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Which non-Blackpool seaside park in the UK is your favourite?

Which non-Blackpool seaside park in the UK is your favourite?

  • Total voters
    13
Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Here in the UK, we have quite a number of seaside parks. If asked their favourite, many would probably say Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Most agree that the park is on an entirely different calibre to any other seaside park in the UK, with a highly varied lineup of headline attractions that arguably rivals that of some of the Merlin parks. But it is easy to forget that there are many other seaside parks in the UK other than Blackpool, with the four most prominent ones arguably being Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Fantasy Island, Adventure Island and Dreamland Margate. With this in mind, I’d be interested to know; which of these is your favourite? If you have an alternative pick, do say, but I thought that most would probably pick one of these four if given the choice.

Of the four main ones I just outlined, I’ve currently only visited Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. It wasn’t bad for what it was, but aside from the Roller Coaster, I would say that it mostly had more of a “permanent funfair” type vibe in the same vein as somewhere like Brean than a “proper amusement/theme park” type vibe like Blackpool manages to pull off. I’m glad I went, but it’s not somewhere I have any great desire to return to any time soon, particularly given that I live 4.5 hours away.

But I’d be keen to know; which non-Blackpool seaside park in the UK is your favourite?
 
Of your listed four, I've only done Adventure Island (hoping to improve that this year, perhaps I'll post an update). I went in the height of summer and thought it had a great vibe and made for a pleasant and surprisingly affordable day out. The staff are friendly and high energy to a cringe-worthy level, Rage is a great small park headliner, and while I couldn't stay late on my visit I appreciate their long opening hours.

Having done a few of the small ones on the south coast, I'll throw in an honourable mention for Clarence Pier. It was my last stop on a day of fairly underwhelming seaside parks and completely changed my mood with its great "local" atmosphere despite an uninspiring lineup. Again, the later opening hours are a plus and I particularly liked their use of physical tokens rather than paper tickets or a ""fun"" card. I wouldn't rush back, but worth a couple of hours of your time if you're in the area.

In both cases, I think it's less about the ride lineup with these parks and more about the vibe they manage to create, which can make comparisons a bit unfair (in that visiting early on a quiet day will feel completely different to a lively evening), but I guess good staff and music etc shine through no matter the time.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
Done Yarmouth, Adventure Island and Fanny Island...

Fanny Island wins hands down in terms of hardware.

Why no Pleasurewood Hills?
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I didn’t put Pleasurewood in there because it doesn’t really feel like a “seaside” type park to me, even though I know it is technically very near to the coast. The four I put all seem to share that DNA of being pleasure beach/boardwalk style parks, whereas Pleasurewood feels a little more like a regular inland park.
 
Fantasy Island has some impressive coasters, but to hyperbolise, it makes you want to die - and it's too far for a 'ride the coasters a few times, then get the hell out' trip - annoying, as I think they're getting a new cred this year.

I used to love Southport, but to my horror, I've realised I'm going back twenty years there.
 
They're all really good, I think, but to me, a great seaside amusement park has to have a combination of historical rides and good modern rides, as well as some sort of "structure" to it. My favourite thrill level is also family-thrill (RCDB "Thrill"), so that has a huge effect on which ones I prefer. I like them all, but roughly in this order:

Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach - has a fantastic woodie with a huge 2nd drop, as well as the monorail and one of my favourite dark rides, Snails & Fairy Tales. Clouded by a somewhat-reduced modern line-up. I used to visit in the early-90s when it had the Water Chute, Log Flume and Roller Coaster all at once. I'm not saying it needs a new water ride, but I think it needs another major ride. It also used to have some great Snake Slides and bigger flats such as the Breakdance and Flying Carpet. Whilst I do fear its best days may be behind it, I'm still very attached to the place.

Fantasy Island - a very impressive place, that unavoidably lacks history. They have three dark rides, some good flats and a good balance of coasters. It's nice to see the profiling genius of Millennium Coaster being recognised more, as I think it was underrated in its day. Odyssey is monstrous - perhaps too monstrous, and I wonder if they'd have been better off with a junior hyper or something? Overall, the park was a very ambitious project that I hope gets going again as well as it used to.

Dreamland, Margate - has a great woodie, with good airtime at the back. The 1980s ride line-up, under Bembom Bros, was quite incredible, and I personally very much enjoyed the 2001 era, when they had a Fabbri Frisbee, Maurer Mouse and Schwarzkopf Silver Arrow. It's struggled very much since then, for whatever reason, but as long as they have the Scenic they have a very good and historic ride. Like Blackpool and Great Yarmouth, it does at least feel like a classic amusement park, which is a bonus.

Adventure Island - a nice park, but massively lacks a family-thrill coaster. It has one of the biggest thrill gaps in the UK, in my opinion, with four family coasters and then going straight to "Extreme". Feels more like a theme park than the others, which I'm sure is intentional. I know they've had some good coaster plans in the past, but they're not allowed to build everything they want. To be honest, I thought the park was just as good when it was half the size, as Peter Pan's Playground, and you could visit Never Never Land across the road at night. Truly magical.
 
Matt N said:
I didn’t put Pleasurewood in there because it doesn’t really feel like a “seaside” type park to me, even though I know it is technically very near to the coast. The four I put all seem to share that DNA of being pleasure beach/boardwalk style parks, whereas Pleasurewood feels a little more like a regular inland park.
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Fair enough, it's technically as close to the beach as some of the others, possibly even closer than Fanny Island isn't it? (I checked, it is, roughly 150m vs 200m lol.) But I do get what you mean, maybe it's the entrance location that makes it feel less 'beachy?' Maybe it's the woods that makes it feel more inland? I dunno, but I do see what you mean. 👍

It's irrelevant anyway, the real travesty is that Funder Park was not included... We all know that would be the clear winner here. (I jest, but I genuinely used to love DW as a kid, we'd stay at Welcome at least once a year! I don't remember Funder Park being what it is now, but the Go Karts were there, and they were awesome.)
 
Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach - pleasant enough, and I liked the woodie, but it's a bit soulless after that, isn't it?

Fantasy Island - The big two coasters are good, but god it's a dump.

Adventure Island - Was very busy when I visited (though the creds weren't too busy), but it gave it such a good atmosphere and I enjoyed the few hours I had there.

Dreamland Margate - It was dead here, which I think sapped the life out of the place a bit, but I can see how it would be nice if it had a bit more atmosphere.

So I guess from my experience, Adventure Island wins it. They're all quite a ways behind Blackpool, and definitely well below most of the other 'proper' parks in the UK.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
...the real travesty is that Funder Park was not included... We all know that would be the clear winner here. (I jest, but I genuinely used to love DW as a kid, we'd stay at Welcome at least once a year! I don't remember Funder Park being what it is now, but the Go Karts were there, and they were awesome.)
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Yes! I'm pretty sure I got one of my very first coaster creds there, but I've never been able to find concrete proof that it actually existed!
 
Definitely not Adventure Island.
The park closed for the day before I could ride Rage...and Green Scream had vallied, so it was down and I wasn't able to get on any of the flat rides. Park was only open 45 minutes or so 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Coney Beach Porthcawl was nice but small, they still had Mega Blitz when I went. My first UK seaside park too, on the way to Oakwood.

Joyland was tiny but adorable and I loved the questionable credit that is ❤️snails❤️, I also almost got stuck getting out of the tiny-ass-ferris wheel car, hahaha

Pleasurewood Hills* since we're not counting it? I thought it was fine although I think it's expanded immensely since I was there, pre boomerang.

South Pier was just a credit run after Blackpool closed for the day, although I did do the Waltzer too.

Brighton is still on my to-do list. 3 UK trips down and a fourth in the works and I still haven't made it there. Dreamland is definitely up there as well although to be fair I'm pretty sure it was SBNO 2 of my visits

Blackpool doesn't count for some reason so the clear winner comes in second?

Sooo, based off my visits, I'd go with...Great Yarmouth. Fun woodie + a Monorail ❤️
 
Christ, it's a bit like picking the lesser of the evils these days, isn't it?

I've got to agree with Hixee; Adventure Island has the buzz you really want from a seaside park - the rest are pretty horrible, as far as ambience goes.

If Fantasy Island could kindly donate the 2 Vekomas to Adventure Island, I'll never step foot in Ingoldmells again.
 
Will said:
Fantasy Island has some impressive coasters, but to hyperbolise, it makes you want to die - and it's too far for a 'ride the coasters a few times, then get the hell out' trip - annoying, as I think they're getting a new cred this year.
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That's a bit brutal 😆 I absolutely loved Fantasy Island! It's such a bizarre place. Is the new cred that spinning thing they were putting up last year?
 
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