Merlin Entertainments: General Discussion

[Dave]

It's a fact bubblesworks is the worst example but nearly all their new dark rides rely on screens. Jumanji at Gardaland, Gangster granny is nearly all screens, alton manor to quite an extent too, Darren browns ghost train though I appreciate they have removed those now at least but it's very underwhelming without physical things. Just look at the contrast with Valhalla, not a screen in sight

Alton Manor isn’t heavy on screens and with the exception of the stupid screaming Skull one the screens they do have incorporate well. Screen technology is a part of dark rides across the world now. I do like the fact she mentions getting rid of VR and hopefully that indicates a desire for more immersive experiences so hopefully any future rides will be a fair balance of effects.

Do wonder if some of this change in direction is why Horizon has paused, wouldn’t be surprised if that was going in a direction the new leadership didn’t want anymore.

 

[Hid]

Alton Manor isn’t heavy on screens and with the exception of the stupid screaming Skull one the screens they do have incorporate well. Screen technology is a part of dark rides across the world now. I do like the fact she mentions getting rid of VR and hopefully that indicates a desire for more immersive experiences so hopefully any future rides will be a fair balance of effects.

Do wonder if some of this change in direction is why Horizon has paused, wouldn’t be surprised if that was going in a direction the new leadership didn’t want anymore.

I kinda like the skull. Doesn't really add or take away from the ride for me.

One effect I wish they got working and fixed is the ghost on the rail where Emily follows you.

 

[pjanvil]

My point is still kinda what the ceo says. The battle is screens at home. Therefore I don't go to a theme park to see screens. I can do that at home

 

[tech]

My point is still kinda what the ceo says. The battle is screens at home. Therefore I don't go to a theme park to see screens. I can do that at home

You can't though. Can you.

 

[Hid]

One thing I will say Merlin us terrible at and it's not the only one but communication is poor to the public explain to people what stuff is happening otherwise people formulate their own spin on it

 

[DistortAMG]

My point is still kinda what the ceo says. The battle is screens at home. Therefore I don't go to a theme park to see screens. I can do that at home

With that logic, you could say you dont go to a themepark to hear music / audio. You can do that at home too.

I understand what you are saying, but apart from a few very specific examples, the problem you list, doesnt exist....yet.

It is encouraging to hear her say what she says however.

 

[Matt N]

Perhaps controversially, I don’t think screens are inherently bad by any stretch. If used well, I do think they can improve a ride; some of my top dark rides blend screens and physical scenery rather than relying purely on physical scenery.

 

[Hid]

Perhaps controversially, I don’t think screens are inherently bad by any stretch. If used well, I do think they can improve a ride; some of my top dark rides blend screens and physical scenery rather than relying purely on physical scenery.

They work for Flying Theatres and some trackless darks rides heavily rely on screens.

 

[pjanvil]

I agree Alton Manor mixes screens with physical props well. My biggest bug bares is Bubblesworks to gruffalo because its always comparing to what it replaced and feels like.a massive downgrade. Gangster granny just feels cheap and half hearted with just predominantly screens

 

[Hid]

I agree Alton Manor mixes screens with physical props well. My biggest bug bares is Bubblesworks to gruffalo because its always comparing to what it replaced and feels like.a massive downgrade. Gangster granny just feels cheap and half hearted with just predominantly screens

Bubbleworks to Gruffalo and Toyland to Charle though I have really done memories of Charlie as that was 2 rides in 1. With some good sets

 

[Quantum]

Merlins obsession opening infinite Lego Parks needs to be addressed. It's means they've taken their eye off the ball with other parks. I'm not seeing much of a big plan to turn things around

 

[Tom]

The fact they have been so badly hit by them devaluing means that there should be a real slowdown now.

 

[Hid]

Merlins obsession opening infinite Lego Parks needs to be addressed. It's means they've taken their eye off the ball with other parks. I'm not seeing much of a big plan to turn things around

To be fair I think Legoland Parks are awesome underrated Legoland Windsor truly is its had much investment the Dragon used to get 75min waits regularly doesn't seem so anymore

 

[JAperson]

I also assumed events, specifically relating to the quote I pulled out about X not doing something at the same time as Y. In addition to the promotion of similarly targeted attractions.

It could mean a huge variety of activities. From promoting events to new rides, to ensuring there social media teams support each other. So If Towers are doing a particular promotion strategy they don't all do stuff at the same time (Which can risk meaning they don't clog feeds, reducing the impact of a post/series of posts. It's a sensible thing to be coordinating, although remarkably difficult to implement, because communications teams really need to be localised to make a good impact but that means it can be difficult to coordinate post timings etc.

In terms of the new CEO in general, I doubt it will make a vast amount of difference. Restructuring the business sounds like it makes a lot of sense, but fundamentally they need to invest big sums of money into there resort theme parks (although no longer a separate division, it still makes sense to refer to it here as one). They need to reduce some costs, while being smart about what they are cutting. But they also need to increase some fundamental operating budgets, like at Towers, which simply doesn't have the correct operating budget to run that park in a world class way. A park like Towers should have much better ride reliability and great entertainment (even if on a low budget).

 

[Bert2theSpark]

Merlins obsession opening infinite Lego Parks needs to be addressed. It's means they've taken their eye off the ball with other parks. I'm not seeing much of a big plan to turn things around

This isn’t an issue, Merlin recently said they want to move to a more operations-only style for some Legoland parks and maybe sell off the parks themselves for just operational involvement. The parks that have recently opened and in the pipeline are parks that were planned largely under Varney-Public era Merlin. These are the parks that are tanking the company at the moment and were already in motion when Merlin went private and the subsequent CEOs.

TL;DR - They’ve already pivoted, it’s just the last few developments of a previous era coming through now.

 

[JAperson]

This isn’t an issue, Merlin recently said they want to move to a more operations-only style for Legoland parks and maybe sell off the parks themselves for just operational involvement. The parks that have recently opened and in the pipeline are parks that were planned largely under Varney-Public era Merlin. These are the parks that are tanking the company at the moment and we’re already in motion when Merlin went private and the subsequent CEOs.

TL;DR - They’ve already pivoted, it’s just the last few developments of a previous era coming through now.

Also I assume some of these parks will actually make money, I imagine Beijing will probably do well enough. It'll just take time for them to stop being a burden on resources, as they will have to work off there construction debt.

 

[Tim]

There's no park in Beijing, I assume you meant Shanghai?

This might seem like I'm being pedantic, but honestly I find it weird that despite the Legoland's being a core part of Merlin's business most the time (on here) I feel like people forget they exist. Unless of course it's to moan about how they are stealing investments from the RTP's... which as others have pointed out is not the case.

Speaking of which Legoland Shanghai opened yesterday.