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What do UK Theme Parks do better then their European competitors?

pjanvil

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I was thinking at UK theme parks we put up with a lot of things that it doesn't seem guests would stand for compared to many European theme parks. Therefore I thought it would be interesting to get peoples take? What do UK Theme Parks do better then their European competitors?
 
To be honest, not a lot! I rate so many European theme parks over all UK theme parks that I have been to.

I suppose the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the stunning natural setting of Alton Towers, but that's not really a UK theme park doing something right, it's just how it is.

There would have been a time when you could have said investment in quality ride hardware was something UK parks did better, but even that is no longer the case when you see what is being built each year out in Europe.
 
Hmm I thought of innovation and creativity too with lack of space like Nemesis Oblivion and Icon but it does seem the UK industry has stagnated compared to Europe in recent years. Any thoughts why the UK seems to be doing badly compared to things in Europe where climate are economies are similar?
 
The fact that the 4 most visited theme parks in the UK are run by one company must play into this.

It’s like having Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix, Futuroscope and Puy Du Fou owned by the same company in France. Or Europa, Phantasia and Heide in Germany.

It stifles competition and creativity.

Why would you push the envelope of theming and immersion as far as possible at say Alton Towers for example, if all it would do is show up how Chessington and Thorpe weren’t as good? So it’s in Merlin’s interest to keep it all much of a much-ness.
 
The fact that the 4 most visited theme parks in the UK are run by one company must play into this.

It’s like having Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix, Futuroscope and Puy Du Fou owned by the same company in France. Or Europa, Phantasia and Heide in Germany.

It stifles competition and creativity.

Why would you push the envelope of theming and immersion as far as possible at say Alton Towers for example, if all it would do is show up how Chessington and Thorpe weren’t as good? So it’s in Merlin’s interest to keep it all much of a much-ness.
Thats a good point actually, and it kinda highlighted that the two parks doing well/better atm when it comes to things like theming are both separate from Merlin Poultons and Drayton. Drayton has to compete with Towers and always has done by being different to the offering at Towers, I mean you only have to compare their rapids these days. Poultons I guess kinda competes with Chessington though being a bit further away.
 
Hmm I thought of innovation and creativity too with lack of space like Nemesis Oblivion and Icon

Icon is a terrible layout even with the cramped space.

The only positive to UK parks seems to be that Towers has arguably the best coaster line up in Europe, in terms of hardware. Maybe.
 
The one (and only) thing I can think of, is the that, unlike most parks in mainland Europe, UK theme parks close their queue lines at the advertised park closing time, causing far less frustration when it gets to park closing.

I know that some European parks do keep their queue lines open until park closing time, but I find that the vast majority close their queue lines early depending on how long the queues are, which can get pretty confusing as you never know if you’ll get to a ride and find it open or closed.

Not just the smaller European parks, you also find early queue line closures at major parks like Efteling, Phantasialand, Tivoli and Walibi.

At least at most UK parks, the park closing time is the time that the queues close so you always know where you stand.
 
I can understand early queue line closing in certain scenarios, for example if there's a late-night closing of 10pm/11pm/12am, then I can appreciate it as there is likely not going to be any huge waits by then anyway. It's when it's at a park with a 5pm/6pm close that it really infuriates me. We just missed out on another ride on Kärnan when we went a couple of years ago as it had a 45 minute wait, so it closed at 5.15pm. Phantasialand is a sucker for doing it too, but at least they advertise when the queues will close (typically 15-30 minutes before park close) outside each attraction. We certainly take it for granted in the UK.
 
I really don’t understand why so many parks on the continent do it.
It just leaves guests with a sour taste in their mouth when they leave the parks, but closing queue lines early does seem to be standard practice across mainland Europe. I agree that we definitely take the UK queue line closing practices for granted.
 
Yeah if your advertised closing time is 6pm, then your queue lines should close at 6pm. People will just be wasting time trying to find a ride that hasn’t closed early, which as has been stated above, would leave a sour taste for guests. It wouldn’t make me want to rush back.
 
UK queueline closes taken for granted in the UK???
I don't, I'm a season ticket holder at BPB.
They shut the queueline at any time in the last half hour if there is no actual queue.
"Breakdown mate".
 
We are better at queueing.

Can't really give our parks credit for this but queuelines tend to naturally organise themselves in the UK. No desperate scrum behind the airgates. If a row takes 4 people then 4 people fill the bay and everyone else waits.
Even Europa with it's amazing queue management only use the bays correctly on a handful of rides with dedicated loading staff.
 
We are better at queueing.

Can't really give our parks credit for this but queuelines tend to naturally organise themselves in the UK. No desperate scrum behind the airgates. If a row takes 4 people then 4 people fill the bay and everyone else waits.
Even Europa with it's amazing queue management only use the bays correctly on a handful of rides with dedicated loading staff.
Also queue jumping is less-prevalent in the UK, although a small minority are guilty of it.
 
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