No-holds-barred fun for all the family will keep Katherine MacAlister returning to Blackpool

It’s become an annual trip, our weekend to Blackpool, because in terms of family fun, everywhere else pales into insignificance.

I’ve been to most of the UK’s theme parks and in my humble, hedonistic opinion, Blackpool towers over them all (see what I did there). In terms of price, practicality, ease, thrills, spills and fun it’s a no-brainer.

Where else can you spend all day in a theme park attached to your hotel and watch the rollercoasters cranking up for their day’s work from your bedroom window?

Where else can you go on 11 different rollercoasters in one day (Avalanche, Big Dipper, Big One, Grand National, Ice Blast, Infusion, Revolution, Steeplechase, Valhalla, Wild Mouse, Nickelodeon Streak) and only queue for 10 minutes at a time? In some cases we got off and went straight back to the beginning to scream, wail and wave our arms in the air like a deranged hyena all over again.

Where else can you take teenagers and little ones and satisfy them all? With Nickelodeon Land for the tots, a fantastic mid-range selection of rides and then the real terror stuff for the hard-core, everyone’s happy. Where else can you pay under £100 for a family of six and have this much fun? And that’s just the Pleasure Beach.

‘Why not?’ became my mantra instead that weekend, forcing myself out of my comfort zone and taking them all on at their own game. Fish and chips for breakfast, lunch and supper, yes please.

Earth-shatteringly terrifying rides, I’m there. The only one I didn’t do was Infusion but my other half took up the mantle and scared himself half-witless, enjoying himself immensely in the process.

We drove up after school on a Friday and got there in time for fish and chips on the beachfront in the dark watching the bright lights of Blackpool surround us, the excitement palpable.

We were staying in the Big Blue Hotel, which is the only way forward as far as we are concerned. It’s convenient, welcoming, professional, affordable, kid-friendly and has its own entrance into the Pleasure Beach, plus the breakfasts are immense. What’s not to like?

Fry-ups consumed, dressed, tickets clutched in our sweaty palms, we were some of the first into the park the next morning, but we needn’t have rushed, because while it was busy it was never crowded. There was ample time to do everything, even though it’s vast, the rollercoasters twisting around and through each other in a giant slalom so that you never run out of things to do. A quick pizza stop in the all-you-can-eat restaurant and we were back to work, making sure we tried every rollercoaster we came across from the bizarre to the ridiculous, the tame to the terrifying, the old to the new, from water to darkness, ghosts to vikings, Dora the Explorer to horse-racing, we were all satiated by the end.

Having heard great things about Ricky’s Toast Restaurant we’d booked in for dinner there, and it was lucky we had because there wasn’t a spare table in the house. A round-the-world menu kept everyone happy and we returned to the hotel replete and ready to hit Blackpool again with a thud the next day.

And we did, Sunday being rainier than our previous two days, so the perfect opportunity to hit the Sandcastle indoor water park, one of the biggest in Europe, where we dropped off the teens for a day of utter exhilaration on the 18 attractions, complete with illuminous chutes, pools, walls, boats, tubes and waves until utterly exhausted and triumphant they appeared wrinkled and happy, hours later.

We took the tram up the Golden Mile promenade, popping into Sea Life en route to marvel at the seahorses, shark eggs and rays, rushing perhaps to ensure we didn’t miss the legendary Blackpool Circus, where, as always, Mooky the Clown was on hand to amuse, stun, and astonish us with his top notch performers and their death-defying stunts. Something for everyone, especially boys with its BMX stunts, motorbike tricks and a jeep riding over their Mr Strongman, as well as every other manner of circus performer and a ring that floods for the final act.

And as the applause died down on the sell-out show we knew the sand in our egg-timer had run through the Blackpool experience and headed back to Oxford with heavy hearts, lightened only by the knowledge that we would return soon to do it all over again. So maybe the question in future shouldn’t be where else but why not where Blackpool is concerned?

* Pleasure Beach wristbands give you entry to the park and unlimited all-day riding including Nickelodeon Land from £15.99. Pleasure Beach Pass costs £6, giving admission to the park, riding on the Pleasure Beach Express, Chinese Puzzle Maze and the park. All at blackpoolpleasurebeach.com

* Big Blue Hotel superior family room, bed and breakfast basis, for two adults and two children from £105. Call 0871 222 4000 or visit bigbluehotel.com

* The Original Blackpool Resort Pass gives visitors access to six attractions – Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Nickelodeon Land, The Blackpool Tower Eye and 4D Experience, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon, SEA LIFE Blackpool and Madame Tussauds. £52.50

* The Resort Pass+ offers access to nine attractions – includes those in the Original Resort Pass plus Blackpool Zoo, Sandcastle Waterpark and Blackpool Model Village. £78.50

For details, see visitblackpool.com or blackpoolresortpass.com