These days, a lot of UK theme parks (outside of Merlin) tend to keep theming to a minimum. Look at places like Blackpool Pleasure Beach, in the last decade or so they’ve been modernising the park with things like the Sculpture Gardens and the fountains, whilst at the same time a lot of the themed buildings (like Trauma Towers and Bowl A Drome) have gone/ had all theming removed. Bearing in mind 20 years ago, they invested £15million into Valhalla (a major immersive dark ride), theming isn’t a priority for parks (and most guests) these days. In reality, it can be cheaper for a park to remove theming and replace it with something bland than keeping it up to standard overtime. And we know how important it is for parks to be saving money at this moment in time *tries not to mention that B word*.
The UK theme park industry has evolved since the days of John Wardley and his ‘reimagining’ of Chessington and rides like Pirate Adventure. Unless it’s an IP or a major coaster, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a park take time for the theming, as a (for example) *a generic train themed land* won’t sell as good as Thomas Land.
The only real theme park in Britain that does non-IP and immersive lands well seems to be Paultons Park. Yes, Peppa Pig World is an IP, but instead of going for IP after IP since then, they’ve gone with original themes to improve the park and make it unique. Drayton should have done something similar after Thomas Land’s opening in ‘08, instead of the constant expansions with a little amount of new rides being added outside of it since then. If it worked for a park that was not well known before Peppa Pig World opened, it could have worked for a park that was already well known and established with rides like Shockwave and Apocalypse.
