• 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

CSLKenny said:
And seems Varney is to be replaced by a former NBA Executive...
Click to expand...


Not just NBA, he was CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which also own the New Jersey Devils ice hockey team. Seems to have a big background in sports, as he was also president of Madison Square Garden before that.
 
tayspru said:
Hopefully as an American he’ll bring the “bigger is better” attitude and really push towards a higher level of quality with attractions and theming!
Click to expand...
Or he may bring the "american is better" attitude and invest all the money into US LEGO parks and midways.
 
evilcod said:
Or he may bring the "american is better" attitude and invest all the money into US LEGO parks and midways.
Click to expand...
Personally I doubt that. The Lego parks can only do so much while being limited by the Lego theme and children's attractions. Merlin wants to continue expanding globally with new attractions while investing in its current offering. The new CEO has pretty much confirmed that he wants to continue doing just that:
“We are actively building and searching for new attractions and sites. We are fortunate in that we are not constrained to a single studio or content pipeline and are seeking additional brand partners to redefine the attractions business. Merlin will also aggressively look to expand our offerings and experiences in our current attractions. I have been impressed by the talent, energy and dedication of the people at Merlin that I've met so far and am looking forward to working with the wider team to deliver on the exciting growth strategy.”

Merlin Entertainments appoints Scott M. O’Neil Chief Executive Officer

World's second-largest visitor attraction operator moves to its next exciting chapter as the partner of choice for bringing global IP and brands to life.
www.merlinentertainments.biz www.merlinentertainments.biz
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
As there will likely be different methods of working for the park's, I do hope the main change the new CEO brings is more looser control from Merlin and instead allows more devolved control for Towers, Chessie and Thorpe to run themselves.

It is clear that those on the ground are aware of the many pitfuls all three Merlin UK parks have such as Towers' flat ride problem yet can't do anything about it unless they had a bit more control. Suppose really it's not about how much money you get for a new attraction but rather how much control you get. I believe TWODW was pretty much forced onto Towers and I doubt it would have come about had Towers had more of a say in the matter.

Let's just say I'll have to wait and hope things aren't a false dawn...
 
Why do I get that horrible feeling that 10 years later or less from now, we're going crying 'all is forgiving' to that previously Merlin board over what we might see what might happen.

I hope I'm wrong but after getting slapped with so much disappointment over the years I can't be positive sadly unless someone has a good reason that I should be fine with it.

I'm more excited at the future of Paultons Park going forward rather than what might be for Merlin though my misery guts is likely that I'm from a third world country in terms of theme parks who can only look south with envy.
 
QTXAdsy said:
As there will likely be different methods of working for the park's, I do hope the main change the new CEO brings is more looser control from Merlin and instead allows more devolved control for Towers, Chessie and Thorpe to run themselves.

It is clear that those on the ground are aware of the many pitfuls all three Merlin UK parks have such as Towers' flat ride problem yet can't do anything about it unless they had a bit more control. Suppose really it's not about how much money you get for a new attraction but rather how much control you get. I believe TWODW was pretty much forced onto Towers and I doubt it would have come about had Towers had more of a say in the matter.

Let's just say I'll have to wait and hope things aren't a false dawn...
Click to expand...

This all over. You can tell a lot of additions are not wanted by the park. I’ve done a fair bit of reading up on this and feel there will be a lot of continual investment in existing and new attractions. It would be great if the parks were self managed somewhat only relying on group for capital budgets.
 
Jb85 said:
This all over. You can tell a lot of additions are not wanted by the park. I’ve done a fair bit of reading up on this and feel there will be a lot of continual investment in existing and new attractions. It would be great if the parks were self managed somewhat only relying on group for capital budgets.
Click to expand...
I do suspect that for example is that had Chessie more control of itself then I suspect they would have wanted a return of the original Bubbleworks though with several new effects instead of Gruffalo, maybe even twist Merlin's arm to free up funds for a track replacement for Vampire and proper theming for its recent 30th anniversary. There are those on the ground on each park who like us would love nothing more than to see them reach their best potential but are hamstring by Merlin with many silly choices over the years, some more than others.

Actually, it is an interesting thought is what if from the start of the Merlin take over is that while they still gave out the CAPEX budgets for each park, they did allow the park's more control to run things that they felt was right. Makes you wonder how different the three parks would have all been by this point. All I do know is that we would never had seen TWODW that's for sure.
 
QTXAdsy said:
I do suspect that for example is that had Chessie more control of itself then I suspect they would have wanted a return of the original Bubbleworks though with several new effects instead of Gruffalo, maybe even twist Merlin's arm to free up funds for a track replacement for Vampire and proper theming for its recent 30th anniversary. There are those on the ground on each park who like us would love nothing more than to see them reach their best potential but are hamstring by Merlin with many silly choices over the years, some more than others.

Actually, it is an interesting thought is what if from the start of the Merlin take over is that while they still gave out the CAPEX budgets for each park, they did allow the park's more control to run things that they felt was right. Makes you wonder how different the three parks would have all been by this point. All I do know is that we would never had seen TWODW that's for sure.
Click to expand...

100% on TWODW.

With the work happening across all the parks now, bar Thorpe, it’s clear to me that management have been given greater control over operational budgets. The rumours of significant pots to Chessie and Alton seem true.

Gonna be a few interesting years that’s for sure
 
Jb85 said:
100% on TWODW.

With the work happening across all the parks now, bar Thorpe, it’s clear to me that management have been given greater control over operational budgets. The rumours of significant pots to Chessie and Alton seem true.

Gonna be a few interesting years that’s for sure
Click to expand...
Funny you mention about more control over budgets, I have suspected that devolution for the parks is likely given as since the new CEO, at least from what I can read, has little to no experience in running a theme park, let alone a whole bunch of them, then it is likely to be more easier to simply allow the parks more control over how they should operate than try and run them all at once as what we have seen with the UK Merlin parks hasn't all gone to plan at times or has been underwealming.

You're right, it will be an interesting few years and the Duel/HH overhaul will be a possible clue to see how well things might go for if it is a hit then great stuff, we're celebrating like it's the 1990's all over again.
 
Jb85 said:
100% on TWODW.

With the work happening across all the parks now, bar Thorpe, it’s clear to me that management have been given greater control over operational budgets. The rumours of significant pots to Chessie and Alton seem true.

Gonna be a few interesting years that’s for sure
Click to expand...

Funny that Thorpe is the only park that isn’t getting as many changes bar exodus as the other two parks, wasn’t it said that Merlin had a tight control over how Thorpe was run a few years ago, with the constant change of management etc. makes you wonder if they didn’t get the CAPEX budget like the rest, and the power at Thorpe is still all at the top of Merlin.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The RTP business smacks to me of being that high risk, high investment part of the business that they have little appetite for but only keep due to them being the major draw for MAP sales and lucrative hotel stays. That's the way the business is setup, far lower risk and major investments needed in midways and Lego parks. I can't really see much of a change in that strategy no matter who the head honcho is. I can still see Lego and midways being the core of the business whilst they begrudgingly write the odd cheque for a RTP investment every couple of years to keep their heads above the waterline so they can continue to flog more MAP's and open more Legolands and midways.
 
Even with the midways, Merlin appear to be shirking some degree of responsibility. They're targeting new acquisitions that they only have to operate now, without seemingly needing to make the shots on investments (This is Holland, Cadburys World, Sandcastle). The LDC brand has also been handed back to Lego, again with Merlin now only operating the centres.

Then there's the cuts. Blackpool's midways seemingly closed for the first time over winter. Hours shrinking across their other UK sites. You used to be able to visit LDC in Manchester until 7pm every day. Now you're unlucky if you manage to get in at all.

It feels as if the coin has been flipped and all of a sudden, Merlin remembered they needed to invest in their theme parks and not just the midways.
 
Looking at the numbers in the data that is available, theme parks bounced back from covid far quicker than midways (for obvious reasons). I guess they are just following the money and putting it into the divisions that are doing well.

That has always been their approach really, it was just a shame for us that RTP was the one that lagged behind in the 2015-2020 period. The tables appear to have turned now.
 
Matt.GC said:
The RTP business smacks to me of being that high risk, high investment part of the business that they have little appetite for but only keep due to them being the major draw for MAP sales and lucrative hotel stays. That's the way the business is setup, far lower risk and major investments needed in midways and Lego parks. I can't really see much of a change in that strategy no matter who the head honcho is. I can still see Lego and midways being the core of the business whilst they begrudgingly write the odd cheque for a RTP investment every couple of years to keep their heads above the waterline so they can continue to flog more MAP's and open more Legolands and midways.
Click to expand...
I don't want this to be true, but the realist in me thinks that it may well be...true.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top