A Staycation in Blackpool: Day 2

This is part two of our recent trip to the northern seaside town of Blackpool. One of the UK’s best and oldest seaside resorts. We LOVE it there but thus far had only ever been for the day. July saw our very first overnight trip making it into a little staycation in Blackpool and this post is what we got up to on day two! You can check out what we got up to in our day one post.

Our Staycation in Blackpool.

staycation in blackpool mission picture

Would day two live up to day one standards? Can you really have that much fun in Blackpool when staying for more than one day?

I would soon find out as my alarm heralded the start of our day at 8.30 am. Trying not to bang my head on the attic ceiling in our room for the night I commando rolled out of bed and into the shower before waking the girls. Both had promptly fallen asleep at 8.30 pm meaning they should be well rested for another day of fun. That was if I could wake them up and extract them from the bed before our 10 am check out!

I succeeded and the staff at The Hollindales Hotel kindly let us keep our luggage there for the day again as they had the previous day. Very handy for our trip to The Pleasure Beach!

The Pleasure Beach.

I remember going here when I was a kid during my school holidays and I love that I can bring Olivia too. Not much had changed since our visit last year and Olivia knew exactly where she wanted to drag E, my eldest niece first! My first port of call, however, was to locate a locker to put our bags in. I love that you can do this and not have to cart them around all day. We paid £3.50 for a small locker for the day but if I remember rightly from last year, it is around £5 for a day for a larger locker. They are located as you enter the park and also in the toilets opposite the Alice in Wonderland ride. Just don’t lose your ticket!

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Rides.

We just had to go back on the Derby Racer ride first. Luckily as we arrived at 10 am and even though the park was already busy, the queues weren’t too long. We went straight on.

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We aren’t really big thrill seekers and will tend to avoid the bigger rides. I love to watch them but I have long lost my sense of adventure and desire to be terrified out of my wits. It seems the girls are exactly the same. Although given the chance, I think E would most definitely have been in the queue for the big one should I have suggested it!

Nickelodeonland was perfect for us. The Blue Flyer, as we did last year, was ridden four times over the course of the day. An ideal first roller coaster or one for those who prefer to not venture too far from ground level. At less than a minute, you barely have time to be scared anyway.

After a few rides, and a sad attempt at hook a duck (for which you can pay contactless….for hook a duck!) we went for a stroll to see what else was on offer. It was here we managed to win 2kg of Daim bars. 2kg! If you follow my Facebook you may have seen this take up quite a few statuses. We still have some left now. We watched some of the bigger rides from around the park before heading for dinner.

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Places to Eat.

I looked at some of the prices as we walked around the park. All in all, they seemed fairly typical for somewhere like this and not as expensive as I thought. Last year we ate before coming but this year I decided to try out somewhere on the site. There are many stalls and shops where you can grab some quick bites to eat. But in Nickelodeonland is an all you can eat pizza buffet! Ding, ding, we have a winner.

At 11.50 am there were already a few people in there getting a head start on their lunch. I decided that as our train home would be at 6 pm, it would be best to have our main meal now as opposed to grabbing something to eat on the train. It was one of my better ideas. It turned out to be £9 for me (I think) and £4.50 each for the girls for a child’s meal. Child prices include kids up to 12. So they both just made it there. Again they had refillable drinks for £2.50 each.

pizza-and-salad

They had a selection of 4 different pizzas, 2 kinds of pasta and a salad station. So we filled our boots before heading out for some more rides.

Back To The Rides.

We spent another few hours flitting from one ride to the next. The only ride we really had to queue up for was the Grand Prix ride. This seemed to constantly have a really long queue. Also, it is situated opposite the Vimto shop, so guess where we headed after getting off!

The sun made an appearance for a little while and the girls used this an excuse to get on the Sponge Bob Splash Bash ride. This ride has water cannons galore and not only can you squirt other riders but people walking past too. If they are lucky enough they can get you back with one of the static squirters too! Needless to say, they were both well and truly soaked and ended up jumping in the dryer to dry off a little bit.

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What I did notice as I walked around was that the park was clean and tidy. There were plenty of staff around making sure of this and everyone we can into contact was happy and pleasant. We also walked past a lot of toilets and they too were all clean despite the number of people that must use them during the day. And there are plenty of places to stop and grab a drink and to sit down and rest too. I noticed quite a few people purchasing drinks cups to have free refills during the day. This wasn’t something we needed but definitely a good idea if you have small kids with you.

Blackpool Tower Eye and 4D Experience.

You can’t really go to Blackpool without going up the Tower, can you? The perfect way to end our weekend and soak up the views.

Busy as expected, the staff didn’t seem phased and kept everything running like clockwork. I love the 4D show and I think this time, they may have added some bits in since I last saw it? I could be wrong and my memory is failing but having seen it a few times in the past, it seemed to have something extra in it. Either way, still just as good.

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We did have to wait a little a while to go in the lift up the tower though. No matter how many times I go up I still can’t watch as the lift ascends to the viewing platform. Nor can I step onto the glass floor. The girls loved it and I was left standing alone as the crowds milled around me all wanting to have their turn.

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I was more interested in the new bar! Bar 380 is new for me and is definitely a welcome addition since my last visit. I love the idea of having a cocktail whilst overlooking Blackpool and beyond. But alas, today wasn’t the day to be sipping an ice cold Mojito, the bar was busy and the space it took up seemed to condense people a little bit more. The girls also frowned when they realised I had spotted the bar. It seems they didn’t want a cocktail fuelled chaperone that day. But on another day with no kids, I would most definitely be sipping a cocktail at the top of the Tower.

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So we went up. And then up once more. Then up again to the highest viewing point of The Blackpool Tower. I always imagine it to be a bit unsteady in the wind, it was very breezy that day, but I am always wrong. We spent some time soaking up the views and exclaiming at how small everyone was (them not me) below. We then made our way back down to terra-firma and made the most of our last hour by heading back to The Pleasure Beach.

All Good Things Come To An End.

Before long it was time to collect our suitcase and wave goodbye to Blackpool as we boarded the train back to Liverpool. Thank you Blackpool, it may have only been two days but we had an absolute ball! As you can see in our little video below!

*DISCLAIMER: WE WERE PROVIDED WITH A BLACKPOOL RESORT PASS PLUS FOR OUR TRIP. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO IN BLACKPOOL VISIT WWW.VISITBLACKPOOL.COM. YOU CAN PURCHASE A RESORT PASS PLUS ONLINE BEFORE YOUR TRIP FOR £80 PER PERSON. THE PASS LASTS FOR 7 DAYS AND ALLOWS YOU ENTRY FOR ONE VISIT EACH IN THE FOLLOWING ATTRACTIONS; BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH, NICKELODEON LAND, MADAME TUSSAUDS BLACKPOOL, SEA LIFE BLACKPOOL, THE BLACKPOOL TOWER EYE, THE BLACKPOOL TOWER DUNGEONS, SANDCASTLE WATERPARKBLACKPOOL ZOO AND BLACKPOOL MODEL VILLAGE AND GARDENS. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK VISIT BLACKPOOL, MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS AND BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH FOR INVITING US TO BLACKPOOL AND SUPPLYING OUR PASSES FOR OUR TRIP*

6 thoughts on “A Staycation in Blackpool: Day 2”

  1. I have always loved Blackpool,, so much to see and do, but its a place i wouldnt visit on a weekend, because i feel its not family friendly then

    Reply
  2. I have not been to Blackpool since I was a teenager. Reading through your blog makes me want to go again with my own CHILDREN. The Resort pass plus sounds like such a great idea if staying for a few days

    Reply

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