JoshC.

Now THAT sounds like an interesting, hilarious and potentially highly argumentative controversial game. I love it.

It's because everyone is still reeling from the FOUR INVERSIONS

The general expectation was the next coaster / big thing would go on the island behind Swarm. But given how dead Old Town is, it wouldn't surprise me if the park are taking stock and considering a new big thing in that area. It certainly would make sense to focus on pre-existing areas of the park rather than further expansion. One thing Thorpe aren't short on is space for future developments. They just need the actual developments to fill those spaces...

Thing is though, IPs are the future of the theme park industry, and the even the wider entertainment industry. How many successful parks don't have external IP brands in these days? Whatever the answer, it's a dwindling number. And when you look further, the entertainment industry has been lending itself more and more to brands - sequels, spin offs, re-makes, merchandise, interactivity via the internet, etc. The entertainment industry is now primarily focused on creating things which have a strong focal point, from which further things can be created, and capitalise on that focal point to make more money. That's effectively the same logic as a park bringing in an external IP. Yes, you are bound to the parameters of the IP owner. But those parameters can be agreed upon by both parties. If a park agrees to use an IP when they've agreed too restrictive conditions for use of that IP, that's ultimately the park's fault, and I'd wonder if given the free reign to create an attraction for the sake of entertainment, they'd have done any better. That comes down to people not being fit for the industry, not IPs being an inherit hindrance in the industry. This is big thing that jumped out to me in your post. The industry has changed from what it used to be, what you liked it to be, and Merlin is responding to that change. Maybe they're being a bit too full-on with embracing this change, but that doesn't mean they're not about originality. Yes, they're a business, and yes any new attractions will include a check-list of silly buzz words that any new attraction must fulfil, and Merlin are taking less risks. But the building block behind that all is originality and entertainment. Just because you don't agree with the way things are done, it doesn't mean things have changed.

Place your bets on Nemesis Inferno being the first ride knocked out of the 2019 version first people.

Thank the lord this burdenous game is over Fine by me

The license cost, for many IPs, isn't as much as you'd expect. IAC in particular would have been quite cheap, as they probably didn't opt for any form of exclusivity, as no other UK attraction would really do an IAC-themed thing, and it's a different show abroad. The money spent for 4 years of the IP is small fry compared to fixing a log flume. Given the amount of work Loggers needed (and now further needs), I'd be very surprised if the money invested into IAC would have been enough to stop Loggers closing if it had been spent on that.

I'd be very surprised if they decide to open Living Nightmare over I'm a Celebrity. Living Nightmare requires significantly more actors (IAC requires 4 minimum, LN probably a solid 8), and it didn't exactly generate any more popularity than you'd expect. Scare attractions don't work outside of Fright Nights, and hopefully this lesson has finally sunk in at Thorpe. The actors have escaped the jungle, they're not going to live a nightmare instead. I expect the license for IAC ran out, Thorpe didn't want to renew. The space will probably stay the same; they'll re-use the theming and route for something else. It cost a lot of money, they'll want to get as much as they can out of it, rather than flatten it for a new maze.

Hello! Myself and a couple of friends have are trying out making a theme park food blog on Instagram. It's still very much in its infancy for now, but we're planning on building on it over the coming days / weeks. Basically just photos of food at theme parks; a big part of the experience (for us at least!), but something which can sometimes be overlooked or underappreciated. Would really appreciate any follows, and also keen to hear people's views too! https://www.instagram.com/screamsandicecreams/ [Disclaimer - this isn't associated with TPM, but rather a separate side project for me]

It certainly could make a difference, and in fact it probably would,, butere is a small chance that it could not. And usually it's impossible to predict with certainty what difference it will make. I also don't doubt Intamin's capability to do it, but I do question Thorpe's willingness to do so, given the large amount of money it would cost.

That, and size doesn't really matter. Colossus aside, I'd take any of Thorpe's major coasters over Olympia.

I guess the issue with opening late is that people associate Blackpool evening / nightlife with not the Pleasure Beach. Shifting the opening hours would be a catastrophe if they couldn't get people on board. Equally, I do think they should try it. It'd require a good level of marketing, but given the rewards it could reap, they should be giving it some serious thought.

It'll be winter maintenance. One train will have been serviced now / in the weekdays during the event, and the train that's been running for the event will be serviced over the next couple of months. It will be running two trains come the main season, although only time will tell if the extra pressure of having it open over Christmas causes a delay to the operating of it. If it's been planned and thought through properly, though, it'll be fine.

Once again I thought we had a thread for this long long ago, but it appears not... Ride Sims is relaunching on the 5th, with a bunch of new sims and stuff.. I know lots of people liked playing these in the past, and I'm sure a new wave of enthusiasts will love it..

When it comes to time - if you have a partner who doesn't enjoy parks / prefers to not go to parks on their holidays, have kids / family to look after or provide for, have a career where holiday time isn't as flexible, or any other number of things, it obviously makes it difficult to plan trips. As for the cost, that's a bit more workable, especially if you have the time. Do multiple parks in one trip (saves on travel costs), be thrifty with accommodation and travel at cheaper times (which are usually more inconvenient), you can really cut the costs. That's not to say it's cheap, as sadly this is an expensive hobby. But then again, so are many other hobbies - just a case of picking your poison I guess! I see it as a really lucky situation to be in too - without a bit of good fortune, being in the position to go on these trips wouldn't be possible. It's sometimes easy to take it for granted too I think!

Only two months between updates?! Wowza! Image found on CoasterForce.. A new large theming piece has been finished. Not sure what it's meant to be.. Clearly some Wicker Man inspiration there, but will it light up Heide in the same way? ?

I've worded that poorly. My point was more that contracts with IPs almost always mean that another brand can't use that space - you wouldn't (or, at the very least, shouldn't) see any adverts for Aldi, Pepperami and whatever else in the queue for Gruffalo, Saw, CBeebies, etc. Since a big complaint in the past was that external adverts take away from the story / theme of the ride, I was saying a bonus of IPs is that you won't see them there. Agree that, generally speaking, the adverts they do have are generally a bit naff, though.

The external ads have been around for a long time. It's a decision that comes when the parks / Merlin higher-ups have partnership/sponsorship/advertising deals with these brands. Usually, they say "we have X number of screens, guests will see them Y number of times a day, and will see them for Z number of minutes", and the brands will pay a nice lump of money to have their names plastered on there. Little to no consideration comes goes into where those screens are and the surrounding area. This is one of the benefits, from a thematic storytelling perspective, of having attractions themed to IPs, since it means no other brands can advertise in that space.

I mean, it does depend on what the flat ride is, the theme, etc tbf. But in general, any big coaster will bring in more people than a flat.. I still don't get why anyone would want Thorpe to invest in a 32 year old coaster, that would need a lot of work after being SBNO for 5+ years, when they could spend that money and get a brand new, modern ride which - chances are - would be significantly better?

A fair point, and certainly Thorpe / Merlin should be taking note of the successes of Winter Wonderland. However, the attendances aren't really comparable. WW is a free event, with a significantly broader market, and a very different focus (Christmas). Theme parks ultimately exist because of the rides. Winter Wonderland ultimately exists as a Christmas market with rides. Very different things. Tulley's doesn't get anywhere near any of the parks. A busy day for Shocktoberfest is in the region of 4000 people, and they get about 60k visitors across the whole event in a year. Thorpe can get that in 4 days. Towers get that many in their fireworks event (over 2 days). I've never known if it's true, but one rumour which floated about when it was introduced back in 2010 was that it was an agreement with the council, to help ease traffic on public roads. Of course, that doesn't give reason for the high price or the chaos that ensues in the car park, and that's something which needs addressing. Practically every major theme park charges for car park these days. It's just a thing now. Doesn't mean it's necessarily right, but that is the situation. Bringing this back to Icon / BPB.. I wonder how the park performed financially? Attendance is of course one way to measure success and popularity, but it's hard to gauge (and they never publicly release stats). But if attendance is down, it might not be all doom and gloom. If the park is making more money per person (and based off the significant amount of Icon merch I've seen about, that alone could have helped), or seeing improvements elsewhere, it's a good start. Of course, we'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised if BPB have seen some form of a small, instant hit as a result of Icon. As a general commentary though, it's funny seeing people express concern about Icon's lack of instant success. It's well known Merlin follow the thought process of 'any (major) new ride needs to be an instant hit'. And many people mock that philosophy. Yet when a different park does something which isn't an instant success, and very easily could be a long term success, people panic.

Simple topic again - what's parks / attractions are you looking at visiting in 2019? I'll start it off... Definites -UK Merlin quartet -Phantasialand -Walibi Belgium -Walibi Holland Most Probablies -Linnanmäki -Paultons Maybes -Fantasy Island -Lightwater Valley -Europa Park -Hellendoorn -Slagharen -Duinrell -Drievliet Longshots / I'm hoping -Heide Park -Hansa Park -Skyline Park -Legoland Deutschland -Gardaland

Build a brand new coaster that isn't Knightmare would be my option.

The structure is coming up... Source - Coaster Fans and News

And the public vote has ended. Huzzah. Tl;dr - Nemesis is still the best, Thorpe still has the best flats, but sucks at Fright Nights and dark rides. Next year's best-looking ride might not open till 2020. Cedar Creek won basically everything. Benin is still sarcastic. MattyMoo is still funny. I'm a charlatan because people think I know as much as Wumbamillo. But thanks for voting me best member guys (5th year in a row!)

What sort of pillock breaks into a theme park and records themselves, including their face?