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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Here is a mock up picture
Tower%20Aerial%20View.jpg

There are a couple more pictures here:

First Look: Chessington Reveals New £15m World of PAW Patrol for 2026

Chessington World of Adventures has officially unveiled first look images and key details for World of PAW Patrol, the UK’s first and only dedicated PAW Patrol-themed land, ahead of the opening in spring 2026.
www.themeparks-uk.com www.themeparks-uk.com
 
£15m?! That seems like a huge amount of money for the size of area they’re building and calibre of rides, particularly when we consider that Hyperia supposedly cost around £17m and Minecraft is supposedly costing £20m!

Is Paw Patrol a particularly expensive IP or something? I find a land of this size costing only £2m less than the UK’s tallest and fastest coaster hard to believe otherwise.
 
Matt N said:
£15m?! That seems like a huge amount of money for the size of area they’re building and calibre of rides, particularly when we consider that Hyperia supposedly cost around £17m and Minecraft is supposedly costing £20m!

Is Paw Patrol a particularly expensive IP or something? I find a land of this size costing only £2m less than the UK’s tallest and fastest coaster hard to believe otherwise.
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I would guess it's due to the extensive theming whereas Hyperia has..... none. I believe there are also facilities in the area as well as the rides.

For comparison, Peppa Pig World cost approximately £6m back in 2011, which inflation puts at around £9.5m. Now Peppa has more rides but Paw Patrol looks like it has much larger scale theming from what we've seen. And as you say, there are licensing fees to consider whereas Hyperia had none.

I think you're right to question it though, £15m does seem a lot so where has that figure come from? Could simply be a hyped up figure for the press to make it sound more impressive.
 
Matt N said:
£15m?! That seems like a huge amount of money for the size of area they’re building and calibre of rides, particularly when we consider that Hyperia supposedly cost around £17m and Minecraft is supposedly costing £20m!

Is Paw Patrol a particularly expensive IP or something? I find a land of this size costing only £2m less than the UK’s tallest and fastest coaster hard to believe otherwise.
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It's worth keeping in mind that when Merlin issues a press release about "investment", they are rarely talking about the invoice from the hardware manufacturer alone.

The £15 million figure will almost certainly include the marketing budget for the launch. It will cover the TV spots, the billboards, the influencer events and the licensing fees paid to Paramount Global for the privilege of using the IP.

When you strip out the marketing spend, the IP costs, the groundwork (which is always expensive at Chessington due to the clay soil) and the infrastructure, the amount spent on the actual physical rides is likely significantly lower.

Comparing it to Hyperia is a bit of an apples and oranges situation. Hyperia is a record holding coaster, yes, but it sits on an island of dirt with a shop and a desert van. It has virtually no theming and arguably half a layout. The cost was almost entirely in the steel and the engineering (and it shows).

World of Paw Patrol, conversely, requires extensive scenic construction. Facades, paved areas, planting, animatronics (or at least static figures) and immersive environments cost a fortune to build and install. Theming is expensive. Concrete is expensive. A steel support column is relatively cheap, but making that column look like the Lookout Tower is where the money goes. They're also definitely including the hotel room rethemes and character costumes in the investment amount.
Bowser said:
For comparison, Peppa Pig World cost approximately £6m back in 2011, which inflation puts at around £9.5m. Now Peppa has more rides but Paw Patrol looks like it has much larger scale theming from what we've seen. And as you say, there are licensing fees to consider whereas Hyperia had none.
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It's also worth noting that construction inflation has vastly outpaced general inflation (CPI) since 2011. The cost of materials and labour in the UK construction sector has skyrocketed post 2020. The £6 million Paultons spent on Peppa Pig World in 2011 would probably cost close to £12 - 13 million to replicate today, purely on materials and labour costs, before you even factor in the "Merlin Premium" / corporate bloat.
 
£15 million actually sounds pretty cheap to me, but only because I've seen the plans for the roller coaster and I know what the secret element is.
 
pluk said:
Do MMM (or what's left of it) not overcharge parks by millions to unlock
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Yes...
pluk said:
what we'll generously call tax efficiencies?
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And no...

Transfer pricing is absolutely a tool used by multinationals to shift profits to low tax jurisdictions (like charging a UK park a fortune for IP rights held in Luxembourg), but it doesn't really work for an internal transaction between two UK entities.

Merlin Magic Making and Chessington are both subject to UK Corporation Tax. If MMM "overcharges" Chessington by £5 million, Chessington pays less tax, but MMM pays more. The net result for the Group's bill to HMRC is zero.

The only efficiency found in inflating the cost would be capitalisation. If Merlin book the ride as a £15 million asset, rather than a £10 million one, it strengthens the balance sheet's Net Asset Value, which keeps the lenders happy regarding debt covenants. It's a game played for the benefit of the banks, but offers no tax benefit.

The only reason you would artificially inflate the cost of a CapEx project internally is for Capitalisation, not tax, which keeps the lenders, banks and Blackstone happy... which is practically standard operating procedure for a private equity backed vehicle looking to dress itself up for a future sale or refinance.

When you're carrying a debt pile the size of Merlin's, your lenders watch your Loan to Value covenants like my cousins watching your sandwich on the lawns at Towers. If the value of your assets drops too low relative to your debt, the banks get nervous and expensive.

Merlin can convert operational cash flow (which disappears) into a fixed asset on the balance sheet (which stays), by capitalising as much as possible (including hefty internal recharges from MMM for creative design, project management and consultancy). A £15 million asset looks much better to a bondholder than a £10 million asset, even if the difference is mostly internal paper pushing.

CapEx sits below the line when calculating EBITDA too, which is the primary metric private equity uses to value a business. If you can classify a cost as Capital Investment rather than OpEx, your EBITDA looks higher, and your company looks more valuable.

There's almost certainly an element of financial alchemy involved. However, never underestimate the sheer, eye watering cost of buying a licence from Paramount. The finance team might be massaging the figures, but the IP lawyers are definitely taking a massive bite out of the budget first.
 
This does suggest that a lot more of that £75m Minecraft budget will be going to Chessington than people anticipated.

Or they’ll build it out of cardboard.
 
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