Well well my second post of the night defending Merlin !!! Wow call the papers, call my Doctor !!
Thorpe Park have never or will never claim to be a Phantasialand or Magic Kingdom. For me I am glad of that fact, because apart from rides like Black Mamba and Maus au Chocolat and at a stretch Colorado Adventure, apart from the themeing, the rides are not really up to scratch at Phantasialand. Oohh controversial. The themeing makes Phantasialand, but the rides apart from the ones mentioned, left me wanting more.
Silber Mine: Boring now closed... Temple of the Nighthawk: Boring. Even Mystery Castle is a, if truth be known, hugely dissapointing for me.
The Magic Kingdom, Florida for me is again all theme, no substance.
Thorpe Park is changing the direction its going. They got rid of Octopus' Garden and replaced with a family water ride, thus alienating the family market. Whats so bad in trying to get it back? No one can deny that Dodgems arent fun family rides. A 4D Cinema is a great family experience. I cant see the problem here with ride choices. Maybe putting fastrack on a Dodgems isnt the best brainwave ever though !!
Thorpe Park is too one sided towards Thrills. All parks need to please all sections of the market. Thats why Tussauds got it right. All parks had rides for everyone.... Until Merlin came along.
Obviously this strategy hasnt worked, so they are now working to re-address it.
Lets see what this year and next year brings.
On another point, I stayed in their Shark Hotel on Tuesday night and had a great night. Comfy bed, great in room entertainment with mood lighting and internet TVs. Good entertainment in the dome and food and drink available until midnight at Bar 360. 3 Xbox consoles playing a variety of free games. Arcade open, pool tables, free ping pong table. I will actually go and say on record, I enjoyed it and I had a better time than my last stay at an alton Towers hotel.