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With the draw of Europe’s largest open market (!), it’s safe to say that Fantasy Island will probably never move towards paid admission, but if ever there was a park screaming out for a wristband scheme, then Fantasy Island’s it.

Pleasure Beach Blackpool on the other hand seems to be doing everything it can to discourage people from paying per ride while stopping short of charging them entry.

The Pleasure Beach isn’t shy about the claim that they’re one of the most popular amusement parks in the world with an almost unfeasible 6m visitors every year, a figure aided by the fact that it is free to enter so that people can pop in at will.

It has to be said, you get the feeling that Pleasure Beach Blackpool wants to be a pay one price park without risking losing their claim that they’re in the world arena when it comes to attendance. While it’s ignorant to suggest that the lineup of rides and location on the Golden Mile has nothing to do with its popularity, it is clear that the ability to enter – and re-enter – at will helps keep the turnstiles spinning.

Since their introduction, the price of wristbands has steadily risen with inflation to £29, while the cost of rides such as the Big One have risen, both in terms of cost and the amount of tickets required to ride costing the rather excessive sum of £7.

Assuming that you ride Valhalla and the Big One twice, which is hardly an unimaginable scenario, then you would have already paid £28 for the privilege – and that’s assuming you don’t buy a poncho for Valhalla.

If the subtlety of a ride on the Big One costing the best part of a tenner is lost on visitors, even the way the entrance area is designed steers visitors towards buying wristbands. Little mention is made of individual tickets, and the turnstiles and metal detectors do little to discourage the notion that the park is free for entry.

Assuming you do enter the park gratis, everything is stacked against the potential ticket-bearer – no longer do individual rides sell tickets, entry onto rides is streamlined for wristband holders, and of course the simplicity of wearing a wristband instead of filling your pockets with confetti-like amounts of paper means that the simple ticket is in its latter death throes.

Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, also discourages visitors from paying ride-by-ride, although does also charge for entry.

Like Blackpool, this is a park that makes the most of a prime location, offers the ability to pay per ride but encourages you to buy a Multi Ride pass for €28 (approximately £19).

Unlike Blackpool, however, you have to pay for entry into Tivoli Gardens, which costs €10 (£6.70). While the ultimate cost for Tivoli Gardens is only just shy of Pleasure Beach Blackpool’s £29 wristband, Tivoli Gardens – as the name might suggest – is more than just a city centre amusement park with many hundreds of thousands of visitors there as much for the gardens and Christmas markets as they are for the rides themselves.

Despite the entry cost, Tivoli Gardens is one of the most popular paid entry theme parks in Europe with over 4m visitors every year. Continues...