Legoland Windsor

[ChristmasPud]

vast majority of guests won't care about the show building at the back being a bit ugly will they?

This is the age old question. The majority won't 'care' enough about individual things like this to make a difference. But in the long term, you end up with a patchwork of big sheds, tatty theming and shoved-in rides, it all amounts to a poor visitor experience overall and people realise the poor value for money.

I think with Legoland we've already hit that today and many guests are put off by the experience and general cheapness of Merlin. Hence the park pulled their finger out this winter and spent proper money on a park-wide revamp. I think guests at other Merlin parks have realised it too, but since they don't have the Lego brand attached (and the pressures from Lego that brings with it) they are unlikely to get the same injection Legoland has this year.

The parkwide revamp has been great to see— even though it's just surface stuff, it's so much less piecemeal than the 'TLC' we saw at Alton Towers and seems to be better quality, it was much needed. It really shows up how badly thought out Haunted House was now

 

[siralgenon]

The truth of the matter is the vast majority of guests won't care about the show building at the back being a bit ugly will they? Another reason why Merlin can get away with this kind of stuff.

Actually I put the photo on my Facebook wall and a lot of none - theme park friends and work friends (which consists of a lot of mum's) said 'what the hell is that' and 'why haven't they hid the building'.

So on the contrary I think a lot of regular guests will notice that it is an eyesore and not in keeping with the presentation and theming of the park.

 

[djtruefitt]

I believe the original plans for the haunted house had it covered in scaffolding (looking pretty much the same as TH13TEEN). Which would probably be slightly better than a black tin shed. However still pretty awful.

 

[Tim]

I believe the original plans for the haunted house had it covered in scaffolding (looking pretty much the same as TH13TEEN). Which would probably be slightly better than a black tin shed. However still pretty awful.

It was actually more like The Smiler, with pipework dotted all over the place and luminous green ozze marks on the walls. At the time the rides theme was a mad scientist experimenting. The front of the house was a literal facade for his lab at the back.
This was back when the ride was identical to Billund with the drop towers.

It didn't look much better, but at least you could sort of see how they had justified it.

 

[John]

That would have been genius levels of penny-pinching.

Shame though as Merlin can do well presented show buildings when they really want to. The new flying theatre at LL Florida looks really good.

 

[Rob]

Even Six Flags have done a better job at hiding a Madhouse:

 

[siralgenon]

Even Six Flags have done a better job at hiding a Madhouse:

But what does it look like from either side...

 

[Rob]

But what does it look like from either side...

Fine, both public facing sides are themed! The back and left sides of the building cannot be easily seen from the park.

 

[Stuie]

Wow! That looks... horrid.

 

[Danny]

This visuals of this attraction sum Merlin up a tee.

They can wow us with a delightfully themed or well executed attraction all they like. It's inevitable however that utter misery and p*ss poor standards are right behind it.

 

[siralgenon]

Wow! That looks... horrid.

They're going to have to stick a scrim or something over that building because I can't see it staying like that for long.

 

[Leah]

The thing that annoys me most about this is that it's clear very little planning when in to it. The facade looks ok (certainly not the dragon levels of theming but there are worse out there), but the people designing the facade obviously didn't know that the madhouse wasn't going partially underground. It would have looked so much better to just make the facade a little bigger.

Just really says that the budget was cut part way though production and either it was to late on no one was bothered to change the design.

 

[Islander]

...the people designing the facade obviously didn't know that the madhouse wasn't going partially underground...

I suspect that aspect of the project was changed very late on

 

[ChristmasPud]

Just really says that the budget was cut part way though production and either it was to late on no one was bothered to change the design.

Sounds like a classic Merlin project so I wouldnt be surprised if it was true. In most construction industries constant behaviour like this would deter most contractors ever working for Merlin, but since Merlin own nearly all parks in this country...

 

[siralgenon]

I suspect that aspect of the project was changed very late on

I'd like to think that's a joke but I'm guessing it's not.

 

[djtruefitt]

I mean surely NO ONE at merlin can actually think that ride from the outside looks decent? I certainly wouldn’t be putting it on my CV if I was involved in the outside of it.

It looks bloody ridiculous!


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[IanSR]

I mean surely NO ONE at merlin can actually think that ride from the outside looks decent? I certainly wouldn’t be putting it on my CV if I was involved in the outside of it.

It looks bloody ridiculous!

They're probably looking at it from the point of view of a 3 foot tall 7 year old, not an adult who is tall enough to see over fences.

 

[Coaster]

They're probably looking at it from the point of view of a 3 foot tall 7 year old, not an adult who is tall enough to see over fences.

But in that case, how come The Dragon was designed with (for the most part) full 360 degree theming around the ride's castle, queueline and interior/exterior?

Attractions designed as well as The Dragon was are what capture people's imagination, not horrendous looking industrial sheds.

 

[siralgenon]

But in that case, how come The Dragon was designed with (for the most part) full 360 degree theming around the ride's castle, queueline and interior/exterior?

Attractions designed as well as The Dragon was are what capture people's imagination, not horrendous looking industrial sheds.

The new versions of The Dragon at the other parks aren't as well themed, it's just done on the cheap these days. You only have to look at a POV of our Dragon and then look at Dubai or Japan and you'll see the new ones are full of black walls and lighting rigs which you wouldn't find on the originals which are all hidden.

 

[speedy]

Sorry this is a bit off topic,

Does anyone here remember Legoland before Lego sold it off? What was it like?

I was just thinking what if Lego bought back the Legoland parks, or increased their stake in Merlin. But I don't know if Lego would be any good at running amusement parks