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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

dave___ said:
I hope it doesn't end up as a half-effort coaster like Mandrill Mayhem with a track too short to have at least 2 trains on it at the same time.
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Whether the track is too short for two trains is immaterial for a Boomerang coaster. You physically couldn't have more than one train on the track, without having a The Smiler 2.0 situation on your hands.
 
Ash said:
Considering Merlin’s chronic underinvestment in Chessington for years. This seems like on extreme to the other, and for arguably the largest IP they’ve worked with outside LEGO to show up at their 4th most popular UK theme park just screams strange.
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If we take that graph to be correct, Chessington is currently the 2nd most popular Merlin theme park. If Jumanji alone has been enough to put it in that position for the first time in decades Minecraft could arguably be a real game changer.

Ash said:
I also think they’d have gotten a much bigger return on investment as it would make a larger splash at Alton.
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Would it though? What's that based on? A mainstream IP like that is always going to fare better near a city, particularly London.

Squiggs said:
It is simply not enough for a major new rollercoaster investment in 2024, let alone a new land with multiple attractions.
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I don't think we should get too bogged down with this alleged £20m figure. I appreciate i'm the one who raised it but we don't have a verification on the claim yet and as mentioned it does seem to contradict the Merlin quotation of an £85m investment.

I feel it's also worth pointing out that Hyperia was under £20m (though of course some will argue that's only half a rollercoaster).

I'd be very surprised if Gold Rush at Drayton was anywhere near that amount and that's probably the closest comparison to what we could be getting.
 
Bowser said:
If we take that graph to be correct, Chessington is currently the 2nd most popular Merlin theme park. If Jumanji alone has been enough to put it in that position for the first time in decades Minecraft could arguably be a real game changer.



Would it though? What's that based on? A mainstream IP like that is always going to fare better near a city, particularly London.



I don't think we should get too bogged down with this alleged £20m figure. I appreciate i'm the one who raised it but we don't have a verification on the claim yet and as mentioned it does seem to contradict the Merlin quotation of an £85m investment.

I feel it's also worth pointing out that Hyperia was under £20m (though of course some will argue that's only half a rollercoaster).

I'd be very surprised if Gold Rush at Drayton was anywhere near that amount and that's probably the closest comparison to what we could be getting.
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I definitely think the central location and universal target market is the primary factors in why Chessington was chosen.

Minecraft is an internationally renowned brand and one of the biggest video game franchises which it has sold over 350 million copies.

Mario, Call of Duty, Tetris, Pokémon, Grand Theft Auto are above Minecraft in sales.

It's audience is not just families but a wider range of people including gamers which it'd be smart to pick a near London theme park for this area.

With Alton Towers, it wouldn't be smart to put it in a park in a less connected area without investment in infrastructure both on park, at the resort and with transportation most of all (especially for international tourists which Minecraft would attract).

The area they've chosen has expansion potential with the chance they could go into Land of the Tiger/Tomb Blaster in the future. It was dismissed this time primarily due to the logistics of moving the tigers and the loss of an existing attraction that they couldn't move elsewhere compared to the other attractions which are getting stored ready for moves elsewhere. It doesn't necessarily mean it'll get reused imminently, according to Coasterpedia, Peeking Heights was put in storage - has this found a home or could it be reinstated elsewhere at some point? It's been a while so can imagine it's got moved on by now.

I'd be surprised if £20m covers the entire area with the nature of the IP however hope to be pleasantly surprised.
 
Everything tells me that this is in part Horizon - be it the IP (it was surveyed for Towers) or the ride hardware plus the little comments from people including all the RITA nonsense when clearly ChessIngton can't have a big coaster like that means the inclination by Buzz and others is that Chessington have got Alton Towers Intamin Rollercoaster. If this gets confirmed as an Intamin (great if it is) then that may as well all but confirm it. I just hope that if we are still getting a version of Horizon we get the latest hardware over Chessingtons version
 
Regarding the £20million figure that is being discussed.

It is difficult to unpick - but I think it is worth setting the context of that number and where it has come from. It is stated in the 'economic benefits statement' specifically under the section outlining the level of investment in the construction phase of the new land, and also references the amount of construction jobs the project will support.

This does not state the total budget allocated by Merlin to this project is £20million. I suspect this to be much higher - the design, consultation, planning, IP licencing and marketing costs are likely to be in addition to this stated number.

I would suggest exercising caution when comparing the £20 million construction budget here to the 'overall investment' figures that have been quoted as part of the marketing blurb when new attractions have been opened in the past such as Air at £12million, CBeebies Land at £8million. The Smiler £18million etc etc - as it is not comparing like with like. Those figures (as far as I understand) are the TOTAL cost and are of course maximised to 'show off' how much has been spent when opening a new attraction.

The closest comparable figure we have so far for the Minecracft investment is £80million across the two UK and US attractions.

chessington.JPG
 
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AT86 said:
I suspect this to be much higher - the design, consultation, planning, IP licencing and marketing costs are likely to be in addition to this stated number.
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AT86 said:
The closest comparable figure we have so far for the Minecracft investment is £80million across the two UK and US attractions.
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And the IP rights for the best selling video game of all time certainly won't come cheap.
 
AT86 said:
chessington.JPG
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I find it interesting how Chessington in recent years always describe their supporting rides as "Children's Rides" on planning regardless of whether they actually are children's rides, family or thrill rides.

They did it for Mamba Strike and Ostrich Stampede which was a bit misleading with the height restrictions. They also did it for Barrel Bailout and Trawler Trouble which is a bit more accurate. Family Rides would be the more appropriate terminology for these planning documents I'd say.

I can imagine one day, they'd do that for a Zamperla Discovery like Cyclonator and there'd be a debate about it on enthusiast forums, the press and with the general public including Merlin Pass Holders.
 
owenstreet7 said:
I can imagine one day, they'd do that for a Zamperla Discovery like Cyclonator and there'd be a debate about it on enthusiast forums, the press and with the general public including Merlin Pass Holders.
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I think you're vastly overestimating how much the casual visitor, or press, cares about how Merlin describe a ride in planning documents to the local authority.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I think you're vastly overestimating how much the casual visitor, or press, cares about how Merlin describe a ride in planning documents to the local authority.
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For most casual visitors (including Merlin Passholders who aren't necessarily practicing enthusiasts but going for days out), they won't bat an eyelid.

For a local, if they did that for something on the scale of Cyclonator - they may have a thing to say about that considering the noise that it would generate compared to Barrel Bail Out. The park had issues with noise coming from Vampire in the past.

It really would depend on what type of ride they're planning on installing.

In the context of PR&R, it's indoors and almost certainly to be some sort of family ride. It was shown to be something similar to Teacups in the pre-application however possibly a placeholder and it'd be any sort of flat ride they could fit indoors.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I think you're vastly overestimating how much the casual visitor, or press, cares about how Merlin describe a ride in planning documents to the local authority.
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Although on the whole I agree, I think the change in visitor profile through the “passification” of Merlin has changed the visitor quite a bit
 
I never believe the estimated figures they put out into the press I always feel they over estimate to sound more impressive.

With Merlin in the fire line recently in the press they have swiftly turned it around and done exactly what they are very got at?


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