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Dreamland Margate: General Discussion

If I recall correctly there were a lot of problems with the parts for King Solomon's Mines, hence why that's not been a thing...

Given that they were beset by millions of things over the years, it's amazing the place even opened... And it's quite nice too, thought the atmosphere was nice and all the staff pleasant...

Needs to be remembered that the cost of restoring a lot of these older attractions that need to be adapted to modern requirements is ridiculous, hence the stuff that happened on Scenic... If they can get a good balance going then it should be a success, but it'll take time...
 
Oh my... Bugged Out! are doing a rave at Dreamland.

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Joy O, Ben UFO and the Scenic, quite the line-up!

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Dreamland is also hosting the By The Sea festival at the end of September which I quite fancy making the trip down for.
I like the idea of these events, it'll get music fans who perhaps wouldn't normally check the place out interested, fill it with people and raise publicity. Can't go wrong!

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Shock. Horror. Etc.

They were advertising some roles with pretty hefty salaries not that long ago, needless to say that's the complete opposite approach as most other run of the mill seaside offerings.
 
Sadly, I am not suprised.

As much as I love the idea of Dreamland, and know that the team have worked tirelessly on it, I haven't even been myself because it simply doesn't have enough to tempt me to the Kent coast.

It promised so much, but actually delivered very little in terms of rides and attractions.

I hope it pulls through, as I will make the effort to visit once it has enough to warrant one.
 
AstroDan said:
As much as I love the idea of Dreamland, and know that the team have worked tirelessly on it, I haven't even been myself because it simply doesn't have enough to tempt me to the Kent coast.
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I think that's part of the problem - the Kent coast is hardly accessible for the bulk of the population. It's on the way to nowhere, transport links aren't fantastic, etc etc. Even from East London, a trip down the M2 feels slightly pointless for what you find when you get there compared to Merlin's offerings around the city and numerous independent attractions.

I get the whole Scenic Railway attraction, it is (was?) a great piece of engineering and is (was?) a piece of history - but it hardly stands on its own, but the cost of rebuilding that thing almost feels as if it was for nothing.

Like Blackpool, Southport, Rhyl, Morecambe etc, Margate was an attraction in itself before we went to sunnier places each summer. With the towns in which they were located flourishing, the parks were able to flourish also. With the towns in decline, the parks have gone the same way because they weren't people magnets in their own right. By the very nature of their location, they're a pain for a day trip.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach continues, but the park and its business model have changed drastically in order to survive. Adventure Island appears to be prospering, a short hop across the estuary from Dreamland, but I think it has various things working in its favour, not least population centres, access and the fact that Southend is just simply doing better than Margate, it never really lost the momentum in the same way.

However, even when Dreamland was a successful attraction with significant scale compared to today's offering, its history is somewhat up and down. Good luck to them - but I fear they have a long uphill battle ahead, I don't fancy their chances but I would love to be proved wrong.
 
It would be a shame to see all of the hard work put in to this park go to waste but the news that the operator has gone into administration did not surprise me at all. If you were in the local area you might pop in for a visit but even for an enthusiast there was pretty much no appeal to drive such a long way to visit Dreamland. If that is the case for enthusiasts then the scenario with the general public must be even worse.

The administrators are very confident that Dreamland has a future as an ongoing attraction so let's hope they are proven right. They are the same administrators that were in place at Fantasy Island before it was sold to Mellors.

:)
 
Enthusiasts believing that "there's nothing enticing" is part of the problem... Cycle of small park unable to expand without getting the people in but cant get people in without expanding...

Perhaps if people just visited, rather than trying to justify a reason to go would benefit everyone...
 
It is hard to justify a 3 and a half hour drive (and associated costs) to a park with virtually nothing of interest. If I was in the area I'd be likely to pop in for a visit but it's not the type of place I'd go out of my way for. Sad but true.

:)
 
Benzin said:
Enthusiasts believing that "there's nothing enticing" is part of the problem... Cycle of small park unable to expand without getting the people in but cant get people in without expanding...

Perhaps if people just visited, rather than trying to justify a reason to go would benefit everyone...
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I understand the mentality here, but I don't think share the same sentimentality towards it. Parks expand with investment, but investors choose their investments wisely and I'm not sure Dreamland is a great shout, unfortunately. Perhaps a shopping complex the Scenic as a centre piece migh have been the best shout.

Parks compete for our leisure time and the contents of our wallets, alongside everything else. They have to give a reason for me to visit and to spend my hard earned cashmoney. If I can go to Dreamland and spend £18 on an entrance fee, or I can go to Pleasure Beach and spend the same, I know where my cash (and my car) are heading.

It's the park's responsibility to give me a reason to justify the time and financial investment in my visit and they haven't done so, just yet.
 
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Better late than never, Dreamland have announced that from this coming Saturday the park will be FREE to enter, and guests will now have the choice to purchase an all day wristband OR pay to ride each ride individually.

Thank god for that.
 
I didn't realise that wasn't already the case with tickets at Dreamland, seems like a far more sensible strategy for such a park though so hopefully it pays off somewhat.

:)
 
I'm pretty sure it was around £17 for entrance before, which to me seems very over-priced given the small amount of attractions they have/had when it first opened.
 
Dreamland’s announced a couple of new rides for their Frosted Fairground:
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/parks-newest-ride-will-have-116558/

We can play the usual game of spot the misinformation (I’m pretty sure that Waltzers haven’t been around for over 100 years), but it’s great to see them adding a couple of new rides. I believe the Austin Cars are hired in for their Frosted Fairground and the Waltzer has been bought for the park by the administrators. It’s a 10 car Lakin Waltzer from Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach.

GYPB recently announced the SBF Visa Reverse Time ride to replace their Evolution, so we can also look forwards to them announcing a new ride to replace their Waltzer. It’s good to see them refreshing their line up, and it’s likely to be an exciting season for them as well.

It’s pleasing to see these rides going to Dreamland. Since opening there has been a steady stream of new rides going in (last year we had the Enterprise, Phantom Express and the Chairoplanes gradually opening through the season). Now they’ve got the Austin Cars and the Waltzer. There always seems to be something new happening there, and gradually it’s been looking and more like the heritage park that was originally proposed when the park was compulsory purchased.

For people unfamiliar with the Austin Cars you can see some pictures here:
http://www.littleboys.co.uk/austin-car-ride.html

If people haven’t visited them for a while it’s definitely worth going back, because quite a lot has changed over the last 12 months.
 
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