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YAY Merlin!

It's all very well building more hotels, but if all the attractions are closed, knackered or on half-day opening who's going to stay in them?
 
Hard one: I have a lot of gripes about Merlin when you compare them to other European parks! AND the you have memories of The parks in the Tussards day.... oh I could list.... but that's not the point of this topic! Also its personal taste!

2BH Merlin excel best at there smaller attraction types - the Dungeons, Madam Tussores, legolands etc. Although I loved the original Dungeons - I'm proud of what Merlin have done to the brand - and expanding it internationally! And appreciate how they overlap their franchises in clever ways! (sealifes in their Theme parks etc).

I thought Heide was a decent park, - you can never tell if that's because of what was already set up before Merlin etc. But the Halloween decor and atmosphere was fab!

Also Th13teen is one of my favourite UK coasters - and Wicker man looks RIGHT up my street and am genuinely excited about riding it! ......Oh and HEX - all is forgiven!
 
Yay Merlin ; well Alton anyway. Upcoming TV (UK Ch4) thingy about the place, and the launch of wickerman...
http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/new-documentary-slate-announced-for-channel-4
Channel4 said:
Alton Towers (title TBC)

A one off documentary will go behind the scenes at Alton Towers, the UK’s biggest theme park as they launch their multi-million pound new rollercoaster, Wickerman. Eagerly awaited by rollercoaster enthusiasts as the first wooden rollercoaster in 21 years with a structure that appears to set on fire, this is also Alton Tower’s first new ride since The Smiler accident in 2015. We follow the team at Alton Towers as they work around the clock getting Wickerman ready for the big launch when the park re-opens this March.
 
Very much looking forward to that. It’s been aaaages since they did the magic maker ones or whatever they were called!
 
I'm really looking forward to this! The Magic Factory is fantastic, and I always wanted someone to make a modern version of it!
 
This looks amazing and the whole Tiger Rock area looks great. Yay Merlin for this one.

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It's better than it being bare but compared to the old Buddha faces and rock work it doesn't look great. Hopefully they'll tart the lift structure and turnaround up a bit and make the tiger fences less vulgar before opening.
 
I don't understand why they didn't clean the tile roofs on the buildings, they look so gross. Takes away from any lick of paint they've given the rest of the buildings. Everything about this looks cheap and tacky and I don't get why it is getting so much praise on social media. In fact, why is this even in the "Yay Merlin!" topic?
 
Implied dragon... forgive me, but what's that?
This - on the left hand side -
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The rockwork is formed up to be like a dragons head. Bit closer shot here:
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I thought I had a better photo somewhere, but doesn't seem to be in my Imgur album. It's fairly subtle, but excellent.
 
I don't understand why they didn't clean the tile roofs on the buildings, they look so gross. Takes away from any lick of paint they've given the rest of the buildings. Everything about this looks cheap and tacky and I don't get why it is getting so much praise on social media. In fact, why is this even in the "Yay Merlin!" topic?

Just to add a bit more negativity, the boats are also still the same and look tired. The actual ride its self is very dirty.
 
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