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The 'Definitely 100% Totally Going to Happen' London Resort


Liam T

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Yeah I do think 15 mil is very optomistic number wise IMO.

I just hope this park is a big success and turns out to be on the leagues of DLP , Europa etc. (neither which I've been to yet) and also gives Merlin the much needed competition and kick they need ATM.

Just hope it's opening isn't a disaster and flop though (like Eurodisney)

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I'm assuming the 15 million is including everything. Not sure where else they could get that sort of figure from. It will be interesting to see the theme park side as they have been very vague about that part. Also a fair few people will visit the water park seeing as it will be the worlds largest (at least I think I remember reading that).

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I'm still very dubious about the whole 'Paramount Park are coming, so Merlin better buck their ideas up'.  PP may not work out in the UK, it may flop, it may not be as good a quality as what we think.  It could be a huge success and leave Merlin parks needing to dramatically up their game.  But I don't think the opening of PP in a few years should be ringing large alarm bells in Merlin's ears.

 

Rival park/resort that is arguably better placed to attract the European market and near enough to two of Merlin's parks to deter guests away? Merlin should have alarm bells ringing in their ears if only to have preparations ready instead of being as reactive as always...

 

See Disney suddenly getting Avatar Land to battle Universal & Potter... Reactive business decisions shouldn't really be the way to go...

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I totally agree that it there should be alarm bells and they should keep an eye on the development of it (like with any rival project), and be ready for when the place opens.  However, I think it'll be a natural development that in the next few years, the UK Merlin parks (except Chessington) will have an appeal - and be in a position to handle - to a more international audience.

 

However, at this stage, I just don't think saying 'Paramount Park will be the best thing for the UK theme park industry' or 'This will put Merlin parks to shame' or things anyone can justify saying.  More just me erring on the side of caution I guess..

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Sorry, not being clear.

 

What I mean to say is that after so long of focusing on the national audience, the next natural step would be to try and break through in an international audience.  Alton especially will have the more complete resort feel, and Thorpe will be building upon that, so they'll have the resources to do so (even if it's the bare minimum).  If there's Paramount trying to attract attention from overseas, there's nothing stopping Merlin doing the same earlier or at the same time.  It may not work, but they certainly have that option.

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Benin makes in interesting point really. What's Thorpe to the European market when in Germany, 2 hours in any direction can land you at Hansa Park, Holiday Park, Phantasialand, Heide Park and if you're up for a bit more of a trek, Europa. 

 

Do people really come to the UK for Thorpe like we go to to Europe for these parks?

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Benin makes in interesting point really. What's Thorpe to the European market when in Germany, 2 hours in any direction can land you at Hansa Park, Holiday Park, Phantasialand, Heide Park and if you're up for a bit more of a trek, Europa. 

 

Do people really come to the UK for Thorpe like we go to to Europe for these parks?

 

I doubt it. But then what is it about parks like Efteling, Liseberg and Tivoli Gardens that attract people from all across Europe and what is it stopping the Merlin trio from doing the same (ignoring the obvious such as harsh budgets, going backwards and being so damn insular). 

 

For example, Alton is up there with Tivoli as it has the fantastic garden area and despite what some may say, has the ride hardware to boot. What it doesn't have however is good transport links and an unsupportive local community who are very vocal against the park. I'm deliberately ignoring Thorpe though, it doesn't have enough in its cannon to even take down Paultons, let alone some of the giants across the pond.

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Benin makes in interesting point really. What's Thorpe to the European market when in Germany, 2 hours in any direction can land you at Hansa Park, Holiday Park, Phantasialand, Heide Park and if you're up for a bit more of a trek, Europa. 

 

Do people really come to the UK for Thorpe like we go to to Europe for these parks?

I do see a fair few foreign people in thorpe, but I think that's because the foreigners are already in london looking for something extra to do. They certainly haven't come just for thorpe like I went to Spain mainly for port aventura.

However, I think there may be a potential market if thorpe try and attract people from some of the smaller countries in Europe like Poland and Slovakia. My reasoning for this is that they don't have any theme parks, as of yet(Poland is getting its first in a couple of years), and if thorpe really work hard at their park, I reckon they could attract people from these smaller countries.

Unforunately I don't think thorpe can attract guests from all over Europe like Portaventura does(I heard do many different languages in that park) as it just isn't big enough/resort like enough. I think they certainly could try and strive to get people from Europe but I'm not sure it will work to be honest.

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Benin makes in interesting point really. What's Thorpe to the European market when in Germany, 2 hours in any direction can land you at Hansa Park, Holiday Park, Phantasialand, Heide Park and if you're up for a bit more of a trek, Europa. 

 

Do people really come to the UK for Thorpe like we go to to Europe for these parks?

 

With regards to Thorpe, I doubt many Europeans make their way over the UK for Thorpe.  Alton I'd say is a different story (Nemesis must surely be a huge draw?).  

 

However, how many 'regular people (ie non-enthusiasts) go to the likes of any of the European parks (bar Disney)?  I doubt many have heard of the German parks (with perhaps the exception of Europa Park possibly, since that is hugely popular?).  So I expect very few regular people will go for those parks; if they travel abroad for a theme park, it's likely going to end up being Disney / Orlando or the like. There's very few parks which I think try to attract people from other countries in Europe (hard for me to say really, since I haven't been to any, but I think that's a fair assumption to make).

 

But what's stopping Merlin trying to reach out to a more international audience?  Alton is more ready for it (given they have a top-10 coaster in the world, multiple world's firsts, many hotels, etc.), but if rumours of a large dark ride are true, coupled along with other decent investments, there's nothing stopping Thorpe attempting to capture a broader audience.  I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, nor that it will definitely work, but I think in a few more years, with the right investments, they could give it a damn good go.

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I went to Florida back in 2005, and got speaking to a lot of people while over there in the hotel and in the theme parks, and most, because we were british asked about alton towers and talking about nemesis as it's apparently one of the worlds best coasters... now I'm not sure if the worlds general perception of nemesis has changed but I still think it's the UK's only world class coaster, and seen back then how people were saying they wanted to visit alton towers. 

 

So I think Thorpe is probably best not wasting money trying to drag people from abroad to them, as said above thorpe park is nothing special in comparison to theme parks abroad... alton towers is the only one with any appeal really and moreso with the new enchanted forest resort area, on top of their hotels and waterpark - only issue is the location which can put people off getting to it in the UK, let alone people coming from abroad.

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My question I want to put in though is: What does PortAventura actually have going for it that the UK parks don't?

Okay yeah, it has some theming, and it's good; but it's nothing spectacular to be honest. I mean Dragon Khan is just a square queue pen with a themed roof, and a tired looking dragon head plonked in the middle. The rides aren't exactly anything I'd consider world-class. Yes Khan and Shambhala are good; but I've got rides I'd favourite over them easily. And yet they still do attract more UK visitors than people think they do (a lot of people I know do go to PortAv and they're not enthusiasts).

 

I think what Merlin should look into adding is more side shows and the such, as its the only thing I'd personally say PortAventura has over a UK park. Other than that, it's simply down to being cheap enough that a UK resident can go and spend five days there, with hotel and flights, for less than five days at Alton Towers.

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Paramount park is on a sort of fastrack scheme from the government to try and speed up its construction as quickly as possible. For planning permission to be denied would be a very odd case. Merlin should start looking into ways to try and keep guests now so they don't act too late.

The only thing which may put off a dark ride is that the queues dint show the result like bigbobjones said. As thorpe are focusing on making queues smaller and more pleasant I imagine that this could be a far bigger factor than we might think.

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Paramount park is on a sort of fastrack scheme from the government to try and speed up its construction as quickly as possible. For planning permission to be denied would be a very odd case. Merlin should start looking into ways to try and keep guests now so they don't act too late.

The only thing which may put off a dark ride is that the queues dint show the result like bigbobjones said. As thorpe are focusing on making queues smaller and more pleasant I imagine that this could be a far bigger factor than we might think.

This wouldn't be the first big theme park to get full government backing for it all to fall apart and never get built. There are plenty of disasters out there if you read through our history of parks which failed and just because the PM gives them their full support, it does not mean it will be built. Look at Battersey Power Station and Corby, massive government backed parks which never got built.

 

If I was Merlin I would not be spending money until they start building PP and have secured funding. For Merlin even if PP gets delayed by a few years, they can divert funding to opening more Medway attractions or even open up another Legoland which will return a greater profit.

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I can assure you that Merlin haven't even given this a thought. They're not worried at all. There was a quote in a staff mag that said 'It will fail, and even if it doesn't, our guests will return to us.'

 

Ahhh, lovely arrogance there from them...

 

That sort of response it what annoys me with Merlin really, because it sets them up for a gigantic fall should their prediction be completely wrong, and then they'll be in full on panic mode...

 

It's a very poor mentality... Especially given the assumption that if it doesn't fail, people will return to Merlin parks anyway because of... Reasons I'm guessing (Nemesis mainly for me, though I'm not in any rush to do anything Merlin related atm)...

 

They should be preparing plans to put into place should Paramount be allowed to build their park that lets them get up to the potential new standard that will be brought along into the UK market... Not flapping their hand away and assuming it will either fail or not affect Merlin numbers if it is a big success...

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I'm sure publicly (Staff news letters are pretty much public!) Merlin will say its business as usual, it would be silly to state anything different but I'm sure should it ever happen there are / will be plans in place to minimize the hit to their business and remain competitive. 

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