What's that coming over the hill...

[slappy mcguire]

Twofold question for you. God did not create themeparks. There was no flash of light and suddenly the world was filled with rollercoastery loveliness, instead, the came from the death of seaside towns, and from pioneers like John Broome. Themeparks evolved, just like Darwin said they would.

What I am curious as to your opinion tho', is where you think the next 'big player' will come from - will we see the likes of Loudoun or Twin Lakes invest in innovative rides that catapult them into the big time, or possibly a big old player like Morecambe or the site of the American Adventure will come back from the dead? It doesn't even necessarily need to be a big player - maybe you know of a local attraction that is becoming too big to just be classed as a local attraction, that we will see bigger things from soon?

Similarly the future might come from a park with potential, such as Flamingoland or Lightwater Valley being bought by something like Merlin, or one of the big American players, gutted, and rebuilt bigger, better, faster and stronger?

Ore Maybe, will a UK park go the Disneland Paris way and split into two parks, one site?

Suggestions please.

 

[Ollie]

I reckon Adventure Island will grow quickest. It's a small park but there's some minor rides they can replace. It's getting better each year.

 

[Pokemaniac]

China. Then the Middle East, those two are already building and thriving. Wait a few years, and see what kind of rides they'll be building once the parks are firmly established.

Then I'll think there will be a few years of nothing new happens. Perhaps Nigeria will get a good park or two, but Indonesia is more likely. And Malaysia will probably get a giant park before both. Then, as a result of the economic boom, India will enter the stage.

Oh, and due to your planning laws, Poland among others will probably get more and bigger parks than the UK has in, say, max twenty years. Actually, I'm just waiting for some Polish park to announce a big ride. They are slowly getting the economy right, has a huge middle class, and climate for parks at least in the summer. Plus, contrary to Greece, Italy, and Turkey (who are in about the same economical situation), there are few other attractions (read: beaches) the locals would rather spend their time at. And they have plenty of space. In other words, go Poland.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Gonna go with China here.. They seem to be opening new parks all the time, which are expanding quickly, and it's not like China suffers from a lack of money. Not to be racist, but they also have a lot of smart people over there who could probably think up some pretty interesting things.

America would be my next choice just because our parks are obviously pretty big, etc.

 

[nealbie]

ohhhhh, China? Well, at least it's not the Germans

 

[CMonster]

Obviously, like said before, China and the Middle East, specifically UAE, are having and will continue to have lots of growth.

As for the UK, Adventure Island looks to be the fastest growing smaller park, based on the UK member's opinions.

 

[Blaze]

Asia and Middle East.

Over in UK, Flamingo Land is rapidly growing, and, permision providing, Alton is going to massively increase in the next ten years.

 

[Ian]

I agree with Poke and LFTL, China is probably going to give us the next theme park big bang.

The country is emerging as the superpower, little is known and then one day it'll surprise us with some King-Kong -Mega coaster that wow us to the extreme. That's they way they work. They like to make big statements and a decent theme park is one way they could it.

I'm not entirely sure how hungry the Chinese public are for theme parks (but they'll be hungry half an hour afterwards, arf!), although the new Disneyland is certainly a positive sign.

Moving the subject back towards the UK, the parks are split into divisions similar to football teams. There are the Premier League, Championship, League 1 and even Conference parks.

Unfortunately, like the football leagues, the Man U's and Chelsea's of the theme park world will dominate and always will do. They have the capital to invest, an established brand name and the experience to stay at peak of the top flight.

There are a few parks that have started in the Conference league and have, over the seasons, built themselves a decent squad of rides, got their books in order and are slowly creeping up through the leagues.

A lower division park could pull a coup and build a Torres ride but if a team of other decent rides are not there to support it, they'll never be able to match the top dogs.

There's nothing stopping a company like Merlin doing a Russian billionaire and throwing money at a struggling park to get instant results but I can't see it happening.

Personally I can't see any change from the status quo for a good decade or so. I think UK parks will continue to grow at the current, steady rate that is suitable to their ideal.

And to be honest, I hope it stays like that. It's very British. Yes, a sudden sonic boom of massive coasters would certainly satisfy the credit whores out there but I'd much rather see a park evolve at it's own pace.

 

[CMonster]

:shock:

UC's back?


UC's back!!!! :--D

 

[Blaze]

Priase God, Allah, Vishnu and Sponge Bob, UC is back!

I agree with Ian and UC.

 

[gavin]

I agree with Poke and LFTL, China is probably going to give us the next theme park big bang.

It's not going to; it already started back in the beginning of this decade with the opening of the first Happy Valley park. It will definitely continue though.

Ok, so I'm being a bit pedantic, but quite a few people are "predicting" a coaster boom for China, but that boom has been well underway for years now.

 

[Inverse]

What about the UAE, Dubai and Abu Dhabi etc? I think they're growing real fast, entire cities seem to spring up out of the desert over night, and parks too. Plus they have money to burn.

 

[Snoo]

^Yeah.. but how long will that last?

Things never seem to get done over there.. as we've seen in the past. The middle east not being a real hot spot for the tourism industry combined with the fact that the money they have won't be lasting much longer might mean that the whole area could be going bust.

China, on the other hand, is a stable region with a billion inhabitants.

 

[CMonster]

^ I agree, Dubae right now is looking like one big unfinished construction zone.

It's depressing hearing about all these planned parks with no workers on site and half-finished buildings.