• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Merlin Entertainments: General Discussion

So, with the recent changes inside Merlins team at AT, and the company being private again, do you'll think we'll be getting a resurgence of Quality in the Parks now instead of cheap rides and IPs?
 
Trooper Looper said:
So, with the recent changes inside Merlins team at AT, and the company being private again, do you'll think we'll be getting a resurgence of Quality in the Parks now instead of cheap rides and IPs?
Click to expand...

Hopefully there will be more trust in more original concepts such as Wicker Man and The Smiler, but IPs are still a key part of Merlin's growth strategy and are going nowhere.
 
Plastic Person said:
Hopefully there will be more trust in more original concepts such as Wicker Man and The Smiler, but IPs are still a key part of Merlin's growth strategy and are going nowhere.
Click to expand...
Definitely. I think I'D will still be a thing, but I believe there will be more original themes and ideas than IPs soon.

When I counted the amount of rides which had ITS at the park on the app, Half of them were IPs, which I think is a stupid amount. If it was 20-30% if attractions, I think k it would've been balanced then.


On another Subject, there's been a huge amount of backlash due to This year's Scarefrst at the park, when there is definitely evidence to give credit to. I think this is the last project Public Merlin will ever get control of, and we'll see a huge improvement next year hopefully with the new Privately Owned Merlin.

A lot of people still don't like Merlin, but I think thays only because since Merlin became private, they haven't had a chance to do anything drastically new to improve the park in their personal views, with many of the events and additions this year planned and prepped beforehand by Public Merlin. I think this is a very similar case to when the park Was Brought by Tussauds in the early 90s from John Brew, they still had all those elements from his era for the first year or so because they haven't had the chance in their first year to do anything drastically different to what they seem fitting. Then the following years was the introductions of Huge investment and Improvements to the park. I believe something on the line of that is what will soon Happen to the Park since Merlin became Private.

Hopefully AT has a bright future once again!! Heck, even if its only the quality of Merlins early years of owning the park, that'll be a step up from now!
 
Trooper Looper said:
Definitely. I think I'D will still be a thing, but I believe there will be more original themes and ideas than IPs soon.

When I counted the amount of rides which had ITS at the park on the app, Half of them were IPs, which I think is a stupid amount. If it was 20-30% if attractions, I think k it would've been balanced then.
Click to expand...
One thing your comparison neglects to mention is that a large percentage of Alton Towers’ IP attractions are within the considerable umbrella of CBeebies Land. CBeebies contains a considerable number of attractions, which will naturally jack up the number of IP attractions on park if you count each and every CBeebies attraction as a separate IP attraction. The others are within Walliams, which, while definitely not as sizeable as CBeebies, is still an umbrella IP encompassing multiple attractions.

I actually don’t think Alton is overly saturated with IPs at all; the bulk of the park is still original ideas, I’d say. Other than the two IP areas of CBeebies and Walliams, I’m actually struggling to think of any other IPs that Alton Towers currently uses; off the top of my head, I honestly think those might be the only two. We have actually had a net loss of IPs in recent years with the removals of CATCF, Sonic Spinball and Ice Age.

I disagree that IPs won’t be used as heavily in future, though. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they will take over, and I think we will still see plenty of original ideas, but Merlin have made it very clear that IP is a core part of their strategy. I do think that non-coasters in particular will still lean a fair amount towards IP for their themes, as things without an immediate hook (e.g. dark rides) are much harder to market in this day and age than they used to be, and an IP would help with that.

I’m in a minority in that I don’t think IPs are the spawn of Satan, though… as long as the ride is fun, I don’t really care that much about whether its theme is original or an IP theme.
 
Does anyone know, has the Boat Ride (Galloway Boat Ride) in the Edinburgh Dungeons been discontinued/removed? I can't find any reference to it on the Dungeons website except that it was closed in 2020 during Covid.
 
pjanvil said:
Does anyone know, has the Boat Ride (Galloway Boat Ride) in the Edinburgh Dungeons been discontinued/removed? I can't find any reference to it on the Dungeons website except that it was closed in 2020 during Covid.
Click to expand...
I visited the Edinburgh Dungeon in August, they had the Cannibal Cove scene, which I believe links to the boat ride, but no boat ride during the attraction. The show board outside the entrance had the bit displaying the boat ride poorly covered up by a generic poster (although you could clearly see the boat ride graphic behind).

I thought the Toture scene was a bit weird as you exited the room on the same side as you entered although there were doors to the other side, I'm guessing the inflatables randomly after Torture is the alternative corridor when the boat ride is out of action, but looking back it never cross my mind until now. So the boat ride at the very least is SBNO...
 
Last edited:
Lancs Live have published an article about the Blackpool Tower, or more specifically, the way Merlin are currently running it:

www.lancs.live

Blackpool Tower responds after visitor says it's 'lost the magic touch'

The tourist said they were 'severely disappointed' with their experience - but what are your thoughts on the attraction? Comment below with your opinions
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live

The point regarding the current arrangement, with every element charged separately, hits the nail on the head for me
 
b2311e said:
Lancs Live have published an article about the Blackpool Tower, or more specifically, the way Merlin are currently running it:

www.lancs.live

Blackpool Tower responds after visitor says it's 'lost the magic touch'

The tourist said they were 'severely disappointed' with their experience - but what are your thoughts on the attraction? Comment below with your opinions
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live

The point regarding the current arrangement, with every element charged separately, hits the nail on the head for me
Click to expand...

I'm mostly offended that such drivel can be posted as news.

That you have to pay to get into a tourist attraction should be a shock to noone. You can pay attractions individually or buy one ticket that covers the lot. The choice is there. What even is the reviewers point?
 
b2311e said:
Lancs Live have published an article about the Blackpool Tower, or more specifically, the way Merlin are currently running it:

www.lancs.live

Blackpool Tower responds after visitor says it's 'lost the magic touch'

The tourist said they were 'severely disappointed' with their experience - but what are your thoughts on the attraction? Comment below with your opinions
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live

The point regarding the current arrangement, with every element charged separately, hits the nail on the head for me
Click to expand...
I was expecting a write up on what Blackpool Tower is like to visit (I've never been). What we got was a copy and pasted Trip Advisor review with little context.

Is republishing Trip Advisor reviews considered news these days?
 
Thameslink Rail said:
I don't quite understand this article but it doesn't sound good, please can someone explain it? https://business.inquirer.net/369149/korea-readies-emergency-liquidity-to-contain-legoland-crisis
Click to expand...

From what I gather, Merlin got the local government to contribute towards the cost of the park and the infrastructure needed (such as a new bridge and roads). The article seems to suggest that was funded by borrowing and they are behind on payments.

Seems like a bit of a political argument really, with the current politicians not being the ones in charge when this was all agreed to.

Seems they are trying to play in down and suggest all outstanding amounts will be cleared, which if so won’t cause Merlin any bother.

Here is some info about the funding arrangements that were announced in 2019:

Merlin Entertainments announces agreement to open LEGOLAND Korea

South Korea's First LEGOLAND Park to be opened by Merlin by 2020
www.merlinentertainments.biz www.merlinentertainments.biz
 
Apparently Merlin have launched a new booking system for passholder reservations that is a “considerable improvement” on the old one, allowing you to manage both passes and reservations all in one place:

This should make pre-booking visits easier for passholders!
 
Matt N said:
Apparently Merlin have launched a new booking system for passholder reservations that is a “considerable improvement” on the old one, allowing you to manage both passes and reservations all in one place:

This should make pre-booking visits easier for passholders!
Click to expand...

I’m surprised they haven’t made an app yet!
 
It’s definitely an improvement on the old system, as before you would have to visit each site to book and enter all your details every time. However we all know pre booking is a bit pointless and they don’t actually check. Even during fireworks I wasn’t asked for my pre book on any of the three days.
 
Legoland Windsor and Warwick Castle seemed to be pretty strict on checking pre-books when I’ve visited this season. One group in front of us at LLW had to step to one side and book there and then otherwise they wouldn’t have been let in.

Alton Towers, Thorpe and Chessington have never asked me to show pre books though. I look forward to when this new system is fully rolled out because the current one is pants.
 
BigShadowtinytree said:
Legoland Windsor and Warwick Castle seemed to be pretty strict on checking pre-books when I’ve visited this season. One group in front of us at LLW had to step to one side and book there and then otherwise they wouldn’t have been let in.

Alton Towers, Thorpe and Chessington have never asked me to show pre books though. I look forward to when this new system is fully rolled out because the current one is pants.
Click to expand...
I’m guessing LEGOLAND only has hand scanners so they will ask you. The other parks you can just go to the turnstyle and do it yourself, but saying that I’ve even used the hotel entrance on Sunday and they never asked for anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top