merlin

  1. T

    What uk theme park looks most promising and why

    Merlin has invested heavily in all their 4 merlin parks across the UK. With: Hyperia, big easy boulevard Waterpark at chessington Minifigure speedway at legoland Nemesis, horizon and the new facts to replace retrosquad at towers! What do you think looks the most promising for future years?
  2. Matt N

    What is your favourite non-Merlin UK coaster?

    Hi guys. In the UK theme park industry, Merlin theme parks are a very dominant force, and this is arguably most apparent in the arena of roller coaster hardware. If you were to ask an average enthusiast what their favourite UK coaster is, there’s a good chance that it would be at a Merlin theme...
  3. MackMan

    Gardaland- Its Okay!

    Gardaland was not a park i honestly was planning on travelling to anytime soon. I happened to have a spare day on my trip to Milan/Venice, so decided i would try and squeeze in a Merlin park and give them my money. Honestly i had wanted to visit Gardaland, but it never had that lineup to really...
  4. Matt N

    UK Merlin park attendance over the years

    Note: I intend to keep editing this post as time goes on and more years are released. Hi guys. During the coaster consultations in 2021, Merlin released an attendance graph showing all their parks' attendance figures since the early 1980s. I had some time on my hands this evening and decided to...
  5. Matt N

    What is your favourite Merlin-created dark ride or dark ride retheme?

    Hi guys. With the recent announcement that Duel at Alton Towers is closing on 6th September, and the ever snowballing rumours about it being rethemed, a lot of discussion has taken place recently about Merlin and dark rides. And rightly or wrongly, Merlin appears to have somewhat of a poor...
  6. JMW

    Merlin's 10 Coaster Deal with B&M?

    Merlin's 10 Coaster Deal with B&M? Hi guys. As lots of us already know, Merlin have seemingly struck a huge ride deal with B&M, so I felt this warranted it's own topic where everything was in one place. As the table shows below, there's eight confirmed additions across the Merlin parks and two...
  7. Matt N

    Thorpe Park vs Chessington World of Adventures; which London area Merlin park do you prefer?

    Hi guys. Merlin Entertainments, the owner of the 4 biggest theme parks in the UK, has two Resort Theme Parks in the London area; Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures. In spite of these parks’ identical owner and close proximity to one another, they are very different theme parks...
  8. MackMan

    Thorpe Park- How crap is it?

    27/03/2022 The day is Mothers Day in the UK, most normal people would celebrate it with their mothers. I left a bottle of pinot in the fridge with a note, with my two favourite idiots, we ventured to Cherstey, to discover Merlin's least favourite asset. So, Thorpe Park. Once hailed as the park...
  9. Matt N

    How could Merlin make the two Southern Resort Theme Parks (Thorpe & Chessington) coexist in harmony?

    Hi guys. Since Tussauds' purchase of Thorpe Park in 1998, Chessington & Thorpe Park, two of the UK's largest theme parks, have operated under the same corporate umbrella (Tussauds from 1998 through to 2007, Merlin since 2007) within very little distance of each other; both parks serve the London...
  10. Matt N

    What were the UK Merlin parks actually like during the Tussauds era?

    Hi guys. When talking about the ex-Tussauds UK parks (aka Alton, Thorpe & Chessington), many people like to hark back to the 1990s and 2000s, when Tussauds still owned the parks. As someone who wasn’t around when Tussauds owned these parks (as someone born in 2003, I’ve only experienced these...
  11. Matt N

    If you owned the UK’s 4 Merlin theme parks, what would you do to each of them?

    Hi guys. Merlin currently owns 4 theme parks in the UK; Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor. They are arguably the UK’s 4 most popular theme parks, but I’ve noticed that there generally seems to be a lot of disagreement with some of the decisions...
  12. Matt N

    Rank the Merlin theme parks

    Hi guys. I know I’ve created a lot of ranking threads over the years I’ve been here, but I thought it might be interesting to rank the theme parks operated by a theme park operator very close to this site; Merlin Entertainments! Merlin operate numerous different parks across the world (even if a...
  13. Coaster Chall YouTube

    Chessington World Of Adventures | Croc Drop | Zamperla Sky (Drop) Tower

    According to the forum and further social media, Chessington have submitted a planning application for a new, what looks to be a Zamperla Sky Tower, around 25m, to replace Rameses Revenge and cause the relocation of Flying Jumbos. The rumour is Rameses and Jumbos will close/relocate at the end...
  14. Coaster Chall YouTube

    Alton Towers 2020

    Towerstimes and other sources have released this...whether it's just House of Monsters or CCL in general, but something is happening!
  15. Coaster Chall YouTube

    Alton Towers and Thorpe Park Rumoured To Get Lego Themed Areas For 2020

    Now I may not have physical links or evidence (cause I am not on this closed FB group where it was spotted) but there was a rumour from a post on a closed Facebook group for Merlin Passholders, that Cloud Cuckoo Land and Angry Birds Land will be transformed into Lego themed areas for the 2020...
  16. GuyWithAStick

    Lego, Blackstone set to purchase Merlin Entertainment

    https://www.ft.com/content/ca689fb4-992b-11e9-8cfb-30c211dcd229 Oooh, what a twist!
  17. Will

    Spite: The Search For The Lost Magic

    Disclaimer: The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed below are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No animals were harmed during the making of this trip report, nor were any closed doors opened, unlocked or...
  18. Serena

    Wicker Moan

    Like many others, I had foolishly booked travel for the opening day of Wicker Man. Half way up the M5 on the Megabus, I see that there's pretty much snow chance of the ride opening on 17th March. I'm already half way there. And because I am a burden who can't drive, it's not like I can turn...
  19. astead04

    Should Oblivion at Alton Towers receive floorless trains?

    Most of the other B&M Dive Coasters in the world (except for G5 at Janfusun Fancyworld in Taiwan - a mirror image of Oblivion at Alton Towers) have floorless trains, and SheiKra at Busch Gardens received them in 2007. After 20 years of operation at Alton Towers, is it finally time for Oblivion...
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