Our Blackpool Family Day Out Review
Reviewed by Sandip Stapleton
We had a brilliant day in Blackpool and we didn’t even get to see all that Blackpool had to offer. It really is a great seaside town and there is plenty to do. We were lucky enough to get tickets to visit The Blackpool Tower Circus, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon and the SEA LIFE Centre but that was just the tip of the iceberg as there are piers, the beach, the fairground, Madame Tussaud’s, the arcades and so much more.
On arriving in Blackpool, our first stop was:
SEA LIFE Blackpool
We have already been to the SEA LIFE Centre in Brighton and Manchester so knew what to expect but it is still a great place to visit. It was very busy when we went in, which was during Easter half term, so it was to be expected, but for 11 am it was pretty packed. It was a shame it wasn’t on a timed entry system so that it staggered people entering in.
There are many different types of fish, coral and a couple of tropical creatures too.
My kids, aged 4 and 7, loved looking all around and even got to touch a star fish.
They also enjoyed walking through the tunnel and seeing the sharks and sting ray swimming above their heads. They also like the cave which made them feel like they had their head inside a huge tank.
Some of the tanks did seem a bit small for the number of fish that were in them which made me feel a little sad, but all the fish seemed to be well cared for and the staff were very knowledgeable about the fish.
As I have said, we have been to a couple of SEA LIFE centres before and they are a great place to visit, for adults and kids.
We then moved on to:
The Blackpool Tower Circus
You can’t go to Blackpool without visiting the tower. It’s the first thing you can see as you drive into Blackpool! We visited The Blackpool Tower Circus as a family of 4, with the kids being 4 and 7 years old. We loved it. The Ring Master, Mr Boo and his side kick Mookie the clown, were funny without being too cheesy. The kids thought Mookie was hilarious!
There were quite a few scenes where they needed to fill time whilst the circus equipment was being cleared and set up for the next act. This is when Mr Boo and Mookie were doing their acts. They often used members of the public in their sketches and I have to say they were funny and not tedious and cringey as they can be at some circus shows. The film sketch that they did had the kids giggling non-stop!
The theme of the show was Bollywood and centred around Mr Boo getting married to his fiancé and the dancers and relationship between them (there was a sleep walking sketch).
The circus performers were great. There were the usual circus acts like knife throwing, trapeze artists and balancing acts.
Our favourites were Marco and Jackie and their balancing act on a huge metal balance. It was very seat gripping stuff.
The show lasted 2 hours which included a 15 minutes interval. Although we enjoyed the circus, 2 hours was a tad too long and the kids did start to get fidgety, especially my 4-year-old. During the interval there was an opportunity to go into the ring and try and buy spinning plates, get your face painted, have a picture with Mr Boo and Mookie, buy light up sticks and refreshments but this was all at a cost.
The last act featured elephants (not real!) walking through water and spraying it through their trunks. Having just watched the new Dumbo film a few days before, the kids loved this act. It also featured acrobats on suspended hoops, they were very graceful and thoroughly captivating.
We really enjoyed the circus and would recommend it to families visiting Blackpool as it was good, clean, wholesome fun.
And finally, we finished our visit at:
The Blackpool Tower Dungeon
At the base of the Blackpool Tower you will find The Blackpool Tower Dungeon. I honestly had no clue what to expect and for some reason thought it would be almost be like a museum of gruesome waxwork figures. I was totally wrong. It was more of an interactive tour through a dark set of caverns and caves, each with its own Medieval storyteller and props and images.
Initially you are met by a Jester who gets you to queue up and gathers the group round to tell you are about to take a lift to the dungeons and to steer clear of the white ghost. Ooh er!
The lift has visuals and sounds making you believe your lift is being lowered by creaky old metal chains and then you are met with your first scare, the Jester jumps out at you as the lift door opens and leads you to a monastery looking room that is very dimly lit with gargoyle and statues all around. You are then met with monks you give you a spiel and then you are led to the next cavern. I won’t spoil it all and go through each setting, but I will say that the actors are brilliant and stay very much in character. The props they use, like a urine filled bladder, are all very realistic too. So much so that my nearly 8-year-old was really unsure as to what and who was real or make believe. I must admit I was fully absorbed in the while experience too.
The streets in between the caverns are also very well decorated and have a musty smell to then which added to the whole experience.
At the end of the tour there was a ride that you could go on but unfortunately I can’t comment on what that was like as my 4 and 7 year old were too short to go on the ride so we missed out on that which was a shame as that would have been a great ending to what was already a great experience.
The entire experience lasted just under an hour but I have to say it didn’t feel like that long and the kids, albeit a bit scared, didn’t get bored or feel it was too long either, which I think is a credit to the actors who really did hold your attention.
Although we went as a family to Blackpool, I could imagine stag and hen groups visiting the dungeons and having a laugh, and a scare too.
I had no idea what to expect from the dungeons, but I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
A fantastic day out in Blackpool.
For more information or to buy tickets or a Merlin Annual Pass visit www.theblackpooltower.com.