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The Trocadero isn't a place I ever went to, but hearing from all the attractions that used to be there such as Sega world, have made me interested in what this place was like.

Here's a promotional video of the park, just before it opened in the mid nineties.

Looks like it was quite an interesting place, shame it no longer exists.

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shame it no longer exists.

I can assure you it is no shame at all.

That video does not quite capture the dingy, cramped, oppressive feel that they finally went for. With plenty of bare spaces it never felt finished, there were whole floors that were painted black and kind of just left with maybe one or two arcade machines. It also doesn't mention that every single 'ride' was basically the same with a different colour background.

With how technology has moved on I'm sure something of the same concept could be done quite well now, but this really was quite dire even for back then.

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How very bizzare! I have been researching this building all this week to the point where I was even in the process of starting a thread on here; guess it has been done for me now ;)

I had previously visited January 2012 and while enjoyed my stay, felt it seemed somewhat..depressing (A huge white room with a few arcade machines). Last Thursday I visited again to find the entire central part, gutted. Literally elevators had been ripped up, rubble everywhere. I thought it was going through a massive overhaul at the time (or result of structural collapse) but when I got home I found out about the hotel.

I believe there is 8-10 floors though only three have been used in recent years. Wish I could see inside these areas now.

As a side note, its previous owner was Nick Leslau; owner of Thorpe Park and other Merlin attractions.

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I remember it looking pretty new and exciting There was an odd show that took place with random Animatronics from the roof too.. only happened to see it twice, prob never worked after that.. Alien War on the lower ground and then the double-decker drop tower.. the one that gave me my fear of drop towers-think that ended up at Portsmouth??

Shame it became such a dive for most of it's life after..

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I think rent costs and the landlord being a bit of a burden to the people renting in there were the reason for it's closure... Besides, horror walkthroughs never really do that well with the tourist trade as they are aimed at adults purely, compare that to the Dungeons which has pushed the family friendly routine with the recent rebrand, and even LBE had the Tombs as an add-on...

I don't think I've seen a horror walk-through last excessively long in central London, even Deathtrap wasn't THAT successful and that was in County Hall!

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  • 1 month later...

I remember visiting SegaWorld when it first opened, before it went free entry and pay as you play. You paid £12 and that got you on all the rides and all the machines were set to free play. I enjoyed it, especially as on one floor they had a huge Daytona USA multicabinet set up which had a staff member with a microphone giving the players a running commentary! I didn't get a go though as the queue was pretty large. Spent most of the time on Virtua Cop and Virtua Striker. The Pepsi Max Drop ride was pretty good there as well.

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When I was at uni in London the Cineworld in Trocadero was my 'local' - I used to go there all the time (got to 120 films in a year once). It was really such a depressing dump. Nothing in there except quick opening and closing snack stands (I have no idea how they thought they would make money when no one was ever in there) and rubbish tourist tat shops and stalls. One year they were doing refurbs which involves taking out that awesome big escalator through the middle, so all that was left was a rubbish shopping centre with nothing in it. Not surprised it's gone - it had an air of doom about it for years.

Does anyone know what's going on with the cinema?

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I had no idea what this was about until someone mentioned Pasaje Del Terror, and then it clicked where we're talking about.

I never experienced it as Sega, but I have seen it in recent years with the defunct Pasaje in the basement. Apparently Pasaje closed "Friday January 7th 2011" (quoted from Wikipedia). There's no explanation as to why it went. I thought the brand had died, but by the sounds of it, it was a single closure.

Segaworld died in 1999 when Sega ended sponsorship, and it became something called Funland? The original Segaworld floors remained until 2002 and then were closed off, leaving vending machines blocking the old escalator (which was ripped out in 2011). Apparently it was also used for Madonna's music video, "Hung Up" (random).

Apparently its going to become a hotel and a TK Maxx. Really random.

Its a strange one. I think by the sounds of it the drop of Sega and Pepsi sponsorships killed it to some degree; and the fact the building ran to despair. But then, Namco in City Hall booms. So it's a weird one, considering the Trocadero's location being probably just as prime.

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The Trocodero was/is excessively bigger than Namco in County Hall. If they had attempted to restructure the business on the scale of Namco after the fall of Sega World, they may have made something for themselves but instead, machines/attractions were removed and as nothing substantial replaced them, whole floors were left practically empty. Not a good first impression at all..

Such a shame. I remember hearing great things about the place and feeling rather let down upon my visit, especially after seeing all those cool pictures from its early years.

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The Pasaje del Terror in Blackpool is still operating.

I know; although it was in talks a few years ago about closing also. Back in late 2010 my friend whom had worked there for a few seasons as an actor said that he'd been told, along with the rest, that the attractions "future" was undetermined and advised to seek new employment as opposed to riding out the winter until the usual reopening in February.

He did however go back in 2011, as the attraction did reopen and offer the acting crew their jobs back; although he did accept a job with Alien Attack (and then declined it for Pasaje) and eventually moved onto the Blackpool Tower Dungeon where we remains to this day.

I am led to believe that the Pasaje Del Terror at Blackpool is now subsidised by the management team there; who I believe own it and operate it under the licensed name. As a brand I believe it has collapsed; as the company no longer hold a website, nor do they hold anything more than a Wikipedia suggesting that attractions still exist outside of Spain (the company's origin). Although London's collapse was apparently down to leasing issues with the landlord of the Trocadero; it is reported that the whole attraction was "removed" - so it begs the question why it was never relocated; since it was suggested to be popular and turning profit.

With regards to the Trocadero itself, I find it strange how Sega pulled its attraction plug. Considering when you research the SegaWorld branding, it stayed strong for many years after; with attractions across the UK (albeit without rides) including the recently defunct one in the old Bargate Centre, Southampton which went around 2011 I believe, when the centre closed down.

Having visited the Trocadero in late 2011 early 2012; I do recall it being dismal and a bit of a dump, with a lot of 'unfriendly characters' loitering within it; however it did serve as a link from the Underground station, homed a cinema, and a few shopping units on its main floor, which, to my memory did include a couple of brands, and wasn't in a bad state.

The Trocadero's website is still live too; giving an insight into what remained until the end, and possibly could still be trading at present, as by the sounds of what I've read the ground floor and basement are to remain; with the upper levels (ex Saga levels) becoming a new hotel; and the lower being redeveloped into a mall once again, including the introduction of a TK Maxx this year. You can also find the cinema (operated by Cineworld) stating access is still available by the main walkway, and via an escalator directly into the cinema.

I appreciate everyone who has memories of the Segaworld. But I think it's just as great to see a London historical building being leased into new life, than left to become a disgruntled mess like it was. Does anybody know if / when the guy who own's Thorpe and Alton's land sold it on? Because if he was holding the land in the latter days, surely a discussion with Merlin about creating an attraction haven must have been considered - or at least you'd think if they have good rappour with this guy.

Also, sorry; old and defunct tourism locations interest me highly :ninja:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I used to love Trocadero. The Sega World used to be superb and the Pepsi Max Big Drop was a fantastic drop tower. I was really sorry to hear of it closing.

Never rode it at Trocadero but I've been on Drop several times where it is now (Funland, Hayling Island) and it's surprisingly forceful!

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When I was at uni in London the Cineworld in Trocadero was my 'local' - I used to go there all the time (got to 120 films in a year once). It was really such a depressing dump. Nothing in there except quick opening and closing snack stands (I have no idea how they thought they would make money when no one was ever in there) and rubbish tourist tat shops and stalls. One year they were doing refurbs which involves taking out that awesome big escalator through the middle, so all that was left was a rubbish shopping centre with nothing in it. Not surprised it's gone - it had an air of doom about it for years.

Does anyone know what's going on with the cinema?

Cineworld is still open. You have to take the escalator up from Shaftesbury Avenue or climb the broken escalator from the Leicester Square side and pass a very strange Lebanese cafe and a clutch of old arcade machines.
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Trocadero_zpsccc191e0.jpg

I took this photo when I was in London back in April 2012. This was the top floor which as you can see used to host a bowling alley. I think that when I was there, a laserquest type thing was still open on the "top" floor that was still open.
It's such a shame that this place has gone to the ruins really, but I can imagine the hotel here will generate quite a bit of money!

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