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2024: General Discussion

Looks fine to me. Completely in keeping with the rest of the area and not "too tall" for an arcade at all. If you can build a bigger building when doing so from new, why would you purposely make it small just so that YouTubers don't start making stuff up?
 
benpicko said:
It's a fairly impressive building in the same way a Tesco warehouse is a fairly impressive building -- it's a metal can with a few symbols slapped on
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Correct. But it is just an arcade and better than what came before it. Nearby there's 2 shipping containers used as "theming", a green and plain corrugated building containing an actual attraction inside it sits opposite, and black paint slopped over smaller buildings that were clearly designed for other aesthetic purposes. It's hardly offensive in the grand scheme of things.
 
jesterrace989 said:
IMO arcades in theme parks and amusement parks are a total waste of space and time and money. Look at Blackpool pleasure beach. An entire town with arguably more arcades than sand on the beach at this point located practically right next to each other and the Pleasure Beach still has arcades both outside and inside the park with barely anyone going in them and spending money. If I was in the park's shoes I'd demolish those arcades and put something more unique in there. Towers has too many arcade machines as well
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One thing I will say is during my trip to Europa Park last week I noticed a subtle but noticeable increase in arcade machines and side stalls.

They must have a market for making money.
 
Alphe86 said:
Only AT have the figures but I’ve never seen a single person spending money in the arcades. Feels like a big investment for no return
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I've seen lots of people in the arcades over the years, and if they didn't make a profit, they would not be there.
Why invest big if there is no return, they would have learned a lesson by now surely.
They are popular with non riders, and very popular when it rains, which is all the time of course.
 
The whole refurbishment would have been calculated and, in the long run, deemed worthy of investment. Seeing as there's been an arcade there for decades, we aren't exactly loosing anything at all.

Yeah alright, it would've been cool to see an indoor ride or something else there, but they've delivered on what they promised.
 
Have Towers in-sourced the arcades & game stalls back from HB Leisure, or are they still with HBL?
If they are still with HBL, then there must be good money to be made as the rent Towers will charge on the units will be very high.

The reason McDonalds left Towers [& other Tussauds parks, as they were then] was because they signed a 10yr deal in 1998. When the deal came up for renewal, Merlin had just taken over Tussauds and wanted to put the unit rental prices up through the roof, to the extent that even McDonalds walked away.
 
Kraken27 said:
Have Towers in-sourced the arcades & game stalls back from HB Leisure, or are they still with HBL?
If they are still with HBL, then there must be good money to be made as the rent Towers will charge on the units will be very high.

The reason McDonalds left Towers [& other Tussauds parks, as they were then] was because they signed a 10yr deal in 1998. When the deal came up for renewal, Merlin had just taken over Tussauds and wanted to put the unit rental prices up through the roof, to the extent that even McDonalds walked away.
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It's still HB Leisure.
 
evilcod said:
Not a fan of arcades in theme parks but it's a fairly impressive building.1000056343.jpg
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Longer term the “not quite big enough” nature of that building will be a massive missed opportunity. Another 15ft wider and they’d of had lots of options.

I really hope longer term HB and their tat in terrible places is stripped back from the park.

I don’t see it though
 
About 40% of HB Leisure revenue goes back to Towers.

The Edge was the worst performing arcade on the park, often barely making £1,000 a day. There were days where the entire arcade could be left unmanned if staffing levels were low.

I wonder if they've rebuilt the building to see if the can bring more people in. But if it doesn't, it's been rebuilt to a standard where it can be repurposed into something else.
 
I suppose the arcades make money, whereas running and staffing another theme park ride actually costs you a lot of money. Not surprised they like to mix it up a bit. When your rides have got the punters in, make some extra money out of them.
 
jesterrace989 said:
No offence to Sean Evans but compared to his fellow vloggers like Shawn Sanbrooke at times he can come across as a bit demanding of what Towers should put in next. But I've seen his vlogs and for the most part he looks like a very nice guy who just loves theme parks. Although him and the rest of the enthuasists have hyped up Nemesis wayyy too much. At the end of the day it's just a roller coaster albeit a really good one
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Nemesis is damn good!

Ash said:
Interesting to a point, hope there’s a follow up.

As others have said, left the some of the other topics off the table. F&B, Project Horizon, Hex, Skyride, Alton After Dark, Effects/Theming, Infrastructure.

I think there’s a wider discussion to be had about how the UK parks communicate future plans/vision, as at the moment it seems quite disparate.
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Sadly, with an interview like this there are various things that have to go through approval. Many of those key topics were very strictly off the table which made sense. No point asking a question that cannot be answered but glad it was enjoyed
 
blackholes crow said:
Ooo a building big enough for bumper cars
Just wish we had something like that on site at times
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I'd be all over some bumper cars at AT. My kids love the ones at Chessington even though they have the appearance of being older than me.

I bet most people here would frown on the idea of a fairground attraction based on the reactions to the retrosquad though
 
dave___ said:
I'd be all over some bumper cars at AT. My kids love the ones at Chessington even though they have the appearance of being older than me.

I bet most people here would frown on the idea of a fairground attraction based on the reactions to the retrosquad though
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It's not just flat rides merlin needs, it's interactive types that thay should be looking for, I mean there's battle galleons but who wants to be soaked through the bone in the middle of winter!!! Other than that there's nothing interactive on park
even the little drive your own RC boat was a fun little thing for a time other than that nothing so bumper cars would probably go down well if themed right with the right sound track
Phalanx cars/tanks with a nemmy egg in the centre would be something unique for FV
 
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