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Merlin Rollercoastermatic Universe (Or MRU for short)


Liam T

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Welcome to a bored, slightly humorous random blog post on a Sunday Evening!

:excl: *PRE-WARNING, THIS IS ALL A-BIT OF FUN, PLEASE READ THIS LIGHT HEARTED* :excl:

While watching some POV's, I was thinking about since Merlin took over, and how their four (I'm leaving Chessington out of this as they've not seen a new rollercoaster since 2004) theme parks have had rollercoaster investments in 'phases', much like the Marvel movies! Introducing, The Merlin Rollercoastermatic Universe;

There's been two main phases since Merlin's take over in (2007/08), the first one is named, hype;

The Hype Phase (2009-2011)

Saw - The Ride^ (Gerstlauer, Built in 2009) -

Labelled as 'the world's most terrifying coaster', the only terrifying thing was how many break downs it had when it opened and it's ability to stall very easily.

The hype very quickly died, when many riders found out, that this ride is really a death trap by knocking the sense out of them at the bottom of the drop.

Th13teen* (Intamin, Built in 2010) -

This rollercoaster was also labelled 'the world's most terrifying coaster', unfortunately the terror comes in the form of bad marketing, large trim breaks and the fact the only exciting element about it, was revealed on GMTV...

Raptor^* (B&M, Built in 2011) -

The only rollercoaster in this phase to live up to it's hype, Raptor was a prototype from B&M, the wing coaster, covered top to bottom in theming... it's long, it's themed, and it's a world first? What's not to love!

Krake^ (B&M, Built in 2011) -

Finally ending our hype phase, was this lovely Dive Machine that comes in the form of Krake, it was tall, looked fun, and was longer then our lovely Oblivion! The only problem?

Heide Park advertised the ride falling into the mouth of an Octopus! But when it opened, it seemed like the Octopus theming has disappeared, a public out-cry called out for this theming to be construction, and next season it was... the public gets what the public wants!

Next week, we'll discover the second phase, Unoriginal.

Key:

* - World's First

^ - Taller than 100ft

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Saw has lived up to the hype IMO and also to the general public with the rollercoaster constantly being rated the best coaster there by the GP only being beaten by Stealth once in a while.

I also find it to have an original and interesting layout that just just turn in the same direction all the time or form a big spaghetti circle

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Thank you for all the feedback and likes guys!! It really was a random blog post, that was caused by boredom. But I can't wait for you all the read the second part to the MRC.

 

Although this was is a fun, light hearted view on my opinion of the Merlin rollercoaster investments, it does have some truth about it.

I do feel like these four rollercosters have something in common, which is being over-hyped at it's time, either that be it's 'world element' or some marketing tagline, it was unfortunate these rollercoasters got plagued with hype.

Saw has lived up to the hype IMO and also to the general public with the rollercoaster constantly being rated the best coaster there by the GP only being beaten by Stealth once in a while. I also find it to have an original and interesting layout that just just turn in the same direction all the time or form a big spaghetti circle

I highlighted the bit which I thought was interesting Peaj, do you think Saw lived up to it's hype because of it's IP name, or do you think it's being the marketing was spot on and the lead up to opening was executed well?  :)

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Being a fan of the saw films to start off with, when I found out about the IP I literally had a geekasm. I remember the little promos they did before its opening. YouTube videos with 'I want to play a game.' Clips of people trying to escape - but hardly any indication of what the coaster would entail. (Apart from a few statistical facts) but these facts were meaningless as the campaign was about the horror of trying to escape this 'trap' rather than being a rollercoaster.

The day arrived when I got to go to a preview event - the likes of jonathan Ross and other guests were there to try it out. The annual pass holder event also copied the format 2 days later. I entered the seat for the first time and the car sprung into action. Billy greeted us with his speech, we turned the corner and trap after trap came by - everything the promos had been promising us.

The drop on the inside was kept secret. We knew about the big one outside but that small one indoors packed a punch and really got the juices flowing. Around we went into an inversion over a dead body into the outside world and then the thrills and excitement of the outside section came. At no point was the ride tame - each element had some sort of kick to it and by the time we got back to the station, tears of joy were streaming down me and my friends faces - everything that the promo had promised plus there was a good rollercoaster attached to it too.

Yes for those who go on it all the time and then try and nit pick at all the faults they start to see or experience on their xth time - then yes they will try and find the faults but for something that you go on a rare occasion with the initial trailers telling you you will be part of the experience - put in a trap from the film and also having a queue line with actual props from the movie - Boy George did they do themselves proud.

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