With Londom Paramount opening, the current UK theme parks will have to up their game to compete! What will this mean for the current UK theme park industry??

It won't because it won't open for a long time

If it ever does happen (I get increasingly sceptical as the project just seems to be stalled completely at the moment), I think the park hurt most would be Chessington.

There are only a couple of rollercoasters in the original plans, the vast majority of the rides looked family friendly. It was more Universal Studios in style than Six Flags. Thorpe Park will still offer something this park can't give so will be less hurt by it.

That said, it's could help turn London into an international theme park location (much like Orlando is) and boost all theme parks

Well so far it's impacted the industry by showing parks what happens when you're too ambitious ...

I agree that it could seriously hurt Chessington. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it could be the death of the park. It would be very difficult for long-distance visitors to justify going to Chessington when a park that caters to the same audience but does it infinitely better is just an hour away (and, in most cases, an hour closer).

I think Legoland would still be able to compete (much like Legoland Florida is able to compete with the high-level parks), although some game-upping would be necessary.

This could also hurt some smaller family parks in the south, such as Paultons Park and Adventure Island.

Does Legoland Florida compete with the main Orlando parks? I barely hear it mentioned. In fact, I've noticed a lot of the ticket sites throwing Legoland tickets in for free with other bundles now.

What Paramount should do is provide some genuine competition for Merlin, which they've lacked. Hopefully this will force them to up their game and provide better value for money.

I see everyone's points as being valid, my own opinion is that while London Paramount will most likely focus on Intelluctual Property owned by them or their partners, I think that THORP PARK RESORT will need to add more one off experiences and probly remove most of the smaller rides and keep building it up to become the "thrill capital" of the UK. I think that the parks could work in harmony as long as they try and cater for different markets. Another point I was wondering on is Cebeebies Land at Alton Towers Resort, as BBC hare a partnership with London Paramount, will BBC not want Alton Towers Resort to remove Cebeebies brands, after all isn't Cebeebies Land bases on Intelectual Property contracts with the Intelectual Property owner, BBC? After the contracts end, would BBC not want Alton Towers Resort to remove its brands so the BBC can be more loyal to London Paramount?

First of all, I don't think Chessington will be able to compete with Paramount in the slightest. Maybe Chessington might focus a lot more on the family market due to Paramount being able to add a lot better and ambitious coasters for the thrill market compared to them. LegoLand Windsor, in my opinion would survive due to their good reputation among families. Thorpe Park should easily be able to compete catering for the thrill market. Alton Towers too far away to even compare the two. Paultons, not sure.

Alton Towers is lacking in a lot of areas but it is overall a fun day out. However, with the new park in Kent it may have a competition on its hands.

No. 

There are so many reasons. Alton Towers is so far away from where London Resort is supposed to be being built, and as time goes by, it's becoming increasingly likely that it just won't go ahead altogether.

I agree. The paramount park will probably never get built anyway?

Scarlyboo22 wrote:

I agree. The paramount park will probably never get built anyway?

That's what I'm thinking. It just doesn't look likely by this point, and even if it does go through, it looks like it will be heavily underfunded. Alton Towers does have budget issues, but at least they're trying new things and creating world class rides. 
So, personally, I don't think Alton Towers has any threat, never mind it becoming obsolete. 

If the Paramount Park does go ahead it'll be up against parks like Disneyland Paris, PortAventura and Europa Park. Not the Merlin UK parks or local parks. I doubt it'll detract business from Towers at all, as it will attract a different type of market sector.