Blackpool illuminations

[mrsschneebly]

Tell me about them. Are they worth seeing? Is it just down the beachfront or all over the town? It would be a 3 hour drive to get there from our house so I feel like I’d probably need to make a weekend of it and don’t want to pay all that money if it’s not that good!

The illuminations run down the sea front. Starr Gate to Bispham if you go on the tram.

Worth a visit but the lights are not as good as they used to be. Be careful where you park. The Bispham end is probably safer than Blackpool town centre or South Shore end.

The old style b&bs still exist along with theme hotels near the pleasure beach. There are three premier inns close by - one near the airport, one near north pier (don’t think that one has parking) and one in Bispham.

If you want any other info just ask 😀

I went a few weeks ago and was so disappointed. I remember it being quite a thing as a child but they were dull, out of date and pretty boring. My kids had zero interest.

No they’re crap. Nothing like they we’re 15 years ago

Haha I remember being taken with friends to see them when I was about 12 and being hugely underwhelmed!

I don’t think you’ll get many Blackpool fans on here 🤣
If you’re driving three hours I would go for longer and make it more worthwhile. Depending on how old your kids are there’s always something fun to do in Blackpool.

I’d echo the comments above. If you’re local, they’re worth a look but I definitely wouldn’t drive 3 hours for them unless you were wrapping it up with a bigger day out. They’re not that great, and feel a bit dated. Also, check out where to park or stay because bits of Blackpool are very ropey, especially a street or so back from the promenade - one of the few places in the UK where I’ve felt genuinely unsafe at times.

Depending where you live, I’d highly recommend Matlock Illuminations for something different.

Ah I thought as much. What a shame. Matlock is actually closer so that might be more worthwhile. Kids are preschool and primary age.

The Matlock Bath illuminations are lovely for the ages of your children. There is a little funfair in the Derwent gardens & fireworks some Saturdays Tickets do sell out quickly though.
Blackpool is on a completely different scale. My kids loved it a few years ago. We walked a good stretch along the beachfront & caught the tram to see the rest. They loved the arcades and the tower. Personally I’d say it was definitely worth the visit. Mumsnet is a bit snooty about Blackpool so I may be in the minority!

You’ve missed it now but the only thing is go to would be ride the lights
before the official switch on they shut the prom to traffic and it’s cycles only
absolutely rammed but great atmosphere

I used to love going to Blackpool to see the lights as a child and 10 years ago I took my primary school aged children and we had a lovely day at The Tower and seeing the illuminations. I went again last year and I was so disappointed - the town looks dreadful, closed hotels, broken windows and a sense of abandonment and desperation. The lights are nothing like they used to be - It made me really sad.

Glitter on a s#*t

I still quite enjoy a trip to see the lights but it's really just nostalgia for me. It used to be an exciting trip when I was a kid in the 70s. We lived close enough for it to be a day trip but far enough away for it to feel like a real adventure. We'd go to the Pleasure Beach, the Derby Baths, Stanley Park or the Zoo (which was new then) during the day, get fish and chips for tea and then wait very excitedly for it to be dark enough to see the lights properly. When I was very little my mum would put me in my pyjamas and we'd drive down the prom and then straight home by which time I'd be asleep, but when I got bigger we'd do a mixture of walking and getting trams which seemed really exciting. I loved going on the old fashioned illuminated trams - still do in fact! But however we travelled, the whole day was a real novelty for me and I loved it.
I don't think it holds the same appeal for kids today though. They have grown up with so much technology so what is basically a bunch of coloured light bulbs really isn't that exciting! And many children have travelled abroad for holidays from an early age and have far more interesting activities and day trips than I ever did, so a day trip to a northern seaside town in the Winter is unlikely to be the magical experience it was to me as a child.
For us it's a shortish detour off the journey between our house and my PILs these days so we do go most years but I don't think I'd make a long journey specifically to see the lights. As a PP said, you can always find something for children to do in Blackpool and if you go with a positive attitude and realistic expectations you can have fun still, but there's a high likelihood that you'll have somewhere much nearer where you could have a great weekend without hours in the car, so in all honesty, I probably wouldn't bother.

The Bispham one is fine.

They were pretty damn grim in the 1980s, so maybe they got better at some point in between! 😆

Report on local TV tonight asking people what they thought of the lights and nobody said they were good, all saying that they used to be lots better. Not the number of lights there used to be, too much strobe lighting now. L. L. Bowen is Curative Director so I suppose it is his idea of Blackpool Illuminations not the old fashioned ones.