Wicker Man - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Stan.H
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Right, I'm not sure if it was just me imagining things - but I'm 99% sure yesterday on the first drop tunnel there was not only the smoke machine that has always been there but also a laser machine on the left-hand side of the tunnel! Can anybody else tell me if I was just imagining things, or whether one has actually been added!  :lol
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theparklifekid
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Not sure if this has been posted here but here is another piece of concept art for the pre-show!

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A TowersTimes Middle East Reporter!
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Ryan.B
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I'm pretty sure that was some type of Orange lighting Stan, it was definitely there when I first rode it.
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Nickolai
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I did not see any lasers Stan.
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Formally Smiler313
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Justin
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Looking at the POV footage TowersTimes uploaded, I think that is normal lighting. Usually that tunnel has smoke and lighting.
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Dungeon-X-Smile
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If people are looking for concept art of Wicker Man, might I suggest the Holovis video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqiIN2Z1fE4&t=14s Not sure if it's been posted yet but that's where I get Wicker Man concept art when I want it.
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Robert.W
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saw-x-smile wrote:If people are looking for concept art of Wicker Man, might I suggest the Holovis video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqiIN2Z1fE4&t=14s Not sure if it's been posted yet but that's where I get Wicker Man concept art when I want it.
Likely posted a while ago when it was first released. Tbh, it's definitely worth rewatching though because I got to agree, there really is some truly amazing pieces of concept art in there, and a fantastic insight into how the pre-show was created! :)
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Justin
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Here are a few images we managed to capture from the documentary.

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

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Channel 4: Inside Alton Towers / Merlin Entertainments

They are certainly works of art. Something that I would like to see Merlin release more of, perhaps in a book or as a print. They definitely deserve to be seen as they are outstanding!
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Tom170499
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What is good to see is how true the finished product stayed to the concept. When you look at the likes of The Smiler and Air and see what could have been, this really is great.
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Justin
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I must agree. I can recognise all of the images above and place them, therefore they have done their job well and stayed true to the plan. No doubt they would have had other concepts too though!
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Robert.W
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Alton Towers today released a camera mounted POV of Wicker Man! :)
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Dan
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Pretty decent quality, but it’s a shame the flame effects weren’t on :(
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ATI
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Here is an even better quality POV by Coaster Touring:-
We were born to fly...
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Justin
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I believe they are the same video. Reading the comments, Coaster Touring filmed and Alton Towers used the video.
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lewis97
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The one Coaster Touring has uploaded seems to be slightly less zoomed in, therefore looking a bit better, in my opinion. Not sure if they may have filmed a number of POVs with different settings, or if that’s just the way Towers chose to edit the footage provided to them.
Swarm Chris

Coaster Touring did film the Alton Towers one. They accidentally set theirs to public before Alton put theirs live and then commented that they'd pressed the wrong button and were waiting for Alton to publish first.

They do appear from the same ride through, the people at the end are the giveaway there. Whether Alton zoomed in their version afterwards, or there were two cameras, which seems unlikely, I don't know.
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Justin
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Yeah, they are the same. The smoke formations are the same, but as Lewis said, one seems to be zoomed slightly. It is also interesting to see that they released a POV to the GP with the maintenance lights on!
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Uttox83
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Afternoon ladies & gents.. It's been a while since I have posted anything but since I've only just managed to get round to riding Wicker Man (I have a two year old so most of my Towers time is spent in CBeebies Land nowadays) and it left me buzzing that I had to post on here like some kind of excited kid at Christmas :o) I really didn't expect to feel like I did after riding it tbh but, what a great addition to the park it is! The whole ride, from the entrance queue to exit is fantastic! I think Alton Towers have made a rod for their own back with it though as any future ride will now have to match the level of theming as Towers have shown what they can achieve if they invest properly in a ride. The only downside (and this may have just been an error on my part of putting my phone and keys in my pockets when the lap bat came down) was that I found the carriages a bit of a squeeze for a 6ft 2 chap.
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AltonOperator
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They seemed quite excited about this video like oooo look out our 'exclusive point of view'.
It's really nothing special in fact as people have mentioned its a little rough cut with limited effects and maintenance lights on!
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Thanks Jack
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Dan
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Speaking of effects, it seems the smoke effect in the station is finally working as it was originally intended, as shown in this picture taken by Thrill Nation on Thursday.

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