August 23, 201312 yr comment_166635 I would hate to see a new ride wasted on a Stand-Up coaster... The horror circus theme is so Candy Holland isn't it?
August 23, 201312 yr comment_166636 It seems as if he got really annoyed with Merlin over those coming month as he said they wasted and effort. hmmm interesting although I wouldn't want a standup, the woodie talk excites me.
August 23, 201312 yr comment_166644 Stand-Up would have been fine with me if the current boarding/station problems were fixed.
August 23, 201312 yr comment_166679 8:30 to 26:30 of that video is basically Wardley ripping in Merlin management, Nick Varney in particular. Kind of funny how a few months ago people were saying that The Smiler would be a great last project for him when he is pretty bitter about it now.
August 23, 201312 yr comment_166689 I can laugh and smile to the fact John Wardley basically designed Megafobia. WALES HAS A WARDLEY COASTER
August 23, 201312 yr comment_166729 Very interesting talk/presentation. How nice to know that so many have benefited from ones own skills, and he loves them. (and for those talking of Oakwood, you can hear Drenched and Speed in the background)
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166776 This is actually quite sad. It almost feels like he was not allowed to finish what he set out to do. I am guessing he doesn't quite see eye to eye with Nick Varney, and did anyone else get the feeling he was not 100% satisfied with the Smiler?
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166791 There seems to be some definite sadness and regret in how he speaks of pretty much the whole of the second half of his career, such a shame. Doesn't strike me he is proud of the smiler at all really. The more he speaks of Nick Varney the more he comes across as a bit of a tit. If the criteria for new investments is 'how well can we market it' and an afterthought is 'how good can it be' that goes a long way to explaining some of the mess we have here. It is another shining example of short-termism, what matters is getting people through the doors and not actually pleasing them when they get there, so they don't want to come back, so you have to work harder with more 'marketable' rides to persuade them back and so the spiral continues. I wish someone would ask him at one of these things how Nemesis got built. If we don't get wood now because it is perceived as dangerous by a focus group what on earth would such a group have made of the dangley legged like nothing seen before extreme monster that was built, which was then marketed with a story rather than being the first of anything much? I'm going to guess they simply trusted him. Why did that trust stop and what would our parks look like today if it didn't?
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166802 Fantastic video, thanks to Theme Park Worldwide for hosting the video. It's a rather telling video and there are a few points that really strike me from it. -His love for Megafobia and wooden rollercoasters in general. He quite rightly should be proud of Megafobia, one of the under-rated gems in the UK. It says a lot about him as a person that he prefers rides to be about adventures of experiences and not flash in the pan marketing speil. - His dissatisfaction working on the Smiler. It speaks volumes that a ride creator prefers his 19 year old rollercoaster because of the values it was built upon. Not to be the highest or the biggest but to be the best it could be. Merlin could learn a few lessons from that. - His respect for people like Candy Holland and the way the Smiler was marketed. Clearly, Merlin has some amazing staff that just aren't allowed to reach their limits because of silly rules from up above. - Marketing gets in the way of brilliance. When he describes Saw the ride as successful from IP more then ride, it really says a lot about the way the company is run. Especially when he talks fondly of Thirteen working (one remembers that rides open day very vividly), you can see that John Wardley thinks of a ride as more then just the ride hardware but every element that goes into it. I've so much respect for him. He speaks so candidly and honestly in that interview and you can't help but feel the what if's when you listen to him.
August 24, 201312 yr comment_166812 He clearly loves wood and clearly does not hold the purse strings. His comments show that though he understands what the rider wants, it is the commercial side that decides, not necessarily wins. I wonder if there is anybody in the industry within the UK who may follow his footsteps; there is much more liaison between the manufacturing side and individuals, rather than companies.
September 19, 201311 yr comment_168813 After some random trawling through Amazon, I came across this... http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1490417087/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item The foreward by Wardley should be interesting, and based on the reviews, I've decided to order it. Looks like quite a recent release; anyone here heard about / read it?
September 19, 201311 yr comment_168818 It's been known for a few weeks now and is apparently well written and interesting (with some nice big pictures of the ride). I haven't read it myself yet, but I know all the work this guy put into researching the ride. Here's the website in case you haven't seen it! John's (short) foreword was written two years ago and he mentions the book in his autobiography.
September 22, 201311 yr comment_168985 Okay, I've read it... It's an interesting read for sure. It's quite a short book, and lots of the pages are taken up by some amazing (colour) pictures of the ride, during construction and after it had been completely. It is well written (though there's a couple of typos; though that's not really a big deal to be honest), and it explains everything really well. I wouldn't call it a must read, but if you're interested in The Haunted House in any way, shape or form or want to reminisce over it, I'd highly recommend it!
September 22, 201311 yr comment_168987 Thank you! It sounds great for what it is. The concept of the Haunted House is a big inspiration to me so I am really looking forward to reading this book; mostly for pictures if not the text.
September 22, 201311 yr comment_168988 It's probably worth mentioning that the Creating your own Nemesis books are available to buy at Thorpe Park at the moment, although they didn't have any price on them when I saw them today.
September 22, 201311 yr comment_168998 ^ Oh brilliant! I was disappointed in Merlin for not selling these but it looks like they are!
September 22, 201311 yr comment_169000 Yep, it's about in the Megastore by Storm Surge. (Image courtesy of Xplorer Central Facebook). It's the latest edition (3rd I think?), which includes a couple more pictures (Wardley in a prototype Air train, Th13teen's drop mechanism built in Budapest and a couple of others), and has a bit extra at the end about Smiler.
September 26, 201311 yr comment_169312 £9, 3rd edition, presume you can get discount on top of that?! Balls!
October 12, 201311 yr comment_170403 They are at Alton, but at £12.99, though as I had suspected I would meet the man himself, bought my copy, and luckily got John to sign it too. Interesting read, and with so many references to people and places with which I have an awareness or links.
November 22, 201311 yr comment_172295 Little interview on Theme Park Tourist, which contains nothing I've not heard before from JW to be honest... http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20131121/15110/interview-john-wardley-rides-were-never-built Seems to be giving stock answers to questions he's been asked 1000 times. Someone needs to think of something new to ask him!
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.