Chessington World of Adventures Resort

[Glen_Belt_77]

 

[Dave]

Chessington is getting most investments because its most at threat from Universal to overlaps similar family market

No it isn’t, Universal is too far away for that, Merlin will be planning for it but the current capex installations are not from that strategy. If it was a reflex to universal you would see similar movement with Thorpe, Lego and Towers.

Paultons is tugging at Chessingtons target demographic, current installations are more aimed at their threat.

 

[Hid]

No it isn’t, Universal is too far away for that, Merlin will be planning for it but the current capex installations are not from that strategy. If it was a reflex to universal you would see similar movement with Thorpe, Lego and Towers.

Paultons is tugging at Chessingtons target demographic, current installations are more aimed at their threat.

Also Chessington are having to move animals away from the rides due to new legislation coming in so they have to figure out what to put in sections where Land of the Tiger are and nearby animal enclosures

 

[owenstreet7]

No it isn’t, Universal is too far away for that, Merlin will be planning for it but the current capex installations are not from that strategy. If it was a reflex to universal you would see similar movement with Thorpe, Lego and Towers.

Paultons is tugging at Chessingtons target demographic, current installations are more aimed at their threat.

I'd say Chessington is because there is more diversity in the family theme park market and that Paultons Park and Drayton Manor both offer similar things. In addition, there's also activities that are growing such as the trampoline parks etc.

I'd say Alton Towers is in a similar boat but they cater just as much for thrills as they do families so are able to weather the storm easier. I think they'd be more under threat from Universal or if Paultons eventually make that headliner coaster step (like Toverland did for Fenix and Plopsa did for RTH).

For thrills, I think there definitely needs to be a response to the potential threat of Universal and even Paultons for the likes of Towers and Thorpe.

 

[Glen_Belt_77]

Go Ape lost money. It was closed. Treetop Quest lost money. It was closed. Legoland Golf is losing **** loads of money - it will close. 2nd gates don't always last forever as people's spending habits change. Good luck to any of the parks predicting the future but what they all need is some new attractions to keep the parks attractive and competitive

 

[Matt N]

I think Chessington could have a rather painful transitional phase ahead of them in trying to find an identity for themselves away from animals.

It is becoming abundantly clear that large animals are not going to be a part of Chessington’s future in the long term. And for Chessington, perhaps more so than it would for any other theme park/zoo hybrid in Britain, that represents an enormous upheaval of what they fundamentally are.

If, say, Drayton Manor or Paultons Park removed their animals, it would probably not be an overly big deal to them. And if, say, West Midlands Safari Park, Folly Farm or any of the multitude of zoos with small kiddie coasters and funfairs across the country removed their rides, it would probably not be an overly big deal to them.

But Chessington’s issue is that they’ve tried to be a bit of a jack of all trades, not really picking a lane in terms of which side they want to emphasise more, particularly since Merlin took over. They’ve built up the theme park, but many of the additions and actions throughout the 2010s have had some degree of hefty animal-based component to them. Look at ZUFARI. Look at Land of the Tiger. Look at the entire accommodation offering. Look at their events. Heck, look at their taglines and marketing communications. The animals are very, very baked into Chessington’s identity alongside the rides, so losing them will be an utterly seismic shift like the park has never seen before. The park started as a zoo back in the 1930s, so losing the very thing that ultimately led to the current theme park will be a big, big transition for them that definitely won’t be easy.

Fundamentally, we need to ask ourselves; without the animals, what is Chessington? What niche do they fill within the UK theme park market, particularly in the increasingly saturated strand of it that is London and the South East? I think the IPs and recent investment might be an attempt to try and find the answer to that question and give the park a new niche, as with the heavy animal emphasis persisting as recently as the last few years, the park will need to do a fair amount of soul searching to try and distance themselves from the big animals and carve out a new identity. It’s a bit like SeaWorld and their efforts to try and gradually distance themselves from killer whales after having them as a main draw for decades, albeit the big animals at Chessington aren’t quite as much of a taboo main draw.

 

[Glen_Belt_77]

Chessington have Zoo status until 2031 and to benefit from the tax variants and other 'perks' they need to satisfy the council and other agencies that they are a 'zoo' and that welfare etc is up to modern standards. Like a 4 star hotel it needs to provide certain things to get the rating... Kettle, iron, trouser press etc. The Zoo is no different, they can't just push a few ferrets forward and say how's that? They'll no doubt remove some big animals but many will remain they just need to find the space for them

 

[Bowser]

Fundamentally, we need to ask ourselves; without the animals, what is Chessington?

I don't think it exactly answers the question in terms of narrative but adding the mooted water park would certainly differentiate them from the other theme parks in the south of the country.

 

[Hid]

I think Chessington could have a rather painful transitional phase ahead of them in trying to find an identity for themselves away from animals.

It is becoming abundantly clear that large animals are not going to be a part of Chessington’s future in the long term. And for Chessington, perhaps more so than it would for any other theme park/zoo hybrid in Britain, that represents an enormous upheaval of what they fundamentally are.

If, say, Drayton Manor or Paultons Park removed their animals, it would probably not be an overly big deal to them. And if, say, West Midlands Safari Park, Folly Farm or any of the multitude of zoos with small kiddie coasters and funfairs across the country removed their rides, it would probably not be an overly big deal to them.

But Chessington’s issue is that they’ve tried to be a bit of a jack of all trades, not really picking a lane in terms of which side they want to emphasise more, particularly since Merlin took over. They’ve built up the theme park, but many of the additions and actions throughout the 2010s have had some degree of hefty animal-based component to them. Look at ZUFARI. Look at Land of the Tiger. Look at the entire accommodation offering. Look at their events. Heck, look at their taglines and marketing communications. The animals are very, very baked into Chessington’s identity alongside the rides, so losing them will be an utterly seismic shift like the park has never seen before. The park started as a zoo back in the 1930s, so losing the very thing that ultimately led to the current theme park will be a big, big transition for them that definitely won’t be easy.

Fundamentally, we need to ask ourselves; without the animals, what is Chessington? What niche do they fill within the UK theme park market, particularly in the increasingly saturated strand of it that is London and the South East? I think the IPs and recent investment might be an attempt to try and find the answer to that question and give the park a new niche, as with the heavy animal emphasis persisting as recently as the last few years, the park will need to do a fair amount of soul searching to try and distance themselves from the big animals and carve out a new identity. It’s a bit like SeaWorld and their efforts to try and gradually distance themselves from killer whales after having them as a main draw for decades, albeit the big animals at Chessington aren’t quite as much of a taboo main draw.

These Chessington IPs they are getting will be very popular. And I assume we will see a combination of both IP and Non IP based rides. Replacing the animals next to the rides.

 

[MrTowers]

The choice of IP's are great. Both are hugely popular and pretty much guarantee high visitor numbers for the next few seasons. This will probably change the perception of Chessington away from the animals without the general public even noticing, call it a brand refresh something similar to how Paultons rode the success of Peppa Pig world. My only worry with chessington is how well they will execute the IP's. Paw Patrol will consist of 4 rides, Minecraft will consist of 3 rides. Compare that with Peppa Pig world at 9 rides and Thomas Land at 18 rides they look short especially if guests are visiting solely based on the IP. If the quality of the rides were up to Disney / Universal standards the lack of ride numbers wouldn't be of concern but in this case the rides look pretty standard just plastered with theming. It might work but I do think there might be some disappointment seeing an advert for Paw Patrol world and finding 4 poor rides with 1hr+ queues for them.