Loudon Castle shut down!

[furie]

I don't know, but Blackpool is claiming good gate numbers this year and even poor old Camelot has said it's had pretty decent figures.

I think the biggest issue is location and weather. People don't go to Scotland for a theme park, and the locals wont go if the weather is poor.

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Adventure Island is never as busy as Alton Towers, Chessington etc and there are quite often no queues or very short queues even for the main rides, but Philip Miller, the owner, thinks that an operation at Dreamland would be viable.

If Bob thinks the opposite would be true, perhaps he could state what his qualifications are to comment with accuracy on the amusement industry?

[Xtremecoasters]

It was the same when I visited the Pleasure beach on the way back up to Scotland from Alton Towers. It was practically empty. I had been on pretty much every major attraction within 2 hours of being in the park.

In all honesty BPB is starting to look very tired. Not to mention the fact that rides were closed all over the place, and the new payment system where you have to pay to enter the park even if you do not want to ride has put a lot of people off. The pleasure beach really needs to think about getting the place back up to scratch. There was just no atmosphere in there, it looked dirty, run down and empty.

As far as attractions go, Alton Towers added Thirteen this year and Thorpe Park added Saw last year. Both of these coasters added something major to the UK's theme park industry and got the attention of the worldwide press. Both additions boosted attendance to both parks retrospectively.

Don't get me wrong, the pleasure beach added Infusion, but this was just a relocated coaster from Southport. Its also a standard SLC that pretty much every other major park of the UK has a copy cat of.

Its unfortunate, but that the majority of today's society is always looking for the next big thing.

At least Dreamland will offer something no other park out there can. This will be the worlds first heritage park If it is run correctly, kept clean, offer an amazing atmosphere and a great day out, there is no reason it can't be a huge success. I cant wait to visit on opening. Will be on the first plane down from Scotland

[Gary]

Bob, I believe that in times of money troubles: Holidays, Theme Parks and Amusement parks are often viewed by the public as therapies rather than luxuries.

[Bob]

Bob, I believe that in times of money troubles: Holidays, Theme Parks and Amusement parks are often viewed by the public as therapies rather than luxuries.

Not really true. When money is tight people will cut back on holidays abroad and will tend to take short breaks and day trips in the UK so theme parks should actually benefit. The main reason they are not is there is a decling interest in Theme Parks & seaside fairgrounds

[Xtremecoasters]

In that case, how do you explain every major theme park chain reporting profits up from last year?

I'm talking Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Disney etc.

Have you been to Thorpe Park or Alton Towers recently? Or even Flamingoland? If you had, you would know that there is no sign of a decline in the UK. Take it from someone who visits theme parks on a monthly basis, and has for the best park of a decade.

If a park is decent and offers attractions people want to ride, it will succeed. Dreamland is in the state its in because it was run into the ground after Bembom Brothers sold it. We all know the reasons why, so there is no point in getting into that.

But my point being, instead of keeping up with other parks, the major attractions Dreamland had were removed and replaced with traveling fair rides. Half the park then got turned into a car park!! Its no wonder it failed.

If investments like Nemesis, Air, Stealth, Saw etc was put into Dreamland, it would still be thriving and quite possibly one of the top 3 tourist attractions in the UK today. Lack of investment was what killed Dreamland the first time round, not lack of interest

[Nick]

If you read the annual Mintel report on the UK theme park industry, you will see that the industry grew throughout the last year, has seen growth over the last few years, and is expected to grow over the next few years. That is measured in terms of revenue and profits.

The UK theme park industry is a growing industry, not a declining one.

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

Not really true. When money is tight people will cut back on holidays abroad and will tend to take short breaks and day trips in the UK so theme parks should actually benefit. The main reason they are not is there is a decling interest in Theme Parks & seaside fairgrounds

Given that the Halifax Building Society reported within the last week that UK property values fell by 3.6% in September, the largest monthly fall they have ever recorded and one which wiped over £6,000 off of the value of the average house, I would say there is a declining interest in property.

[barcrest]

It was the same when I visited the Pleasure beach on the way back up to Scotland from Alton Towers. It was practically empty. I had been on pretty much every major attraction within 2 hours of being in the park.

In all honesty BPB is starting to look very tired. Not to mention the fact that rides were closed all over the place, and the new payment system where you have to pay to enter the park even if you do not want to ride has put a lot of people off. The pleasure beach really needs to think about getting the place back up to scratch. There was just no atmosphere in there, it looked dirty, run down and empty.

This is what struck me when I was there, rides removed and not replaced or just closed with no real explination. I think they are hoping Nickolodien land will bring them more revenue but they need to make sure all existing rides are up and running. I hear the revolution is going as well now I don't what will replace that.

[Xtremecoasters]

Well it will be quite tough to fit another ride in Revolutions footprint. Its really just a small strip of land.

Would be another ace attraction to Dreamland though. What with it being Europe's first looping coaster

[barcrest]

Well it will be quite tough to fit another ride in Revolutions footprint. Its really just a small strip of land.

Would be another ace attraction to Dreamland though. What with it being Europe's first looping coaster

I did think that myself

[EAS]

Bob may also wish to consider that the Dreamland site will be a heritage site.

And those are thriving.

The value of heritage:

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/news/101013-heritagematters

[Bob]

If you read the annual Mintel report on the UK theme park industry, you will see that the industry grew throughout the last year, has seen growth over the last few years, and is expected to grow over the next few years. That is measured in terms of revenue and profits.

The UK theme park industry is a growing industry, not a declining one.

DEpends how you interprete the figures and whether you look specificaly at them parks or you include seaside fairgrounds

Seaside fairgrounds are very definately in decline. Them parks are seeing a small decline. In 209 revenues grew by 2.4% but that is less then the rate of inflaction. On the other hand costs increased over the rate of inflation

Over the last 5 years the average spend increased by 13% which is less then the rate of inflation. At best they are treading water but at the expense of squeezed margins. They are also having to invest heavilly just to maintain current visitor numbers. At best it is a stagnent industry. This is also indicated by the large number of parks closing down. Almost all the growth coming from a few major parks none of which are seaside located

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

You can't really compare small parks with Disney. For one thing, Disneyland is in a GIGANTIC metropolitan area second only to the very densely populated and sprawled New York metro area. It's also a major destination for domestic and foreign tourists for Hollywood, the enormous beaches and semi tropical summer climate, surfing, etc. Disney is s worldwide brand, adept at self promotion and massive marketing.

This place with it's castle backdrop will certainly be a loss. Very lovely place for a park. Doesn't look like much there was very old. I'm sure it'll all be relocated.

I spotted this photo of Bob at the beach on his MySpace page. Apparently, he does care about seaside resorts, except only about the food vendors.

[Nick]

DEpends how you interprete the figures and whether you look specificaly at them parks or you include seaside fairgrounds

Sorry, I was responding to your point about theme parks such as Loudoun Castle being part of a declining industry, not seaside parks. You said:

Theme Parks are no longer a draw and people have grown tired of them. In theory they should benefit when money it tight as people tend to cut back on holidays abroad and tend to take short UK breaks. They are a victim of the decling market for these sort of things. There are to many venues chasing to few customers. They will not be the last to go under.

The Mintel report proves that statement wrong.

Seaside parks are a different category of attraction altogether and are not covered by Mintel. Some seaside parks are growing and investing, whereas others are declining. Adventure Island in Southend, for example, had its best year ever in 2009, and continues to invest in new attractions every single year. That doesn't sound like decline to me.