Marhelorpe

Aaaah, on park today and it's so refreshing to see that the retheme of Hocus Pocus Hall to Room on the Broom has been executed perfectly with no reference of the old 4D attraction anywhere across the park. More importantly, the goblins are nowhere to be seen. Excellent work Chessington......
 

Wow... some of their social media replies really are shocking, you'd think this was coming from a fan account with 10 followers not the official Twitter page!
 
Then again.  I suppose it's better than nothing.

Given I would assume many of us also play games like RCT and Planet Coaster, something like a dedicated Discord server would be great I think. Would definitely use it if one is made! 

I highly doubt that, as this has been on there for the corporate events they offer for companies etc. They were offering this over Christmas in 2018, so I don't think this is related. They offer the fastback (q-jump) to the corporate packages. Also I would say they look more like stars than snow, sorry to disappoint! I think it is most likely going to be summer nights returning, but again I could be wrong.

Q-Jump are a special sort of Fastrack effectively.
 
When companies have private / corporate events, each attendee gets a ticket (like a Priority Pass) with a list of rides they can go through the Fastrack queues for. These rides are marked off individually when people go through the Fastrack queue.
 
What rides are included on the Q-Jump depends on how much the company pay and what they request. The numbers are taken out of the Fastrack allocations for the day, so there's no more than usual that would be sold.

I go to Merlin attractions still because despite all the criticisms I make on here, (shocker to all the readers), I still actually enjoy visiting them. Yeah, weird right isn't it?
 
But seriously, just because I visit their attractions does not automatically mean I should love and adore every little thing they do and not utter a single piece of criticism in the process.
 
If I see a flaw or something silly, I will point it out when I feel it is right to do so. In this case, commenting on the absolutely revolting entrance to the Alton Towers Dungeon by simply hiding Charlie's theming with planks of wood, and mocking the delusional mindset of Merlin in the process.
 
If you look at my comments on things like Wicker Man and Gruffaloworks, you will see I have praised them very highly at times, so I'm not a Merlin hater and will give credit when I see it. It's just with the Alton Towers Dungeon, I'm finding very few reasons to praise this right now.
 
I simply just expect better from this company. Simples.

I go to Merlin attractions still because despite all the criticisms I make on here, (shocker to all the readers), I still actually enjoy visiting them. Yeah, weird right isn't it?
 
But seriously, just because I visit their attractions does not automatically mean I should love and adore every little thing they do and not utter a single piece of criticism in the process.
 
If I see a flaw or something silly, I will point it out when I feel it is right to do so. In this case, commenting on the absolutely revolting entrance to the Alton Towers Dungeon by simply hiding Charlie's theming with planks of wood, and mocking the delusional mindset of Merlin in the process.
 
If you look at my comments on things like Wicker Man and Gruffaloworks, you will see I have praised them very highly at times, so I'm not a Merlin hater and will give credit when I see it. It's just with the Alton Towers Dungeon, I'm finding very few reasons to praise this right now.
 
I simply just expect better from this company. Simples.

I go to Merlin attractions still because despite all the criticisms I make on here, (shocker to all the readers), I still actually enjoy visiting them. Yeah, weird right isn't it?
 
But seriously, just because I visit their attractions does not automatically mean I should love and adore every little thing they do and not utter a single piece of criticism in the process.
 
If I see a flaw or something silly, I will point it out when I feel it is right to do so. In this case, commenting on the absolutely revolting entrance to the Alton Towers Dungeon by simply hiding Charlie's theming with planks of wood, and mocking the delusional mindset of Merlin in the process.
 
If you look at my comments on things like Wicker Man and Gruffaloworks, you will see I have praised them very highly at times, so I'm not a Merlin hater and will give credit when I see it. It's just with the Alton Towers Dungeon, I'm finding very few reasons to praise this right now.
 
I simply just expect better from this company. Simples.

Is written on a website not public domain? Having pride in your company is different to making up ridiculous hyperbole (when you already monopolise the market and actually get people to believe this stuff).

You've started out saying it's not a valid argument because Merlin have "never stated it refers to quality", then when pointed to a direct quote saying not just Disney but beating everyone in the world on quality, you then change to say its just hyperbole to be ignored (as well as direct quote from Varney to investors, a video that shouldnt contain "meaningless words").

So if your argument boils down to 'well obviously it's not true' (fair enough), then how come you have a problem with people pointing out it's not true? People are only throwing Merlin's own ridiculous words back at them, I don't see how that's exaggeration on their part.

Yeah exactly, it's very indicative of Merlin's deluded mindset and that's obviously what people mean in general when they mock the phrase.

It may be an easy shot to mock "second to Disney", but think it's just hilarious how Merlin don't even try to hide their arrogance anymore.

Regardless of the 2nd to Disney discussion, that is still a weak entrance. Tiny portion of theming and then timber. It's just not good enough, however you feel about Merlin, and I don't think I'm Merlin bashing by saying that.
 
There's no axe to grind, it's just not very good.

Second to Disney is not a public Marketing phrase, it is a delusional corporate mindset. They want all their staff to think the work that they do is on the same level as Disney. It is not to be taken literally as though Merlin are going around telling the public their attractions are better than Disney. It is more about them having this mindset yet going ahead with the kind of projects you would never see Disney doing in the same way.

Because it looks (equally predictably) rubbish. No need to defend trash, it's not like Merlin actually care about this other than making easy money.

They know they can pay for nothing, do a half arsed job and people will still go along with it.

Most the criticism of it I've seen online has been done with humour of disbelief anyway. You don't have to like everything by default for fear of being seen as "negative".

True there's always some who will complain regardless, but just look at this. Seeing how people will defend the rubbish being fed them by Merlin (they're capable of better, look at Wicker Man), more because they have something against people's opinions  than because they actually like the attraction being made, is sadder in my opinion. If they made anything entertaining and original, I'd be all over it in positivity!

But do you see the contradiction here? I think you just accept it and don't see anything wrong with it, whereas others do. It is a valid point people make, I say people shouldnt just accept spin and hyperbole from a company screwing guests over with poor value. They should ask for better than what Merlin thinks it can get away with at high prices forever. If anything people use the second to Disney claim to poke fun at the flaws in Merlin's entire operation, not just criticising one statement they make.

If Merlin stopped trying to convince people they were the best at themed accomodation, produced the best quality/most innovative attraction projects "in the world" and trying to brainwash its staff, then there'd still be all the other problems. It's just that their attitude is nicely summed up by the "second to Disney" contradiction.

They will make even more noise about it once they "catch"/"stomp"/"crush the mouse" or whatever nasty variant of that phrase they're on to now.

You say predictable criticism, I say predictably low quality work warrants an appropriate response. 
 
I'm not a sheep who just loves bashing Merlin, but there is a pattern of low quality recently. Rides like Wicker man and Gruffalo have proven they're capable, but there is a general pattern of weird short-sighted and poorly executed actions:
 
Angry Birds Land (tacky and dated IP)
I'm a Celebrity (actor led)
DBGT (actor led...again and a missed opportunity)
Nemesis Sub Terra (liked the ride, but a short sighted investment)
Alton Dungeons (actor led.... yet again, and looks dire externally)
Closing Loggers
Tiger River / letting Dragon Falls fall into disrepair and removing its good theming.
Walking Dead (I liked the ride, but why retheme one of your few family rides to a horror franchise?!)

Oh trust me, nobody believes it.
Come on, even if you have sympathies with Merlin, we're scraping the barrel of excuses for their arrogance now!  They covet and dismiss Disney all the time internally.
 
It's never taken out of context and it's not nitpicking at all. In my view it's just people waking up to Merlin's real ways.  If it's just silly hyperbole, why is it stated sincerely to every staff member, written on websites and spoken in serious videos about the company?

Thank goodness they don't advertise it to the public openly, unlike ALL their other questionable  '___ in the world' public claims about their rides.

It's the very first thing they say to all new staff in inductions, something like: "We're chasing the mouse, our aim is to be bigger than Disney" accompanied by a slide showing them as second to Disney.

Yes they do.
"No other company on the planet delivers projects of such quality, with such value, within the timescales achieved."
MMM website
http://magic.lmcpreview.co.uk/ (click Read More)

MMM of course is the organisation that produces and markets all of Merlin's  attraction developments, including the Alton Towers Dungeons.

Also, it has regularly been used in staff inductions, promotions, etc to make out they are "second to Disney" in any sense. I rarely see it specified as being only about attendance anymore. Yes, attendance is how they originally based that claim, but they have been using it disingenuously since. Along with many other ridiculous statements they make (eg that Spring update video), Merlin seemingly DO believe they make some of the best attractions in the world.

So please don't be tired of the point being raised, Merlin themselves raise it allll the time so you can  expect a valid counterargument!
 
 
But do you think this is going to turn out anywhere near as good as Wicker Man? When it opened, I think quite rightly Wicker Man was a big hit with the public and enthusiasts alike. Yes there was a lot of cynicism beforehand from some, but mostly about the layout. Fair enough, because it's very short compared with the many other wooden coasters that were cancelled at Alton Towers. Other than that, the rest was just speculation and people being (understandably) disillusioned with Merlin after other recent developments that were nothing like Wicker Man.

Maybe not "easy money", but they do it for the reason of spreading their own brands and guaranteeing marketing success by using a pre-existing concept (and therefore guaranteeing profits, according to them). But as usual, they are even internally dysfunctional, and you're right it will cost them more in the long term. They keep proving they don't care about the long term of their parks.

I'm sorry, but if they're gonna continue to use a statement that bold, they've gotta be held up to those standards in a lot of areas other than finance, especially from a customer's perspective who visit these parks for the experience and don't give two hoots about attendance figures frankly. Using a statement like that is as misleading as Nick Varney saying Merlin "lead the world in themed accommodation and do it better than anybody else" when we all know that's complete and utter tripe.

Are you therefore saying when someone for example forks out £200 for 1 night at the CBeebies Land Hotel they should not expect anything better out there because Mr. Varney said so in a YouTube video?

I personally think it's quite ignorant and ill-informed to tell paying customers to expect anything less after being promised things like this, similar to being told DBGT was the "future for theme parks across the world".
 
Merlin are delusional, nothing more, nothing less.

I'm sorry, but if they're gonna continue to use a statement that bold, they've gotta be held up to those standards in a lot of areas other than finance, especially from a customer's perspective who visit these parks for the experience and don't give two hoots about attendance figures frankly. Using a statement like that is as misleading as Nick Varney saying Merlin "lead the world in themed accommodation and do it better than anybody else" when we all know that's complete and utter tripe.

Are you therefore saying when someone for example forks out £200 for 1 night at the CBeebies Land Hotel they should not expect anything better out there because Mr. Varney said so in a YouTube video?

I personally think it's quite ignorant and ill-informed to tell paying customers to expect anything less after being promised things like this, similar to being told DBGT was the "future for theme parks across the world".
 
Merlin are delusional, nothing more, nothing less.

Well it’s better than nothing I guess!!

Blimey.
 
*Books visit to Phantasialand*

This is M£rlin remember, course they ain't gonna bleedin' paint those fences or repave that flooring.
 
Not gonna knock this until trying it of course, but there's no doubt exterior-wise this is looking like a contender with Walking Dead: The Ride for being the worst outdoor queue line for any attraction I know of.

...because how else would you be able to take in the sheer beauty of Valhalla...before Odin casts you into fiery Helheim?? Lesson is kids, don't f*ck with Ragnarok in front of Odin (so the story goes).

Liseberg withdrawal symptoms resulted in me almost recreating Loke...