Blackpool Pleasure Beach
The big one. Nickelodeon Land covers the primary ages properly while the Big One and the wooden coasters wait for brave older kids. August queues are real; go in expecting them and it is a great day.
Blackpool Central Pier
- Cost
- Free to walk on, pay per ride
- Ages
- 3 to 14
- Where
- Blackpool, Lancashire
- Weather
- Mostly outdoors
- Booking
- Just turn up
Central Pier is the middle one of Blackpool's three, and the one with the big wheel, which stands over 100 feet high. There is no charge to walk on. Rides and arcades are what you pay for, and the rides run on tickets bought at the pier.
Tickets are £1.10 each or 30 for £30, and the pier's own ride list puts most rides at three or four tickets, with the Big Wheel at six. That still makes it a cheap blast: a turn on the wheel, a go on something small, a walk to the end to look back at the Tower. There is an arcade at the front and the Pirates Bay arcade and family bar about halfway down.
Visit Blackpool lists it open from February to the end of December, and the rides run weather permitting. The Gruffalo Clubhouse, Coral Island and Sea Life are on the same stretch of promenade if the weather turns.
What it costs: No charge to go on the pier. Ride tickets are £1.10 each or 30 for £30 (Visit Blackpool's guide price, which it says can change daily). The pier's own ride list puts most rides at 3 or 4 tickets and the Big Wheel at 6. Listed season 9 February to 31 December 2026.
Know before you go
- Buy the 30 ticket strip if you are doing more than a couple of rides. Singles are £1.10 each.
- Rides can stop in high wind, which is not unusual on a Blackpool pier, so have a plan B indoors across the road.
Seasonal: February to December. Check before travelling.
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