Wicker Man - General Discussion

[Altontowersbarlow]

Whenever this new attraction is supposed to open it is unlikely we will see much marketing or many details about the ride just yet. Alton Towers are likely still very worried about the media putting a negative spin on new attractions. I realise that Galactica was advertised freely however, that was less risky as it was a fairly cheap attraction and not completely new meaning Alton could afford any potential backlash. As we all know; the SW attractions are usually hugely expensive and the parks main attractions, so the park are not going to risk the project being doomed from the start by marketing during such a tense and magnified relationship with the public and the media. Give it a few months when summer comes and people forget about last year and visit Alton Towers without a second thought, and I am sure we will get some valuable information. Id rather wait and have an exciting attraction hyped in a positive way, than be impatient and have a perfectly good attraction wasted with negative connotations.

[Iwholden]

I think the shelved coaster was the stand up.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I'd love a stand up in Alton Towers.. Mainly because I've never been on one.. I hate the idea of a wooden coaster, I have osteoporosis and the last time I went on a wooden coaster (Blackpool) I was in pain for weeks. But luckily all rides at Alton don't injure me

[Liam.W]

I think the shelved coaster was the stand up.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I'd love a stand up in Alton Towers.. Mainly because I've never been on one.. I hate the idea of a wooden coaster, I have osteoporosis and the last time I went on a wooden coaster (Blackpool) I was in pain for weeks. But luckily all rides at Alton don't injure me

The older wooden coasters like the ones at Blackpool Pleasure Beach are very rough, but the newer wooden coasters are a lot smoother. In my opinion they are just as smooth as Alton's coasters.

[MakoMania]

I think the shelved coaster was the stand up.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I'd love a stand up in Alton Towers.. Mainly because I've never been on one.. I hate the idea of a wooden coaster, I have osteoporosis and the last time I went on a wooden coaster (Blackpool) I was in pain for weeks. But luckily all rides at Alton don't injure me

You shouldn't make a judgement of all wooden coasters from the blackpool ones they're particularly rough!

[Burniel]

I think the shelved coaster was the stand up.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I'd love a stand up in Alton Towers.. Mainly because I've never been on one.. I hate the idea of a wooden coaster, I have osteoporosis and the last time I went on a wooden coaster (Blackpool) I was in pain for weeks. But luckily all rides at Alton don't injure me

You shouldn't make a judgement of all wooden coasters from the blackpool ones they're particularly rough!

I second this, some new wooden coasters from some companies are actually quite smooth!

[Iwholden]

Sorry, I just assumed they were all as bad as those in Blackpool.. They're lethal. I'd like to try out some of these smother wooden coasters, do we have any in the UK?

[Ryan.B]

not really, apart from Megafobia at Oakwood in Wales, but that can be a bit rough at points.

[Burniel]

The Cú Chulainn Coaster at Tayto Park, Dublin is a smooth woodie similar to what I'd like to see at Towers

[scruffy_]

I think people are looking into the posters (from 4 years ago, with a maximum of a 6 year gap since they were posted to the opening of this ride may I add) WAY too much. Since when have Alton Towers given so many hints to an attraction so early on?

I certainly don't think that these mean a thing, it's general hype building, a marketing ploy - something most people have seemed to have fallen for :lol

coincidence how they put that poster up though and we are now getting a new ride where the poster was talking about

[Owen]

Yes, but honestly it's very very doubtful that they are linked, at least the way I see it. You have to remember that 4 years is a long time, and often a lot of things change. We know The Smiler was being designed and what not at the time these were posted, and so they were obviously not going to be putting anything there when they put up the posters. Along with this there are people saying how they wouldn't tease a ride for 2018 now, and so it must be 2017. So why is it different saying they were teasing a ride for 2016 (at the time) in 2011?

On the other hand, I feel they may have some significance to the story building of the ride, not so much the ride itself. If this is true I think that's really exciting to see they have been building on the story for some time.

I just feel like people are looking into this way to much, and I do believe Alton had confimed that the posters were indeed fake. So although it's something, it's likely to be a very very weak source of information, at least from my perspective

[NemesisRider]

I have to agree with Owen here guys. If this poster was a recent bit of marketing Towers had put out and we knew it related definitely to the current SW8 concept/ride which I presume we will see open in 2017, then I think we'd be able to read into it a bit. However, this poster is quite old. This could have been for an entirely different project that was scrapped, rewritten, whatever. A lot can change in the span of a few years in terms of project ideas.

I personally think once we see a planning application then foundations being put down we could start to see marketing and teasers that we can read into a bit more (like what's happened with DBGT and "Minds Wanted").

[Ryan.B]

Mind you, Thorpe teased Derren Brown in 2012/2013 on a tweet

[owenrita121]

Mind you, Thorpe teased Derren Brown in 2012/2013 on a tweet

Bit of a difference though, that wasn't 2011 and Thorpe haven't installed a major coaster since that tweet.

[Ryan.B]

still teasing for the major ride 3/4 ears ago where it actually was a true teaser (not saying the poster isn't, just very unlikely in my opinion!)

[Tom170499]

Quick question, when did The Flume lose the 'Unplugged' tag line? Correct me if I'm wrong but I was thinking it was when the sponsorship with Imperial Leather ran out and (again, not too sure) I think this was around 2009 (5 year sponsorship deal). Interestingly, the poster refers to 'The Flume Unplugged' which if my dates are right, would mean the poster appeared before 2009.

[Dom]

What you have to remember is that Alton Towers do enjoy winding up the enthusiast community. They read the forums and a lot of the winding up is based on things that they have seen on the forums and within the community. So the poster was probably just something to wind the community up. They may of had a plan for the area for when the poster was put up, but chances are the plans have changed. I remember hearing about the poster when I first joined TowersTimes/SouthParks. It has been around for some time (As have I).

As for SW8. I personally don't care what it is as long as it has decent themeing and isn't a gimmick. I'm bored of the gimmicks now. Gimmicks don't always make for great rides. They need something that is both thrilling and something that will draw people from across the country, even the world, to come to Alton Towers and that Alton Towers can shout about, because at the moment, in my personal opinion I will add, Alton Towers are having their backsides kicked by Thorpe Park.

[MakoMania]

Alton Towers are having their backsides kicked by Thorpe Park.

Not sure I'd agree with that, but the rest of your post is all good stuff

[Burniel]

Alton Towers are having their backsides kicked by Thorpe Park.

Not sure I'd agree with that, but the rest of your post is all good stuff

I don't know ... The Smiler, whilst a marginally better ride than The Swarm in my opinion, was a bit of a gimmicky disappointment and a bit of a record grab. Looking at recent developments, Thorpe have been theming their rides better than Towers have and DBGT looks like it's going to be incredible, so Towers really need to pull something out of the bag for SW8.

I wouldn't personally say that Thorpe are ahead by a large amount, but they've easily caught up.

[MakoMania]

Alton Towers are having their backsides kicked by Thorpe Park.

Not sure I'd agree with that, but the rest of your post is all good stuff

I don't know ... The Smiler, whilst a marginally better ride than The Swarm in my opinion, was a bit of a gimmicky disappointment and a bit of a record grab. Looking at recent developments, Thorpe have been theming their rides better than Towers have and DBGT looks like it's going to be incredible, so Towers really need to pull something out of the bag for SW8.

I wouldn't personally say that Thorpe are ahead by a large amount, but they've easily caught up.

I agree, Thorpe's theming has been very good recently. The thing is there are a few of the major rides that I absolutely hate or find very boring, e.g.-Colossus, Swarm, Inferno, Vortex etc

Plus the atmosphere at Thorpe is dire most (but not all) of the time that I go!

It's just personal preference, but I seem to like all the rides at Alton.

But this is a conversation for another topic

[Dom]

Yeah, lets not get off topic by my own personal opinion. I just hope that AT return to number 1 with SW8 as it really does need to be amazing.