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Heide Park

DiogoJ42 said:
Maybe they will...?
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Maybe they will. The future has been decided, regardless. I suspect on 11th January, they will reveal full plans for 2018 and it makes sense to tag news of Colossos onto that. I guess something along the lines of...
  1. This is what 2018 looks like, it's going to be super fun, by the way Colossos is dead and we will have further news of its replacement in time. Bring in the Bulldozers.
  2. This is what 2018 looks like, it's going to be super fun. Colossos will remain closed in 2018 but a bigger, badder Colossos will rise in 20xx.
Or perhaps, there is another option. I just don't see them fixing it. It's not a typical Merlin ride, at all and I have no doubt the repair bill will indeed be eyewatering. Happy to be wrong, it's a great ride - but I'd take an RMC over it, any day.
 
The third option is they'll just copy what Thorpe Park did with Loggers Leap, "we hope Loggers splashes back in 2017", "Loggers is undergoing essential maintenance" etc. etc. All the while the ride sits there looking sorry for itself while rotting away.
 
@IanSR They could, but there are a couple of distinctions. Firstly, there have been semi regular comms about the ride since it closed.

Secondly, more importantly, that thing is huge! It's not a log flume rotting away in the woods... it's a load of wood rotting away in full view from almost every vantage point!
 
Also, they've been saying basically the same thing as Thorpe for the last year or so.
 
Rick said:
Maybe they will. The future has been decided, regardless. I suspect on 11th January, they will reveal full plans for 2018 and it makes sense to tag news of Colossos onto that. I guess something along the lines of...
  1. This is what 2018 looks like, it's going to be super fun, by the way Colossos is dead and we will have further news of its replacement in time. Bring in the Bulldozers.
  2. This is what 2018 looks like, it's going to be super fun. Colossos will remain closed in 2018 but a bigger, badder Colossos will rise in 20xx.
Or perhaps, there is another option. I just don't see them fixing it. It's not a typical Merlin ride, at all and I have no doubt the repair bill will indeed be eyewatering. Happy to be wrong, it's a great ride - but I'd take an RMC over it, any day.
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I think your second option is by far the most likely and would go some of the way to explaining why it has taken them so long to come to a decision. If they are not keeping Colossos it makes sense to annouce its replacement at the same time to try and put a positive spin on the news. If they annouce an RMC, whether that be a new build or a conversion, then it will go a long way to pleasing those who are disappointed that Colossos is no more.

Are Merlin in the business of keeping Colossos fans happy? Of course not but I'd argue this is their headline coaster at Heide that they can't just get rid of.

However the other thing to consider is that Heide had their major CAPEX this year, so will Merlin make them wait until 2021 before a Colossos replacement can open? Surey not but you never know with Merlin.

:)
 
Rob said:
However the other thing to consider is that Heide had their major CAPEX this year, so will Merlin make them wait until 2021 before a Colossos replacement can open? Surey not but you never know with Merlin.

:)
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Well in the video the guy makes a point of saying this sort of repair work can take 2-3 years. Perhaps this was to prepare people for a long wait should Colossos return?
 
2-3 years!? Wow. Again a new coaster can be built much more quickly than that!

:)
 
Rob said:
2-3 years!? Wow. Again a new coaster can be built much more quickly than that!
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I think the 2 - 3 years is probably a blag to suit the capex cycle, but it's quite possible that Intamin aren't ready to start manufacturing this kind of track again tomorrow given the relatively unsuccessful nature of the product line, they haven't built one for a decade after all.
 
On a slightly unrelated note, Gardaland announced a Peppa Pig Land for 2018 today. Do you guys think that one of these will be the attraction replacing Koggenfahrt in 2018 that I mentioned earlier in the thread? I reckon it will be, because I think Merlin said they were building two for 2018 in their RTPs, and I think Paultons holds exclusivity in the UK.
 
Is today the day we’re supposed to be hearing the fate of Colossos?


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Well, in amongst all the Wicker Man excitement, it seems that Heide has today announced... a Peppa Pig Land, as many predicted:

Similar to Garda's area, it looks to contain 3 rides. From the translated Facebook post above, these are:
  • A boat ride with Peppa and Friends (Looks like a Zamperla Watermania/Mack Twist'n'Splash from the concept image)
  • A ride on George's Dinosaur (Looks similar to the George's Dinosaur thing at Paultons)
  • Grandpa Pig's Train (Clue's in the name as to what sort of ride this is)
Overall this looks quite nice for Heide, but surprisingly similar to Gardaland's area. Which isn't neccesarily a bad thing, but I would have thought Merlin would have varied them a bit.
 
Matt N said:
Overall this looks quite nice for Heide, but surprisingly similar to Gardaland's area. Which isn't neccesarily a bad thing, but I would have thought Merlin would have varied them a bit.
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It's a twelve hour drive between the two parks, the markets really don't cross over. If you've developed an interesting concept and the requirements for both locations are largely the same, you might as well buy two of the same thing and save some cash.
 
Benzin said:
Given the way the midways and Legolands are run, identikit parks aren't unsurprising...
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To their credit, they don't tend to do it with large coasters because they are important in defining the product, often have to fit within a specific area/space and it attracts whingebag enthusiasts from across the world to ride unique things. Toddlers don't seem to mind.
 
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