Attraction Source Forum

Am I right in assuming that this doesn’t currently have trim brakes as well?

I certainly hope it doesn’t!

EDIT: It looks like the video has since been removed

It seems attraction images have been asked to take the video down unfortunately. According to his Twitter posts.

It's been suggested that they try and tested it with the lowest speed possible by only half filling the cars with water bottles and stalling it just as it goes over the lift hill to see what the worst case scenario would be, to find it stalling point.  The original video did mention in the comment box below that it was seen testing a lot faster the previous day.  

I believe that Alton has asked for the video to be removed.   

Yikes... That testing video was an unexpected let down. The pacing was always one of my concerns about the attraction (especially seeing the flat turn halfway through the ride) but I was hoping it’d be a bit faster than that! That said, I’m hoping there’s a few factors that might change - temperature, mass of water dummies and the slow lift hill could have all contributed a bit to this marginally lacklustre test. I’m a fraction doubtful, but if they are testing different wheel compounds then hopefully they have another with a bit less friction! Let’s see how things develop from here...

Good morning TTSP Forum

Attraction Images have removed the video at the request of Alton Towers Resort. Due to this, we will not be allowing the reuploading, or linking to, the Wicker Man testing video.

For those people who have seen it, please feel free to continue discussing its content

NemesisRider wrote:Yikes... That testing video was an unexpected let down. The pacing was always one of my concerns about the attraction (especially seeing the flat turn halfway through the ride) but I was hoping it’d be a bit faster than that! That said, I’m hoping there’s a few factors that might change - temperature, mass of water dummies and the slow lift hill could have all contributed a bit to this marginally lacklustre test. I’m a fraction doubtful, but if they are testing different wheel compounds then hopefully they have another with a bit less friction! Let’s see how things develop from here...

As I’ve already said a few times I was concerned about this myself, however....

I think this is probably their “Anti-Smiler” testing, likely to ensure a similar worst case scenario doesn’t happen.

The lift hill stop will actually create a major disparity between actual speed and Anti-Smiler testing

Wooden coasters have a lot more variables than their steel counterparts.

Also wheel type can make a lot of difference, Wodan at Europa Park changed its wheel type to make the ride significantly faster. It’s not uncommon to test a few different types to get the right speed.

The time of day/temperature makes a huge difference. The video (now removed) shows the ride running in the morning on a cold January day. The ride will be significantly faster later in the day, and also later in the season when it’s not as cold.

Weight distribution is another factor, the dummies may not necessarily be representative of the weight on any given ride with the public. they’re designed to give an average yes, but if you got on the train with a more generously sized group of people, it would be significantly faster!

Just wait and see, and also bear in mind your first ride at 9:40 ish on 17th March will be much slower than riding it at 4pm that day, 9pm on scarefest, or even at 6pm in the summer.

I didn't get to see the video before it was deleted.  I've seen the one with the guy reacting to it, but it was heavily edited.  Did you original video show any of the fire effects or were they cut out of that too?  Has it been uploaded anywhere else?.....

krug wrote:I didn't get to see the video before it was deleted.  I've seen the one with the guy reacting to it, but it was heavily edited.  Did you original video show any of the fire effects or were they cut out of that too?  Has it been uploaded anywhere else?.....

The video of the guy reacting to it is exactly what we saw in the original video with a couple of section edited out.  

As for Alton asking for the Video to be taken down is like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.  It was an embarrassing video, lets just hope that the actual speed of it is faster than it looks when riding it, otherwise we just have kids rides available for ERT

Hopefully this pushes AT to release some form of testing footage that they’ve recorded in order to show the true pace of the ride

This footage is clearly drone footage can we all just admit attraction images have clearly been telling lies in terms of it being a light aircraft.

Brett wrote:This footage is clearly drone footage can we all just admit attraction images have clearly been telling lies in terms of it being a light aircraft.

No, this is shot from a light aircraft. The person who runs Attraction Images would not risk getting a lifetime ban from Alton Towers

Y'know.. aircrafts nowadays don't just consist of planes, there's also helicopters (I don't know what the guy uses)

In all seriousness, as much as I appreciate the testing video.. I will NOT be referencing the speed in that video to the actual ride.. every ride starts slow, look at Th13teen. Also if you were on the ground and saw that same testing session, you'd of probably thought it was fast.

March 17th can't come sooner!

I agree, this wont be the final speed of the ride. I went back and watched clips of the smiler, there were points where the train almost stalled across the circuit.

While I know the ride isn't going to be "super fast", as its a family coaster", I do believe it will be a lot faster then what we have seen in the video.

The ride experience as a whole, will be what makes this great.

bring on march!

ROYJESS wrote:As for Alton asking for the Video to be taken down is like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.  It was an embarrassing video, lets just hope that the actual speed of it is faster than it looks when riding it, otherwise we just have kids rides available for ERT

I have to disagree with the point you've made about the video being 'embarrassing'. It may be the case that the speed appeared slower than some were expecting, however you simply cannot get a true judgement of the speed from an aerial video. As many people have already pointed out, the ride would have been running cold, the wheel compounds would most likely have been just one of several different ones they are testing, the weight distribution of the dummies will have played some part, and there will also have been a number of other factors to take into account too.
I think it would be fair to say that most of us have been more than aware for a while that this was never intended to be a full on thrill ride like The Smiler or Nemesis. What I do hope we will have is a great overall experience. The overall theme, pre-show and effects have the potential to combine with the ride itself to create a complete package and a a great overall ride experience. It may be that the overall speed has been judged to ensure that guests can get the full impact of any effects that are triggered during the ride.

At least we’re not getting a shipping container shop... 

No expert on testing but I know with my game creations I try everything sometimes til I get it at fast as I can. Yeah, my RCT is hardly the way to work out how it would be IRL, but lack of real knowledge aside surely you do test it for all kinds of variables from slow to fast to establish the best running/ launch options and limitations for not stalling/ rider comfort/ safety etc? So testing as has been suggested probably isn't the same as real operation- you may see a faster or slower run than what will be the norm (which will vary anyway such as Nemesis always feeling faster in the rain, is that a thing or just my imagination?) And rides don't like running in winter anyway as a rule which is why we don't get open parks in winter. Viewpoints can also distort things (think of a vehicle race on TV- some viewpoints will seem faster than others for the same bit of the race).


Not seen the vid but waiting 'til I ride to pass judgement- testing, POV sims, only riding the real thing really tells you what it's like.

I posted the below 2 days ago, but seems to have been overlooked..

Thought I made some valid points What you think??

My thoughts on the speed..

Possibly the lifthill will give it some extra speed as it is magnetized. A push off as such, a semi launch. The speed could be altered could it not??

If this is the case, we are in for a fantastic ride. The banks towards the end will pack some G and the hills some awesome airtime!!

The lift hill is chain-driven, although possibly uses magnetic anti-rollback technology which is where the rumours of what you mention came from.

However, the video did show the train slowing right down at the top of the lift, so, assuming that isn’t part of the normal ride sequence, there’s the potential for the train to get a bit more momentum from the lift.

Space Mountain only gets to 28mph, does that make that not thrilling too?