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'I'm a Celebrity' Attraction - 2015


JoshC.

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Well the Krake maze has also gone way of Saw Alive and is gone. This addition screams of the need for something new, something that's ONLY point is to get guests in THIS year. They're not thinking about the lasting power. Exactly the same for Chessington too.. They're after quick IPs that they can use to draw guests in. It's all driven by marketing, and this years numbers, not the future.

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The other Merlin parks have attractions with actors

Actors are very popular now with small attractions like this because the studios don't have to build as much preshow, story driven, AV stuff, and can just hand over the project to the park to hire actors to do that job instead. The studios love to save as much money as they can, hiring the expensive actors comes out of the park's budget. That's really the only reason, not because the public demand experiences be actor-led or anything, it's just another example of corner cutting.

It's also why Sub Terra started off with hardly any actors but now totally relies on them to give the ending. It's also why they had enough money to build the much anticipated (at the time) Saw Alive, but then the park could not afford to run it.

However seeing the photos the studios have done more than usual in terms of setting up the theme, and they would be daft to ignore the mistakes of Sub Terra and Saw Alive, so I agree it will probably (hopefully) not be quite so actor-led.

I must seem like Mr Grumpy, well I am this is silly

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I really don't know what to think about this.

 

I'm a little confused, to be honest, about how it will be family friendly, considering it is themed around people being thrown underwater with snakes and the like, tipped upside down repeatedly with snakes and the like, being stuck in a confined space with snakes and.... you get the idea.

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Am I the only one under the impression that this attraction just won't have any actors at all? Maze =/= Actors all the time. Among other things, they would have done a casting call by now. All of Saw Alive's actors were hired by Mid Feb, with the advert usually up by the start of January.

Sub-Terra also only has  2-3 Max actors at peak as it is, the rest are just in-character ride hosts. The difference  here is, they already have a pool of actors that roam the park and perform shows which they can use. Saw was an entire attraction based around actors, with only 1 or 2 interactive elements. 

 

I don't see how "Costs are gonna spiral out of control". Aside from paying for the IP, the attraction will be a lot more sustainable. Considering its gonna have a gift shop, the merchandise alone has enough potential to carry this attraction. 

 

 

If you wanna take some positives, they're essentially luring people right into the new development zone, so there'll be some fantastic marketing opportunities for the 2016 attraction I hope. We'll also hopefully see a lick of paint in one of the parks more aging areas too, its an attraction that isn't themed around destruction or a derelict setting, something that everyone seems to moan about. And finally...its not Take Me Out: The Ride. 

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Does this really fit Thorpe Park? If you had been told 10 years ago that by 2012, the parks direction would have been so badly messed up that they ended up adding low cost, last-minute re-themes and maze attractions to TV shows and mobile phone games - what would you have said then?

 

It smacks of a lack of direction and a clueless management who seem not to care about any sort of fluidity to the park - throwing in random attractions here, there and everywhere.

 

Whilst I have nothing against the idea of a jungle themed walkthrough per-se, the IP itself makes me cringe a little - it's really cheapening the overall Thorpe Park brand which ultimately is one of the most expensive days out in the country. The throughput will be awful, it will probably have no relevance in 3 years time and, unlike what was going on 10-15 years ago Thorpe Park, the vast majority of attractions added since Stealth have been appalling. Check out the list below and consider which you would consider 'highlight' and 'top' attractions of the park...

 

2007: Flying Fish re-opened, appallingly themed and presented.

2008: Time Voyagers. Ermmm... since removed. Short termism.

2009: Saw. Fair enough.

2010: Saw Alive - a complete flop. Closed most of the time.

2011: Storm Surge - the less said the better. Leaks half the time.

2012: The Swarm - good addition but ultimately failed to get the guests in

2013: Cheap hotel. Looks awful. X refurb - improvement. Swarm backwards, hmm...

2014: Angry Birds land...

2015: I'm a celeb

 

Now, in my eyes - 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 have been largely rubbish. The best thing out of all of those years is probably the refurbishment of X...

 

May 2016 be AMAZING!

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Thing is, 10 years ago the park was coming to the end of what was years on continuous investment which was realistically never going to continue at the pace it was 

 

But going to your list - I think some (not all) of them are possibly a bit harsh though..

 

2007 - Agree more could of and should have been done - it looked ok with the pools / sand till that was all removed. Could be improved with little cost.

2008 - Agreed

2009-  Yep

2010 - Wouldn't say it was a flop, whilst it was clearly short team it complemented Saw and the park during its busiest times

2011 - Agree

2012 - Very weird one - not the rides fault IMO but a good solid reliable coaster - probably exactly what the park needed - I'm sure its still not had a whole day closed?!

2013 - Again weird one - Crash Pad was a cheap hotel but is pretty unique and obviously gets good feedback

2014 - Think Shark Hotel is an improvement - it has more identity to it is quirky and added more rooms, was often fully booked so people must like it? Angry birds land - opened up an otherwise dead part of the park (amity was already pretty split to be fair!) and added much needed family / indoor attractions.

2015 - I think will be a good addition in a obviously low budget year - another needed indoor / family attraction. Is the IP bad? Everyone knows of IAC and sounds like it will add a pretty unique compared twist compared to normal horror mazes we get.

 

Have high hopes for 2016 still and looking forward to seeing that progress. 

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First ever post. I actually think this is a clever move. Yes I understand what people are saying with regards to thinking it will go the same way as Saw alive, but I feel that this may surprise everyone. Given Thorpe Parks new direction, it could be an ideal queue buster for the park. It has a lot of potential to draw even more families to the park and given how many people watch the programme, it wouldn't surprise me if this becomes a really popular attraction. I personally can't wait to give this a go in March.

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Does this really fit Thorpe Park? If you had been told 10 years ago that by 2012, the parks direction would have been so badly messed up that they ended up adding low cost, last-minute re-themes and maze attractions to TV shows and mobile phone games - what would you have said then?

 

It smacks of a lack of direction and a clueless management who seem not to care about any sort of fluidity to the park - throwing in random attractions here, there and everywhere.

I do agree with this, they don't seem to have a clue what direction the park is going in - a few years back they told us they were trying to push out families, now they want them back in, but are introducing an attraction based on a TV show that is viewed mostly by adults/older teenagers rather than children.  It does seem very strange, and whilst I am personally looking forward to the new attraction, will it really bring in enough custom to make it worthwhile?

 

A lot of Thorpe's decisions seem to be short term at the moment.

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I have no issue with wanting families back - in fact, many people posting on here and other forums were saying 10 years ago that they were concerned about the OTT thrill focus at the place...

 

But it isn't like they have actually added any quality family rides in the past few years. They are just basic or cheap additions. I get the impression many have been quite last minute.

 

The fact this won't open until the end of March, rather than opening day, shows that it is indeed last minute.

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I have no issue with wanting families back - in fact, many people posting on here and other forums were saying 10 years ago that they were concerned about the OTT thrill focus at the place...

 

But it isn't like they have actually added any quality family rides in the past few years. They are just basic or cheap additions. I get the impression many have been quite last minute.

 

The fact this won't open until the end of March, rather than opening day, shows that it is indeed last minute.

No I agree that it's good that they are making the park appeal to families again, what I mean is that it shows that they don't (or didn't) really know what they are doing.

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