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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

I think IP’s are generally a lazy yet complicated move:
1) It costs money to acquire the licence.
2) The licence expires meaning a retheme is inevitable
3) I don’t believe IP’s bring in substantial long term customers.

These reason leave me scratching my head from wondering what the point is. It seems far more effort than it’s worth from my point of view. In house IP’s are always much more welcomed and I really don’t know why they don’t utilise them more at Merlin parks. Chessington is allowed a bit of leeway I suppose, as the animals have become the parks mascots it seem, much to my ire.
 
It's just makes the task of marketing the attraction easier; it's as simple as that.

They figure if the IP is popular, so will the new attraction. It's quite sad that the creativity has largely been taken out of the development of many attractions but I get why they do it.
 
IP-driven entertainment is not all evil by any means; I think the likes of Harry Potter at Universal, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor, and Peppa Pig World at Paultons, amongst others, have proven how brilliant it can be when utilised to good effect!

Rightly or wrongly, I think IP attractions do generally tend to be more popular than their originally-themed equivalents; would any of the lands I mentioned above been anywhere near as popular had they been crafted around in-house themes?

As much as I love a good original theme, and I am sad that they seem to be dying out to an extent, I think IPs are inevitably going to be the future of theme parks. People these days seem far more likely to want to experience a world they know from popular culture than they are to want to experience an original story, especially in the context of things like dark rides and kids’ areas.
 
You raise some good points, though I wish that you had warned me that the caveat of obtaining your wisdom is knowing that I don’t want to live anymore lol.
 
Thameslink Rail said:
I have worries about the capacity especially if Vampire gives up
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I have no idea why they felt a shuttle coaster would be the best option for this new area given that Vampire's on borrowed time.

The only reasons I can fathom is that the budget isn't sufficient enough for anything more substantial or that the planners won't allow it. Either way, I dread to think what it'll be like when Vampire croaks it.
 
MaxPower said:
I have no idea why they felt a shuttle coaster would be the best option for this new area given that Vampire's on borrowed time.

The only reasons I can fathom is that the budget isn't sufficient enough for anything more substantial or that the planners won't allow it. Either way, I dread to think what it'll be like when Vampire croaks it.
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Yes it is concerning. It has been my biggest worry through the whole project. If vampire gives up I believe they aren't allowed to build anything of that scale again am I correct? if so then they really need to keep it going until rattlesnake or dragons fury gives up so one of them can be replaced by something with a higher capacity.
 
Matt N said:
Rightly or wrongly, I think IP attractions do generally tend to be more popular than their originally-themed equivalents; would any of the lands I mentioned above been anywhere near as popular had they been crafted around in-house themes?
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The fact is, it's not really measurable.

Would Ireland at Europa-Park be/have been more popular if it were tied in to Hey Duggee, for example? Who knows. All I can say is, I am glad it isn't.

IPs started out like academies in the education sector. Here and there. Then, before you know it, it's nothing but.

IPs are cool to a degree, but 100% stifle creativity.
 
AstroDan said:
The fact is, it's not really measurable.

Would Ireland at Europa-Park be/have been more popular if it were tied in to Hey Duggee, for example? Who knows. All I can say is, I am glad it isn't.

IPs started out like academies in the education sector. Here and there. Then, before you know it, it's nothing but.

IPs are cool to a degree, but 100% stifle creativity.
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I 100% agree. Some IP's are good while some are unnecessary and just cause problems when the expire. Especially long term area's and rides. At Chessington rides have to last a long time as the planning constraints are so hard so giving this ride an IP is a strange decision. I'm not massively against it as I think it's a good IP that fits the park quite well but I suppose we will have to wait and see.
 
I think if the IP is British, it makes it slightly more palatable being in a UK park (I really don't mind Gruffalo, Thomas Land and David Walliams etc.).

Things like Saw, Walking Dead and Jumanji however just seem completely soulless to me and something you would expect from Movie Word or a Six Flags park.
 
AstroDan said:
The fact is, it's not really measurable.

Would Ireland at Europa-Park be/have been more popular if it were tied in to Hey Duggee, for example? Who knows. All I can say is, I am glad it isn't.

IPs started out like academies in the education sector. Here and there. Then, before you know it, it's nothing but.

IPs are cool to a degree, but 100% stifle creativity.
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I’d genuinely love a Hey Duggee land !
 
I guarantee you in 5 years time we'll be discussing how out of date the IP is and how silly it looks. Then, after another 5 years the license will expire and some cheap attempt will be made to cover the IP up with Vinyls and lashings of garish paint but no one will be fooled by it. It'll still quite clearly be a Jumanji land, just crappier with a new name.

History doesn't give us much confidence in most Merlin "rethemes". Dark Forest, Angry Birds Land, Walliams World, Spinball (complete with it's Dr Robotnik Vinyl still clearly visible on one of the bumpers in the middle of the helix near the end) - and the very worst offender - whatever the hell is going on with Transylvania these days. The clock is ticking much faster with a bought in temporary IP like this one and it's been ticking for half a decade already with Jumanji. Look how long a decent original IP can last (Bubble works was older when it closed than many people reading this forum), no need to put a sticking plaster over them after the vegetation of the new area has barely had a chance to grow in.

But IP aside, the biggest issue has to be the capacity. It's very alarming that Chessington are putting yet another woefully low capacity ride in. It's also concerning that they may be choosing B&M for it. Like the Swarm, it appears the budget is being eaten up by the fact they may have chosen to go with a premium manufacture so we'll only end up with half of one instead so they can afford it - it'll be like buying an Audi A1. Getting a unique B&M shuttle and slapping an "in the moment" IP on it for ease of marketing and a quick short term attendance boost seems a little too PLC Merlin to me. Like they haven't really learnt their lessons from past investments at all.
 
Matt.GC said:
Getting a unique B&M shuttle and slapping an "in the moment" IP on it for ease of marketing and a quick short term attendance boost seems a little too PLC Merlin to me. Like they haven't really learnt their lessons from past investments at all.
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I feel that the bolded is an intriguing quote that raises an interesting point for me.

From Merlin’s standpoint, were there ever “lessons to be learned” in the first place? Many of the investments you refer to were very successful, and also very well-liked by the public, so surely Merlin would be focused on that as opposed to on the attractions’ supposed shortcomings in the eyes of a microscopic proportion of the visitor base?

I know that many enthusiasts see shortcomings in these attractions, but if the majority of the parks’ captive visitor base are enjoying the attractions and they help the bottom line, then surely Merlin as a business would see little inclination to deviate from this formula?

In terms of comparisons with “PLC Merlin”, though; I don’t know what the turnaround time on this was, but given coasters often spend 4-5 years in development before opening, there’s a remote possibility that this could have been developed while Merlin was still public.

Personally, I’m just excited that Chessington is getting a coaster of any kind in the first place, not least a B&M! Given the standard of thematic finish on Merlin’s recent major investments (Wicker Man, Croc Drop et al), I’m also very optimistic for the quality of the theming; I really think we could be in for something special thematically, especially given that such a major, well-known IP is supposedly on board!

Yes, this ride is not what I would personally have gone for as Chessington’s next major coaster, but I think the fact that Chessington is getting an investment of this scale is something we should be very grateful for!
 
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Jb85 said:
Well I agree with that
Maybe CBeebies land
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I dare say that based on what I know about Hey Duggee (admittedly quite a limited amount based on relatives with young children who watch it), I reckon a HD dark ride with the Gangsta Granny ride system would have worked well, with each stop representing a different badge! (You do get “badges” on that show, don’t you? I haven’t watched it, and I haven’t watched CBeebies in many years, for that matter…)
 
Matt N said:
I feel that the bolded is an intriguing quote that raises an interesting point for me.

From Merlin’s standpoint, were there ever “lessons to be learned” in the first place? Many of the investments you refer to were very successful, and also very well-liked by the public, so surely Merlin would be focused on that as opposed to on the attractions’ supposed shortcomings in the eyes of a microscopic proportion of the visitor base?

I know that many enthusiasts see shortcomings in these attractions, but if the majority of the parks’ captive visitor base are enjoying the attractions and they help the bottom line, then surely Merlin as a business would see little inclination to deviate from this formula?
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Have they been successful long term or short term? Anything new with a current popular IP is going to gain instant interest.
 
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