The thing is, though, the world is a very different place to how it was in the supposed “golden era”. As is the park. What worked in 1992 might not necessarily work now; things advance. Beliefs change. The demands of the contemporary guest change.
Let me also justify why I said that MMM were very creative.
Yes, Galactica as an overall project, although it had good elements, was done with good intentions, and I do feel that it was an overall improvement on Air, was perhaps not their finest hour. I’ll give you that one.
However, I personally feel that many of their attractions, while at times debatable in execution, show some truly remarkable creativity and exhibit some genuinely daring and innovative ideas. In terms of some examples of where I feel this is the case:
- Nemesis Sub-Terra: Yes, it wasn’t the most loved attraction, but I’ve heard many praise the base concept, and I have to say I concur with that praise. Building upon the original Nemesis legend was a brilliant idea, and I have to say that I think the idea of doing a horror dark ride of that style was a rather daring one. There still isn’t really anything like it in the world, and the horror dark ride remains quite an untapped genre, so even if the quality of the execution here was up for debate, I think it took some serious creativity and outside-the-box thinking to come up with this concept and give it a try.
- The Smiler: When Merlin built this coaster, they could have just gone for another ambiguous half-theme like Tussauds did with Oblivion. But instead, they came up with something incredibly compelling and original. I can’t imagine what twisted mind came up with that theme. They created arguably one of the creepiest roller coaster themes ever done, and they literally wound a 14 inversion roller coaster around a giant 5-legged metal spider with syringes, car wash rollers, optical illusions, flashing lights and all sorts of other stuff fixed onto it. You can say what you want about the execution, as I know it’s divisive, but I’ve got to say that I personally think that the theme as a concept is absolutely insane, brilliantly unhinged, and certainly very original!
- Derren Brown’s Ghost Train: Yes, this attraction arguably flopped big time in the eyes of many. But I personally feel that it was a very, very bold attraction in many ways, and exhibited many innovative and brilliant ideas, even if they apparently didn’t quite coexist in harmony or work perfectly in reality. For starters, you literally have a giant Victorian train carriage suspended by chains at the very centre of the ride. You have this carriage change into a London Underground carriage when you got in. This carriage then moves around the building, while giving off the illusion that you never moved at all and couldn’t possibly have moved when you got off. While I won’t deny that many dislike this ride due to how it was executed, and I’ll confess that the actor-led execution does not appeal to me at all, I personally feel that building a ride like it was seriously creative and must have taken phenomenal balls to commission. I think it has many elements that are true strokes of brilliance when viewed in isolation, and one thing you can say about DBGT is that it is well and truly unique; nothing else even vaguely like it exists!
- Wicker Man: There are all manner of cliched themes that could have been chosen for Wicker Man. They could have gone with a Western theme like many wooden coasters have opted for over the years, or they could have gone with a pirate theme. Most wooden coasters, aside from a few exceptions, don’t go further than some mild styling and a presentable station building. But Merlin didn’t settle for that. They didn’t even settle at a pirate themed station building or whatever. They literally themed the ride to a Pagan cult ritual involving human sacrifice, which I’d argue is about as original of a theme as you can get, built an immersive pre-show with an incredibly cool trick involved, and wound the entire layout around a 60ft wicker statue that breathes fire. How cool is that? You can say what you want about it not fitting in with Mutiny Bay, but the innovative, original theme they explored with Wicker Man certainly seems to have gone down pretty well.
Also, to play devil’s advocate a tad; weren’t Tussauds guilty of similar things to what you accuse Merlin of at times too?
I won’t deny that they did some brilliant, well received work during their tenure. But Tussauds were hardly infallible. Rita? Spinball Whizzer? Air? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Imperial Leather Bubbleworks? Duel? Nickelodeon Outta Control? Based on some reviews I’ve heard, I could probably throw in Cred Street in general? All of these are widely seen to have committed similar crimes to what you accuse Merlin of doing in their ride design, but none of them had a lick of Merlin involvement in their design.
I apologise if I’m wrong in anything I say, or if I come across overly confrontational (that’s not my intent). But I do feel that from what I know, the commonly presented narrative of “Tussauds good, Merlin bad” is far from the truth, and it’s a lot more nuanced than that in reality.
Many of the Parks attractions from that era are still very well received, so I doubt that Guests have changed significantly since 92.
Air at first glance and compared to Galactica will probably look like a downgrade to many, but the more you look into it, the more you appreciate what Air tried to create. Air was the good, untouched side of Nemmys rein in Forbidden Valley. Air was the hero, and Nemmy was the Villain. The reason why Air lacked a lot of themibg was because of a lot of Budget Constraints the project was given, as Tussauds at the time was being sold to a different company, so getting Money from Pearsons was a difficult task. If you look at Airs concept art, you start to understand what they were trying to achieve. IMO is made perfect sense in Forbidden Valley. Many guests would just expect the next SW in FV just to ne another Post Apocalyptic Themed Roller Coaster, but John put a twist to the rides tone and theme, whilst making sense still to be in Forbidden Valley.
On NST, I can't blame you there. Merlin from 2008-2013 managed to keep the Tussauds tone for the park perfectly, NST is a (positive) victim of that. The ride had that cheesy but charming 90s sci fi feel to it, but still had some modern elements to it. If only some more theming outside of the ride area was implemented, or the drops were a little taller. Outside of those problems though, NST feels like Tussauds would've made. The people behind it really wanted to encapsulate that Feeling of Nemesis' dread and feel, and they pretty close to perfecting it. With a few tweaks, it would’ve been fantastic!
Now onto the Smiler. The reason it fits so well in X-Sector is because it was designed and themed by the same guy who designed and themed Oblivion, John Wardley. It was his last project before retirement, and it still feels like something Tussauds would've made. Both rides share a similar tone, and theme. The only thing Merlin was probably doing with the Smiler was its budget, engineers, and probably just a handful of MMM creatives. Everything else, though, all by the magnificent mind of John Wardley himself.
Derren Brown's Ghost Train. Could've worked really well if it wasn't for the obvious popular figure just to draw crowds in as a marketing scheme (Derren Brown), and the cheap budget cut of using VR. Great concept on paper, not the best execution unfortunately. It had a lot of potential. At least its theme and style do decently fit in Thorpe Park in an ok manner.
You're absolutely on the take Merlin did with Wicker Man. It was unique, well done, and impressive. But I still hate where its located. Its just like Galactica, it's location and Theming in the area don't make any sense!!
Tussauds weren't in their best position after 2002. Outside of Air, Spinball, and Rita when it opened, I agree with you there. But they had little choice then. Their Budget was almost nonexistent, so they had to make some questionable decisions. They still had that creative and passion though, outside, but their Budgey really controlled how much of that creativity could come to fruition, which was practical none. So they had to make these decisions since they were on their last legs. Yes, we hated what they did to Bubbleworks, The Haunted House, Toyland Tours, but they had little choice. It was either radical decisions that might save the company, or go bankrupt. I'm sure we discussed this somewhere else, but Merlin are in a really fantastic position, but are just as bad, or worse in some cases than Tussauds was on its last years. Ever since The Smiler, They've changed Altons Towers feel a lot, and outside of WM, haven't done anything remotely like Tussauds style but modern attractions like NST, CLL, Th13teen, and the Smiler.
Can we go back onto the Duel Topic Now please?
