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M&D's: General Discussion

Thameslink Rail said:

And now they are literally begging for money.
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All Zoo's have been affected, they still need to feed their animals. Most Zoo's here in the UK are raising money to keep going.

It cost's Colchester Zoo £24,479 a day to keep the animals

https://www.colchester-zoo.com/our-mission/support-us/colchester-zoo-operating-fund/

Banham Zoo are also raising money to keep going

https://www.banhamzoo.co.uk/visit-the-zoo/we-need-your-help/

From what I know, these Zoo's rely on out of date food being donated to them from the Supermarkets to feed the animals. The food would have otherwise been binned. As we know, in recent weeks there is not much food left in the shops to donate to the Zoo.

This is a worrying time for all, not just for the survival of the themeparks, but many other types of attractions around the UK and the world.
 
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Found this in the vault, quite amusing.

TheCarousel_MDs_Flyer1998.jpg
 
I can only assume that trading standards literally wasn't even a thing in 1998.

Imagine being a punter who actually bought into that nonsense and turned up. The disappointment would be more intense than any thrill ride.
 
D4n said:
I can only assume that trading standards literally wasn't even a thing in 1998.

Imagine being a punter who actually bought into that nonsense and turned up. The disappointment would be more intense than any thrill ride.
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To be fair at least there is a full photo of Cobra so you should be able to set your expectations!

Not sure who would have voted a waveswinger the best family attraction in Europe?? Disneyland Paris was open in 1998!
 
Oblivion and Mystery Castle also opened that year, Just to name a few standout rides. 1998 was a good year for major new rides.
 
Mr Pearse said:
Definitely a park who’s been on the edge for awhile, tho not surprising it’s always sorta sad to see any park go.
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The park hasn't gone, the company that operates it has gone into administration. Administration could mean the end of the park, but equally, it could not. A fair amount of administration activity at the moment will be largely to provide protection from creditors.
 
In the cases of Fantasy Island and Dreamland, a company bought the parks off the administrators because they thought the parks were viable. I doubt that M&D's would be considered viable unless someone is willing to invest heavily in new rides.
 
skyscraper said:
All staff have been made redundant though. You can't run a theme park without staff.
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You can't, but they're not trying to run the park during administration, therefore you don't need the staff at this time. A fraction of the 165 were permanent and a good chunk of them were part of, or affiliated with the Taylor family.

Thameslink Rail said:
In the cases of Fantasy Island and Dreamland, a company bought the parks off the administrators because they thought the parks were viable. I doubt that M&D's would be considered viable unless someone is willing to invest heavily in new rides.
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It's been viable until an event occurred that has not happened before in our lifetimes. What does the balance sheet look like? What is the land worth? Do they own it? Can you get planning for houses on it? Etc.

I am not saying it's not closed for good, but there's a lot of assumption here.

Indiana Beach announced their comeback today.
 
As the Jock here, let me give you my thoughts. Yes it is sad that people have lost jobs, but this place has been a disgrace after all the rotten maintenance, lack of investment and those cringey marketing campaigns, they've gotten what they deserved. Many I know will say that the place is a joke and haven't heard much of the place since the accident and are stunned they've gotten away with so much as they have done.

Apparently they were trying to flog the place of at the start of the year before the lockdown came into place but for whatever reason they couldn't find a an investor. Hopefully when this virus is over maybe someone will take the park and finally make the place good as despite all our jokes, there is somewhere within all that crap of a park is a rather decent theme park with potential screaming to get out.

Maybe this might be a good thing...
 
Just realised... if M&D's is closed for good, and with the Looping Star at Codona's now removed, there will be no inverting coasters left in Scotland.:(

All that's left is the Timber Train at Landmark, two wacky worms and a Go Gator
 
Rick said:
What does the balance sheet look like?
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Made a £90k loss in twelve months to Jan 2018, versus a £100k profit the previous year. Relying heavily on bank loans too by the look of it. Presumably safe to assume things deteriorated further between now and then, but accounts are overdue:

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/...655c48aacacab08b427bf4366d88c42681c3802e6c4b2

Rick said:
I am not saying it's not closed for good, but there's a lot of assumption here.
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I suspect the game is up:

Joint Administrator, Michelle Elliot commented: “Despite exhaustive actions by the Group’s director to increase sales and footfall, reduce costs and attract new investment, the business has struggled over recent times, resulting in significant cash flow pressure."

“Unfortunately, due to the current unprecedented circumstances, and despite being in advanced discussions with an interested party, a ‘going concern’ sale of the business was not possible."
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