Wicker Man - General Discussion

[Bert]

I swear Spinball Whizzer was under the family tab last year, As all there was on the thrill tab last year was enterprise and the big six.

[MakoMania]

I swear Spinball Whizzer was under the family tab last year, As all there was on the thrill tab last year was enterprise and the big six.

Spinball has always been under the thrill tab

[Wagstaff04]

Have they updated the map yet?

[Dan]

Have they updated the map yet?

If you mean the map on the Resort App, no

[TheBeornen]

It'll be good to see this season's version of the map in the park. I always liked how they would theme it around the big new attraction of the year like previous years.

[Justin]

I expect it will have the font featured on the logo, with The Welcoming style backgrounds to list key attractions.

[NemesisRider]

Interesting to see it’s on the family side. I’ve always thought the layout is more family oriented, but it seems odd to suggest Spinball would offer a greater thrill than Wickerman...

[lewis97]

It now appears to have been moved to the ‘Thrill’ tab

[Ladyofthelake]

It may be that it was put on the family side of the site as a test, just to make sure it is ready to go and in the hope that people wouldn't notice and start expecting a March 17th opening. I'm not surprised to see it move to the 'Thrill' side of the site.

In terms of the map, we usually get that in the week before opening. If copies aren't available for services day on Sunday, then we will either see it updated on the Resort website during next week, or the new map published in The Sun assuming they follow their usual timeline with their free tickets which would see the pull out published mid week with the map and hotel code.

[Zach]

It may be that it was put on the family side of the site as a test, just to make sure it is ready to go and in the hope that people wouldn't notice and start expecting a March 17th opening. I'm not surprised to see it move to the 'Thrill' side of the site.

In terms of the map, we usually get that in the week before opening. If copies aren't available for services day on Sunday, then we will either see it updated on the Resort website during next week, or the new map published in The Sun assuming they follow their usual timeline with their free tickets which would see the pull out published mid week with the map and hotel code.

We’ll either see the map on the Sunday service day, website mid-week and if not it’ll be opening day because The Sun promo doesn’t start until March 17th this year meaning by the time there pullout is printed (usually the Wednesday midweek as Katie’s said) the park will have been open for days.

Sadly just a case of waiting and seeing, I’d imagine people will post pics of the one on services day and if not have to wait for opening day :P

Should be a well themed map this year to tie in with Wickerman, I expect random fire and fonts to tie in with Wickerman as the main focus and huge, with a Wickerman themed AT logo on the front.

[Robert.W]

I don't know if I remember correctly, but wasn't last years map released maybe only a couple of days, if not the day before the park opened? Might just have remembered wrong though!

[TheDuke]

Still bothers me thats its not the wickerman just wicker man looks a bit weird to me, just a minor minor nitpick though.
Also the towers maps are by far my favourite theme park map can't wait for a new one

[lewis97]

Curiously it seems invites for some sort of event on 22nd March have been sent out, given this tweet. The image has been reversed, but it says "You have been chosen - 22 March to join us". It's unclear what the wider implications, if any, are in relation to Wicker Man's opening date, as there was a media event scheduled for the 16th...

[MakoMania]

Surely there is no reason for them not to open it on 17th? This would be pretty bad since everyone's already (rightly or wrongly) booked to visit :P

[Dan]

Surely there is no reason for them not to open it on 17th?

There isn’t.

We know the ride is pretty much ready, since staff rides have taken place. Surely all that can be left to do now is minor aesthetic work to the ride and surrounding area. With it being Services Day this weekend, we may see some more updates but that does depend on whether they open up the pathway in front of Wicker Man.

I’ve been thinking about the lack of an announcement around the rides opening date, and part of me is thinking that they won’t actually announce it, and will just open it on the 17th. Merlin’s two most recent UK high CAPEX investments (The Smiler and DBGT) had an opening date announced, which was then missed and subsequently both attractions ended up opening without the eventual opening date being announced. It’s for this reason that makes me think Alton won’t announce the opening date, because then they can’t get a negative backlash for it being delayed.

I still expect Wicker Man to open on Saturday 17th March.

[Annabel96]

Does anybody know for definite yet where the entrance for Wicker Man is? I haven't seen much confirming it yet and haven't been able to figure it out from the entrance sign image.

[lewis97]

Does anybody know for definite yet where the entrance for Wicker Man is? I haven't seen much confirming it yet and haven't been able to figure it out from the entrance sign image.

It's pretty much where the plans showed it would be - kind of opposite the Mutiny Bay Courtyard (just to the left of the former location of The Flume's station, where the 'Q' and arrow are).

[Annabel96]

Thank you!

[PhNx Survivor]

looking at those plans for the queue, the start of the queue has changed quite a bit hasn’t it? especially for where theming envelope 1 is.

[Kraken]

Surely there is no reason for them not to open it on 17th? This would be pretty bad since everyone's already (rightly or wrongly) booked to visit :P

Personally I think Alton Towers have been very sensible to stick to "Spring 2018" as the opening date, as this gives them flexibility to open the ride only once it is really ready & running with a high reliability %rate.  As has already been said above, look at The Smiler & DBGT that both had advertised opening dates that were missed, with associated negative publicity.  Think back to 2002 when Air opened on the 1st day of the season & ran with lots of reliability issues for it's first season - if they'd delayed Airs' opening by a week or so many of these issues could have been resolved.  
Many parks are suitably vague about opening dates to give them flexibility to iron out issues.  Islands of Adventure opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in "Spring" - this turned out to be June 18th (as the first day of Summer is considered to be 21st June - so they met the Spring deadline to keep the lawyers off their backs, Americans love to sue for anything).  
I do think it is highly likely we'll see Wicker Man open very early in the season, if not on March 17th - it first test-ran in mid-December.  Alton Towers are just being sensible and covering their backs, as negative publicity is something that they can do without as the resort continues it's recovery.