[202X] Project Horizon (SW9?): Planning Approved

[Hid]

I do have a theory if Project Horizon isn't going ahead won't go into detail here.

I think it has 50/50 Shot of happening but if they do bring it in they would have to do the area around it to not a good look passing 2 abandoned attractions The Dungeons Boat Ride and Theatre

 

[Jb85]

I do have a theory if Project Horizon isn't going ahead won't go into detail here.

I think it has 50/50 Shot of happening but if they do bring it in they would have to do the area around it to not a good look passing 2 abandoned attractions The Dungeons Boat Ride and Theatre

So what’s the theory?

 

[Hid]

So what’s the theory?

My theory is if Project Horizon doesn't go ahead and this small coaster goes into Cbeebies Land could Towers be sold to a new operator its feeling quite similar to 2004 and 2005 adding some smaller additions with Rita and Spinball Whizzer to bolster line-up to potential buyer.

 

[Quantum]

I think Project Horizon has been shelved. Merlin have directed cash to Chessington IMO, probably as a result of Universal. I could see towers getting sold because it needs major investment and I'm not sure Merlin will do that.

 

[Hid]

I think Project Horizon has been shelved. Merlin have directed cash to Chessington IMO, probably as a result of Universal. I could see towers getting sold because it needs major investment and I'm not sure Merlin will do that.

It wouldn't need a whole lot to become an excellent park again and that's the frustrating thing

 

[Quantum]

It wouldn't need a whole lot to become an excellent park again and that's the frustrating thing

It needs a longer term plan and investment to replace Thier ageing ride lineup. Some areas of Towers need a total overhaul like Walliams World and dark forest. the park looks good on the surface but there is a long to do list at towers

 

[Hid]

It needs a longer term plan and investment to replace Thier ageing ride lineup. Some areas of Towers need a total overhaul like Walliams World and dark forest. the park looks good on the surface but there is a long to do list at towers

Food, Ride Availability, and some areas look great already just need enhancements

 

[Dave]

I think Project Horizon has been shelved. Merlin have directed cash to Chessington IMO, probably as a result of Universal. I could see towers getting sold because it needs major investment and I'm not sure Merlin will do that.

They haven’t really directed much extra cash to Chessington. Again people are not really looking at how much they have spent at Towers over the last 3 years.

At a guess:

£8 million for Nemesis
£2-3 million for curse
£2-3 million for Skyride
£1 million for Hex
£2 million for Toxicator.

Chessington doesn’t have anything new this year and had nothing new last year. This weird narrative about Merlin’s investments is baffling.

 

[Hid]

They haven’t really directed much extra cash to Chessington. Again people are not really looking at how much they have spent at Towers over the last 3 years.

At a guess:

£8 million for Nemesis
£2-3 million for curse
£2-3 million for Skyride
£1 million for Hex
£2 million for Toxicator.

Chessington doesn’t have anything new this year and had nothing new last year. This weird narrative about Merlin’s investments is baffling.

They could be freshening up the park to make it more appealing to a buyer

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

They could be freshening up the park to make it more appealing to a buyer

Just so we're clear. No investment = selling Towers, and Investment= selling Towers?

 

[Hid]

Just so we're clear. No investment = selling Towers, and Investment= selling Towers?

Could be either way the Tussards Group still invested even when being sold

 

[Maelstrom]

There has been zero indication that Merlin are thinking of selling Alton Towers. That’s not to say Blackstone might look good sell their stake in Merlin as a whole in the coming years.

 

[Steve74]

They haven’t really directed much extra cash to Chessington. Again people are not really looking at how much they have spent at Towers over the last 3 years.

At a guess:

£8 million for Nemesis
£2-3 million for curse
£2-3 million for Skyride
£1 million for Hex
£2 million for Toxicator.

Chessington doesn’t have anything new this year and had nothing new last year. This weird narrative about Merlin’s investments is baffling.

And going back slightly further - 7 years to 2018, Wicker Man was £16 million which is pretty much the last 3 years combined! So lets say it's £32 million invested in new/revamped rides in the last 7 years, that's an average of £4.5million per year, not a small amount in anyone's book when you consider that doesn't include money invested in other non-ride areas of the park too.

 

[flyingguitar]

At a guess:

£8 million for Nemesis

this is extreamly low guess, new track had to be made, old track had to be removed, new foundations made, new train, the whole station revamp, etc

then there is the whole FV revamp (sub terra, arcade, gift shop etc)

they had an extremely difficult area to work in, requiring a lot of scaffolding, an awkward position for a crane to be in tbh I would guess it cost double

 

[Dave]

this is extreamly low guess, new track had to be made, old track had to be removed, new foundations made, new train, the whole station revamp, etc

then there is the whole FV revamp (sub terra, arcade, gift shop etc)

they had an extremely difficult area to work in, requiring a lot of scaffolding, an awkward position for a crane to be in tbh I would guess it cost double

I doubt it was £16 million but it could very much be higher than £8 million which is fine as it further backs the argument.

 

[Bowser]

They haven’t really directed much extra cash to Chessington. Again people are not really looking at how much they have spent at Towers over the last 3 years.

At a guess:

£8 million for Nemesis
£2-3 million for curse
£2-3 million for Skyride
£1 million for Hex
£2 million for Toxicator.

Chessington doesn’t have anything new this year and had nothing new last year. This weird narrative about Merlin’s investments is baffling.

Minecraft alone is more than all of the above combined, as was Jumanji in the past 3 years and we have Paw Patrol coming too. Unless AT have something planned costing over £20m in the next 2 years (with Horizon likely the only contender) then Chessington is getting significantly more spent on attractions and they're all new rides too.

 

[Maelstrom]

Minecraft alone is more than all of the above combined, as was Jumanji in the past 3 years and we have Paw Patrol coming too. Unless AT have something planned costing over £20m in the next 2 years (with Horizon likely the only contender) then Chessington is getting significantly more spent on attractions and they're all new rides too.

which makes sense that chessington is getting some investment as it was massively under invested for 25 years prior to Jumanji. Doesn’t mean investment grinds to a halt at Alton towers and their other resorts and it’s highly likely Alton will get a major addition in 2028.

Not sure why people think because they are now spending some money at Chessington it means Merlin have abandoned Alton, which they haven’t.

 

[Dave]

Minecraft alone is more than all of the above combined, as was Jumanji in the past 3 years and we have Paw Patrol coming too. Unless AT have something planned costing over £20m in the next 2 years (with Horizon likely the only contender) then Chessington is getting significantly more spent on attractions and they're all new rides too.

Mine craft and Jumanji quoted cost combined is £37 million which doesn’t come to fruition until 2027.

Towers are already at around £20 million and we don’t have final confirmed projects for 2026 or 2027.

But that really is irrelevant, it’s fine if Chessington gets more money than Towers over a given period of time, the poor place has been massively under invested in over the last 20 years so it deserves it. What was being suggested was Merlin was not investing in Towers at all which is clearly not in anyway true and was the point I was making.

 

[Bowser]

Mine craft and Jumanji quoted cost combined is £37 million which doesn’t come to fruition until 2027.

Towers are already at around £20 million and we don’t have final confirmed projects for 2026 or 2027.

But that really is irrelevant, it’s fine if Chessington gets more money than Towers over a given period of time, the poor place has been massively under invested in over the last 20 years so it deserves it. What was being suggested was Merlin was not investing in Towers at all which is clearly not in anyway true and was the point I was making.

Sure. People are picking rather arbitrary periods to make respective claims of higher investment and we don’t have accurate figures either way but in terms of perception i think its reasonable that people view Chessington as currently being more in favour due to Jumanji, Paw Patrol and Minecraft being large, high budget new attractions.

 

[Dave]

Sure. People are picking rather arbitrary periods to make respective claims of higher investment and we don’t have accurate figures either way but in terms of perception i think its reasonable that people view Chessington as currently being more in favour due to Jumanji, Paw Patrol and Minecraft being large, high budget new attractions.

I think people need to stop seeing Merlin investment as an emotional favouring thing. They don’t think emotionally they think in terms of return on investment.