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Sea Life Manchester

Robbie

Hyper Poster
Hadn't seen this mentioned before, but I notice there's a new Sea Life opening in Manchester in the "Spring" - opposite Legoland Discovery. Probably the same as all the others, but at least there's something new (and Northern) for the Merlin Pass.

http://www.visitsealife.com/Manchester/
 

peep

CF Legend
I have heard about this but can't remember seeing it on here. Sounds like a good idea to me and it'll probably do very well.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Is this for the one in the Trafford Centre, or has that opened already?

Regardless of that, why do Sealife centres get so much coverage on here? They're ****, over priced, and nothing to do with theme parks (unless it's in one).
 

peep

CF Legend
Martyn B said:
Is this for the one in the Trafford Centre, or has that opened already?

Yeah that's the one.

Some of them are ok, the one in the shopping centre in Val d'Europe down the road from Disneyland Paris is really good.

I suppose you have some sort of point about them not being a theme park etc but I think most of us like to be aware of Merlin's next move no matter what part of the business it is because they are so big. Someone else might be able to word that better :p
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
It'll be a C&P of every other sea life. With cheap fish, mediocre exhibits and generally a laughing stock amongst the industry.

Yawn.
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Martyn B said:
Is this for the one in the Trafford Centre, or has that opened already?

Regardless of that, why do Sealife centres get so much coverage on here? They're ****, over priced, and nothing to do with theme parks (unless it's in one).

Over priced?

MAP pass holders would disagree with you...

Might well be successful really, Discovery Centre has done quite well there, and it'll give people reason to go to what is a dead end of the Centre...
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
^MAP holders will make up a tiny number of visitors. It's completely irrelevant when it comes to discussing entry price.

It will get passing trade from people going to the Trafford Centre anyway. Very few people will make the effort to go there specifically, especially given Blue Planet just down the road.
 

Lofty

CF Legend
^ Very true. It's surprising how popular the Legoland Discovery Centre actually is. If its located rut next to it, it'll actually do pretty well.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Nemesis Inferno said:
Martyn B said:
Is this for the one in the Trafford Centre, or has that opened already?

Regardless of that, why do Sealife centres get so much coverage on here? They're ****, over priced, and nothing to do with theme parks (unless it's in one).

Over priced?

MAP pass holders would disagree with you...

Let's face it, annual pass holders only visit them because they can for "free", after they've shelled out over £150. ;)

So yeah, my point still stands. **** rip off.
 

Robbie

Hyper Poster
Martyn B said:
Regardless of that, why do Sealife centres get so much coverage on here? They're ****, over priced, and nothing to do with theme parks (unless it's in one).
I did try to find a general Sea-Life thread, but I figured there's a few MAP holders on here who might like to know about the new site (although, at the moment I am merely a Sea-Life AP holder because my girlfriend won a competition on Facebook!)
 

owentaylor121

Giga Poster
gavin said:
^MAP holders will make up a tiny number of visitors. It's completely irrelevant when it comes to discussing entry price.

It will get passing trade from people going to the Trafford Centre anyway. Very few people will make the effort to go there specifically, especially given Blue Planet just down the road.
Not sure how blue planet is just down the road as it's over 40mins away like, but anyway, they need to build one in Dubai before the U.K gets another one.
 

peep

CF Legend
^LOL, but why Dubai? Sounds like you just threw a dart at a map and called out a random country as to where needed a SeaLife attraction.
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
owenrita said:
Not sure how blue planet is just down the road as it's over 40mins away like

A whole 40 minutes?! Sorry, I'm clearly wrong here then. I didn't realise it was practically light years away.

People go to Blue Planet as a destination in itself.

People go to the Trafford Centre as a destination in itself.

Very few people will go to Sealife Manchester as a destination in itself.

Many people who have gone to the Trafford Centre anyway may well pop in for an hour or two.

Anyway, you're right that we don't need any more Sea Life Centres. If only the highly-qualified, experienced people in charge of these things would do some kind of feasibility study, before they make these decisions, and put one in Yemen; they haven't got one there yet.
 

owentaylor121

Giga Poster
^Well you clearly can't read as I said OVER 40mins, not 40mins. I live rather close to Blue Planet and it's around an hour away from the Trafford center and I don't know anyone who would travel that far just to go to an aqurium. Plus the blue planet is crap and over priced anyway.
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
^Well it's closer than **** ing Dubai!

Clearly nobody's going to travel from the Trafford Centre, bypassing Sea Life, to get to Blue Planet.

The point, which you clearly have been missing from the start, is that people, in the general area, wanting to go to an aquarium specifically, are not going to go out of their way to travel to a tiny SeaLife in a shopping mall when Blue Planet, regardless of your personal opinion of the place and whether the people you know would travel OVER 40 minutes (what does "over 40 minutes" actually imply by the way? Closer to 40 minutes or an hour, since technically it could be days) or not for it, is in the same general area.

Sealife Manchester will do well because of the huge footfall in the Trafford Centre. Very few people in the area, as in the North West not Manchester city centre, will travel to Sealife specifically.

I'm not sure how to make it any clearer than that.
 

nadroJ

CF Legend
Lol, Gavin, why are you even trying? XD

I actually quite like the idea of turning the Trafford Centre into a visitor attraction rather than just a shopping centre, makes it stand out a bit more. Yes, SeaLife is ****, but that's looking at it from an MAP holder POV. A lot of people won't have been to other aquariums so won't make that comparison anyway, do it doesn't matter.
 

Thekingin64

Strata Poster
I don't know why but I love Sea-lifes! The Blackpool one's brilliant.

London was way too busy for the design of the building though with the penguin bit being a huge bottleneck!
Plus, I wouldn't queue 1hr just to get in! I managed to bypass that queue having the MAP. :)

I do like this idea though.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
owenrita121 said:
^Well you clearly can't read as I said OVER 40mins, not 40mins. I live rather close to Blue Planet and it's around an hour away from the Trafford center and I don't know anyone who would travel that far just to go to an aqurium. Plus the blue planet is crap and over priced anyway.

OMG! I just realised that the four visits I've made specifically to go to The Blue Planet have been a waste. I'll have to tell the people at work who have also taken their families just to visit it that they wasted their time again and their thoughts of "visiting again next year because it was a nice day out" are wrong!!!

We live about an hour and fifteen minutes from The Blue Planet and it IS a day out destination.

My parents live between there and Manchester and we've been to both TBP from there, and the Lego Discovery Centre in the Trafford Centre. As it's equidistant, we just decide on the day which one we feel like. With the addition of the Sealife, it would be cheaper (as MAP owners) to head to Trafford. Likewise, heading from home, Trafford is around an hour and, well, fifteen minutes. So I don't know what we'll do in the future, but I suspect Manchester because Liverpool and The Wirral are dog holes and should be avoided at all costs ;) :p

No idea what the point of this is other than:
Yes, you do know somebody who travels just to go to aquariums (me).
The very narrow band of people you know if not actually any form of wide ranging poll and complete demographic study of visitors to tourist attractions.
Equatorial Guinea could also do with a decent Sea Life centre - That's just off the M62 isn't it?
 
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