I appreciate they've gotta recoup losses somewhere, what I worry about is classic "WTF Merlin" decision making.
I already expressed my opinion on closing Loggers Leap at Thorpe for 2016
in the WC16 thread. Alton's Flume is less problematic in my opinion, because unlike Loggers, it's not the park's only family ride... I never go on Alton's Flume, because the boat shape makes it too damn wet and why would I go all that way to ride a mediocre log flume in a country perpetually shadowed by miserable cloud... So I have no perception of the real void it would leave if closed, short or long term, but logic dictates "at least Alton has other stuff for families to do".
I'd say the one that "baffles" me is Hex, but actually it doesn't confuse me at all, because there's a reason we have that "WTF Merlin" topic here... It's so common for someone here to predict
exactly how terribly some decision made by Merlin as a whole or by one of their attractions, usually in PR terms, is going to turn out. A few years ago, I would have said any of us criticising couldn't run these places better ourselves, but now I'm not so sure. And I hear from people within how there is no window to challenge stupid decision making. Why do they make the same mistakes over and over and over?
Closing Hex would be a PR disaster for Alton.
But I would not be surprised if it turns out to be true and they do it, because for some reason, they
still can't grasp that keeping fans happy is really important in this age of social media. It'll be like when Alton announced they were closing at 4.
I'd argue that the only ride at Alton which would cause more of a poopstorm on social media if closed would be Nemesis.
Sub Terra deserves a mention, because there's something utterly brilliant about one of their newest rides being on the potential close to save money list. It just goes to show that adding the wrong kind of attraction, however much money you throw at the project, is not enough to keep attendance up. It's an important lesson they will forget instantly, one they probably already forgot, we'll see next year at Thorpe.
Forgetting all this, there's the fact that closing rides to save money is going to do continued long term damage. It just looks like poor form, makes people question whether they are also closed for H&S concerns or to save money. Even those who don't pay the gate price, who came with bogofs,
think they are special and are getting a massive discount... They are still aware, they still perceive it as an expensive day out. So when **** closed, it comes across as money grabbing, because it probably is.
Yes, Merlin have shareholders to please - a decreased profit matters, but if they want to turn that around they've got to be real careful. They cannot keep going thinking that they are the industry leaders in this country so it doesn't matter. On that note, I hope that places like Flamingoland use this time to lay down some serious competition, but I won't hold my breath for sense.
