Joyland Books

Hi All

Glad to see all is still going well with the campaign.

I've not posted for a while in fact I'm embarrassed to say not been on the site for probably around 9 months and even more embarrassed to say I've spent majority of those nine months going backwards and forwards to Blackpool and the surrounding areas Sorry !

I can see that things have come a long way, however being a little lazy and not having the time to read through all of the posts and news items can anyone please fill me in. Last I heard the heritage park had secured 51% of the land to open the new Dreamland. Now with the CPO going through has the council now obtained 100% of the land or just the 51% previously mentioned. If they do have 100% what do they intend to do with the remaining 49% ? If not are there still plans to put houses on the rest

Welcome back. The Council now owns 100% of Dreamland. The amusement park rides will initially cover around half of the site, but rides are only part of the offer. The rest of the site will be an events area and the car park. Technically the entire site is and will be an amusement park. There are no plans to build houses on the site.

The events area and car park are a great way to make the whole of the Dreamland site a valuable local resource as well as being an attraction to get us tourists coming back to Margate. Even if the heritage amusement park takes longer than expected to get fully up and running, the ability to hold major events on the site will be a great feature!

Can't wait to join in the next volunteers day - even scraping moss and weeds off the block paving was a great day, as it really made us feel that things are happening! More, please

Happy New Year to y'all!

Rob

Events will be key to bringing people in, but car shows, antique and toy trade fairs, etc. offer a limitless supply of opportunities.

This is great news

I posted around two or three years ago under the Topic 'Will This Really Work' where admittedly I questioned if such an attraction would work due to the relevant tameness of the rides in comparison to newer more modern rides and the fact that at the time only 51% of the site was to be used with the remainder more than likely having houses built on it.

Although in the grand scheme of things my opinion is largely irrelevant I have to say on hearing the news that 100% of the site has been obtained I really do think there is only a sunny outlook for Dreamland and Margate combined. The extra land will provide an excellent additional income to subsidise the heritage park and hopefully the success of the park and the fact they have all of the land should give them room to expand. Dreamland survived without it's own on site car park under the Bembom Brothers and I'm sure as the park grows it would do again if parking spaces were taken for extra attractions while keeping the all important event space for extra income.

I have to admit the Heritage Park was not my most favorite choice for the site as I remember the Glory days of the eighties and the Bembom years when the magic of all the big rides being so close just poured out of the place. I suppose I wanted to see a return to a more modern type of layout with a few old rides thrown in for good measure very much like the current mix you have at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach. However on reflection taking Dreamland back to even earlier days is I guess really returning it to its glory years, days long before I was even born days that made i what it was when I visited and before one man ruined it.

I have previously referred to an attraction local to myself which goes by the name of the Black Country Living Museum, it's a sort of heritage town going back a 100 or so years. This had humble beginnings on a smallish site just like the new Dreamland will have and over the years I have passed and visited it regularly and watched it grow and expand into land like Dreamland it owned but was not using for the attraction. The museum now attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and without a thrill ride in site just old fashioned fish and chips and a bakers plus seeing how things were done back then. So with what Nick and his team have managed to pull together it seems the the possibilities could be limitless and if they could also harness that step back in time feeling to go with the rides I'm sure the tourists will come back and the exhibitors / stall holders / organisers will want to come to, and bring events to, Dreamland just to experience All The Thrill Of The Fair.

So finally does anyone have any idea when the park maybe opening ? I can't lend a hand as I live too far away and with work are never committed to being available, but once Dreamland reopens its doors I'll be more than willing to hand over my cash to see it all again