• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

The World of David Walliams: General Discussion

DiogoJ42 said:
That hasn't stopped them with Dungeons and Sealife.
Click to expand...

The difference between Sea Life and the Dungeons compared to LDC is that they're both relatively simply walk-through attractions. The dwelling time for both is much less than the 3-4 hours Merlin claim is feasible in an LDC.

Sea Life in its nature lends itself as a full scaled midway attraction and is also viable to be condensed down into a theme park. The Dungeons was merely a "have this or have nothing" jab from upper management; relatively cost-effective on the whole.

Add in the costs of operators for two rides and a 4D cinema, a master builder workshop, roaming staff and cleaners and the upfront cost simply wouldn't return the investment at Towers. They'd have to change the entire format to make an LDC work in a theme park, even to put one in a Legoland.

No matter how many times an LDC is mentioned for Towers, I firmly believe they won't put one in. It would cost too much upfront to install, they'd have to put a higher upcharge on it than the Dungeons (which has already seen its operating hours cut less than 2 months in) and the costs of running it would soon see it closed down.

Yes Merlin are renowned for making illogical and outright bizarre investment decisions. There will however be a tiny speck of common sense buried in a deepest, darkest corner in a Merlin office somewhere that dictates an LDC would never be built in a theme park.
 
I completely agree with the logic of your argument, old bean. An LDC would be a stupid move for Towers.

... Unfortunately this is exactly why I could see it happening.
 
By all means if they were to expand in the sense of resort based attractions and move the Dungeons off-park, I'd be all for them getting an LDC.
 
Dave said:
The other reason is they have a Lego based theme park in the UK, why pull guests from that property?
Click to expand...

Probably be a good thing if they had a Legoland North and Legoland South tbh from my first and only visit this year. That park can't handle the crowds.
 
The only thing in CCL right now that draws a crowd is Driving School. In my view, it would make sense to relocate and use the area for future development.

Merlin have licenced Horrible Histories at Warwick Castle - so something along the lines of "Horrible Histories presents Gross Britain". It would be fairly straight forward to put in a few low cost attractions (boat ride, walk throughs, interactive stage shows) - it would attract the age group between CBebees and 'thrill seekers'. It would also increase the appeal of AT in terms of school trips.

There is a theatre there, plenty of indoor space and a real historic building. I couldn't imagine a re-theme would be that costly. And the HH merch would sell well.
 
ScottishChris said:
The only thing in CCL right now that draws a crowd is Driving School. In my view, it would make sense to relocate and use the area for future development.
Click to expand...
That area has a lot of space in and around it but it's not very planning friendly for anything larger than Driving School. Not to mention that beyond the existing area, coaster corner has been decimated as a guest area and now performs an important backstage function for the park and MMM.

Furthermore, I not am convinced the park needs any further sprawl. There are plenty of empty pads around the park to put additional attractions in existing areas with existing infrastructure.
 
the rides are good, but the theme around them is poor, I've said before but when I went to Universal, you felt like you were in a different area. I just dont get that with AT. I dunno if its down to how much they are allowed to do but just seems like they have plonked a few things in and gone "that'll do" (y)
 
I’ve always looked to Efteling for what I think Alton Towers should be like in terms of theming. At both parks you’ve got lots of forested areas and beautiful gardens. But when you come across actual theming, both parks couldn’t be more different; at Efteling you’ve got fantastic, high quality theming that’s very well blended in with the natural surroundings. Save for a couple of areas (Wicker Man statue, Nemesis’ station exterior, etc), Alton Towers’ theming effort is utterly abysmal in comparison. :(
 
Tibble said:
the rides are good, but the theme around them is poor, I've said before but when I went to Universal, you felt like you were in a different area. I just dont get that with AT. I dunno if its down to how much they are allowed to do but just seems like they have plonked a few things in and gone "that'll do" (y)
Click to expand...
It's a shame because Alton Towers did used to have that vibe.

Katanga Kanyon is a good example, with the music blasting, walk past the rapids waterfall and the RMT smoke effects it definitely felt like you were walking into a different themed area. Now it's just completely souless.

Forbidden Valley died the day Air was opened IMO. That whole theme had no place next to nemesis. I could be talking out of my backside but I'm sure I read years ago that the 9/11 attacks caused a change of plan in the themeing?

X Sector was amazing when Oblivion first opened, but the theme felt very dated by the mid 00's and then Smiler eventually came along.

Dark Forest should work well as a themed area, but the scaffolding makes it look so cheap and tacky.
 
See I was skeptical about wickerman but with the area around the ride getting some theming it does feel like a separate area to mutiny bay so I do think it works. It would have been better to go the whole hog and retheme mutiny but there you go.
 
Last edited:


To me this pretty much confirms CCL will be getting closed off before the end of season which is why HOM isn’t in the 2019 Scarefest line up.

So some kind of re-theme/re-development for 2020?

Although perhaps not as extensive as I would have liked, if HOM is set to return that whole side of the street would still be closed for most of the year. Seems a wasted opportunity to put something new in the space that isn’t just used 2 weeks of the year.
 
I've just heard an interesting rumour regarding CCL; according to Coaster Chall on TowersTimes, someone on Facebook said that the area will be closed after the summer holidays with a Lego themed area replacing it in 2020.

Now, I think this would be very interesting. I've certainly noticed that Merlin have been more keen to integrate their other brands into their theme parks as of late, like with the Alton Towers Dungeon earlier this year and the Legoland Water Park recently announced for Gardaland. This certainly wouldn't surprise me for that reason. I'm sure it would be done well judging by Merlin's recent track record with Wicker Man and the Alton Towers Dungeon receiving good reviews, so I'm sure this would be a good fit if it happened!
EDIT: Here's the link to TowersTimes' topic: https://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40825&start=140
(Coaster Chall's post is #153)
 
Strange; that contradicts the rumour I heard. According to PladimirVutin on CoasterConnoisseur, someone on Twitter said that the area will be closed as of next week from 4pm onwards with a Megablocks themed area replacing it in 2021.
 
Danny said:
Strange; that contradicts the rumour I heard. According to PladimirVutin on CoasterConnoisseur, someone on Twitter said that the area will be closed as of next week from 4pm onwards with a Megablocks themed area replacing it in 2021.
Click to expand...
Megablocks V Lego anyone?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top