Wicker Man - General Discussion

[Nickolai]

I distintly remember reading in John Wardleys book that Nick Varney would never build a wooden rollercoaster due to the perception of the GP. As the post above says, this must have an insane marketing campaign and USP if Varney has agreed to do this especially after the Smiler accident so I presume it won't disappoint.

Sorry it's slightly off topic but, I finished reading 'creating my own nemesis' today! :lol

[tcw1993]

I distintly remember reading in John Wardleys book that Nick Varney would never build a wooden rollercoaster due to the perception of the GP. As the post above says, this must have an insane marketing campaign and USP if Varney has agreed to do this especially after the Smiler accident so I presume it won't disappoint.

Sorry it's slightly off topic but, I finished reading 'creating my own nemesis' today! [emoji38]

Haha I've read it twice. Waiting for the ghost train one to come!

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[118hazaman]

I'd just like to point out that the ride which caused visitor numbers to reach a recent high in 2010 was Thirteen, a family coaster. I wasn't around on this forum at that time but I am sure many said the ride looked underwhelming from the start. We are back in the same position. I believe that Alton Towers requires another thrilling family coaster which can be ridden by those under 1.4 metres. The park doesn't have much to offer for children too old for Cbeebies land, but too small for the larger coasters. SW8 will hit this lacking spot.

[Owen]

You have to remember though that 13 opened 8 years after Air, was questionably marketed, was received poorly immediately after opening (I loved it) and had little to no competition. Whilst I can see SW8 working well, I can also see it not as the resort is in uncharted territory with 2018 and so we will have to wait and see how this plays out. It's also slightly unnerving that nothing has been mentioned about the development on social media yet as surely that'd be an awesome way to start routing the development into the GP's brains.

At the end of the day we have no idea how this will go and honestly speculation on that isn't really needed now looking back at this thread. So, moving away from this lets get ready for a year of construction and Merlin marketing that will drive us all mad for the next 15 months

[TowersManiac0110]

Has the speculation begun yet for the world/uk's first element?
Anyway, regarding that, I'm definitely thinking that it'll be the worlds first double launch wooden coaster.
The lift hill suddenly flattening and the change in lift mechanism gives hints of a boost up the hill itself, and the way it enters the break run sets it up for the second (backwards) one.

Throughput would probably be hell though..
What do you guys think?

[ponder]

I think that if they sacrifice throughput for a gimmick, it tells us everything we need to know about how the park is being managed.

[70s_kid]

Has the speculation begun yet for the world/uk's first element?

The world's first £15m ride to be totally trumped by a £16.25m ride opening about 2 hours drive away with a less expensive entry price, no rides closed for spurious reasons, car park that has the same postcode as the entrance, longer opening hours?

Probably quite a controversial view to post on here but I honestly think Merlin need to up their game value for money wise if they are going to compete long term. The chances of my MAP being renewed are ever deminishing.

[Stan.H]

Has the speculation begun yet for the world/uk's first element?

The world's first £15m ride to be totally trumped by a £16.25m ride opening about 2 hours drive away with a less expensive entry price, no rides closed for spurious reasons, car park that has the same postcode as the entrance, longer opening hours?

Probably quite a controversial view to post on here but I honestly think Merlin need to up their game value for money wise if they are going to compete long term. The chances of my MAP being renewed are ever deminishing.

You read my mind!

[Tom170499]

Seems that The Skyride will be closed on certain days, most likely for SW8 construction...

[Tom170499]

I asked about the Skyride on Facebook and it's not going to be closed for SW8 construction:

[MakoMania]

Yeah, that message has been there for years.

[ColossusInferno]

Ahh, if only we were getting the 'Cross Valley' wooden roller-coaster which was planned all those years ago which connected Ug Land and Forbidden Valley. I personally wouldn't mind a few trees being chopped down and for it being an apparent 'eye-sore' for visitors exploring the gardens, for that beast of a ride to be created! El Torro eat your heart out.

[chrisgeorgiou46]

Ahh, if only we were getting the 'Cross Valley' wooden roller-coaster which was planned all those years ago which connected Ug Land and Forbidden Valley. I personally wouldn't mind a few trees being chopped down and for it being an apparent 'eye-sore' for visitors exploring the gardens, for that beast of a ride to be created! El Torro eat your heart out.

Don't even mention it. I still watch the no-limits recreation of the plans on YouTube. I need another coaster that genuinely terrifies me. The last UK coaster that did that was Stealth. Smiler or Swarm didn't manage it but got close. That drop through the valley would seriously scare the crap outta me.

[Owen]

Am I the only one who never really thought much of the cross-valley coaster?

I mean it looks ok but I don't see how it's any better than half the coasters that Alton have installed since. If anything were to go into the valley I'd personally prefer something along the lines of Helix that uses the side of the hill as opposed to simply having two big drops and a couple turns.

Anyway, back to SW8 :lol

[Dom]

The cross valley idea, if done well, could have been a wooden Helix, which would have been totally awesome!

SW8, at the moment, by which i mean just going by the plans etc, feels kind of meh. I know the AT enthusiasts have been asking for a woodie for years and the fact that AT is finally getting one is good, I just hope Merlin haven't rushed it and gone for something plain. On a side note, Its a shame its not going to be like Switchback, as that could have been something different, yet funky

[Benjsh85]

To be fair I don't think SW8 is supposed to be a high thrill coaster. It's not looking like a 1.4m ride to me but more aimed at the whole family 7+ yrs which I think is a good thing. Theres plenty of 1.4m coasters at AT already.

[tcw1993]

I think sw8 will be another good assett to the park in my opinion. It'll make it a good balance between family thrill rides and intense rides. Just my opinion though

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[Tom170499]

Seems like the fence across the Katanga Canyon entrance is permanent seen as there has been a large section of the path removed:

(Credit to Towers Street Facebook for the photo)

[xylyx]

It could just be the angle that the photo was taken at but that's quite an excavation, they're busy bees down at Alton. Though I suppose the milder weather helps.

[xnemesisx]

If it does have a launch then I don't think the gp will come rushing to ride it as they might think it's "the same as Rita"