Wicker Man - General Discussion

[Horras64]

What about worlds first wooden rollercoaster to feature VR!?

They won't make that mistake again. (IMOP)


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[towerslover]

I think it will be interesting to see what the pre show will be like, I'm guessing there must be a bit of theming for merlin to include this!

Also when construction starts in September how long will it be until we start seeing the actual ride being built?

If its scheduled to be finished by December the year after we may even see a Febuary half term event with it open then!

It will be intrested to follow the developments of this as it will be the first I have witnessed as an enthusiast! The only thing now is the wait until September!

[xylyx]

Yeah i remember with the Smiler that the wait to see vertical construction was almost unbearable but every new action was exciting nonetheless. I should imagine we wont see any ride materials until next year as there is a fair whack of groundwork that needs to be done.

[Horras64]

This'll be my first coaster watching the full construction of. I saw some of The Smiler construction, however this is gonna take a lot longer as its a wooden coaster.


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[rbsmith18]

So this was kind of right. Spooky

In regards to this...I think it just goes to show how long it takes for certain plans to come to fruition. Something originally thought about in days of Merrie England only just finds a way through. Makes me wonder how many other plans and ideas are in place that we don't know about!

[theparklifekid]

Has a GCI coaster ever inverted? Because looking at Wildfire kind of makes me wish that the park got RMC as the manufacturer, as they do very cool looking banked turns and i somehow doubt SW8 will have those kind of turns...

[SmileAlways]

I have to admit, I'm not exactly thrilled about the new coaster. I expected with it being a Secret Weapon, it would stick to the theme of "World's First", "World's Most", "UK's First", etc. But looking at it, it just doesn't look like it will which disappoints me. I was talking to my mum a couple of days before the Wooden Coaster was announced and I was saying how with John Wardley seemingly no longer being a part of the Roller Coaster creating process, the park may go downhill and how I'd hate to see them just throw a new ride into an area just for the sake of it instead of really planning it out and therefore using the Secret Weapon branding to get people excited and guessing, coming up with all kinds of "World's First" ideas just to let us all be disappointed. I would really hate for them to use the branding on a regular old Wooden Coaster. It needs to be something different and new. With the height of the ride, the area and the turns, it's not really looking like a launched coaster or an inverted. In fact, it's looking more like a go-up-the-hill-go-down-do-some-turns-and-finish type of coaster.

[Fishfingerish]

And so the Forum paradox begins:

Saying a coaster is too gimmicky and not exciting because it has a secret element. Asking thus for a 'standard' coaster.

Getting a 'standard' coaster, but finding it not exciting enough and thus asking for a secret element.

[dazza4783]

Wow, after all this time of people begging for a wooden coaster, and a non gimmicky SW. Then plans are released for a ride that appears to be both of those things in one, and now people are complaining that there isn't a gimmick.
There is still a lot about the layout that we don't know yet, like exactly where the hills, bumps and dips are. Looking at other GCI rides they are all over the rides with lots of airtime moments on even the smaller layout rides. This looks like it could be a very fun ride, yeh it's not the biggest, it's not the fastest, but I think we are all well aware that is never going to happen at Alton Towers anyway given the restrictions that they have. Plus, the lift-hill using magnetic propulsion does sound like there will be a launch anyway, which will be a European or UK first (assuming no launched woodies open next year).
Obviously we as coaster fans would have preferred the ride that was planned for forbidden valley, the rumoured RMC launched woodie, but unfortunately it would appear the smiler crashing put a stop to that happening. But this could be just what is needed to show the GP just how fun and safe modern woodies are, then adding a big thrill RMC in the future.

Another thing to consider is there were those rumours of a new area being created with 2 rides being added. Maybe we have only seen half of what is being added.

[Burniel]

There's a difference between "gimmick" and "unique". Back in the old days of SWs 3-6, we saw coaster designs and features that had never been seen before in Europe or the world. You cannot say that these coasters were gimmicky - they were rides which were solid or better and gave us an experience we'd never (or had very rarely) seen before. However, what we saw with The Smiler was not uniqueness - it was a gimmick. Whether you love or hate The Smiler, you have to admit that "World's first coaster with 14 inversions" was a very weak way of linking it back to the tradition of providing a coaster that the general public would never have even dreamed of.

The fact that there's no gimmick or uniqueness clearly visible on the plans just means that there'll be some really long sentence with "world's first" at the start to market the ride. It does not mean that there will be no gimmick or terrible claim to being revolutionary, it just means that whatever's happening isn't major enough to be visible yet.

[liam.rigby16]

Will this be a hybrid?


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[Jack]

If this is a coaster by GCI it will be a wooden coaster, not a hybrid

[MakoMania]

I don't see why this can't be a great ride. It's not going to be the high speed multi inversion RMC everyone wanted but that isn't what Alton Towers need right now. Surely Nemesis has taught us that a coaster doesn't need to be very tall to give a fantastic ride, and GCI have already proven they can do some pretty cool stuff without much height or speed. Just look at Prowler at Worlds of Fun, it is only about 10ft higher than SW8's proposed drop and provides an incredible and highly praised ride experience. I just don't think we can sell out on this before we know more, if The Smiler is anything to go off, the layout can be reprofiled from these current blueprints, and there COULD be a launch in this, who knows! Also, the queue line and theming look a step up for Merlin/Alton Towers, which is a big positive. I'm not going to write SW8 off just yet!

[Liam.W]

Just found some info which further supports that SW8 will be manufactured by Great Coasters International. On the FAQ page of GCI's website, it states that "We primarily use Southern Yellow Pine harvested from renewable forests." This is the same wood that is mentioned in the planning application for the ride. If you want to see for yourself the website is here.

[theparklifekid]

I am still very happy the park are getting a woodie though, its still going to be great no matter what, a worlds first or not. Who knows, maybe during construction of SW19 they will have ran out of ideas for worlds first.
Lets just be happy that this is probably going to be an entertaining ride for families and thrill seekers alike.

[SmileAlways]

I'm not saying people won't enjoy it or that I won't enjoy it, it just isn't how I imagined it. I love Wooden Coasters but one so small just doesn't seem fantastic and I'm not a fan of the layout, I feel like they could do more with it. If the drop turns out to be a steep drop or one that is larger than the lift hill height then I can see it being a good Woodie with some good g forces. At this moment in time, I'm not a huge fan. It's just when you think of Secret Weapons, you straight up imagine a never seen before type of ride, and just because it might not be what I imagine, it doesn't mean it won't be good. I'm just not impressed by it at this stage.

[liam.rigby16]

I'm actually looking forward for this. Just get me on it now.


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[dazza4783]

Just found some info which further supports that SW8 will be manufactured by Great Coasters International. On the FAQ page of GCI's website, it states that "We primarily use Southern Yellow Pine harvested from renewable forests." This is the same wood that is mentioned in the planning application for the ride. If you want to see for yourself the website is here.

I didn't think there was any doubt that this will be manufactured by GCI, the sound comparison information came from the manufacturers and every coaster used as a comparison is GCI. That in itself confirms that they are the manufacturer.

The same thing happened with The Smiler, it clearly stated in the plans that it would be built by the same manufacturer as Saw: The Ride i.e Gerstlauer, and yet because the track on the layout elevations looked like Maurer Sohn track people kept speculating on something that was already confirmed.

[Liam.W]

Just found some info which further supports that SW8 will be manufactured by Great Coasters International. On the FAQ page of GCI's website, it states that "We primarily use Southern Yellow Pine harvested from renewable forests." This is the same wood that is mentioned in the planning application for the ride. If you want to see for yourself the website is here.

I didn't think there was any doubt that this will be manufactured by GCI, the sound comparison information came from the manufacturers and every coaster used as a comparison is GCI. That in itself confirms that they are the manufacturer.

The same thing happened with The Smiler, it clearly stated in the plans that it would be built by the same manufacturer as Saw: The Ride i.e Gerstlauer, and yet because the track on the layout elevations looked like Maurer Sohn track people kept speculating on something that was already confirmed.

I knew we already knew that GCI were the manufacturers, I just wanted to share that with everyone in case anyone was interested

[lewis97]

Nemesis94 on TowersStreet has produced an early recreation of SW8.

Aesthetically it does look like a reasonably interesting coaster, although it's a pity the boardwalk queue-line which goes over the layout is for fastrack, as that could give some nice views of the ride whilst queuing. I do wonder if there'll be some sort of show sequence in the sound tunnel at the start as it is stated to be 'themed' and, given its relative height, looks like it'll be taken at a fairly mild speed aside from the drop under the lift hill.