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Blackpool - Peter Rabbit Merlin Midway Attraction (2022)

tayspru said:
I already acknowledged why an LDC would be unlikely, and began to suggest other options given the constraints you’ve mentioned. The fact is you’re not a Merlin employee (even mentioning you know the plans would breach any kind of NDA) so it comes off as “well somebody told *me* but I can’t tell anyone else so bask in my superior knowledge”
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If that's how you want to interpret it, then be my guest.:) At the end of the day, as you said, it's a midway; not the next SW. It really isn't worth getting arsey about any context to it until the inevitable quality of it comes to light.
 
tayspru said:
Either tell us what it is or don’t mention that you know at all . This “I know something you don’t know” on the forums really grinds on me
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I found the information @Danny gave to be interesting and helpful, yes they couldn’t elaborate on what is coming, but what might have been was still interesting. They weren’t doing the “i know something you don’t” to try and get one-up-man-ship, just to share the limited knowledge they can. if they just posted “I know something but can’t say” I would share your frustration, but they did post about what it could have been.
 
Probably a Little BIG City, or Shrek's Adventure. Although a Legoland Discovery Centre would probably work better in Blackpool than it does in Manchester so could be that.
 
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I’m guessing the benefit of this midway behind in Blackpool is they will be able to sell combo tickets for all the other Merlin attractions, like they do on London. So it probably will be popular. Pay xx amount more to visit this, makes it seems like a good deal, compared to paying £30+ which most midways seem to charge.

What ever it is I’m guessing it will be something aimed at kids or families with it being located at the Sealife. Probably some IP which has had its time and they got cheap as well.
 
The golf course had its last day of operation this weekend:



One particular comment stands out from that post:

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Obviously we're only getting one side of the story. Merlin and the Council haven't had a lot of time to respond, if they choose to (I expect they won't). Nonetheless, that does sound very plausible to me. I don't think Merlin became the second biggest attractions company by always playing fair. I'm not denying that Merlin have some strong brands and a good way with marketing, and they do seem to have some fairly good business acumen. But most businesses that grow so quickly tend to have some sharp practices behind the scenes.
 
Graffiti Golf must have had a lease agreement with the council? They wouldn’t be able to just ‘kick them out’ in two weeks unless this was a stipulation of the agreement? And if so then that was always the risk that this business owner faced when making investments and borrowing money.
 
AT86 said:
Graffiti Golf must have had a lease agreement with the council? They wouldn’t be able to just ‘kick them out’ in two weeks unless this was a stipulation of the agreement? And if so then that was always the risk that this business owner faced when making investments and borrowing money.
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The contract they must have been on leasing the building must have been awful for the council to just give them 2 weeks notice. I do feel the the golf owner and they should have gave them more notice.
 
I don’t think we’re ever going to get the full story here, and none of us have seen the contract. But just because something’s legal, it doesn’t mean it’s ethical. I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that Merlin or the council have broken the law, but booting someone out of their business at two weeks’ notice doesn’t sound like a very kind thing to do.

Again, we don’t know what legal advice Graffiti Golf have had, but I can imagine that some people leasing a mini golf aren’t going to have access to a top legal team. How was the contract presented to them? When I leased a flat a few years ago the contract was 130 pages. Just because they signed the contract, it doesn’t mean they fully understood it. For example, they might have been told, “This is a standard contract. You need to sign is ASAP or we’ll lease it out to someone else”. Of course, they may have carefully explained the contract and pointed out all the disadvantages. It does sound a bit dodgy though.

Where you’ve got a clear imbalance in power, contracts often are unfair. It’s like telling a farmer to stop complaining about the super market, because they signed the contract. When a much bigger and wealthier party is making a contract with a much weaker party, it doesn’t seem right for the bigger party to take advantage.
 
I can see the graffiti golf owners side of things. Merlin ran the unit and dispensed with it as it clearly wasn't profitable enough for them. This company has taken over the unit and made a success of it only for the council to boot them out (surely they could've offered a new venue) the second Merlin come back with another idea.
 
It does seem a little short sighted to evict a presumably successful attraction from such a location. Whilst I’m sure Merlin may well install a successful replacement, you’d have hoped that an alternative location could have been found. It seems like Merlin are certainly flavour of the month with the Council.
 
venny said:
It does seem a little short sighted to evict a presumably successful attraction from such a location. Whilst I’m sure Merlin may well install a successful replacement, you’d have hoped that an alternative location could have been found. It seems like Merlin are certainly flavour of the month with the Council.
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Merlin probably do provide lots of money and tourism for the council. They rent building owned by the council and lots of the big landmarks including the tower. They're also probably a big employer for the town directly and indirectly and they have to keep on the good side of them, particularly as Merlin are a massive company.
 
I don't have a great deal of sympathy for Graffiti Golf. Their "investment" in the site is whatever the neon paint and lighting cost, the golf course is what Merlin happened to leave behind.

It's possible they were on an easy in/easy out arrangement whereby after a set period either party could terminate with a pre-defined period of notice. These types of arrangement are particularly common with seasonal retail outlets where units are more or less ready for a vendor to come in with a couple of vans and fill the place up with stock (think crappy Christmas or Halloween seasonal shops in old Woollies or whatever).

The council will not have breached the terms of their lease, I am quite sure of that. If the leasee didn't want to be in a position where his landlord could evict them with such short notice, its up to them to agree something better. Good luck finding an alternative venue with a ready-to-go golf course, tho.
 
Skyscraper said:
How do you know? ;)
No-one knows at the moment, I just said what I personally think it could be from that description.
We'll find out what it actually is next year. :)
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The people involved with it know. ;)
 
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