#Ad- This is a collaborative post with Coral Island
As much as we love a bit of culture there’s something special about spending time in the arcades. Whenever we got to Scarborough or even to my parents home in South Shields the first thing they ask is to go to the amusements.
Location of Coral Island
Coral Island is located on the Blackpool Seafront, just along from the Blackpool Tower. With three entrances its hard to miss the amusement park when passing. The main entrance is one of the most elaborate themed attraction gateways.
Everything at Coral Island is Pirate themed. If it’s not the skull and cross bones, its actual pirates. Inside it is pretty huge and there is so much to see and do. We spotted this map at a side entrance and it was actually quite useful. First stop was to get a bucket load of change.
As previously mentioned our kids are dab hands at the penny arcade machines. The main difference between our day and theirs is TICKETS! Yes when we were little we were happy to win a pocket full of 2p coins. Now the 2p slider games are stocked with tokens and little toys and collectables.
Pirate Flyer & Ghost Train
Located towards the rear of Coral Island is a ghost train. A Pirates Quest Ghost Train. The ride entrance is so highly themed that unless it had the Neon Yellow “Ghost Train”, the Pirate ship entrance would blend into the theming.
Our kids weren’t sure at first and took a little encouragement to ride the attraction. I’ve rode Ghost Trains before so I knew what to expect. Maybe Abigail thought that there was a chance of being possessed.
The thrill and excitement showed itself once the carriage returned to the start again. As part of our day out I made a video (embedded below) and looking back Abigail had her eyes closed for most of the ride. Imogen on the other hand, gave full commentary “WOW! That was loud! etc”
The Pirate Flyer is, in theory, a much less scary ride. Unless you don’t like heights. It is a mini monorail that does a circuit over the top of the amusement park, before heading back into a themed dark ride section. We also went on this. To experience a section of the Pirate Flyer watch the video below.
Winning on the Camel Derby
One of our favourite skill games is the derby. Here at Coral Island it’s the Camel Derby. The game is so simple, but at the same time can be so hard!
All you have to do is roll a ball up the table and get it into a coloured hole to move your Camel along the dunes. Simple right?
Our first game we barely got off the starting blocks. The second game Catherine had got here eye in and BOOM! We won two prize tickets. The Third game… we almost won again! This is definitely a fun one for the family, even Abigail and Imogen started to get competitive and focused on the rolling.
Abigail chose these two cute dogs to exchange the tickets for.
Virtual Rabbids: Virtual Reality
The arcade games have moved on a long way since the days of Pac Man and Frogger. Virtual Rabbids is a Virtual Reality ride. Two people can ride at the same time on the machine.
Abigail jumped on straight away and strapped on the VR goggles to see what it was all about. Luckily for spectators the Virtual view the rider has is displayed on the screen above the attraction.
I think this is the first time Abigail had experienced VR and it was fun watching her. She was looking up, behind and all around. Then occasionally removing her goggles to check that she hadn’t actually been transported to a frozen canyon!
Along side the VR Visuals, the seating that your on rocks and tilts to give you the full immersive experience.
Eyes Down for Family Prize Bingo
Catherine and her parents love Bingo. So as soon as she spotted the Family Prize bingo, the kids were lured in with her. The game cards are all automated with a simple tap the screen confirmation system.
A live number caller calls out the numbers as you tap the screen to check your card. Unlike the Camel Derby our luck was out on the Bingo. However we still had fun, and Catherine is still smiling.
Cashing in Tickets
After our time on all the attractions and games, we had quite a healthy haul of tickets.
To speed up the ticket exchange process you feed your tickets into a ticket muncher which counts them up.
After a few trips back to the ticket machine we’d eventually got our stash of tickets to exchange. After 3 hours gaming, we’d accrued just over 900 tickets.
So, what do you get for 900 tickets?? You’ll have to watch the video to see what we won.
Kids Eat Free at Captain Jack’s for dinner
Captain Jack’s Bar and Grill is one of the many dining options at Coral Island. This one is still in the pirate style, but with a more Caribbean twist.
It has a definite beach shack styling and reminds us a little of Turtle Bay. one of the benefits of eating here is that Kids under the age of 10 eat free when accompanied by an adult meal. The sign below mentions the details.
Most of the walls are clad in bamboo which adds and interesting finish. I was totally fooled by the huge mirror in the rear of the restaurant. Genuinely thinking the seating area was twice the size.
The food on offer is exactly what I’d expect if I was at a beach hit in Jamaica. Starters are “finger food”, like jalapeno poppers, calamari rings and Chicken wigs. Mains are grill items like burgers, chicken, ribs or steak.
The kids menu for the free meals is a very simple option or a choice of 5 items. Even the fussiest kids are bound to see something they like on here.
Both Catherine and myself chose the sticky spicy chicken wings. The bowl had about 6 wings in and was served with a separate dipping bowl. The wings were very tasty and fell apart as you ate them. There wasn’t any wrestling the skinny bones to free up the meat here.
Both our Hoopsters chose Chicken Nuggets and Chips with Beans.
My main course was the Hot and Spicy Wide Ribs, served with bacon and cheese loaded fries. It’s not often I get to have ribs and when I do it is a treat. Even more so when the meat falls off the bone. These were perfect and delicious. I ate them with a knife and fork, leaving nothing but clean bones. Personally, I think thats how it should be.
Catherine chose a sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce with a side of plain fries. The portion was large and cooked as requested. I’m still baffled as to why it is traditional to serve half a tomato with steak, but keeping with tradition it was there.
As Catherine was slowing down the kids started to request off cuts of her steak. Needless to say there was no waste at all from our table.
Finishing off with a Chocolate Brownie Sundae. The kids didn’t want any desert, so Catherine and I were going to share this. As it landed on the table the waiter offered us 4 spoons and before we could blink, the kids were digging in. To be fair it was easily a sharing portion and between all of us it was more than enough.
Inside it had chocolate and vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, brownie pieces, marshmallow, chocolate sauce and wafers.
Useful Information
Address: Coral Island Blackpool, Central Promenade, Blackpool, FY1 5BD
Opening times: Mon – Friday 10am – 12am / Sat & Sun 9:30am – 12am
Website: http://www.coralisland.co.uk
Dining Options: Peggys Snack Bar, The Buccaneer, Fish and Chips & Captain Jacks.
Offers: Kids eat free
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