Heide Park Discussion Thread

[3Mutts]

Merlin seems to be running their parks alot like Six Flags did in the late 90s and early 2000s, buying a lot of new parks and neglecting the ones they already have. Shame a freaking Intamin Plug and Play may be scraped and I thought Universal for removing Dragons Challenge for a stupid dark ride would be the worst decision ever

[ericthewanderer]

If Heide Park wants to get rid of Colossus so much,could they please send it to SFA?

[Chasehat]

If Heide Park wants to get rid of Colossus so much,could they please send it to SFA?

Or SFNE..... we need a big woodie we'll take it!

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Speaking of good news I just realized that it hasn't been mentioned here that Lady Moon (Huss Flipper) and Aqua Spin (Huss Top Spin) have been shut down since the 1st of August and the park has confirmed, that the rides will be removed from the park. Time consuming repairs and lack of parts have been given as reasons.

 

German Source

 

You may now continue with your love declarations for Merlin

I remember seeing Aqua Spin down a lot in the last two years (the park has an app that lets you see wait times and ride closures which I often check in on when I'm bored) and it was still closed for winter maintenance when I visited the park. Since Merlin killed Ripsaw at Alton last year I guess it was only a matter of time.

 

It's really a shame too since the area with all the flat rides is one of the nicer spots in the park. At least it's themed cohesively with a decent atmosphere.

 

 

Also to defend Merlin, ALOT of Parks have gotten rid of Huss Rides. Six Flags, Cedar Fair have gotten rid of Frisbee's and Top Spins

 

 

When Six Flags can maintain their parks/rides better than Merlin... That's all I'm gonna say (COUGH Gwazi COUGH)

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Honestly, I can't decide which is dumber...

 

Universal removing a perfectly good roller coaster that still ranks very high on guest satisfaction...

 

or

 

Merlin not seeming to care that one of the world's highest rated roller coasters needs regular maintenance.

 

I just feel like parks all over the world are making incredibly stupid decisions lately but this all just fits perfectly into society devolving into Idiocracy.

 

And as I said above... "surprising no one..."

 

Sad...

 

This may not have been a rhetorical question, but I think I can answer this.

 

At least Dragons has some logic to it from a financial standpoint. Harry Potter is Universal's main cash cow, so wanting to put a dark ride there makes some sense. However, Heide Park is trying to be a thrill park. It makes no sense for a thrill park to literally let their most iconic roller coaster rot.

 

Say what you will about Six Flags, but at least they know what they are. Six Flags seems to understand that they do need to maintain their best coasters (if minimally). Heck, even Six Flags America, the butt of every Six Flags joke, still keeps their wood coasters in descent shape.

 

Remember a few years ago when there was a scare that Six Flags would buy Busch Parks? Given Merlin's reputation, I am not sure which chain would be worse to end up in...

 

Well let's look at all the closed attractions at Busch Gardens Tampa

- Theater by Zagora Cafe

- Gwazi

- Terrace Restaurant 1/2 the Time

- Bird Gardens Gift Shop

- Tidal Wave

- Curiosity Caverns

- Rhino Rally

- Questor Building

 

 

But look on the bright side of SeaWorld/Busch Gardens/Merlin; They went public so rich people got richer and they pass the budget cuts down to the consumer.

 

And not to add fuel to the fire, How are the Legoland parks lately?

[TheoB]

And not to add fuel to the fire, How are the Legoland parks lately?

 

I don't know if this is meant to be super like heated, but Legolands are doing the best by far of their parks, well in England at least. Merlin aren't buying out new parks really they are just expanding and opening midway parks at a crazy rate, theres probably well over 100 sealifes by now plus lots of dungeons, madame tussauds and other stuff.

 

I actually have heard many times they're looking to sell Heide Park plus the english parks (probably Gardaland too) because they simply don't do that well especially in england after the smiler accident the attendance for both thorpe and alton have dropped significantly. Chessington and Legoland however are thriving so I'm not sure. Heide Park makes complete sense to sell, it hits about 1 million visitors which is half the other major parks they own yet still has the same amount of thrill ride investment with 6 major coasters at the park including Colossos so it clearly just isn't working out well for them. I don't really know anymore with Merlin.

 

Is it less complicated to re-track a pre-fabricated coaster than a "built on the spot" coaster?

 

If so, I could see Colossos getting Topper Tracked by RMC . . . . .

 

If its costing 10 million euros/dollars/pounds to rebuild, there must be major structural problems thats like half the cost of the coaster so I imagine the problems can't just be fixed with RMCing it, its more to the with the actual supporting.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I don't know if this is meant to be super like heated, but Legolands are doing the best by far of their parks, well in England at least. Merlin aren't buying out new parks really they are just expanding and opening midway parks at a crazy rate, theres probably well over 100 sealifes by now plus lots of dungeons, madame tussauds and other stuff.

 

I actually have heard many times they're looking to sell Heide Park plus the english parks (probably Gardaland too) because they simply don't do that well especially in england after the smiler accident the attendance for both thorpe and alton have dropped significantly. Chessington and Legoland however are thriving so I'm not sure. Heide Park makes complete sense to sell, it hits about 1 million visitors which is half the other major parks they own yet still has the same amount of thrill ride investment with 6 major coasters at the park including Colossos so it clearly just isn't working out well for them. I don't really know anymore with Merlin.

 

 

Actually according to the TEA (I know I know) Merlin parks (Excluding Legolands) seem OK-- 2016 v 2015

Gardaland- Up 1.1%

Alton Towers- Up 2.9%

Thorpe- FLAT

Chessington- Up 1.8%

Heide Park- Up 1%

[cookiex]

I don't know if this is meant to be super like heated, but Legolands are doing the best by far of their parks, well in England at least. Merlin aren't buying out new parks really they are just expanding and opening midway parks at a crazy rate, theres probably well over 100 sealifes by now plus lots of dungeons, madame tussauds and other stuff.

 

I actually have heard many times they're looking to sell Heide Park plus the english parks (probably Gardaland too) because they simply don't do that well especially in england after the smiler accident the attendance for both thorpe and alton have dropped significantly. Chessington and Legoland however are thriving so I'm not sure. Heide Park makes complete sense to sell, it hits about 1 million visitors which is half the other major parks they own yet still has the same amount of thrill ride investment with 6 major coasters at the park including Colossos so it clearly just isn't working out well for them. I don't really know anymore with Merlin.

 

 

Actually according to the TEA (I know I know) Merlin parks (Excluding Legolands) seem OK-- 2016 v 2015

Gardaland- Up 1.1%

Alton Towers- Up 2.9%

Thorpe- FLAT

Chessington- Up 1.8%

Heide Park- Up 1%

Alton dropped 25% in 2015 IIRC so marginal improvements probably aren't going to help much.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

I don't know if this is meant to be super like heated, but Legolands are doing the best by far of their parks, well in England at least. Merlin aren't buying out new parks really they are just expanding and opening midway parks at a crazy rate, theres probably well over 100 sealifes by now plus lots of dungeons, madame tussauds and other stuff.

 

I actually have heard many times they're looking to sell Heide Park plus the english parks (probably Gardaland too) because they simply don't do that well especially in england after the smiler accident the attendance for both thorpe and alton have dropped significantly. Chessington and Legoland however are thriving so I'm not sure. Heide Park makes complete sense to sell, it hits about 1 million visitors which is half the other major parks they own yet still has the same amount of thrill ride investment with 6 major coasters at the park including Colossos so it clearly just isn't working out well for them. I don't really know anymore with Merlin.

 

 

Actually according to the TEA (I know I know) Merlin parks (Excluding Legolands) seem OK-- 2016 v 2015

Gardaland- Up 1.1%

Alton Towers- Up 2.9%

Thorpe- FLAT

Chessington- Up 1.8%

Heide Park- Up 1%

Alton dropped 25% in 2015 IIRC so marginal improvements probably aren't going to help much.

 

Probably an improvement financially considering how they went up when 4+ rides were SBNO and 0 added that year:

[Anthlon]

Is the removal (of Colossos) or any main reworking (Rmc style) really on the table? I dont think so. As i see that from past visits (about 2 or more per year) some more serious work needed, but removal, really?

This post i caught somewhere in early time of continuous shutdown of ride.. (in german):

https://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/rotenburg/rotenburg-ort120515/colossos-erbauer-cordes-ueber-titel-weltbesten-holzachterbahn-4592661.html

Any opinion after reading?

[mr.sugar]

Is the removal (of Colossos) or any main reworking (Rmc style) really on the table? I dont think so. As i see that from past visits (about 2 or more per year) some more serious work needed, but removal, really?

This post i caught somewhere in early time of continuous shutdown of ride.. (in german):

https://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/rotenburg/rotenburg-ort120515/colossos-erbauer-cordes-ueber-titel-weltbesten-holzachterbahn-4592661.html

Any opinion after reading?

 

Well, you rly cannot judge the state of the ride by riding it, can you? I can honestly imagine that if they didn´t care enough for 15 years, there might be structural damage (which is obviously not visible by eye).

[Coaster_t]

My unoffical customer 'misson statement' for Merlin Entertainments "We're here for our convenience not your pleasure."

[livai]

' for Merlin Entertainments "We're here for our convenience not your pleasure."

 

yes yes yes .so it will take little time. sooner or later will sell European parks

[Baffles]

I really do hope Merlin sell the parks to an owner who puts the customer experience first.

 

Their focus is clearly sucking all of the profits from them and expanding midway attractions which are literally all about quantity and not quality. If you have been to one Sealife or Legoland Discovery Center, you have been to them all.

 

Merlin doomed the parks as soon as they bought out Tussauds by selling the land they sat on to an investor, who then charges significant rent halving the profitability. Seems like this was a move to recoup the money they had to shell out to buy them in the first place. It is only Chessington they still own outright, as the land is so valuable.

 

Heide Park pales in comparison to most other German parks. The traditional charm, beauty and quality attractions are just being taken out for tacky IP based rides which are clearly not helping attendance.

 

Fingers crossed Colossos will reopen - but generally Merlin don't spend major money on anything that won't see a decent return on investment.

[livai]

and for merlin this year it gets tough. gardaland (the only park that really made money) this year went really shit

[mr.sugar]

I really do hope Merlin sell the parks to an owner who puts the customer experience first.

 

Their focus is clearly sucking all of the profits from them and expanding midway attractions which are literally all about quantity and not quality. If you have been to one Sealife or Legoland Discovery Center, you have been to them all.

 

Merlin doomed the parks as soon as they bought out Tussauds by selling the land they sat on to an investor, who then charges significant rent halving the profitability. Seems like this was a move to recoup the money they had to shell out to buy them in the first place. It is only Chessington they still own outright, as the land is so valuable.

 

Heide Park pales in comparison to most other German parks. The traditional charm, beauty and quality attractions are just being taken out for tacky IP based rides which are clearly not helping attendance.

 

Fingers crossed Colossos will reopen - but generally Merlin don't spend major money on anything that won't see a decent return on investment.

 

Can´t agree more. The IP stuff thing is soo SixFlag-ish.

[MrSum1_55]

So the silver lining to Merlin's bad management might be that their management is so bad it will force them to sell their parks?

[mr.sugar]

Any idea if there is any petition to save colossos?

[RyanTPM]

^There might be, but signing any won't make even the slightest bit of difference to their decision

[Philrad71]

Honestly, I can't decide which is dumber...

 

Universal removing a perfectly good roller coaster that still ranks very high on guest satisfaction...

 

or

 

Merlin not seeming to care that one of the world's highest rated roller coasters needs regular maintenance.

 

I just feel like parks all over the world are making incredibly stupid decisions lately but this all just fits perfectly into society devolving into Idiocracy.

 

And as I said above... "surprising no one..."

 

Sad...

 

 

It's really scary to think that some park management might agree to decide to only take the minimum amount of safety or maintenance precautions, which could potentially lead to horrible fatalities if rides aren't kept to the extremely high safety standards that they need to be.

 

I have personally witnessed where safety and quality have been sacrificed (or oft overlooked) in the never-ending war to drive down cost and increase profit margins for the shareholders, executives and other money-hungry people of their ilk.

 

Truly scary, yet pathetic, sad and idiotic all at the same time.

[Dombot]

It's almost painful seeing a ride this popular/amazing be treated like this.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Speaking of painful (ha ha), the only time I (and a few others) got to ride this coaster, was in

2008 during a TPR Europe Tour. But rain had started up, and when we finally rode it, it was like

nasty bullet-like bees were smacking right into our faces, etc. Awful ride. Good times.

 

I wish I had gotten the chance to ride it again... in dryer weather.

Where Liberty used to stand - and Colossus. TPR 2008 Europe Tour. Before the rain beat us up.

[mr.sugar]

Damn I simply love how Colossos looks like. It will be missed.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

Maybe the big parks will be sold to Parque Reunidos

[livai]

I do not think so, parque reunidos is worse than merlin