Wicker Man - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Johno
Member
Member
Posts: 1596
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:21 am

One of the interesting points within the SW7 discussion is as to whether the new coaster within X Sector is the result of an Oblivion/Air scenario.

This being that the true plans for SW7 have been pushed back (to become SW8), and the BH tent plans put into their place.

The thinking being that SW7 was originally going to be some other form of prototype coater, possibly from B&M.

So, what are peoples opinions on this? I personally think it's likely that Alton were expecting a new B&M, possibly a 4D coaster in response to Thorpes wing rider.

Theoretically, due to the success of the wing rider concept with B&M (think 3 are being built this year alone), they may have decided to delay the 4D launch in order to sell more of the basic ride, and therefore maximise the life of the new coaster type.

With Alton, and more crucially Merlin, they will now have 4-5 years where Thorpe have a more exclusive coaster, before Alton bring out their, more innovative and interesting (and possibly more thrilling) version to 'top' Thorpes Swarm.

Your views?
Last edited by Johno on Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Longy

I don't think that the plans for SW7 were pushed back for SW8. They could have had multiple designs planned, and the person who won the competition ran a while back could have chose the design they thought to be best.
The other designs could be for future coasters though.
As for the 4d B&M, who even confirmed that?
That could have been for SW8 anyway, so B&M could perfect it for Alton Towers, so they have another successful coaster.
DiogoJ42

The 4D B&M is a myth. The pipe dream of a deluded fanboy. There has never been a shred of evidence that they are planning such a ride.

:no:
User avatar
Sam
Member
Member
Posts: 4869
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 7:18 pm
Location: People's Socialist Republic of Sheffield
Contact:

DiogoJ42 wrote: The 4D B&M is a myth. The pipe dream of a deluded fanboy. There has never been a shred of evidence that they are planning such a ride.
That's not true. Well-known members of this forum have heard rumours about a 4D B&M repeatedly from many different layers of park management. It has at the least, been seriously considered, and probably planned for a pushed back, like Air was.
DiogoJ42

*clears throat*
...
Pics or GTFO.
User avatar
Johno
Member
Member
Posts: 1596
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:21 am

DiogoJ42 wrote: *clears throat*
...
Pics or GTFO.
The point still stands that the project is intriguing as an SW, as it doesn't appear to currently have a dominant 'worlds first' to it.
User avatar
thefatone
Member
Member
Posts: 865
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 7:14 pm
Location: Hidden behind an ancient bookcase..

Don't wanna see no pics of management.

But yeah, this is completely different to what was mentioned the past couple of years from various management around the resort. SW7 was mentioned years ago as a replacement for Black Hole. So yeah, does seem like they've had to push this development back for whatever reason. Hmmmmm...
SpinballEdders

I actually thought that B&M 4D rumour was just people just taking the piss, like a "wooden floorless". I would love to see one though and I do believe that the "true" SW7 is SW8
.Will

I have to say I am happier with the design that has been put forward for SW7 it's exactly what Alton Towers need, no doubt some cross valley coaster would have been cool but I feel it would have destroyed the theme of at least one area if not two.

Air car park for SW8 maybe?
User avatar
jb19852
Member
Member
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:58 pm

Unless someone from the park says so I guess we will never know.  And it seems rather strange that all the height balloons etc focused more on the other two sites than X Sector yet it has ended up here.

Also seems strange the wardley allegedly went out of his way to say that the plans had not changed. Why say that if you werent covering up the fact they actually had.

Not that i am disapointed. SW7 looks excellent and hopefully the can perfect SW8.  In short, the opening post of this thread sums up my thoughts really.
User avatar
Rob L
Member
Member
Posts: 2571
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:10 pm
Location: Rothley, Leicester
Contact:

Sam wrote:
DiogoJ42 wrote: The 4D B&M is a myth. The pipe dream of a deluded fanboy. There has never been a shred of evidence that they are planning such a ride.
That's not true. Well-known members of this forum have heard rumours about a 4D B&M repeatedly from many different layers of park management. It has at the least, been seriously considered, and probably planned for a pushed back, like Air was.
I hate to speculate about SW8 already but I am confident that it will be what SW7 initially was going to be. When SW7 was initially being planned I was told by a senior member of staff (a director) that there was an 80% chance of SW7 being a B&M. This now to me translates to it being very likely that SW8 will be a B&M, possibly a 4D who knows, but probably a B&M prototype.

:)
Image

Image
Blaze

Do we have to start this now? SW7 won't even open for another 14 months. We'll be in an even worse state of affairs than we were until a few weeks ago! :P
User avatar
Morgano
Member
Member
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:09 pm
Contact:

People are forgetting a Eurofighter on the black hole site was rumoured as far back as SW5. Almost 5-6 years later it finally comes true. I'm sure it's down to Gerstlauer finally perfecting the ride for Altons needs.

I believe we'll see larger cars for capacity, judging by the rides size a 2 minute run is highly likely. At 2 rows of 4 ala SAW your looking at an extra 20-30 seconds running time, around 500-600 people an hour. This is awful for what looks like a flag ship ride.  However 3 rows of 4 would provide almost 1100 capacity per hour which is better than SAW at 1000 per hour.

Clearly merlin were interested in a Eurofighter, it's possible SAW was a test run for reliability before building the dream model. However it looks like the dream model is piped at the goal post by Takabisha in Japan. With that said this layout looks much better, more compact and more inversions and bang for your money.

Perhaps Gerstlauer had issues with capacity when they launched the Eurofighter but these have been resolved now and we will see SW7 finally. The issues in 2004 could of been related to capacity, e.g. getting the larger vehicle up the vertical lift safely, being able to launch the smaller vehicles safely any of these things could of been an issue with the design many years ago which delayed it until now.

Rita especially looked like a last minute decision so perhaps the Eurofighter was originally scheduled then.
User avatar
haydn!
Member
Member
Posts: 2191
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:41 pm

Whilst it's plausible, it was just all forum speculation with little to no evidence to back it up.

I think the budget alone, £20million, suggests this is a project Alton Towers are very serious about and is not just some quick-fix back up plan.
Image
User avatar
Stelios7
Member
Member
Posts: 2200
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:22 am
Location: Somewhere near Disney Land Stafford. I mean... err... Derbyshire.
Contact:

Morgano wrote: People are forgetting a Eurofighter on the black hole site was rumoured as far back as SW5. Almost 5-6 years later it finally comes true. I'm sure it's down to Gerstlauer finally perfecting the ride for Altons needs.

I believe we'll see larger cars for capacity, judging by the rides size a 2 minute run is highly likely. At 2 rows of 4 ala SAW your looking at an extra 20-30 seconds running time, around 500-600 people an hour. This is awful for what looks like a flag ship ride.  However 3 rows of 4 would provide almost 1100 capacity per hour which is better than SAW at 1000 per hour.

Clearly merlin were interested in a Eurofighter, it's possible SAW was a test run for reliability before building the dream model. However it looks like the dream model is piped at the goal post by Takabisha in Japan. With that said this layout looks much better, more compact and more inversions and bang for your money.

Perhaps Gerstlauer had issues with capacity when they launched the Eurofighter but these have been resolved now and we will see SW7 finally. The issues in 2004 could of been related to capacity, e.g. getting the larger vehicle up the vertical lift safely, being able to launch the smaller vehicles safely any of these things could of been an issue with the design many years ago which delayed it until now.

Rita especially looked like a last minute decision so perhaps the Eurofighter was originally scheduled then.
Rita isn't a SW, SW5 was Air, other than that, that's a interesting theory, the 2005 coaster could of been originally replacing The Black Hole.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Officially, TTF's Only EasyJet founder.
User avatar
sibic
Member
Member
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:29 pm

what do you people think about a hybrid coaster like the Texas Giant http://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/ i know that the company is looking to make a new one how about across the valley.
User avatar
Stelios7
Member
Member
Posts: 2200
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:22 am
Location: Somewhere near Disney Land Stafford. I mean... err... Derbyshire.
Contact:

jb19852 wrote: Unless someone from the park says so I guess we will never know.  And it seems rather strange that all the height balloons etc focused more on the other two sites than X Sector yet it has ended up here.

Also seems strange the wardley allegedly went out of his way to say that the plans had not changed. Why say that if you werent covering up the fact they actually had.

Not that i am disapointed. SW7 looks excellent and hopefully the can perfect SW8.  In short, the opening post of this thread sums up my thoughts really.
But, X-Sector was still being considered, so you should never rule it out, we had around 6 sites considered for SW6 for pete's sake!

If SW7 could of been a wingrider, I thought it would be perfect for the tent, but it always puzzled me why they were surveying pitside the tent, but now it's all adding up!
Image
Image
Image
Image
Officially, TTF's Only EasyJet founder.
formula1fan

Stelios7 wrote:
jb19852 wrote: Unless someone from the park says so I guess we will never know.  And it seems rather strange that all the height balloons etc focused more on the other two sites than X Sector yet it has ended up here.

Also seems strange the wardley allegedly went out of his way to say that the plans had not changed. Why say that if you werent covering up the fact they actually had.

Not that i am disapointed. SW7 looks excellent and hopefully the can perfect SW8.  In short, the opening post of this thread sums up my thoughts really.
But, X-Sector was still being considered, so you should never rule it out, we had around 6 sites considered for SW6 for pete's sake!

If SW7 could of been a wingrider, I thought it would be perfect for the tent, but it always puzzled me why they were surveying pitside the tent, but now it's all adding up!
I somehow don't think that a Wingrider would have been able to fit into the BH tent.
User avatar
jb19852
Member
Member
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:58 pm

formula1fan wrote:
Stelios7 wrote:
jb19852 wrote: Unless someone from the park says so I guess we will never know.  And it seems rather strange that all the height balloons etc focused more on the other two sites than X Sector yet it has ended up here.

Also seems strange the wardley allegedly went out of his way to say that the plans had not changed. Why say that if you werent covering up the fact they actually had.

Not that i am disapointed. SW7 looks excellent and hopefully the can perfect SW8.  In short, the opening post of this thread sums up my thoughts really.
But, X-Sector was still being considered, so you should never rule it out, we had around 6 sites considered for SW6 for pete's sake!

If SW7 could of been a wingrider, I thought it would be perfect for the tent, but it always puzzled me why they were surveying pitside the tent, but now it's all adding up!
I somehow don't think that a Wingrider would have been able to fit into the BH tent.
Definately not, I guess he meant on the BH site.

What I meant by my post is that this ride was not meant to be SW7.  Irrelevant of whether 6 or 7 sites are considered I think the actualy hardware has been changed.  I guess the true 'SW7' will now be SW8 or perhaps SW9 dependent on the technology used.  I recall somewhere they said that this new ride would be groundbreaking. Whilst looking totally awesome, i wouldnt describe it as groundbreaking from the plans
User avatar
Nathan
Member
Member
Posts: 1372
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:18 pm
Location: Sunderland
Contact:

As far as I'm aware, the Gerstlauer coaster was not the original ride dubbed 'SW7' - which is why part of me believes the Black Hole project should be named SW8, much like how Nemesis was SW3 despite it being the first SW to open. Alton did at least acknowledge there were other SW projects before it - although I guess the idea of them being chronologically ordered by concept rather than opening date was thrown out the window back with Oblivion and Air anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited by Nathan on Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply