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Gardaland

Gardaland used to own a waterpark elswehere in Italy but that doesn't have the parks branding anymore. Movieland's water park still exists though
 
Legoland Waterpark Gardaland...

Just rolls off the tongue.

I much prefer Water Lego Garda Park Land Land tbh.
 
Now I was excited for this before I saw the fly through this week. I know the Legoland Waterparks don't have no where near as much theming as the Theme Parks, but this really does look very minimal, the same can be said for the slides. I think calling it a Waterpark may be pushing it slightly. By the looks of it it's a pool, lazy river a tipping bucket play structure, I expected a bit more.
 
It did not look overly substatial when we were there at the end of last year. Although it did appear that there might be some slightly larger slides than those shown in the concept renderings.
 
There looks to be more than that missing. I just looked and couldn't see Shaman/MM either? Also the message We are identifying the most suitable attractions for the 2020 season, keep following us!
 
I think the Merlin estate is going to be in dire straits.

It could be the end of the big M.
 
The thing that confuses me is; how come Merlin are having such difficulties compared with other large theme park operators? Europa Park, for example, seemed to imply that they will be absolutely fine, Disney & Universal have not shown signs of distress, Compagnie des Alpes seems to imply that they will be fine, and even the likes of Six Flags, Cedar Fair and SeaWorld Entertainment have made moves that will allegedly keep them afloat with no income until at least 2021, whereas Merlin seems to suggest that they are done for if normal operation doesn’t resume by mid-July. What is it about Merlin that makes them so vulnerable compared to other large operators? I know they lease the land of quite a few of their parks, but I can’t think of anything else that would make them vulnerable.

I must admit; I am very worried for the future of theme parks in this country if Merlin does suffer financial ruin as a result of COVID.
 
They are probably leveraged to the max and that is what is crippling them at the moment. Many companies that are currently in real trouble are those with excessive debt levels.

Merlin struggling on would ultimately be
worse for the parks than if it went bust and the assets sold off, so I'd rather see it dissolved and see a more competitive environment in the UK.

Here's hoping the Mack family would like a new project...
 
Sequoia is not the only attraction that is not appearing on the website e.g. Space Vertigo and Flying Island also do not come up. I am presuming this will be part of the limited line-up when the park reopens so for now, I'm not at all expecting Sequoia to go. Furthermore, this is something that none of the Gardaland fan pages or Italians forums have mentioned at all.
 
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