It's interesting how many UK enthusiasts seem to hold Merlin parks to such an impossible standard. It's like no matter what Merlin do, some enthusiasts will never be happy. Yet we don't hold this standard to other parks.
For example, if Paultons were getting a launched B+M family wing coaster, the decision would be praised as The Best Thing Ever For The Best Family Park Ever!
If Phantasialand, Efteling, Plopsa, Europa, Djurs, Hansa announced this new hyper coaster...would it be met with such criticism? If Drayton Manor announced this coaster, would the reaction be different?
I agree with all of the top part of your post and do firmly believe that positivity is key but not so much with the bottom part quoted.
The reason Merlin are held to such a high standard is because they should be, their visitor numbers, their budgets, their portfolio of parks, their key position at the top of the market and their investment into new resort parks is unparalleled really.
People have every right to hold them to high standards because they should, on paper, be one of the companies setting the highest standards.
Parallels drawn to other parks and if they were building this are trivial. Regardless of who builds it it’s still gonna be the shortest hyper coaster with only a handful of elements. Putting this at Clarence Pier doesn’t change the fact they are shelling out millions on a ride that could be significantly better than what it is. The layout isn’t awe inspiring, it doesn’t really utilise the area particularly well and it looks stupidly short.
Merlin should be held to the same standard as other market leaders, including but not limited to ; Disney, Universal, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Herschend. I firmly believe all of the above, and the parks you listed, would see the shortcomings of this layout and would quite simply use the cash in a better way and go for a better layout. We can’t compare the listed parks as their additions over the years have been pretty solid.
In my opinion it’s pretty clear that Merlin have gone to Mack, and other companies, and asked them to break the UK height record with a traditional lift, cram in the tallest inversion, and do it for as cheap as possible. I don’t blame them but it’s just tiring. A Mack hyper at 236ft tall shouldn’t be this short or have so few elements to it.
Annoyingly I feel like I’ve made my reaction to this look super negative but honestly I’m pretty excited by it. Slightly above the whelmed category I’d say. Ok, it might be Steel Curtains shorter uglier step cousin but it’s still likely going to be the best ride in the UK.
