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Scorpion Express


Dan9

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Okay, I think it's been made clear we all have differing opinions on what is going on... majority opinion is it that its dire but still.

I think we can all have an opinion on what's happening and at this point it isn't looking good but I think what Holly may have been trying to emphasise is that none of our opinions are informed. We're informed in the sense we understand some basic inner workings of the park from an enthusiast point of view but none of us truly understand the in's and out's of management of a theme park, let alone a global theme park business. So we can say what we want, but they aren't informed opinions.

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I'll freely admit that I don't know that much about how to run a business or anything like that, but one thing which has me stumped is this:

Why is it Merlin can afford to splash the cash at different places, new midway attractions, and so forth, yet can't be that same level of effort or investment into Chessie? I think people would have a hard time arguing that the likes of Swarm, Smiler, Flight of the Demon, Legoland developments, Raptor, etc. were a waste of money / a bad investment. Yet, when you look at Chessie, Wild Asia was good, Madagascar was okay, but there's many negatives. Specifically, many more then any of the other Merlin parks. Scorpion Express is a major attraction at Chessie, but I it feels like this retheme hasn't been given the effort it deserves.

As I say, I don't actually 'get' the ins and outs of running a business, but surely everyone can see the amount of investment and effort being put into Chessington is noticeably less than the other parks. And that, for everyone, is frustrating. Very frustrating

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Lol. After a somewhat patronising post of your opinions, you discount everyone elses opinions as they haven't run a business for a few years.

Run many businesses have you?

Yes I have actually, thank you for asking, Nice to see that when I get older people still make assumptions.

Okay, I think it's been made clear we all have differing opinions on what is going on... majority opinion is it that its dire but still.

I think we can all have an opinion on what's happening and at this point it isn't looking good but I think what Holly may have been trying to emphasise is that none of our opinions are informed. We're informed in the sense we understand some basic inner workings of the park from an enthusiast point of view but none of us truly understand the in's and out's of management of a theme park, let alone a global theme park business. So we can say what we want, but they aren't informed opinions.

Pretty much what I was trying to say, sorry if it came across wrong or whatever but I think from now on I'm just not going to bother next time.

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I'll freely admit that I don't know that much about how to run a business or anything like that, but one thing which has me stumped is this:

Why is it Merlin can afford to splash the cash at different places, new midway attractions, and so forth, yet can't be that same level of effort or investment into Chessie? I think people would have a hard time arguing that the likes of Swarm, Smiler, Flight of the Demon, Legoland developments, Raptor, etc. were a waste of money / a bad investment. Yet, when you look at Chessie, Wild Asia was good, Madagascar was okay, but there's many negatives. Specifically, many more then any of the other Merlin parks. Scorpion Express is a major attraction at Chessie, but I it feels like this retheme hasn't been given the effort it deserves.

As I say, I don't actually 'get' the ins and outs of running a business, but surely everyone can see the amount of investment and effort being put into Chessington is noticeably less than the other parks. And that, for everyone, is frustrating. Very frustrating

Basically because maintanance and small re-themes doesn't bring in new guests. They need something big (The Smiler at AT) or well-known (Madagascar, Ice Age, Shrek) to get people to come to the parks. Midway attractions are cheaper to build so they can get more or them built quickly and Lego is a brand that attracts guests to the parks too. Look at Universal Studios in Florida too, they haven't built anything original in a long time, Simpson, Transformers & Harry Potter are the big draws into the park now. That just seems to be business now, you need a big hook to market something on.

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Basically because maintanance and small re-themes doesn't bring in new guests. They need something big (The Smiler at AT) or well-known (Madagascar, Ice Age, Shrek) to get people to come to the parks. Midway attractions are cheaper to build so they can get more or them built quickly and Lego is a brand that attracts guests to the parks too. Look at Universal Studios in Florida too, they haven't built anything original in a long time, Simpson, Transformers & Harry Potter are the big draws into the park now. That just seems to be business now, you need a big hook to market something on.

Maintenance and small re-themes do not bring in guests, I agree.

However, Scorpion Express should not be a 'small retheme'. It's one of the parks major attractions - it should get a huge retheme, with money splashed at it left, right and centre. You wouldn't want Thorpe to have a 'small retheme' of, for example, Saw whereby they just removed anything remotely related to the Saw brand. Nor would you a expect a small retheme of, say, Nemesis at Alton. You would expect the parks to go all out as much as possible. Yet, *seemingly*, Chessington hasn't done.

Regardless, I think my point still stands. Chessington aren't getting the same level of investment as the other parks, are they? Zufari, which was meant to be a HUGE attraction for the park (indeed, you'd expect a safari-style ride at a place which combines a zoo and a theme park to be the signature attraction). It had £4million cut from it's budget apparently (which, for perspective, was about 40% of the original budget). Something like that wouldn't happen at any of the other parks, would it? So why at Chessington? I just don't get it

As I say, I don't 'get' how businesses should run optimally. No one on here has run a transnational company that makes millions every year though (unless anyone on here is a secret millionaire??), so I don't think anyone really knows 100% how Merlin should run.

But still, I just think it's very frustrating that we see Chessington not putting in the care and attention into some of their rides, and the park as a whole. It's something Thorpe have learnt recently it seems - if you make the park look good, feel good and have things that will keep the guests happy, you'll be able to run a good park. If you do the bare minimum, and focus on just trying to 'bring the guests in', sooner or later, you'll have no guests to bring in, as everyone will have visited once, and say the dreaded words for any company, 'never again'.

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Universal Studios shouldn't be the benchmark though, as none of their attractions in their history can ever be classed as 'original'...

The parks shouldn't be looking at maintenance or touch-ups to bring in guests, they SHOULD be doing those things regardless... Having such a view-point on it is the issue... So what if something isn't marketable or doesn't directly bring guests in? Whatever happened to producing the most quality product imaginable?

You certainly don't see the likes of Universal or Disney leaving their rides to rot until replacement is required... Even Six Flags manage to repaint their coasters every few years, and they are reknown for being crap maintenance wise...

You do maintenance and 'small' rethemes in ADDITION to major additions... Runaway is one of Chessie's major attractions, why is it being shafted?

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Yes I have actually, thank you for asking, Nice to see that when I get older people still make assumptions.

And your assumption of me (and others) having not done so before forming our opinions is just as wrong. Frustrating, isn't it!

Pretty much what I was trying to say, sorry if it came across wrong or whatever but I think from now on I'm just not going to bother next time.

And that's fair enough, but surely if you look at the wording of what you said you can see why it would grate on people and get a little reaction. Please don't 'not bother' next time, but if you come across so condescending people will be like this.

Anyway, from a business point of view my problem with Merlin is their short term outlook. There's not necessarily a right way and a wrong way of running something, it's just a matter of opinion. The problem with short term investments is there is a demand for an immediate return on that investment which by its very nature will usually result in cheap and gimmicky attractions that aren't well maintained, not particularly well received and need something new to bring punters in a short time later. The alternative is accepting that giving a more well rounded experience with an understated quality will build satisfaction and brand loyalty that will pay for itself many times over for years to come, but won't necessarily balance the books during year one. Like I say, different ways, not wrong and right, but I know what I think works better in a theme park environment.

Chessington at the moment is a bit of a contradiction in itself. What we've seen left to rot and then what looks to be a poor effort a re doing the mine train (and no effort re doing dragons) sits at quite a contrast to the work on market square, which is an investment that will mean nothing to most and bring nothing marketable to the park, but will make that part of it a nicer place to be. Hopefully that's a bit of an indication of a change of outlook from them.

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When it comes down to it, it's a budget. Now Merlin has many different attractions fighting for a part of the budget. Chessie will have either not had a strong enough 'campaign' we'll call it or the budget just got given to others. It happens. It's not fair and it's the way things work. Happens in many businesses. And before you say 'oh but can't they just divide the money fairly' I don't know why but that's most likely the way they want to run it. That's most likely why Chessie doesn't get as much investment as others, Sealife investments anyone? Etc.

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Budget gets given to others that are deemed as 'unsuccessful'... It's the way Merlin have decided that all parks give to the one big pot so it can be distributed 'accordingly', and so parks that do well in their own right (Chessington/Towers) can hold up the parks that let the side down (Thorpe)*...

Of course it does mean that if a park needs more money for some reason (perhaps, a massive delay on your big coaster), the others will lose out completely... It certainly wouldn't cost Chessie £4 million on crews to destroy classic theming, so why else did Zufari lose a lot of the budget? Because others in the pot needed it...

To me, who knows nothing to nothing about business, that doesn't seem sensical... It seems more damaging and unrewarding to those doing well, whilst the ones doing badly get given a slap on the back for trying and given a grant to improve themselves, which they promptly spend on lights and speakers and call it a day...

*PLEASE, bear in mind that this is from the financial side of things rather than an 'attack' on the park... It's well noted how bad the performance was of Thorpe in 2012, hence the change of budgeting...

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Scorpion Express – New for 2014 A runaway train with a sting in its tail!

We're looking for brave adventurers visiting Chessington Resort to venture into Scorpion Valley and experience an amazing new ride experience for all the family!

Scorpion Express* is a brand new ride experience for 2014 set within Mexicana's Scorpion Valley - a land of sweeping sands and gold mines. As you head towards the town you'll soon see signs that all is not quite as it once was and it will soon become clear that where locals once lived, the scorpions have taken control. Adventurers must then board the old train of the Scorpion Express as it's the only way to cross the ruins of the gold mines in this abandoned town!

Scorpion Express is a fun ride for all the family and brave young adventurers can experience their first rollercoaster thrill. Watch out for surprises at every turn including fire and water effects, as with unstable mines guarded by the giant Scorpion anything could happen – try not to get too close!

http://www.chessington.com/scorpion/

Well, they make it sound good...

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