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Wicker Man


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34 minutes ago, Mattgwise said:

Lots of controversy this evening. They closed the ride well before park close claiming there isn't enough lighting in the area. 

That is incredibly poor.

 

Wicker Man opened in 2018, if it still doesn't have permanent lighting then that is an absolute joke frankly. 

 

Why should guests miss out because Alton can't sort out very basic things?  It's just not good enough, especially for a park of their scale.

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I do wonder if covid-19 hitting hard in December/January and the freight issues related to Brexit meaning the UK parks are in a position where things just aren't getting in to the country as easily as they were before. 

 

I don't want to make excuses for the parks but it is all a bit odd that none of them have had great starts to the year.

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  • 1 month later...

So I experienced Wicker Man's pre show for the first time since 2019. And gosh, I really do not like it.

 

Okay, the actual premise is okay. Let's tell a short story about how this mysterious random group are sacrificing guests to a mysterious being and you'll be fed to the flames. And the presentation is nice (the reveal of the Wicker Man head gets a few oohs and ahhs). I think it's a bit unnecessary and could have been done in other ways, but that's not really the point I want to make.

 

Operationally, the pre show is dire

1. Let's crowd as many people into a small dark space as possible. Get them to squeeze into all the nooks and crannys.

2. Let's stop guests right below the screen so those at the front can't see anything.

3. Let's also stick a fence near the front that people can't see because it's too dark so they walk into it.

4. Let's have a small queue after the pre show that can fit less people than the pre show room.

5. Let's have an automatic door that tries to shut on people queueing after the pre show.

6. Let's play the pre show even when the door hasn't shut and people are still queueing to get batched.

 

It's all just a bloody nightmare. Maybe I'm just being a bit nitpicky, but I really just do not like it.

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Oh!  I think the actual pre-show is pretty good!

I've always enjoyed it, and it definitely adds a bit of drama to the experience.

 

Honestly I missed the pre-show during Covid and I'm glad to have it back.

 

I agree though, they really didn't give much thought to the design of it all did they.

 

That post in the middle of the exit doorway, and the automatic doors that close on people seemingly every time seem dangerous to me tbh, and I'm surprised they are still there after all these years.

That should have been a week 1 "whoops-and-fix" surely?

 

Ideally the bag drop and pre-show needed to be 20 meters 'earlier' in the queue to provide a little more time to organise it all.

Being earlier in the queue would also remove the urgency to start the show that always seems to exist - it's always a mad rush to get everyone's bags stored and in to the show on time, otherwise there's nobody waiting to board the train. Stupid design!

 

I'm surprised the pre-show has lasted as long as it has. I thought it would be a one season wonder tbh, or at least given the axe "because of covid" - Merlin don't tend to go in for things like these pre-shows long term do they.

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