UK Parks In 10 Years

[nadroJ]

Seeing the rate at which certain UK parks have been developing it's got m thinking: what will the UK theme park landscape look like in 10 years?

Mainly I think Paultons will become a major player. The park will become a household name akin to Alton, Thorpe and Chessie and they'll have installed their first proper thrill coaster.

I don't think we'll see much action from Drayton, I believe it will keep doing its thing but we'll see no major investment. Maybe a few smaller attractions installed and general sprucing up instead.

Blackpool will put itself back on the map with its big coaster for 2018 and we see something of a revival for the classic park. Again, I think this will be the only major investment but any money made from it will be plugged back into making the park look pretty and modern.

Oakwood will keep trying its damnedest to keep up, but after Alton opens the rumoured woodie they'll lose their claim to fame and struggle to find their place in the market.

Flamingoland will redevelop as more a resort and invest in a permanent hotel structure to compliment their caravan park. They'll keep sticking in cheap and cheerful coasters to keep the masses happy, but again I don't think we'll see any major investment coaster-wise.

Lightwater Valley unfortunately will close. They'll fall into administration and be bought out be a caravan park who will decide that the theme park as it exists is no longer profitable and will be slowly removed. The Ultimate will gain listed building status after enthusiasts rally against its demolition and it will continue to remain, but only as a structure not as an operating ride.

Fantasy Island will become a force to be reckoned with. Shortly after revamping their two major coasters and introducing a new mouse coaster FI will then go on to open a new major coaster on the North East Coast. They will continue to modernise the entire place which will raise the profile to BPB style status (ie people will actually enjoy going there!)

Adventure Island use their innovative use of land to build their biggest coaster since Rage that will stretch the entire length of the park and back again. They will also open their own hotel and water park to raise their status to resort level.

Crealy Devon will continue to thrive in the South West and replace Paultons as the premier family park in the south. We will see a similar business structure as Paultons and we'll see the brand become stronger, with consistent, high quality themed lands and attractions.

For obvious reasons I can't comment on the Merlin parks, but please go ahead and discuss amongst yourselves what you think the future holds!




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[Howie]

^Forgive my ignorance... but what are the 'obvious reasons' why you can't discuss the Merlin parks??

 

[Smithy]

She knows

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Yeah, she may or may not be part of the maintenance crew for a park, and may or may not know a bit about the future of a few parks...

 

[nadroJ]

This is such a great discussion about UK parks in 10 years guys, some excellent points being made


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[cjbrandy]

I could imagine Drayton putting the old Buffalo coaster to rest and replacing it with a family GG woodie but I don't think it'll happen.

I hope Fantasy Island thrive and do really well because I want them to rival and threaten Blackpool. We all want UK Helix but we do not want Blackpool to chill out and become complacent post UK Helix!

Paultons are taking off now and it would be unwise to stay kiddy forever, when they can afford to they should aim to attract a universal audience like Alton! Best way to do that would be a somewhat intense flat or two and a big coaster. Perhaps a B&M floorless would be good for them, not the best choice in the world for an enthusiast but simple, reliable and the GP will look at it and think: rollercoaster+up side down= scary and exciting.

Thorpe NEED to get a CLONE of that green and orange Intamin in Nanchang, China!!

Can't imagine anything bigger than a family coaster ever going to Devon or anywhere in South West England!

All Flamingoland need are intelligent/enthusiast decision makers that won't choose coasters that are the quality equivalent of Iggy Azalea.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

I've been out of the loop for quite a few years, but I'll try Most of these are just hunches.

I think Paulton's will change the most and will keep expanding with additions being of equal quality or greater than the dinosaur area. Hopefully we'll see something like Djurs/farup. I think they'll eventually add a more adult ride like Anubis/Lynet.

I think Alton, Thorpe and Chessington will better maintained in the future. If DBGT is a success, i can see something similar replacing Hex, but with more of a Ghost theme. Likewise if SW8 goes down well, I can see a larger model come to Thorpe. I don't think there will be any mammoth roller coaster additions. If B&M release a new ride type I can see Merlin getting their hands on one first. Apart from the new area proposed I don't think much will happen to Chessington - They'll get a launched family ride (probably a smaller scaled Juvelen).

Lightwater Valley will make me sad.

Drayton's going to continue catering for families and their sparing additions will reflect that.

I think Gulliver's Warrington are going to get an S&S 4D

I think Blackpool's attendance will improve, but I don't think it will be sudden (with the new coaster). The park will also double up as world's first contemporary fountain exhibition.

Oakwood will decline.

I have a feeling Flamingoland's investments will slow down over the next 10 years with the quality of them improving (slightly!)

 

[Howie]

After further postponements, The Paramount Park will be at stage 17 of the public consultation process, with the revised plans going before the secretary of state for planning approval at the end of the year after next. Grand opening ceremony now scheduled for 2032.
Can't wait.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Thorpe Park is the only UK park I've been to, so it's the one I might have a remote chance of predicting anything about. I don't know much about Thorpe, to be honest, it's been seven years since my visit already, but I'll give it a try regardless:

X is likely to be gutted one day. It's 20 years old already, and from what I've heard it's not popular enough to warrant trying for 30. If the neighbouring DBGT is a success, it might be replaced with a dark ride. After all, the building is there already, so it should be possible to reuse it. My experience with dark rides is limited too, but if they find a way to pull of something à la Transformers at Universal Studios Florida, with 4D effects and everything, I can see them going for it.

The Alton woodie will test the public's reaction to new wooden coasters in the UK, and if reactions are positive, I expect Thorpe to install its bigger brother a couple years later (2019-ish?). If so, it's likely to be the UK's biggest woodie. If a success, it might prompt other parks to get a woodie of their own too. Maybe Blackpool will refurbish one of theirs.

Colossus seems too monumental to replace. While rough, it still has its ten inversions, which is a lot, and makes it marketable. Still, in 2026 it will turn 24 years old, which is old for a coaster. Depending on the level of competition is has (that is, if many other parks have gotten rivalling steel coasters), it might be due for scrapping and replacement at some point in the mid-2020's. As for what will replace it, I'm not sure, but Thorpe seems to be lacking an extensive launched coaster, so my money is on something that launches.

I'm not sure how the similarly-aged Nemesis Inferno rides these days, but if B&M's history is anything to go by, it will keep thrilling riders for another decade. Colossus will probably find its way to the chopping block before NI does, though I don't think it'll last 10 more years after 2026.

Saw might be due for a retheme in 2019 or 2024, depending on for how long Thorpe has the IP rights (and whether those rights expire in a round number of years, I guess). At 17 years old in 2026, I think it'll still be around in some form or another, and for simplicity's sake I'll assume the same about Stealth, Swarm and Flying Fish.

So... ten years should translate to roughly three major coasters/rides (TusenFryd, please take note!). With a solid X replacement, a woodie, and possibly a Colossus replacement, that quota might be fulfilled already. Still, the long-awaited Thorpe hyper coaster also warrants a mention. I've heard anything lower than Stealth is fair game as far as air rights go, and we all know how awesome those mighty coasters are. The sight of the huge lift hill and enormous drop will draw customers to the park, for sure. Still, hypers are mightily expensive, and the "biggest coaster in the UK" record is relatively hard to challenge (and how pointless would a new hyper be without that record?), so I'm not sure if a Hyper will come out on top of a cost/benefit analysis for Thorpe. A good IP and the right marketing could give many smaller coasters a comparable attendance draw to a hyper, at a way lower cost. Then again, if Merlin was to invest in something along the lines of Skyrush, it would certainly lift the status of the park.


Also, I predict at least one new restaurant/food outlet/kiosk/trolley, and a refurbishment of at least one set of rest rooms, just to be on the safe side with something.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Paramount won't happen.

Paulton's is in a difficult position for growth imo. The main reason is that they are a stand alone. See, Paulton's is expensive. As a young children aimed family park with a powerful IP like Peppa Pig that's sort of OK, but if they branch upwards to Chessington territory with some bigger rides, I'm not sure it'll intice many families with older kids away from Chessington due to cost. Merlin's deals are extraordinarily good, Paulton's is extortionate in ticket price by comparison. Unless they can have the kind of bogof deals Merlin make use of, I don't think they could take on the families with older kids audience personally. Over 12 is usually when kids must pay "adult" theme park ticket price, remember. So taking your toddlers as opposed to your teens is a big cost increase. Therefore, I suspect Paulton's to stay in their niche. It's working for them. They're unique enough from Legoland as a more conventional theme park and less a **** festival of interactive crap, and aimed younger than Chessington.

Blackpool... I doubt the new coaster will do quite as much good as they hope. I think the park resides too firmly in people's consciousness as being a part of Blackpool as a whole, and the place isn't cool. The town has to become cool and I see no evidence of that. And because it won't blow through absolute socks off attendance, investment of new rides will drop again. Blackpool's problem is that it was stagnant for too long and perception has to change. A consistent flow of "new" stuff is the way to solve that, and they could have done that by renovating existing crap and implying it's new years ago like they did with Wallace and Grommit. Trauma Towers and the Ark, I'm looking at you.

Thorpe... Well, Ghost Train will flop. I'm convinced the VR is not sustainable, so either the whole thing will close before long, or the VR will be replaced by conventional 4D cinema somehow. As for new coasters, I haven't the foggiest... I think mega/giga is what they should do, if they can. I think a woodie could be possible if Alton's goes OK, maybe even RMC.

Chessington... Well who knows. It's obvious they know they need a new coaster, which is hilarious whilst the likes of Thorpe dick about with a collosal new dark ride. Coasters are the best marketing product of theme parks - they just are. Unless you have an epic IP like Harry Potter, coasters work. Will Chessington actually get one though? They should get a low lying launcher, as proposed. That's the correct thing to get. Mostly because WHAT THE HELL ELSE COULD THEY GET WITH THE OBNOXIOUS PLANNING RESTRICTIONS? I also think the park needs another mini coaster of Scorpion's scale - why they didn't get an Octonauts clone themed to Madagascar instead I have no idea.

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[Mysterious Sue]

My two cents for what it’s worth. The UK coaster market has been dawdling along for a number of years now. I don’t think that either a family woodie at Alton or a fab Mack out in the extremities of Blackpool will be the spark to kick the industry in the bum that most people are hoping for. Call me cynical, but…

Like Joey, I believe that Paramount just won’t happen.

Alton – the family woodie will be a move towards something nice and substantial. I can’t help thinking, however, that after the Smiler debacle and a year of holding the fort, something more spectacular was needed. I think it will help Alton to build back customer satisfaction and perhaps some return visitors. But for a woodie to break the traditional UK view of woodies being old tech, we needed to showcase what they are now capable of. In other words, the planned woodie will be good for Alton, but not good enough to encourage another at Thorpe or at any of the smaller parks (where a substantial investment is more of a risk). As for Alton, I can see them buying in more IPs for the family market that are a guaranteed hit, especially given that Sonic and Charlie have how gone. I hate to say it but, if my beloved Hex is as costly to maintain as everyone suggests, maybe it will be replaced with something else once it fails again. I really bloody hope not. And what the hell else would you put there anyway?

Thorpe – I actually have no idea. The Darren Brown thing really knocked me sideways. They say they want to move towards the family market but we clearly haven’t seen that yet. Perhaps we can expect a well-themed family area with a mix of small and medium rides? Maybe a shooter, that’s something the park’s line-up has always been missing. In terms of a large installation, I don’t think the Alton woodie will have good enough feedback to warrant an RMC at Thorpe. Personally, I would like a hyper but that is bloody expensive. Still, with the UK public already exposed to wingriders, dive machines and inverts, maybe a traditional, epic-sized sit down coaster is just what we need. I don’t know.

Blackpool – enthusiasts will love the new addition (I’m so damn excited about this tbh). But, I’ve shown my non-goon friends photos of Helix and they just go ‘meh’ – and that’s Helix, lit up, down the side of a **** mountain! So yeah, I don’t think it’ll be attracting people from all over the UK. But it’ll do Blackpool well enough, drawing in tourists from that part of the country. Hopefully it’ll bring in enough cash to make some much needed improvements, but after the initial excitement, it’ll just be another coaster in Blackpool’s huge line-up. I disagree with Joey in terms of Blackpool itself though. Every time I visit I think it looks a little bit more up-market. It’s still got a long way to go, but compared to say Margate, who are trying to do a similar thing, I think they are making vast improvements. The Tower, the sea front, the trams, all the sculptures in the last few years – they’ve all helped to make it less scummy.

Paultons – if anywhere else is going to get a woodie, I think it’ll be here. They are a small park on an upward curve looking to maintain their family nature but perhaps reach out to slightly older kids, but to not outright invest in a thrill ride. They could look at the relative success of the Tayto and Alton woodies and think that it’s a good path. It would certainly add diversity to their line-up. Maybe a little Gravity Group to be different to Alton? I hope that Paulton’s go from strength to strength as they have made some good decisions over the last few years and have great levels of theming. I can see them getting something else for kids in addition to rides – adventure playground/jungle jim/petting zoo/train?

Flamingoland - I guess they’ll just keep adding crappy rides as that seems to be working for them. Maybe they’ll start taking a few out and replacing them, but I can’t imagine that anything new will have a big wow factor. If they were to get something more substantial it’ll have a relatively small footprint and be easy to market – maybe one of those S&S freespin things or a ZacSpin or a Skyloop. Think I’ve just thrown up a little in my mouth.

Lightwater Valley – are they really that close to closure? They’ve kept the place going this long with very few visitors… If things get really bad, perhaps they could invite some travelling fairs to rock up over the summer to bulk out their ride line-up. Can’t see them getting anything new really. Personally, I think they’ll just keep going on as they are.

Drayton Manor – will continue to be the Northern Paultons, concentrating on its family area in Thomas Land. Maybe it’ll find another IP and invest heavily in that. Pepper Pig would have worked well here, shame that’s gone. But I can see it moving away from the individual large rides of the past to the popular family market.

Fantasy Island – How is it even still a thing? It’ll close in the next 10 years and I will cry over Odyssey. Such an underrated cred.

Oakwood – it still won’t have installed anything new of significance and attendance will continue to fall as ownership is passed from pillar to post and no one can make it work as they are more concerned with shareholder profits than long-term investment. I think it’ll still be going in 10 years but it’ll be in a bad way.

Adventure Island - I’m more positive about AI. They have a great business model and a guaranteed influx of tourists. They don’t have much room to expand but maybe their existing rides will slowly be replaced with slightly better quality ones.

Barry Island – I’m hoping this’ll be the dark horse. It’s got two creds now and Barry is on the map thanks to Gavin and Stacy and Wales being a cool holiday destination again. Doubt it’ll explode onto the map, but I’m hoping for new flats and may a more substantial kiddy coaster over the next few years.

 

[mouse]

Ooh good topic, I think its worth looking back to how the parks were in 2006, to see how they changed in the last 10 years...

I think Thorpe has overtaken Alton Towers as the country's premier thrill park since 2006 with the addition of Stealth, Saw and Swarm, as well as their horror attractions and flat rides. DBGT seems to suggest they will still be continuing to market towards thrill seekers, although I can see them introducing more family orientated areas such as Angry Birds Land to attract a wider demographic. I have a feeling their next major development will be a more family oriented ride, perhaps a Thi3teen style disappointment. However I think they will remain as the UK's premier thrill park and will have a couple of kick-ass new coasters by 2016... perhaps even a hyper? A hyper would be great for them, I think it would really put them ahead of the competition for enthusiasts and the GP.

Arguably, Alton's best coasters were built before 2006. Smiler has been the only proper thrill coaster since then, which suggests Alton is currently catering to a wider family demographic. They have stuff for the thrill seekers, as well as children's areas and rides, so I think they'll continue to develop slowly with less significant major investments. Tbh, I think the woodie will be the most exciting thing to happen in 10 years time, and then just after that they'll introduce a new coaster that blows away the competition with its originality, like a modern nemesis... because why not .

Infusion and Nickelodeon land have been the most significant investments at Blackpool since 2006, but after their Mack hopefully their development will speed up with more big investments other than fountains. If I had it my way, I'd tear down the Big One and build a 200ft statue of Amanda, with fountains surrounding it. Not sure how realistic that is though...

Also, Paulton's will overtake Chessington as the UK's premier kids/family park by 2026.

2027 however, that's Crealy's time to shine.




I have no idea what I'm talking about.