Wicker Man Construction Discussion

Mon Jul 10, 2017 4:20 pm

I love that the excitement is starting to filter through as the construction gathers pace. These updates are great to see

Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:26 pm

Theme Park Worldwide have posted a few photos on Facebook showing the additional bents installed today.

Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:50 pm

It's a very gentle crest to the slope. Could be carrying some speed over the top.

Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:53 pm

It will depend on the camber around that first corner though.

Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:36 pm

Interesting to compare this to Lightning Rod's top of lift..

Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:35 pm

I'm grateful and all for a woodie to finally be at Alton.. but seeing that picture of Lightning Rod does sadden me a little. Couldn't of imagined what sort of RMC woodie would of been in place of SW8.. however I'm sure GCI will have something quite surprising, up their sleeves for SW8.

Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:43 pm

11th July Update

Was on park today, plenty of work going on around the site. The Steve Foster crane was continuously moving a concrete container back and forth for foundation pouring in the area I assume was where the first drop will be. One more bent has gone up at the top end since TPW's post, and several bents working backwards from the brake run have been put up as well. Nothing's happened on the steel mess that I still think will be rockwork rendered, but someone was stood inside it earlier, though I only saw him climbing down so can't be certain what he was working on up there. On top of that there was a deep-ish trench being dug through the gaps in the foundations for the old flume turnaround, I'm assuming this is for the pathway to the plaza indicated in the midst of the ride, as well as part of the queue line. Over the whole site foundations are quickly being finished and connected up with only a few major areas left to do around the first drop leading towards the theming element.

Seems clear the poor weather isn't putting off the work progress at all! Going up so much faster than expected!

Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:59 pm

Hi all, I've been following the forum for the past few weeks as SW8 construction has been developing. I thought I'd finally make an account so I can be a bit more active!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the pictures and the constant updates. I do think however it's unlikely we are getting a launched lift. Just looking at the latest photos posted by Capt Barnacles and also from referring to the plans, and the foundations, you can see there is a turn with a very tight radius directly after the lift hill with little to no banking. I think we'll most likely just see a LSM lift hill. Something like Maverick? It could possibly be a bit quicker than your average woodies lift, but nothing crazy.

Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:03 pm

Thank you so much for the update. I think what is great about this coaster's construction is that fact that you are able to see how much they get done on a near daily basis because of how open it is for people to get updates.I say this every time I post in this topic, but my god is it flying up, but then again I haven't really got anything to compare it too as this is the first woodie i've followed being constricted in such detail. Is it normal for a wooden coaster to be constructed this quick or are they actually putting in a lot of effort at AT?

Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:37 pm

I do believe the ride is ahead of schedule by a few weeks.

It certainly is going up quickly, though not abnormally quick for a woodie. Most coasters go up very quickly once the foundations are done.

Now this part is done you can begin to get a sense of scale from the ride. I'm definitely looking forward to the drop from there, should be comparable to Th13teens but without the trims!

Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:15 pm

The sense of scale is very apparent now, I strongly suspect there will be several more bents on the drop done by the end of the week, if not the drop done altogether, as three were finished and stacked up ready at the start of the day, and by the time I left at 3pm, two more were almost ready to go.

Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:58 am

jasonped wrote:Hi all, I've been following the forum for the past few weeks as SW8 construction has been developing. I thought I'd finally make an account so I can be a bit more active!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the pictures and the constant updates. I do think however it's unlikely we are getting a launched lift. Just looking at the latest photos posted by Capt Barnacles and also from referring to the plans, and the foundations, you can see there is a turn with a very tight radius directly after the lift hill with little to no banking. I think we'll most likely just see a LSM lift hill. Something like Maverick? It could possibly be a bit quicker than your average woodies lift, but nothing crazy.

Hi Jason
I am interested in that theory as you are right about it being a tight turn however i dont think we can judge the banking quite yet as the turn could be banking into the first drop, However looking at the plans that first drop is incased in a sound tunnel this makes me wonder why as if it was travelling at a slower speed i doubt that the sound would have been an issue. I still think a launch but maybe the launch ends before the crest of the lift hill so it does not carry full speed into that first turn.

Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:16 pm

Although the photo is somewhat restrictive in what it shows, it is possible to see that additional bents for the first drop have been put in place.

Source: Instagram

Wed Jul 12, 2017 9:31 pm

Those latest bents look overbanked to me!

Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:00 am

Could this possibly be a launched LIM lift hill with that smoother transition at the top? which then gives the coaster some speed into the first banked turn we can see going up? :P

Thu Jul 13, 2017 1:52 am

cactuselves wrote:Those latest bents look overbanked to me!

Not sure about Overbanked but certainly there is a good degree of banking on them, i think that with that banking the lift could well be launched to some certain degree.

Thu Jul 13, 2017 7:02 am

They are certainly getting a lot done everyday it appears.. and almost have the first segment done.
Exciting times ahead!

Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:47 am

If not a full launch, maybe we'll get a good kick over the top of the lift hill

Thu Jul 13, 2017 11:38 am

I'm all always blown away by the pace they're moving at now and its just getting more excited. I'm really liking the look of that hill. This excitement has me arranging a trip to my local woodie and tayto park (as well as the new flume)

Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:30 pm

gddevey1012 wrote:
cactuselves wrote:Those latest bents look overbanked to me!
Not sure about Overbanked but certainly there is a good degree of banking on them, i think that with that banking the lift could well be launched to some certain degree.

Ha ha ha - yes not sure why I typed overbanked, now that would be extreme!! Was just getting excited that there would be no reason for banking with a traditional lift hill and the very small elevation change from the top of the crest to the last bent that you can see on that photo!