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Merlin Entertainments: General Discussion

I mean you're taught how to throw the axe properly which... is fairly understandable since it's an actual axe.

These are the current popular thing to open up all over. The new escape room as it were. And Merlin are typically about a year too late to take advantage of the popularity.
 
When it comes to developing new additions, is the issue that Merlin is too large and top-down to actually be nimble and flexible enough to adapting trends, especially in the Midway section of the business?

Might it be worth setting up or acquiring a smaller company that can operate with more agile and independently and than the main parent company can, and when a concept is proven, then it gets scaled up and incorporated into the wider Midway framework?
 
Bert2theSpark said:
Might it be worth setting up or acquiring a smaller company that can operate with more agile and independently and than the main parent company can, and when a concept is proven, then it gets scaled up and incorporated into the wider Midway framework?
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Escape Hunt, which also owns Boom Battle Bar, would be a smart acquisition if they wanted to go into this space. It's not previously been the group's MO though.
 
Bert2theSpark said:
Might it be worth setting up or acquiring a smaller company that can operate with more agile and independently and than the main parent company can, and when a concept is proven, then it gets scaled up and incorporated into the wider Midway framework?
Click to expand...
This is very much not how Merlin operates though sadly, they dislike independence amongst their attractions, preferring them all to act as uniformly as possible (not that this always works).
 
The Bear Grylls adventure thing just seemed amazingly niche and expensive compared to all the other midway attractions.

Everyone can go and walk round and aquarium or a wax museum, or the Blackpool Tower and London Eye, the dungeons are suitable for most people with maybe the odd attraction they can't or are unwilling to do. Plus with the clusters it encourages them having an overly high price for one attraction so that paying a bit more to add 2, 3, or 4 more experiences makes the most sense.
 
I couldn't see that this had been shared yet but Merlin have filed this trademark for categories covering everything from goods and advertising to multimedia and performances:

20241107_090547.jpg
Brought to attention by Attraction Source.

Possible further evidence of Minecraft IP coming to a RTP (namely Chessington but Towers was also a possibility in the research).
 
BooMT said:
I couldn't see that this had been shared yet but Merlin have filed this trademark for categories covering everything from goods and advertising to multimedia and performances:

20241107_090547.jpg
Brought to attention by Attraction Source.

Possible further evidence of Minecraft IP coming to a RTP (namely Chessington but Towers was also a possibility in the research).
Click to expand...
There’s enough content in Minecraft for multiple-themed areas, do you think it’s possible that both Towers and Chessington end up with Minecraft Lands, but with each themed to a different world/biome?
 
Bert2theSpark said:
There’s enough content in Minecraft for multiple-themed areas, do you think it’s possible that both Towers and Chessington end up with Minecraft Lands, but with each themed to a different world/biome?
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Maybe not Towers and Chessington but certainly Chessington, Gardaland and Heide Park.

It could be possible as a second gate on one of the overseas Legolands as well.

If Merlin ever built a US theme park that's not a Legoland, I think it'd be a fantastic themed area for that along with Jumnaji. I'd love to see a Nemesis: Vengeance or Oblivion: Hydro coaster as future sister coasters of towers coasters.
 
owenstreet7 said:
It could be possible as a second gate on one of the overseas Legolands as well.
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I was surprised to see initially that Minecraft was being considered for Towers/Chessington when Lego have a partnership with the brand already; the Legoland parks feel like a more obvious location for Minecraft IP!
Bert2theSpark said:
There’s enough content in Minecraft for multiple-themed areas, do you think it’s possible that both Towers and Chessington end up with Minecraft Lands, but with each themed to a different world/biome?
Click to expand...
I could definitely see multiple Merlin parks using the IP (Like Chessy/Garda with Jumanji!) definitely a great idea with the biomes but unsure if it would be 2 UK parks much like @owenstreet7 . The proposal was mainly centred around a waterpark and a smaller section covering a land. We know Chessington has a large Waterpark pending - whether it will be connected to the new land remains to be seen! I wondered if the original plan for for Horizon was to utilise the Minecraft IP? Maybe it wasn't Horizon hardware itself that moved to Chessington but the theme? It's allll speculation at this point but when isn't it 😂
 
James said:
I don't think two UK parks would take the same IP simply because of marketability. You would want one park with a unique IP. Depending on the scale of a Minecraft-themed area, I think they would spread out biome themes between different rides/parts of an area.
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I both agree and disagree.

I do get where you’re coming from for sure. If both parks have a Minecraft land, some would say; why go to the weaker park of the two? The stronger park would cannibalise the weaker one, maybe other than among die hard fans of Minecraft.

On the other hand, though, I think of the success of the Harry Potter universe at Universal Orlando, with the two separate lands and upcoming third land at Epic Universe, and think that it could be a brilliant idea if done effectively. If Minecraft has separate “biomes” (based on what was said above), would a land for each “biome” really be any different to having Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Ministry of Magic all spread across three separate parks? Universal must make tons more from multi-park tickets since the opening of Diagon Alley.

Admittedly, I don’t think this would work as well if the second park was Alton Towers due to distance, but if Merlin put something Minecraft-based in Thorpe or Legoland, then I can see that potentially working quite well.
 
Matt N said:
I both agree and disagree.

I do get where you’re coming from for sure. If both parks have a Minecraft land, some would say; why go to the weaker park of the two? The stronger park would cannibalise the weaker one, maybe other than among die hard fans of Minecraft.

On the other hand, though, I think of the success of the Harry Potter universe at Universal Orlando, with the two separate lands and upcoming third land at Epic Universe, and think that it could be a brilliant idea if done effectively. If Minecraft has separate “biomes” (based on what was said above), would a land for each “biome” really be any different to having Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Ministry of Magic all spread across three separate parks? Universal must make tons more from multi-park tickets since the opening of Diagon Alley.

Admittedly, I don’t think this would work as well if the second park was Alton Towers due to distance, but if Merlin put something Minecraft-based in Thorpe or Legoland, then I can see that potentially working quite well.
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I don't disagree with your point, but given the history of Merlin marketing, I feel that, at least initially, they would want to go down the "The World's first Minecraft Land" or similar route to give it more of a USP. That's not to say they could explore it being added to a second park a year or two later. I agree that an Alton/Chessington Minecraft land would be more problematic due to distance, and more likely, two South Parks linked up would prove more beneficial.

I think another issue would be that Merlin parks are not associated with each other branding-wise. The general public (non-enthusiasts) will unlikely know that the same operator owns Thorpe Park and Chessington. Harry Potter in multiple parks works for Universal because they are Universal parks. If you have Minecraft Land in Chessington and Minecraft Land in Thorpe Park, you need to somehow get across via marketing that they are made by Merlin and not two parks competing against one another. I must say, though, I like the idea of a family-centred area in one park and then an all-out thrill coaster in another park with the same theme/IP.
 
If you had Minecraft in two British parks, it'd almost put it in the same elite status as Angry Birds, which found its way into Thorpe Park, Sundown and Lightwater Valley.
 
James said:
I think another issue would be that Merlin parks are not associated with each other branding-wise. The general public (non-enthusiasts) will unlikely know that the same operator owns Thorpe Park and Chessington.
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I don't think that's the case, it's well known amongst the general public that Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington are run by the same company and quite a lot of them know it's Merlin. This is more so because of Merlin Annual Passes being a massive thing nowadays.

One big general public misconception is that some people believe Merlin own all theme parks in the UK. An example is that on Ally Law's video when he received the letter from Merlin telling him he's banned from Merlin properties because he climbed up Stealth, he even said that he's banned from every theme park in the UK due to the banning order from Merlin.

I think there's more likely to be people who don't know that Paultons, Blackpool, Drayton and Flamingo Land aren't owned by Merlin than people who have no idea about Merlin at all.
 
Many years ago, I was on the train home from a day at Chessie, and overheard a young couple, who were reading the back of the park map.

Her: Hey look at this, you can buy a "Merlin Pass" and get in to loads of places!
Him: What the? How can one bloke own all of those‽
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Many years ago, I was on the train home from a day at Chessie, and overheard a young couple, who were reading the back of the park map.

Her: Hey look at this, you can buy a "Merlin Pass" and get in to loads of places!
Him: What the? How can one bloke own all of those‽
Click to expand...
I do wonder how many people think that the actual wizard owns theme parks 😅😂🤣
 
The Minecraft IP appearing in multiple parks, even if owned by the same operator, is unlikely for a variety of reasons. The primary being that the licence issuer, in this case Microsoft, would probably not want to dilute their brand. If they're going to licence a Minecraft land, they would want there to be a singular destination for it. If you need a comparison, see CBeebies Land (NOT the individual IP licenced characters, different ball game).

There is a possibility that Microsoft could have licenced Minecraft to Merlin outside of the UK, for another park. Opening two locations with the same IP, at the same time, in relative proximity wouldn't make strategic sense.

One Minecraft Land, at Chessington World of Adventures. It's really quite that simple.
 
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