Legoland Florida biggest market is the local market rather than tourists. Their annual passes are considerably cheaper than Universals or Disney passes. Seaworld parks in Florida are similar to some extent, with locals making up a higher proportion of their total guests than Disney and Universal
Legoland Florida: Expansion
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WickerManiac
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I think the real test here isn’t whether it’ll be as good as Wizarding World of Harry Potter/Galaxy’s Edge. It’s how will it compare to Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park? I don’t think that’s an unreasonable comparison for people to make.
There is this issue around marketing it as a separate theme park. I can see the logic behind it:
1. It’s not related to Lego, and they don’t want to dilute the Legoland brand.
2. A third gate (alongside the park and water park) will help to position it as a multi-day destination and fill their hotel rooms.
3. It’ll boost the number of attractions they can market with things like the Merlin Annual Pass.
4. There might be the opportunity to upsell different ticket options.
5. The Peppa Pig park could potentially have different opening hours to the main park.
If they do market it as a whole second theme park, they need to be careful to manage the public’s expectation. We all know it’s a few acres with some standard children’s flat rides. Whether the wider public will, is going to depend on how they promote it.
There is this issue around marketing it as a separate theme park. I can see the logic behind it:
1. It’s not related to Lego, and they don’t want to dilute the Legoland brand.
2. A third gate (alongside the park and water park) will help to position it as a multi-day destination and fill their hotel rooms.
3. It’ll boost the number of attractions they can market with things like the Merlin Annual Pass.
4. There might be the opportunity to upsell different ticket options.
5. The Peppa Pig park could potentially have different opening hours to the main park.
If they do market it as a whole second theme park, they need to be careful to manage the public’s expectation. We all know it’s a few acres with some standard children’s flat rides. Whether the wider public will, is going to depend on how they promote it.
There's quite a long interview on the IAAPA website.
"There's going to be a mud hole?"
"We're calling it the muddy puddle".
"Can I play in your mud hole?", certainly has a ring to it.
https://www.iaapa.org/news/funworld/legoland-florida-announces-third-gate
"There's going to be a mud hole?"
"We're calling it the muddy puddle".
"Can I play in your mud hole?", certainly has a ring to it.
https://www.iaapa.org/news/funworld/legoland-florida-announces-third-gate
Plastic Person
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I must admit, I've travelled the world in my time, seen many confounding sights, but aint nothin' compared to a whole Peppa Pig Land next to a Legoland.
Rick
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It's not unreasonable, it's an interesting comparison to make, but does one being better than the other make any difference to folk going to one or the other for the day? If the Johnsons from Billings, Montana want to go to a Peppa Pig themed park, Hampshire is a bit of a trek (as is Florida, but at least you can drive ...).
In the same way I don't spend the whole day being miserable at a British park, because it's not as good as Cedar Point.
I agree that the typical American five year old isn’t going to be making comparisons between Paultons Park and Legoland Florida.
From an enthusiast’s perspective, there are quite a few reasons why we don’t have a park like Cedar Point in the UK, ranging from planning issues to the fact that many regional parks in America have a completely different business model to anything that works in the UK. Cedar Point’s calendar is based more heavily around the summer than the UK parks, because the US has an 11 week school holiday compared to less than 7 in the UK. Cedar Point relies heavily on frontline staff living in dormitories in cheap accommodation, something that doesn’t seem to work in the UK.
Logistically something like Cedar Point probably wouldn’t work in the UK. There’s no reason why Merlin can’t match Paultons Park’s quality with Peppa Pig. Maybe they will do, it hasn’t been built yet. There are little bits of ‘quality’ that make Paulton’s area feel special. For example, a lot of the signage is 3D rather than 2D vinyls. Does the average 5 year old consciously notice that? No. But subconsciously people can sense the quality of an attraction. They might not have heard of Paultons Park, but perhaps they’ve been to Dollywood and seen Wildwood Grove. If The Peppa Pig Theme Park is a conspicuously lower standard, they might be disappointed.
From an enthusiast’s perspective, there are quite a few reasons why we don’t have a park like Cedar Point in the UK, ranging from planning issues to the fact that many regional parks in America have a completely different business model to anything that works in the UK. Cedar Point’s calendar is based more heavily around the summer than the UK parks, because the US has an 11 week school holiday compared to less than 7 in the UK. Cedar Point relies heavily on frontline staff living in dormitories in cheap accommodation, something that doesn’t seem to work in the UK.
Logistically something like Cedar Point probably wouldn’t work in the UK. There’s no reason why Merlin can’t match Paultons Park’s quality with Peppa Pig. Maybe they will do, it hasn’t been built yet. There are little bits of ‘quality’ that make Paulton’s area feel special. For example, a lot of the signage is 3D rather than 2D vinyls. Does the average 5 year old consciously notice that? No. But subconsciously people can sense the quality of an attraction. They might not have heard of Paultons Park, but perhaps they’ve been to Dollywood and seen Wildwood Grove. If The Peppa Pig Theme Park is a conspicuously lower standard, they might be disappointed.
Rick
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I agree, but it's not as complicated as that. I can get to the Pleasure Beach in 20 minutes and get in with an annual pass that cost me less than a taxi to the airport to go to Sandusky.
Sigh.
Being the second largest operator doesn't make them better in quality, value or anything else, just the number of sites they own.
Co-op is the biggest operator of supermarkets in the UK, but they are expensive. Tesco being second to co-op doesn't mean anything. Same as Merlin being "second to Disney".
I hate people trying to make this comparison as if it will magically make Merlin do more. It can't. Disney is not just a theme park operator, the parks sell the films and the films sell the parks. Merlin can't work in the same way. To an extent you could say Legoland can as the toy promotes the park and the park promotes the toy. But for the other RTPs its a very different story.
Ted
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You took my comment way too seriously. Chill out, take a joke.
Rick
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Was it ever funny?
DistortAMG
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But it was Merlin themselves who used to state that I am sure. To a non enthusiast, normal member of the public, they would see that at its face value, second to Disney. On face value, Disney parks are famous first and foremost for their quality, not for the amount of parks they have.
So by them saying 'second to Disney' it is not too much of a stretch to call it slightly misleading, as it would be interpreted by the general public as meaning quality. Not the amount of parks they have.
If I am visiting a single park, at that specific time I couldnt care less about how many parks the operator owns. I would be interested in the quality of the park I was visiting, and by an operator claiming second to Disney, you would have an expectation of quality.
When Merlin and Tussaud’s merged “Merlin said its acquisition of the Tussauds Group would make it the world's second-largest visitor attraction operator after Disney.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6419019.stm)
Just being second largest doesn’t reflect on how they are run or what they offer, just the number of sites they own. That was said over 10 years ago to describe the size of the new group. Now Merlin just describe themselves as one of the worlds largest attraction operators.
I don’t think many people really read the business news headlines that much to see the statement that much. Most people would know they are the biggest operator in the UK and that counts for more than any other comparisons.
DistortAMG
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I am sure I have seen 'second only to Disney' in some general public marketing back when they took over Tussauds. Not second largest, second only.