Survey pointing to potential Minecraft IP?

[Jamooney]

If it does prove real, it'd be a slam dunk for Alton.

 

[BSwiss]

This feels a great IP opportunity for AT or another park.

It’s a very distinctive brand with an instantly recognisable aesthetic. It’s purposefully limitless, so the options for applying the branding to the attractions are massive.

It’s also firmly established in school-age child culture. My 5yo wants the Minecraft pyjamas he sees in Primark even without playing the game - boding well for longevity.

 

[Bowser]

I don't know a lot about Minecraft but from what i do know i'm struggling to imagine it as a themed area. Well more the rides than the area as i get the block buildings etc aspect. From my understanding Minecraft typically collaborated with existing brands themselves (both officially and unofficially) whereas theme park rides tend to be modelled around characters, especially entire themed areas with multiple rides.

I suppose it's the equivalent of LegoLand in that it would be more of an aesthetic you can apply to whatever you want?

 

[DistortAMG]

This would be a great IP for Alton Towers, it is one of Microsoft biggest, a true AAA brand. What they could apply it to is limitless. I am sure Microsoft would be very eager to get this into the theme park space too, seeing how well other massive gaming brands have done in the same space. Someone like Merlin would be a logical company and logical home for something such as Minecraft if you ask me. Far better suited than being under the Universal or Disney brands as Microsoft I am sure, would be eager for a lot of terms and conditions that perhaps would not be possible under those big two.

Having played many hours of Minecraft with my 9 year old, there are many excellent opportunities they could create attractions from using the general Minecraft aesthetic and from what is in the base game. Thinks like mine coasters, mine boat rides and all sorts of similar things would fit perfectly in this world.

 

[tayspru]

Functionally I know very little about Minecraft. I can see a boat ride being easy enough to make interesting using the dungeons ride system though.

You can have the ride travel through different environments, the Creepers are good for the obligatory “scary scenes”, I believe Minecraft Steve would probably work as a de facto main character to follow, it could be really cool if done well. It would also be easy to make immersive given the aesthetic wouldn’t be terribly expensive

 

[Steve74]

Functionally I know very little about Minecraft. I can see a boat ride being easy enough to make interesting using the dungeons ride system though.

You can have the ride travel through different environments, the Creepers are good for the obligatory “scary scenes”, I believe Minecraft Steve would probably work as a de facto main character to follow, it could be really cool if done well. It would also be easy to make immersive given the aesthetic wouldn’t be terribly expensive

I could apply for a job there as a roaming actor.

 

[BooMT]

Both my 6 & 11 year old play Minecraft & I've dipped in and out since it was released; As many have mentioned, there's a really strong brand with core characters, a variety of 'mobs' & a clear visual association that's pretty limitless in terms of what you can create. Minecarts are a staple feature & could easily be turned into a coaster, I'm just imagining little faux row boats drifting past some drowned plenty of opportunity for mild spook attractions (like HHMP at LLW), flying theatre/4D, craft/building interactives etc etc.

I stand by my earlier comment though, whilst there's more space at AT, it feels more of a fit for Legoland, especially with the large range of Lego sets they have in the collaboration (we have a few!). Either way, this would be an exciting IP partnership for Merlins in-between age offering & big kids too!

Not sure if already mentioned but Minecraft did just pair up with Universal for a paid for downloadable map and live event - no idea how deep that partnership goes!

 

[James Prince]

Xxxx

 

[Rob]

Looks pretty clear that at this stage it is market research being done by Merlin that may or may not lead to something at one or more of their parks down the line.

My knowledge of Minecraft is practically zero though, so I have no idea if it would be any good for the parks!

 

[Thameslink Rail]

It would be stupid for Thorpe but could work at Towers or Chessington. That said, I'm not sure if Minecraft will be popular for much longer, it is already 15 years old and whilst there is a film coming out, it would be a massive gamble to ride on a film's popularity since we don't know if it's any good yet.

 

[cloudburster]

It would be stupid for Thorpe but could work at Towers or Chessington. That said, I'm not sure if Minecraft will be popular for much longer, it is already 15 years old and whilst there is a film coming out, it would be a massive gamble to ride on a film's popularity since we don't know if it's any good yet.

I'm absolutely not the target audience for Minecraft, but it seems it's still an extremely popular game/franchise. From my limited research, there's been over 169 million active players in the past month. I think if done right it could be a solid IP for Merlin, Chessington in particular imo. I'd much rather Towers gets original concepts personally, though bumping Walliams for it wouldn't be an issue in my books ha.

 

[BooMT]

I actually checked my Branded Survey account this morning (haven't used it for a while!) The first survey I got was the AT Minecraft one - overall it's much more detailed and extensive than has been shared and seems very centred around converting the current waterpark at AT into this Minecraft concept. About 85-90% of the survey was about this and the rest very briefly touched upon a Minecraft land and accommodation (pretty much everything that @James Prince has already shared). There's a lot of concept art about specific attractions for the waterpark and questions about how much would you pay to visit (up to £75).

 

[James]

It would be stupid for Thorpe but could work at Towers or Chessington. That said, I'm not sure if Minecraft will be popular for much longer, it is already 15 years old and whilst there is a film coming out, it would be a massive gamble to ride on a film's popularity since we don't know if it's any good yet.

I would assume if Minecraft were ever used, they would base the theme on the original source (the game), rather than the film.

A bit like CATCF: The Ride that was based off the Quentin Blake illustrations/book material, rather than the 2005 Tim Burton film.

As said above Minecraft appears to still have a lot of popularity. It’s probably one of the better IPs to go for. I think it would fit nicely in TWODW/for Project Horizon, but could easily slip into any Merlin park.

 

[Matt.GC]

I have a Branded Surveys account and this is the second survey that came up. I got the Chessington one. My profile of being a middle aged father of 3 children in the target group demographic will of course have played a part in pretty much going straight in to it (you have no idea what they're asking you about until you're quite far in so it's not something you can choose). But from knowing Branded Surveys and being able to stumble across it almost immediately indicates that this is going to quite a wide audience.

There was nothing that said the survey itself was confidential, but some of the pictures did state they were confidential property of Merlin Entertainments (and I note some of them have already been posted) and I don't believe in posting them. But the one around the waterpark was not marked as such.



They asked about the attractions and experiences a possible land within the park they could have first, then a potential waterpark, then either a Minecraft hotel or themed rooms. Since they're asking about all 3, across 2 different parks, I would imagine they are investigating the use and strength of the IP and what to do with it rather than having detailed grand plans drawn up. I think it's likely an IP they want and are testing the water of how they could use it.

 

[Bowser]

I have a Branded Surveys account and this is the second survey that came up. I got the Chessington one. My profile of being a middle aged father of 3 children in the target group demographic will of course have played a part in pretty much going straight in to it (you have no idea what they're asking you about until you're quite far in so it's not something you can choose). But from knowing Branded Surveys and being able to stumble across it almost immediately indicates that this is going to quite a wide audience.

There was nothing that said the survey itself was confidential, but some of the pictures did state they were confidential property of Merlin Entertainments (and I note some of them have already been posted) and I don't believe in posting them. But the one around the waterpark was not marked as such.



They asked about the attractions and experiences a possible land within the park they could have first, then a potential waterpark, then either a Minecraft hotel or themed rooms. Since they're asking about all 3, across 2 different parks, I would imagine they are investigating the use and strength of the IP and what to do with it rather than having detailed grand plans drawn up. I think it's likely an IP they want and are testing the water of how they could use it.

Chessington sounds much more plausible considering they're already working on a water park.

 

[Matt.GC]

Chessington sounds much more plausible considering they're already working on a water park.

I'm inclined to agree as soon as the Waterpark was mentioned.

However, the vast majority of questions were asking about the land itself. Some of them quite detailed ideas like interactive upcharge wristbands. The waterpark and hotel questions were quickly glossed over. At one point they wanted me to rank the 8 attraction ideas (coaster, dark ride, water ride, drop tower, shop, interactive restaurant, wristband experience).

When you couple that with the various questions about how my opinion of the park itself, gate prices, and traveling distance would change if a Minecraft land was built, and the fact they've also been surveying Towers, indicates that they are testing how strong the IP is. Seems like they are deciding on what investment decision to make.

Of course this could all come to nothing. But I'm quite warm to the idea. If I think about Minecraft, it really has stood the test of time so far. It's an IP that's now 13 years old but it's popularity is not waning. My eldest is 15 this year and still plays it online with his mates. My daughter was even born and she regularly plays it. It started as PC game but the franchise has seen releases on PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, and mobiles, most of which are cross play among platforms. A movie is coming out, there's franchise merchandise everywhere and Microsoft thought it was worthy enough to buy the studios that make it.

Super Mario Bros was released in 1985, and Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991. Both are extremely valuable IP's (at one point, it seemed like Sonic was keeping Sega Sammy holdings afloat) that have proved reasonably timeless and are now as popular as they've ever been. Minecraft is a massive IP and I think would be a great scoop for Merlin. Probably would be beneficial for Microsoft as well.

 

[Jb85]

Thirteen retheme? Minecart coaster? Seems ready made in my opinion.

Totally agree though this seems very much like we’ve got the IP now what do we do with it

 

[AT86]

I doubt they even ‘have’ the IP.

This feels like very early stage stuff in terms of working out the appetite for the proposed ideas for the demographic of the 2 parks.

They can then use this in their discussions with Microsoft as to what they propose to do with their brand (if it even comes to that).

 

[Matt.GC]

Thirteen retheme? Minecart coaster? Seems ready made in my opinion.

So, just picked the kids up from school and told them about this in the car. The "Nether", which the coaster concept description says the mine cart takes a journey to, is some sort of dimension in Minecraft based on hell which is accessed via a portal. Apparently, mine carts in Minecraft have drop tracks with the use of some for of red blocks.

 

[dazza4783]

Thirteen retheme? Minecart coaster? Seems ready made in my opinion.

Totally agree though this seems very much like we’ve got the IP now what do we do with it

I think it is more likely that Project Horizon would be the "Into The Nether" coaster. With the land either taking up the coaster corner area, or stretching to include the dungeons and Burger Kitchen area.