Matt 236 Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 Who needs themed facades and shrubbery to conceal a ride building, when you can just put bats and cobwebs there instead. Better than nothing I suppose. Kerfuffle, Coaster and Marhelorpe 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 4 hours ago, Cedar Creek said: Who needs themed facades and shrubbery to conceal a ride building, when you can just put bats and cobwebs there instead. Better than nothing I suppose. ...and so, yet another reincarnation of Merlin's infamous staple attraction, "Shed: The Ride" makes its grand appearance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 To think that's the same park that produced the fabulous castle surrounding the Dragon ride. Progress... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 This is what happens when you stick a dark ride in the middle of the park and don't have a large enough budget for exterior theming. It's no surprise really, as it's exactly what they did with Ninjago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 Paging @Mark9 to the thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 11 hours ago, Coaster said: To think that's the same park that produced the fabulous castle surrounding the Dragon ride. Progress... The difference is that back then the park was owned by Lego who were clearly able to provide a large enough budget. Merlin however... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marhelorpe Posted November 14, 2018 Report Share Posted November 14, 2018 On 11/12/2018 at 7:23 PM, Cedar Creek said: Who needs themed facades and shrubbery to conceal a ride building, when you can just put bats and cobwebs there instead. Better than nothing I suppose. 2nd to Disney right there folks. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Kerfuffle and Whatever 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 The concept of inside looks pretty decent despite how bad it looks outside! JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 26 minutes ago, Marc said: The concept of inside looks pretty decent despite how bad it looks outside! I'm sure The Smiler looked great from the concept art too. Until opening day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 Nice concept - not as 'brick'y as I was expecting, which is a good thing. Equally, I hope they have a balance to make it 'feel' like Legoland, else it may feel out of place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 It looks better than nothing. Marhelorpe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 The exterior looks amazing, some great quality theming and styling, should the end result be similar to the concept art. At least it looks like they are doing that part right, because it actually looks like something interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted March 4, 2019 Report Share Posted March 4, 2019 The park is looking a LOT better this year, it's a genuinly great move. If only more Merlin parks could get this as a minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profburp Posted March 4, 2019 Report Share Posted March 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Wumbamillio said: The park is looking a LOT better this year, it's a genuinly great move. If only more Merlin parks could get this as a minimum. Agreed....poor Thorpe just seems to have been left of late! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 A first decent-ish look at Monster Party. Looks like the front will be nicely done. Shame about the rest / location of the ride meaning we get the ugly rear end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 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! 2542464 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 My goodness that warehouse looks absolutely abysmal. Completely destroys the illusion the ride is supposed to create before you even enter the building! Whatever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 Visited the park today, and probably a controversial opinion, but the warehouse of Monster Party isn't that bad. Yes, it's there, yes you can see it. But it's not as much of an eyesore as I'd thought it would be. And once trees have grown in, it will be less of an issue. View from Coastguard HQ From the arena. Trees will no doubt hide this in time Fairly decent shot of the main exterior, which does look good Abymsal entrance logo I'm not for one minute saying this is good. Far from it. But it's not terrible; there's certainly worse examples of sheds which stick out. There's two things I don't like though. 1) That abysmally bland entrance sign 2) The fact the park has lost a green, peaceful space AND introduced a smaller pathway in what will be a busier area. I'm looking forward to trying it though. It will be interesting seeing the blend of family and scare and how that's received in a British Legoland. Oh, also, this £1.5m refresh of the park.. Aside from The Beginning, I didn't really notice much? It's been almost a year since I visited, so maybe I didn't see what a state some areas were in before. But the park never felt that run down to me before (aside from the entrance needing a bit of TLC), and it doesn't feel any different now. Matt 236 and Ringo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPC Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 Main changes have been Laser Raiders have a new design for farcade, beginning having a lot of painting done, viking river splash having trough repainted and new ride signs throughout the park. It's quite a bit Ringo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 2 hours ago, JoshC. said: But the park never felt that run down to me before (aside from the entrance needing a bit of TLC), and it doesn't feel any different now. It was really lacking colour, life, much had peeling paint (especially Laser Raiders) and many models were looking very tired. Lots of vinyl signage has been replaced by 3D (or at least more interesting) signage. It's not a drastic change, but it's a lot more extensive than you make out to be fair. It's little things that aren't meant to be noticed individually but all add to an overall improvement. If it continues like this the park will be MUCH improved. Out of interest have you visited any of the other Legoland parks? (the pre Merlin ones, but even some of those are better) Windsor used to be much like those others, the difference since then is kind of shocking and sad. Those trees behind the harbour havnt grown much in the last 20 years, I'm wondering how much more theyd have to grow to hide that huge horrid shed. It's pretty much the worse shed I've ever seen in a UK park. It's not a crime against humanity but the more this kind of thing is widely accepted as 'not that bad' the more in the gutter UK parks will become. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 5 minutes ago, Wumbamillio said: It's not a drastic change, but it's a lot more extensive than you make out to be fair. It's little things that aren't meant to be noticed individually but all add to an overall improvement. If it continues like this the park will be MUCH improved. 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. 5 minutes ago, Wumbamillio said: It's pretty much the worse shed I've ever seen in a UK park. It's not a crime against humanity but the more this kind of thing is widely accepted as 'not that bad' the more in the gutter UK parks will become. 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. 2542464 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ringo Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 Exterior of Laser Riders has been painted (Courtesy of TPG) https://live.themeparkguide.biz/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 I genuinely had to look at a 'before' photo to realise what the difference was: It says more about me then the quality of the work, but when I was there, I genuinely did not think 'huh, this looks new'. Equally, I personally didn't think there was a problem with the old exterior (though I guess it could probably have done with a clean?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 On monster houses warehouse are we considering it from a kid perspective maybe the warehouse is not as viewable from their line of sight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted March 17, 2019 Report Share Posted March 17, 2019 25 minutes ago, JoshC. said: t says more about me then the quality of the work, but when I was there, I genuinely did not think 'huh, this looks new'. Equally, I personally didn't think there was a problem with the old exterior (though I guess it could probably have done with a clean?) 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. 39 minutes ago, JoshC. said: 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. 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. 2542464 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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