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What if Merlin sold off Alton Towers?

Would Alton Towers be better off on its own?

  • Yes

    Votes: 47 61.0%

  • No

    Votes: 30 39.0%
  • Total voters
    77
Disneyland Paris is also very popular with Brits just because of the Way Disney is perceived and marketed. As an English speaking country we have a lot more in common with America and want to experiance their culture more than Germans & French people do.
 
jon81uk said:
Disneyland Paris is also very popular with Brits just because of the Way Disney is perceived and marketed. As an English speaking country we have a lot more in common with America and want to experiance their culture more than Germans & French people do.
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Very true, the reason Disneyland Paris is not the success Disney thought it would be was because they clashed with the French culture.
 
Merlin only have a dominance in UK if you take a very narrow view of the UK leisure and tourism industry. Theme parks don't just compete with theme parks. They have to compete with everything from your local cinema to historical landmarks.
 
The question is, how much worse could a potential replacement owner (that Merlin would be likely to sell to) be than the current regime? I know there are huge bursts of investment, but when you look at what the likes of EP do in non-ride seasons the gulf is just insanely huge.
 
Here's an idea for the little socialist's that hang around these boards how about nationalising AT?
It could be run by the council and then investment would not be a problem as we all know they have a bottomless pit of cash courtesy of English tax payers.
Of course H+S would be an issue and you would need to fill in a risk assessment before being allowed to go on any rides. And you would find yourself tripping over staff as staffing levels would quadruple so as 4 people could do 1 persons job like in most public run organisations.
And the big P word profit would be gone forever as we all know public bodies are deliberately run at huge losses so you guessed it they can steal even more money from that great big money tree the working man and woman.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
their competitors particularly since their only real competitors are Paultons, Drayton and maybe Blackpool, none of which are anywhere near as significant or well known as the Merlin parks.
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I have to say though, Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Drayton Manor have really upped their game, exaggerated all the more so by Merlin's lack of investment in the right places. I concede that I enjoy both BPB and DM more than the Towers these days.
 
I think the new Paramount Park is going to be a huge competitor with Alton Towers. It's going to be a real problem for Merlin. Looking at it positively, it may be a wake up call for Merlin to "Bring back the magic" to Alton Towers and actually invest in the maintenance and upkeep the park desperately needs. Very excited about the prospect of a brand new theme park in the UK, however I don't want to see the Towers suffer, rather I hope they step their game up.
 
Stubpb said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-34131496

take a look he made Towers great he has a new project and its going ahead this could also be bad for the towers
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Please, don't get your hopes up. That man single handedly destroyed Battersea Power Station and had a damn heavy hand in ruining American Adventure.

I have absolutely no interest in this project, and expect it to fall by the wayside just like his career. The only thing he's got is his claim to fame from Towers!
 
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TheMan said:
We should try and crowdfund an unhostile hostile takeover.
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Funny you should say that as I mentioned not so long ago about forming a consortium to buy M&D's and transform the place, with the help of a certain little company called Mack...;)

We have a better chance with the butt hole of the North in turning it's fortunes around than that of poor old Towers. After all with M&D's, we'd have no height restriction problem too...:p
 
I get a feeling Merlin are preparing to sell AT. A spruce up of the park, coupled with more accommodation, cost cutting of the quieter rides and two relatively big investments in a small space of time (sw7 and sw8) says to me they are trying to maximise the value for a sale. China perhaps??
 
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