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I'm going to be picky about one thing here and that is Merlin have always said they want to be second to Disney in terms of visitor numbers not quality. Secondly, I don't think we can criticise Merlin for copy/pasting attractions when Disney add Avengers campuses to three of their resorts and Toy Story play lands all over the place. Aside from that, full agreement. It just comes across as anti-competition.

Sounds like the park / higher up Merlin H&S teams have done appropriate risk assessments and the like and decided now is the time to see if this works. It's strange timing given it occurs around the time the government will almost-definitely announce a delay to the next lockdown easing. But possibly coincidental too. Hopefully the park don't receive too much backlash over it. For what it's worth, I think social distancing on rides is a pretty pointless concept. If someone has Covid and is sat at the front of a coaster train going 50mph, for example, it doesn't matter if you're sat in the row behind them or the back of train, you're still probably going to come into contact with particles that they may spread. And even then, if you're outside and wearing masks, the likelihood of transmission is extremely low. With all the information we have, social distancing on rides should have been scrapped long ago. If not the back end of last year, definitely at the start of this season. At this point, it's really only something that's being done for show.

Merlin are objecting to the London Resort planning application; https://escapismproject.co.uk/news/1623419409?s=04&fbclid=IwAR10_0Tg26gWSoUVxXpB3cw7_nU2mQ7g0jdJK-ou_zD7Za4MVoncCuUaxsE My thoughts on this? Merlin need to do one. They have strangled the life out of the UK theme park industry for years; they own the monopoly yet have such low standards in their parks, with no real drive to improve anything. The Merlin short-term model of "slap an IP on it" whilst neglecting rides and basic infrastructure has killed the offering at their parks and, if the London Resort was to happen, it would most likely come back to bite them. My view is that they feel threatened by the prospect of a company coming in and doing a really good job with a park, as it would shift the public perception of Merlin being "the expected standard" in the UK. Merlin are a company that call themselves second only to Disney, yet copy-paste ideas across the world, copy Paultons with Peppa Pig world (albeit not in the UK, as they can't) and they can't even invest satisfactorily in their major parks in the UK. Thorpe hasn't seen solid investment since 2012 despite supposedly being the UK's "thrill capital". London Resort would challenge Merlin, which they clearly don't want. In my opinion, London Resort is exactly what the UK industry needs for it to thrive, some healthy competition which would force Merlin to act. Look at America, there's a rivalry between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, or the European parks which are all owned by different companies. It's much healthier and means that parks have to be at the top of their game to stay in competition. The fact that Merlin are making a fuss over this this says everything about them as a company, second rate and not willing to adjust and improve their offering to compete.