Benin Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I'm sure it said Sunday this morning... Oh well... And yeah, I'll keep moaning if Merlin keep providing ammo for me to moan about... Like this area, or Chessie, or having shut ice cream outlets at Towers... How else are the parks meant to know when they're being rubbish of people defend them blindly over everything? Not my fault the Merlin parks are cack in comparison to other parks in the world... And I haven't moaned about the hotel plans either... How strange that is? Flipper and paige 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I'm sure it said Sunday this morning... Oh well... And yeah, I'll keep moaning if Merlin keep providing ammo for me to moan about... Like this area, or Chessie, or having shut ice cream outlets at Towers... How else are the parks meant to know when they're being rubbish of people defend them blindly over everything? Not my fault the Merlin parks are cack in comparison to other parks in the world... And I haven't moaned about the hotel plans either... How strange that is? The area isn't finished, you defended towers when people complained about their new area stating it wasn't finished and neither is Angry Birds land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I'm sure it said Sunday this morning... Oh well... And yeah, I'll keep moaning if Merlin keep providing ammo for me to moan about... Like this area, or Chessie, or having shut ice cream outlets at Towers... How else are the parks meant to know when they're being rubbish of people defend them blindly over everything? Not my fault the Merlin parks are cack in comparison to other parks in the world... And I haven't moaned about the hotel plans either... How strange that is? Just as a bit of a reverse to this - how are parks meant to know how to improve when some people blindly attack them over everything? Not accusing anyone of course, as this is a general point, but some people do it. Angry Birds Land isn't perfect, but I do think some people are being unnecessarily critical of the area, simply because they don't like the idea. Oh, and didn't you moan about the boat link between the Thorpe Hotel and main park? tomglazed and Tom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 Detonator is open today! The yellow sign they put up at the start of the season has been painted over in brown. Not sure what this means... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 The area isn't finished, you defended towers when people complained about their new area stating it wasn't finished and neither is Angry Birds land. Thing is with CBeebies is that we haven't really been able to see the area as a whole (beyond Squirrel Nutty), it is actually harder to pass initial judgement on it prior to visiting it proper... Angry Birds being in the slap bang middle of the park and easily visible makes a difference there... Indeed, during construction it can be possible to judge something before it's finished... See the pics of Angry Birds doesn't exactly make me feel like it's going to be the quality level that we should expect from the world's second biggest theme park operator... Notice that it's what we should expect... £3 million won't go far in the terms of a whole area (Efteling spent €2 million alone on a restaurant refurb), so perhaps it's down to how Merlin operate their parks then? Perhaps we should be seeing a lot more money being put into these so called 'low' investments, because otherwise they just look cheap and something that we would no doubt be praising the likes of Lightwater (who can barely put £3 million together in the first place) for building... Then you have to ask, was Angry Birds as an IP to this addition really required? What with the rebrand being rather solid in pushing back into the family market after alienating them for all these years, is this just a quick piece of short-termism geared more towards instant profit rather than a long term plan? Is that really the better option, given that Thorpe still appears to have a big turnaround to have in the audience expectations? Just as a bit of a reverse to this - how are parks meant to know how to improve when some people blindly attack them over everything? Not accusing anyone of course, as this is a general point, but some people do it. Angry Birds Land isn't perfect, but I do think some people are being unnecessarily critical of the area, simply because they don't like the idea. Oh, and didn't you moan about the boat link between the Thorpe Hotel and main park? I questioned the decision to put in the boat when it negates a 5 minute walk... It's an idea, but could that money be better spent on something that would benefit a lot more people? I would say the critical nature of the opinions comes from the IP... Indeed, Merlin's history with IPs in Madagascar and Ice Age should be a marker in the "WHY?" department on their part... Of course IPs when done well can look fantastic (Thomas Land, Peppa Pig, Potter), but when done poorly or on the cheap to squeeze into an existing area, they can look truly awful (Madagascar and Ice Age in particular, also Charlie from the Tussauds era)... Perhaps then Merlin should look at their budgeting ideals? Or perhaps the parks should spend the budgets they are given better? There is no reason why the biggest parks in the UK can fulfil the criteria and look on their rides worse than smaller parks in the world... Personally, I just think the UK parks should be aiming a lot higher than decals, graffiti and static fibreglass models (or concrete, shipping containers and 2d facades)... JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I think a big difference with angry birds land is that usually we wouldn't see updates so regularly and in so much detail and there are times when the unfinished product hasn't looked great. The park do care about how the park looks, that's clear from the recent effort we've seen from them trying to fix effects which have been broken since the Tussauds era (Inferno mist / Colossus pit) and I've no doubt when Angry Birds Land opens it will look good and whilst maybe not the area enthusiasts want, I think it will look good and most importantly the general public will like it, and I think saws a good example, disliked by a majority of enthusiasts but enjoyed by the vast majority of the general public which ultimately as a business is the most important thing. JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I questioned the decision to put in the boat when it negates a 5 minute walk... It's an idea, but could that money be better spent on something that would benefit a lot more people? I would say the critical nature of the opinions comes from the IP... Indeed, Merlin's history with IPs in Madagascar and Ice Age should be a marker in the "WHY?" department on their part... Of course IPs when done well can look fantastic (Thomas Land, Peppa Pig, Potter), but when done poorly or on the cheap to squeeze into an existing area, they can look truly awful (Madagascar and Ice Age in particular, also Charlie from the Tussauds era)... Perhaps then Merlin should look at their budgeting ideals? Or perhaps the parks should spend the budgets they are given better? There is no reason why the biggest parks in the UK can fulfil the criteria and look on their rides worse than smaller parks in the world... Personally, I just think the UK parks should be aiming a lot higher than decals, graffiti and static fibreglass models (or concrete, shipping containers and 2d facades)... The boat thing was a joke by the way I agree about the IP being a big issue. It definitely not as popular as it used to be for a variety of reasons (other games coming through, saturation of the market, etc.), so I think a lot of people are focusing on that. I'm still a bit wary of the choice, but I reckon that since we've got an Angry Birds film coming in 2016, the brand isn't dead yet and we could well see a new surge in popularity of the IP soon. Some of the IP choices Merlin have gone for recently have been a bit weird, but I think that Thorpe made wise choices with their IPs (Saw is a very defining franchise in horror films and I think all the Fright Nights IPs were good calls). Angry Birds is more a 'We'll have to wait and see' in my opinion. The Merlin debate is an interesting one, and I think some questions of how they spend their money should be raised. From an enthusiast perspective, I don't want to let Merlin's sometimes unusual ways of dealing with money affect my view of some of their rides. Perhaps crudely, knowing the budgets of things, I think to myself 'Well, given they had this much to work with, they've done well / not well / whatever is appropriate'. Of course, from a non-enthusiast perspective, it's a completely different ball game. However, in the eyes of the park, when they are still shifting between markets, maybe as long as non-enthusiasts who are in the family market are at least happy with the park, then they're on the right track. Baby steps, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I'm sure it said Sunday this morning... Oh well... It did haha, I edited it. I meant to put Saturday, no clue what was going through my mind when I wrote that haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 A picture of the supports mentioned getting pained brown. Looks a lot better. I'm guessing they are going to put a know sign in there with Detonator: Bombs away written on it, seeing as they have left room for a bigger sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 was the yellow support for the sign new for this year anyway? I thought it was going to be turned into a catapult or something with the retheme, but they've changed it again now :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 was the yellow support for the sign new for this year anyway? I thought it was going to be turned into a catapult or something with the retheme, but they've changed it again now :/ It was indeed, so I have no idea why it was yellow. This is the old one. OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 This is how it looked at the start of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I don't know why they haven't made use of the cracks in the building as places where debris from catapults has impacted the building? It's not even about making the explosions come out of the wall, just utilising what they did years and years ago and refreshing it rather than covering it all in just green paint Then again detonator is yet to be closed so maybe that will be done at that time! dragon2000 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 I took thought the Detonator sign was going to take on some kind of catapult idea until it got darkened. Also agree with Tommy upon thinking about it, it could have used the wall well to incorporate the brand. My only concern right now is just what they will do with Detonator. If they do too little, people will moan that its been 'thrown in' but if they do too much it could clash with it's Inferno backdrop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Ouch! That wall once looked great.. Now it's been slapped with one Rumba Rapids colour! Eww... Cal and Coaster 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 Detonator has now been confirmed to be open tomorrow, the last day before angry birds opening. Because of this I am guessing Detonator will not have a re theme. When the park closes I assume they will put up a new sign, stating that the ride is now called Detonator: Bombs away. I also assume that there will be a new theme tune for Detonator, and new announcements but obviously this is not confirmed. There was a problem with the speakers on Detonator so they had to play the theme very quietly, not sure if this has been fixed yet? I suppose they might of not planned to do anything for Detonator anyway, they might of just thought they needed to close of the area for the angry birds land works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 I imagine the 'retheme' will consist of new signage and new audio, and nothing else. Considering that, I guess they decided to not close it for any period of time. Shame, as it would have been nice to see more theming in the area. But I guess there's still a case of 'waiting and seeing' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 I rode Detonator 3 times on Wednesday so it's definitely open They probably only need one evening to do what they want with it. Stick the new sign in, maybe an Angry Bird on it and link up the new audio. Simple. The area entrance to the side of Detonator is progressing well even with that path open. All they also need to do is change the "Amity Shop n Drop" sign to whatever the Angry Bird shop is going to be called. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worthy9992 Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 I'm guessing we hopefully see more themeing to the ride over there closed season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 22, 2014 Report Share Posted May 22, 2014 Personally I hope they keep it's current Black Hole audio (or even better the bit from Scream at Heide Park that they sometimes use). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 Why do people call it the Black Hole audio? I swear it was only on there after Det opened? As for Scream, it never suited Det, wouldn't want that back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomglazed Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 I can see them doing something possibly with the Angry Birds tune when you load the game... won't that get annoying very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 Detonator is now officially bombs away as of last night. The new sign looks nice and it now has a bird-bomb at the entrance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 Still don't know why it HAS to be an Angry Birds Space bomb-bird though. Could that be the main theme? http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r566/CoasterDude97/Other/10262025_10154093122925624_6300829736812959455_n_zps3c63d0cb.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted May 23, 2014 Report Share Posted May 23, 2014 The image CoasterDude has posted is the bird that is at ground level of DBA. And not at the top as suggested a while ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.