CBeebies Land

[Dave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I'm very pro this IP, obviously like all geeks i prefer origional themes but Childrens IP's are a standard now and Towers are behind on that front.

As for the IP, my biggest fear has always been some plasticy American IP like Shrek that would just not fit into that environment. This is British and can adapt easily enough.

And as for the May opening i think we may see Towers do this more. Smiler proved (unintentionally) that opening mid season does not dramatically reduce the income accross the season. It also gives them more time in spring to catch-up on any delays that are caused by foul weather in the winter.

 

[Wilsy]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I'm sure another Smiler push will happen at the start of the year to keep things ticking over anyway, remind the thrill seekers that even though its only a new kids area this year, Alton Towers still has a huge rollercoaster for them to ride.

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

For those people talking about Merlin's inability to theme things... what about Mutiny Bay? I know Merlin haven't done the greatest job with some areas of the park but their first attempt was their best. If the same care and dedication is put in for CBeebies land then it will be fine!


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[CoasterCrazyChris]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I just hope the end result has a naturalistic feel about it and is not plastered with CBBC/Cbeebies logos.

 

[SWSmiler]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I'm predicting that Riverbank Eye Spy may be rethemed into an "In the Night Garden" ride.
Here's currently what I predict the ride will be like.

The boats will be rethemed to look like Igglepiggle's boat shown in the intro of the show.

(Igglepiggle's boat)

All the farm animal props in the ride will be replaced by characters from In the Night Garden, like Upsy Daisy and Makka Pappa. And even some of the vehicles seen like the Ninky Nonk and the Pinky Ponk.

(The main characters from the show)

(The Ninky Nonk)

The buttons on the boats would play the sound effects the characters make (Like how Makka Pakka repeats his name) and even the sound effects of the vehicles. The narrator from the show will probally narrate the ride, like the fly (I'm probally wrong, I haven't looked at the thing good enough) narrating the ride in "Riverbank Eye Spy".

At the end of the ride, like what happens in every episode, the narrator will then say "Who's not in bed". The Igglepiggle button on the boat may possibly turn red to show to the youngsters who definaly isn't in bed.

After that, the ride will stop back at the station, for the next group of people.

I'm not sure about any of the other rides in Old MacDonald's Farm, but I'm just guessing about this one. I may be wrong, but again, I'm just predicting.

What do you think?

 

[Harv]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

To be honest, the boat idea does seem pretty logical.

I'm struggling to think of a squirrel character on CBeebies, or does the extension not reach into Storybook land?

I believe that the Berry Bish Bash will become "Pat's Sorting Office", themed around Postman Pat.

 

[Johno]

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.

I think public service remit is a bit strong. BBC Worldwide have to maintain the integrity of the brands, and one of those parts of the brand is to do with 'learning'.

It's the same thing that stops Alton introducing new characters to Bob the Builder rides etc. or having storylines of 'Bob and the broken sewer' etc.

 

[alee298]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Urgh, this has only happened because children nowadays are glued to the box. It is a good money making decision for Merlin as more children will pester, scream and throw tantrums to go there. I know from having 3 younger sisters who love Nickelodeon and they wanted to go to PPB just for Nick land. We hate it as we know merlin will cover it in tacky rubbish and make it look garish and ugly. The children will love it. Sometimes we have to look at things in the eyes of someone not themepark obsessed! But I am not going anywhere near it because small children are incredibly irritating.

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

^ I wouldn't say this is universally hated nor would I say that we 'know' it'll be garish and crap.

I have a lot of faith in the BBC and Merlin to pull together a really decent kids area here.


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[Harv]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Octonauts have made several appearances at Sea Life Centres throughout the Summer holidays and Timmy Time quiz trails appeared at Scarborough's, maybe at other ones too? Wouldn't surprise me if the Octonaut costumes made an appearance at Scarefest as roaming publicity.

 

[aru]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Out of all of kids brands they could have secured as an IP, CBeebies is perhaps the most high quality in terms of its shows and remit. I can understand the pessimism about Merlin and how the finished product might turn out, but I am assuming the BBC have pretty high standards and won't want to see a very successful brand poorly represented.

I am very surprised that we don't have a brand new headline children's attraction this year, but I guess CBeebies is a stong enough brand to carry the area this year until a new attraction (perhaps a replacement for Beastie) arrives in the near future. I really do hope that in the meantime the rework of the current area is immersive enough to make it feel new. From what I understand the details in the planning application are very high level, so there will be much more added in the way of themeing. I hope.

 

[Scott]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

I am very surprised that we don't have a brand new headline children's attraction this year, but I guess CBeebies is a stong enough brand to carry the area this year until a new attraction (perhaps a replacement for Beastie) arrives in the near future.

The press release and article in the Guardian both appear to point towards this being a long-term partnership that can regularly be refreshed and updated. Therefore it would open the door to a multi-year investment in the area and could thus accommodate new attractions and further rethemes depending on the areas popularity and what shows are in favour on the channel too.


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[Dave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

To be honest, the boat idea does seem pretty logical.

I'm struggling to think of a squirrel character on CBeebies, or does the extension not reach into Storybook land?

I believe that the Berry Bish Bash will become "Pat's Sorting Office", themed around Postman Pat.

The shells on Squirrel Nutty are easy to change, they have a mould to replace them in studios, they can easily put new shells on so long as they are similar in dimension to the current ones.

 

[Harv]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

To be honest, the boat idea does seem pretty logical.

I'm struggling to think of a squirrel character on CBeebies, or does the extension not reach into Storybook land?

I believe that the Berry Bish Bash will become "Pat's Sorting Office", themed around Postman Pat.

The shells on Squirrel Nutty are easy to change, they have a mould to replace them in studios, they can easily put new shells on so long as they are similar in dimension to the current ones.

Is that true? Well then, that's intriguing! Am I the only one who'd be sad to see Squirrel Nutty go? If it was replaced, it'd have to be by something meaningful. It's an Alton classic, in my opinion.

 

[Croftybaby]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

Very dubious about this, it all seems very vague. When I first saw the logo I imagined the same old rides with those yellow blob stickers over it.
The other kids areas work well because they focus mainly on one programme, nickleodeon land works because nickelodeon's brands tend to last a lot longer than others such as Cbeebies.

The main problem will be staffing levels, they will need to run all these shows all the time and have lots of characters about otherwise people will feel ripped off, considering they can't even afford to staff half the food/tuc shops nowadays, it will be interesting to see how long they keep staffing levels up.
As for keeping the area up to date, hows Extraordinary Golf looking lately?

I am pleased however that my Postman Pat prediction seemed to be correct.

 

[BigDave]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

If BBC are involved, this will work! I worked in Tweenies theater and trust me, the BBC are very strict about how things look and how things are done. For example under no circumstances could we ever say THE Tweenies as that was seen to be wrong. So we couldn't say welcome to THE Tweenies show, it was always welcome to Tweenies, here in Cred Street or something similar. So yeah, I can see the BBC demanding this to be the best standard possible.

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[thefatone]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

As proven by Drayton Manor and Paultons Park, the kids will flock to this area even during offpeak. Staffing levels will be very easy to maintain.

Will be nice to see a good busy childrens area again though, as lovely as the farm is it's a ghost town majority of the time.

 

[pluk]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

To be honest, the boat idea does seem pretty logical.

I'm struggling to think of a squirrel character on CBeebies, or does the extension not reach into Storybook land?

I believe that the Berry Bish Bash will become "Pat's Sorting Office", themed around Postman Pat.

The shells on Squirrel Nutty are easy to change, they have a mould to replace them in studios, they can easily put new shells on so long as they are similar in dimension to the current ones.

I doubt it would happen, but what if this went both ways and the BBC commissioned a Nutty Squirrel series? Could work!

As for the existing attractions, there are two main ways they could do this I suppose:
-A program per attraction, ie riverbank becomes In the night Garden, Tractor becomes Postman Pat etc
-A selection of programs per ride, ie The boat, tractor and squirrel rides are as were, but travel through various disconnected scene of various CBBC programs.

The former would be much better, but the latter would be easier and cheaper to produce now and also to update as programs go in and out of fashion.

 

[MattyH]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

There is a squirrel character on Cbeebies, from the show the Iconicles, his name is skitter, this could become one ride.

 

[Andrew]

Re: 2014: CBeebies Land

There is a squirrel character on Cbeebies, from the show the Iconicles, his name is skitter, this could become one ride.

Squirrel Nutty could be rethemed as this if Storybook Land and Adventure Land are brought into this in a few years time. It wouldn't require any major changes for obvious reasons.