December 29, 20177 yr comment_254893 I’m not sure how legal/safe/moral this video is, but here is some drone footage of the ride from above. This was filmed when the park was open for their winter event, so it may be entirely illegal (so mods, feel free to delete this post). Credits go to whoever the guy who put this up is.
January 1, 20187 yr comment_255005 A generic Alton Towers hotel advert is now referring to SW8 as a "world first roller coaster opening in Spring". This is the first time that SW8 has been marketed as a world first (and I think the first time it's actually been marketed as a coaster), with most key advertising calling it a "world class experience".
January 1, 20187 yr comment_255006 Well either 2 marketing teams haven't talked to one another and they just churned out the usual rubbish or we are going to get one stupid world first tag line.
January 2, 20187 yr comment_255014 11 hours ago, BaronC. said: A generic Alton Towers hotel advert is now referring to SW8 as a "world first roller coaster opening in Spring". This is the first time that SW8 has been marketed as a world first (and I think the first time it's actually been marketed as a coaster), with most key advertising calling it a "world class experience". World's first coaster to have it's name leaked by a demolition company within weeks of demolition starting?
January 2, 20187 yr comment_255021 19 hours ago, BaronC. said: A generic Alton Towers hotel advert is now referring to SW8 as a "world first roller coaster opening in Spring". This is the first time that SW8 has been marketed as a world first (and I think the first time it's actually been marketed as a coaster), with most key advertising calling it a "world class experience". Great *Drives straight past to ride Icon.
January 3, 20187 yr comment_255037 New video and it’s another load of cojones. I’ve got to say however, that this eery rendition of “In The Hall Of The Mountain King”, doesn’t seem to work half as well as it did for The Smiler.
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255046 My thoughts are it's gonna be the world's first face-off woodie - the seats are back to back meaning each row alternates in sitting forwards and backwards, so everyone will be facing eachother (apart from the very front row and very back row). So a train of these: This makes the large two-faced theming object make sense - so as the train flies through, the people going forwards will see the human face and the people going backwards will see the ram's face.
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255047 1 hour ago, MattyMoo said: Reminds me of the Colony at Tulleys Farm Makes me think that someone at Towers' marketing loves Bray Wyatt... Face/Off wooden coaster? Nah, that would be a stupid idea; and I can't imagine a backwards wooden coaster being particularly fun...
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255048 20 minutes ago, Benin said: Face/Off wooden coaster? Nah, that would be a stupid idea; and I can't imagine a backwards wooden coaster being particularly fun... But 'world's first totally dedicated backwards wooden roller coaster' has such a nice ring to it... [/sarcasm] I imagine it'll be some tacked on world first to do with the theme, theming structure or something similar. First Wicker Man ride or something (they did it with Gruffalo, so I wouldn't put it past them).
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255049 22 minutes ago, Benin said: Face/Off wooden coaster? Nah, that would be a stupid idea; and I can't imagine a backwards wooden coaster being particularly fun... I don't find backwards coasters all that fun either, so: Fun? No Marketable? Yes
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255050 God I hope not. I rode Colossus at Magic Mountain backwards and it wasn't enjoyable at all. That trailer Charlie posted is such generic Merlin, I find the whole thing so tedious now.
January 4, 20187 yr comment_255051 4 hours ago, Benin said: Makes me think that someone at Towers' marketing loves Bray Wyatt... Makes sense, considering Icon is going to DELETE SW8
January 5, 20187 yr comment_255059 15 hours ago, TPGG said: This makes the large two-faced theming object make sense - so as the train flies through, the people going forwards will see the human face and the people going backwards will see the ram's face. I think the train goes through the structure more than once from different directions already so that can explain the 2 sides
January 5, 20187 yr comment_255060 Yeah, human face is looking up at you as you enter the drop into the structure, ram face is looking down at you as you come up towards it from the other side.
January 7, 20187 yr comment_255117 Don't you dare Merlin! Don't call this ride a world first. They have to focus on the overall experience over another cheap gimmick. They are just going to keep making the same mistake with every new ride! Call it a world class ride all you want. To be honest, Icon still excites me more this year being a completely new, modern ride in the UK and the fact it's a Mack. As much as I love B&M rides, I wish Merlin would build a steel Mack. Not been a huge fan of Gerst really.
January 7, 20187 yr comment_255120 Well, this name was completely unexpected. Apparently bringing wood and fire together for the first time on a coaster. Or something. Given the track record for special effects like fire in other Merlin parks, making a world first claim which is solely dependant on special effects where everyone expects it to work when visiting is a bit risky isn't it? It should've been "World's first rollercoaster experience fusing wood and fire... when it works." (Good promo art though!)
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255121 The promo art is gorgeous The world's first is: The world's first rollercoaster experience fusing wood and fire I mean, it's not really, but okay. They're also using the 'first UK woodie in 21 years' angle which is nice. In honesty, this is exactly what I expected. It looks fun, the coaster won't be anything special, but I'm sure it'll do the job and fill the gap. I'm a little concerned that they seem to be focusing on the older end of the target market - let's hope it works out for them! Details here - https://www.wickerman.com/story-so-far/wicker-man-announced-as-latest-ground-breaking-rollercoaster-experience
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255122 The artwork has been created by world-famous illustrator Kyle Lambert, which looks great. Does look more like a film poster. I’m still reserving judgement until I see how the ride is going to work going through a “flaming” structure and how immersive it will be. I couldn’t care less about it having such a terrible world first title though.
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255123 Bloody hell, a 1 night stay in a treehouse with park entry is nearly £900!
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255124 Tree houses have always been very expensive - I guess the market must be there at that price!
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255125 I really like the Wicker Man promo stuff. It's just a bit unnecessary to declare it a worlds first when it's actually tenuous. Still, I'm pretty excited to get a woodie for the first time in two decades. This should be a pretty solid family rollercoaster too.
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255126 Has the opening date been confirmed anywhere yet? Want to start planning a trip Also - just looking at the news articles - Sky mention the Smiler accident, obvs. One of the articles said that the logo was projected onto the London Eye. No it wasn't, it was photoshopped on. You can't project onto what is essentially a hollow circle, unless they temporarily covered the Eye with sheeting
January 8, 20187 yr comment_255127 Jesus Christ, that's the second most desperate world first they've come up with. Second. Glances over to my profile picture
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.