FrightNights04 Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I just watched a pov, wodan looks sick and I think it would work at TP aswell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 No. Let's get Goldstriker if we must get a Woodie. Mute Alvey, for optimum enjoyment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altitude Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 ^ Gold Striker is the same as any other GCI. They need to start changing otherwise many of their coasters will look the same. Besides, GCI's best coaster will always be... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unocjGOPRUM So unique and different <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 "Same as any other GCI" isn't a bad thing when the closest one to the UK is in the south of Germany. And even less so when it happens to be one of the highest-rated European coasters there is. And as for Wood Coaster, gorgeous as it may be, Thorpe could never build something like that; as the park's name suggests, Knight Valley is filled with hills and ravines. Thorpe Park is flatter than Holland. If anything of that ilk is built by Merlin it'll be at Alton. But personally I'm against the valley coaster concept so I'd gladly not see any woodie in there. Goldstriker is just an example. I'd like to see a conventional woodie, with buckets of airtime and G-force to boot. I'm most impressed by Goldstriker because of how much speed it maintains through it's layout, and that would also be a welcome quality of a potential woodie at Thorpe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 "Same as any other GCI" isn't a bad thing when the closest one to the UK is in the south of Germany. And even less so when it happens to be one of the highest-rated European coasters there is. And as for Wood Coaster, gorgeous as it may be, Thorpe could never build something like that; as the park's name suggests, Knight Valley is filled with hills and ravines. Thorpe Park is flatter than Holland. If anything of that ilk is built by Merlin it'll be at Alton. But personally I'm against the valley coaster concept so I'd gladly not see any woodie in there. Goldstriker is just an example. I'd like to see a conventional woodie, with buckets of airtime and G-force to boot. I'm most impressed by Goldstriker because of how much speed it maintains through it's layout, and that would also be a welcome quality of a potential woodie at Thorpe. A woodie would look better at alton because it would blend in with the trees and hills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 Yes, because Merlin have always been concerned about how easily rides blend in at Thorpe. FrightNights04 and Inferno 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 To be honest I really don't think a woodie would be the best option for the park for its next big investment. I think the park would be much better off with an easy to market tall / fast Intamin air time machine. We all know a Woodie would most likley be harder to market and after the Swarm whilst it ticked all the right boxes ,it didnt have the impact Stealth / Saw bought in id much rather they went with the safe bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 To be honest I really don't think a woodie would be the best option for the park for its next big investment. I think the park would be much better off with an easy to market tall / fast Intamin air time machine. We all know a Woodie would most likley be harder to market and after the Swarm whilst it ticked all the right boxes ,it didnt have the impact Stealth / Saw bought in id much rather they went with the safe bet. My friend queued 4 hours for the swarm on opening weekend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted August 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 We all know a Woodie would most likley be harder to market I really don't believe it would.The lack of woodies makes it much easier to get a UK / Europe first if that's what they want to aim at. There's very little to go up against! I simply do not believe people need persuading that these things are safe. Basically, the public know that the park would not open anything dangerous, regardless of how insane it might look. There is a general trust in the offerings of static parks. My friend queued 4 hours for the swarm on opening weekend... That's not the point. Of course there was a level of initial interest, but The Swarm failed to bring the punters in across the season, and that's a fact! Inferno, Sidders and FrightNights04 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 My friend queued 4 hours for the swarm on opening weekend... I was there on the Saturday, and the queue never went above 80mins. Get a feeling your friend could be over-exaggerating a bit... FrightNights04 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 I saw a post on twitter saying John wardley wanted to build a woodie at alton in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted August 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 I saw a post on twitter saying John wardley wanted to build a woodie at alton in the future! He wanted one for Alton and at Thorpe and has designed many that have come to nothing. He's now retired, although not ruled out at least assisting on the right project in the future. Details here. The fact that some of these plans have got to a fairly advanced position before being pulled has got to be a good sign that we may see some wood in the not to distant future. I hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 John begged for Woodies but according to the big guys at Merlin they just don't have that Unique Selling Point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Aside from being able to claim any UK tallest/fastest/longest crown for a Wooden coaster they probably could claim several selling points... As the John Wardley interview said, the UK is just unsure on the use of wood for a coaster... And it's clearly not just the public, as he had to fly the owner of Oakwood out to America to try some out... The problem is, the UK public generally have only had experience of a few wooden coasters, those at Blackpool and Gwazi in Florida (Stampida could also be added to this)... None of those are particularly beneficial to the idea that they are any safer or better than the smoother steel brothers... Building a wooden coaster would be a risk for a UK park simply because it might not attract as many people as hoped... They are actually difficult to market without breaking some form of record because what do the public care for such terms as 'airtime' or 'crossovers'? Indeed, with Swarm even UK first wasn't even something to help it break into the market (though 2012 was a weird year for the parks anyway), so why would a UK first GCI Wooden Coaster work? I too don't like the hybrids... I also didn't like the Intamin variant of the wooden coaster as it felt too smooth... But those are probably what we'd most likely get because they would be the easiest to market... But if managers were to visit places like Toverland, Efteling and Asterix (don't even NEED to travel all the way down to Europa to find good wooden coasters) they would see a rather surprising thing (to them)... Sometimes, rides don't have to marketed, make it good, and word of mouth can work just as well as some over the top advertising campaign... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 That's why we need one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 All well and good us saying that, but we're not the ones spending millions on a potential marketing flop... Thorpe won't want another Swarm... FrightNights04 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Very true Benin, and I'm not generalising or stereotyping, but we all know that Merlin are a business and have a long track record for installing rides that can easily be marketed as something over-the-top, in order to generate as much of the profit they want as fast as they can, often compromising originality and quality (The Swarm not permitting but look how that ended for them). They'll want to see a quick return like you say, especially after the wobbly first year The Swarm brought in. It's a potential nail in the coffin - arguably Thorpe's best ride has the worst opening year on record at the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted August 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 They'll want to see a quick return like you say, especially after the wobbly first year The Swarm brought in. It's a potential nail in the coffin - arguably Thorpe's best ride has the worst opening year on record at the park. Followed by a very strong second year. I hope the money men note that too, building quality is better in the long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Is Swarm the reason for a better second year? Or because the park has improved dramatically? People are actually in the country this summer? There's a lot of reasons why this year is better than last... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidders Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Again, a good point, but the truth is evident with other parks: quality (I.e. a decent attraction over an easily-marketable gimmick) takes more time to bring in a profit, but it'll serve the park better in the long run. It's just a shame Thorpe aren't very patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 It's not Thorpe's fault directly that they're impatient at instant returns and gratification... Something that can be put at the foot of ALL companies atm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted August 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Is Swarm the reason for a better second year? Or because the park has improved dramatically? People are actually in the country this summer? There's a lot of reasons why this year is better than last... And plenty of reasons for last year being a bad one beyond the swarms reception. All goes to show the insrant return is not the be all and end all of investment. I've always thought, and it has partially been confirmed by wardleys recent words, that merlin don't see things this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 If they had the brave it backwards on the opening year,I think it would of had a better reputation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 If they had the brave it backwards on the opening year,I think it would of had a better reputation To be honest I don't think BIB should have been invented at all... Coaster, pluk and Sidders 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 To be honest I don't think BIB should have been invented at all... I like it, otherwise the ride is crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts