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How optimistic are you about the UK industry?
- Thread starter Rick
- Start date
jon81uk
TS Member
I think the big players (Disney, Universal, Merlin) all would rather have fewer customers spending more. The guests staying in hotels and paying for special experiences and upgrades makes a lot more money than day guests.
venny
TS Member
Overnight stays are one of the single largest drivers for per guest spending. If you stay in the hotel you are exponentially more likely to spend on food, drink and secondary streams, even apart from the pure accommodation cost. It’s so patently lucrative that not having on site accommodation is now the anomaly.
What is interesting to consider is how introducing resort style setups aligns those UK parks to their European counterparts. By that, I mean that an overnight stay is a different proposition to a day trip. That means that (at least to some extent) a consumer might include both Alton Towers and Disneyland in their buying decision if they decide to stay overnight.
What is interesting to consider is how introducing resort style setups aligns those UK parks to their European counterparts. By that, I mean that an overnight stay is a different proposition to a day trip. That means that (at least to some extent) a consumer might include both Alton Towers and Disneyland in their buying decision if they decide to stay overnight.
It’s kinda simple I think there are so many other things kids can do these days which have instant gratification, standing in queues just ain’t one of them , I still drag mine to parks but time it when it’s quiet or raining so we don’t have to queue, hardly any of our friends have taken there kids to parks and do the normal activities which are available these days the sort where you turn up do whatever your doing for a couple of hours or half a day and your done , no queues involved . Also a young lad at work who about 20 went to Thorpe park last year with his girlfriend ( sun tickets) in the summer, he asked me before as to what rides I recommended etc . When I next saw him I asked how his day went and he said he had to queue best part of a hour to get in through bag search then 1 hour 40 mins to do a 1 minute ride to which they both said ( and I quote) “f**k this” and they said they left had a pub lunch on the way back and then went bowling , said he couldn’t think of anything worse to do and can’t understand why I go to them, but hey I guess it’s just times are changing.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
I don't think it's a uk thing but how teenagers are growing up nowadays. Like my mate took his kids to Disney world/Universal 3 years ago in the summer. He been saving up for years as his wife had been when they were there age. They went for 14 days and the girls moaned in the Disney parks that it was too hot and rammed so they just used there 3 fast passes at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios and left to go back to the villa they didn't even go to Epcot. He even paid for 1 nights hotel at Universal so they spend a day and a half at Universal. He said they went to the water parks more than the theme parks. By the way the girls were 16 and 12 at the time. They even had a Merlin pass but they enjoyed the attractions in Blackpool and London more than Thorpe and Alton Towers.
jon81uk
TS Member
To be fair a 16 year old will either love or hate Disneyworld, at that age they are starting to not get interested in anything their parents like. Universal would be a little more interesting if they like the movies featured but I think most teenagers are not really interested in family holidays or days out no matter where.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
Shes 18 now and drives and she took her sister to Alton Towers last year with free sun tickets and they hated the fact they had to queue over 30 mins for a 2 minute ride. They loved the Disney and universal water parks and chilling round the pool at there villa but it's a lot of money spent when they could have done that on holiday anywhere in Europe for cheaper. They love Disney as they been to Paris a few times and spend Christmas there last week just think it was the crowds and the temperatures that put them off as they are use to All inclusive holidays abroad.
D4n
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Zadra
If the complaint that a lot of people have is overcrowding and parks, then surely that suggests that the parks are not doing that badly? Doesn't that directly contradict the idea that the young generation of today is not interested in theme parks?
That said, I have never been so pessimistic about the UK theme park industry. Laziness has become the norm with these parks and they just don't offer variety anymore (looking at you Towers with your woeful lack of filler rides). It makes repeat visits tiresome even for the most ardent visitor, especially when the park is busy.
This will be the first season where I haven't purchased an annual pass for either Merlin, Alton Towers or Blackpool. In fact the only UK parks I plan to visit this year are Flamingo Land, Lightwater Valley and (maybe) Paultons.
I've come to accept that my money is better saved and spent abroad. A real shame when (on paper) we have some of the best ride line-ups in Europe so close to home.
That said, I have never been so pessimistic about the UK theme park industry. Laziness has become the norm with these parks and they just don't offer variety anymore (looking at you Towers with your woeful lack of filler rides). It makes repeat visits tiresome even for the most ardent visitor, especially when the park is busy.
This will be the first season where I haven't purchased an annual pass for either Merlin, Alton Towers or Blackpool. In fact the only UK parks I plan to visit this year are Flamingo Land, Lightwater Valley and (maybe) Paultons.
I've come to accept that my money is better saved and spent abroad. A real shame when (on paper) we have some of the best ride line-ups in Europe so close to home.
jon81uk
TS Member
I think some of that is just "lazy teenager" still and the not wanting to queue thing is definitely a modern Gen Z problem. Us millennials grew up queuing in the 90s lol. Think this is why so many people are willing to pay for fast-track, they just can't be bothered to wait for anything and want instant gratification.
D4n
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Zadra
To be fair if you pay a fortunate for a day out it is then reasonable to expect to not spend 95% of that day queuing. I would hardly call that 'lazy'or 'expecting instant gratification', it's just common sense.
The likes of Towers, Thorpe and Chessimgton with their silly wait times offer poor value for money at present.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
Perhaps, however the park was open longer then so you didn't have to rush around to get everything done.
The real problem with Alton is the ridiculously underpriced season pass.
That creates big queues on what used to be walk on days, without the filler rides that used to spread the crowds.
It is simply not worth visiting any more when you have to queue up for half an hour on a wet Wednesday in term time, no longer fun for me!
The overcrowding isn't caused by lots of happy people willing to stand in queues for hours for fun, it is caused by lots of people attempting to getting value from the pass.
That creates big queues on what used to be walk on days, without the filler rides that used to spread the crowds.
It is simply not worth visiting any more when you have to queue up for half an hour on a wet Wednesday in term time, no longer fun for me!
The overcrowding isn't caused by lots of happy people willing to stand in queues for hours for fun, it is caused by lots of people attempting to getting value from the pass.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
I think with anything the best the UK can offer is young kids cheap IP’s Peppa Pig,Thomas Land, CBeebies land. Like you got the SW coasters like to us say Nemesis is king but the normal general public like the Smiler and Wickerman over Nemesis.
Like in the 90’s there was some very good dark rides (Haunted House, Pirate Adventure, Terror Tomb Toyland tours and Wicked Witch hunt) now they neither been replaced, burned down or had guns added to them. The last good dark ride the uk got was Hex and that was 20 years ago. Will we ever get to see a trackless ride or a flying theatre
Like in the 90’s there was some very good dark rides (Haunted House, Pirate Adventure, Terror Tomb Toyland tours and Wicked Witch hunt) now they neither been replaced, burned down or had guns added to them. The last good dark ride the uk got was Hex and that was 20 years ago. Will we ever get to see a trackless ride or a flying theatre
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
I doubt that we will get a new dark ride for a while because Derren Brown's Ghost Train was a big, expensive failure because of its poor throughput and reliability (65%). I think that a dark ride would be a good fit for Paultons but that is unlikely to happen soon because they are getting a big ride this year.
jon81uk
TS Member
but the wait times were all over 30 minutes 25 years ago. The wait times haven’t significantly changed, other than fast track slowing the main queue down. I would generally expect at every single theme park in the entire world that waits for the biggest rides will be over 30 minutes.
the opening hours at the park are silly and the emphasis (particularly at Thorpe) on fast track is wrong, but the queue times are what you would expect for a popular theme park.
Chessington is probably worse than Alton Towers as they have installed too many low capacity attractions whereas at least a Towers has invested in big coasters. Also all the parks need more shows and live entertainment to give people other things to do that isn’t rollercoaster riding.
jon81uk
TS Member
the problem with Derren Brown is that it isn’t a dark ride, it’s a VR experience. If they had used a dark ride system like SpiderMan or similar it would have been a far better more reliable attraction. Whereas we got a confused plot showed through unreliable technology.
Themeparksandy1981
TS Member
The brits don’t want to queue or wait for anything.
Even on the roads if no ones moved for ages instead of getting out and seeing what’s going on there honking the horn.
Even if there’s shopping and there’s big queues at the till there moaning to the person in front or behind.
Teens are only happy if they got a smart phone or tablet with wi-fi.
It’s Technology for u and now you got everything at home you don’t have to go anywhere.
Even on the roads if no ones moved for ages instead of getting out and seeing what’s going on there honking the horn.
Even if there’s shopping and there’s big queues at the till there moaning to the person in front or behind.
Teens are only happy if they got a smart phone or tablet with wi-fi.
It’s Technology for u and now you got everything at home you don’t have to go anywhere.
dickie001x
TS Member
I’m a Brit and I LOVE queuing. It’s ‘their’, not ‘there’, btw.
dickie001x
TS Member
Oh no...’they’re’!