Remembering the Fun House at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Planet Coaster recreation)

This is a blast from the past for those of you who visited the Pleasure Beach in the 70's and 80's. It's my Planet Coaster recreation of the Fun House which was at the park from 1934 until 1991. Please like and subscribe if you enjoy the video and if you have any fond memories of the Fun House please share them in the comments. I'd love to hear them.

[@user-gp4jc4ij4f]

He had the last laugh..brilliant !

[@arthurperno292]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@minimaxi802]

Wow, this has brought back fond memories of my enjoying the Fun House on the Pleasure Beach in brown or grey stockingfeet, my favourite amusement in Blackpool before it was sadly destroyed by fire and very unlikely to be rebuilt because it was unsafe with too many accidents. Only went there six times, the ideal place to spend many hours on a rainy day in the town. It was a rule for everyone to take their shoes off to enjoy the attractions like the Giant Slide, Record Player and Mixing Bowl. There were even special Friday nights usually December when you could spend the whole night there from 10pm to 8am. Oh and that mad clown in the glass box outside. Just wish it was still here today.

[@arthurperno292]

Great memories. I always wonder if the Fun House would still be there today if it hadn't burnt down. I suppose they would have had to change it a lot to keep today's health and safety inspectors happy.

[@mariejoyce5150]

Spent many happy hours in here as a child , I remember once being on the rigging at the top and a group of drunk blokes started shaking it , my mum went over and tore a strip off them , they left very meek , mild and apologetic Lol I also remember it being a right of passage to be brave and big enough to go on the steepest wooden slide . Brilliant thank you

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, the Fun House was great. I suppose one good thing about having to pay to get into Pleasure Beach these days is that it cuts down on drunken gangs roaming around the park causing trouble.

[@shyannedianne1962]

This is brilliant, not just visually but the sounds too, it sure brings back memories thank you

[@arthurperno292]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.

[@smoka46]

Love this video, remember the funhouse very well, been to Blackpool sooo many times. Remember as a child in the early 70's was in the Funhouse and decided to go on that big chute, had a pair of plastic hotpants on and my backside stuck to the chute!!!!!

[@arthurperno292]

Ha ha. I loved the main slide. I used to speed down that like a rocket.

[@MONGBEAST1984]

Wasn't the slide steeper to start, I can remember it being more like a diamond drop at the start. I was only about 7 mind so I could be wrong, I remember how much I cried when I heard about it burning down 😢😢 awesome re-creation brought back so many memories and it's so true about the lack of health and safety but that's what made it so much fun 😂

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, I think health and safety is overrated😂. You are right about the slide. In real life it was much steeper at the start but the limitations in the game wouldn't let me build it like that unfortunately.

[@wix7657]

I remember sitting on the wall of that big vertical slide as a kid trying to build up the courage to throw myself off, I eventually did but I soon wished I hadn’t as I was wearing shorts at the time! Very painful for weeks after!🤬

[@arthurperno292]

Ha ha. I loved those slides. The good old days when you didn't have to worry about health and safety.😂

[@TopFunAviation]

Absolutely mind blowing recreation. 100% accurate. You’ve done the Funhouse justice and recreated it faithfully. I’ve shared this to the Pleasure Beach History group and also the Your Experience Guide chat group on Facebook as it’s incredible. I look forward to seeing your next Pleasure Beach historic recreation! 😊

[@arthurperno292]

Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

[@TopFunAviation]

@@arthurperno292 No problem at all, your recreations are absolutely spot on. Do you plan of recreating Magic Mountain and Greatest Show on Earth too? I just can’t believe how accurate this Funhouse is!

[@arthurperno292]

@@TopFunAviation Magic Mountain is a possibility but I think I may struggle with Greatest Show on Earth as there isn't a similar ride system in the game. It's one I'd definitely like to try though.

[@HarryYT22]

@@arthurperno292 I miss the magic mountain ride I was gutted when they got rid of that. Loved Beaver Creek more than Nickelodeon land although I love the fact they renamed Zipper Dipper to Blue Flyer.

[@arthurperno292]

@@HarryYT22 I'll be honest, I think I prefer it as Nickelodeon Land but still have many happy memories of Beaver Creek as a kid.

[@Hellwyck]

Daytona *and* Outrun all in the Funhouse decades before they were made! They did have Rampage and Salamander in there.

[@arthurperno292]

The arcade machines by BryVades were so good that I overlooked the fact that they didn't exist at the time, although wasn't Outrun around in the 80's?

[@501rivet]

Good job. Wish i was able to experience it....

[@arthurperno292]

Thanks. Yes it was a great place. Spent a good few hours in there in my youth.

[@501rivet]

@@arthurperno292 ..in the USA here there are no "fun houses" of this type left. The last at Lakeside Amusement Park in Dever Colorado, torn down in the 1980's (i assume because of the insurance costs rise by that time from increased claims of injury were too great). They too had a laughing welcome figure "laughing Sal". Opened in 1908, the park is still open having some structures from that time still existing. Im no dedicated fan to the new age theme (lego/cartoon character type) amusement parks. The old school parks provide safe creative thrills unlike the extreme flipping. twisting, and jolting provided by new parks. Regardless, once these parks are gone, they are never replaced, unless its a corporate sponsored creation (Lego)

[@arthurperno292]

@@501rivet Although there are some amazing new theme park rides around at the moment I still miss the old school rides that relied on physical effects rather than the trend these days of using video screens and 3D glasses. I've just posted another video of an old classic that we used to have in the UK. The Noah's ark walkthrough attraction. (I believe at least one of these still exists in the US)

[@501rivet]

@@arthurperno292 Humans evolve and many are willing to experience the newest daring physical experience amusement rides provided. Back in the day, todays thrill of bungee jumping off a 100-story building or scaling a mountainous cliff was not mainstream or accepted as "safe" by any means, so experiencing "the Whip", "Hey Dey", "Bubble bounce", or classic wooden coaster were the extreme physical thrills of the day. Truely, while accepted as engineered safe, I'm spooked by the movements of today's extreme force rides..the huge "swoop" of all that passenger weight kind of thing (on rotating swing rides), but then, I'm not a bungee jumper thrill seeker either. Regardless, a large percent of customers at amusement parks don't go on the extreme thrill rides but rather a thrill of "the octopus" or "tilt-a-twirl". Many, but not all, of these are still functioning at Lakeside in Denver, a family run park, in America, as close to vintage Blackpool as we're gonna get..

[@duster15670]

Wow you’ve done an amazing job! !!…..and the octopus and tidal wave (later to be ranger ride)are in there too and the water chute I’ve noticed….monorail going through the fun house is spot on and the cable car ride also….brilliant…👏……80’s pleasure beach was just the best!!!…thanks for this and will be downloading for sure…😁👏👏👏👍 …

[@arthurperno292]

Thanks again. I haven't uploaded it to the workshop yet as I've still got more work to do on that area before it's finished. Hopefully won't be too long though.

[@duster15670]

@@arthurperno292 is it ready yet Arthur?

[@arthurperno292]

@@duster15670 Still got some work to do to finish this area of the park. hoping it won't take too long.

[@user-zi8dr1ns9c]

@@arthurperno292 Ok thanks Arthur look forward to it, let me know if you will please...:

[@Adzcantsing]

To this day, the clown lives on. With that haunted laugh.

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, as long as you are prepared to pay the 20p that they charge to make him laugh these days !!

[@cal-efc8062]

This is really cool!

[@arthurperno292]

Thanks

[@HarryYT22]

Thanks so much for adding my video of the Laughing Man as he is now. I really do hope Pleasure Beach will one day give him a new outfit and bring back the bright colours of his booth and the continous movement with his laugh being loud. It's such a shame with the way they're treating him at the moment he's looking like he's faded but never forgotten! :)

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, it's sad to see the paint flaking off him on your video. Unfortunately he's not the only thing in the park looking faded at the minute. Still, can't wait to get back there next month when it reopens though.

[@HarryYT22]

@@arthurperno292 I don’t like how quiet he is in my video. You can hear him a little. Last time I saw him in around 2018 he was laughing loudly and moving continuously like he’s supposed to. Would be nice if they moved him somewhere else as well. I learnt he was once outside the entrance.

[@arthurperno292]

@@HarryYT22 I agree. I don't like the fact that you now have to pay to make him laugh. (Although, the money goes to charity so I suppose it's not too bad)

[@HarryYT22]

@@arthurperno292 The coin slot had never worked on him. I love the old footage you found of him when he used to be in front of the fun house he looked and moved differently back then even the laugh sounds the same but I've learnt it's the full laugh track which sadly got destroyed in the fire but when it the clown was rebuilt I am guessing somebody had found the laugh and brought it back although these days it sounds edited.

[@arthurperno292]

​@HarryYT22 The fun house burned down eight months after I filmed that footage. In hindsight I wish I would have recorded a lot more.

[@mistofoles]

Apparently it was possible to sneak into the funhouse for free by jumping of the monorail train that ran through it !

[@arthurperno292]

Ha ha. It would be a brave soul who tried to get into the fun house for free by diving off the monorail. There were enough opportunities to injure yourself in the fun house anyway without breaking your neck trying to get in.

[@jayzacharias88]

No but you could crawl under the turnstile or go round the back and get in through the white gate that the workers used. Spent my childhood in there. Loved it all, the record player. The mixing bowl. The barrel. The big slide. Tin pan alley etc. great video

[@arthurperno292]

@jayzacharias88 thanks. Yes it's a shame it's gone

[@martinporter4980]

No real criticism, but I believe you omitted the dark walk through section at the very beginning (not easy to replicate though I’m sure in a recreation). Also, I may have missed it but there was a “trap” floor board sure it used to suddenly collapse downwards as one tried to cross it. I always recall how my late Aunt Lily fell victim to that device to everyone else’s amusement back in our May 1972 inaugural park visit on a very wet afternoon. I could see how this place, as wonderful as it was, could be distractive in bringing footfall to the park’s other outdoor attractions on wet days. Very sad to see it go as it did but I can understand it in commercial terms, however on a very wet day most folk wouldn’t really board an outdoor attraction surely either, assuming they remained open.

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, I remember those dark corridors you had to walk through at the start. They used to freak me out as a kid. I left them out on the recreation just to save space. Can vaguely remember that trapdoor but can't think where about in the Fun House it was.

[@liesl7617]

Was that a mouse running across the floor at about the 6.30 mark? The attention to detail in this is incredible! The guy farting at the top of the slide had me in stitches! Great job!

[@arthurperno292]

I had to watch the scene back to see what you meant. There's an annoying glitch on Planet Coaster where birds can fly through walls and what you saw was the shadow of a bird flying through the fun house. I never even spotted that when I filmed it.

[@liesl7617]

​@arthurperno292 such a great video! That must have taken so much patience to make. I hope you don't think I was calling out a mistake. I genuinely thought it was a mouse and that it was a humorous reference to there being mice in the fun house.

[@arthurperno292]

@@liesl7617 ha ha. No I didn't mind you mentioning it at all. You're probably right about the fun house having mice. 🐭

[@mistofoles]

There's footage of the actual funhouse someone's posted on here somewhere.

[@arthurperno292]

I found some footage on you tube when I was making the recreation but didn't find as much as I'd like. Be really interested to see any other footage if you know of some.

[@emersonskiddierides3035]

Hello, have you uploaded any of your amazing creations onto the planet coaster workshop? If so what is your name so we can subscribe many thanks 😊

[@arthurperno292]

Yes, my recreations are on the frontier workshop. I am on console version so you will need to have a PlayStation 5 to download everything. My name is arthurperno2 on the workshop as well, although if you search for blackpool pleasure beach you should find my stuff

[@emersonskiddierides3035]

Ahhh we’re on Xbox or ps4 thank you 😊

[@arthurperno292]

@emersonskiddierides3035 you will still be able to download some of my stuff on ps4 but the larger parks are ps5 only due to Oswald restrictions

[@araftofwanderingotters206]

Do the Virginia Reel

[@arthurperno292]

That would be a tricky one to do as it's one ride that I've never been on and there doesn't seem to be a lot of footage of it around. I vaguely remember seeing it on one of my early visits to the park but I don't feel as though I know enough about it to do it justice. Do you know of any decent you tube videos that feature it?

[@smoka46]

@@arthurperno292 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKe4m5WBiqeAo9E

[@martinporter4980]

I’m quite sure that The Reel used to feature quite regularly back in the days of the “Holiday” BBC TV programme’s opening credits. I loved that ride and so luckily got to finally ride it for my inaugural, and sadly final time in July 1982, unbeknown to me then to be its final ever season.

[@arthurperno292]

I decided to have a crack at recreating the Reel. I've uploaded the video to the channel if you want to take a look.