To go to Blackpool October half term?

[fat13]

Looking for somewhere good for kids. Dh has never seen the illuminations so thought this would be nice. Zoo, sandcastle, beach - but is it really horrific? Wales is the other possibility but doesn’t seem as much on.

Stick to the prom and it's fine. Even better if you avoid weekends...... We used to go for a week every year and would go to the model village, pleasure beach, Tower etc.

Not my sort of place but the kids are adults now and still have fond memories. And the lights really are amazing, especially if you start from top to bottom.

Oh and you can book to go on the traditional trams that are lit up as boats etc. It isn't that expensive either and they look really effective in the dark.

In all the years I've been traipsing to Blackpool and there have been many I can honestly say I've never come a cropper to a drunken lout.

And unless parents are dragging their kids round bars at midnight they won't either....... The hysteria surrounding Blackpool because it's grubby, tacky and Northern is hilarious.

In fact the only place I've had an issue with stags and hens is Bowness on Windermere when we stupidly went on a weekend and ended up on the 555 to Grasmere without realising it was also a bit of a party bus because of all the pubs on the route. There were a group of foul hens on the top deck who I assume were nurses because they were loudly cackling about treating thrush on elderly women. An elderly couple got off in tears. Oh and they abused me for being fat when my dp eventually said something (( fair enough, I am fat. But still))

Blackpool is utterly grim-sorry. I’ve got family there & just dread going. The stuff that goes on there…..keep your kids very close to you.

I live in Lancashire. Blackpool is grim.

Been there once it was grim.

• FrownedUpon

Blackpool is utterly grim-sorry. I’ve got family there & just dread going. The stuff that goes on there…..keep your kids very close to you. *

It’s Blackpool not the upside-down. The ‘stuff that goes on there’ is the same stuff that happens anywhere else.

I take the kids to Blackpool every year during half term in October, missed last year due to covid but they absolutely love it. We live in Ireland so sometimes our half term holiday falls the week before England's and the pleasure Beach is v.quiet, its coincided with half term in England before too and its been quiet midweek too. I went every summer as a child as my granny lived in Yorkshire so I've great memories of there too. Yes, its a little run down but its great fun. We usually stay in apartments which have actually worked out cheaper than hotels, stayed in huge spacious ones in Bond Street last time we were there overlooking the pleasure beach, they were very modern, newly renovated. We usually go for 2 nights and do coral island and the south pier in the evenings and the pleasure Beach one day and sandcastle one day. The kids can't wait to go again, we'd actually booked for this week but due to the delta cases rising and me being pregnant we decided to stay in Ireland and go somewhere but its a shame because I think I secretly enjoy it as much as the kids!

As someone who grew up living on the edge of Blackpool, all towns have their grotty parts. Blackpool can be lovely if you let it. The zoo is lovely, the sandcastle, Stanley Park is such a lovely park. St Anne's beach is lovely but possibly not in October. The Pleasure Beach, the Tower, madame tussauds.

Blackpool is fab but will cost you a small fortune to do all the attractions. And staying nearer lytham isn't snobby it's the safe option. There are many areas of blackpool that you don't want to be after dark. Like bank hey street is where the tower is but it's also one of the most crime ridden spots in uk.

My parents owned a B&B there many years ago and sold up just at the right time as Blackpool wasn’t the child friendly place it used to be.
It’s been ruined totally by all the homeless people begging for money
and don’t get me wrong I have no problem with homeless people but I do not want to see drug addicts sitting in doorways taking drugs.
It is not the place it used to be which is very sad and until things change i wouldn’t recommend walking about after 11 pm.

My Dad's side of the family are from Blackpool and there are some lovely, welcoming B&Bs that regularly get slated for being cheap & cheerful instead of cheap & yet full of expensive hotel decor & extras.
Blackpool is a brash town, full of activities and old school amusements.
Hiowever, if your children have active imaginations & prefer walking & exploring then lots of the Welsh countryside is perfect. You know your children. Do they want lights & sugar or hiking & talking?
I've taken my daughter to both many times, we have a ball in Blackpool, and different adventures in Wales.

*and yet NOT full of expensive hotel upholstery & extras

I've been lots of times in various holidays.
Would love to stay in the Big Blue!
Also could not be arsed with staying somewhere else. My kids loved walking round at night during the illuminations.
The bit up by the pleasure beach is very family friendly.
Have a great time!

I absolutely loved Blackpool when we went a couple of years ago for a summer caravan break.
It is incredibly tacky but that’s the joy of it.

Yes, it is rough around the edges, much like any “kiss me quick” seaside resorts around the UK.

I used to live in Bournemouth and wouldn’t say Blackpool was any rougher than Bournemouth, but Bournemouth just doesn’t have the same rep as Blackpool (probably because it’s Dorset, darling).

Now Margate was rough, made Blackpool look like Chelsea.

Just booked a Blackpool hotel on the sea front for one night, I can’t wait.

Never been but bring on the lights, tack, fish and chips and arcades. Kids will have a ball.

Are we ok to walk the lights? Don’t think we can be bothered to drive when we are staying so close by.

Oh forgot to mention, booked Tuesday half term!

@MessOfEyelinerAndSpraypaint

I was just going to say my children like both of those things. Variety is the spice of life and all that.

It's obviously not a fancy place but I have loads of happy childhood memories spent in Blackpool and am going to take my kids for a daytrip to see the xmas lights in December. I would do a day trip as originally from Manchester so stay with my parents when I go to visit. There are plenty of child friendly hotels and BnBs. The only issue in October is that it will be cold, so wrap up warm and enjoy yourselves!

Basically most seaside towns in the UK with the sorts of attractions you are looking for are grotty places full of poverty, Blackpool is no better, no worse. I'd just pick the nicest hotel you can to ensure it's at least clean etc, and I dont think I'd go for a full week, just do a long weekend, don't leave yourself time to be drifting around the town itself.

@FrownedUpon

Blackpool is utterly grim-sorry. I’ve got family there & just dread going. The stuff that goes on there…..keep your kids very close to you.

Clearly your family don't think it's 'utterly grim.'

@FrownedUpon

Blackpool is utterly grim-sorry. I’ve got family there & just dread going. The stuff that goes on there…..keep your kids very close to you.

Clearly your family don't think it's 'utterly grim.'

Because they LIVE there!

We also live near Blackpool and went a few weeks ago for the fireworks. It was grim. I smelled people openly smoking weed on the prom on at least 10 different occasions, so that was an education for DS. Parents were screaming and swearing at their kids and dragging them about and the pier was absolutely rammed and some of the stalls had young children working on them.

@Kanaloa

It’s Blackpool not the upside-down. The ‘stuff that goes on there’ is the same stuff that happens anywhere else.

The 'Upside Down' LOL!

@LadyCatStark

We also live near Blackpool and went a few weeks ago for the fireworks. It was grim. I smelled people openly smoking weed on the prom on at least 10 different occasions, so that was an education for DS. Parents were screaming and swearing at their kids and dragging them about and the pier was absolutely rammed and some of the stalls had young children working on them.

You see this is most city - and town centres. Have you actually ever been ANYwhere apart from Blackpool, and your own garden?

@fat13 Ignore all the doom-mongers and haters on here. Blackpool is no worse than any other city or town...

Definitely go. (To Blackpool!)

Bits of it, are a bit grotty, and I wouldn't veer off the main seafront and attractions after 9pm, (as you tend to get a few drunken louts in the backstreets after that time...) But there's loads to do. You can get a 'pass' that lets you into multiple attractions... Ask at the reception desk of one of them, (say, the Tower,) and they will tell you about it/sell you one.

Here's a bit of info on it.

www.visitblackpool.com/resort-pass/faqs/#:~:text=The%20Blackpool%20Resort%20Pass%20is%20our%20original%20pass,SEA%20LIFE%20Centre%20and%20The%20Blackpool%20Tower%20Dungeon.

Even if the weather is a bit 'meh' you can still enjoy yourself, because lots of the entertainment is inside. There are loads of arcades and bars and eateries, and it will be a great place to go for a few days.

Me and DH went last week, and had a great time. The illuminations are fab!!! There is a catalogue surplus place there too around 200 yards from the seafront (in the shopping area obvs,) that has stuff from NEXT, STUDIO, M & S, and a few other big stores, for a third of the original price. I got some real bargains there last week!

Hope you have a lovely time!

(Wales - and its seaside resorts - is beautiful, but I wouldn't go at the end of October, as there will be very few places open, and it's very weather-dependent. So I wouldn't go there right now...)