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Sharkbait Reef By sealife

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
Most definately, I agree that using the Sealife brand is a step in the right direction, but it is FAR from "amazing".

Also, a large number of the gate figures in the UK Merlin attractions were up last year, not just Chessie. This is considered to be a knock on effect of the economic downturn because less people can afford to go abroad on holiday and are therefore using their holiday time on UK attractions.

In summary, I simply believe that Merlin are capable of a lot more then just putting in Sealife attractions into the various parks. In my view, they should be capable of creating many more world class style additions, since they so rightly state they are the 2nd largest in the world. They should be behaving that way if they want the statement that they are 2nd in the world to hold any water. (Pardon the pun :P)
 
Been in it today and it isn't any more money to go in. The themeing is really good, and it is quite big with lots of different species. Overall, it is well thought out and great addition to the park. Will have some pictures in my trip report later on.
 
Ben said:
Oh, and Saw theming isn't impressive if you've left the country. Maybe we shouldn't compare, but, when you see other countries having it so much better, don't you feel a little bit short changed?
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Temple del Fuego at Port Aventura is one of the best pieces of work I have ever seen. And it's only a 2 hour flight. So in response to Chris, you don't have to travel very far to see something spectacular.
 
Indeed Erol.

Ben has it on the head here. Both of you do. The argument that Merlin is 2nd in the world is flawed because it implies they are at a world class standard. If they were so world class standard, why are we seeing such poor displays of additions such as Sealife Centres. I do indeed feel short changed, especially when you see drastically smaller companies adding so much more. For instance, as Southend_Marc pointed out, I have 1 said company doing the same thing at the end of my road!
 
I am not talking about theme parks in general.
The theme is amazing for a UK park. I wasn't going on about the fish tbh, more so the themeing!
 
I had a mooch around it today and I have to say that I'm very impressed with it.

It seems small from the outside, but when you get in there it's bigger than it seems. There are lots of really cool water creatures in there. There are a few sharks in there, lots of smaller fish and various other water creatures. There were these awesome sand worms which magically appeared out of the sand in the bottom of the tank.

It's also seems to be very popular with families. We went in there just after 10 and it was already pretty busy, but not busy enough that you couldn't see the fish without navigating your way through push chairs. Tough an hour later, it was a different story; very busy and hard to move between tanks.

One of this fish in the big tank sadly died as well today. (It was only a small one) The staff were trying to scoop it up with a net, but having little luck as it was behind a rock.

It is very good though for what it appears to be on the outside.
 
There is a buggy park on the side of the entrance.

However, all but one walkway is pushchair/wheelchair friendly. And on that one walkway, it's in the room with the rays where you can go round it or go up the stairs and have a look in.

Going round it can be a bit hard though as lots of people are bending down looking at the fish in the tank.
 
I was actually quite impressed by Sharkbait Reef. They've made an effort to make the place fit into Mutiny Bay and done a pretty good job with the theme. Sure, it's probably not amazing in the grand scheme of things, but it all looks consistent, and there are some nice little touches that give the place character. It's certainly a big improvement over Chessington's generic "Tent in a field".

Despite the attraction's small size, they've done a really good job with the main tank. The usual underwater tunnel is present, and it provides really good views of the Rays gliding overhead.
 
Though I haven't seen it in person for myself yet, I do like the tentacles theming on the outside, looks really great.

For me it seems that, although they are nowhere near the regions of what Disney and Universal do theming-wise, Merlin have come a long long way from what Tussauds ever offered us. At least they seem to be putting in some effort. Like today, although it wasn't the best theming I've ever seen, I was relatively impressed with Saw's inside theming and felt the company have really tried their best with this one.
 
nadroJ said:
Like today, although it wasn't the best theming I've ever seen, I was relatively impressed with Saw's inside theming and felt the company have really tried their best with this one.
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Really? I must admit I disagree. I am glad you liked it. Unfortuntely for me I just felt the whole thing felt half finished and understated. As I say, I think I have been spoilt in the grand scheme of things, especially after riding things like Revenge of the Mummy with it's animatronics, fire, screens, statues and general visual excitement. If this was Merlin trying their best....... :roll: It certainly didn't show me that things have turned a corner and perhaps this aquarium is as amazing as some have said.
BUT personal opinions are personal opinions, if some out there are really enjoying it, that is great news for the company either way.

Sorry about the detour on the topic there, just thought I'd comment as my thoughts were such a distinct contract to Jordans.
 
I say tried their best sort of sarcastically, I mean, to be honest this is probably the best themed ride we've ever seen come out of Thorpe. It just seems to me that this really is them trying their best, like when someone who isn't that clever tries their hardest and gets a 'C'. It's not the greatest in the world but it's their best effort. If that makes sense.
 
Mark said:
nadroJ said:
Like today, although it wasn't the best theming I've ever seen, I was relatively impressed with Saw's inside theming and felt the company have really tried their best with this one.
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Really? I must admit I disagree. I am glad you liked it. Unfortuntely for me I just felt the whole thing felt half finished and understated. As I say, I think I have been spoilt in the grand scheme of things, especially after riding things like Revenge of the Mummy with it's animatronics, fire, screens, statues and general visual excitement. If this was Merlin trying their best....... :roll: It certainly didn't show me that things have turned a corner and perhaps this aquarium is as amazing as some have said.
BUT personal opinions are personal opinions, if some out there are really enjoying it, that is great news for the company either way.
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Just quickly coming back to that Mummy point, it looks great and immerses your senses and spoils you because Universal chucked £40million at it. Merlin simply don't have that sort of financial clout, so the new things they unveil don't as authentic or look as good as the top grade parks and chains.

But anyway, I'm very much looking forward to checking out the new stuff at Alton Towers (and finally getting on Saw) in a a few weeks time!
 
Its a shame that the saying "If you can't do it properly, don't do it at all" isn't kept in mind then :P

Also Tom, that is exactly my point. Merlin are supposed to be amongst the top grade chains! They are 2nd after all! :twisted:
 
It was all okay... As Jordan says - Solid C.

The Sea Life is Sea-Life Lite. It's small, but good enough. I don't really know what to say? I've been to a few sea-life centres, and The Blue Planet. It's better theming wise than all of them, but much smaller than all of them.

Neat, compact and... Well, it's a small Sea-Life. It fits in well with the area, you can see Merlin trying to add consistency and cohesiveness to the area. It's better than most parks, worse than Disney.

I'll go into more detail in the trip report about all this (when I write it), but the Sea Life does what it says on the tin, and it's tastier than a Hunger Break. If you're a family going to Alton, you'll get a lot out of this. If you have an interest in fish (or having your hands cleaned by shrimps) - you'll get a lot out of this. If you go for the rides, then you wont. It's pretty simple :)
 
furie said:
If you go for the rides, then you wont. It's pretty simple
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I thought that. The Sea-Life is not an addition for thrill seekers, but keeping Alton up to date with it's family image. It's something interesting and quite original to add to a park, and extremely fitting to the Mutiny Bay area. I assume it will be extremely popular with families who do have younger children and is therefore, a good investment by Merlin.

What are we complaining about? As enthusiasts, most of us don't really care about an aquarium. We'll have a brand new coaster to ride at Alton in the near future so I say save our criticism for that, something we really care about.

The Sea-Life is not terribly themed (as I can tell from pictures) and is good enough on Merlins behalf. I don't think it looks half-arsed at all but we have to come to terms with the fact that Merlin do not have half the money Disney or Universal have to put into their projects and therefore we can't expect theming on the massive scale they have it in America.
 
I don't actually see what more they could have done to theme it. It's about the fish, not the theming. It fits in well enough with the area.

I think the biggest issue is "is it a valuable addition to the park". It's small, and not a good addition if you're not interested. However, it's everything you get in a Sea Life, condensed and part of the entry. So it's a good addition to the right people (the people it's aimed at) yes.

Would it be something much more grandiose if built by Disney or Universal? Not if they were building it at Alton Towers. Well, it may have more over the top and recognisable characters. It's as good as it can be, in the same way Nemesis and Oblivion are. Obviously different things, but it's the best they could do with what they have.

I'm contradicting myself a little here I know, but it's a very close thing on this front.
 
I think it looks fantastic, and they've done a really good job of it :--D

I think it adds that little bit of extra magic to Mutiny Bay :)
 
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