Marhelorpe

You underestimate Merlin

It's not love. It's going to ruin an attraction which worked well for the entire family

This will sound cynical but this just looks like the standard cheap rehashing of old attractions, masked by sticking a trendy IP on the door, that we've come to expect from Merlin. I agree with everyone who's surprised how little the theme fits the tame coaster.
 
The cheap-to-make drab and depressing themes around Thorpe Park are so tired and overdone now. They always were in my opinion. Young adults want big energy and colour too! X was alright for that after the clubby tart up and suited the age bracket better, but still only the best of what they could do on a too-small budget. And if you DO want horror and edge, there are 100 ways to do it without just making dirty warehouse buildings with junk decorating the paths.
 
They'd be better off demolishing X and saving that enormous space for something not totally restricted by the poor existing coaster inside. But 'why do that when you can save £££s stick a stack of old tyres, barbed wire and a standard preshow, and call it new?'

So it appears Thorpe have decided to take a popular family coaster, which served well between 2013 - 2017 for the 1m - 1.3m audience, retheme it to what is likely going to be on The Walking Dead judging by these plans, possibly add a new height/age restriction as a result, just to make another tacky and depressing IP-based "world first"?
 

So it appears Thorpe have decided to take a popular family coaster, which served well between 2013 - 2017 for the 1m - 1.3m audience, retheme it to what is likely going to be on The Walking Dead judging by these plans, possibly add a new height/age restriction as a result, just to make another tacky and depressing IP-based "world first"?
 

Yay, barbed wire. I know I can't get enough of the stuff when at a theme park.

I was about to say.
 
Thorpe needs more barbed wire in its queue lines. It works so well.

Don't forget the family rides open on a rotational basis in Old Town, guyz.

I wonder if loggers leap will reopen themed to the movie Deliverance whilst we are at it??
 
or swarm rethemed to my little pony and marketed to families 

So it appears Thorpe have decided to take a popular family coaster, which served well between 2013 - 2017 for the 1m - 1.3m audience, retheme it to what is likely going to be on The Walking Dead judging by these plans, possibly add a new height/age restriction as a result, just to make another tacky and depressing IP-based "world first"?
 

The drive for increasing profits has been reducing the guest experience and ultimately I feel Merlin have forgotten what they are actually selling to the consumer. There is no point in a load of hotels for guests to stay if they have no guests. 
They are clearly trying to increase the amount spent per person but have inadvertently reduced the number of people because, in my opinion, they lost track of the basics.

By all means, establishing an identity for the park with this new tune is great and it's good to see it finally get one just like Alton and Chessington do and I fully support the idea. But the problem is at the present stage, it is being used too much across their attractions and is in some ways detracting originality and character from each area/ride whilst simultaneously making it more repetitive to listen to, especially compared to what was played previously for each of them.

The way Alton and Chessington do it is the right approach. Most of the time they place their themes amongst the rest of the track in a subtle way that is not too noticeable for listeners but it's still there regardless. That way, each area still retains it's character and originality without another melody dominating or overshadowing the rest of the music. This is why the entrance is the perfect place to use it several times since most people only pass through the gates once at the start/end of the day and don't queue potentially hours listening to the same track over and over again.

For Thorpe however, not only is their version played countless times at the entrance, but X now uses it as it's main theme, Colossus now shares the same audio with all of Lost City, Shark Hotel I swear is nothing but this tune and The Jungle's audio features it at least 5 times on the same loop I'm sure over and over again. When you are standing or queuing in these areas for a while hearing this everywhere you go across the park in the same day, it can get quite repetitive. Sure, all the new audio tracks might be statistically longer in length and sound better, but does that mean they are all less repetitive as a result? In the case for Lost City and Colossus, it clearly isn't.

If each attraction/area which has undergone changes this year only plays the tune on loop at very most just once or maybe twice very similarly to how Galactica, Spinball and Smiler do it and fill the rest of the loop with new and original audio, that would've worked much better.

Make it's use subtle, not obvious.

See, I disagree with that. Playing the same tune or segment multiple times on several attractions and areas does not excuse for a longer track. If anything, a longer track should provide an opportunity for the composer to create lots of new, original, innovative and unique audio, which we have thankfully for the most part been seeing over the last few months across the park. But at the same time, that does not mean the same 30-40 seconds should be used at least 4 times for Lost City, 5 times for The Jungle, endless repeating for X, constantly for Shark Hotel and several times for the others. It doesn't matter whether a guest has visited the park once or 10 times in a year, there should be a strong sense of variety and originality across all areas for them to appreciate and enjoy, but this move is straying away from that objective slightly.

It seems to me that whilst this new audio is finally giving the park an identity, it is in return causing each attraction to begin losing their individual one at the same time.

By the way, if this is all coming across as though I hate all the new audio, it isn't. In fact, I think the majority of it sounds excellent in comparison to what it was before, especially for the entrance, dome and Jungle areas of the park! But I believe it's important to point out and hope the park do not lose sight and forget the importance of each ride/area standing out from the rest with it's own character and identity. Seeing Lost City and Colossus merge together back in August with the same audio was when it started to become a problem and I fear The Jungle's track at some point will replace Inferno next given they share similar themes and proximity to each other.

Big Top to return with more of its “crazed debauchery!!”
 
Platform 15 to return and hopefully have a decent ending put into place because the improvements made to it this year really made it a fantastic attraction up until the final tunnel. Sort that out and they are on to a winner in my opinion. This and Big Top in my honest opinion were the only two positives about fright nights this year so they should absolutely return next year.
 
I would say make some changes to Saw Alive but we are kind of flogging a dead horse with that one.
 
Bring back roaming actors as they can add to the atmosphere in general around the park (half of why I love shocktoberfest as much as I do is the roaming characters!!)
 
Oh and one last one...STOP OVERSELLING FASTRACK!!

A Walking Dead theme for a family coaster??!! Next thing you know Platform 15 will get a Thomas the tank engine retheme where rather than looking for the conductor, you are looking for the fat controller!! Then again with Alton Towers giving it’s family wooden coaster a Wicker Man theme, why not I guess!!.
 
 

It's just bizarre, X is a family coaster by definition and putting a horror theme on it would make no sense whatsoever.

Does a horror theme really work for a family coaster though? Thirteen when new was not only called out on the ridiculous marketing behind it, but the nature of it being too scary for younger riders, and now we could see the same thing happen all over again with theming a wooden coaster on flippin’ Wicker Man at the same park for crying out loud.
 
But for Walking Dead on the other hand taking over X possibly? That’s the riskiest one yet. The franchise is popular and most people are familiar with what it entails. If a family for instance who visits the park knows the franchise well with two younger kids aged 7-9, do you think they would be happy to allow them onto a ride which could potentially terrify them if there’s no age restriction?
 
This to me seems like a quick and easy way to use yet another IP at the park which appeals to their core market. But by doing so, they are alienating their younger audience further and families might discover in 2018 their kid’s favourite coaster can no longer be ridden due to a new height/age restriction imposed on a horror franchise-themed ride.
 
I’m all for seeing existing rides being spruced up when they need it, but not if it means narrowing your audience.

Merlin have decimated the UK theme park industry and ignoring advice from advisors will continue to starve the parks of the investment they need despite the huge drop off across their estates. 
 
Put your money into Blackpool, Paultons, Drayton. We need a competitive industry, not the one Merlin have trashed.

This quote from the above article sums up the current situation with Merlin for me;
 

If it does turn out to be true and the park are considering having The Walking Dead maze(s) open year-round, maybe I'm looking at this wrong, but wouldn't that devalue the need to attend Fright Nights a little, especially now that the franchise are involved in an annual event? If you exclude Living Nightmare as a Fright Nights only attraction from next year onwards, what exclusivity is there left for Fright Nights other than Big Top and Platform 15, both of which aren't sponsored by AMC in the first place? It seems both bizarre and unlikely to me that's going to happen unless a new maze is going to fit somewhere else in the park or replace either one of Platform 15, Saw Alive or heaven forbid Big Top.

Not fussed about Slammer being removed since it's not returning. All I ask is please build something decent there Thorpe at some point. Don't do a Ripsaw and build another inflatable HB Leisure stall, we have had enough of them thanks.

At this stage, I've given up on Loggers Leap and not expecting it to return again. Even if there is work taking place on it right now this winter or next year, I still can't see it returning. Why would it have taken two entire seasons to finally get round to it? That should have been a bigger priority for the park than getting AMC involved in Fright Nights.

X's removal I still have doubts will happen because it would be one of the silliest decisions I have seen the park make since they thought building Storm Surge was a good idea back in 2011. Why do it now? It's old yes, it's tatty yes, it's dated yes, but it still serves a purpose with those between the 1m - 1.3m height bracket and removing it would alienate this market further with no viable alternative coaster in the park except for Flying Fish for crying out loud. A replacement coaster for X or a complete theme overhaul targeted for this market however would be very welcome.

And as for Swarm VR, the less said the better. Thorpe, you temporarily ruined it between 2013-2015 with brave-it-backwards, don't do it again please.

DBGT has potential and that I have no doubts about, but it's still a mess in it's current state and some of the most basic elements such as lighting, audio and visual effects still aren't up to an acceptable standard or have been broken for the majority of a second season now (the moving train effect comes to mind, as well as half the bulbs in the pre-show room being broken this year to name a couple of examples).

If Thorpe truly believe this attraction is the future for theme parks and want it to be successful with the overall public opinion, they should aim to ensure the bar is set to a higher level, whether it's through more reliable technology, working effects, better operations and greater variety offered through the VR headsets etc. For a paying customer to be sold on the idea this is the park's biggest investment which is a psychologically thrilling experience, only to find several broken effects, glitchy VR headsets and questionable consistency is inexcusable for a multi-billion quid company and a £13M+ ride.
 
I know I bash DBGT an awful lot, but that's because I want it to get better and still don't believe it's being used to it's full potential. To see rewards like this being given out to it which in my honest opinion doesn't deserve, especially storytelling-wise, it's as though there's some form of denial with Merlin in accepting this investment has not lived up to the promises and standards they made it out to be. Overall feedback from the public backs this claim up.
 
Hoping one day I try it everything works as intended, but I've yet to experience that once... 30+ rides later...

DBGT has potential and that I have no doubts about, but it's still a mess in it's current state and some of the most basic elements such as lighting, audio and visual effects still aren't up to an acceptable standard or have been broken for the majority of a second season now (the moving train effect comes to mind, as well as half the bulbs in the pre-show room being broken this year to name a couple of examples).

If Thorpe truly believe this attraction is the future for theme parks and want it to be successful with the overall public opinion, they should aim to ensure the bar is set to a higher level, whether it's through more reliable technology, working effects, better operations and greater variety offered through the VR headsets etc. For a paying customer to be sold on the idea this is the park's biggest investment which is a psychologically thrilling experience, only to find several broken effects, glitchy VR headsets and questionable consistency is inexcusable for a multi-billion quid company and a £13M+ ride.
 
I know I bash DBGT an awful lot, but that's because I want it to get better and still don't believe it's being used to it's full potential. To see rewards like this being given out to it which in my honest opinion doesn't deserve, especially storytelling-wise, it's as though there's some form of denial with Merlin in accepting this investment has not lived up to the promises and standards they made it out to be. Overall feedback from the public backs this claim up.
 
Hoping one day I try it everything works as intended, but I've yet to experience that once... 30+ rides later...

Should've worded that a little better because what I meant by feedback-wise wasn't the popularity of the attraction, but the general opinion and impressions from the public, because lets be honest, none of those attractions mentioned have had an overwhelming positive response since they debuted:

• Sub-Terra was awful when it opened and after some adjustments still provided mixed opinion.
• Saw Alive might look all pretty but has remained unchanged and doesn't deliver the scares or promise of being the "world's most extreme live-action horror maze".
• I'm a Celeb is identical to Saw Alive - looks pretty inside but that's as far as it goes. The rest is abysmal.
• Derren Brown's Ghost Train is the most overhyped and unreliable white elephant in the park's history, operated appallingly during it's opening year and still has an endless stream of cost and reliability issues today.

The fact most, if not all the park's flat rides still draw big queues and positive opinion with guests all these years later should tell the park something. Not only would a newer flat/thrill ride be more sustainable in the long-term, but I'm certain feedback would be a lot higher for it. For instance, I can picture the perfect replacement for Slammer which would undoubtedly make it the best flat ride in the park if built, but it's sadly never going to happen, which is why I find it frustrating the priority for a few years now has been to ensure any new attraction is a world first, have an IP and be very marketable. Forget building a superb killer thrill ride, just as long as whatever comes along is marketable, that's all that matters now.

This change is purely nothing more than another incentive by Merlin to try and push more people to buy the more expensive premium/VIP passes, simple as.

The fact there's no price rise for the standard pass (for the time being) means I'm fine with this change, even though it's not a desirable one. But I can't blame people being disappointed by this, especially for big families.

The big issue I see building up is when people are paying more money for the other passes next year, the value-for-money expectation levels are naturally going to increase further from these customers. If further compromises on opening hours, ride availability and other factors occur across all the parks next year, some may question what are they paying extra for besides from SW8, which for the moment is the only proper new investment for 2018? I know I would.

Swarm VR, are they having a laugh? No thanks.