jon18uk wrote:aircanman wrote:I think many people have completely forgotten that they have just given the area a lick of paint with a BBC theme, looking at some of the POVs which have appeared online it looks like some areas are extremely poor as well!
What gets me the most is Drayton Manor's success story is Thomas Land, Paultons Park has also done really well with the addition of Peppa Pig World, there is an obvious link between children's TV shows and theme parks, not only to keep the guests happy, but to bring in the big bucks for the businesses.
Thomas Land cost millions, and was a brand new area, everything was new, Peppa Pig World was created with brand new rides, scenery in a new area of the park, with massive investments from independent parks, yet Merlin, the multi billion pound corporation could only manage a re-theme? I think we have been scammed!
Yet Thomas Land is largely off-the-shelf rides with fibreglass train shells on the cars, there might be a lot of new hardware but there isn't a great deal of originality. Look at the bits of CBeebies Land that aren't rethemes, Mr Blooms Allotment looks amazing and is based around actors not ride hardware, Big Time Show is brand new and has shows and meet and greets, Nina's Science Lab is new and something more like a Science Museum exhibit than a theme park ride. CBeebies Land is more about learning through play than just a chance to ride something themed to a character and i think Alton Towers / BBC Worldwide have pulled this off. The rethemed items I think do suit the show they represent and why demolish perfectly good ride hardware just to replace it? Postman Pat is also all new, despite being a similar concept to the tractors.
Not that I am saying Thomas Land is worse, it is just gone about in a different way. Nickelodeon Land at BPB is much worse though, I couldn't see much theming or interaction at all just very very loose themes on each ride and again 3 of the rides were just renamed really.
I see where you are coming from, but I disagree with a few things, I haven't seen CBeebies land yet so can't really be 100% sure, but when you say things are actor based, usually this means the actors will end up being replaced or just not being there in the future, when the rides and attractions start to get less popular, and while I think learning through play is a great idea, big projectors and screens are nothing for Alton Towers, this is stuff they probably have in a storage shed.
After seeing a POV of ITNG ride I am surprised there is so little animatronics, they could have done so much more with this, it could have been amazing, but it looks pretty poor, as does the postman pat ride, nice concept, but it's just fibreglass shells on the tractors! - I still think Thomas Land and Paulton's have really done the right thing, superbly themed rides and attractions, proper investments and dedication to the brand, only time will tell, but I still think we have been short changed by Alton.
For me it will always be The Squirrel Nutty Ride, and I will always remember the old squirrel / nut cars they used to have! True classics.
