rickydoodle
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Posts posted by rickydoodle
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They're not advertising 'a ride' - they're hinting that a new project is on the way, the same as they always do. We knew about Inferno before the construction of Colossus was complete.I don't see the logic in advertising a ride a year before it will open, before the park is open for the preceding season and before they've got confirmation they can build the ride.
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I know some of the details were leaked last week, the park announced details of the new IP deal this morning. I guess the Ben 10 brand is nowhere near as well known (or timeless!) as Thomas but it's certainly a hot property.No exact details regards stats and layout - mainly just confirmation of the theme.Full press release
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He also talks about how it wasn't their best year in 2010 but they're happy that they have continued to do well despite the recession. SOURCEPhilip Miller, Chief Exec;We have a unique new ride that has been designed and is being manufactured by the team here, and will take its place on the East side of the park. We have also just signed the contract for another rollercoaster for all ages that will be located on the site of the former Lucky Strike Arcade. We also have plans for another superb restaurant.
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Enjoy photography? Your skills could win you a 2011 season pass for the park of your choice!http://www.gforcemag.com/2010/win-a-season-pass-to-the-park-of-your-choice/Rick.
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When I think of Chessington I automatically think of Vampire. It's true to say that it's one of a dying breed, but you would think the relatively new rolling stock would work in its favour.
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Interested to see what it will be (especially as it sounds as if it is being built in house), also the park is closed in Jan/Feb for construction to take place;From an interview with Philip Miller, Park Owner.
http://www.gforcemag.com/2010/profiled-philip-miller/The park is unusual among UK parks for a couple of reasons. Firstly the park has a 12 month season and secondly the park regularly remains open until late in the evening. Are these factors important to your business model?Staying open until late in the evenings is a vital part of the parks business model and we generally find that out of town customers visit during the day, while our regular local customers normally visit in the evening and take advantage of our Half Price Wristbands after 6pm. However opening all year round is not as important to our business model as staying open until late in the evening, in fact we have recently decided to close completely throughout December 2010 and January 2011 due to the large amount of construction work that is taking place for our 2011 additions.
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Not anyone with a hint of intelligence anyway...
You only have to look at X Sector these days to see the effect of the Dark Forest.
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Perhaps a sign of the recent (and continuing) economic conditions. I think some attraction operators have come to the conclusion that constant investment in larger rides isn't needed as much as it once was. Alton have less rides now than they did six years ago. The only rides of note since Rita (2005) are Th13teen and Battle Galleons.I think maybe Chessington looks worse off because of the massive investment at Thorpe (and that maybe a reason why...). The difference, I suppose is that Chessington is much more established where as Thorpe is continuing to establish itself amongst its key demographic.It would be nice for Chessington to just add anything to be honest. Years and years of next to nothing ride investment. I'm surprised Chessington is doing as well as it is sometimes.
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It'll be interesting to see in the coming years if Thorpe and Chessington do something major in the same year or if it's staggered.
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On a quiet day, I guess if the queue is 30 minutes with a single train, it maybe around 12 minutes with two trains. On a busy day it wouldn't be uncommon for Inferno to hit 60/70 mins. So I guess (and I don't know...) that a 30 minute wait on a quieter day still represents good value for money. Even at 30 minutes per coaster you'll still be able to do all four of the parks major coasters in a morning - for the same price as if it was the weekend (where it may take you twice as long). Like I said earlier, perhaps the additional maintenance time is considered a bigger priority - I don't know. On a quiet day there is less income coming into the park, and again - by running rides in this manner, it does allow operating costs to be reduced to realign the income/profit. I guess it's just supply and demand really... like checkouts at Morrisons!People seem to be missing the main point. The point isn't about running one- I'm pretty sure people can understand why attractions would be running at a reduced capacity if there was a minimal queue. The issue is having one train out when there is a queue in excess of 30 minutes.
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Exactly, I agree wholeheartedly. Also, single/reduced train operation also allows for maintenance to take place between 9 - 5. It makes sense.Also, I hate to bring this up again as some people don't seem to accept it, however - if crowds are light, there is obviously less income for the park on that day (less entry/fastrack/parking/food income) therefore operating costs need to be reduced. That's how businesses work.If you run Air on two trains with a single station, you almost half your staffing costs for the day.cool, thanks rickydoodle. I wasn't sure when I heard it as it seemed a bit steep based on the number of launches it would do in a day at full capacity! But the principle is the same whatever the cost per launch is...
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As stated elsewhere in the thread - I'm sure many people already class it as number one, it's all down to personal judgement in one respect. Or, if it's down to visitor numbers, revenue or profit - all those things are measurable.How could you possibly say that'll become number one?
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That's not true, the rest of your post however, is spot on.I heard some-where that Stealth costs the park £250 every time it launches?
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^ I think we can end the thread there, nice round up AstroDan! Remember though, that what Thorpe are attracting is a HUGE market.To hear straight from the park themselves check out this interview - the fourth question.
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I used an example that could easily be manipulated to vary the ages of the children and still be relevant.
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The change of any customer base is going to be gradual - that's inevitable when families have been going to Thorpe for years and years. However, let me put it this way - if you were a family made up of a mum and dad with a four year old, and a five year old. You went to Thorpe, discovered most of the kid's rides had disappeared, found out the kids weren't tall enough to go on most of the rides and had a pretty rotten day, would you;A - Keep going back year after year and continue to have rotten days until you were tall enough to ride.B - Go to Chessington in the meantimeI can't put it any clearer than that.The thing which you do not understand is that families still go to Thorpe, despite all advertising. No matter what view you take, they still go.You're basing it on a business / enthusiast view, comparing investments, etc. I have a basic understanding of what the parks have done, and what their intentions were. You seem to forget that families of all ages still go to Thorpe park, and they don't think about it the way you are.
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I'm explaining it from a business point of view to help you understand the reasoning behind what is being done at Thorpe and Chessington. The intentions of the company are (I thought?) plain to see whether you are a coaster enthusiast or not.I find it very ironic how you have said to everyone to take your enthusiast hat off, and yet you still look at things with it on yourself. It's contradiction.
That's completely untrue. With TV adverts, social networking and most importantly word of mouth - people speaking to each other, people will come to realise that Merlin are removing kid's rides from Thorpe and providing more suited family entertainment just down the road. A nursery school provides facilities for pre-school kids, a youth club provides facilities for teenagers. It's the same thing.Compare the additions from the past 5 years - it's a multi-million pound demonstration of what I have outlined. You don't seem to comprehend basic business philosophy.The GP won't think about who the park are aiming towards, they will just go for a fun day - and you don't seem to comprehend that.
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I think a forthcoming swell of support for the cause will redefine Section 28, not sure when but it will at some point.Do you think it's fair to say there has been some progress since the repeal in November 2003? Notably CPA 2004?See any progress we made went down the pan because of section 28.
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Merlin has designed the park to be more appealing to teens and has designed Chessington to be more appealing to families. The history of both parks will inevitably prevent the masterplan from having an immediate effect - but in the coming years families with younger children will come to realise that Chessington provides a more targeted day out for them and represents better value for money.So...A family wants to go to Thorpe park. And that happens a lot - loads of families still do go.
As above - the park are aiming towards the teen market - it isn't designed for a family day out. A family can go to Chessington as a family unit and have a good time. The two parks cannot aim to attract the same TA - they are owned by the same parent company and have to attract guests from different areas of the market. Tesco would not build two superstores on the street - there would be competition between the same company and potential earnings are reduced as overheads are doubled, yet the customer base remains at the same level.However, everyone is unable to enjoy the day because the park should only target the teen market. After all, if Chessie are only down the road, then the family can split up and go to two different parks. Yeah, makes really good sense.
See bold section - Thorpe are not trying to attract young family units, Merlin are investing millions at Chessington to provide them with suitable facilities. Families will soon choose Chessington over Thorpe and when at Chessington they won't feel unwelcome, struggle to keep their younger kids entertained, and so on and so on.As you have said, the park isn't designed for the enthusiast - the GP make up a greater deal of the target market. And, if Thorpe just target the teens, and a family go there, the family will:Not have as much fun.Feel unwelcomed.Struggle to keep younger kids entertained.So on and on.
But in the long run, they won't be bringing their kids there - they will take them to Chessington as it will have a greater appeal - Thorpe has no Octopus' Garden, why would families want to take a four year old there when you could take them to Chessington? If Thorpe wanted young families they would not be investing multi inversion coasters and huge flats.Think about a film - Dreamworks are producing a new animation, they fill it with catchy music, big name stars and jokes that kids understand. They know where to aim it. Meanwhile, the same company are producing a new horror film, it's going to have plenty of blood, gore and a heavy metal soundtrack. The two films will appear in the same cinema, in the same week - therefore they are in theory competing. However in practice - they're not as they are both designed to attract a different audience.That's what Merlin are doing with Thorpe & Chessington. It makes no sense to have two competing attractions in the same area and the investments over the past decade (including the swap out of Eclipse & Samurai) allow the two parks to go into two totally different directions to cover the market as broadly as they can with as little overlap (competition) as possible.And they aren't going to think 'Oh, well Thorpe's a business and they're designed to a particular market so it's our fault for bringing kids here', are they?
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^ I agree with what you're saying. The world has (and continues) to move on, I say world - other countries more than others.If you take racism - look back 50 years and the work MLK Jr was doing in America. Fast forward 50 years and we have a Black president. Things will keep moving along, but I agree - not with things like Sect. 2 getting in the way.
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I don't think anybody is saying that the GP are not diverse, of course they are - the British public is more diverse now than it ever was.Let me put it this way - the 'enthusiast opinion' is based upon knowledge gained from having a specific interest in the field of coasters and theme parks. The 'non enthusiast' opinion (I'll refrain from calling them the GP) is probably not as well informed as they are there purely to enjoy the coasters and park for what it is, without having an extended opinion based on in-depth/technical knowledge that you would associate with enthusiasts.
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That's the whole point... Merlin have two attractions in the area (three if you include Legoland).Thorpe is not designed for young families (the removal of OG & Safari puts that discussion to bed) - if you have a young family, Chessington is designed to suit your needs. If you're a family of thrillseekers or you're a bunch of teenagers who want a day out at a park you visit Thorpe Park. Merlin have covered the market by building (or developing, I guess) two parks with two very different target audiences in the same area.It makes sense to have the families in one park with varying attractions that cater for all members of the family in a family atmosphere, whereas at Thorpe the teen market can be targeted directly with big thrill rides, loud music and coasters based around horror films.Having too much overlap between the two attractions in such close proximity would essentially mean that the company would be battling against itself (like Pleasure Beach, Pleasureland & Frontierland) - it doesn't work. That'd be mental!Just because a park is aimed at one target market doesn't mean it can't have rides that appeal to other age groups. The main reason for Alton Towers being so popular, for example is that you have rides for every generation. At Thorpe, if a family has just a 14 year old that wants to go, for example, they'd look at the ride line-up and see nothing for their 4 year old, or the 70 year old? Would they go? Probably not.
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Is a forum not for airing views and debating?The simple fact is that a business is designed to make a profit and should do so in the most effective way possible.
Attractions in the leisure industry are not visited by the general public? Who exactly visits them?What I will say is that Thorpe Park's visitors are not either "enthusiast" or "general public"
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But that is the only logical way forward when Chessington is in such close proximity. No?Obviously, this is just my opinion, but for me that's what Thorpe is missing. I don't mind the target audience, not really, just the fact that almost every ride is aimed solely at them.
Drayton Manor
in UK Attractions
Posted
I've just put these photographs up - I wasn't expecting the site to be quite so big. It appears to be from infront of the Big Wheel all the way back to the lake near Flying Dutchman.