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Theme Park Worldwide

I'm not an avid fan of TPWW, but I do think it's a bit unfair to judge them on content that is now over 7 years old, and includes someone that is no longer an active member of the channel. People change, mature and educate themselves about local customs the more they travel. From the conversation in this thread I'd assumed the VPN comments were from the latest trip. Maybe it's time to move on and give him the benefit of the doubt over that particular incident?

Agree though that in terms of interest and knowledge of culture and food, that doesn't seem to be the focus of the channel and nor does it need to be. I think Shaun usually makes a point of mentioning some of the higher end food offerings even if he doesn't eat there himself.
 
Yeah "cultural insensitivity" and racism are two very different things. He was still a youngun and 2017 was an entirely different landscape for issues around said insensitivity. He's matured, as has his content, even if his taste buds haven't. I'm also not sure about the legality of VPNs in China in 2017 vs now, but they are *extremely* common within China and travel vlogs will recommend tourists get one prior to entry. I cringe at shit I was doing 3/4 years ago, nevermind 7. 😂
 
cloudburster said:
also not sure about the legality of VPNs in China in 2017 vs now, but they are *extremely* common within China and travel vlogs will recommend tourists get one prior to entry.
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VPNs themselves aren't strictly illegal, but how you use them is. VPN services must work with the Chinese government, sort of negating the purpose of having one, but are business critical for some enterprises. You cannot use a VPN to access a service, or site, which is banned in China, or to bypass the Great Firewall. If you do, and you are a citizen, you face a prison sentence. It is enforced. Free VPN services just don't work in China at all and access needs to be set up before arrival.
NuttySquirrel said:
I do think it's a bit unfair to judge them on content that is now over 7 years old, and includes someone that is no longer an active member of the channel
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I didn't know that the VPN video was that old, I did see it out of context, but I do agree that judging them entirely on actions, the better part of a decade ago, isn't completely fair. They could have had an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

Having said that, the lack of familiarity with the South Korean credit crunch being caused by the local developer of Legoland defaulting on their loans (not Merlin) and causing an economic crisis, was a bit shocking. They mentioned that protests were happening outside the park, but not why, with the main takeaway being that the park had a low level of visitors which meant they could better enjoy their day. It's entirely possible he didn't look into what the protests were about, but that demonstrates a continued absence of curiosity in the culture or politics of the countries he's visiting.

I feel that there are better ways to handle incidents such as this. He could have taken it as an opportunity to teach his audience about some of the business practices that come with building large theme parks from the ground up. He's already touched on this a few times in the UK, when documenting the bucket load of issues the London Resort turned out to always have been. We often talk about the economic benefit a theme park can bring to a local area, we haven't yet explored the economic ramifications that happen (this time on a truly national scale) if the project doesn't quite work out how it was intended.

Further reading:
www.bscapitalmarkets.com

South Korean liquidity crunch: the case of Legoland.

A history of public subsidization Korea’s rapid economic growth since the early 1960s “has been a government-directed development in which the principal engine has been private enterprise”...
www.bscapitalmarkets.com

Turmoil at South Korean builder revives risk fear after Legoland credit crunch

Taeyoung to restructure its debt and authorities pledge to expand a $66bn market stabilisation scheme if necessary
www.ft.com www.ft.com
 
Agreed on the comments about the lack of editing, it’s probably a lack of skill but also due to churning out a video a day - when you factor in a full day at a park plus travelling he must barely sleep. Compared to other content creators I don’t think he has a particular niche (I guess you could say the breadth of places hd goes) but appeals to the mass market, probably because he’s quite plain, generic and the like.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
I'm not an avid fan of TPWW, but I do think it's a bit unfair to judge them on content that is now over 7 years old, and includes someone that is no longer an active member of the channel. People change, mature and educate themselves about local customs the more they travel. From the conversation in this thread I'd assumed the VPN comments were from the latest trip. Maybe it's time to move on and give him the benefit of the doubt over that particular incident?

Agree though that in terms of interest and knowledge of culture and food, that doesn't seem to be the focus of the channel and nor does it need to be. I think Shaun usually makes a point of mentioning some of the higher end food offerings even if he doesn't eat there himself.
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If I want food there’s tonnes of YouTube stuff on that, either theme park related or not.

I think it’s a bit weird he won’t have sauce on a hotdog or whatever but it’s just not why I watch the channel.

Horses for courses and I watch them mainly for their views on rides and theming which have usually tended to be similar to my own, so if he says he likes a ride there’s a fairly good chance that I will do.
 
I know a few people like Shaun who like their food fairly plain, and I find it very odd that people can be so judgemental/opinionated about what others do or don't choose to eat. People have restrictive diets for often complex reasons and it's not really on anyone aside from perhaps their immediate family to concern themselves over it. I think it's just as inappropriate to comment on Shaun's diet as it is to comment on any other aspects of his and Charlotte's personal lives.
 
If you put yourself on a platform and choose to continue into the hundreds of thousands of subscribers, all based on a subject that will naturally attract obsessives, you can expect scrutiny of every aspect of your content.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
I know a few people like Shaun who like their food fairly plain, and I find it very odd that people can be so judgemental/opinionated about what others do or don't choose to eat. People have restrictive diets for often complex reasons and it's not really on anyone aside from perhaps their immediate family to concern themselves over it. I think it's just as inappropriate to comment on Shaun's diet as it is to comment on any other aspects of his and Charlotte's personal lives.
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This is never something I’ve spoken about much on here, but I must ashamedly confess that I myself am somewhat similar to Shawn and the people you mention in that sense, when it comes to eating out (such as in a theme park) at least. At minimum, I share Shawn’s controversial preference for having a hot dog or burger dry…

It is one of many things that can make eating out somewhat anxiety-inducing for me these days, and while I’m quite content with the palate I have, I often worry that people judge me as a result of it. I eat a reasonably varied diet at home, largely due to my mum being a brilliant cook who takes a strong interest in food and likes to experiment with different dishes while also knowing my likes and dislikes well. But when I go out, I’d say I probably have quite a basic palate, and I often have quite a limited range of things to pick from on a restaurant menu.

I know it’s probably not intended in an offensive way and it’s probably just me being overly sensitive, but if I’m being completely honest, some of the comments towards Shawn and Charlotte about this do make me feel a little bit ashamed of my own palate and food tastes and make me worry that people will judge me negatively for it going forward. I must confess that I’ve had, at best, a complicated relationship with food and eating over the years (and not just in terms of what’s mentioned above, either), and it is something that causes me some stress at times, particularly when it seems to be one of life’s great pleasures for so many.
 
Tom said:
If you put yourself on a platform and choose to continue into the hundreds of thousands of subscribers, all based on a subject that will naturally attract obsessives, you can expect scrutiny of every aspect of your content.
Click to expand...
Expect? Sure. Deserve? Not so much.

I'm not a follower of his content, but from the few occasions I've bumped in to him, both on and off park, I've got nothing bad to say about him.
... Except for what he did to the Bookworm. ;)
 
Don't do the videos anymore, but I did think he was a decent bloke, met him a few times, including the Velvet of course...especially so as he was very understanding with my mate with complex needs.
But no sauce on a hot dog?
Send them to hell.


Only kidding Matt, lots of people want plain food, including my good lady.
Nothing strange, nothing to apologise for...just preference.
 
In fairness to Shaun and the VPN issue, on my many visits to China over the years, I've seen ALOT of Chinese people using VPN's. With the sad reality being that where I have been in China atleast, the CCP only seemed interested in pursuing ethnic minority groups permanently living in China for things like using a VPN. A blind eye is turned to any Chinese national.

In that respect and that sad reality, I don't find his VPN comment too bad, not with what is actually happening on the ground, of which Chinese people are all aware of. Being an English man advising Chinese people to use a VPN could land himself in serious trouble if he says it to the wrong people. As a whole, the CCP is more racist now than it has ever been. He needs to watch himself, for his own sake!

A Chinese person may be given a fine for using a VPN, an Indian national will be sent to a hard labour camp for a long time, for the same crime. I've seen it happen with my own eyes. The BBC have even reported on it in the past.
 
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GooseOnTheLoose said:
...
Having said that, the lack of familiarity with the South Korean credit crunch being caused by the local developer of Legoland defaulting on their loans (not Merlin) and causing an economic crisis, was a bit shocking. They mentioned that protests were happening outside the park, but not why, with the main takeaway being that the park had a low level of visitors which meant they could better enjoy their day. It's entirely possible he didn't look into what the protests were about, but that demonstrates a continued absence of curiosity in the culture or politics of the countries he's visiting.

I feel that there are better ways to handle incidents such as this. He could have taken it as an opportunity to teach his audience about some of the business practices that come with building large theme parks from the ground up. He's already touched on this a few times in the UK, when documenting the bucket load of issues the London Resort turned out to always have been. We often talk about the economic benefit a theme park can bring to a local area, we haven't yet explored the economic ramifications that happen (this time on a truly national scale) if the project doesn't quite work out how it was intended.

Further reading:
www.bscapitalmarkets.com

South Korean liquidity crunch: the case of Legoland.

A history of public subsidization Korea’s rapid economic growth since the early 1960s “has been a government-directed development in which the principal engine has been private enterprise”...
www.bscapitalmarkets.com

Turmoil at South Korean builder revives risk fear after Legoland credit crunch

Taeyoung to restructure its debt and authorities pledge to expand a $66bn market stabilisation scheme if necessary
www.ft.com www.ft.com
Click to expand...
In his defence, he clearly did some research on the protests. The reason he gave used to be correct. Back when the park was being developed there were a lot of protests due to the land it was built on. It's likley if he googled the protests this is what came up.

However those protests mostly dropped off once the park was far enough in to development it clearly wasn't going to return to how it was.

Great post by the way. Was really interesting to read more into the current situation.
 
To be clear I wasn’t suggesting his food tastes were a bad thing, just a bit alien to me but then they would be as I used to be a chef.

The point that I was trying to get at was that his opinions on food aren’t why I watch the channel, and that his opinions on rides, theming etc, are.

Probably poorly worded but certainly wasn’t meant as a criticism to his, or anyone else’s personal food preferences!
 
I enjoy TPWW content. Their enthusiasm is endearing and they come across as likeable. In terms of some of the criticisms levied here, i think anyone will get on your nerves if you spend enough time with them but i can't say i've seen anything in particular i've found off-putting and i'd credit them personally with being a big part of my renewed enthusiasm. They've taken the time to reply to a few queries i've had too which is nice as i expect they get bombarded with requests.

My only gripe is that relative to the length of the videos, they aren't as informative as one would hope. Someone on here recommended Coaster Studios to me recently. Their vlogs are typically 15-20 minutes versus TPWW 60 minutes yet i find they often contain more practical information if it's a park you're planning on visiting. Dedicating an hour to an episode can sometimes be difficult so it would be nice to have a more condensed option too but that's probably not viable for them.

TPWW tend to spend a LOT of time showcasing merchandise which isn't something i'm particularly interested in but can always skip that. They also have quite a lot of long meandering footage. Presumably the length is deliberate to maximise advertising revenue and relevant viewing metrics.
 
I followed them a lot during the Nemesis construction, but zoned out when it seemed like they were just filming their dates and holidays. Also finding out that the much named dropped 'Museum' project was literally just his shed
 
Compared to other theme park youtube channels, I do enjoy most of TPWW, mostly enjoyed the Nemesis rebuild and Book Worm restoration but I don't view some of the long travel footage stuff though I'm aware others might like that.

And to give credit where it's due, he hasn't gone down the path of stupid clickbate titles or thumbnails that so many YouTube theme park channels seem to do. Yes, they might have done that sort of stuff early on but thankfully don't seem to stoop to that level so that is something I can respect them for.
 
I usually watch his Alton Towers-related videos and enjoy them. They're not heavily edited, which I prefer, and they're usually straight to the point. There is also no clickbait title or sensationalism. I cannot stand these creators with their stupid clickbait titles and misleading thumbnails. If you do that, I will not watch your video. Same with seeing news articles, if it has a clickbait title I will not click on it.

I appreciate this:

Screenshot_7.png

Over bollocks like this:
Screenshot_4.png

Shawn has done a good job over the years and has matured a lot, which I feel has helped with the channel's popularity.

As for TPW's food choices, meh, it's not a food channel.
 
I’ve watched his videos on and off depending on what the content is and the channel’s views don’t appear to have increased much over the last couple of years. My personal opinion was that the content was more informative and appealed more to me when Charlotte wasn’t full time.

I think theme park vlogging is diluting itself and the views are being spread out over several possibly hundreds of channels now. I can’t see how the views and subscriptions could possibly grow any further. It’s an overpopulated industry.

His editing is starting to look tired generally and would benefit from a bit of a refresh and new image. He does remarkably well to film it all and edit it quickly to get it on YouTube as quick as he does.

I find he’s reasonably impartial, his opinion is usually pretty reliable on rides/parks and you can get plenty of information from his travel vlogs.. Doesn’t ever mention the costs involved though. I wouldn’t weight in with anything personal towards their food tastes/appearance etc.

He is pretty successful, I think he is victimised for it from comments on his Facebook/Youtube occasionally.
 
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