End Of Season: Fireworks & film crew!On Saturday and Sunday, Pleasure Island concluded it's 2013 season with it's popular fireworks extravaganza event once again. However, this year visitors to the event may have gotten their moment of fame on television as the BBC One Show film crew where present at the event on both the Saturday and Sunday.
The crew were filming scenes for the third and final part of the ongoing documentary, hosted by presenter Declan Curry, in which they filmed Pleasure Island at three different times of the season to see how small businesses are coping in tough financial times. The crew made it's first visit during the Easter period on April 1st (the park's opening day), then returned again on August 8th to cover the Summer months and have now made their final visit over the firework weekend, covering the end of season for the theme park. During the first episode, there was disappointment as the park received a poor total viewing figure of 323 guests on it's opening day and when the crew returned in the Summer months, park owner Melanie Wood stated that there was still a lack of guests and the park was struggling to rake in money. However, it seems there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Pleasure Island, as in a recent interview with Melanie she stated that "We've been fortunate in that we've managed to turn things around this year and the future looks positive." Which we imagine will be talked about more in depth in the last part of the One Show documentary, which will air on BBC One in the next 2 weeks. |
The fireworks event itself was brilliant as always and the park was booming with guests. Our only niggle is that this year the fireworks display was not on the lake and had no music playing alongside the display, unlike the previous year. It seemed a bit of a step back from last years spectacular display, however, this years still excelled most other displays in the area by far and it was a very enjoyable night. There are now two things left to look forward to: Pleasure Island will be hosting a Christmas market with selected rides open and a Santa's Grotto; also talks are already in place about a new attraction for Pleasure Island's 2014 season, which was previously stated to be a 4D cinema. We will be bringing you more on this when more information is released. Watch this space!
Join in the discussion on our forum.
Saturday, 9th November 2013 Leave a comment
Join in the discussion on our forum.
Saturday, 9th November 2013 Leave a comment
Pleasure Island to feature on One show for second time this year!Pleasure Island is to feature on the BBC one show today (Monday) or on Tuesday Edit - The clip was broadcast on August 8th, unfortunately Melanie Wood told presenter Declan Curry that they are still struggling to pull in guests and money. The crew also interviewed other Cleethorpes businesses who agree'd that without Pleasure Island the resort would lose a lot of customers. Melanie is not giving up yet though as she plans to add a £150,000 4D cinema attraction to the park next year! After the clip, One Show guest Deborah Meaden from Dragon's Den said she wasn't sure a 4D cinema would manage to turn the business around and seemed willing to go and see Melanie to offer some advice.
Join in the discussion on our forum. Monday, 5th August 2013 Leave a comment |
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Carnival Party Night A Success Despite Travellers Stand Off In Car ParkAfter another fantastic Cleethorpes Carnival, Pleasure Island once again re-opened late from 6 - 9pm for it's Carnival Party Night event.
The park received bumper numbers of guests, with over 1,500 people enjoying the Carnival Party Night at Pleasure Island after watching the Cleethorpes Carnival parade. There was rides in the dark and extra family entertainment also available at the park's McCormack's Bar to satisfy customers. Park owner Melanie Wood told the Grimsby Telegraph "It was great day and we had a really good evening at the park with more than 1,500 people through the gates." "It wasn't sunny but it wasn't cold either and the £5 offer was a good one that many people took advantage of. Hopefully they'll come back." All did not seem so well earlier in the day though as Pleasure Island staff turned up to find that a group of travellers had decided to settle on the overflow car park, situated at the front of the Pleasure Island. The travellers, who have been causing havoc in the Grimsby/Cleethorpes area for the past few months, settled at Pleasure Island at around 9pm on Friday night. The travellers were asked to leave, however, they refused. So Pleasure Island used large logs to block off all exits and entrances to it's overflow car park, with guests still being able to access the main car park. General Manager Neil Ireland told the Grimsby Telegraph "We blocked them in to give them no choice but to get off the land for good – and they were very aggressive towards our staff." "Customers don't want to see them there and it's affecting us at our prime time of business." A member of the public stated that she saw a traveller child throw a glass bottle and a block of wood over the fence at a staff member, and that another child mounted on the roof of one of Pleasure Island's vehicles and rode through the gates on it. They where then removed from the premises by staff. Fortunately the travellers got fed up of being blocked in and decided to leave the car park in the early evening and so did not cause Pleasure Island any trouble when it re-opened late for the Carnival Party Night event. Owner Melanie Wood had vowed that the travellers would not affect early business on Saturday and it seems thanks to Pleasure Island's firm approach, she was correct. Join in the discussion on our forum. Monday, 22th July 2013 Leave a comment |
Carnival Party Night at Pleasure IslandPleasure Island will be hosting the Cleethorpes Carnival Party Night again this year on Saturday, 20th July 2013. This is the third year the park have hosted this event and along with the effort put into this years parade, this years carnival should be just as thrilling as ever!
The Cleethorpes Carnival, first launched in 1976, has been enjoyed by the people of Cleethorpes and beyond for 37 years now and sees many people travelling from afar to come and watch the well known parade, with 25,000 people turning up last year. Last years Cleethorpes Carnival was thought to be the last, but thanks to some sponsorship from Youngs Sea Food, the parade is back again for 2013. This years parade includes 75 floats, which is a number that hasn't been achieved for the parade in many years and among the floats and parades are the Cumberland Giants, Halloween Experience, dancing human sized fish fingers, Lincs Inspire, The Entertainer Toy Shop, Global Twirlers Majorettes, The Pink Berets, Havelock United Group, Bluebird Care, The Grange Together and the Carnival Princess. The parade starts at Sidney Park at 3:30pm and ends at Meridian Park near Pleasure Island after approximately two hours. When the Cleethorpes Carnival parade ends near Pleasure Island at approximately 6pm, the fun of the party continues inside the park, which will re-open from 6pm to 9pm with an entry price of only £10! Join in the discussion on our forum. Wednesday, 17th July 2013 Leave a comment |
20Th Anniversary A day to remember!Pleasure Island celebrated it's 20th anniversary on bank holiday Monday, May 27th 2013 and the party celebrations lasted from 10am - 9pm!
We arrived at the park at 10am and was shocked to see how busy it was. Queues spanned from the ticket turnstiles all the way back to the entrance gates - People were eager to get in! As we passed the ticket turnstiles we got a glimpse of Pleasure Island's very own birthday cake, which was being displayed to guests as they entered the park, it looked brilliant. The day was extremely hot and the sun was shining bright, a perfect day to celebrate an anniversary! As we walked up to the ticket turnstiles, we saw the fabulous giant Pleasure Island birthday cake resting at the side on it's trolley, allowing guests to admire it as they entered the park. Once we entered, we decided to skip the flying chairs ride as mass amounts of people had flocked there and instead we avoided the closer rides and made a dash left to the Africa area to ride the Mini Mine Train! After riding, we exited the ride to find the Africa area was now chock-a-bloc with people - It had filled up so quickly! The Masai Warriors were not performing today as they only perform in the high season, instead we found metal fencing around the front of the Masai Warrior tent, creating a fenced off semi circle. This was one of the places Peppa Pig would be meeting and greeting people, and posing for photos too! Peppa appeared we think it was four times in the day, first at the Masai Warrior tent, then to officially open Furry Friends Farm! At around 1pm, people gathered round the barn at Furry Friends Farm between the Pendulus, Clown Slide and Para-Tower to see the official opening. The front of the barn was now fenced off by a semi circle of metal fencing, after previously being open during the earlier hours of the day. Park director and owner Melanie Wood was present and gave a speech saying "Thank you for joining us for this very special day, it's the 20th anniversary for Pleasure Island and to celebrate that we have a very, very important person here today, or should I say a very important pig. Do you know what that pig's called?" To which the children shouted back "Peppa!" She went on to say "Peppa is going to officially open our new farm." Melanie then got every one to give a massive cheer as the barn doors opened and Peppa Pig appeared, and did a little dance for everyone! The red ribbon was then set up across the barn entrance and Melanie handed Peppa a pair of scissors. They approached the red ribbon and after posing for a few photos together, the red ribbon was cut by Peppa Pig! But it wasn't over yet. Peppa then advanced towards the cake, which was now sitting near to the barn doors, as one of the farms tractor trains ironically travelled past on the elevated track. Peppa then held a knife as if she was cutting the cake and posed for another photo alongside Melanie, the general manager Neil Ireland and two of the farm staff. Luckily the pig then left the cake in one piece and went around the fence meeting and greeting people, and once again posing for photos. The barn was then later opened up again for the use of the public. Peppa appeared on a few more occasions back at the Masai warrior tent and the barn. She was also present at the Masai Warrior tent for when face painting was available for the children throughout the day, which was a nice, fun addition. We had a great day, riding many of the attractions from Tommy Tinkaboo's Sweet Adventure to the Boomerang, watching the popular Sea Lion Show, exploring the farm, riding the tractor ride and enjoying the sunshine and was sad to have to leave at 5pm when the park closed. For a final treat, pieces of the birthday cake were being handed out to guests as they left the park, after being officially cut inside Pleasure Island's family show bar McCormack's. However, the day was not yet over for us as two hours later we would return for the evening event with fireworks and live music! We arrived back at Pleasure Island at 7pm for a night full of live music, rides in the dark and a firework finale! While the park was fairly busy, it was nowhere near as jam packed as it had been in the day time. But still, there was a sufficient amount of people there to make it feel that the park must of generated a small profit from this evening event. There was three music acts throughout the night, all were finalists from the Viking FM Big Audition. The food court was the venue for the live music and had been equipped with the required sound equipment and a stage. The first band to kick off the evening at 7:30pm was a fantastic five piece band from Hull called Mutual Terms. Then at 8:15pm, Becky Arundel took to the stage with her guitar. To finish off at 9pm was the final act, Big Band Audition Winner, Nineties Boy Luke Chambers. All three acts performed brilliantly! Meanwhile the rest of the park was operating with rides in the dark! Spending most of our time in the Food Court, we didn't get a chance to go on many, however, we managed to get a go on Hydromax, as it is extra thrilling in the dark and we couldn't miss the rare opportunity, as well as the Century 2000, Galleon, Shrieksville, Hyper Blaster and of course the Mini Mine Train! The fireworks kicked off just after 9:50pm and lasted around 15 minutes, ending after 10pm. They were a spectacular effort and shot up in the sky from the field behind the Galleon. There was lots of different shapes, sizes and sounds, it was almost as good as the bonfire night firework weekend displays. The night then came to an end with a huge firework that made a loud boom! After a great applause, the park guests then made their way home, the thrilling 20th anniversary of Pleasure Island was over - What a great day it had been! Join in the discussion on our forum. Tuesday, 9th July 2013 Leave a comment |
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Pleasure Island's 20th AnniversaryPleasure Island Family Theme Park celebrates it's 20th anniversary this month on Monday, 27th May!
Yes it has been 20 years since the park first opened to the public back in 1993 and Pleasure Island have big plans to celebrate this day. To start off the park will open normal hours from 10am to 5pm and will welcome a special guest that is no other than Peppa Pig! This friendly little piggy will be available for photos at intervals throughout the day and will also be officially opening the new for 2013 attraction Furry Friends Farm! Plus there will be face painting, a giant birthday cake, plenty of balloons and live music played by bands too. But that's not all... To top it all off the park will then re-open for an additional 3 hours from 7pm to 10pm with more live music from three different bands and a fantastic firework finale at 9:55 to end the celebrations in style. This will be an event like no other. Us at Terrific Tinkaboo will also be celebrating this occasion by releasing a huge article on this website all about Pleasure Island. This promises to be a great article as we will provide you with a complete history of Pleasure Island, with the help of some old photos dating back to 1993, as well as some interesting facts about the park that you never knew, a collection of images and videos of the park and much more! Stay tuned to Terrific Tinkaboo. Tickets for the day time event (10am to 5pm) are normal admission prices (general admission £18.50, concessions £11.50) while tickets for the evening event with fireworks (7pm to 10pm) are £15 each (under 4's go free). This promises to be a spectacular event and we would strongly recommend to everyone to try and make it to one of them to support Pleasure Island and have a really great time too! Join in the discussion on our forum. Tuesday, 14th May 2013 Leave a comment |
BBC One show reveals shocking facts about Pleasure Island*Apologies for this article being around a month late, but we decided this piece of news deserved a write up, even if it is out of date*
As we previously reported, Pleasure Island was being filmed on the BBC One Show, which aired on 15th April 2013. The documentary highlighted the problems faced by small businesses trying to make a profit in times of financial hardship. The camera crew covered Pleasure Island on the days running up-to and including the park's opening day. Presenter Declan Curry followed park director and owner Melanie Wood around Pleasure Island whilst questioning her on the businesses current financial situation. We learned some shocking facts about the park including:
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Pleasure Island being filmed for BBC ONE ShowUPDATE (15/04/2013) - Pleasure Island will feature on the One Show today, tune into BBC One at 7pm! A filming crew from BBC One's One Show were present at Pleasure Island on its opening day and also some days before the park opened. We believe they filmed the park's new Furry Friends Farm & Tractor Ride, as well as filming around the park and it's rides. Director Melanie Wood told the Grimsby Telegraph that filming had commenced at the park a few days before opening day, as well as the bank holiday weekend. She said "We do not have a date confirmed yet as to when anything will be aired on TV. I cannot say at this time why they are filming the park but I hope to be able to give some information out soon." We will keep you up to date on the mysterious reason why the BBC are filming here and as soon as new news is announced, you will find it here!
UPDATE (15/04/2013) - Pleasure Island will feature on today's One show at 7pm, highlighting the troubles companies in the UK face today. The camera crew will also return to Pleasure Island 3 more times in the next six months to see how it is progressing. Melanie Wood told the Grimsby Telegraph that keeping on top of financial pressure has been hard and that the park saw a £300,000 shortfall last year. Despite this she still has her hopes high and despite the shortfall, the park saw a £500,000 investment into this years Furry Friends Farm & Tractor Ride. She went on to say "All businesses are being hit hard, but we have to keep doing things which will attract tourists."Read the full story here - http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Cleethorpes-Pleasure-Island-appear-BBC-s/story-18709656-detail/story.html#axzz2QX5kflqJ Join in the discussion on our forum. Wednesday, 3rd March 2013 (updated Monday 15th April) Leave a comment |
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Terrific Tinkaboo's 1 year anniversary!On Monday 1st April 2013, Terrific Tinkaboo reached it's first birthday! Yes the Pleasure Island fan site has been running for a whole year and already it has changed dramatically. Over the past 12 months pages have been edited, revamped and brand new pages have been added. We also saw the addition of Pleasure Island's only forum on July 1st 2012, which is starting to grow and we encourage all of you to join and give your opinions on Pleasure Island. To celebrate Terrific Tinkaboo's 1st anniversary, we have created a brand new logo. The logo, which we have been working hard on for the past months, features an accurately drawn image of the park's mascot Tommy Tinkaboo, holding a wooden sign with the words Terrific Tinkaboo on it. We are very pleased with this new logo and hope everyone likes it as much as us.
We would like to say thanks to Bradley Allenby for helping Terrific Tinkaboo when it first launched, by providing images and videos of the park for us to use: bradleyallenby.co.uk, fantastictowers.webnode.com. Also a big thank you to all our forum members and Facebook & Youtube followers too! We look forward to another year of Pleasure Island related fun ! Join our free forum to discuss Pleasure Island's past, present and future and share your opinions. Wednesday, 3rd March 2013 Leave a comment |
Our new logo for Terrific Tinkaboo!
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Furry Friends Farm And Tractor RIdePleasure Island are to invest half a million pounds into a brand new petting farm and tractor ride ready to open to the public on March 29th. As we previously reported, a competition was launched by the park to allow the public to choose the new name for the tractor ride and farm area. We can now confirm that the chosen name of this new attraction is Furry Friends Farm And Tractor Ride. Following this announcement the park released the attractions brilliant new logo on their Facebook page and website. The logo was designed by Chocolate Creative, who also design Pleasure Island's park guides and designed Pleasure Island's latest website.
We can also confirm that construction on this new area has began! Some photo's released on Pleasure Island's Facebook show pickets in the ground, paths being ripped up and a lot of mud! We have also learnt from the park's website that as well as new animal pens and shed's there will be a new indoor area constructed that will host the farm's smaller animals, including newly born chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs. The rest of the farm will be host to the larger animals which include pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, pygmy goats and Shetland ponies! The farm is estimated to be complete in around 6 weeks and the area as a whole is thought to spread out across the whole of the old Kiddies Kingdom area, which is estimated to be about 5 acres of land. The construction photos also seem to confirm that the Electric Monorail will be the new tractor ride, which will take guests on a journey around and above the whole farm area and it's animal paddocks. It is believed that the Electric Monorail will be re-painted and will have new tractor style cars for it's revamp into the tractor ride. Also this will be one of the only tractor rides in Britain to travel around real life animals in their paddocks! The farm will be supervised by two animal behaviour experts who will be employed full time at the park and who will also supervise the regular feeding and petting sessions available for those who want to get up close and personal with the animals. Director Melanie Wood stated that she hopes the new farm area will "combine fun and education" and says that it will "appeal to a different, younger audience." She then went onto say that as an animal lover, the petting farm is a welcome challenge, "I was brought up with animals at Flamingo Land and then I married a farmer. Animals are very much a part of my life." The park will also be offering animal talks to schools interested in combining this fun with education as well as allowing some free time on the rides for the children too. Pleasure Island's idea of a petting farm and tractor ride has been in the works for a few years now and was first mentioned by Melanie in 2010. The original plan included removing the Go-Karts, Electric Monorail and moving the Carousel out of it's indoor building so that it could be host to the animals, which were only intended to be small animals like rabbits and guinea pigs. Melanie said "We have discussed doing this over the years, it has been on and off and then on again. Sometimes you have to say, 'right, let's get on with it'. We have made some difficult decisions but I am 100 percent sure this is the right thing to do." And it seems that the park's finalised version of the farm plans have indeed been the right choices! Join in the discussion on our forum. Saturday, 9th February 2013 Leave a comment |
Furry Friends new logo.
Pickets in the ground, showing us how the paths will weave between enclosures!
Bits of path are being ripped up.
What could this circular construction be? An animal paddock? A shed? Maybe a pond?
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