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John Wardley


ChrisDJ

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Glad you liked it :) I actually only just read it back for the first time since March, I realise some of the questions seem to be a bit odd but obviously I needed the answers to fill whatever the narrative was of the documentary script (I'm thinking the Disneyland question here)

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That is an excellent read, nice one.

CJ: What do you think will be the next big thing in roller coaster design?

JW: Well that’s the question that everybody asks me because I am working on some new ideas with B&M but obviously until such time as the first one is announced, that will be very much under wraps so I’m afraid I can’t really elaborate on that, but you can rest assured that there is a lot of thought being put into where to go from here.

I'm not sure that has ever been confirmed anywhere else before? Kind of fits in with the whole 'SW7 is a replacement for something else that isn't ready' theory if this interview was back in March.

4D? I can't imagine what else.

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Ahh Eddie Stobarts Trucks & Trailers then ;).

Good interview, thanks for posting - really enjoyed reading. Glad Wardley thinks we can have a "thumping good time" at Alton Towers!

(Plus: Nice to see Colossus didn't have any thought other than, oh our parent company are bastards we have to put this awful thing in ;))

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  • 4 months later...

As most know but is hasn't been discussed much here, John Wardley has recently announced his retirement and released his autobiography which immediately got into the Amazon top 100. I've just started it on Kindle and so far it is a really good read.

John can be heard talking about his career and autobiography here, which is well worth a listen.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finished reading the book a couple of days ago..

Fantastic read; cannot fault it. One thing that struck me was the amount of humour that was just intertwined in the book and seemed so effortlessly done - I guess showing he is a showman through and through. Sometimes I've felt Wardley is miscredited by enthusiasts for the work he does, but reading this book shows that the praise he's given is well and truly deserved, even if it has been a bit miscredited sometimes. If he reads this - thanks for taking the time to do this; I'm pretty sure all enthusiasts of any description would love this!

A question on my mind since finishing the book, though, is now Wardley has retired, I wonder who - if anyone - will be used by marketing as the 'creator' of rides for interviews and such, a position Wardley has taken for the Merlin parks recently...

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Candy Hollands name has been cropping up in the mainstream press of late, so I'm guessing her. Wardly speaks highly of her but she's got some work to do to build anything like the same level of reputation or respect.

A chink of light in the clouds of the future ride design from this interview:

So is John really retiring after The Smiler?

John laughed: “I am, it’s time, I love rollercoasters and they have been my life, now my contractual agreements are all finished. But if the phone ever rings and somebody wants my help designing a ride, who knows!”

Fingers crossed!

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Candy Hollands name has been cropping up in the mainstream press of late, so I'm guessing her. Wardly speaks highly of her but she's got some work to do to build anything like the same level of reputation or respect.

I maybe wrong but I believe she was behind The Swarm, so I'm sure we are ok in that respect.

Unfortunatly I doubt we will ever see anything to the scale of Nemesis in the UK again though.

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She's definitely been involved in a lot of projects around all the Merlin parks, which I guess is only natural considering she's been working at Tussauds/Merlin for 17 years (according to this link - http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=751914). Pretty sure Wardley called Smiler "Candy's baby" as well at some point in the radio interview, and based on what we've got so far, can't go wrong.

She was also used in Saw's marketing shortly after the announcement of the name - http://projectdylan.co.uk/Construction/106 (finally found that link after goodness knows how long digging! :P ). So, she seems like an obvious choice if they were to continue with having a 'creator' in the press I guess. XD

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She's definitely been involved in a lot of projects around all the Merlin parks, which I guess is only natural considering she's been working at Tussauds/Merlin for 17 years (according to this link - http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=751914). Pretty sure Wardley called Smiler "Candy's baby" as well at some point in the radio interview, and based on what we've got so far, can't go wrong.

It was actually the radio show host who called it "Candy Holland's baby", but John replied saying that he "taught her the craft over the years" (along those lines).

Candy Holland has been involved as far back as Nemesis, I believe, but became more of a leading figure after John Wardley's [initial] retirement. I find most of the recent projects to have very stale, formulaic or sober themes; not the kind of imaginative, exciting ideas from the John Wardley era. Despite that, everything in the last 5 years has been a big improvement from the rubbish era of tacked-on themes and half-hearted rides, like Rita for example.

Thirteen seemed to be a change for the better. It actually had an atmospheric, emotionally rooted concept that suited the history of Alton Towers, but it was executed so badly (scaffolding + dummies = possessed forest?). The Smiler may finally be the moment one of Candy Holland's team's concepts really breaks through - it's original, characteristic and very enjoyable (for me at least). And so far, the concept is actually there in front of you, not hidden behind a fence or displayed on a queueline tv.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, but it's worth noting that no one person ever designs anything. John Wardley was project manager of the early 90s developments at Alton Towers and Chessington in the early 90s. He was head of Tussaudes Attraction Development (along those lines) until his retirement in 2002, but by that time the industry had expanded and his job role changed slightly. Whereas rides like BubbleWorks and Vampire were practically his ideas, later projects such as Oblivion and Air were influenced more by marketing.

After Merlin rehired him in 2008, he was given the title of Ride Consultant which seems similar to his role in the late 90s/early 00s, however by this point he had no creative input (apart from consulting with marketing what tone the theme should have, to target certain audiences). He still has input on the basic layouts and profiles, but whether you can call that "designing the layout" I'm not sure.

Candy Holland doesn't actually design the rollercoasters herself, but she is involved in the creative studios - I think. Nobody really knows about her. There are also these Brad and Ben people who have popped up recently...

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I finished reading the autobiography a while back and it really is very good, laugh out loud funny in places and full of tales I found fascinating. Wardley manages to to convey such passion and enthusiasm for his work it is easy to see why he has been so successful and how the experiences he gave himself set him up for that success.

Others have commented on how lucky he has been to be able to do the work he has done, and to an extent the right time right place factor will always be true, but what is even clearer is you make your own luck. You get out and do it and stay true to your beliefs. When Chessington came knocking he could have told them what they wanted to hear and got himself an easy little job, but he didn't. He told them his truth and they didn't like it because they wanted a quicker easier fix that didn't exist, but he left them with something to think about and sowed the seeds that would allow him to develop the place in a way he knew would work. Persuading others that you are right is the bigger skill than being right in the first place.

It is really quite an inspiring read, makes you want to get out there and do something you love.

An amendment has been made in later additions giving a little info on the smiler, and that can be found here. It is a little bit cagey on the process but, regardless of how good the smiler actually is, has this slightly heartbreaking passage

We all knew that a traditional wooden coaster would be an absolutely perfect attraction for the park, and would thrill young and old alike, but the public's pre-conceptions of them being old-fashioned made them very difficult to promote and market. I was convinced that once the guests had ridden such a ride they would love it and be very enthusiastic. Alton Towers had just employed a talented new marketing director whom I was confident had the ability to market such an attraction. But unfortunately the weight of opinion went against me.

After a whole career of getting things right why couldn't they have just trusted him on this one? A woodie clearly is the ride he has wanted to build at Towers, and it is the one I wanted to ride. Such a shame.

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  • 1 month later...

It seems like now he is not receiving their ££ Wardley is being a bit more openly honest about the reality and frustrations of getting things done in Merlin, very interesting little quotes here...

http://riderater.co.uk/2013/wardley-not-giving-up-on-wooden-rollercoaster/

A B+M standup? I wonder if that means they have some sort of development of that ride type up their sleeves as it has been dead for a good while now.

A Wallace and Gromit coaster? Could have been interesting.

WOOD. Still talk of wood. Keep on hoping.

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