[🌎 Universal GB] Impact on the UK market

[BSwiss]

I wonder if we will see food services improve as universal do food way much better than any of the rubbish merlin pump out.

From an end user perspective, Aramark’s food is woeful. But their service provision appears to hit the KPIs set by Merlin as they’re entering their 5th year of the partnership. Aramark’s value to AT isn’t that they please and delight guests, but that their service provision is comprehensive and largely self-contained, so the attached costs to Merlin are set, predictable and manageable.

So, i don’t think competition from Universal would prompt a huge shift from Merlin in terms of food offering. If they were to try to claim a food-based PR win in the run up to Universal’s opening (which seems a decent idea to me), I think they’d be more likely to opt for something more short term at a fixed cost.

This would be things like a celebrity food ambassador (probably some bogus foodie vlogger like Brooklyn Beckham) or a one-off fad food (probably some bogus foodie nonsense like donut burgers).

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

world and the £50 investment in Chessington. Do you think this is Merlins response to Universal? Build more IP based brands.

Fiona Eastwood has previously said that focus is on becoming the "global leader in branded entertainment destinations." Growth will be driven by major IP partnerships (Lego, Peppa Pig, Minecraft, Bluey, Paw Patrol) to expand their fan base from 60 million to a target of 70-80 million visitors.

The highlighted words are of particular interest, as it suggests their strategy is to be the world's number one operator for turning third party IPs into physical attractions. This is slightly different to the models offered by Disney and Universal. Disney creates and owns its entire ecosystem. Universal (primarily now) licenses a few blockbuster IPs to build massive, immersive worlds. Merlin wishes to partner with a wide variety of brands to operate a diverse portfolio of attractions, of all sizes, all over the globe. They don't want to be the brand. Merlin want to be the company that every major brand trusts to run their attraction

 

[Benjsh]

There's been way too much doom and gloom on here about Merlin of late for me. Are they perfect and immune to criticism? Of course not but things aren't quite as bad as many paint them to be. All our major parks in the UK have received quite a bit of investment of late.

-Chessington have now had 2 major IP lands added which is huge for them, with the biggest one of all coming next year to make it 3.

-Thorpe Park continue to get upgrades around the park and not long ago had the UK's tallest coaster added.

-Towers have had multiple new additions over the last 5 years including a rebuild of their most famous coaster, a thrill flat ride, a makeover of Duel with Alton manor, some children's rides added to Cbeebies and also money spent on the Sky Ride.

Universal coming might well be the best thing that's ever happened for us UK enthusiasts as Merlin simply can't allow their core UK parks to rot and go stale. So I'd expect heavy investment to keep coming over the next 5 years before Universal opens. I suspect the next major UK project for Merlin after Minecraft opens will be a brand new themed land at Towers which covers the WODW, Dungeons and Project Horizon sites. In fact I reckon we might even hear something by this time next year.

As for Thorpe Park.....a new coaster added to the Rapids site is definitely doable and I'm sure it won't be long before we see plans for their next big investment either.

It's been a rough old time for UK parks over the last decade but I do think we might be finally coming out of that period.