To not want to go on holiday to blackpool

[opheliacat]

I think dh has lost his mind.

He reckons the dcs will love it?

Will you enjoy it for you- not so much! For them, it’s amazing.

Why should anyone go on a holiday they won't enjoy - especially when it's the adults paying! A day out somewhere "for the kids" is quite different from a long weekend or holiday you suffer through gritted teeth. There are so many different places and types of holidays that it's entirely possible to find something which suits everyone. No need for doing the martyr act.

I was bought up in Blackpool but have lived away since the 1980s so have some attachment to the town. I still have family that live there and did take my kids there on a holiday for a few days a few years ago - stayed at the Hilton which is OK - but not great. It has a pool and a gym which the kids can use. I have stayed at other Blackpool hotels over the years and it was definitely better than them.
At the time my kids were 16, 14 and 11 - they had a good time but expect to spend quite a lot of money doing so - every attraction costs quite a lot. The Pleasure Beach is good value and you can easily spend a day there - the Grand National is still the best old style Roller Coaster in the world. A lot of the negative comments on here are sort of justified but if you get into the right mindset you can enjoy it. Blackpool has always been about hedonism, and it always will be - it was much the same in the 70s and 80s. A week with kids would be a bit much but for a few days it can be good destination - if you embrace it.

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So much snobbery here. Blackpool has had a lot done to it the last few years - massive investment in the promenade, changes to the Pleasure Beach, investment in the arts, a cleaner (lovely!) beach. There's TONS to do with kids in the daytime, you can get out of the way before the nightlife gets going, and if you want fancy/more expensive places to stay, try Breck Apartments in Poulton which is a 10 minute drive from Blackpool but a lovely little village with nice restaurants.

Also, I'm enjoying trying to spot any outraged locals :)

Was ok in the 80s clean , good fun with loads to do! Now it’s dirty and run down ok for a day out perhaps and Skegness is just as bad!

I kind of want to go now to see how awful it is!

I must instruct DS not to tell anyone.

I don't understand how all these people are seeing the place infested with drunk hen dos and what not. We've holidayed there maybe half a dozen times in the last decade or so and have seen none of that, even though we're generally out until around 11:00pm. However, we do tend to do Sunday to Saturday or Monday to Friday so maybe have missed the worst of the weekends.

elburro Blackpool has always been about hedonism, and it always will be

Yes but depends on your type of hedonism.

Sure I get the deckchairs, pleasure beach, candy floss, fish and chips, slot machines.

I think we all understand that.

The parts that are grim are the sex shops, drunkeness, fighting, shouting. swearing, smoking, beggars, pound shops, buildings that are falling apart.
I went to a family firework display on Friday in Blackpool, just beside the tower- 8pm so not particularly late- and I felt unsafe.
Drunk people brawing, staggering around with lighted cigarettes, broken glass and food wrappers underfoot, folk shoving.
I held onto my bag tightly and felt relieved to get back to my hotel room.

Ok the stag and hen parties are out drinking well before teatime so not being there in the evening won't avoid them totally sadly. I'd definately say go there's plenty to do and see but do stay out of town at Ribby Hall.

It's not about being a snob for goodness sake! It's about not wanting to take yourself and your dc to a place that is totally grim and that has some really low standards. There's some much nicer places to visit not far from Blackpool imo.

"And the advice to actually stay somewhere else because it's nicer, don't go out at night, so you can avoid all the vileness, and best of all, adjust your attitude and ideas of what you actually enjoy and want to do, in order to get into it."

Hear hear!

Why the heck would anyone want to spend money going somewhere when you have to do all of that ^^^^

There are hundreds of places in the uk where you can have fun with your DC AND go out in the evening AND actually stay there!

I think you misunderstood me Poppypopcorn- I meant that content wise it’s not my thing, but seeing the kids have such an amazing and fun time meant it was an enjoyable holiday.

SD1978 that wouldn't work for us.

A holiday should be enjoyable for all family members. As much as I enjoy seeing my children having fun, I prefer my own pleasure on holiday to be a bit less vicarious.

As young kids my children would have loved to camp, next to a theme park, with me making hot dogs every night.

Not a chance in hell.

If not wanting my kids to see plastic cocks, wasted stags/hens with pornographic tops on, various amounts of tat for the bargain price of ££££££ when it’s from the pound shop, and spending quite literally hundreds of pounds for the sake of an hour of fun makes me a snob then I guess that’s what I am.

Fleetwood is lovely (biased as I used to live there), areas round Blackpool have lots to do and are really pretty. But Blackpool Prom and the immediate area have been ruined by stag/hen/drunken arseholes. It’s a real shame IMO.

Re "paying to go on the beach"

The Pleasure Beach is not the actual beach - it's like a theme park!

Hope that clears up that misunderstanding

@BMW6 just found your post - the above is for you

The Pleasure Beach used to be free to walk into & you paid for the rides you went on. Now you have to pay to get in but it does keep the annoying little oiks out.

The actual beach, with sand (so much sand!) is free

It's not snobbery not to like somewhere
Even on 999 the police describe it as like the Wild West.

Yes to the op who said Fleetwood is lovely. The beach is great for walking down and there is a play area next to the beach front. But there’s not as much to do in fleetwood as there is in Blackpool or st Anne’s. It’s a shame the council hasn’t really invested in it properly. It’s a lovely town with a deep history of the trawlers and the like. I get all misty-eyed thinking of fleetwood

Haven't been for years! I was there as a child and even then I didn't like it! Though they say Uncle Brian's is a nice place to say....

I remember being about ten and our holidays to Blackpool. We'd go to the Pleasure Beach and the Water Park and it was some of the best memories of my life :) I'd never swap that for holidays abroad when I was younger.

However I went about three years ago, the rides and pier were still great but now it's all stag and hen parties and groups for a drunken weekend so I wouldn't personally go out at night. My relatives went a couple of weeks back Monday-Friday and really enjoyed it (they're in their 70's)

Blackpool has it's redeeming qualities but only okay for a weekend at most. Water Park is a must with kids and the pier and pleasure beach!

Cannot fathom why anyone would want to go there. I went once and it was so dreadful we left early.

What are the other options?

I come from Blackpool don’t live there anymore but family do and the kids love it.
There’s the
Pleasure beach
Sancastle
The tower
Stanley Park
The piers
Tram rides down to clevleys
Lytham which had a lovely outdoor sand water and climbing activity centre
St Anne’s
The zoo
Model village
It isn’t all bad. Lytham and st Anne’s are lovely for a evening out