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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

Hid said:
So you give Chessingron a cold shoulder for trying to do something different it's World of Adventures different worlds which still fits with IP a different world.

It's not just Chessington that uses IPs a lot of other parks do to. Mexicana in Chessington the past few years has been quiet plus with only 2 attractions not a whole lot to do down there
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If we are going to be pedantic, Chessington is a World of Adventures. World, singular. You cannot have multiple worlds within a world, but you can have multiple lands.

If you are suggesting that Paw Patrol is its own world, or universe, then clearly it doesn't fit. If it's a land, it's all groovy.

No one is saying that parks shouldn't use IPs, it's just that they have a preference to original themes.

When IPs are used, a lot of the money which could go into the development of the actual attraction itself is spent on securing rights.

Some people also feel that IPs are restrictive and don't encourage as much creativity, or wonder, as an original or in house attraction might.
 
At the end of the day, it's a park geared towards children. I think children would much rather see a land themed to an IP they obsess over, whether it be through gaming or TV, than an original (albeit generic) theme that doesn't really mean a whole lot to them. It's probably a sensible move for the long term. That being said, I've fond memories of Chessington as a kid, so to see original areas replaced with IP areas does pull strings on my nostalgia a little. But I'm an adult with no kids and so I understand I'm no longer the target audience and times chance etc etc.
 
Hid said:
So you give Chessingron a cold shoulder for trying to do something different it's World of Adventures different worlds which still fits with IP a different world.

It's not just Chessington that uses IPs a lot of other parks do to. Mexicana in Chessington the past few years has been quiet plus with only 2 attractions not a whole lot to do down there
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As I said, I fully understand the direction they are taking with this. It makes sense, especially from a marketing point of view. Harry Potter and Universal completely changed the way that theme park operators look at IPs and that will not change.

I just have a preference to original themes, which thankfully Merlin have been pretty good at with Alton Towers over recent years. Am I a fan of Chessington turning in to a park with different lands themed to different IPs? Not particularly. Do I have to be a fan of what they're doing? Absolutely not. Doesn't mean it won't be a success for them though.
 
Hid said:
Nothing wrong with IPs if done well and several have, you don't complain about Universal and Disney using IPs so what's the difference tagine Chessington World of Adventures still works as your visiting Different worlds
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I (and many other people) have complained about disney only using IP

they used to have a vast amount of original IP (Pirates of the Caribbean, haunted mansion, jungle cruise, big thunder mountain, space mountain, epcot, etc)

but now they only install it if it is an IP and it just deminishes a lot of the parks, often the rides are meh with an IP slapped ontop.

universal often are differnt because of how they use their IP often being really well intigraterd, and the parks have always been lands of IP
 
I wonder how much they are paying for it! It’s a little too late for us but my son was paw patrol obsessed for years and we only had Nicklelodeon Adventure at Lakeside.

I was calling out for paw patrol at a theme park…. I’m not sure Chessington is where I was hoping it would go though. It does look like a great use of that space, which hasn’t been used to it’s for potential for years.

I remember going round and round and round on the rodeo on a school trip. That was next to the runaway train wasn’t it!
 
Poisson said:
This seems to tie with a pivot away from animal exhibits in the park. Hopefully the quality of the remaining habitats can increase with less space competition
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TBH I'd like to see Chessington and Drayton gradually moved away from Thier animal exhibits. Specialised safari parks and zoos are much more suitable for them. I don't expect it to happen overnight but you have already seen the pivot away from that.
 
Hid said:
So you give Chessingron a cold shoulder for trying to do something different it's World of Adventures different worlds which still fits with IP a different world.
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The problem is, because it’s Merlin, the finished product is likely to be underwhelming and - frankly - a bit crap. Whether it’s the overgrown garden centre vibe of World of Jumanji or the badly-lit shed housing The Gruffalo exposing the roof, all the rigs and the broken effects, I have very little confidence Merlin will do more than the bare minimum to get this land over the line.

I have much less of an issue with Chessington being an IP park than it becoming the home of “that’ll do” installations. I’m spoiled in that I remember the park very well from its 90s heyday and it’s much less a world of adventures now and much more a mishmash of fair-to-middling experiences that leave you feeling pretty unimmersed.
 
Sure, I’m not the target audience and it’ll be good business and.. whatever, but it’s still a bit lame to be honest.

I was still in the target demographic (just!) when this show started airing a little over a decade ago - and at least to my highly critical toddler brain, it was kinda the generic one.

In terms of IP to choose, if much prefer a more culturally important one. I’m fine with Gruffalo, frankly, it’s a clever book and it’s going to be read to and read by children for decades to come, Paultons too with Peppa, it’s pretty much a cornerstone of British children’s entertainment for longer than you think it has.

Paw patrol is really a nothing- burger plastic import from America. Especially compared to other new shows like the aforementioned bipedal swine and of course, Bluey; which seems to have glowing reviews across the board for children and parents from what I have heard.

What world is there to make anyway? It’s plasticky, but not inventive and abstract like Super Mario is. It’s not atmospheric like perhaps the Gruffalo is and it certainly has no cultural staying power like Minecraft or Peppa has.

It just strikes me as an especially bland corporate decision; and I’ve likely thought about this more than I should’ve for someone at my age, so I’ll leave it at that.
 
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Paw Patrol was on when my cousins were toddlers, and my eldest cousin is 13 this year. So I think it has better staying power than some Merlin IP choices!
 
It isn’t going to be anything like stepping into Diagon Alley, Nintendo World, Galaxy’s Edge, Pandora or anything like that (stating the obvious!). It’ll be a few set pieces and props around some themed rides in much the same way that CBeebies world is - which more than serves a purpose for its demographic, but just looks a bit meh for most.

The Minecraft land will be far more interesting, and there’s a lot more pressure on them to get that one right, in my opinion.
 
Paw Patrol occurs in a world where every character is an assigned authority figure. And yet, without any visible commerce or even society, there is nothing to police. Paw Patrol is a celebration of authoritarianism writ large, a garish gateway drug not into escapism or education, but the intoxicating promise of fascism.

As such, I am delighted to see it introduced to the lineup at Chessington World of Adventures. 🙌
 
Plastic Person said:
Paw Patrol occurs in a world where every character is an assigned authority figure. And yet, without any visible commerce or society, there is nothing to police. Paw Patrol is a celebration of authoritarianism writ large, a garish gateway drug not into escapism or education, but the intoxicating promise of fascism.

As such, I am delighted to see it introduced to the lineup at Chessington World of Adventures. 🙌
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Well that’s the sponsor sorted at least.

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Find it quite ironic that a few years that Chessington kept any IP themes at a minimum and had more original themes and Thorpe was the one with many IP themes and few original themes, now the tables have turned with Chessington going all out with IP's which I don't know how I feel about it honestly as unless you own the brand like Disney or Universal then it have a mixed outcome especially from Merlin given their patchy track record.

That said given Universal will be on Chessington and Thorpe's door step I can see why they feel the need to do this from a business perspective to stay competitive.
 
My youngest is nearly 10 and was quite into Paw Patrol until about 4 years ago. It’s certainly been going a while so I suppose it does have staying power to a point but I don’t think it has the longevity that Peppa or even Bluey has. But the ip was probably far cheaper to buy than either of those (I know they could never use peppa because of paultons anyway).

Not expecting much from this area and I’m dubious about the Minecraft area too although I hope to be surprised. I doubt it will be Peppa Pig or even Thomas Land quality, but I’m sure it will serve its purpose for the target audience.
 
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