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2023: General Discussion

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Mikw said:
There's always the option, but it's not the easiest place in the world to get to, especially if you're young and don't have transport.
I once thought about getting a job there because i love the place, but the cost of transport made it a non starter.
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You quoted me saying "improve facilities...staff transport", and I know it is not the easiest place to get to, that's why I said "improve staff transport".
None of the recruitment issues are insurmountable, staff are worth investing in.
 
Ethan said:
If it is part of their job then why do some teams do it and others don't. It's clear Smiler hasn't had any cleaning over the winter
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It is part of their job and all teams do it.
The park, however, is divided into 4 areas not individual ride teams.
 
Ethan said:
If it is part of their job then why do some teams do it and others don't. It's clear Smiler hasn't had any cleaning over the winter
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...and the cleaning issues are not on the same scale.

You can't look at that huge pit which is a restricted access ride area and ask why the ride ops haven't cleaned it. The station itself, and guest reachable indoor queue line, are kept quite clean by those staff. The bigger stuff needs a dedicated team and schedule, it is more akin to maintainance than cleaning.

If you enter the park early and walk to the visible ride stations you will see the ride team in action before opening, wiping down signage and airgates, sweeping stations and queues etc. Rita is a good one for being able to see this.

It is their job, and they do do it.
 
A park the scale of Towers needs a team that can deal with and specialise in the bigger jobs, the bigger 'cleaning' jobs, theming maintenance, effects maintenance, and general park presentation. Individual ride teams will be vastly limited, and their work will only ensure the ride platforms/queulines/signage is all clean and presentable.

A few things are beyond the reach of park staff.
  1. Monorail station - rotting wood being repainted every season.
  2. The Smiler - concrete requires chemical treatment and deep cleaning. Mould in the station requires chemical treatment and not simply repainting over
  3. Galactica - Rotting wood around the station and vinyls peeling off
  4. Th13teen - Fake vines removed due to turning blue, never replaced, station building with screws all over it
  5. In general - broken effects and theming, areas requiring work to improve the experience (CRR/RMT tunnel)

There needs to be a team in place to address these issues. Next season, the monorail station will be painted over again, The Smiler pit will be ignored, more mould will grow in The Smiler station, and Galactica will be ignored.

Merlin is great at presenting a nice new shiny attraction each year, but it is left to fall apart after one season, and the rest of the park is left to rot with no team in place that can do anything about it.
 
Ethan said:
Their job is to operate the rides, not clean it. It's not really their job to do stuff like this
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Having previously worked in Merlin ride ops (as a favour!) & ents, there is a level of expectation to keep on top of the basic presentation of your ride/area & of course, there is the small matter of 'The Merlin Way' (The company values) which has real emphasis throughout training and employment - especially 'We love what we do' & 'We take ownership' both of which encourage staff to go the extra mile for the company & its guests. Although, there were always flaws in the delivery.

Some of the smaller parks really set the bar for ride presentation and upkeep when it really should be Merlin paving the way.
 
BooMT said:
Having previously worked in Merlin ride ops (as a favour!) & ents, there is a level of expectation to keep on top of the basic presentation of your ride/area & of course, there is the small matter of 'The Merlin Way' (The company values) which has real emphasis throughout training and employment - especially 'We love what we do' & 'We take ownership' both of which encourage staff to go the extra mile for the company & its guests. Although, there were always flaws in the delivery.

Some of the smaller parks really set the bar for ride presentation and upkeep when it really should be Merlin paving the way.
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Which park in the uk would you say is the cleanest? I personally think Blackpool and Drayton are well looked after
 
Ethan said:
Which park in the uk would you say is the cleanest? I personally think Blackpool and Drayton are well looked after
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It won't surprise anyone to know (being that I've sung their praises many times online!) I think Paultons Park shows others up big time. However, I also think Blackpool is well kept & will experience Drayton for the first time this weekend having heard lots of positives about upkeep & presentation!

I used to think Chessy was one of the better cared for Merlin parks but I've not been since 2021 and that was limited as it was the Christmas event. It certainly was a favourite park among managers for one reason or another!
 
BooMT said:
I used to think Chessy was one of the better cared for Merlin parks but I've not been since 2021 and that was limited as it was the Christmas event. It certainly was a favourite park among managers for one reason or another!
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Quite ironic to say that when during the Merlin buyout in 2007 that Merlin almost decide to drop Chessington given the state it was in at the end of the Tussauds days and just keep Towers and Thorpe in their ownership...sounds like they changed their tune in that time though you wonder with hindsight if they've bitten off more than they can chew given some of the questionable choices over the years such as Mandrill Mayham.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Quite ironic to say that when during the Merlin buyout in 2007 that Merlin almost decide to drop Chessington given the state it was in at the end of the Tussauds days and just keep Towers and Thorpe in their ownership...sounds like they changed their tune in that time though you wonder with hindsight if they've bitten off more than they can chew given some of the questionable choices over the years such as Mandrill Mayham.
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Very ironic! My time with the company began probably around 7/8 years after buyout & I always remember the buzz from anyone that got put on Chessy placement!

In my opinion, I think among the biggest issues Merlin have, is residing over such a diverse offering; each park & midway are very different from one another - they are essentially juggling a multitude of stand alone brands across the World, each with a complex personality to manage, maintain and develop. They potentially went too big, too quickly which can result in resources being spread thinly. I often wonder if the UK parks would thrive or fail if they were split up by a future buyout that allowed them to each become an independent focus.

Merlin also seem to have gotten comfortable doing the minimum for a while, however, I think right now is very much a transitional phase - we are seeing improvements, although they feel very dilute amongst the long-standing issues, some questionable 'try new things' choices and new management settling in.
 
BooMT said:
Very ironic! My time with the company began probably around 7/8 years after buyout & I always remember the buzz from anyone that got put on Chessy placement!

In my opinion, I think among the biggest issues Merlin have, is residing over such a diverse offering; each park & midway are very different from one another - they are essentially juggling a multitude of stand alone brands across the World, each with a complex personality to manage, maintain and develop. They potentially went too big, too quickly which can result in resources being spread thinly. I often wonder if the UK parks would thrive or fail if they were split up by a future buyout that allowed them to each become an independent focus.

Merlin also seem to have gotten comfortable doing the minimum for a while, however, I think right now is very much a transitional phase - we are seeing improvements, although they feel very dilute amongst the long-standing issues, some questionable 'try new things' choices and new management settling in.
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I do think Chessington not being part of the Merlin buyout is a huge point of alternative history for the UK theme park industry that requires it's own topic as of you will remember, Thorpe park was being treated like Tussauds' new toy and got all the investment during the early 2000's while in contrast Chessington got done very dirty in that time and really was a shadow of its former self and was looking like Merlin would forget about Chessie until the last minute when it would be included.

So yeah, had they decided on thinking that Chessington was a lemon in their eyes, this would have major effects all round. Tussauds would likely have survived providing that if they sold Towers and Thorpe to Merlin at top dollar but kept Chessington and thr waxworks (the latter being like the family silver that no way Tussauds would let go) then not only does it mean Tussauds is now vastly reduced in size but it does mean than all the debt it had is cleared and that they could treat Chessington as their only child. The park would not be in a much better place IMO but we would never see many of Merlin's choices from RAP and Mandrill Mayham.

This would actually benefit Thorpe in which the only reason why they went for more a older crowd was that they wouldn't affect Chessington's market given their close proximity. With Chessington no longer there and without any of the strict planning rules they'd have to follow there compared to Thrope, Merlin would be laughing and would make Thrope as a true Alton Towers of the south in terms of appealing for all the family. In fact Saw was very close to being a more mine theme ride before getting changed to Saw at the last minute to appeal to the older crowd but without this, Saw's original theme still happens and many of the dark themes like with Swarm would never happen here, maybe Thrope gets Cbeebies Land instead of Towers (Londom centric ofc!)

I did this timeline of this happen with Alton Towers being quite different but that's another story. Anyway, the irony is that while Merlin wouldn't be as big with just Towers and Thorpe and none of the Tussauds waxworks (imagine Blackpool being a three way battle between Merlin, Tussauds and BPB! :p ) being in their hands, it would mean that without having to invest in Chessington, there would be more money to go round Towers and Thrope with not only many projects happening sooner let's say but maybe, to bring this back on topic, a larger budget for presentation for the park's as if a surviving Tussauds running a now well presented Chessington becomes the main challenge for Merlin, it might force them to actually spend money on upkeep which means we'd likely never have a poor looking Smiler or Galactica, maybe Tussauds by that point would have invested in buying a new second UK park of their choice (Lightwater or M&D's anyone?)

Yeah, should this be on another topic discuss more about this as I do find this fascinating as who knows different Towers would be in a alternative 2023 here...a park that actually is looking mostly clean?
 
deathproof69 said:
Am I right in thinking that many years ago there were enthusiasts who would paint queue line fences (think it was airs queue)? In the off season?

I would personally love to do this and make a grimy area of the park look decent again! With a season pass thrown in obviously haha!
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I don’t recall this ever being a thing?
 
@QTXAdsy it's really fascinating & so many paths of 'what if' to take via that train of thought!

It does seem that a perceived lack of competition has played a part in the poor upkeep of many areas & attractions at Merlin parks; people are still going to visit just because it's AT or Thorpe or Chessy or Legoland (don't forget how accessible passes make all the attractions for families too - there isn't another pass offering what Merlins does!) without them having to focus money on smaller details.
 
deathproof69 said:
Am I right in thinking that many years ago there were enthusiasts who would paint queue line fences (think it was airs queue)? In the off season?
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No, I don’t believe this was ever a thing. A few years ago they did an Alton council where several times a year chosen enthusiasts would bet with Alton management and discuss areas for improvement.

Didn’t last long from what I recall….
 
Ethan said:
Which park in the uk would you say is the cleanest? I personally think Blackpool and Drayton are well looked after
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Bpb is an unusual one as the partly council cleans it (the way thay do it is a street sweeper is ether rented or is sent every morning at about 5-6 am to do it)
Basically its a huge asset to the town so takes its part seriously enough to clean it up!!! (i only know this as i camped in my van outside it, i was woke up at stupid am by it!!!)
 
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