CBeebies Land

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I don't understand why this retheme has any less substance. In the old one you sat in a giant acorn with a squirrel on the back - a squirrel based upon a then very recognisable character.

Because it's the same attraction but with bright paint slapped on it?

Yes. Exactly. So why does it suddenly have *less* substance and depth?

I never said anything about 'substance' or 'depth'. It's a ride/area at a theme park for goodness sake.

However like dark forest, cloud cuckoo land etc it's another case of lazily modifying existing theming rather than bothering to create a proper new concept. More evidence that creativity and/or budgets are very stretched these days.

There is no quality or craftsmanship in applying a coat of paint.

 

[BigAl]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Why is it that every time someone on here raises something about an older attraction possibly being better in some way than what replaced it, more or less everyone starts posting about rose tinted spectacles? What if it... isn't? What's wrong with wanting characters with... character? :S

Because 'Squirrel Nutty' never really had any character? I mean, it was hardly an amazing theme. It didn't have a plot behind it, or anything unique, as far as I could tell. It was just loosely themed around squirrels. This re-work will probably bring in a bit more depth, imagination and 'character' to the ride, as well as give it a much-needed refurbishment.

The theme made sense though. You don't require much of an imagination to know that the squirrels had more personality than yellow, featureless blobs which have no show, no tale behind them.

It made sense to have a ride similar in theme to a show elsewhere in the area. It made sense that a squirrel was the one carrying you along through the tops of the trees and old quaint buildings which were probably some of the best pieces of work that the park has ever done, hence why they've saved them rather than demolish them.

All they're doing for this extensive retheme is repaint the old building, replace the rooftops with gaping holes in them because they couldn't be bothered before, give the ride cars a repaint and a blob to sit on them and some new signage.


I fail to see how these featureless blobs with nothing behind them for people to connect with will be better than this:

It wasn't the most in-depth theme, but does that mean taking what little it had away from it is a good thing? Replacing the roofs but removing the faces from the trees is just one example of one step forward, two steps backwards.

Why not use a proper IP for the retheme? It's not as if they're short on choice!


Finally, for anyone that can't remember what the new cars will look like:

Nothing.

 

[thefatone]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Well this has been an interesting couple of pages.

Somehow, some people have managed to personalise an incredibly boring squirrel going through an incredibly boring journey around some area.. and thinking that an incredibly boring blob going through an incredibly boring journey around some area will be worse.

They're the same. They connect with the appropriate childhoods that towers appeals to of these eras. Children aren't interested in Peter Rabbit anymore or the slight supposed connection to a squirrel pushing a hilarious acorn. Instead they're very interested in the blobs pratting around on tv, and pushing a hilarious colourful carriage will be good for them.

Unsure where this argument of creativity and stuff has come from tbf. Why aren't we arguing Postman Pat has no character because they've lifted it straight from tv? Or is this because we can connect to our childhoods here?

 

[jon81uk]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

The theme made sense when they had Peter Rabbit on Ice, as this was a Storybook coming to life and therefore Storybook Land made sense. Without the Ice Show, Storybook Land only had Squirrel Nutty and didn't make a lot of sense.

If you are retheming an area you need to do the whole area and Get Set Go! Makes sense for this ride, you can see the whole area and decide what to do next (as the promo text says!).

I made the same point to someone somewhere about the Detonator retheme at Thorpe Park, it was an explosion theme to match with Pirates 4D. With the 4D show moving to Angry Birds it makes sense for the surrounding area to move to Angry Birds as half of one theme and half of another is silly.

 

[Benzin]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

CBeebies Land has more character than that bloody Postman Pat Movie that's for certain...

 

[James]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Just by doing a quick Google search you can find that the Squirrel Nutty retheme does have more substance to it than it seems. Or at least its theme is just as important as Nutty's.

Just taking out what the CBeebies website says about the attraction:

The Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure is a great place for families to begin their day at CBeebies Land. Wake up the sleeping bugs in the CBeebies bedroom and Get Set Go on this fun ride offering plenty of imaginative play. Travel high through the tree tops in your own vehicle and take in a tip-top view of CBeebies Land.

"Get, Set, Go" is the morning programming on CBeebies with a host of several shows. This attraction is the first thing you see, the ride that starts your day off (or your adventure off, rather).

The bugs are quite an iconic part of CBeebies and CBBC so in a way they are the mascots that give you a tour of the area as you ride. The bugs have been around since 2003 (or 2004) so it's not like they are new and exclusive to the brand. They will have been embedded into the minds of children these days.

If anything this retheme has far more going for it than Squirrel Nutty (and this is coming from someone who grew up with the 90s magic and loved Squirrel Nutty).

---

The only concerns I really have is that this is turning to be another Merlin paint-job with limited pieces of theming. Hopefully there is more to come although again this seems like every other Merlin retheme. They are the same buildings in the same shapes and are still easily identifiable from their previous incarnations. The only thing that makes them "unique" from the previous themes is the new paint and signs.

It's not a bad thing although the UK industry seems to be stuck with passing off vinyl's and paint as a 'retheme'. Still a while to go until this area opens though so the 'theming' could get better!

 

[Dave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Based on the weekend and what could be seen quite a bit of extra theming has been added to the old nutty buildings including new rounded windows. There seems to be more theming being added on top of the base primary colours on all the buildings and Postman Pat area looks really good.

I was a bit sceptical about CBeebies but seing it in the flesh has improved my opinion some what. My only worry now is that I don't think the area is going to have enough capacity to meet demand.

 

[BigAl]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Unsure where this argument of creativity and stuff has come from tbf. Why aren't we arguing Postman Pat has no character because they've lifted it straight from tv? Or is this because we can connect to our childhoods here?

Postman Pat does have more character because that has entire world to draw stories, personalities, architecture, objects and whatnot from. The blobs have what, exactly?

Constantly bringing Pat up, as though everyone loves it because it's an older IP, actually makes no difference to whether the end attraction will be good or not. Postman Pat could just as easily be as cheap-looking as some of the other aspects we've seen so far. You can make the same point about CatF. Generations of children have grown up with the story and the movies, but that didn't stop the ride being utterly dire. People ought to defend what's good in their minds, and make points about what they don't, and not be afraid about saying something negative, just because they're a "fan" of the place, or part of it.


Anyway, as I already said, if Squirrel Nutty was so devoid of anything that makes a ride an experience, why are you and others championing the Blobs if you also say it's not an improvement? Considering the park aren't actually forking any money out for new hardware, the least they could do is spend the money on dressing them up slightly more imaginatively.

Majority of this project could be great, but things like this are hardly eye-catching for what's supposedly one of Europe's biggest and most-visited parks.

 

[Novas]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Got to admit, I'm in my mid 20's and had never heard of squirrel nutkin before. I always assumed it was a ride in the trees... and squirrels live in trees... that was all the story / sense I ever needed!

 

[Josh]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I like the blobs, I'm actually quite tempted to buy one of the cuddly toy blobs they're selling in Towers Trading. They don't really need a story, they're just a mascot

 

[Dave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Don't think the theming looks that cheap, it's very "primary" but looks fairly decent.

 

[Johno]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdP3b_x6xyM#ws

The blobs do kind of have a bit of a story, yeah they're very generic and are meant to fit in with everything and be used as the brand's identity.

If the land had been devoid of them I'd be worried - they link with squirrel nutty perfectly as they're touring through all of the individual cbeebies programs.

I think they could go really well with the rebrand and have some TV's in the 'holes' in the tree, displaying the bugs up to no good etc.

It will look fine.

 

[Josh]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

If the land had been devoid of them I'd be worried - they link with squirrel nutty perfectly as they're touring through all of the individual cbeebies programs.

That's a good point actually, I've never thought of it that way before. They sort of do fit in quite well on that ride

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I don't have a problem with the blobs I think they are a good idea - I just think they have made it very distasteful now whereas before it blended in very nicely.

 

[Burbs]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I remember when CBBC used to have green CBeebies style blobs as their signature graphic if you like. My how times have changed!

 

[thefatone]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Green? It's when you used to have black octopus squirting ink on a yellow background. Now I'm showing my age (I'm sure some boring bastard can beat me here with whatever ident was before this).

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Green? It's when you used to have black octopus squirting ink on a yellow background. Now I'm showing my age (I'm sure some boring <censored> can beat me here with whatever ident was before this).

OMG I remember the old yellow and black branding - back when it first went to CBBC as opposed to 'Children's BBC'

The green bugs were good though - more suited to CBeebies though I think.

 

[Dave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I remember Gordon the Goafer and Phillip Scoffield in the broom cupboard...

... And Children's BBC got cut short when snooker was on!

 

[Rob]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Tatenhill Aviation have posted this new photo of CBeebies Land to their Facebook page:

 

[Danny]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Wow, that's a lot of green in the show area. It's nice to see that they've put down new turf around Riverbank as well, I actually expected that landscape to be left how it was.