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Congrats to Thorpe for making the Colossus area look like the Margate seafront.. (Minus the sea..)
At least the run down pits  used to blend into the area a little, they could of least done something more than just throw a bunch of concrete at it, looks horrendous.
 

Ha. It's gone has it? Good. So should whoever is posting this crap. Literally firing someone would be good at this point. And then post an insensitive and nonsensical meme of a photo of them crying as they leave.

What the f***ity f***ing f*** is this.

It looks like the events are the main features of the park with how they're shown much bigger than the ride names, the Fright Nights one is fine though IMO (since it is, or was at least, a big event).  The map also makes the park look much smaller than previous ones have done.

Well fair enough! Personally I disagree, even without me caring about Laser Raiders (or much about Lego), I thought the change there was super refreshing and much more in the style of Lego. If I could find a photo of what it looked like in recent years I would, most the paint had peeled right off and it looked god awful! It was one of the worst parts the park.
I'm not trying to put words in your mouth if you genuinly dont mean that. But even right there, in the same sentence you just accepted it by saying you only notice if you look for it. What I mean is, it may not be 'as bad' as the impression some get online, but it's still unacceptably poor and I don't think Merlin care whether trees will help cover it or not!


It's not an enormous change but it shows at least they recognise the park needed work. It's only paint and signs so far, but hopefully it's the beginning of more.

Simple things like painting the ugly concrete walls of the rapids really help too.

I think kids and the many regular visitors will be much more impressionable over things like this, even if they didn't know what it looked like before.

Oh I'm sure there's lots of little things that have been done that I haven't seen. But equally, hearing of a large sum of money being invested into the presentation of the park, I guess I expected things to feel different. Aside from The Beginning, the park looked and felt very much the same as it did last year. Laser Raiders literally didn't look or feel any different to me?
 
Maybe it's just me being less observant (since when I visit my focus is obviously geared towards the younger members in my group). But after hearing people say the park looks a lot better, I just didn't see that. And that's not a criticism per second, since I didn't really think the park was in bad shape in the first place, just a passing comment. Haven't visited other Legolands so can't really comment.
This is exactly the conclusion I didn't want people to draw from my comment. I'm not accepting it, but it's simply a case of it's not as awful as pictures make it out to be. You notice it if you look for it, but it really doesn't scream out as ugly.
 
There's a million and one ways they could make it better, but it's not as bad as some have bad it out to be.

As we know, Annual Pass holders are the most considerate, open minded and tolerant of Thorpe Parks guests. They will be completely fine with Stealth and Quantum being closed.
 

 
Crap.

That's strange, as it's showing as open on the event page for Annual Pass day.
 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2019-pre-season-day-at-thorpe-park-resort-tickets-56342094722
 
It probably isn't a huge issue for a coaster to be down for Annual Pass day provided that it's ready when the main season kicks in.  However, it's poor to false advertise that the ride can be enjoyed on Annual Pass day if that isn't the case.  It's all well and good saying it's a free event, an extra that they don't have to do, but if you look further down they're actively promoting the hotel, so essentially people could be booking hotel rooms and planning to visit on the basis that it'll be open when that might not be correct.
 
I think it's probably a bit silly to list any rides as being available on there, considering the unpredictability of season starts in recent years and the fact that they couldn't guarantee any ride being available at the time of making the booking page public.

Maybe if Colossus learns to drive properly it'll be smoother?

I reckon all of them are genuine judging by recent posts!
 
However, if I was Derren Brown I'd sue because he's more of a frites kinda guy then going to the chippy innit.

In case you've missed it, Thorpe Park have released a string of high quality "memes" over this past winter. But can you tell the difference between a Thorpe Park meme and an ironically created mock meme? Let's find out...
 
1)

 
2)

 
3)

 
4)

 
 
So which ones are genuine, Thorpe Park memes, and which ones aren't?

I put the two teasers they have posted together (forming the centre of the park) the arrows seem to be indicating the locations for the events this year; I could be wrong.  
 
However it’s interesting how ‘Old town’ appears to be deliberately left out, could they be labelling this area as “under construction for 2020” or simply because this area hasn’t got much going for it at the moment?

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 think this discussion has started to spiral away from my point somewhat (and that's partially my fault; I can see where you're coming from)
 
I hate the 'second to Disney' argument because enthusiasts take it out of context and use it for arguments Merlin don't. Marhelorpe mentioned about how they should be held accountable to those standards because customers don't care about the fine print of the second to Disney claim. My point is that Merlin don't say that to customers - it's pretty much all internal or to investors (of course, a lot of what is said to investors can be found out by the public, but the majority of people will not dig that stuff out).
 
The phrases they do use on their website are what I'd expect any large company to say about itself. And those sorts of phrases should just be ignored, as it's meaningless market spiel in my books. And, more importantly, that's a completely different phrase to the second to Disney line.
 
Whenever I see people throw the 'second to Disney' line, it annoys me (irrationally, I guess) because it's like people can't understand the difference between truth and marketing drivel. They are the second largest in the world, and they'll use size as a way of measuring quality. We'll never truly know what the internal standpoint truly is, as of course they're never going to come out and say 'yeah, we're a bit poo' (though in my experience, plenty of senior people within the company truthfully know where they stand in terms of quality within the industry). So why focus on a throwaway phrase when there's actual, more constructive, points to raise?
 
My case in point is this...
 
Merlin do not look at the quality of Universal and think they produce better quality than that. But as a visitor attraction company in terms of attendance, Merlin are above Universal.
 
This is the best point. The majority of people within Merlin who do end up thinking they're second only to Disney are the low-level, seasonal staff. They'll be made aware of how large Merlin are, and most will be unaware of many parks outside of Merlin and Disney. They'll just go in, take the comment at face value, and move on. So at the low level, it does create this delusion. At the higher level (where arguably it matters, as it's the people who are actually making the decisions, etc), people don't buy into this in my experience, except when they have to smile and nod politely when it's mentioned to investors..

Aside from Monster Party, the park has been busy updating and refreshing existing areas, most of which looks noticeably better. Source- Scream Seekers



They’ve also updated the entrance area too which looks much more refreshed now too.
 

The front section of the Monster Party looks great, however it is extremely disappointing to see (what is essentially) the whole ride warehouse on display. The ‘cheap’ vinyl printings somehow make it look even worse and imply these eyesores are here to stay.
 
However, something worse has arisen,

Anyone remember the viewing area near the Dragon coaster?


This is what it looks like now!
 
Obviously, the original area needed to be replaced, because it been around all those years however the park appears to have gone for the cheapest fix.
 
This is is extremely disappointing to witness as not only could you witness some interesting views of the ride in action, but considerably less opportunities for people to watch the ride. I understand safety is paramount, but surely they could’ve implemented a way of keeping the view (higher fences, clear plastic).
 
Seeing features like the ‘themed Tree’, castle chandeliers and turret theming removed over the years is saddening to witness, especially being one growing up with the park since it’s early years. 
 
One step forwards, theee steps back!

Yes, that's too staff. Not to the public. Guests / the public are largely unaware, and don't really care, about the size of Merlin.
I just don't get it. Merlin are the second largest visitor attraction company, and that's a fact. Of course they're going to spin that to say they're their second best.
 
And all companies positively advertise themselves. A company as large as Merlin will of course put claims out there they're the greatest. It's what any company in their right mind would do if they've got an opportunity to do it.
 
It's not about me being a sympathetic towards Merlin. They're making plenty of questionable decisions I hate. But the complaints against them saying they're second to Disney just always leave me dumbfounded.

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 am seriously tiring of this argument.
 
Yes, Merlin claim they are second to Disney in terms of attendance figures. And as a company they are.
 
They never claim to be second to Disney in terms of quality.
 
People who try and use this argument just come across as ill-informed and ignorant to be honest, and it cheapens your point significantly.

There are different options anpr barriers is an option link an annual pass to a specific reg and it automatically opens. Same with online and onthe day tickets provide the reg , it would speed up the current barrier system.
 
Another option is pure anpr
It depends if they got an operator in to manage the car park in that sence, I'm very anti car park management companies, some are ok others are robbing *********.  
 
Ultimatly when the park is busy people are too quick to forget before charges were introduced at thorpe that you could queue for 2h to get out.

This is the second teaser they've shown with an arrow pointing to part of the park. The first pointed to IAC, which we can assume is for Jungle Escape. Could this arrow be a location for BounceZilla? The area next to Crust can fit a lot in, and probably the most suitable place on park for it..
 
If that is the case, I hope those arrows are there just for the teasers and not on the final map. The idea of having the events effectively labelled as attractions all year round on the map doesn't sound appealing to me...

Just take a step back and think about what you've said here.
 
It's November 2019, an article appears in the Daily Mirror: "I had a bad day at Thorpe Park over a year, I went back and had another bad day!" Who will actually care? No one
 
OR it'll read "I had a bad day at Thorpe Park over a year ago, I went back as a a VIP and had a good!" Again, who will care? No one
 
Stories like that will be published in the heat of the moment, else they lose all interest and credibility.

From my eyes, it would be difficult to change though?
 
Where would they put the pay point? I guess you could put it at the corner of the gravel car park, but then whenever it's slightly busy, the queue will be going out of the park and onto the main roads (something which happens now, so that would be amplified significantly). It would be chaotic most of the time.
 
I'm also not sure how people would react to the whole idea of paying straight away. Many complaints about Thorpe/Merlin are about value for money and how people feel like they're being bled dry. Whilst not having to pay as you leave takes the sting out at the end of the day, it can set people up for feeling like they're shelling out from the moment they arrive. Dangerous game for Thorpe to play.
 
In my experience from parks abroad getting you to pay on arrival, they have plenty of space in their car park for cars to queue, enough leeway outside the park in case of super busy periods and, most importantly, people are less faffy and just generally more efficient. 
 
I just don't see how Thorpe can modify the car park (whilst not significantly reducing the amount of gravel or grass) to make a pay on entry system work.

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!

That looks pretty weak. Tiny themed portion of the building and just cover the rest in timber.