SuperMuscleMan
TS Member
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- Colossus
I'm hoping it makes m£rlin look at the cost and value of the parks. Because if USGB comes in and shows better perceived value (especially with food)
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Potential New Universal UK Park
- Thread starter Craig
- Start date
Woburn Safari Park is not far down the road either.
When you think about it, it actually looks like a great place to base yourself for a UK holiday - Center Parcs, Universal, the safari park and direct links to London. Whipsnade Zoo isn't a million miles away either.
Ryan
TS Member
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- Hex
When it comes to Merlin's Theme Park Resort division, or it's European Legoland Theme Park division, who are the other competitors?
No Merlin resort theme park has a world class theme park closer than a 6 hour drive. Now half of them will potentially have one within 2 hours. Operated by a company who's brand is so revered and IP's so well known, people cross oceans and continents to experience their product.
This is big news for Merlin, massive, huge.
Didn't Merlin push through Hyperia based purely on the threat of the London Resort?
As it is, I'm sure Merlin might very well go the 'cut costs up prices' route, but I think that would be a mistake. Of course I'd never expect them to drop 100's of millions in improvements but just upping their game in operations, food and stuff like that would help immensely.
Of course they might very well manage to skate by, relying on visitors who have long loved their parks - Towers I could especially see coping like that, the location the Towers themselves will stay a draw even if they cut prices everywhere else and just stagnate. Thorpe Park could do their current plan of dropping a new Coaster every 8-10 years and painting the park a little.
But the company who should really be shitting themselves as was rightly pointed out earlier is Disney. They've neglected DLP for decades and the Studios Park is only now getting the attention it needs to turn it into a somewhat passable Disney Park. Universal will come in with every intention of outdoing Disney and dragging away their European visitors by being a superior product. Especially with DLP not having the pull the FLorida Parks do, so that Universal is more than capable of eating away at their attendance.
As it is, I'm sure Merlin might very well go the 'cut costs up prices' route, but I think that would be a mistake. Of course I'd never expect them to drop 100's of millions in improvements but just upping their game in operations, food and stuff like that would help immensely.
Of course they might very well manage to skate by, relying on visitors who have long loved their parks - Towers I could especially see coping like that, the location the Towers themselves will stay a draw even if they cut prices everywhere else and just stagnate. Thorpe Park could do their current plan of dropping a new Coaster every 8-10 years and painting the park a little.
But the company who should really be shitting themselves as was rightly pointed out earlier is Disney. They've neglected DLP for decades and the Studios Park is only now getting the attention it needs to turn it into a somewhat passable Disney Park. Universal will come in with every intention of outdoing Disney and dragging away their European visitors by being a superior product. Especially with DLP not having the pull the FLorida Parks do, so that Universal is more than capable of eating away at their attendance.
AT86
TS Member
No. They know as well as everyone else that there is no threat from the London Resort.
Gotcha. Makes sense, if they thought the London Resort was an actual threat they would've completed Hyperia's layout instead of autocompleting
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jon81uk
TS Member
It’s not a “claim”, it’s a fact. Merlin Entertainments are the second biggest operator of themed attractions in the world. No one else has as many parks and midway attractions. Six Flags and Universal are probably next behind Merlin. They never say second in quality or anything, just in size of attractions or guest numbers.
Ted
TS Member
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- Kondaa
Heide is 4 hours away from Phantasialand and 5 hours from Efteling and Tivoli Gardens. The London parks are about 5 hours by train from DLP, Mirabilandia is about 2 hours from Gardaland
They're not exactly next door to each other, but within that 6 hour range!
That guest number spot might fall to Universal once the numbers for Universal Beijing come in. In 2022 ignoring Beijing, Universal were at 46.5-47million guests, about 8 million behind Merlin and Beijing was rumoured to be around that ballpark for it's opening year. I expect in the coming years Universal will firmly take that #2 spot and if UGB happens Merlin will fall way behind.
Squiggs
TS Team
Importantly, they are only defined like this by Melin's own definition of what counts as the "biggest operator of themed attractions in the world". I'm pretty certain that all the companies you've mentioned and a couple beside could also claim to be the "second-biggest operator of themed attractions in the world" simply by changing the definition of the words included.
Bowser
TS Member
Center Parcs feels much safer than any of the Merlin places imo. Universal is ultimately a theme park, Center Parcs is a forest village for swimming, cycling and sporting activity, i don't think there's much crossover unless Universal build a water park.
Matt.GC
TS Member
You're not the Director of Strategy for one of the chains are you?
Because you've hit the nail on the head there, that's exactly what they've done! Changed strategy very little, cut everything haphazardly beyond the bone, crossed their fingers, and hoped it would all work out well in the end. Foolish, and 2 of those companies are starting to pay a heavy price for it.And food is a commodity! Theme parks aren't. That seems to be the flaw made in some of these "competition" posts. Theme parks don't necessarily "compete" with other theme parks like Broadband providers, supermarkets, or car insurers. They compete for a very tertiary leisure spend that's far more complex.
The question isn't always "shall I go to Universal Bedford, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Alton Towers, or Thorpe Park?". It's more like "shall I go to Universal Bedford, Disneyland Paris, the Maldives, Safari in Africa, a cruise around the Med, stay at home watching Netflix, work on my memoirs, or rent a Caravan in Cornwall for a week?".
There are benefits that a world class Universal park could bring to the UK theme park industry as a whole. It's not as binary as 6 million visitors to Universal Bedford = 6 million less for all other UK theme park operators. If I was CEO of Merlin Entertainments, I'd be riding off the coat tails of a revitalised interest in the UK theme park industry, positioning the company as a value alternative, strategically making investment decisions on alternative attractions based on what Universal don't have, and keeping a close eye on costs and pricing.
That's basic market positioning. Spending £millions chasing something they'll never achieve and chasing the same custom is absurd. Something many companies in other industries have had to learn the hard way. Ryanair thrive off not being the first class offerings of Virgin Atlantic or Qatar Airways. The Nintendo Switch thrives off not being a PS5 or an Xbox Series X.
If Universal is an iPhone, Merlin would be wise not to spend money trying to become a Windows Phone or BlackBerry Z10. Merlin could start opening Towers beyond 4pm, and they could stop selling inedible burgers, they could start "upping their game". But they could also just not bother and market themselves as a company offering to scratch a revitalised UK theme park itch for a fraction of the price Universal are charging.
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From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzcBWvQAO_k
Recent video with drone footage of the Lake Zone parcel.
The_bup
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Professor Burp’s Bubbleworks
If this is very busy, their minds will explode when the construction fences go in.
God rest their souls when the concrete arrives
Feels like they’ve never seen an infrastructure project go full hammer and tongs. Someone should show them the overnight timelapse videos of when old motorway overbridges get demolished and replaced in a night or the cleanup after a chimney demolition etc
Jb85
TS Member
Ah those good old days without all the current planning red tape
As recently as last month on the M25
From: https://youtu.be/Y_W83Yo5P6A
ANYway. In relation to Universal's ground surveys it would be interesting if anything archaeological shows up that would cause a potential delay. I would hope not for that area but I live to be surprised