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The World of David Walliams: General Discussion

Dave said:
I’m no Efteling fan though I see it’s quality, however where your argument falls down for me is that Efteling became a national institution despite of the quality of its “theme park” credentials rather than because of it.
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Not sure I get what you mean, it has great attractions for all ages, great setting, good value, most importantly has its own appeal that the public love.

I don't get why these could ever be considered obstacles to popularity, or think its theme park credentials are bad (it inspired theme parks in the first place!). Efteling's appeal and offering is really everything Alton Towers pretends to be but doesnt deliver, because of years of short termism.

I'm not saying you are, but someone must be pretty jaded/cynical to prefer Alton Towers's current direction over Efteling's. But Merlin dont do long term investment (something that has come back to bite them recently).

Anyway Efteling was just one park mentioned, surely nobody thinks Merlin are using IPs in the same way places like Europa, Phantasialand or even Paultons (which was way ahead of Merlin on that front) have used them. Parks that started from similar beginnings and similar times.

I think in a different direction, Alton Towers could still be up there with the best and have its own appeal for all ages. I dont have a massive problem with this particular choice, but I do with the bigger picture
 
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Altonadvocate1 said:
Very good point.
Personally, I loved Enid Blyton when I was a kid, but according to revisionist history she was a racist, sexist, homophobic bigot. I don't see it myself.
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Ah, the Faraway Tree, with its heroes Dick and Fanny, Noddy being attacked by those pesky Gollywoggs and that interesting read the Little Black Doll...
No questionable things in Enid's back catalogue.

Walliams cliche Asian shop keeper is fairly questionable; although he does offset that easily with his representation of old people and sympathetic dealings with gender identity.
 
I am absolutely loving all the hate for this re-theme. Walliams is a massively popular author in the 'tween' demographic - what towers is doing is not for us but for the gap they have in their lineup. No wonder adults are not enamoured with it because it's not for us!

I am assuming the 'groundbreaking' ride is a dark ride of some sorts. I am more interested to see what the support rides are going to be - I am assuming a couple of flats from a company such as Zamperla. Also, you do wonder what they are going to do with the Driving School?
 
TakeYourMedicine said:
Not sure I get what you mean, it has great attractions for all ages, great setting, good value, most importantly has its own appeal that the public love.

I don't get why these could ever be considered obstacles to popularity, or think its theme park credentials are bad (it inspired theme parks in the first place!). Efteling's appeal and offering is really everything Alton Towers pretends to be but doesnt deliver, because of years of short termism.

I'm not saying you are, but someone must be pretty jaded/cynical to prefer Alton Towers's current direction over Efteling's. But Merlin dont do long term investment (something that has come back to bite them recently).

Anyway Efteling was just one park mentioned, surely nobody thinks Merlin are using IPs in the same way places like Europa, Phantasialand or even Paultons (which was way ahead of Merlin on that front) have used them. Parks that started from similar beginnings and similar times.

I think in a different direction, Alton Towers could still be up there with the best and have its own appeal for all ages. I dont have a massive problem with this particular choice, but I do with the bigger picture
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My point is Efteling became embedded in the national consciousness before it started building some of the more quality attractions it is now renowned for.

I don’t get how Merlin are using IP’s any differently to other parks. The IP’s they are acquiring are pretty solid (The characters in CBeebies land are catnip to children in its intended age bracket, David Walliams is the biggest selling children’s author in the UK currently and Darren Brown is hugely popular and thankfully they are all British IP’s rather than americanising the parks). I think you are confusing an IP strategy with poor attraction design, which has nothing to do with the IP and everything to do with poor budgets and limited imagination.
 
I'm pleased we're getting a retheme in an area of land that is long overdue. I can see this performing well with the target demographic to be fair and will also generate a lot more press than something they'd have done in house.

Although I wish Alton Towers kept creating their own lands and stories, Cbeebies land worked a treat and to be honest, the industry as a whole is shifting more and more to already known IPs. As much as it pains, you can't wish back time to an era that has been and gone...
 
Dave said:
I think you are confusing an IP strategy with poor attraction design, which has nothing to do with the IP and everything to do with poor budgets and limited imagination
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I mean more poor park development, which over reliance on IPs is a big part of, as well as unmaintained, tired older attractions, no new ideas and gimmicks, it’s all part & parcel of the same problem.

People thinking this is just adults moaning that they didnt get ‘their’ preferred theme are missing the point. And I have no idea what the area will be like quality wise. It might be great on that front!

Dave said:
I don’t get how Merlin are using IP’s any differently to other parks
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This is what I was getting at with other parks having just one self contained IP area to get the benefits of IP while still developing the main park extraordinarily well, so that newcomers come for the IP and stay for the park.

Merlin arent doing this, theyre not opening an IP area to kickstart park growth or pay off costly prototypes (Arthur) . They‘re replacing parks’ whole offerings for some age groups with IPs and a patchwork of IPs in other parks. Their main business goal for parks is now brand association rather than long term development

Maybe this belongs in a discussion on Merlin and IP on the whole but I think it continues to spell badly. But you are right at least it isnt Shrek

LordOfDarkness said:
As much as it pains, you can't wish back time to an era that has been and gone...
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Have all the successful European parks been and gone? There’s no era, there were IPs in attractions going back decades, the big difference is are they used for short or long term development, are they at the expense of anything else?
 
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I’ll be honest it’s a decent fit for the target audience to be fair how long it will last will be another thing

The only thing I’m not looking forward to is when they hold the preview event for all the “bloggers” and having to listen to endless dribble about how amazing the area is and how great merlin is etc etc we all know it will be done on the cheap with vinyl stickers and the usual gibbons
 
maybe a slip and slide play area based on Mrs Emery :D

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I wouldn't be surprised if one of the attractions was a themed walkthrough similar to RotB at Chessington, considering how successful that was.
 
I’m a little late but I’m mixed about the re-theme
I think it’s a waste that they filled the dungeons building when they quite easily could have done something with that building in terms of a dark ride with that being said I think a dungeons/medieval or even Victorian/steampunk would have been a better choice for the area but I think they learnt that a general theme like CCL did not age well and David Walliams’ is what will draw the general public. I think the area will work with the loud “magical” sounding music too.

It’s a positive that they are re-theming to this extent and with an IP and it shows that Alton Towers may be on its way to be becoming what it was. Especially with SW9 plans potentially coming to light next year and maybe the removal of the Blade was the park saying that they’ll replace it next season.
 
ScottishChris said:
I am assuming the 'groundbreaking' ride is a dark ride of some sorts.
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For those (understandably) sceptical that Merlin might actually invest in some new hardware - and not simply redress the Charlie boat ride again in 2021 in ‘phase two’ of Walliams World - a reminder that fairly decent dark rides are available at relatively low cost these days. Legendia paid just over £2.5m for their trackless:

https://blooloop.com/features/legendia-bazyliszek-interactive-dark-ride/
 
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If Merlin doesn’t cut corners and actually put effort into this, this could be huge for them.
I know his books are incredibly popular to the youngsters that are above the CBeebies age bracket so they need to do this right.

I like David, he picks and choose which way he bends depending on the day of the week. I know and I accept this area isn’t for me but I want to see this done right and with effort.
 
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