one of a kind dark ride. Crazy! I'd love to know what really happened.

i always love seeing you cover parks outside of the us/ones that aren't as well known as disney/universal- it's really interesting to see what's out there

It's wicked to see you talk about UK parks. Blackpool has always been too far away for me to get to easily. My local park growing up was Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea. Beezle Bob's and The Crooked House are honourable mentions

Atleast the new version of Valhalla effects works. Nice to see the ring of fire on the final drop properly work with the fire in the water. Great video.

Yessss, love that you’re covering a local park. I’ve been going to Pleasure Beach for years, and have only recently been on a lot of these older rides, and they’re certainly unique experiences. Great video topic, though I may be a bit biased (Talk about Alton Towers next, this is a threat /j)

This is awesome, id never know it was there without this channel, and im actually working just a few hours (by train) from it, very excited to get over there. And Efteling....and Europa...someday, youve got me overwhelmed.

Great video you’re my favorite theme park channel on the internet, keep up the good work!

Been a fan of your channel for a while now, didn't expect to see Pleasure Beach appear! Growing up, I used to visit Blackpool annually with family. It's incredibly tacky but I love the place! Thanks for covering this! Some of the figures towards the end of the Ghost Train were relocated from Pleasure Beach's walkthrough horror attraction 'Trauma Towers' when it closed a while ago. If you're interested, it's worth watching a walkthrough.

Incredible video Blackpool Pleasure Beach looks fun and reminds me of a classic seaside amusement park and those dark rides look actually pretty good. For me dark rides are my favourite element of any theme parks.

BPB is my favourite park here in the UK, while not the most technologically advanced or new it has a certain charm to it that really give it a great atmosphere, the historical significance of the park is super important and something that the locals find a lot of nostalgia in. Nice to see people outside the UK recognising this park!

i love that youve covered this park. it was an integral part of my childhood. it would be cool if you could cover other UK theme parks like Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, in your future videos. Thank you!

Thank you for taking a trip all the way over to Blackpool. This is one of my closest theme parks and I have many memories of the place as a child.

ayyyy, blackpool! (the amount of childhood memories I have at Pleasure beach, no matter how bad the park gets, you'll never find me hating on it) would love to see another blackpool video someday, there's so much chaos to unpack

Wtf, I stumbled upon your channel a few months ago and have been binging your content. I visited Pleasure Beach 4 days ago and finally got the chance to ride Valhalla (been 3 times in the past but it's always been shut) and thought "I wonder what Poseidon Entertainment thinks about this and other dark rides here" never expected you to actually make a video on it given that it's a fairly small park compared to giants like Disney World and Universal. Great content like always man!

It's always amazing at just literal some parks take the concept of the 'dark' ride. While we here in the states today equate dark rides with silly songs and comedy bits, others really do seem to want to get as many scares out of you as possible. Another great topic you explored.

This is my childhood theme park! I’m not even from that part of the UK, it’s just the best one so we would always be willing to do the drive to get there. I’m going tomorrow actually. It’s so cool to see you cover it. The old coasters definitely have a very unique feel to them. Big Dipper is especially clunky but that’s exactly what i love about it!

I love this departure from your usual content. Dark rides like this are amongst my favorite. Would love to see a compilation of unique dark rides, like the one at FunLand in Rehoboth Beach where the vehicle is suspended.

As a British kid, we used to go here on school trips!! Such good fun and a great video 😊

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is a one of the best classic amusement parks in the world. It’s collection of classic dark rides can hardly be matched. Combine that with it’s coasters, and it’s real Steeplechase ride, you have an all around winner!

Nice Vid. Dark Rides were always my favorite at the fair midway.

I throughly enjoy your critiques and deep dives involving the states Disney and Universal, but I think some of your best videos are ones like these, where you focus on lesser known attractions. It’s interesting learning about these types of obscure attractions and what they bring (Many of which I hope to visit one day)

Wow I've followed this channel for a long time and never thought Blackpool pleasure beach would have a dedicated video, this is probably the closest park I live too and absolutely the theme of the park as a whole is a mix of vintage/tacky/new and living up to every stereotype of a UK seaside resort park, but all this gives it a unique charm.

Blackpool pleasure beach is part of my treasured childhood memories. I still remember the first time I was allowed to ride Alice unaccompanied by my mother who waved to me as I rode up the hill in my Cheshire Cat. On a revisit years later, a ride operator told me he has so many adults riding this today as trip down memory lane. The ghost train riding with my grandparents, happy days😊

River Caves is such a cool ride, and I love the score throughout. On a quiet day, it's a nice one to ride a few times in a row as a way to relax instead of just sitting on a bench. One of my favourite dark rides in the UK even though technically it's nothing special

I like these obscure park dark ride compilations!

Great video! I visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach for the first time last month and was really impressed by the quirky line-up of Dark Rides. Valhalla especially really made the whole trip worth it (even if at times it felt a little bit like getting waterboarded)

Great video, thank you for covering the park! One little thing - The Alice Ride was gifted to the Thompson family by Walt himself and isn't a ripoff

Do you know that Blackpool Pleasure Beach Had an Animatronic Show called the Hard Luck Bears which was Created by Creative Engineering the Same Manufacturer who made the Rock Afire Explosion for Showbiz Pizza in the 80s?

Although it is clear even from a quick popularity sort on your upload page that Disney and Universal videos perform much better, I strongly encourage you to keep making videos on these smaller parks and lesser-known rides. Like it or not, many viewers see your channel as the guy with "cynical Disney video essays", however, it's not too late to diversify your content to continue to expand your audience. These awesome overview videos of some classic dark rides from across the world do just the trick and I'm sure your true core audience will appreciate any video that you release.

Personally i like the valhalla refurbishment. The new audio with narration guides you through the ride's story a lot better. It is still far too wet for a place like blackpool. But at least there isn't the freezing cold in the snow room to give you hypothermia like there was before. River caves is a really underrated ride. It has some nice scenes.

Yeah I love that you make videos outside from Disney and Universal and even more is the way that you have episodes like this that highlight theme parks found in other country's and not just US parks. I myself have sought out just about every haunted houses/ghost trains that I can find and it's extremely rare to find ones that I haven't seen. I've never been to Europe unless you consider Iceland to be a European country, but I'm dying to experience the numerous rides to be found there (Efteling especially!) I'm always interested in hearing from people from other countries to find out views on what opinions they have in domestic theme parks and after reading some comments here it's great to see the same way of interest is shared in the other way around too! Hope that I described that in a way that people can understand what I'm getting at. Anyways I sincerely hope that people continue to come over and enjoy the various American amusement parks and I'm crossing my fingers in the hopes that I get a chance to enjoy Amusement parks around the world. Not to put down the country that I'm from (USA), but I'm irritated with the mindset of SOME (not all) who carry around the opinion that the US is the end all be all in every way and that we're the pinnacle and is superior to everything just because it's here! Sorry for the ramblings friends but a lot of people need to remember that theirs plenty of things outside of this country that are just as neat as what we have going on here, you digg? (Also Currys haunted house in Ireland looks like the

I'm a Blackpool local, i grew up going here and know many people who used to work at the pleasure beach or still work there. The river caves is one of the longest still operating water dark rides in existence which is really neat. there used to be other dark rides like Magic mountain and Trauma towers. Magic mountain was demolished when nickelodeon land was developed. Trauma towers was a thrill ride in a dark ride setting. There's videos online of both attractions if your curious. The pleasure beach has a mismatched collection of old and unique rides but it makes them special as some rides in the park are one of a kind especially steeple chase as three of those rides were ever made, one was closed down. one still exists in i think in California but is now a boat ride vehicle design but still operates while steeple chase is still the only one to keep the original designs of the horses and the flying machines is only one left existing in the world, there were a few made more but all of them closed many years ago while the flying machines is the only operating one still in existence. their dark rides aren't the best but they all have charm and a long history each which makes them special in their own right.

Something I must stress about this video is the disservice to Valhalla. As someone who has been around during all of it's lifetime and been visiting it throughout that period. 1. The water used to set on fire at the arrow section. 2. The boat also used to set on fire after the first major drop (water tunnel drop after the backwards drop) 3. It easily has the best soundtrack ever my god

I love vids that aren’t about Disney or universal:) *excited*

On the subject of Valhalla, if you want to get the majority of the effects working, or even have a chance of the majority of the vets working, do it as close to opening on the day as possible, as that will give you a much better chance we’re special effects working🙂 It certainly seemed to work for me when I was there a month ago, I actually think there are some changes in the reimagined version actually better than what came before, but I don’t want to spoil anything for you.

Another good one, Poseidon Entertainment. I've viewed Alice, Thrill-O-Matic and Ghost Train on RU-vid, and genuinely liked them.

There was a wooden framed Wild Mouse there too until relatively recently, went on it once in the 80s and remember feeling in actual danger! Really felt like it would tip you out of the car in places. :O

I went to pleasure beach in early 2020 - mostly to ride valhalla but I didn't know it was closed for refurbishment that day. What a park, the river caves was probably my favorite attraction. there is something in the air in blackpool.

Really cool to see a British park get some love on the channel, being a British theme park lover it’s always been a bit lacklustre going to pleasure beach after growing up going to universal studios, valhalla is definitely the best that pleasure beach has to offer, love the vids keep em up

Love to see you do more uk stuff, love your takes on the US parks would be interested in what u think of our stuff

Blackpool regular here 🎉 The smell of the paint in Alice in Wonderland is one of the most iconic parts of it. I think a lot of theme park going Brits love the janky, tacky things Blackpool has to offer. I love you sharing it with more American theme park people but please do visit yourself before you decide on exactly how you feel. It's iconic and historic .The steeple chase ride is only one of two of its kind left in the world.

I'm glad you make videos about other parks. Lets me see what I'm missing out on! I've been following for a while but I don't remember - have you done in-depth videos of the major parks (Disney, Universal) in other countries?

Nice vid. There are 4 woodies at BPB. You missed out The Blue Flyer, also in the Nickelodeon Land. It was originally called Little Dipper, and then went as Zipper Dipper for a while before it’s current incarnation.

"Alice playing croquet" - glad you clarified what I thought I saw.

The focus on lesser known parks is always fun - I don't think I ever would have found out about Blackpool otherwise! One of my favorite amusement parks is Knoebels, and I don't see much content on it out there :3

hearing you do a deep dive on pleasure beach would actually be kinda cool theres a looooot of history tied to pleasure beach i really love your vids and you doing a park i've been to is very cool. at 5:37 the indoor scene you quickly pass by is actually a mummified monk that used to belong to another pleasure beach ride trauma towers. when that ride closed a lot of its creepier tableaux were moved into the ghost train. a lot of the movie related scenes used to be trauma tower originals too. re the river caves the scene with the stalamites and the stars used to open up to an area which crossed with a restuarunt and the sadly defunct gold mine dark ride. when wallace and gromit took over the gold mine the resturaunt was removed and the river caves was altered to the way it appears in this video it was really nice seeing the old version of valhalla in this video also a moment of silence for the long gone dark rides noahs ark, the gold mine, magic mountain and the greatest show in the world

If I remember correctly, the Tunnel of Love sign at the entrance of River Caves ride was actually put there many years ago for a scene in the british soap Coronation Street and it's been there ever since.

I have Blackpool on my list for late next year. I see so many great things online. I always regretted not going last time I was in Blackpool for a convention

I want to thank you for showcasing an English Park. Blackpool is about an hour away from my home and so it's a piece of home for me! Also the Alice ride was gifted from Walt, and it scared me as a child, I'm not the biggest fan of Alice in wonderland

I really take that that one haunted train ride goes outside so much. I can imagine that in the morning time, it just ruins the dark and scary vibe.

Really enjoyed this one. Would love to see more videos about random theme parks in general. Maybe some in Asian countries too.

Tacky is the absolute right word for Blackpool, hahaha, thats why I love it

Blackpool is high on my list. I hope to make it out there someday and check out the wonderful antique attractions. Long live the weird!

I just visited Blackpool pleasure beach for the first time a couple weeks ago!! The ghost train was one of the first things I went on. Grand National was last because it hurt so badly I didn't wanna go on anything afterwards lmao. It's definitely not Disney's Haunted Mansion but it's really neat considering how old it is.

I feel like me and you have very similar opinions when it comes to theme parks and their rides. I love a good thrill ride, but dark rides hold a special place in my heart and childhood.

Very interesting!

Thank you for doing this video, this is the park that's closest to me.

I remember the ghosr train used to terrify me as a kid. Seeing the janky werewolf brings back many memories

My Father is from Blackpool, my Grandparents lived there until they passed. When I was a child we used to visit The Pleasure Beach almost annually because of this. I've since moved to NZ and only been back a couple of times. Though there is a great amount of history there, I feel there are a lot of missteps in the park. Disney knows when to temper things back (for the most part, I'm looking at you Space Mountain Paris). Its almost impossible to leave the park without whiplash, you need to be an F1 driver not to. Also, saying that Valhalla gets you drenched is an understatement. You come close to drowning. It is a pretty good ride. I was blown away first time I went on it (recently I've been to Disneyland and Splash Mountain kills it). I highly recommend CROCS when riding it. Both times I went I spent the whole day (COLD DAY) with soaking wet trainers. There is NO fun in that.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is definitely on my list of places to visit

I live an hour away from here, and it’s a fun part of my childhood. If you ever need a tour guide get in touch

Love me some Blackpool. The massive purge of classic attractions for the Nickelodeon land was very sad. I wanted to go on Magic Mountain. 😢

I would adore a video on thorpe park or alton towers. Tons to work with.

Fact check: Actually there’s 4 wooden coasters at BPB, as you missed Blue Flyer. Until recently there was also a wooden Wild Mouse, arguably the best of its type in the world.

this was somewhat nostalgiac for me, as I live in UK ad me and my BFF used to go to Blackpool every summer, ofc with a day at Pleasure Beach. I LOVED Valhalla, one of my favourite memories is when at the end of the day, it broke down midway through and at some point the water in the boat began to rise and her dad started to sing My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, I laughed SO hard! (We were planning to come back the next day and bc it broke down, we got free Fast Trak) it makes me sad knowing they remodelled (haven't been in forever), the backwards dip was ICONIC. If you do ever get to go (I hope you do!), we also LOVED The Big One (it was still Pepsi Max then, orz now you know how old I am!). Like, for real, we would queue for ages, ride which lasted a couple mins, then immediately queue again! There's also one called Revolution (still exists). You queue up a set of stairs (it was like never busy when we went) and it starts at the top of a dip, goes down, does a loop, goes up another hill then stops and goes backwards. Short but SO fun!

Dark rides no matter how weird, will always be a comfort for me

The ghost train on the Santa Cruz boardwalk scared the hell out of me as a kid. Wonder if the current iteration would do the same now that I've watched wayyyyyy more horror movies over the... decades since I was last there.

I've always loved the simplicity and charm of the Blackpool Dark rides, i know i have a bias, but they're some of my favourite dark rides in the country.

I'd be interested to see you do a video about the dark rides of Morey's Pier's at Wildwood, NJ. I remember when I was a little kid we walked through the different amusement parks. Although I didn't ride them, I was fascinated by the dark rides. One was a boat ride that went underneath a castle (since burnt down). There was another dark ride with what I remember looking almost like a roller coaster train and had green monsters painted on the walls.

The Blackpool ghost train was one of my favorite rides as a kid .

The statement “A skeleton sexily draped…” reminded me to like this video 😂

The park is worth going to for ICON alone, my 2nd favourite UK coaster under Nemesis.

I can't believe you didn't mention Trauma Towers, a walk around themed to a cannibalistic / demonic hotel. After it closed, many of the scenes were moved to the Ghost Train. It sat abandoned for many years but was demolished in 2018. I only mention this because its one of my favourite rides of all time.

Looks like the coaster from a music video by Madness called House of Fun. Seems a lot of other music videos were made in Blackpool.

When you ride the Alice ride it also plays I’ve got a golden ticket… it’s so bizarre but brilliant

I was in Blackpool a few weeks ago my mum got attacked by a seagull she was bleeding profusely from the head.

Three cavern section in River caves used to connect to a cafe

Valhalla was the best. I got to ride as a child early 2000s and can say one of the best rides then however when i experienced this (multiple/many times) both waterfalls did not stop before the boat passed under getting absolutly drenched both times and the boat had a pool of water guaranteed to have your shoes soaked from the second you board (lol good times). Also when the boat looked out of the cave it litterally hung off the edge and some steam and splash effects could be seen from this happening whilst you were waiting in line to board the ride also the netting was not in place. The fans in the ice cave were no joke but completed the ride fully not got to ride the new version yet but sad to hear that some key elements like backwards drop have been removed.

If you’re looking at more international destinations, I’d love to see your take on Movieworld, both in Australia and Dubai

Ah, I used to go to Blackpool Pleasure Beach all the time as a kid in the mid to late 90s and early 00s because we had family up there. Even back then I could tell everything was a bit dated but I still adored it. Haven't been for almost 20 years and a bit scared to because I don't want to ruin the magic. Just done a bit of googling and I can't believe Wild Mouse is gone! And The Whip! I can understand them retheming the Gold Mine (that thing was scarier than the Ghost Train) and Noah's Ark has also gone, which was always a creepy attraction as well. Valhalla was mind-blowing when it first opened and it still looks cool now; glad to see it's still operational.

this video is mainly about the dark rides but at the beginning you mentioned there being 3 wooden coasters when theres actually a 4th, being Blue Flyer which was built by PTC

The Nickolodean one was The Velvet Coaster as it was upholstered in red velvet - with love from a brit x

Fun fact about Blackpool too, most haunted viisted them and the ghost train is haunted. Its so old, big dipper just celebrated its 100th birthday!