2018: Wicker Man - General Discussion - SPOILERS! - Part One

[Spike]

There is NO way on earth Merlin could have the same amount of money.

Disney parks pull people in from all around the world. They are in multiple countries. Disney also has huge revenues from its movies.

Lets get real here, Disney is huge, Merlin is just a small pebble in the ocean compared to them.

Aren't Disney theme parks a separate entity though, as in a separate company that's not part of their movie business? Similar to what Virgin are and also similar to Virgin in that Disney own 40% or so of their foreign parks.

 

[James]

Let's not forget that small parks have done a lot with small budgets when it comes to theming, so Merlin/Towers are capable of being very good, maybe not Disney standards, but certainly have standards such as other European parks (minus Disneyland).

What Towers did with Merrie England/Mutiny Bay in 2008 was great, if anything I would like them to go for something of that quality when it comes to theming.

 

[Matt Creek]

Parks like Phantasialand, Efteling and Europa Park (amongst others) are proof that top quality investments can be done without Disney/Universal budgets. Take Klugheim, Baron 1898, Arthur and Chiapas as prime examples.

Merlin are capable of creating top quality rides and areas as Mutiny Bay, Wild Asia and Swarm, have previously shown proof on. However I feel their recent lust for USP's, IP's and accommodation galore (to a lesser extent) have heavily compromised things resulting in slapped up attractions lacking cohesion just so they can be marketable.

 

[Matt.GC]

I'd say that just looking at lost Kingdom at Paultons proves you can theme well without Disney or Universal budgets.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Let's not forget that small parks have done a lot with small budgets when it comes to theming, so Merlin/Towers are capable of being very good, maybe not Disney standards, but certainly have standards such as other European parks (minus Disneyland).

What Towers did with Merrie England/Mutiny Bay in 2008 was great, if anything I would like them to go for something of that quality when it comes to theming.

Battle Galleons was decent but the rest of Mutiny Bay was a cheap unimaginative effort (brown paint, cheap props etc) although far better than anything else they have done at Towers (which isn't saying much when you look at Dark Forest).

Like another poster has mentioned above Wild Asia was a good quality investment and I would go as far as saying it's the best Merlin have done in the UK. The theme work there is Disney quality in some places especially the shop/food buildings.

There are very few properly themed wooden coasters in the world and I don't expect Merlin to do much beyond their standard 2 or 3 set pieces with SW8 neglecting the details as they usually do.

 

[Martin]

Says a lot about Merlin that their best, most complete attempt at theming is probably a splash battle.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Says a lot about Merlin that their best, most complete attempt at theming is probably a splash battle.

Absolutely.

The hardware is relatively cheap and without theming Splash Battles look pretty sorry for themselves so they had no excuse not to spend money on theming it.

 

[andeyhart]

Battle Galleons was decent but the rest of Mutiny Bay was a cheap unimaginative effort (brown paint, cheap props etc) although far better than anything else they have done at Towers (which isn't saying much when you look at Dark Forest).

Like another poster has mentioned above Wild Asia was a good quality investment and I would go as far as saying it's the best Merlin have done in the UK. The theme work there is Disney quality in some places especially the shop/food buildings.

There are very few properly themed wooden coasters in the world and I don't expect Merlin to do much beyond their standard 2 or 3 set pieces with SW8 neglecting the details as they usually do.

I think that's harsh on Mutiny Bay to be honest. The area added much more life to that part of the park, especially with the addition of the live shows, and it gave the area some much needed identity, something which Merrie England sorely lacked. It transformed what was, by 2007, the most derelict part of the park into something buzzing with atmosphere.

You don't have to throw a huge amount of money at something to make it effective. It may seem "cheap" to some, but the theming elements of Mutiny Bay were much welcomed in 2008 and, imo, showed Merlin were capable of theming areas to a high standard, with good attention to the smaller details - the parrots, the talking toilets, the panning for gold etc.

 

[pj]

I think that's harsh on Mutiny Bay to be honest. The area added much more life to that part of the park, especially with the addition of the live shows, and it gave the area some much needed identity, something which Merrie England sorely lacked. It transformed what was, by 2007, the most derelict part of the park into something buzzing with atmosphere.

You don't have to throw a huge amount of money at something to make it effective. It may seem "cheap" to some, but the theming elements of Mutiny Bay were much welcomed in 2008 and, imo, showed Merlin were capable of theming areas to a high standard, with good attention to the smaller details - the parrots, the talking toilets, the panning for gold etc.

They let you use the toilet then make you pan for Gold? Hope one can flush first

 

[jon81uk]

The issue is with the UK parks is that theming is seen as once and done. They don't check it and refresh broken/rotten parks every few years. Even just regular painting isn't really done at any UK park I think. The solution often is to re-do the area (Cred St to Cloud Cuckoo Land etc) rather than simply do maintenance every other year on theming.

 

[Matt.GC]

Mutiny Bay isn't awful. Battle Galleons queue line is great, so was the retheme of the tea cups and Heave Ho is fine. If every area Merlin did was like this, I wouldn't be too upset as there are elements of greatness around the area. It also looks better believe it or not since they fenced off the completely incoherently themed flume. A pirate themed coaster with a big ass ship wreck in a lake would finish it nicely.

However I don't buy this notion that it's some sort of good example of modern Merlin theming. It may be decent in places and better than the disaster that is so called 'Dark Forest' (Which is neither dark or a forest). But it's hardly X Sector, Forbidden Valley (before it was ruined) or Swarm Island quality. After Marauders, Galleons, the entrance to shark bait and the odd decent theming effect here and there, it is practically a resignage and brown paint job with the odd skeleton and bit of rope. As fine as that is compared to more recent efforts. The area also seems unfinished with the front of the Skyride station adding visual incoherence, the Green corrugated steel of the staff building behind being clearly visible (just a simple modern day AT staple - a fence would fix that) and just a cheap vinyl slapped on the access gates.

The area is passable, good in places, but hardly A material.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I think that's harsh on Mutiny Bay to be honest. The area added much more life to that part of the park, especially with the addition of the live shows, and it gave the area some much needed identity, something which Merrie England sorely lacked. It transformed what was, by 2007, the most derelict part of the park into something buzzing with atmosphere.

You don't have to throw a huge amount of money at something to make it effective. It may seem "cheap" to some, but the theming elements of Mutiny Bay were much welcomed in 2008 and, imo, showed Merlin were capable of theming areas to a high standard, with good attention to the smaller details - the parrots, the talking toilets, the panning for gold etc.

Like the poster above has said it's OK in places with some good theming but they have gone for the most hackneyed pirate theme possible of the sort you would expect from a second rate regional park. Although it was a tired area a lot of the good interesting theme details from Merrie England were painted over with brown paint and a skull and cross bones on top in a pretty lazy and juvenile fashion. For me it just lacks the creative quirk that the original Tussaud's themes had which themselves were not perfect but very good for the budgets they created them with.

But anything was better than those cheap horrible p2p Splash Karts so Mutiny Bay was a success in that respect.

 

[andeyhart]

Like the poster above has said it's OK in places with some good theming but they have gone for the most hackneyed pirate theme possible of the sort you would expect from a second rate regional park. Although it was a tired area a lot of the good interesting theme details from Merrie England were painted over with brown paint and a skull and cross bones on top in a pretty lazy and juvenile fashion. For me it just lacks the creative quirk that the original Tussaud's themes had which themselves were not perfect but very good for the budgets they created them with.

But anything was better than those cheap horrible p2p Splash Karts so Mutiny Bay was a success in that respect.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, as I don't think Merrie England's theme was ever good, even back in the 90's. Not all Tussaud's themes were well done. Merrie England was a good idea, uninspiringly executed. They could have done so much more with the olde English idea. Pirate themes may be ten-a-penny, but they're effective, hence why so many parks go with them. Theme parks don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to theming - safe options often make sense.

 

[ItsDavid]

SW8 is what towers needs, they need a coaster that is for the same age group as RMT. They dont have anything else to that size as thirteen & spinball is the 1 step up, and Octinaughts is the step down, If they do it right, including the theme [Which i hope is pirate themed as mutiny bay is by far the best themed area in the park, but lacks a major attraction]

 

[RoyJess]

Mexican Cantina has been completely demolished, image taken form TT site

 

[BarryZola]

I take it the old Oleo railway buffers from this end have also been swept up in the demolition then?

 

[RoyJess]

I take it the old Oleo railway buffers from this end have also been swept up in the demolition then?

Can't see any railway buffers in the pic, here is what the Mexican cantina looked like before demolition pic taken from this (TS) site

ps...I take it that no Sealife fish were harmed in the demolition of the site

 

[BarryZola]

Can't see any railway buffers in the pic, here is what the Mexican cantina looked like before demolition pic taken from this (TS) site

ps...I take it that no Sealife fish were harmed in the demolition of the site

Yeah, I know mate. The old railway buffers were at a slightly level higher, behind, and probably a bit further to the right of the Cantina. I'm expecting that they will have been got rid of during this. I was just wondering if anyone actually got a pic or anything. It would have been the last remnants of the miniature railway gone as well as the obvious flume destruction. A long shot I know buddy

 

[Matt.GC]

I find all this carnage completely unnecessary. Just out of interest, what evidence of the miniature railway are still left on park?

 

[Rob]

I find all this carnage completely unnecessary. Just out of interest, what evidence of the miniature railway are still left on park?

What exactly do you mean? If things are having to be demolished to make way for a new attraction and buildings then demolition always looks like a total mess. Or are you saying that the whole project is just unnecessary?