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The Sinking Ship: (Un)Love Letters to Merlin

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Rick said:
Some might suggest that the budget for SW8 has been tampered with, that's not my understanding - but someone closer to the project might tell me that's incorrect.
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I can't say for certain but it is my understanding that the budget for SW8 was cut following the events of 2015. I believe that as of June 2015 the project was a fair way down the planning process, a larger scale wooden coaster in and around Forbidden Valley for 2017. It was cancelled not long after June 2015 and we now have what is going on with The Flume's site.
Tim said:
If I can just wade in here there's one argument which keeps recurring I feel I must address.

Merlin is a business which must make money and please its shareholders. This is undeniably true. However different businesses require different strategy's to meet that aim. If your company sells a product you want to be profit driven; keep all spending to a minimum and sell at the highest margin. In the world of entertainment, especially the investment heavy world of themed entertainment profit can't be the only driving force.

This is the reason Theme Parks (as we know them today) didn't exist before Disneyland. Disneyland was a poor investment opportunity. There was no proof it would work, quite the opposite. But Disney didn't invest in the idea because he expected it to financially pay off. He hoped it would but the driving force behind the park was personal; he wanted to create a place everyone could enjoy together.
Of course once the concept struck gold what Disney would have happily run as a loss leader to promote the brand quickly became the very heart of the company.

This formula of ambition and sustainable business is at the heart of all successful Theme Parks today. Most of the big names started off as family businesses with a visionary at the helm. Some of them still operate this way (looking at you Europa). Others have passed the mantle onto like minded people; They are big name company's but ones that have creative ambitions.

The parks which have failed have not kept this balance. Either they have tried to build beyond what the business could sustain or they have lost the passion for their product which kept people interested. Do both of these sound familiar?
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Brilliant post, this sums up my thoughts perfectly.

:)
 
Dear Sir/Madam


I have been part of this website for 4/5 years. I joined mostly becuase Towerst***s thought i was spam and wouldnt let me and as a by stander thought what the break away group that became this website provided better quality, i have a deep love of the theme park just like the rest of you and i saw it as a chance to meet new people, hopefully visiting the other parks our country has to offer whilst doing so.Unfortunatly due to money/time I have only ever been able to come to a a meet once (Scarefest 2014)

Now, Ive always been a little jelous of alot of you people on here as most of you own a annual passes and visit the park X amount of times of year. After i joined i couldnt beleive the amount of negative VIBES that surround merlin/alton towers. "This couldnt be true!" i thought to myself. "these people all know what they are talking about, they all still go to the park whenever they can. So why are they being so down about it. Maybe its becuase they all go to much, how can you possible enjoy something like Alton Towers if you practically live there" Which is genually what i thought and even posted it on some long forgotten post. Getting, some well deserved some abuse for it. I also being a bit cockey put some other post which got the rightful replies of, what on earth are talking about!

when i first went to AT just after Nemesis opening, fell in love the place. Next, a school trip. Fell in love with the place some more. 2visits with previous Mrs Slugjc's (including a trip just after scarefest in which hail stones casued a little cut on the eye whilst riding AIR for the first time.) Still loved the place. When i started with the now Mrs slugjc's usuing some money given to me by my late grandfather i thought hell, lets book into the hotel have a couple of days of magic, at scarefest. Upon entering the hotel for the first time, my god, this love affair i had, grew. Until, i got to the room, as father and mother slugjc loved a Forte Travelodge in the 90's, i had experiance in shoddy cheap hotels. For me this was when i knew the magic was starting to go. Big Hotel bill, cheap, damp and noisy hotel showed me that Alton Towers was seen as a place to make maximun profit.

Ok, no problem slugjc, just a blip. The hotel isnt what you expected but we can move on. The rides.To see some loved rides disapear from the roster is heartbreaking. I think the swans are a big miss, just becuase they looked beautiful on the water. But to get rid of HEX, NEMESIS SUB TERRA, SUBMISSION (despite the fact that i never/would ever ride it) are all rides that should be there now. Id even would have kept energiser (purely for a the memory of a friend of mine shouting Jesus!!!! repeatly on it. I can understand rides such as Thunder looper, corkscrew and Black hole leaving to make room for newer rides. But to close good flat rides for no reason other then cost. Bad Cheap Merlin.

The final thing i have to say is this. I think the magic is still there. Its not like it was in the 90's ill admit. The park seemed to be on the up and up. Exciting new developments it summed up the feeling of the country as a whole. I think the magic in the park has gone. But the magic for me personally is this. Its the excitment i get knowing im off to the park. Wake up in the morning jump in the car. Travel through some of the most amazing country side (once you get passed ashbourne anyway) Cold nights in winter listning to ride themes on youtube. Reading books on Alton Towers. More importantly reading the post on this website. Merlin can take away the magic from the park with cost cutting. But what merlin can not do is take away the magic first experianced by a 11 year old Slugjc stood in the queue line for then new nemesis, it cant take away the thrill that this 32 year old still gets when talking and reading about it online. They cannot take away listning to John Wardley talk about his job.

This is where the magic lies, sorry if ive bored you. I could have gone on deeper, but other people have made similar points to me have done it better. So thank you

Love and Hugs

Slugjc
 
But this isn't just about where Towers has gone wrong. This is about the Merlin group and their approach as a whole to running their theme parks.

I haven't got the experience of visiting Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington WOA or LegoLand as a child (though I can claim Parc Asterix and DLP). My visits have all been as an adult after the turn of the millennium. So I can't talk of the 1990's heyday, nor can I be accused of rose tinted memories of youth.

I live within 45 minutes drive of 3 of Merlin's parks and public transport travel of their London Midways - but I haven't had a MAP for almost four years. And sadly, I haven't missed not owning one. There were times in the past we considered popping along for the South meets (but only Thorpe) and inevitably by the time we were about to set off everyone had moved on somewhere else, which kind of proves the issue. These parks are not able to sustain us for a whole day. They don't keep us there from the moment we arrive to closing time. My last few visits, we wouldn't bother arriving for opening time either. They are not able to provide an enjoyable enough atmosphere or experience to gloss over the odd ride having a breakdown, certainly in the cases of Chessington and TP. And even when they're not, everyone hits the coasters, do a few other bits and move on.

There's few or none decent eateries to sit down and chill for a while in. Not enough flat rides and indoor attractions. No shows to be sitting near and get drawn in by enough to say: 'lets hang on and watch the end'. This is an issue across all of the parks, which indicates an issue with the strategy of Merlin management.

I did enjoy my last visit to Thorpe (Fright Nights) but my abiding thoughts of the place are of the actual guest experiences I've had. How the queues are often appalling and how FastTrack is so heavily prioritised over the regular queue - those who haven't forked out yet more money are pushed down to second rate. I felt it as an AP holder, so how regular Joe Public who has shelled out for the entry ticket feels is no doubt far worse. They do have a fairly decent line up of rides, some great coasters - but it's not been enough for me to invest in a TP pass.
Chessington benefits by being a pleasant park in terms of landscaping but chronic underinvestment in the rides is clearly obvious with the ones I enjoy the most are now a shadow of their former selves with nothing new to pull me to visit. Yes, they have put a lot into their zoo and animal attractions, which costs a lot and that's clear where all the money has gone, but I can go to better (and cheaper) zoos. Last time I visited I was also charged to park on a field. For no reason.
I don't even bother with Lego Land (which is ironic as a fan of Lego and Theme Parks).

I returned to Alton Towers for the first time since 2012 (so pre-Smiler being completed!) for this years fireworks. Reasons for not returning have included the ridiculously short opening hours (it puts you off when you have to travel a considerable distance). I personally keenly felt the loss of Hex of all the closures. I didn't bother riding Rita because of the horrendous queue time. 30 mins queuing outside for Woodcutters was a farce (though at least the food arrived quickly once ordered). The hotel experience hadn't changed in the slightest. Not enough 'non-family' space, unsatisfying restaurant choices. I stay in them for convenience and the social aspect, not because I particularly like the hotel. The highlights: of course Nemesis, the beast that will always lure us back in. Socialising with everyone. Riding Thirteen with a newbie who had no clue :p Going back to AT was like an old friend, that one you can not see for many years and still be as if nothing has changed between you. But will I be buying a MAP again? No.

My main gripes with all the Merlin parks?
Too much paid for Fast Track. Prioritising said Fast Track to the detriment of the queues. Poor ride running leading to said terrible queues.
Too much reliance on IP's. I have no interest in 'I'm A Celebrity', Derren Brown, and why further destroy the charm of Bubbleworks for rebranding as The Gruffalo and completely alienate a section of your visitors altogether? The joy of an original, own theme is that it's timeless. It doesn't age, instead your audience ages with it.
Gimmick, gimmick, gimmick. See previous point, the Worlds 'XYZ' will soon enough be bettered by someone else. Sure, it may always be the 'first' but it needs more to back it up. You need that solid ride and theme beneath it that will last across the years.
TLC needs to happen ALL THE TIME. We notice when things look tired, in all parks (DLP has been a culprit of this of late just as much). We notice when rides are closed. We notice the cuts in opening hours. We notice the food outlets being shut (people will complain about poor food more than anything!) and the lack of the small unexpected things such as a random actor, a piece of theming, the ability to stand and watch others enjoying themselves on a ride too. It leads us to feel we are not getting the same value for our money that we did before.

A theme park should be an immersive experience. It should be a place to forget the real world for a while. It's escapism, pure and simple. You may capture a child's imagination and create 'magic' for them, but the people you really need to win over are the cynical adults who make the decision whether to visit and spend their money on the place. Merlin seems to have wholly forgotten this fact. It is a case of profiteering for the shareholders over a genuine interest in the product. What they should do is give the parks a much freer rein to make decisions on operations, investment etc. (and have better contracts for staff as well while they're at it).
 
I went to Towers beginning of the season and for the first time ever I left before close. Way before close. In fact, around 2pm. Dare I say it, we got bored. There really was barely anything to do once we did the main coasters.

I do miss my beloved Nemesis but I have no plans to go back to the park in its current form.

One of the parks I visited for the first time this year was Heide Park. Having not been before or ever really knowing much about the place I didn't have any preconceived ideas or expectations. Despite this, the Merlin additions were glaringly obvious. Cut and paste, ill-fitting attractions/stalls/food units and variations of the same boring themes. Even down to the area surrounding Krake using Mutiny Bay skull.

I have grown to really dislike Merlin and will not be making any further visits to their parks. Its actually cheaper to fly across Europe and stay at many of the great parks available than it is to stay at Alton Towers Hotel (not including theme park entry etc) for a single night. Says a lot really.


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Just as a point, the only other UK theme park I've visited this year is Paulton's and it impressed me no end. As someone pointed out, at the moment they're a park filled with potential and Alton Towers is at it's maximum for expansion so that does help.

But it's not simply a case of giving them more leeway because they don't have the budget Merlin has. Their Dinosaur area is impressive to say the least - both new coasters are solid and perfectly aimed at the 'middle' age range kids, it's very well themed, while we were there they had a 'Dino meet and greet' and a wandering puppeteer in an explorers costume with a baby dino in a box to entertain guests. They installed five animatronics round a Zierer Tivoli! Of course time will tell how well they keep it up, but the rest of the park still looked clean and well maintained, and I noticed the new entrance building among other changes. Peppa Pig World has obviously helped to bring the money in to make that investment, but Merlin are not broke.

The Smiler fine is a drop in the ocean of their profits. Why is Chessington not able to do the same for example? I was very impressed with 'Wild Asia' when it opened, and that needs to be continued throughout the entire park but it's all slipped away for the 'safari' attractions and for the rest we got a 'competition' to re-theme Dragon Falls that was quickly scrapped. All the small potential improvements to areas (eg the re-theme of the coffee place and introduction of the Madagascar show) are overshadowed by the slow decline of their headline rides (Vampire, Tomb Blaster, Ramases, Bubbleworks etc). Why does AT have to shut so many rides this year? Yes, some are giving way for new development, but not all. We have a closed season in this country to do at least a portion of the maintenance work, they could have gotten some of them open for the summer and autumn period. Little was torn down or removed until after the park shut for the year. There is no real adequate excuse for it. As with all things, sometimes you simply need to put in the money.

The trouble is, if the tangible gain and financial return can't be figured on a spreadsheet then the bosses at the very top with control of the purse strings have no interest. Certainly not when there are shareholders to answer to. They don't have any real idea what the job of running a theme park entails, it just appeared to be a good investment at the time. Which applies across many, many businesses. I'm sure most of us have felt that at one point or another in the companies we work for. It's not simply complaining and moaning on our part, we love the parks and hate seeing them slip like this. We dislike feeling that we can't recommend them to others anymore. We know what they have the potential to be.
 
Kelpie said:
They installed five animatronics round a Zierer Tivoli!
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Not just any Zierer Tivoli, but the smallest possible model! The whole ride including the queue would fit inside The Smiler's station with room to spare.
 
Paultons are one of the best parks in the UK right now and provide so much care and dedication in what they do, from their new Dinosaur area to the immaculate park tidiness. And this was in mid August too.

They may lack the infrastructure and hardware of Chessington, but Paultons wipes the floor with them. Even Drayton may surpass Chessington in the coming years the way things are going.

Merlin may not have the most ideal financial situation right now, but they are no Sea World.
 
Indeed, I was extremely impressed with almost everything about Paultons when we visited during our South Meet earlier this year. You could see just how much those in charge of the place cared; the total opposite of a Merlin park. Yes it is on a smaller scale but Merlin have a lot more cash than Paultons, there is no excuse!

:)
 
There is your problem right there. although they are making a good turnover, they are not improving by much year after year. All the fat cats in suits, sat in there office smoking a cigar, thats been lit with burning £50 notes. will look at these figures and go, ok with made a profit bigger then last year, what can we get rid of to make sure profit still grows?
 
  • Merlin believe 'they are moving in the right direction' with their theme parks
This response just made my heart sink, it just shows you how ignorant they are to it all.

It's also what's made me (& 3 other friends) decide we wont be renewing our passes this year. First time in over a decade. We usually brought a good 8-10 friends/family with us over the year too. Whilst many say it's a drop in the ocean, it's easily well over a grand we'd all spend between us over the year, probably a lot more if add on hotel stays etc too. Yes they won't miss a grand but this soon adds up as more & more people just don't bother.

They clearly aren't...why should we?
 
So long as they get the 'right' KPI responses, they won't care. They just want positive feedback on how they're doing, which is evidenced by them only sending a link to a customer service survey on Twitter to those who had responded positively about their experiences at the park. They're effectively fixing their own KPI responses to justify what they're doing. I know it's been brought up on the forum before, but I thought it was worth mentioning again.
 
Talking of positive tweets, I wish companies or people would just stop retweeting anything remotely positive said about them, fills up the timeline with utter crap that they've probably paid for in terms of companies (I.e. Accounts made for sole purpose of promoting something)...

I don't care if Jen from Twickenham is in the DBGT queue and is already scared, if I did I'd follow her...
 
RTing any and all praise used to be the reserve of bands no one had heard of desperately trying to promote themselves, it's embarrassing a company like Alton Towers do it. They shouldn't need it and no one is going to make a decision to go based off of it.
 
Based on Lego's response to recent advertising based campaigns it's always interested me why people don't send their general Merlin concerns to Lego considering the Lego parks are a major cash cow for Merlin....

Just saying!
 
That's actually a very good idea. I doubt Lego would want to be associated with a brand that has as bad a reputation as Merlin.
 
They do seem to keep Legoland to a slightly higher standard than the other U.K. theme parks though. Although Mini Land does seem to struggle with up keep.
 
Dave said:
Based on Lego's response to recent advertising based campaigns it's always interested me why people don't send their general Merlin concerns to Lego considering the Lego parks are a major cash cow for Merlin....
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Because people don't link the two... passholders might, but that's about it.
 
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