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Wicker Man


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17 minutes ago, Benin said:

 

Know what really helps? Posting the evidence when stating things, as those who have only seen certain parts of a map (I.e. The actual map) can be understandably confused

It wasn't my post, I only knew because my mum's on a Facebook group, I dont have it on my phone.

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  • 1 month later...

Though there are things I'm mixed about on this project, I'm still excited to see Towers finally getting a new Woodie which is what the park has needed for a while. 

 

Hopefully if the plans above ring true to the final product, we will see a generous amount of theming which could really help enhance the ride overall, especially if it interacts with the layout. I just hope they integrate the theme within either Mutiny or Katanga.

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It's going to be an immense disappointment, can just tell...

 

Layout wise, seemingly uninspiring compared to what many other parks (big and small) are getting... The theme choice once again causes confusion in the whole "but whyyyyyy?" category, why not theme it to Pirates (no the ride is not going into Gloomy Wood, look at the plans above)? Assuming this has the rumoured launched lift, you'd be questioning that too given Lightning Rod's issues... And god if we have more marketing regarding a shed's insides I might have to travel to Poole and personally knock heads together...

 

Gonna be as themed as Smiler, 1 massive element (which is positioned at a daft angle for photo ops) and a partially themed building...

 

If only they'd used the entire Flume site, then I'd be more invested...

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Unfortunately most the Flume site couldn't be used due to tree roots and protected trees. The original Log Flume's layout was pretty much dictated by what the tree roots allowed for even back in 1980/81

 

 

I reliably hear that the ride will not actually be called Wickerman or be an IP but take it as you will :)

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I recall that, tis a shame they couldn't do something similar (though it probably would've been more pain than worth it in the end, given usual relations regarding woodland rides, and it being much harder to avoid roots with wooden structures)...

 

Can dream though...

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On 4/21/2017 at 7:43 AM, Benin said:

It's going to be an immense disappointment, can just tell...

 

Layout wise, seemingly uninspiring compared to what many other parks (big and small) are getting... The theme choice once again causes confusion in the whole "but whyyyyyy?" category, why not theme it to Pirates (no the ride is not going into Gloomy Wood, look at the plans above)? Assuming this has the rumoured launched lift, you'd be questioning that too given Lightning Rod's issues... And god if we have more marketing regarding a shed's insides I might have to travel to Poole and personally knock heads together...

 

Gonna be as themed as Smiler, 1 massive element (which is positioned at a daft angle for photo ops) and a partially themed building...

 

If only they'd used the entire Flume site, then I'd be more invested...

 

All we know relating to the theme is that there's a big wicker looking statue and the rumoured name being Wickerman? We literally have no idea that the theme wont fit in..

 

Isn't the name rumour because they trademarked 'Wickerman' or something? Didn't they also do that with 'The Marmeliser'? 

 

Also I think lightning rod's launch issues was because they used some alternative upcoming company's technology instead of a trusted and proven one

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  • 1 month later...

I really have no fu***** clue what they were smoking when coming up with the theme, but I'm not exactly excited for SW8..

Family GCI's can be really fun- look at Inavdr, White Lightning, ect.

But this looks really uninspired, boring, and the theme just..

Lets the hope the gimmick redeems it eh?

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Ha ha, I mean, I won't make any judgement on the ride before it's finished. But I agree, I'm so bored of Merlin's style of theme, so bland and bleak all the time. Really, even their lighter hearted themes are uninspired and terrifically bland.

 

As great as wooden coasters are, I don't think a wooden coaster would at all  suit that tiny space, but Merlin always have to botch good ideas by leaving them half baked and making gimmicks take over. Surely the lack of opportunity would have been extremely obvious to the whole team behind this.

 

I think the closest Merlin came to a properly engaging, surprising theme was The Smiler. That was great, enjoyable and full of energy, even though it materialised mostly as painted walls and bins strapped to metal trusses.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Boring SW8 construction update:

 

The station's wooden framework's gone up, beams can be seen under where the lifthill will be and there's some track in place in the station.

 

I must admit I'm actually quite excited for this, it does seem that for it live up to its SW8 status, there must be more to meet the eye. 

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/TowersStreet/status/871419544245555200

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But we all know really the "SW" stuff is just because its a promotional ploy to fans right? It doesn't actually carry any status, they don't sit down and think "ya know what, this ride has such a clever element, I think we should code it a new addition to the Secret Weapons". They just know it will get all the fans interested immediately. Rita could have been a "secret weapon", it was churned out in the same amount of time, but just wasn't by chance because of the management of the time.

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7 hours ago, Wumbamillio said:

But we all know really the "SW" stuff is just because its a promotional ploy to fans right? It doesn't actually carry any status, they don't sit down and think "ya know what, this ride has such a clever element, I think we should code it a new addition to the Secret Weapons". They just know it will get all the fans interested immediately. Rita could have been a "secret weapon", it was churned out in the same amount of time, but just wasn't by chance because of the management of the time.

 

Yes, true. But the park will also not want to disappoint the enthusiast contingent. It's far from the top of their priorities but I'm sure that they won't lose enthusiasts trust at the sake of a small marketing claim - because, let's face it, the 'SW' branding really only has an affect on enthusiasts. I highly doubt any GP will think 'I really want to come to Alton Towers because the new ride is a secret weapon.'

 

Therefore, judging by the small influence 'SW' has on the marketing of Alton's ride, the park surely wouldn't falsely brand the ride just to get enthusiast hype.

 

Also, I doubt that the ride development process focuses on the 'ground breaking' gimmick and then the SW gets plonked on afterwards.

 

(To me, the mentality engraved into AT is that the new big scale rides are going to have an innovative aspect to them. Teams of designers present rides knowing that they will be unique. I always imagine it's not a 'we'll have a mack mega here', 'a GCI here' but more of a ' we'll create a roller coaster with a track drop' and then manufacturer comes later. Like John Wardley always said, Merlin wanted a killer image and all that other shiz when a ride gets proposed. I imagine it's still somewhat sinilar.)

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14 hours ago, CharlieN said:

 

Yes, true. But the park will also not want to disappoint the enthusiast contingent. It's far from the top of their priorities but I'm sure that they won't lose enthusiasts trust at the sake of a small marketing claim

 

Thirteen was designed to be a simple, spooky family coaster with a novelty element, but was branded SW purely for hype reasons. It worked a treat for them getting 10x the attention (and 10x the disappointment) than if they had marketed it correctly as a runaway train -tier ride. This is the reason they name everything "SW8".

Also worth mentioning that "SW7" was announced under the SW name in 2010 before The Smiler as we know it was even in planning. At the time it was going to be a totally different ride in a different area. Really, SW means nothing.

 

14 hours ago, CharlieN said:

Also, I doubt that the ride development process focuses on the 'ground breaking' gimmick and then the SW gets plonked on afterwards.

 

(To me, the mentality engraved into AT is that the new big scale rides are going to have an innovative aspect to them. Teams of designers present rides knowing that they will be unique. 

 

The exact process at Merlin is that every ride MUST have a promotable gimmick (or a recognised IP) to be commissioned. The amount of fantastic ideas that have been proposed over the years but were never given the go-ahead (including 3 actually amazing wooden coasters, not the 1-minute token woodie SW8 is) because of the counter-productive "compelling proposition" formula Merlin insist on, is frightening.

It even gets as ridiculous as "world's first I'm A Celebrity maze", "world's first fully dedicated to VR", etc because the designers have to satisfy this totally arbitrary criteria for every single non-IP development. Even John Wardley has spoken in the past at how frustrating and arbitrary this process is, and how it has ruined so many great proposals with shoe-horned in "worlds first" gimmicks for the sake of it.

Nemesis was not built this way. It made use of the inverted coaster concept because John Wardley knew it would make a great ride, and then designed a layout that pushed it to its best. Had the "compelling proposition" approval process been in place back in the 90s, Nemesis would certainly never have been built. More than likely the awful Arrow pipeline coaster would have instead, so they could say they had the "world's first pipeline coaster".

For Merlin, this is literally all that matters, because they can't do just a really good solid ride, they have to rely on gimmicks and slogan-eering. Unfortunately it is not as optimistic as you imagine with designers coming up with genuinely innovative ideas, and deciding that "this one is worthy of being a secret weapon". I can tell you they do not have any option to care about what enthusiasts think. It's more like designers having to come up with dumb convoluted concepts to satisfy the gimmick formula.

 

It is 100% all a game of PR and marketing. Also the SW tag is very well known now - they put it on signs in front of every development and is plastered all over the internet, it very much has a presence outside the hardcore enthusiasts now for those who care to follow Alton Towers' developments. Gone are the days of trying to really innovate & perfect something to achieve the goal in mind.

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2 hours ago, Wumbamillio said:

It even gets as ridiculous as "world's first I'm A Celebrity maze"

 

This is/was Merlin at their most desperate IMHO. There's a reason why it's a world's first :P

Surprised they didn't come up with a World's First for Storm Surge... I can think of a few :D


It's a shame tagging world-first (or UK first) on to everything - The Smiler is/was a strong enough brand without it. Evidently doesn't always work or make any difference, with The Swarm being billed as the UK's first winged coaster being a case in point.

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