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Well here's a story, I actually enjoyed Walking Dead! But I don't think it will be successful (and apparently hasnt been). The reason is, entertainment has once again been sidelined in favour of marketing formula. The formula is broken. "Every ride must have a world first or an IP" is broken. The ride before this had a wider appeal and attracted an age group much more fitting for the experience. X No Way Out was never designed to be a super scary ride and it never could be. It had a scary edge because of the weirdness and darkness, but it was more than that and could be enjoyed by older kids and young teenagers. By making it themed to a violent horror show, it puts off people who don't like it. Those who do like it will be disappointed, because it's just a dressed up family coaster with some corridors. And those who've never seen the show may be put off by the promise of "actors touching you" and 'extreme' horror (which doesnt really exist). So who are you left with? Who is this ride for? Once again the IP formula shoots the park in the foot. Add to that how poorly designed the entrance and surrounding area is means nobody can find it. So nobody's going in! The ugly barbed wire opposite the sorry remains of Octopus Garden and a big cartoon sign saying "Poop deck" is just the most hilarious thing Ive ever seen. Possibly worse than Legoland's Haunted House as worst Merlin entrance ever. The preshow is total garbage. But after that, the simple fact that something happens during the ride now (like was always intended to) suddenly makes this a fun ride. X was calling out for this for about 20 years! It's insane that it took this long. We now have animations and moments during the stopping points, which creates a memorable ride. The sound design is fantastic too! But again this appeals better to a younger audience than Walking Dead fans. The effects are mostly good and very well timed (although a couple are pretty hokey and I dont like the TVs). This would have worked really well as a family haunted ride, but people expecting extreme horro will just laugh. I enjoyed it, but it should have been done properly. Shouldnt have been IP, should have happened 20 years ago and should have used the preshow rooms instead of just endless corridors. Then it could have been a family staple for Thorpe Park, rather than another Merlin 5 year failure.

Do you mean to suggest Thorpe Park made a loss by not meeting that visitor target? I dont know how well they did that year but I'm sure the additional annual cost of operating The Swarm was relatively small Parks make most their profit from in-park expenditure on food and retail rather than tickets. Thorpe built new coasters in quick succession in the 2000s to increase the capacity of the park and increase the draw, to bring numbers way up, but eventually you reach a plateau. I think Merlin found that they'd already reached that point when Swarm didn't reach much higher. However it probably wouldn't have meant the Swarm was not financially viable, it just meant it didn't increase attendance to the heights they (ambitiously) wanted. I would argue they spent too much focus on endless big new rides without thinking about the park on the whole. It wasnt sustainable and you end up with today's poor value for money putting off returning guests. They have actually increased park attendance without increasing the space much, ending up with overcrowding and long queues.

It looks like it is going to be a popular ride, looking forward to giving it a go in the summer. Here is a video of it testing and going over the top (FB page). Looks intense!

Went for the first time in years, most of what you guys have covered I agree with. It's all just a bit run down and looks dirty. The most shocking thing for me is not being able to stand for long periods of time and having to join the fastrack queue for Colossus and having to wait for 20 mins. I understand why they have changed the RAP to minimise waiting times for people who physically need to use it but basically saying to me that I need to physically be in a wheelchair to use it to the full is ridiculous. Plus a £50 deposit for a wheelchair is fantastic for people who can afford it. I won't be going back for a while, wanted a nice pain free day out and ended up pissed off and in a lot of pain. Might seem like a stupid thing to moan about but I use the RAP because I am unable to stand for long periods of time, I shouldn't have to rely on someone to wheel me around the park. Best part of the day was seeing a staff member shoot down another guest who was complaining that we got let up Infernos volcano first.

I guess so yeah. But in the same way there's a possibility I could go on to win an Olympic Gold medal in the 100m.

I am pretty sure there was music before, but I don't really remember it. I think when I went in July last year Troy was still actually playing it's old music. In general, despite the quality of the music if you do hear it, I don't really remember any music from the park aside from D'Werevelervelervelwind and Merlin's Quest of foreverness..

*This blog is getting bumped rip* So I have to admit that during late 2017/early 2018 I was incredibly cynical and skeptical over Wickerman during its construction. the layout to me just looked really mediocre and in a way I just writ off because its layout looked a bit naff to me, I think this was amplified even more due to Wodan being my only experience with GCI and with it being more than double the height and size of Wickerman. " ... So last year as a enthusiast I kinda failed. I only visited Lego, Chessie, and Thorpe, I just didn't get round to going up north and riding Wickerman or Icon. Even worse my only only abroad park was Portaventura.. Yuck.. Thorpe is better than.. This year though I think I am somewhat going to redeem myself. I'm heading to Europa in May and going to Six Flags GMerica and Cedar Point in June, I'm not gonna fail like I did last year.. One trip this year though left me with "would I make it?" and that was Alton Towers. After a bunch of last minute plans I finally headed to ride Wickerman, I would finally be able to form a proper opinion on the ride. So after a 3 hour drive I headed into the park for ERT and a early ride on Wickerman. I have to say it looks pretty sexy from afar.. So I have to admit I wasn't expecting a pre-show, it caught me off guard a little. Overall the pre-show was kinda neat, it certainly was well done but I found it was a little dark for a coaster that has a 1.2 restriction, I also felt on repeat rides it got a little old too.. After exiting the pre-show I was very lucky to be instantly batched to the front row on my first ride, I nearly snogged the guy giving out the rows. So as soon I get off Wickerman I was instantly very impressed- its well paced, fun, full of airtime pops and some fun GCI banks. The coaster is a lot better than I was giving it credit for, its really what Alton needed. The theming around the ride adds to the ride in a fun way (especially in the front row) and the main structure itself looks very cool. The coaster I found had a few minor pops of air in the front but had some pretty aggressive ejector pops in the back, if you want a more intense ride I would say the back is your best bet, especially on the first drop! The coaster runs very much like Wodan, it has a constant fast pace to it and never seems to slow down, its also decently long too. The coaster itself was running three trains on my visit (which is great for a merlin park!) but it did stack quite a bit so don't expect Wodan style capacity. Overall Wickerman is probably my favorite on park and maybe even my favorite in the UK. Its not quite as insane as Wodan but its still a great ride in its own right and is a great ride for those who can't be arsed to go to Europa or Toverland. Wickerman is proof that Merlin can build good rides, hopefully Merlin decide to add more GCI's in the future.. #Thorpe4GCI 8/10 With that last post, I wasn't wrong.. But Wickerman is brilliant for this country and I'm glad I can get my GCI fix closer to home now. 3 rides on this beast only hyped me more to ride Wodan again. Hope you enjoyed the review

Obviously not ideal - more so for the park than anything! but it’s good to see how popular it’s proving - the kinks will be ironed out and be good to see merlin roll them out more across all their parks!

Lets get the facts right before we go running to report the park and looking silly... The capsules are not sold out (if they were to sell out the machines would remain open) - the mixing syrup is what’s sold out which is why machines are closed - if you are to buy a cup today you can refill them at f&b units (although the park are recommending not buy a cup today due to the lack of freestyle offering!)

That's outrageous! I bought it for the sole reason that I would be able to purchase the refill fee every visit. Its an insult that because they have sold out of cups the rest of their customers have to suffer. Surely a sign saying new capsules have sold out and sorry for the inconvenience would have been a better decision.

Looking good! 18B74EE3-B47D-47E1-87EA-540711C82852.MOV

I went last week, it's 2.60€ each way and you pay the driver. You can find the times on the DB Navigator app.

That exact question has been on the surveys for the last 3 or so years now... would be nice mind if it did happen!

Looks like the hotel might be the next thing on the cards!

These elements are effectively what 11 year old me did when designing rides for my own amusement before being told it was "unrealistic"...

I'm very confused by the layout too tbh. The ride seems to leave the station to the right in the images above, up a lift hill, round the circuit, up another lift hill, then into a launch into the spike after a drop. Just feels very odd, and would surely have been better to start with a reverse launch spike, then have a lift hill mid-ride if so desired. --- In other Belgian news, Bobbejaanland have announced the name of their Gerstlauer triple launch as Fury, and will be part of new area called Land of Legends, which will feature the park's gyro swing and Eurofighter. Some very tasty looking concept art too... I'm not a fan of Bobbejaanland, but damn, that looks good. Oh, and IMAScore are making the music for the area too.

I realise reading back now I didn't quite word it how I wanted to. So, just to change it up a bit: My point more was they know what the public want. Or, possibly more accurately, they know how to tell the public what they want. They've monopolised the market, which means they can go 'look, all your options do this, so that means this is what you want'. That's why some things which work abroad don't work in the UK - the public don't want them. But I'm sure if Merlin wanted them to want it, they would eventually want. Wicker Man / a wooden roller coaster is a good example I think. Merlin didn't want to invest in one, so they found a way to show that (of course, there were people who did want one, and there were plenty of plans for wooden coasters in Merlin parks before Wicker Man). More importantly, I don't think the masses were clambering for a wooden coaster. People wanted pure thrill more for Towers, hence why Smiler came about. But when whatever level of Merlin thinking wooden coasters were a bad changed their mind, the public loved it. I think that's in part down to Merlin being clever enough to know how to get the most of the UK audience and get them to want what they're giving. I'm not sure I've explained that very well either, mind. But, speaking purely from a business sense, I think Merlin have got it pretty well nailed down. They can herd the masses like sheep, telling them to like what they're doing. It means they can get the most money out of them in the cheapest way possible. That doesn't mean what Merlin is doing is good - they don't always make the best decisions, and you could say they rarely do. I don't like how it affects the parks, but I can still see it as something that they've done really well, even if I don't like it. I do genuinely think that a large proportion of the public enjoy Merlin's offerings. Merlin can, of course, significantly improve, and I think if they weren't trying to herd the masses like sheep and instead genuinely listen to them, they would be more in touch with the public more organically.

Is it still that enthusiast who’s in control of social media?

Plohn's new Mack is growing: