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The Alton Towers Dungeon

Craig said:
Gut feeling would be this was pushed on them thanks to Merlin's love of the midway market. A ready made audience in an already successful park also helps the overall midway figures, as the attendance for this would most likely be grouped into their figures rather than resort theme parks.

I've also got no doubt the money for this isn't being totally stumped up by Towers themselves and is coming from midway budgets too. With money being tight for Towers as it is, they likely see this as a bit of an easy win as there's no way they would have the funds to do anything with the old ride and building themselves in the short term.
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its all a conspiracy :tinfoil: if this shows in Midways figures next year as an improvement will just give them more ammunition to say oh TPR are failing we must spend more mon midways as they are lots more profitable.. look the numbers dont lie
 
bluesonichd said:
its all a conspiracy :tinfoil: if this shows in Midways figures next year as an improvement will just give them more ammunition to say oh TPR are failing we must spend more mon midways as they are lots more profitable.. look the numbers dont lie
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TPR = Thorpe Park Resort?

Sorry, I was trying to work ou how Theme Park Review was involved in this :oops:
 
bluesonichd said:
its all a conspiracy :tinfoil: if this shows in Midways figures next year as an improvement will just give them more ammunition to say oh TPR are failing we must spend more mon midways as they are lots more profitable.. look the numbers dont lie
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RTP-Resort Theme Park's is the acronym your looking for.

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AT86 said:
I believe at 45 minutes this will be the shortest of all the Dungeons attractions.
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Hopefully the shortest-lived one too! The photos of the entrance & fence are just shocking. I am surprised Disney have not got their legal team onto Merlin for the "Second only to Disney" claim. (i.e. Disney don't want to be mentioned in the same sentence as Merlin).

As for Wayne Burton's claim that the Dungeon Entrance is "work in progress" - more like "work hardly started". They're not even trying to polish the turd here - it just looks dreadful. End of. And they expect people to pay extra for this [before their overnight stay on the value pig farm]? Someone needs to send the Police round to check the AT Marketing Dept offices, as they are clearly on something good.
 
I think there has been a slight overeaction to the facade of the Dungeon. I'm not say it looks good, it's merely just about fine, and it could have been a lot worse. I was fully expecting a dirt cheap Leek Signs vinyl over the excisting Charie facade which would have looked truly woeful.

I don't mind the wood at all. The main entrance facade looks cheap and a good old fashioned built quality test on opening day will confirm this I am sure. Ultimately it all looks rather temporary, which is good news in my opinion.
 
I think the issue with the dungeon facade lies with the fact it is very flat, very grey and very boxy.

What shocks me is that that frontage is their best advertising for the dungeon. That's how they are going to convince someone that they should spend their limited time and money on this attraction.

I'm my opinion there should be been more 3D features, a tower for some height variation. The same large flagstones as the towers (or attempt to recreate them in paint). It's the foundation that needs work, not "to be done" detailing that isn't going to make a box not look like a box.

At the moment what they have is bland and unappealing.

Hopefully it won't be 5 years until they scrap this and all of CCL for a new area. I'm still optimistic that they could renovate this area and go for a historic theme (Tudor?) Which could make a fantastic family area with rides, shopping, snacking and dining of all new high quality. An area with interactive effects as you walk by, narrow alleyways with buildings hanging over the street, lots toto explore and find secrets.
 
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I imagine all of the wooden walls will be plastered in posters advertising the attraction. So it won't look so bare (won't improve the aesthetics either, but there we go).

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Rob said:
I don't mind the wood at all. The main entrance facade looks cheap and a good old fashioned built quality test on opening day will confirm this I am sure. Ultimately it all looks rather temporary, which is good news in my opinion.
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The problem is. With Merlin these days, I would not put any correlation between it 'looking' temporary and actually being temporary.
 
I don’t think the facade looks particularly awful. It could’ve been worse, as I was expecting the Charlie building to just be painted grey, But it is VERY lazy. Just what we’ve come to expect.
 
skyscraper said:
I wouldn't like to be the guy collecting guest feedback. :tearsofjoy:
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Now come on, don't be silly. A real person collecting guest feedback has to be paid the minimum wage. Some cheap tablet devices, suitably hidden, that barely work are much cheaper. That way guests think they are being listened to when in fact their valuable feedback is being ignored.

That way Uncle Nick manages to get some guest feedback - but not enough that the KPI's are low enough to start worrying the shareholders. The shareholders should read TripAdvisor - especially once the Pig Farm Pods have opened.
 
The Dungeons will most likely be of a similar quality to the others and the 'facade' looks fine I guess. At the end of the day, I still think this is entirely unnecessary and poorly placed within the park. I would much rather have seen the money spent on this be used to bring back sub-terra, twirling toadstool and maybe a new flat but hey, I'll reserve all of my judgement until opening day.
 
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