Project WC16 - New for 2016

[xxbennxx]

Actually focus groups can be very revealing even after a theme has been locked in.

The reason companies do it, even after they hafe decided what is being made, built, released etc is because they want to see early reactions to guage what route the marketing for sed thing should go down.

Essentially, hi guys, this is what we are doing, here are the key elements, how would you want to see this marketed to you as a potential customer.

Have seen it done on countless occasions.

Though the guy may be lying, it is wholly plausible.

[Coaster]

We had a talk today from the assistant manager, he talked a lot about the swarm and then compared it to how IPs have worked for the park eg. Saw. They blamed the lower gate figures for swarm on not using an IP. So the guy said they were very keep to use an IP on upcoming new rides, and all recent installations have been IP based (angry birds, I'm a celeb) so I'm pretty sure this will be IP based and not in house, and hopefully with an IMAscore soundtrack[emoji108]

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I heard something along those lines from someone quite high up at Thorpe a few years ago, but I disagree with it completely - there are a number of other reasons that could have caused the lower than expected gate figures in 2012.

 

He did actually tell me that "if he had his way, the next roller coaster would be themed to The Hunger Games", but that was just his opinion rather than something that could possibly happen.

[archiedeaves]

Well if it's a bloody IP look at Merlin's clients / colleagues and expand from there and think what's dark

[B&MFTW]

I heard something along those lines from someone quite high up at Thorpe a few years ago, but I disagree with it completely - there are a number of other reasons that could have caused the lower than expected gate figures in 2012.

He did actually tell me that "if he had his way, the next roller coaster would be themed to The Hunger Games", but that was just his opinion rather than something that could possibly happen.

I agree, but Merlin and Thorpe are money orientated, he also said today that they try to get you to spend as much as possible, whilst keeping investments to a minimum.

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[Coaster]

I agree, but Merlin and Thorpe are money orientated, he also said today that they try to get you to spend as much as possible, whilst keeping investments to a minimum.

Now that doesn't surprise me in the slightest!

[Kerfuffle]

How come Smiler was such a success for Towers then, since that didn't have an IP?

Because The Smiler had a unique selling point; it was the world's first 14 looping coaster, and that's what brought the crowds in.

[B&MFTW]

Because The Smiler had a unique selling point; it was the world's first 14 looping coaster, and that's what brought the crowds in.

Just looking at the smiler and how tightly packed the track is helps, not just the loops but how much track has been packed into a small space is impressive. It looks visually disorientating, and it was marketed correctly compared to other rides. (I feel swarms ad was slightly cheesy, and made the ride look 100x more intense then it is) Merlin really need a talk with Stengel and wardley about a "good ride", look at Maverick at cedar point, highly rated and no gimmicks, and who designed the ride layout? Stengel.

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[Ian-S]

I agree, but Merlin and Thorpe are money orientated, he also said today that they try to get you to spend as much as possible, whilst keeping investments to a minimum.

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Now that doesn't surprise me in the slightest!

To be fair, any company not employing that policy is doing it wrong.

[Project LC]

The use of maverick is an odd one. Cedar point is notorious for the tallest, fastest, longest ect. Mavericks gimmick is the launch aspect and beyond vertical. Yes it is a great ride. However to be realistic if you are going to spend £15+m on a ride you need to be able to sell it to people. Which means it needs something to shout about and stand out above the rest.

[Mark9]

Because The Smiler had a unique selling point; it was the world's first 14 looping coaster, and that's what brought the crowds in.

 

Read Wardley's book, The Smiler was confirmed as a 14 looper really late in the game, it was marketed solely on its logo and brand for a long time and that got people talking.

 

Now that doesn't surprise me in the slightest!

 

If it helps Coaster Jamie, they aren't very good at getting you to spend lots of money if you spend most of your day in a 40 minute queue because of one train operations all over the place.

[JoshC.]

They created a very strong brand with Smiler. That's possibly why Swarm didn't draw in the crowds as much as Thorpe would have liked; the brand was rather weak and bland. The actual marketing and promotion for the ride was fantastic and spot on for the most part (I can't remember anyone faulting it at the time), but tbd overall brand fell short.

That's why IPs are seemingly the answer. Pick the right one and you've got a pre-established brand to work with and it makes things easier. Creating a new brand requires more work and can be more "risky", but can end up being so much better (a la Smiler).

With what we've seen so far, the park could easily take things further and make a 'Big Brother' style brand, with the idea and watching you and the like. Mix it in with recruiting minds or whatever and they could create a strong - albeit not necessarily original - brand; regardless of any IP.

[Benin]

Swarm didn't draw in the expected crowds because everyone seemingly left the country when the Olympics were taking place...

 

I still don't understand why the parks didn't try and take advantage of a massive global event happening on their doorstep, there was barely any marketing over the summer yet millions of tourists in the London area...

 

Plus dodgy summer weather, something Merlin are blaming this year's low figures for (as well as the Smiler, obviously)...

 

Swarm's brand wasn't that weak, it just wasn't pushed in the same way that Smiler's was... Hindsight is a wonderful thing though, and at the time the campaign was good, but I think external factors were the problem...

[Ian-S]

Yup although it wasn't totally that everybody left, it was that nobody came and the indiginious species couldn't give a crap. I can't remember the figures exactly but it was something very disappointing (for Coe and Co) like only half a million Tourists came for the Olympics, and only a few million in total for the whole year, they tried to polish it up by saying they spent more and we had more tourists thanks to the Olympics, but frankly the Olympics was a disaster.

A friend of mine owns a pub in Bow within spitting distance of the Olympic Park and he said as soon as the Olympics started, his area became a ghost town.

[smiler craig]

The I.p is silent Hill I'm 100% the pocket watch time matches the pocket watch on silent Hill Google images, the cover of silent Hill is an eye search on Google. Another clue says that there is a silent observer, the perfume matches plus the chapel is on the game/movie. Secrets, control the lights in the dark correct me if I'm wrong but I'm very certain

[Zach]

Just to round up all of the teasers we have had so far:
A: The plans

B: This image

C: This poster

D: "There's a dark secret coming to the island"
E: "Prepare for a journey like no other"
F:
G: "The secret is a dark one but I won’t leave you blind. Here are some guiding lights but where will you find them?"
H: "I’m constantly watching. The silent observer."
I: "There is nowhere to hide from my gaze on this Island like no other. Surrender your mind - resistance is futile..."
J: "“We’ve got some intense time ahead of us putting our heads together and making sure that this really is just the most unique and extraordinary thing that’s ever existed, ever.”"
K:

L:

M: "The Island’s dark secret will get inside your head. It will distort your reality."
N:

O: (not a teaser, just for comparison) What the perfume item looks like in silent hill

P:

Missed any? I feel like it should be possible to figure out the theme by now. I'm saying it will be based on silent hill for the following reasons:

• Silent hill the game was created by Konami, the konami code has been mentioned in L, and entering it on the website will unlock an extra section
• Silent hill is based on psychological horror, which fits with everything else, including the "distort reality" and all of the darkness of it.
• The look of the warehouse is similar to the kind of scenes in silent hill.
• The clues all fit in with the theme.

[JoshC.]

 

Missed any? I feel like it should be possible to figure out the theme by now. I'm saying it will be based on silent hill for the following reasons:

• Silent hill the game was created by Konami, the konami code has been mentioned in L, and entering it on the website will unlock an extra section
• Silent hill is based on psychological horror, which fits with everything else, including the "distort reality" and all of the darkness of it.
• The look of the warehouse is similar to the kind of scenes in silent hill.
• The clues all fit in with the theme.

 

Just as a reality check, the clues all fit in with a Doctor Who theme:

 

A - Doctor Who adventures can happen anywhere, and an abandoned warehouse would be the perfect place for a villain to hide out in.

B - Totally looks like a Dalek.

C - Could easily be linked in with weeping angels (keeping eyes open) or some villain wanting to control the world with people's minds (like The Master did towards the end of David Tennant's story).

D - Very generic phrase.

E - Very generic phrase, but could be the Doctor telling his companions (us) about our journey.

F - Lights to lead the way, all from different time periods.

G - See above.

H - Evil Doctor Who villain who is constantly watching (I'd say The Master).

I - See above.

J - Doctor speaking to his companions.

K - Pocket watch.  Time.

L - A hidden code from The Doctor.

M - Villain phrase.

N - Victorian-looking bottle.  Victorian period is popular with Doctor Who.

 

Equally, the clues all fit in with Hunger Games...

 

A - The "arena" for the games is set inside a small warehouse, making the games much more dangerous.

B - Bright light for when you get transported to the arena.

C - The Capitol are very controlling; it's like they are controlling their minds.

D - Dark secret about the Hunger Games

E - Being in a fight to the death is a journey like no other.

F - Those lights are the only source of light in the games.

G - Fits in with the game idea.

H - The Gamemaker / President is constantly watching everyone?

I - See above.

J - Either some people in The Games trying to form an alliance, or the Capitol working together.

K - Race against time to survive.

L - Secret code to get some important survival stuff (similar to in the first film where there's a specific way to get to some treasure).

M - Not sure on this one admittedly.  Maybe some sort of hallucinogenic weapon in the games?

N - See above.

 

 

----

 

Sorry to elaborate the point.  I'm not trying to pick your idea apart (and thanks for gathering all the clues in one place!), but all of these clues are very generic and could lead to many different things.  Some clues are very hard to fit together with others.  Even though it seems like the park are trying to give clues as to what the ride's theme is (and the IP, if there is one), they simply won't give out enough information in these teasers for anyone to possibly work out the theme.  I'd even bet that they've purposely put some false leads out there to throw people off the scent.  For the record, I don't think it will be Doctor Who or Hunger Games or Silent Hill.  Out of all of them, only Doctor Who would really fit in with the park now, and I just can't see it being the case now.

 

However, I do think that this is how all those in know are like when they read this thread...

[Ian-S]

The Silent Hill pocket watch images on Google don't have the clasp in the top right (about 1 o'clock position), and seem to have a hinge on the bottom where the face opens. The image Thorpe posted doesn't appear to have a hinge on the bottom for it to open (it seems like the watch my grandad used to have that didn't have a cover), but then it could just be that I'm over analysing it and someone did a bad cut and paste job. Also I'm sorry but those perfume bottles look nothing alike, the only similarly is they are perfume bottles.

I'm not saying you are wrong either, but if it does turn out to be Silent Hill, those are crap clues that could as Josh pointed out, be attritubed to various different IP's, including Ripper Street, Elementary etc. The only strong connection is the Konami code but then that could just be someone in the marketing dept that likes urban legends.

Personally I think WC16 may be 'Shrek's big brother', not necessarily a 'Shrek' attraction, but something that utilises the same ride hardware.

[smiler craig]

Doctor who is not dark enough in my opinion and saw is already a ride based on a movie. But a ride based on a video game would be a new concept. Plus the sanctuary was based on the smiler and was released as a clue. I think fright night will give it away... A Real Game changer picking at straws but must admit that the fact that the riddle links to silent Hill is too much of a coincidence. Maybe we've guessed it. I think the minds wanted is the distraction tbh.

[Mad Coaster Man]

As much as I'd like to see it happen, a SIlent Hill theme seems unlikely at best.

Not only is the IP nowhere near as well known as others, even when compared to similar series like Resident Evil,

but Konami are currently going through a lot of internal conflict, which led to the cancelation of "Silent Hills"

among other titles, and the resignation of Hideo Kojima, the longtime developer of the Silent Hill and Metal Gear

Solid series. It would seem odd for such a brand to end up appearing at Thorpe Park, although not impossible.

It also wouldn't be paticularly family friendly, which would conflict with the general direction that Thorpe Park is

attempting to go in.

[xxbennxx]

Please don't make the connection and cite the konami code as a reason.

It is nothing more than a pop culture reference and is not even close to being the first website having nothing to do with konami to use it.

Having said that, a silent hill ride would be cool, and the IP is probably not very expensive, what with the movies being beyond awful and konami sacking Hideo, Thus killing Silent Hills. (P.T is awesome)

As stated earlier though, Thorpe is looking to be an all round family resort again, so silent hill is totally and completely nonsensical in that respect.

[pluk]

Not only is the IP nowhere near as well known as others, even when compared to similar series...

 

Quite. For me, the problem with Silent Hill is I'd never heard of it. And I'm no dinosaur with my head in the sand, I'd say I'm a pretty average punter, but with no great interest in gaming this one is not known to me while many many others are in my consciousness. 

 

Look at other IPs used by Merlin; Cebeebies, IAGMOOH, Ice age, Shrek. They're all pretty much universally recognised. Silent Hill is unknown outside of a certain demographic; it would be an odd and obscure choice in my eyes.

[smiler craig]

Yeah back to the drawing board is a video game a likely theme angry birds was a gimmick then saw was a movie plus I'm a celeb was a TV programme. I think it's something mythical and the island is changing kind of looks like a torch. It's just the way the arrow keys look like a. Keyboard or a possibility clue of a day pad. I'm determined to figure it out first you have to be observant on this as the clue's are mentioned to be terrible. A video game would appeal to a younger audience all they do is play minecraft:-P

[Ryan]

I'm watching last night's Doctor Who and I'm almost certain that'll be the theme for this ride.

But then a part of me thinks that would be ridiculous and obviously not going to happen.

Another part of me is looking out for the lights/perfume bottle/time piece that Thorpe have posted photos of, throughout this series.

[MachoMachine]

Whitechapel2016 posted this on Instagram earlier!

[James Allgood]

Whitechapel2016 posted this on Instagram earlier!

 

thats quite an old image