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Gardaland

Matt N said:
If Merlin's 4 year CAPEX cycle still holds true after 2015 and the announcements of CAPEX reduction in October 2017, then I just realised; Gardaland is due a major investment in 2019. Have you guys heard any rumours about what this could be?
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It depends how the cut to capital expenditure manifests itself. It could be less projects of the same scale vs. the same number of projects of a smaller scale. A £30m a year reduction is not small change, after all.

Merlin could probably learn quite a few lessons from Six Flags in terms of how they do Capex. I am sure Walter and Claude are more than a little bit miffed, but the 'little and often' strategy is certainly working for them.

Edit - I don't have the figures to hand but total capex last year was somewhere around the £250m mark, but I can't recall if this was split by business unit somewhere or not.
 
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I think Paultons have proved that this IP is a great money maker so for Merlin to jump on it its no surprise.

This will only increase footfall to the park
 
A couple of months ago, it was announced that Gardaland would be building new accommodation in the form of Magic Village. Concept art later showed that it would be similar (like very, very similar) to the EV at Alton. I'm not sure how this was never posted in here when it was announced. There is concept art somewhere on the internet, but I can't remember where. My thoughts are: If Merlin focuses any more on accommodation in the coming years, then this song will probably be played on repeat in all Merlin parks and in Merlin marketing campaigns in years to come:
 
Matt N said:
If Merlin's 4 year CAPEX cycle still holds true after 2015 and the announcements of CAPEX reduction in October 2017, then I just realised; Gardaland is due a major investment in 2019. Have you guys heard any rumours about what this could be?
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There are rumours that there will be a family launch coaster, replayed ramses for the 2019 season.
 
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Gardaland have released this art showing the 3 attractions that will be in Peppa Pig Land.
Wonder if the Heide Park one will be any different or just a copy?
 
It's very strange how Peppa Pig lands always seem to avoid roller coasters.
 
Is Peppa Pig Land a small investment? As there doesn't seem to be much there.

And regarding Heide Park's Peppa Pig Land, Aren't they due a medium investment next year so there's will be a bit bigger?
 
Bert2theSpark said:
Is Peppa Pig Land a small investment? As there doesn't seem to be much there.

And regarding Heide Park's Peppa Pig Land, Aren't they due a medium investment next year so there's will be a bit bigger?
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Judging by Merlin's 4 year investment cycle of high-medium-low-low, then Heide are indeed due a medium investment next year. Although Thorpe were due a medium year in 2017, and I wouldn't exactly call DBGT:ROTD and two second-hand kids rides a medium year. Also, Gardaland would be due a high investment in 2019 going by that cycle. Interesting. I'm keeping my eyes peeled on Screamscape for any Gardaland 2019 rumours!

In response to your other question, Peppa Pig should be a low investment, as 2018 should be a low year for Gardaland. Though Kung Fu Panda Academy was apparently a medium year, and the only things there are a Fabbri spinner and a rethemed teacups.
 
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I will wait until this is finished and open before making a stronger judgement, but I have a feeling that Gardaland's Peppa Pig Land to Paulton's, will be like Six Flag's Thomas Land to Drayton's. I suppose in a way it's nice to see a British park having the best of something. I wonder what the Italian enthusiasts make of this.

From a geeky point of view it's an interesting case study. I believe Paulton's Peppa Pig Land bought in 500,000 extra visitors. I wonder how many Gardaland's will bring in. Although Italy and the UK are different markets, and Paultons and Gardaland are different parks, so there are several variables here.
 
Rick said:
I thought 'Medium' no longer existed in RTP, as per the below?

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What!?

They must have updated the investment cycle since October 2017, then.

This is simply frustrating news. RTPs deserve good investment too, Merlin! So does that mean that every year that isn't an SW at Alton Towers will now cost below £3m or whatever the cutoff is between low and medium? That's pretty bad, Merlin. On the positive side, at least we're still getting SWs. Also, they say that a peak year is over £12m. I highly doubt that Gruffalo or Ghostbusters cost £12m. Ghostbusters, possibly, but I see Gruffalo as costing £10m max including the IP.

On a side note, what does EBITDA stand for?
 
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Rick said:
@Matt N - that's an older version of a document, that was sent out with some shareholder stuff a while back. The one in the strategy section of the website (slide 11) from March 2017 suggests it is peak, low, medium, low.

EBITDA
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Ah right. I knew that Merlin wouldn't be stupid enough to eliminate medium investments!

Also, the link to Merlin's website comes up with a webpage not available link on the iOS Google app. Maybe I should try a different browser.
 
Matt N said:
Ah right. I knew that Merlin wouldn't be stupid enough to eliminate medium investments!
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Well, it's worth noting that the document predates the release in October that explicitly says that their approach to capital expenditure is changing.
 
Rick said:
Well, it's worth noting that the document predates the release in October that explicitly says that their approach to capital expenditure is changing.
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So by their capital expenditure changing, were they referring to the end of medium investments and their £100m CAPEX reduction? Sorry to keep asking questions @Rick. It's just that you seem to know a lot about the inner workings of Merlin.
P.S. Sorry for going off-topic!
 
@Matt N They haven't publicly described how the arrangements are going to work yet and I am not sure that they will announce it, as such. Initially, I think we will see the focus move to accommodation spending and be able to surmise if the strategy is being applied consistently across the estate, or if it is more evident at some properties than others - not least because the amount of accommodation available/required at each location is different.

Indeed - back to Peppa in Italy.
 
In response to @Funcone's question about how many visitors this will bring in, I'm thinking that there won't be too large of an increase caused by this. For starters, Leolandia already has a Peppa Pig World in Italy, so the Italians will have that to go to already. Also, CBeebies Land only bought in a 3% increase for Alton Towers in 2014, from 2,500,000 to 2,575,000. I'm only comparing this to CBeebies Land because pre-2015 Alton Towers and Gardaland are very similar in the way of visitor numbers.

On a side note, I reckon this will be a nice little area. CBeebies Land and the DreamWorks lands show that Merlin are capable of decent things, so I don't see why it wouldn't be the same with this development.
 
If that poster really is all they're adding, then this shows that Merlin can't even compete with a small independent park (Paultons, obvs).

All this money behind them yet they just stick to minimal investments. Until they come up with a really crap idea like DBGT and decide to throw like £40m at it.
 
Lordy said:
Until they come up with a really crap idea like DBGT and decide to throw like £40m at it.
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One thing I will give Merlin is that they don't give up. Even when a formula hasn't worked in the past, they still stick with it and use it again. This could be interpreted in 2 different ways.

Back on a topical note, this area does look quite small. Gardaland seem to have an attraction to small kids areas with only 2 or 3 rides in them.
 
I don't think the size of the area is as big an issue as some people are thinking that it is. The park is hardly short of kids rides, this area doesn't need to fulfill the role of being the kid's area in the resort, because it isn't that.

It's going to complement the other areas and rides and will allow them to utilise what I am sure will be a popular IP. You don't need a whole host of new rides to do that when you have an inventory as rich as Gardaland's elsewhere in the park.
 
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