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Merlin Parks & Attractions: Quick Questions.

Spike said:
I'd personally do Thorpe Friday and Chessy Saturday. Chessington will still be evil on the Saturday I would have though but Thorpe probably has more of the rides you'd want to ride so you want to go on the quieter of the two days.
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I'd do that too ^. However, if you get to Thorpe at 9.30am on either day and get the coasters done in the first hour, that is the best way to make the most of your day, I would suggest.
 
Towerslover said:
Planning on visiting Thorpe park and Chessington this Friday and Saturday. Does anybody have any tips on which way round I should do them? Heard that Thorpe can be bad at the weekend but my first time at both parks so any advice is appreciated :)
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I say do Thorpe Friday and Chessie Saturday. If you can do Sunday as well though do Thorpe on that day.
 
Thanks for all the advice :) I'm thinking Thorpe Friday and Chessie Saturday! Preparing myself for big queues though!
 
Apologies for the double post but visited Thorpe Friday and Chessie Saturday. I thoroughly enjoyed Thorpe Park, didn't get on everything I wanted to but a nice park. Chessington on Saturday was terrible huge queues and screaming kids everywhere. I guess it would be much better on a quieter day. Also popped into Legoland on Sunday queues again were huge, nice park for the kids but nothing special.
 
We're going down south for a long weekend mid may and going to do the merlin parks plus the London attractions

How bad are the queue's likely to be for the dungeon/tussauds/Shrek on a term time monday and tuesday does anybody know?

Would it be better to pre book a time slot or is that just a little merlin ploy to get a few extra quid out of us?

Help would be much appreciated
 
Can anyone tell me if Thorpe or Chessington tend to do February half term opening?

I'm hoping to be down in London next year and would love to visit one or the other.
 
Bunny Munro said:
Can anyone tell me if Thorpe or Chessington tend to do February half term opening?

I'm hoping to be down in London next year and would love to visit one or the other.
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Chessington usually opens for February half term however it’s what they call “zoo days” with a few selected rides available.

Unfortunately Thorpe doesn’t open until mid March :)
 
Thorpe hasn't done one for about 3 years, last time they did Swarm and Stealth were open and walk on all week, was fun. Chessington tends to be like any regular day crowd-wise, even if 80% of the park is shut.
 
Sorry to bump the thread, but I was just wondering; has Merlin reverted to a 5 year investment cycle in the RTPs recently, out of interest? Was only asking because the gaps between many recent Merlin major investments in certain parks have been more than 4 years. For example:
  • The gap between Smiler (2013) and Wicker Man (2018) at Alton Towers was 5 years.
  • Gardaland is due a major investment in 2019, as it will have been 4 years since Oblivion: The Black Hole (2015), but unless they conjure something up very quickly, it doesn't look likely that they will receive one as it is already July 2018 and we haven't seen anything at all from Gardaland.
  • I heard somewhere that Thorpe Park's next major that was reportedly due in 2020 has been pushed back to 2021... 5 years after Derren Brown's Ghost Train (2016).
Is this something that has occurred in the last year or so? Or is it just that major attractions take far less time to plan and construct in other theme parks?
 
I don't think it has been announced (or at least, I haven't seen) that the capex cycle has changed, but I don't think that is hugely out of the ordinary for such a change and would go hand in hand with the already announced reduction in spending across the existing estate.

What wasn't made clear with that previous announcement was if we were likely to see the same pattern with reduced project budgets, or projects on the same scale less often.

Also, Heide didn't receive a new significant attraction this year (Peppa), four years after Dämonen. Presumably the return of Colossos will be their 'high' year in 2019(?).
 
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Rick said:
I don't think it has been announced (or at least, I haven't seen) that the capex cycle has changed, but I don't think that is hugely out of the ordinary for such a change and would go hand in hand with the already announced reduction in spending across the existing estate.

What wasn't made clear with that previous announcement was if we were likely to see the same pattern with reduced project budgets, or projects on the same scale less often.

Also, Heide didn't receive a new significant attraction this year (Peppa), four years after Dämonen. Presumably the return of Colossos will be their 'high' year in 2019(?).
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Ah right. Thanks @Rick! But wasn't Ghostbusters 5D (2017) allegedly a major year for Heide in Merlin's eyes, though? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I think Chessington received a major investment in the form of Gruffalo (2017) 4 years after they received their last major investment in the form of Zufari (2013).
 
@Matt N not sure on Ghostbusters, could be - it's a pretty cool ride. The terms high and low mean little anyway these days, particularly with Gruffalo being 'high'.

Merlin are pretty good at matching projects to parks. They don't make huge investments when parks are underperforming, but are not averse to bending that rule a tad when a park needs some ammunition.
 
Rick said:
@Matt N not sure on Ghostbusters, could be - it's a pretty cool ride. The terms high and low mean little anyway these days, particularly with Gruffalo being 'high'.

Merlin are pretty good at matching projects to parks. They don't make huge investments when parks are underperforming, but are not averse to bending that rule a tad when a park needs some ammunition.
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Makes sense, I suppose! But if I owned a theme park company, I'd make sure that all of my parks received equal investment.

Sorry to keep badgering you with questions @Rick, but would I be correct in saying that a "high" year can cost different amounts dependant on park?
 
Matt N said:
Makes sense, I suppose! But if I owned a theme park company, I'd make sure that all of my parks received equal investment.
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Why? If you were Six Flags and owned Magic Mountain and Great Escape those parks don't need/require equal spending. If you were allocating your capital expenditure, with an even split you could end up allocating more capex budget to a smaller park than it brought in in revenue.

That's not a slam on Great Escape, it just doesn't warrant the same spending as Magic Mountain or Great Adventure. It has a smaller operation with less attendance, staff and market.

Matt N said:
Sorry to keep badgering you with questions @Rick, but would I be correct in saying that a "high" year can cost different amounts dependant on park?
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Yes, that's correct. It has to work that way. If in RTP they were spending the same 'high' figure at Gardaland as Warwick, we'd quickly be in trouble.
 
New Merlin Premium Pass Holder. I’m hitting London for a few days this weekend, & was gonna hammer it’s usage at places like Madame Tussaud’s, London Eye, London Dungeon, & The SeaLife Centre.
With it being a Premium pass, am I correct in thinking I’m allowed to jump the queues to these attractions? How does entry to these attractions work? Also, I’ve heard that Madame Tussaud’s has a couple of extra attractions inside, that generally require an up/additional payment, does a premium pass cover these attractions too?
Thanks in advance
 
Sealife and Tussauds you use the Passholders entrance which cuts the queue dramatically. London Dungeons you have to go to the ticket office and they'll generally put you in straight away (In my experience.)
 
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