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Cuts 2015: How the consistency of the product is being eroded.

They have calculated a target queue time and average number of rides ridden per visit to yield guest satisfaction, on quieter days this is obviously easier to achieve so they attempt to offset this by reducing opening hours and ride capacity (where there's a saving to be had). They're never going to take one thing off you and give you another, that defeats the point of this continuous growth that is absolutely essential under public ownership.

All of the UK theme parks are up against it to contribute to this 'double digit' growth Merlin so badly wants to maintain to drive up its share price. Like any business, if an asset becomes a weak link then it will be shaken up, and if it continues to lag/hinder then it is liable for offloading.

This thread is going to become one of the busiest on the forum, I guarantee it.
 
Tom said:
Like any business, if an asset becomes a weak link then it will be shaken up, and if it continues to lag/hinder then it is liable for offloading.
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We can hope and pray they off-load it to a better owner who cares about product excellence as much as profit margins. However last i heard Alton Towers was still the 2nd most profitable park in the group (this excludes Lego) so i doubt they will.
 
Dave said:
We can hope and pray they off-load it to a better owner who cares about product excellence as much as profit margins. However last i heard Alton Towers was still the 2nd most profitable park in the group (this excludes Lego) so i doubt they will.
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Profitability in comparison to other parks doesn't mean anything in itself though, I'm sure all of the parks are some way behind double-digit growth. Good performance is also irrelevant, the continuous need to grow is paramount. There can be no guarantees what will happen under them, other than that there's going to be a Sea Life on a every high street in the next years!
 
But are Merlin likely to get rid of the UK's most visited theme park that is profitable because it lacks double digit growth, sacrificing their monopoly.... No. So we are likely to be stuck with Merlin. Unless they sell off all their parks.
 
Merlin won't be getting rid of Towers any time soon. Their theme parks are key to their strategy and brand. Very few MAPs would be sold if they only got you into aquariums and waxwork museums.

Cuts are not the way to run a theme park that on the whole is pretty successful. However Merlin have little regard to how the theme park is run; as long as people still come through the gates they'll cut away. And at the same time they will keep up their impressive new ride investments to ensure the people keep coming back, all whilst cuts elsewhere continue. However if Merlin keep cutting the operations budget it will come back and bite them. Believe it or not operations are key to the operation of a theme park, who'd have thought it!

:)
 
Making cuts by reducing opening times of rides affects the guests day too much.
 
Rob and Dave are right. Merlin will only get rid of Towers if they get rid of all of their theme parks. If they got rid of them one by one, Towers would be the last to go. It might not make much money, but it has the strongest brand by far and the strongest brand potential, which is infinitely value (see: Twitter's black hole of money.)
 
I can understand the time change for like feb half term but 4:30 at opening? Come on.

They need to start creating some restaurants around the park that close a bit later after ride close. This could afford to keep the park open a little later because a few people would happily stay for an end of day meal. (or at least, I would. In a proper resort atmosphere I wouldn't want to leave).

This time change almost seems like they want you to leave from the second they open the doors. How they can get anything done in that time, let alone paying guests, is beyond me.

A silly, rushed decision probably forced upon some poor sod who had to figure out how to save money in a short amount of time.

How can you be expected to pay full entry price for a six and a half hour day?
 
I don't think there would be a better owner of AT anyway. Look at parks like Drayton Manor, it's a nice enough park but isn't really going anywhere except ThomasLand.


On Dan's point of staffing levels on Sub-Terra, I think that and things like Mr Bloom which are more staff led experiences are the right way they should expand as it is the better themed more elaborate experiences that separate them from amusement parks. I think some of these sort of things like Sub-Terra wouldn't have happened under Tussaud's as it is the same sort of creative work as The Dungeons. Although Tussauds are obviously the world leaders at waxworks (and you can see how that influenced Warwick Castle especially) Merlin have begun to change the parks with the influence of the Dungeons style experiances such as Sub-Terra, I'm a celeb etc.
 
And as a whole those experiences are good, even SubTerra is a nice filler attraction, I for one wouldn't mind more small indoor attractions (as well as a couple of bigger one) come along. And staffing levels shouldn't need to be a problem so long as the ride is properly planned, in theory Sub terra only need two staff inside, one in the pre show room, then two in the main area, and one in the maze area, and all of that can easily be done with two staff.
 
Sub-Terra is a very nice filler attraction. Although it needs far too many staff and isn't very cost-effective in that respect. I remember back in early 2012 first hearing of the staff numbers and it was shocking back then when we knew of budget cuts. Then when they closed it to do a refurb they needed to get even more staff (actors) for the end of the attraction.

They could cut a few staff although even at a minimum they still need a lot of staff to manage it. The ride operator, staff in the bagging area, staff in the preshow room, staff in the cave, staff in the chamber and actors at the end. To ensure the attraction operates smoothly there's no way they could have staff jumping from one area to another.
 
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James said:
Sub-Terra is a very nice filler attraction. Although it needs far too many staff and isn't very cost-effective in that respect. I remember back in early 2012 first hearing of the staff numbers and it was shocking back then when we knew of budget cuts. Then when they closed it to do a refurb they needed to get even more staff (actors) for the end of the attraction.

They could cut a few staff although even at a minimum they still need a lot of staff to manager it. The ride operator, staff in the bagging area, staff in the preshow room, staff in the save, staff in the chamber and actors at the end. To ensure the attraction operates smoothly there's no way they could have staff jumping from one area to another.
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But can't staff (i think they do) have multiple jobs within the attraction.
 
Closing at 4:30 doesn't impact too greatly on dead days. As I have said, it is not in their financial interest to have situations where guests get on 25 rides - when they can leave having gotten on 12 and be quite happy with what they've paid.
 
Wonder if Towers deliberately put in a high number of staff onto Terry in order to try and show the higher ups that a large operations budget is required for the park to run at its best...
 
James said:
Sub-Terra is a very nice filler attraction. Although it needs far too many staff and isn't very cost-effective in that respect. I remember back in early 2012 first hearing of the staff numbers and it was shocking back then when we knew of budget cuts. Then when they closed it to do a refurb they needed to get even more staff (actors) for the end of the attraction.

They could cut a few staff although even at a minimum they still need a lot of staff to manager it. The ride operator, staff in the bagging area, staff in the preshow room, staff in the save, staff in the chamber and actors at the end. To ensure the attraction operates smoothly there's no way they could have staff jumping from one area to another.
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Yeah it isn't the best planning to have a filler attraction that requires more staff to run than a headline roller coaster. I think not including break cover Sub Terra uses around 9 staff members, that's more than Nemesis, Rita, Th13teen and Oblivion use and Similar to the numbers on The Smiler and Air.
 
Double post but interestingly CVC and Blackstone are completely selling off their shares in Merlin. No idea if that has anything to do with the cuts, i'm not a financial expert.

Private equity firms CVC and Blackstone have launched the sale of their remaining shares in Merlin Entertainments.

156,541,347 shares are being sold through Deutsche Bank via an accelerated bookbuild. According to Reuters, a source familiar with the matter said the shares were being sold at a range of 417-426.50 pence per share. At the top end of share value, the placement would be worth £667.6m (US$1bn, €917.6bn).

Last week, Merlin posted strong end of year results, recording a compounded annual growth rate from 2010 to 2014 of 12.6 per cent and welcoming 62 million visitors across its portfolio of 105 attractions. This was attributed to positive growth from existing attractions along with the continued rollout of its various brands, in particularly its Lego theme parks.

US-based Blackstone has been active on the market, recently hiring several investment banks to lay the foundations for a £2.5bn (US$3.8bn, €3.4bn) London listing of UK leisure resort chain Center Parcs. - See more at: http://www.attractionsmanagement.co...bject=news&codeID=314384#sthash.smM9gqkP.dpuf
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I think these likes of Cuts are the current trend in theme parks, and have happened for a number of years, the only park not currently cutting is Universal and possibley Europa. Even Disney have cut things significantly compared to there past. But you find thing come in trends, and as both Universal and Europa have shown significant attendance boosts on the back of constant spending, other parks have followed, here's hoping Merlin does too.
 
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