CBeebies Land

[Tarin Maria]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I have mixed opinions on this, mostly because Merlin have done this kind of thing before. First teaming with Lionsgate for Saw: The Ride and maze, then FrightNights this year, and Madagascar. Personally, I know that a lot of the shows on Cbeebies are popular in many other countries, and it will appeal to many parents with young children. However, we have seen Merlin flop with this before. Saw: The Maze was deeply unpopular when it was open all year round, and FrightNights this year was a disappointment to horror fans. Madagascar is popular with children, but all they really did was put in a stage, it could have used a new ride. If they put in a new ride/lots of new activities for young'ns, completely retheme the area and advertise well, it could work.

 

[Thomas]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I like the brand and I think it will be fairly lucrative for the park, I only have a couple of worries:

First off is the BBC license issue. We all pay a TV license to the BBC, which we hope goes towards programming and all the goodness of the BBC. I understand that this venture is with BBC Worldwide, but I just have worries that some people and the media won't distinguish this and there will be a merkiness about the finance surrounding the project.

I think the park desperately needs some new flat rides just to absorb young visitors. You only need to look at the success of Thomas Land and Nickelodeon Land to see how new rides have helped the park. Drayton Manor are still milking Thomas Land with a new Monorail ride for god's sake!

I'm not too keen on any area of the park called 'Land' I'm not sure what you'd call it otherwise but it just seems a tad Twinlakes/Wicksteed Park rather than UK's Number One theme park.

Finally I'm worried about which characters will actually be there! I'd love to see Postman Pat, but if as discussed this one brand has licensing issues then surely the rest will as well?

But it is nice to see something new for 2014, other than as I imagined: THE SMILER REVERSED: Brave it backwards!

 

[Benzin]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Would imagine they'd do their best to get Shaun the Sheep involved somehow, if only to save money on not having to retheme the Farm/keep it how it is because it's well themed...

Postman Pat as the Tractor ride retheme would be quite good actually...

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I think whatever the Beeb/Towers want to happen in this will probably happen. This is a huge opportunity for Towers to pull in visitors and a big one for the BBC to get some free advertising and huge amounts of merchandise sales. Towers want to keep increasing visitor numbers and the BBC are looking towards the BBC Worldwide profits more and more these days as the licence fee gets squeezed further.

Basically I think that if the pair want a brand to appear, it will. The opportunities for both companies outweigh the issues over rights etc


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[Andrew]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

CBeebies Land now has a Twitter account too. I expect that it would work in a similar way to that of the Phalanx account which provided updates on the area and interacted with guests.

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Basically I think that if the pair want a brand to appear, it will. The opportunities for both companies outweigh the issues over rights etc

I really want to agree with you, but Merlin's reputation of doing everything on the cheap (even to the detriment to a park) tells me otherwise. Were Merlin not the Scrooge McDuck of the theme park industry, I'd say that yes, no IP should be an issue.

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Basically I think that if the pair want a brand to appear, it will. The opportunities for both companies outweigh the issues over rights etc

I really want to agree with you, but Merlin's reputation of doing everything on the cheap (even to the detriment to a park) tells me otherwise. Were Merlin not the Scrooge McDuck of the theme park industry, I'd say that yes, no IP should be an issue.

Scrooge McDuck made me smile...

I'm genuinely interested with this though. I think that Merlin will be under lots of pressure to make this work. They've done IPs before but nothing to the extent of a whole themed area yet and the BBC won't want their brand cheapened by half-assed work. Of course it could yet be terrible but I really think they will pull their fingers out over this one and we will hopefully see something really fun for the little ones.


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[James]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

The BBC will not allow a cheap job of this. No way. This is bound to be a high quality development with superb theming. With a partnership as important as this both sides will want to make sure it's unique and stands out from the crowd.

 

[ImUrNemeis]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

This is what I feared would happen! CBeebies Land

Merlin, could have gone for an origional theme, rather than trying to fit in with the gerenal theme of IP lands.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I can tell this is going to be a poor investment.

And I hate, the logo! It looks cheep and nasty!

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

If they go with the CBBC IP's which fit with a farmyard theme such as Postman Pat and Shaun the Sheep and provided they don't plaster everything with logo's, then it could work.

It remains to be seen.

 

[TheMan]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

If they go with the CBBC IP's which fit with a farmyard theme such as Postman Pat and Shaun the Sheep and provided they don't plaster everything with logo's, then it could work.

It remains to be seen.

Shaun is not a CBBC IP. I haven't read through this topic but I would be massively surprised if Aardman allow Shaun to feature.

If he does, I would imagine it will be highly scrutinised.

However, as a family based attraction idea (I really need to catch up with this topic had no idea!) I think it is an exceptional one. May not be to my taste, but it allows great flexibility and could be excellent for families as a whole.

Quite looking forward to seeing what they do with this myself. Could have been worse (and better of course).

 

[AstroDan]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

As much as we all love unique and custom themes at Alton Towers, the way the competition has gone recently with Blackpool, Drayton Manor and others using high profile IP's, I believe this is the right choice.

The BBC is a quality brand to be working alongside.

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[Rose Of Dawn]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

This is what I feared would happen! CBeebies Land

Merlin, could have gone for an origional theme, rather than trying to fit in with the gerenal theme of IP lands.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I can tell this is going to be a poor investment.

And I hate, the logo! It looks cheep and nasty!

I dont see whats wrong with having an IP. If done right, an attraction based off an IP can be fantastic. Just look at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! But even closer to home, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor is an example of one done well.

Also, remember that kids, even more so than the general public, love IPs. They like to watch the shows, buy the toys and read the books. Using an IP like CBeebees has infinite more appeal than an in-house brand.

Another thing - personally I love the logo. Those squidgey things look cute! Also, one is sitting in a car that looks like the shape of Squirrel Nutty's cars. Quite a nice touch

 

[Rob]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

This is what I feared would happen! CBeebies Land

Merlin, could have gone for an origional theme, rather than trying to fit in with the gerenal theme of IP lands.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I can tell this is going to be a poor investment.

And I hate, the logo! It looks cheep and nasty!

We always knew this was going to be an IP. I am not a massive fan of IPs but you have to concede that Merlin/Towers had next to no choice. They are having to compete with Drayton, Blackpool and to an extent Paulton's Park who have all created very successful kids areas based around IPs. Kids will love going to an area based on what they watch on TV.

To put it simply, an originally themed land would not have the same impact as an IP based area. Even Europa are using an IP for their big new family attraction next year.

 

[Sam]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

In acknowledgement of the licence fee paying roots of the CBeebies channel, the development includes a public service remit that will "create experiences that inspire children with bright ideas, provide hands-on learning experiences and encourage pre-schoolers to explore and understand more about themselves".

How can you seriously have a public service remit when the entrance price is £45?

Anyway, this looks great. The best thing about it of course is that a substantial portion of Merlin's profits will be flowing back into the public sector - the BBC, to create better services for all of us.

 

[ImUrNemeis]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

This is what I feared would happen! CBeebies Land

Merlin, could have gone for an origional theme, rather than trying to fit in with the gerenal theme of IP lands.

Sorry to sound pessimistic, but I can tell this is going to be a poor investment.

And I hate, the logo! It looks cheep and nasty!

I dont see whats wrong with having an IP. If done right, an attraction based off an IP can be fantastic. Just look at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! But even closer to home, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor is an example of one done well.

Also, remember that kids, even more so than the general public, love IPs. They like to watch the shows, buy the toys and read the books. Using an IP like CBeebees has infinite more appeal than an in-house brand.

Another thing - personally I love the logo. Those squidgey things look cute! Also, one is sitting in a car that looks like the shape of Squirrel Nutty's cars. Quite a nice touch

Fair enough, that’s your opintion. But the park already has three IP attractions. Charile, Ice Age and Sonic Spinball do we need anymore?

Universal have done an awesome job with IPs, but this is not Universal. This is Merlin we are talking about and based on there track record, they like to cut coners.

I stand by that the park should have gotten an original theme. I can see it doing better in the long term.

 

[Ted]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Fair enough, that’s your opintion. But the park already has three IP attractions. Charile, Ice Age and Sonic Spinball do we need anymore?

Merlin's contract with Sega for Sonic Spinball runs out this year. So it'll most likely get a retheme as well for next year.

 

[TheMan]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Basically I think that if the pair want a brand to appear, it will. The opportunities for both companies outweigh the issues over rights etc

Disagree entirely with this. The IP holder will decide whether they want it there or not. Being a small part of a small part of a small development & working out profit shares and image protection with a company like Merlin?

Shaun the Sheep is a huge brand for example (I only use it as it is the one I know most about). It is Aardman's most successful brand by a long chalk. The only thing that makes me wonder about it appearing is because of the BBC relationship to its success. They were far more in control of the W&G ride for example than they would with this.

I think of all the BBC IP tie ins CBeebies wise, this will be the most complex to deal with.

Personally, if I was Nick Park, I would not want Merlin anywhere near it quite honestly. Look at the utter crap they produced with Charlie.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Personally, I'm not a big fan of IP themes. Ok I would be fine if an entire theme park was themed to various IP (Universal and IoA etc.) but not as an individual section of the park alone. Even EP does this with their new Arthur ride

Still, knowing Merlin's track record when it comes to making new themed areas, it would've been likely that it would've been a post apocalyptic themed area for kids, so I can't blame them for trying an IP instead. Still, if it is successful for them and that they actually make this look good in the end, I would be surprised.

But until, I'm not so interested in this. :/

 

[pluk]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I do hope they've gone and had a good look around Peppa Pig world, it really is outstanding for what they are trying to achieve there. Really immersive, coherent and detailed for the little ones, I don't know if they can achieve anything that consistent with a mish mash of various IPs under the larger BBC one.