Attraction Source Forum

Hate to say this but SW9, Flats, General investment is likely to be very few and far between over the next few years with the announcement that Merlin is to slow spending at all of its parks (not including legoland), this is not good for the future of developments and rides at the park 

So you’re saying Wicker Man will be the last big investment for quite a while?

Wagstaff04 wrote:So you’re saying Wicker Man will be the last big investment for quite a while?

Merlin attractions tend to work on a 4-year major CAPEX cycle so the earliest we can expect SW9 is 2022.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it earlier. Considering that the gap between major addition fluctuates so often I wouldn’t look into this 4 year cycle too heavily - especially looking at the circumstances of Wicker Man.

Owen wrote:I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it earlier. Considering that the gap between major addition fluctuates so often I wouldn’t look into this 4 year cycle too heavily - especially looking at the circumstances of Wicker Man.

Granted, there was an 8 year gap between SW5 & SW6 but a lot of that was down to the change of ownership the park went through (we did get Rita inbetween though so it’s swings and roundabouts there)

SW8 should have seen a 2017 opening but due to The Smiler incident it was pushed back.

A lot of what happens with SW9 depends on the success of Wicker Man and the recovery of the park we are all hoping for.

Exactly my point. There’s been a range of different gaps, and with Wicker Man being pushed back (and us being aware the first stages of SW9 have been in planning for a decent time already) doesn’t make it at all crazy to think that SW9 could be on track to debut before 2022 as you suggest! :P

I have to say (albeit possibly not something everyone would agree with) I really like Spinball- it's a lot more intense than it looks (perhaps more fun to ride than Th13teen which is good but not the best ride in the park) and I enjoy it as much as the SW coasters so I'd like it to stay.

I agree with those thinking 'water ride' for SW9 as this and flat rides are the biggest areas the park is lacking- it now only has the rapids which are from 1986 - the flume was even older (1981) - both remain(ed) great rides although the water on the flume was often a bit yuk looking- it was often rather murky compared to some other water rides.

So it is a long time since a new water ride at the park and they've never had a really world class one by current standards so with Air and Fire maybe water could join the line up 'the world's first coaster fusing coaster with water' he says tongue firmly in cheek I can see this being something planned- with removing the flume it may even have been a possibility for SW8 but then they decided the time was right for wood. I think we will see a major water ride at some point soon even if not as an SW.

Although one would absolutely love a Valhalla-Chiapas hybrid on the west side of Katanga, I can see it being a new roller coaster first then water. For Coasters, I can either see one of the following 3 being created: an RMC hybrid launch replacing Rita, a wing or hyper coaster in the Valley or a Taron esc Intamin LSM in the Air Car Park.
P.S. if Rita got replaced it could move into an indoor coaster in coaster corner and Trepidator would be a cool name.

I really doubt we'll get a valey coaster let alone a wing coaster in it. I would hope we'll get a launch coaster of some sort to replace rita that fits the area better. I think we may something in forbidden valley as prior to the smiler accident they were marking the ground at points and clearing trees in places.

Edit: of course we really have to see how well the wickerman performs next year and guest numbers. By the end of next season it will probably be clear to what may happen.

DamoCoaster on YouTube says that SW9 could be a Hyper GTX, a watercoaster or an RMC T-Rex, what do you think?

He will probably know nothing and is simply making a prediction. I can't see any of those happening.

I could potentially see a watercoaster, but don't really know if it would fit in well at Alton Towers, so that'd maybe be more suited for Thorpe Park. Then like Liam said, I cannot see the other two happening 100%, a RMC would be great, however, the T-Rex concept especially is very very expensive; however, I wouldn't turn it down! Personally, at this moment in time, I think we'll either see a MACK Mega, a new spinning coaster to replace Spinball or maybe a large scale dark-ride, with a twist! 

I'd also add a MACK Big Dipper to the mix, as the concept in Walibi Holland has been rather well received.

Towers design the SW's to improve on the previous one, Oblivion went for the 'World's First' to top Nemesis. Air aced as a contrast to the intense pevious two coasters. Th13teen was all about bringing back a major coaster to Towers and The Smiler was about adding a proper thrill ride after Th13teen's feedback. And Wicker Man has even followed suit by being a stark contrast to The Smiler. 

So whatever feedback Towers receive with Wicker Man, I bet SW9's focus will be improving on that.

My hunch is that they may use part of the planning application they submitted previously for the FV woodie for SW9 - especially as it's already agreed in principle and Ripsaw removed to accommodate, they just need to alter what coaster fits in there.. So, we may see something along the lines of a Mack launched or similar as they have a smaller height and foot-print. It seems to make more sense to do it that way. I'd love to see a wing-coaster, but looking at Raptor and Swarm, they need a fair bit of height and space, plus return on investments for these coasters is not promising. they may hold out to see how the RMC single-rail coasters are received and utilise this as a new and unique ride
In-between this, I'd be surprised if we don't see some form of redevelopment of the Charlie site as this is a premium location that is currently unused. 

How does the tree height limit work? Some of the suggestions I see seem implausible with the tree limit but I might be mistaken.

TheBeornen wrote:How does the tree height limit work? Some of the suggestions I see seem implausible with the tree limit but I might be mistaken.

As a rule of thumb no ride at AT is allowed to be visible above the tree line from outside of the park.

A few coasters get away with being marginally over (Rita) due to being painted to blend into the tree line.

Basically if you want a tall thing then dig a deep hole!

Thanks, I always got confused about rides like Oblivion because it seems to be above the tree line but I'm guessing it's just because X-Sector is on a slope and it's near the bottom.

I don't know if it's just me but I hope we one day get a Gatekeeper style ride that goes near the entrance and over the car park at points, obviously things would have the be moved about but I just love the idea of a corkscrew around a section of the monorail track.

TheBeornen wrote:I don't know if it's just me but I hope we one day get a Gatekeeper style ride that goes near the entrance and over the car park at points, obviously things would have the be moved about but I just love the idea of a corkscrew around a section of the monorail track.

Doubt we’ll ever get a gatekeeper style entrance due to the height, visibility and acoustic restrictions.

I would love to see a multi launch mega coaster as a Rita replacement going deep into the forest though, I think that would be incredible

The one thing we definitely lack at AT is something with a good amount of air time