Wicker Man - General Discussion

[OhShambhala]

When I have told my GP friends that Alton Towers are building a wooden coaster, they all pull a face and say its eihter gonna be 'dangerous' or 'lame'. I am worried that SW8 will be percieved wrongly by the general public which is concerning. Its like we can't have anything nice in this country becuse everyone is so stuck in their ways.

[Bert]

Look at the American GP, same there. There are large amounts of people across the world that think woodies are unsafe but look at the success of a ride like Mystic Timbers or InvadR both successful and I'm sure Towers have figured a way to market it to the GP or it will have never passed Merlin's greenlight.

[Justin]

It might have been covered already but wasn't there a first sign ages ago when the flume closed (before removal)
that was put up it said something like sw8 was coming something to do with an invasion or some one traveling from a far?
any one still got a copy?

Sure this went with the Viking theory / theme idea?
then the wicker man could me a Viking figure with the horns?
or just a wicker man lol

The following image was posted on TowersTimes back in August 2011. Was this the one you were thinking of?

Obviously, the plan never saw the light of day and the current development is completely different to the one originally teased.

[Owen]

This is still going around? :lol

I thought it'd been confirmed as a way to mess with enthusiasts years ago (they sure know how to), by the park and by the fact The Smiler's development would have already been taking place in 2011.

As Justin says, it doesn't seem to be relating to this development so surely that serves as final confirmation it was just a way to mess with enthusiasts and the more keen GP? :P

Whilst I think a Viking theme would be interesting, I personally don't see it happening. I'm expecting something spooky or 'magical' with this one (and hope so too)!

[Justin]

I had to search for it, Owen :lol but there was no doubt it was going to resurface! This is this only sign that I am aware of and I can't recall any others.

I personally don't see a Viking theme ever being introduced at Alton as it is to similar to pirates e.g. ships. I'd like it to be associated with Gloomy Woods, then for the whole area to be rethemed as a magical area!

[T0mPr1ce]

Could that sign not be referring to the ride we are getting? It would make sense, with the themeing structure being the pirate's secret weapon? Unless they were hinting at a possible new SW from B&M ('from Switzerland').

Although we are pretty sure this will be a Wickerman theme now, its just a nice thought;)

[Michelle]

Although I absolutely love the idea that Towers could have planned that far ahead and that the sign would link to the ride we're getting, I think the boys have debunked it well enough, I just simply can't see how the two would be related at all.

Shame though, would have been pretty cool to have been leaving breadcrumbs all the way back in 2011 :lol

[simononestop]

yep that's the sign, thanks for finding it I searched every where.
yeah I just linked the 2 together that sign made perfect sense for the new ride!
but I forgot how old the sign was

[Bert]

Whilst looking through Screamscape I found this rumour from 2015...

Seems intresting as we know 75% of the rumour is true, So I wonder if the heavily speculated Launch is true. This is the same source as RMC Mean Streak by the way. Exciting times ahead for Alton Towers!

[lewis97]

Whilst looking through Screamscape I found this rumour from 2015...

It should be noted that that is dated prior to The Smiler incident, when it is now pretty much accepted that plans changed from a coaster in the vicinity of Forbidden Valley to The Flume site. Although, given its relatively vague nature, I guess the rumour can plausibly be applied to the attraction that's actually being built...

[Burniel]

I mean, nothing about that is untrue, based on what we already know:

Wooden? Check.
Not RMC? Check.
Launch? Technically it uses launch technology, so that could what it refers to. Check.

This, in addition to the point from Lewis about the plans pre-incident, means that it seems unlikely that this source will bring anything new to the table. We already know it could have a more substantial launch, although this is unlikely.

[smokenmirrors]

Of interest, I was googling about the new ride today.

If you google 'great coasters international wicker man' then the text under the second search result more or less confirms what we are all thinking!

[Bert]

Of interest, I was googling about the new ride today.

If you google 'great coasters international wicker man' then the text under the second search result more or less confirms what we are all thinking!

You mean this...

It's probably a fan sent the message to GCI's staff...

[T0mPr1ce]

They also spelled Towers with a 'Z' - Towerz. So definitely nothing official

[Robert.W]

It is interesting though... there are so many uncertain things with this new ride besides theme. I still don't quite believe that it was correctly labelled (on the map) as part of Gloomy Wood, but then again a wickerman theme would probably fit in better with that land anyway. It's interesting that the construction will be easier to follow but we still don't quite know what they are building!

[demz_4]

Really rubbish day weather wise today, lot of rain, hope it doesn't slow them up too much this week

[Tom]

Really rubbish day weather wise today, lot of rain, hope it doesn't slow them up too much this week

Yeah, it's certainly been a bit drizzly in Staffordshire this week so far. Theoretically, now that the majority of the ground works appear to of been completed, weather shouldn't be a major factor for causing delays (obviously ignoring extremely windy weather etc).

I'm really excited to start seeing some wood going vertical! :giggle:

[Robert.W]

Talking of the weather, won't a wooden coaster be tremendously expensive to maintain with all the weathering etc.?

[Tom]

Talking of the weather, won't a wooden coaster be tremendously expensive to maintain with all the weathering etc.?

Unfortunately yes, wooden coasters do require a lot more maintenance than a steel coaster.

Merlin appears to have struggled with maintenance on their existing wooden coaster over at Heide Park, as such its shut for the entire 2017 season.

[Owen]

Whilst that's a point, I believe they have been retracting more or less the entire ride over at Heide meaning they're willing to put the money in, it doesn't help it was a first from Intamin either. They also paid for new GCI trains over at Legoland Florida for their little wooden coaster Coastersaurus in 2013!

Whilst I think there's always that sense of concern I don't think we will need it with this one. I have hope that if they couldn't handle it they wouldn't install it!