I think being so far into the season now this attraction will only be a short term thing. CCL really needs a complete overhaul. The park is in desparate need of an area to cover the ages between CBeebies and the next step up coasters. It's been mentioned before but I think a LegoLand would be perfect for the area. Extend it behind as well to where The Beast and Alton Mouse used to be and you have plenty of room for a full Lego experiance area with loads of room for a Dragon coaster. Plus with Lego being the majority stake holder now what a perfect time to boost their IP.

I really don't think it will be Lego. It would devalue the theme park brand so much!

I think they only just get away with cross brands in the form of The Dungeons and Sealife, but to add Legoland into the mix would be detrimental to Legoland Windsor. I do think we'll see a family IP that will appeal to the 7-11 age range, whilst at the same time appealing to others. For that to happen it will need to be a well known and established brand.

If it was to be Lego (and to be honest I think there might be more a clue to point towards that), I think some hotel rooms, would also get a rebranding as well.

I have to agree with Justin in saying that I really can't see Lego being the theme of whatever is going into CCL. It simply wouldn't make any business sense for Merlin to put Lego into Alton Towers as if families can experience Lego at Alton Towers then they will be less likely to visit Legoland Windsor or the Lego Discovery Centres in Manchaester and Birmingham.

I also agree that it will need a well known and established brand to help appeal to as many people as possible. It will also need a brand that still has a decent amount of time left in its appeal - it would be no good installing something based on an IP which has already moved past its best. Ideally it needs to be something where there is potential for more to be added, either through a TV show that still has a few seasons left in it, or a series of books where there are still a few more instalments planned.

Whilst the only outward signs of construction so far have been seen in the Wobble World / House of Monsters building, I don't think we can rue out other work going on elsewhere that we can't see. CCL has the old Ice Age theatre where work could easily be done inside without anyone knowing, and there are also a row of other buildings next to the theatre too. I also wouldn't rule out thie being a multi phase project to regenerate the whole area with the front end of CCL being worked on for 2020, then the area further back which contains Driving School being re-developed for 2021 (but that's just wild speculation on my part). It's certainly going to be interesting to see, but whatever we do get it will be good to see the area brought back into use more.

Hit the nail on the head there, Chris.

Whilst it may seem easy to just look at whatever's popular in the media and build an attraction based upon it, there's going to be a large chunk of guests unfamiliar with the property who also want to be entertained, and don't want to feel alienated just because they aren't aware of the work it's based upon. This favours internal properties, as not only does it feel unique to the respective park, but if guests feel like they want more content, it's all there. They don't need to go home and do post-research on Netflix or whatever. It also means that a wider group of guests can experience said attraction together, instead of a group of die-hard fans of the property bringing in people who are unfamiliar, thus leaving them alienated.
And speaking of uniqueness- what's the chance that there might one day be other attractions with the same show attatched? This can easily be seen with The Walking Dead, with various parks across the world utilising the property, thus devaluing the ride at Thorpe Park. And sure- you could argue that there are other magic themed rides around the world, thus detracting from the uniqueness of Symbolica. But what makes Symbolica shine is that as Efteling have created the property of Pardoes, they have complete creative freedom, and can really make it their own thing.

You've also got to consider how many people will know the story, and if you're re-telling the original or simply immersing guests in the world of whatever it is you're adapting.
If you're re-telling the original work, you've got to ensure that it isn't changed too much and that it retains whatever made the original great. If you make a change, the fans are going to notice, and it'll probably stick out as a negative. For example, take the film adaptation of Les Miserables. There were a few occasions where the odd lyric was changed or an extra bit of exposition was added, and it felt really distracting and took me out of the world for a moment. So if they're re-telling the same story, they've got to be careful that it feels like a natural step-up from the original, rather than an "alternate vision".
Or you could tell an entirely new story, but this isn't without it's own set of issues. Whilst it's easier to sell to people unfamiliar with the property, unless you're collaborating with the original artists (which is highly likely), it's very easy to tell a story that doesn't quite feel at-home within it's respective world. You could take a look at the infamous I'm a Celeb maze at Thorpe Park as an example of how not to adapt a pre-existing work into a new story. It seems to be of common opinion that the experience on offer didn't represent the atmosphere or character of the show it was based on, leaving viewers rather confused and dissappointed. 

There's also the issue of whether the story fits the type of attraction it's being built upon. Take The Gruffalo for example, from both a story and ride perspective. The story told on the ride feels wishy-washy as the transit wasn't designed for a "story-line" as such. Boats will be passing through each scene at varied speeds due to load, and as these particular boats are unable to be stopped/held, there's a really short amount of time to tell any story. Because of this, the story is incredibly easy to miss. I have a good understanding of The Gruffalo, but due to the way it was told on ride, it was genuinely confusing and tricky to grasp. If the same story had been applied to a different transit, say Tomb Blaster, the story could've been much easier to follow.
It's safe to assume that whatever ends up taking the Wobble World building will be a walkthrough, but even then that poses issues, as I've heard Room on the Broom has a lot of troubles with keeping it's audience captivated as the type of attraction doesn't fit the story they're trying to tell.

We can only remain optimistic and hope that this new attraction is something unique, but unfortunately it seems that the current future of the industry is based off well known characters, and it's such a shame to see. Whilst there are occasions where we get something brand-new and fresh such as Wicker Man, the general direction seems to be that of "more brands means more recognition".

If any-one is looking to draw inspiration for their "Lego at Alton" case, have a look at Gardaland. They are building a LEGOLAND waterpark, presumably as a second gate. This would work in Italy as there isn't a LEGOLAND already in place there - the closest being in Germany. But I don't think we will see anything LEGOLAND related at Alton based on the fact that Windsor is only 2 hours up the road and there are 2 Discovery Centres close by... That said, the Discovery Centre could be an option as they are midways on the same scale as Dungeons and SeaLife, but I'd really hope they don't do that.

Though I dont see a Lego section coming to the park (watch it happen) I wouldn't be surprised if they do with an IP if it's going to be a kids - family section. I get that people can see a Lego Discovery centre coming though, it would be a safe bet and designs can be modified easily and cheaply for the area like The Dungeon has been and it would be good to have an all weather indoor area to have. Though I think that some thing like a Discovery Centre and the Sea Life would be better near the hotel so visitors have something to do out of the water park while the hotel is open out of season, it's better than the mini golf.

What are the chances of bulldozing the driving school, 4D cinema and everything at the back to make space for something completely new ?
What is the expected life span of The Dungeons ? If it's temporary this might give an idea of a time frame to develop the area.

The wall looks a little "Angry Birds" esque to me....

But I'm sure Merlin wouldn't do that again! 

Torsie24 wrote:

The wall looks a little "Angry Birds" esque to me....

But I'm sure Merlin wouldn't do that again! 

Personally, I think the wall just looks Alton Towers themed rather than an IP. It looks like their family style and brand.

A left field suggestion....Horrible Histories. Maze at Warwick Castle is quite fun. Am sure sure with a film out this year it has been considered and could create a number of rides and attractions. It won’t be but  after a day at Warwick popped into my head!

I'd love to see a Horrible Histories Area. Different rides themed to different time zones. Only problem is it needs to be perfect, otherwise it feels like a clash of themes

Horrible Histories is a fab idea!

In terms of an IP I think Horrible Histories would work well in that area, especially if it's rethemed to a medieval village which would work well between the Towers and Dungeon, it would all tie in relatively nicely together.

I also think Horrible Histories lends itself well to a walkthrough attraction which is what we are most likely to get.

If they absolutely have to incorporate an IP into CCL, they should theme it to Horrible Histories. I would prefer a new idea, but knowing Merlin, it will be an IP.

Horrible Histories would be a good fit, but it would take away from Warwick who already have the maze and shows. I am sure we'll see something completely different

I would love an original idea but even Disney is straying away from creating new attractions with original IP's so I'm not sure it's likely. As said before my "Blue Sky" version would be a medieval village which then interconnects to Dark Forrest. and If I wanted to go a step further I would see the removal of Rita in favour of an Intamin blitz like Taron, but that would be a seriously large scale investment that I don't think Merlin are prepared to make.

I think we're more likely to see a relatively "light" retheme e.g. re-painting and maybe abit of façade work and maybe,  just maybe some new mild thrill flat rides and maybe a walk through.
I would love to be proven wrong though.

You think there’ll be any more progress on this retheme now Scarefest’s on the way? As of the weekend just gone I believe the rides in CCL were still open, the rumour was the area would close for the preparation work after the end of summer. 

GregH94 wrote:

You think there’ll be any more progress on this retheme now Scarefest’s on the way? As of the weekend just gone I believe the rides in CCL were still open, the rumour was the area would close for the preparation work after the end of summer. 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see CCL closed off at some point in the coming weeks.

For the past couple of years, House of Monsters has been something to draw people to that end of the park over the Scarefest period, but with that not returning this year, I can see CCL being practically deserted for the rest of the season, so they’re not going to lose much by closing it off early to get ahead with the 2020 development.