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WTF Merlin?
- Thread starter nadroJ
- Start date
And the ****ing Chessington logo isn't even in the middle of the moon, so it looks like a misprint.
Pathetic.
spicy
Giga Poster
Nothing new but this Telegraph article is interesting. Merlin continues to make huge losses and is struggling under massive debts.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Not sure how they can get out of the trouble without selling some assets off.
Legoland’s owner is falling apart brick by brick
The attraction operator scrambles to stave off a debt squeeze and vie for consumers’ attention
www.telegraph.co.uk
Not sure how they can get out of the trouble without selling some assets off.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Probably why they're overseeing the 'managed decline' of Alton Towers, so it struggles to compete when they sell it...Nothing new but this Telegraph article is interesting. Merlin continues to make huge losses and is struggling under massive debts.
Legoland’s owner is falling apart brick by brick
The attraction operator scrambles to stave off a debt squeeze and vie for consumers’ attention
Not sure how they can get out of the trouble without selling some assets off.
spicy
Giga Poster
The article explained it well but annoyingly it is now behind a paywall, originally it wasn't.
From what I remember from reading it, basically Merlin went private at the wrong time just before Covid hit, loading the company up with huge high interest debts. They were profitable before this making good money each year.
They also secured debts against assets. Everytime a debt is secured against one of these assets it essentially gets wiped from the company value therefore borrowing power is lowered each time and they have had to borrow just to pay interest. The article also said if Merlin was an American company they would have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by now.
So they are basically in a huge hole of debt which they are going to struggle to get out of without further refinancing.
toofpikk
Hyper Poster
Can't find the bit about the chapter 11 bankruptcy. Tbh I always read these articles and think it sounds bleak for merlin, but then I hand them to my partner who works in big money finance who rolls their eyes and says I don't know what I'm talking about. A lot of people at the parks in management think Merlin is going to chop itself up in the coming years, but even as someone who is interested in it and is in contact with a few well informed people, I have no idea what the actual status of Merlin's financial situation is.
The Capybara is in a pumpkin that has a nose and eyes carved through, but the lid it is poking out from also has nose and eyes
And yes, the Chessington logo's positioning in the moon on the penguin one is disgraceful. I can't believe they sign these things off.
The Capybara is in a pumpkin that has a nose and eyes carved through, but the lid it is poking out from also has nose and eyes
lol great spot.
Screaming Coasters
Strata Poster
I mean, if Merlin need to get rid of their animals to save some money, I'll take a penguin... 
Tonkso
Hyper Poster
I'd argue that they shouldn't coexist with rides at all anyway. If a park wants to be both a Zoo and a Theme Park, there needs to be greater separation between animals and rides. You could hear Vamp very clearly from the old Trail of Kings, and I never thought it appropriate.I mean, if Merlin need to get rid of their animals to save some money, I'll take a penguin...
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Hard agree...
I felt physically sick at what the Cheetahs have to listen to all day under Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens.
Screaming Coasters
Strata Poster
I see what you're saying about the noise of rides, but we have to remember that a lot of kept animals these days are part of some conservation scheme. Whilst they are at a theme park, Chessington especially were heavily involved with breeding programmes, which as we know is highly important.
We also have to realise that an animal hearing rides or roller coasters doesn't automatically mean they are experiencing harmful stress. Animals respond differently to sound depending on species, frequency, intensity, predictability and habituation. Equally, habituation doesn't necessarily mean the absence of physiological stress. Before zoning an animal, this is carefully considered, however captive animals are far more robust than one thats caught in the wild as they are bred and raised in these environments. (I realise this is a sweeping statement btw)
But ok, I'll happily re-home a penguin. It can enjoy dubstep instead. <3
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Coasterfreck
Hyper Poster
Thorpe Park operationally is having a nightmare this Fright Nights, it appears Merlin’s overspending has influenced a significant pressure on operational cutbacks. I went on Friday, with over 10,000 guests on park, and Nemesis Inferno was running on it’s minimum two host procedure on platform for most of the day.
The thing that is more annoying with it’s current two host procedure is that the hosts can’t leave the back of the train to start checking the restraints till every guest is clear of the station, paired with the re-check all bars with row swaps, or having to assist a guest, almost every train is stacking. It’s not the hosts fault, it’s the painful procedure they are having to adhere to. It’s honestly a really sad sight to see having worked on the coaster in 2016/17.
I will give tiny props to Thorpe’s graphics team for replacing the AI slop food banners with themed maze ones, but these should have been really in place for the start of Fright Nights.
The thing that is more annoying with it’s current two host procedure is that the hosts can’t leave the back of the train to start checking the restraints till every guest is clear of the station, paired with the re-check all bars with row swaps, or having to assist a guest, almost every train is stacking. It’s not the hosts fault, it’s the painful procedure they are having to adhere to. It’s honestly a really sad sight to see having worked on the coaster in 2016/17.
I will give tiny props to Thorpe’s graphics team for replacing the AI slop food banners with themed maze ones, but these should have been really in place for the start of Fright Nights.
Matt N
CF Legend
That is odd to hear.
I went at the end of September, and Inferno had 4 staff on platform with possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on it. The ride was attaining comfortably over 1,000pph, with one average I timed hitting 1,191pph and the other hitting 1,090pph, multiple dispatch intervals were as quick as 80s or faster, and stacking was minimal to zero on all occasions I saw the ride. It was incredible!
With this in mind, I’d hazard a guess that what you saw may have been an isolated staffing issue rather than being caused by “Merlin’s overspending”, as “Merlin’s overspending” certainly wasn’t impacting staffing levels at the park on my visit less than a month ago. Unless staffing really has declined that much in less than a month!
I went at the end of September, and Inferno had 4 staff on platform with possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on it. The ride was attaining comfortably over 1,000pph, with one average I timed hitting 1,191pph and the other hitting 1,090pph, multiple dispatch intervals were as quick as 80s or faster, and stacking was minimal to zero on all occasions I saw the ride. It was incredible!
With this in mind, I’d hazard a guess that what you saw may have been an isolated staffing issue rather than being caused by “Merlin’s overspending”, as “Merlin’s overspending” certainly wasn’t impacting staffing levels at the park on my visit less than a month ago. Unless staffing really has declined that much in less than a month!
JoshC.
Strata Poster
The trouble during the Halloween events is that the park loses lots of staff. Some of them go (back to) uni. Under 18s can't work late. Some ride staff start working as actors / for mazes.
I can't comment on what it's been like this year as I haven't been since opening weekend. But I too would hazard to jump on the 'cutbacks' bandwagon when this is a problem that occurs regularly anyway.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Yep, same thing across all hospitality... We always lose a few every September to uni...
Suits us though, as we start to get quiet September until December, when often those same people are back home and want to work over the Christmas holidays... After Christmas, they're back at Uni until June, again the perfect time for us as things start to really ramp up for summer...
Must be a nightmare for Theme Parks, who have one of their most challenging periods at the end of October.