Alton Towers | Farmyard Retheme to "CBeebies Land"

[Jordanovichy]

Re: Alton Towers | Farmyard Retheme to

Squirrel Nutty is now to be the "Get, Set, Go Treetop Adventure"

WAAAAAAAAIT JUST ONE COTTON PICKING MINUTE.

They're changing the name of Squirrel Nutty?? THE Squirrel Nutty?! I shall be sending a strongly worded letter to Merlin shortly. Any extra signatures will be greatly appreciated.

 

[silenthillXD]

And I thought Angry Birds Detonator was a step over the line, but removing Squirrel Nutty?! Alton will never be the same again! Ha!

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Re: Alton Towers | Farmyard Retheme to "CBeebies Land"

I'm sick of **** IPs. Let's just never use our imaginations again

 

[Pierre]

We're still using imaginations - just other peoples

To be fair I'd be interested to see the cost difference between installation and marketing for regular attractions and IP's.

I imagine, roughly;

IP's
Cost of attraction/license : High
Cost of marketing : Low (the IP's already done the majority of it for you!)

Regular
Cost of attraction : Low
Cost of marketing : High

The only difference I can see is the risk of failure, and with a known IP I'd say that the risk is considerably lower than that of a standard attraction that has had **** loads of money pumped into it's marketing?

I like IP's - it's good to see things like that 'come to life' so to speak.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Re: Alton Towers | Farmyard Retheme to

I'm sick of **** IPs. Let's just never use our imaginations again

Thing is, done right IPs can be good... Even Europa are using one this year and that looks fab...

Problem is, Merlin's (and Tussauds) IP use tends to be complete crap...

This however, might be alright and not be too traumatic...

 

[furie]

The only difference I can see is the risk of failure, and with a known IP I'd say that the risk is considerably lower than that of a standard attraction that has had **** loads of money pumped into it's market
I like IP's - it's good to see things like that 'come to life' so to speak.

Generally I agree Pierre, but just to play devil's advocate for a second (or "I'm an argumentative bastard").

Both Nemesis and Oblivion (though particularly Nemesis) were sold as massive IPs in their own rights. Not only did it create a new revenue stream (through soft drink sales in the high street, to on park merchandise), but the brand power it created is arguably still strong today.

So if you get it right, then you create something fantastic and lasting. Nemesis is as relevant today (thematically) as it was 20 years ago.

I suspect though that Merlin have tried this multiple times in the last few years - trying to create a brand of Thirteen, Swarm and The Smiler. I don't think any have succeeded particularly. Now, the reasons for that may be because the rides (unlike Nemesis and Oblivion) don't live up to expectations, or they have been marketed incorrectly (The Smiler was obscure in theme and marketing - not a direct "WE HAVE A WORLD RECORD!!!" thing).

So having three big budget own IP "failures", you can see why they are happy to go down the easy route. I don't think it's right, but that's business.

On the retheme front here, I think it's a good thing. OMG! Squirrel Nutty is no more!!!!!!! So what? When was the last time anybody went on the ride? It rarely has more than a two minute queue and it's tatty as hell - it's a travesty. Despite an attempt to rejuvenate the area a few years back, the whole area is a bit rough around the edges - it needs a massive overhaul. I doubt it'll get the effort it deserves to do the job properly, but we'll see - we've yet to see Merlin do a full external IP effort beyond Ice Age 4D (which was okay, thanks Joey ).

So it's a good thing generally, even if I think it'll be a bit garish at that point in the park (Sonic looks less an eyesore suddenly ).

 

[Ian]

It'll look good and kids will love it but it must be maintained well for it to succeed.

We know that Merlin have a tendancy to let things slide. Stuff like broken speakers, faded paint jobs, broken fences, overgrown bushes and so on. If Alton manage to keep it in ship-shape condition, then it'll keep its appeal.

My interest in CBeebies Land (CBL) lies with how it looks and I like what i see so far. At Peppa Pig World (PPW) there were new-for-me ride types and it was the first big project for Paultons, there's nothing "new" for me at CBL. Alton have the experience and a massive marketing machine already so I don't think it will transform Alton Towers like PPW did for Paultons but it will draw people in. I predict long queues next summer.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

The trouble I have with this update, is that the entire park now feels too busy. There is no relief apart from the huge gardens that nobody uses, and the farm offered something where you could just unwind a little. Now with CBeebies, the entire park is stifled with too much.

This is why Disney / Universal parks work so well, because there are breaks in between areas that offer something other than an in-your-face activity. Its well balanced. Alton Towers has now stripped this balance completely, its just too much going on.

Smiler feels the same way.. X Sector has way too much going on now. Everything is in your face and it becomes too tiresome on the old noggin to see that throughout the entire park.

I'd have preferred an overhaul of the current them to bring it back to life, rather than a huge ass brand to suffocate us with.

 

[Jordanovichy]

^^give it a couple of years and everyone will get fed up with it anyway

 

[Mike]

Re: Alton Towers | Farmyard Retheme to

I'm sick of IPs. Let's just never use our imaginations again

But, if it's not an IP, what theme would they use? It's always either farm or medieval fantasy (castles, wizards, horses, etc), so where's the imagination in that?

Otherwise, the majority of kids areas are themed to TV shows or games anyway.
Camp Snoopy, Looney Tunes, Thomas the Tank Engine and Nickelodeon all spring to mind, and many of these have been around for years and years. At least Cbeebies is something that hasn't really been done before.

 

[insanecoastervids]

Just saw concept art on Screamscape, looks like a very good kids area.

 

[furie]

The trouble I have with this update, is that the entire park now feels too busy. There is no relief apart from the huge gardens that nobody uses, and the farm offered something where you could just unwind a little. Now with CBeebies, the entire park is stifled with too much.

This is why Disney / Universal parks work so well, because there are breaks in between areas that offer something other than an in-your-face activity. Its well balanced. Alton Towers has now stripped this balance completely, its just too much going on.

Smiler feels the same way.. X Sector has way too much going on now. Everything is in your face and it becomes too tiresome on the old noggin to see that throughout the entire park.

I'd have preferred an overhaul of the current them to bring it back to life, rather than a huge ass brand to suffocate us with.

I know what you're saying Erol, but think about it for a second. Do you really think that they should have a massive area of land, filled with rides and staff that nobody visits just "for a break"? What's the point of spending money upgrading the area if there's only ever 12 people there on any day of the year?

That corner of the park has been ignored by visitors for years and years - it's a complete money pit that offers no returns at all. This way, it will.

I do agree though that Alton is gradually becoming more and more crowded and over-bearing with less places that feel open aired to have a respite. However, as nobody used this area for that at all, I don't think it really makes much difference, other than it'll help give families a little more to do at the park - even though they need to make more concessions across the park for that.

 

[Jordanovichy]

And I shall be spending time there out of the queues. Can't wait to try the new riverbank eye-spy, whatever it's called now

 

[Smithy]

It was only on my last visit to Alton that I actually had the time/desire (first time I'd been back more than once in a season and was only interested in riding Smiler) to visit the farmyard. Was surprised at the size of it and that was even with certain parts shut in advance of this. It was very run down though, the sort of thing you'd expect to find at a cheap local farm rather than an expensive theme park.

Disagree somewhat on a place to just veg out though, once the hustle and bustle of opening is out of the way towers street is perfect for that. There's also still the towers itself an the little walk past Charlie, Ice Age and round the back of Hex always seems to be quiet.

 

[Ian]

I'm resurrecting this topic to post my video from opening day.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SysIdmDKeMg[/youtube]

Was I impressed? Not really. It's certainly much better than the farmyard and will, hopefully, draw more people in (more income, more rides). Yes, I know it's aimed at under 6 year olds, but unlike Thomas Land and Peppa Pig World, Cbeebies Land is just a retheme using an recognised IP. Where Thomas and and Peppa were built from the ground up and had new rides installed, they felt like more of a big deal.

Postman Pat ride is great. The Big Show Funtime arena area is lush. I like the entertainers wandering around. Great addition for families with young children, but I'm in no hurry to head back.

 

[nealbie]

You sound really enthusiastic Ian! :lol:

 

[Smithy]

Your lovely assistant did a great job Ian. As did you in converying your enthusiasm for this years development.

 

[Ian]

I was hungover when I narrated it so my enthusiasm was an all time low. As ECG said to me on the phone earlier. "Ian, bud, your Cbeebies video is **** ****." <3

 

[elephant58]

I'm resurrecting this topic to post my video from opening day.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SysIdmDKeMg[/youtube]

Was I impressed? Not really. It's certainly much better than the farmyard and will, hopefully, draw more people in (more income, more rides). Yes, I know it's aimed at under 6 year olds, but unlike Thomas Land and Peppa Pig World, Cbeebies Land is just a retheme using an recognised IP. Where Thomas and and Peppa were built from the ground up and had new rides installed, they felt like more of a big deal.

Postman Pat ride is great. The Big Show Funtime arena area is lush. I like the entertainers wandering around. Great addition for families with young children, but I'm in no hurry to head back.

I'm resurrecting this topic to post my video from opening day.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SysIdmDKeMg[/youtube]

I always thought that Thomas Land was a retheme of the Robinson's-sponsored area, a bit like Nickelodeon Land?

 

[Martyn B]

^ Basically, yes, but they did rip it all out and build everything from scratch.

I wish Alton would do this whloe family park thing properly. Why do they keep retheming toddlers areas instead of actually balancing the park out? Two toddlers areas with nothing for 'adults', and 3 main adult areas with nothing for kids/toddlers. Would it be too much to stick a 'tongue in cheek' creepy carousel in Dark Forest? Or maybe a Nemesis Beasties roundabout ride in the FV? Or a Smiling Smiler mini ferris wheel? (Ok, that one was lame).