Current State of the UK theme park industry

[ste193]

I was just wondering how everyone else feels about the current state of the theme park industry in the UK?

My thoughts are that with the majority of theme parks and attractions including the top 3 theme parks in the UK there is a distinct lack of competition in the UK's theme park industry that would find in other countries say for example in Europe or America, I feel like if they were under different ownership things would be much better for theme park industry in the country as currently in honesty I am not entirely satisfied with how they have run the three parks, the key points that make me feel it would be better for the countries theme park industry if the parks were under different ownership are:

1: Lack of competition- This is the key point of mine, the parks have to work around one another, for example Thorpe and Chessington especially are wary to step on one another's toes in terms of market and appeal, Thorpe has been forced to only cater for the thrills market and Chessington being forced to stay in the family market, this means that the parks unlike other parks in other countries which cater for all are limiting there audiences which affects attendance and investment.

2- Investment- With owning the top theme parks in the UK investing in the three theme parks has to work if you would on a rota system, (granted the investments are to a high standard generally and with roller coasters expensive, it seems like Chessington is always left in the background and forced to take a back seat after the major investment of Wild Asia funding and attention just seemed to fade away, I can't help but think were the parks owned by different owners there would be more funding for investment and there wouldn't be this rota system creating quiet periods and diverting attention.

The recent news of a possible Paramount Park in Kent had me ecstatic at the prospect of a different well known, top quality theme park company creating a park in the UK as I thought perhaps this would force Merlins hand to work harder for our attention from the competition.

On a side note some of the investments seems lazy, whats with coasters having to always have THE infront of them, or starting with S, or having the same boring grey/black colour scheme, or using shipping containers and the same materials for every recent coaster, it makes them look like they have no new ideas and puts me of.

How do you feel about the current state of UK theme park industry?

[BigBobJones]

Before I got a Merlin pass, I thought all the Merlin parks were a complete rip off and I didn't go as it was too expensive, I changed my mind once I got a Merlin Pass.

[Nick Hutson]

The parks are still in competition with each other as they're all treated as separate businesses - each with sale targets and such to be met.

I think it's great that the big parks and attractions are all run by Merlin. They're the only company that seems to be doing things very well all over the world.

A huge investment at Alton Towers (with one of the most impressive and groundbreaking PR campaigns I've ever seen) and a new £20M Dungeon, a new York Dungeon as well as a huge new attraction at Chessington... I think the state of attractions in the UK is quite exciting.

If you look toward the US chain parks (Six Flags and Cedar Fair) - their theming is rubbish, marketing campaigns are dull and, yes, they may build huge steel beasts, but they don't offer any theatrical flair or any story telling. The thought that Seaworld and Busch Parks could be owned by Six Flags terrifies me. And don't even get me started on their $20 parking fees or forced $1 locker per ride fee!

The Paramount Park can't be judged yet - Paramount do not have a good track record with theme parks these days. I understand they won't be operating it (which is good - as anything they've promised to operate has fallen into oblivion) but - we have to wait and see how/if the park happens!

We should relish the fact we're lucky enough to have Merlin... the Annual Pass makes it a joy, and - despite a couple of their flaws - I'm very proud to have Merlin as a British company.

[ste193]

The price aren't to bad true but to suggest that the UK parks are better in terms of theming and atmosphere than American parks or parks elsewhere in the world to me seems silly, American parks have astounding rides that are incredibly themed and atmospheric, Jurassic Park river ride, The Mummy ride, the immersions in there halloween events are far superior to the likes of what we get at UK parks.

I still feel that having the top three parks owned by the same company is disadvantageous, because whilst you say they are in competition they are not really, Chessington focuses on one half of the market whilst Thorpe focuses on the other and that just doesn't work, families want to go to theme parks but then they end up paying so much to get in when some can't/don't want to go on anything which works vice versa the olders kids and adults get fed up of the family rides at chessie and theres nothing at thorpe for families to ride anymore.

It seems sad that these parks are careful to step on one anothers toes which alienates there audiences whilst Alton remains "the best" if you will because it can offer family and thrill rides unlike the other two parks whereas the other parks for me have better theming in some respects.

[Fred]

I think we've got the best of what we can have really.

For the UK industry, we were saturated with theme parks/leisure parks and as seen recently, they've been closing allowing the others to thrive better.

I would say we've got the middle man - we don't have Six Flags with their awful way of investment (though, we almost did the way tussauds were going). However, we don't have the size or capacity to bring in the funds the big players have in America either. We won't see 40m being spent on a dark ride for instance.

The UK is too small a market, and the parks too small themselves to warrant any of the other compeititors to come in and beef it up.

We're pretty lucky in what we've got in my own opinion, with only Universal and Disney being the other worldwide brands/owners who are doing things better than how we're doing.

[Mark9]

I personally think the state of our industry is okay. It's always difficult to compare with America, when we're talking well themed rides we're normally just referring to Universal and Disney which have millions of dollars to play with and where the stakes are greater. When it comes to Six Flags and Cedar Fair, it's just giant metal structures with little to no theming. Our rides on the whole don't really have those problems.

It's very easy to say our theme parks are expensive, when we know thats true. However it's not like getting a train or catching a bus. They are expensive endeavours, people know that and people can easily choose not to visit, in other words you aren't forced to visit. Now when you are inside the parks, thats another matter and things like Fastrack and the car parking don't help the situation. But what we forget is that the companies have invested millions into their parks. Take Thorpe in the last 11 years with over 60 million pounds invested in rides and attractions. It's so easy to stand their with the view that they offer poor value for money, but the only charge what they think is an acceptable level.

As for our rides, I think they are of moderate to high quality. Whilst B&M have only just entered France with Monster and Oz'Iris we've had European and World firsts for over 20 years. Nemesis is world renowned in enthusiast circles for being the best B&M created, rides like Grand National, Wild Mouse and Megafobia stand the test of time as fantastic rides. We've got Adventure Island in Southend which is booming and building its own rides from scratch. Winter Wonderland in London is proving to be success year after year, it may not have the rides of German funfairs, but it is building up its reputation with increasing popularity. Flamingoland and Drayton Manor, for all their troubles are doing well with continual investment (let us not argue about the quality of their investments here).

So in other words, in my opinion our industry is stable. Whilst it hits nowhere near the heights of Germany or parts of America, we do have decent investment and attractions.

[Ricky]

In the UK alone I agree with Mark, It's not all bad. IF it was worldwide however, we can't have much comparison.

[Mark9]

In the UK alone I agree with Mark, It's not all bad. IF it was worldwide however, we can't have much comparison.

Expain what you mean by this

[Mitchada04]

What I like about theme parks in the UK is how they are all unique. In America you have many Six Flags/ Cedar Fair parks etc that offer the same rides such as Batman clones, boomerangs and SLCs. Whilst in America that works due to the distance between each park over here it just wouldn't so we get a much larger variety of rides. We only have one boomerang, one standard SLC (which is plenty ) and so on. Whilst we may have similar ride types for expample the two Nemesis', they both offer completely different experiences in terms of layout, theming etc. We do have 3 Gerstlauer Eurofighters (soon to be 4) but each one has a completely different layout to the over so essentially a completely different ride. There are also some very unique coasters in this country such as G-Force (which has only been replicated once in Iraq I believe), X, The Ultimate and many others. And of course there are the many classics in this country mainly from Blackpool depending on what you define a 'classic.' As a country we have also seen many record breakers or world firsts (Colossus, Oblivion, Air, The Ultimate, PMBO and 13) and many roller coasters that are known worldwide notably Nemesis. Whilst it may seem like Merlin are ruling the theme park industry in Britain they only own 4 of the many parks and whilst there may not be alot of competition, parks like Drayton, Flamingo Land and Paultons are always investing (especially in recent years). Whilst they may not be £20 million B&M's that Merlin can afford they are decent investments (this isn't my argument for a Zamperla Volare but even with a Volare it is another unique coaster to the country that many will never have tried before) and with money as it is at the moment with a triple dip recession looming it's more than we can ask for.

Ultimately, we will never see massive dark rides costing a ridiculous amount but what we do get is ample for a country this size and it isn't the size or cost of the ride, it is the quality and there are certainly many high quality coasters in this country. And just because I found this interesting, the UK has the most coasters out of any European country at 162 followed by Germany at 133 then France at 102 (according to RCDB) so I think the state of the theme park industry in the UK is absolutely fine.

[Whiteknuckle]

We actually have 2 Boomerangs. Wipeout at Pleasurewood Hills and the one at Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes. Having been to several Six Flags parks across America I have to agree about the 'clones' at each of their parks, although each one does have some rides that are different, especially their wooden coasters. Just glad I got to ride the Rattler before they modified destroyed it

I'm glad we only have one standard SLC in this country. Not sure what went wrong though. I rode El Condor in 2006, and it was very smooth.