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Merlin Entertainments: General Discussion

I do find it fascinating how Merlin are adapting I expect its likely they'll keep all of their parks. Especially Legoland and Gardaland
 
Out of curiosity, did Lego ever own the Legolands and Discovery Centres to begin with, or has it always been an external firm?

I’m wondering whether the Legoland parks may eventually follow the Discovery Centres in being spun off.

This is another thing that will have diluted the value of the MAP, though. There were a lot of Discovery Centres, and in some areas like Birmingham and Manchester, the Discovery Centres are/were quite a significant part of Merlin’s influence, no?
 
Matt N said:
Out of curiosity, did Lego ever own the Legolands and Discovery Centres to begin with, or has it always been an external firm?

I’m wondering whether the Legoland parks may eventually follow the Discovery Centres in being spun off.

This is another thing that will have diluted the value of the MAP, though. There were a lot of Discovery Centres, and in some areas like Birmingham and Manchester, the Discovery Centres are/were quite a significant part of Merlin’s influence, no?
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Lego owned the LEGOLAND parks until they sold them in 2005. Discovery Centres were a Merlin attraction from the off.

I don't think we will see the LEGOLAND parks being spun off, the press release is very clear about that.

Merlin, under Eastwood, appear to be turning their backs on midway attractions. The midways were always more of a Varney thing, given that's how he effectively started the company. I do think that they're starting to move their focus toward their theme parks and destination attractions.

It would not surprise me to hear that Shrek's Adventure is mothballed when the rights come up for renewal. I am curious about the Dungeons.
Matt N said:
This is another thing that will have diluted the value of the MAP, though
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The Discovery Centres were essentially glorified shops, but I understand your point here.

There has been a persuasive argument that historically MAP has undervalued Merlin's attractions. @rob666 will often remind us how cheap the passes can get.

Whilst we're not privy to how MAP revenue gets shared amongst their attractions, this does mean that more is available for the remaining ones. Effectively, this could start to correct the value equation.
 
I wonder if they will rebrand and be more like the Lego house in Billund, I did that last year and thought it was far better than the discovery centres which just seem a bit confused as to what they actually are, half LEGOLAND, half play centre, but not quite doing either correctly.
 
Matt N said:
Out of curiosity, did Lego ever own the Legolands and Discovery Centres to begin with, or has it always been an external firm?

I’m wondering whether the Legoland parks may eventually follow the Discovery Centres in being spun off.

This is another thing that will have diluted the value of the MAP, though. There were a lot of Discovery Centres, and in some areas like Birmingham and Manchester, the Discovery Centres are/were quite a significant part of Merlin’s influence, no?
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Legoland Discovery Centres were tricky to enter if you had no kid so the value for some doesn't really apply shame to as I know they have a trackless dark ride some do
 
Nice to see LDC Hamburg featured in the press release. I know that view well, I helped design it!

I have a few thoughts on what LEGO will do with these attractions. There was already a push to bring them more inline with LEGO's other offerings after the buyout (hence why those that opened since 2022 have dropped the "LAND" from their names. I don't think we'll see them converted into LEGO House's but I wouldn't be surprised if they start operating more like immersive LEGO stores.
Personally I'd love it if the attractions are opened up to be free to visit, but with upsell experiences. I've said for a long time that the Minilands are waisted being hidden away inside the attractions, when they could be used as an incentive to visit the store. But that is coming from the viewpoint of someone who's spent a long time working on them.
 
The £200 million should give them a sizeable boost and time to get their ducks in order for a better 2026, hopefully. Didn’t see the Lego Centres going before Sea Life, Tussauds, and probably even Dungeons.

I guess it was a faster, dead-cert sale, which might indicate the urgency at which that cash injection was needed.
 
Really think Merlin should focus purely on the parks that way each can get a higher budget. Does the loss of any of the properties mean staff get transferred to another nearby Merlin attraction
 
Hid said:
Does the loss of any of the properties mean staff get transferred to another nearby Merlin attraction
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The sale hasn't yet completed, so no details have been released. In the event, it is likely that the Merlin staff at the Discovery Centres will be have their contracts TUPE'd over to Lego's retail division, rather than move to another Merlin attraction.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The sale hasn't yet completed, so no details have been released. In the event, it is likely that the Merlin staff at the Discovery Centres will be have their contracts TUPE'd over to Lego's retail division, rather than move to another Merlin attraction.
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Worth noting that Lego have recently been rapidly growing their Brands and Experiences division (clearly can now see a reason), so there's a high chance staff may be moved into that as well as retail.

But either way, yes, you'd imagine TUPE to Lego by far the most likely, given that Merlin are trying to cut staff numbers across the board, so retaining and moving staff to other locations is unlikely.
 
Islander said:
Worth noting that Lego have recently been rapidly growing their Brands and Experiences division (clearly can now see a reason), so there's a high chance staff may be moved into that as well as retail.

But either way, yes, you'd imagine TUPE to Lego by far the most likely, given that Merlin are trying to cut staff numbers across the board, so retaining and moving staff to other locations is unlikely.
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Are we certain it is staff being cut and its not more difficult to get new staff
 
Hid said:
Are we certain it is staff being cut and its not more difficult to get new staff
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That's not really an either/or question, both situations can occur at the same time within different areas of the same company.

But more precisely, yes, we can be certain that staff are being cut. There have been at least two relatively well publicised rounds of redundancy at Merlin in the past 12 months, possibly more that I'm not familiar with.
 
Going to be honest, I think Merlin having the Legoland parks is likely only to be for 5 years max. If Lego are expanding their brands and experience division I can see them eventually pulling Legoland directly into Lego.

Whether that then means Kirkby then divest themselves of Merlin at that point I don’t know.
 
Dave said:
Going to be honest, I think Merlin having the Legoland parks is likely only to be for 5 years max. If Lego are expanding their brands and experience division I can see them eventually pulling Legoland directly into Lego.

Whether that then means Kirkby then divest themselves of Merlin at that point I don’t know.
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*Kirkbi

But yes, I’d mostly agree. The only weird sticking point to that is how Merlin have recently renewed their brand deal with Lego, in perpetuity…
 
With regard to Merlin and Lego ever fully parting ways; don’t you also have oddities like the Lego waterpark at Gardaland, wherein Lego is integrated within non-Lego attractions?

That would probably have to go and be rethemed at a great cost!
 
Islander said:
*Kirkbi

But yes, I’d mostly agree. The only weird sticking point to that is how Merlin have recently renewed their brand deal with Lego, in perpetuity…
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Contractually all perpetuity means is there is no expiry date to the contract, but it doesn’t mean the contract can’t end. There is always a functional way both parties to the contract can bring it to a close.
 
Tom said:
Didn’t see the Lego Centres going before Sea Life, Tussauds, and probably even Dungeons.
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ever since the Lego House opened I’ve been expecting Lego to want to run more visitor experiences so makes sense for them to buy the Discovery Centres. Whereas there isn’t really another major aquarium operator to take over Sea Life.
 
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