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2018: Wicker Man - General Discussion - SPOILERS! - Part One

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BenTechy66 said:
Probably a crazy idea, but what with the possibility of an inversion and all... What if this was Worlds first backwards wooden coaster? If it does turn out to have an inversion, or a launch, it will certainly be more thrilling. Plus it fits in with merlin's "World first" thing..

Just my thoughts though :p
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Technically there is a backwards wooden coaster in existence, Switchback at ZDT's Amusement Park. Although that's more a boomerang so goes forwards and backwards.

 
BenTechy66 said:
Probably a crazy idea, but what with the possibility of an inversion and all... What if this was Worlds first backwards wooden coaster? If it does turn out to have an inversion, or a launch, it will certainly be more thrilling. Plus it fits in with merlin's "World first" thing..

Just my thoughts though :p
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Texas Tornado at Frontierland Morcambe used to run half the train backwards in it's day, there's also a shuttle Woodie from Gravity Group which has just opened in Texas which goes backwards. I doubt it'll be a backwards coaster but you never know. ;)
 
In the end it comes down to whether or not it's a great coaster. No one's complaining that Phantasialand are advertising their next ride as the world's first launched flying coaster because the expectation is that the launch isn't instead of great theming and an overall layout, but another part of the package. If Alton Towers come up with some clever idea that no one's thought of before to enhance the ride then let's give it a whirl. If there were never any world's firsts we'd still be sliding down Russian Mountains. But let's hope there isn't some kind of gimmic that makes the ride unviable to operate long term, or that slows down throughputs, or where bits need removing after a few years because they weren't sustainable. I really hope that this is one of those rides that are just great fun to ride, and that as soon as you come off you want to rush back round and ride again.
 
Funcone said:
In the end it comes down to whether or not it's a great coaster. No one's complaining that Phantasialand are advertising their next ride as the world's first launched flying coaster because the expectation is that the launch isn't instead of great theming and an overall layout, but another part of the package. If Alton Towers come up with some clever idea that no one's thought of before to enhance the ride then let's give it a whirl. If there were never any world's firsts we'd still be sliding down Russian Mountains. But let's hope there isn't some kind of gimmic that makes the ride unviable to operate long term, or that slows down throughputs, or where bits need removing after a few years because they weren't sustainable. I really hope that this is one of those rides that are just great fun to ride, and that as soon as you come off you want to rush back round and ride again.
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There's good world firsts and world first rollercoaster fully dedicated to VR so if the world's first is meaningful and a move forward for the industry I'm all for it. Without innovation the industry would be less exciting with the same manufacturers making the same type of coaster and theming would be the only separater would be theming which would freeze some parks out.

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Funcone said:
In the end it comes down to whether or not it's a great coaster. No one's complaining that Phantasialand are advertising their next ride as the world's first launched flying coaster because the expectation is that the launch isn't instead of great theming and an overall layout, but another part of the package. If Alton Towers come up with some clever idea that no one's thought of before to enhance the ride then let's give it a whirl. If there were never any world's firsts we'd still be sliding down Russian Mountains. But let's hope there isn't some kind of gimmic that makes the ride unviable to operate long term, or that slows down throughputs, or where bits need removing after a few years because they weren't sustainable. I really hope that this is one of those rides that are just great fun to ride, and that as soon as you come off you want to rush back round and ride again.
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With Phantasialand's excellent track record lately (see Taron), I think the World's First marketing gimmick is just that, to get people in. To a lot of people they'll ride it because it gives them an excuse to go back to the park because they love it there so much because of the excellent themeing on most of its attractions as you say. It's like with Towers back in 1998 when Oblivion opened, it had a decent world's first but people wanted to ride because for the time it just looked insane, the theme was unique and the drop into the hole was unbelievable. An at least decent world's first is just more or less a bit of trivia, but if it's there in the first place, I don't mind it being marketed in that sense.
 
Have we definitely ruled out World's First Stand-up wooden rollercoaster? I'm assuming there isn't already such a beast in existence.
Not as I'd be particularly happy about that, but it's the only thing now that I can think of that would earn it its SW status.
The change in lift-hill incline seems to be over the track below it, possibly to ensure there's enough clearance height-wise for a (taller) train to pass below.
Also, it would explain the shallow drops and lack of big airtime hills, as a ride like Megafobia with steeper drops and airtime hills would be pretty uncomfortable standing up.

And wasn't a stand-up coaster on that site planned then scrapped a few years back?

It would certainly work as a marketing gimmick to the casual visitor, even if enthusiasts might be aghast at such a concept.
And also, the 'keep your ear to the ground' wording would make sense, because as you hurtled around the low banked curves in a standing position, your ear certainly would feel close to the ground :)

I'll be quite happy to be proved wrong in this case however, as I would rather AT's first woodie to be a decent, sit-down rollercoaster with no gimmicks; just an awesome ride. But as it stands, the track layout seems average at best.

And if it does turn out to do exactly what it says on the tin so far and nothing else, it'll be the first SW without at least some element of World first, European first or unique feature.

Perhaps SW = Standup Woodie

Think I'd rather VR :)
 
Nemesis was a secret weapon and not a worlds first.

I'm not dismissing your ideas that it could be a stand up wooden coaster; one of the more believable gimmicks.

However at at this point in time I do believe the SW codename is used more as marketing tool to simply say "Hey there's a new big coaster being built" rather than just a code name of a worlds first for us enthusiasts.

But who knows eh?
 
JoshM said:
Nemesis was a secret weapon and not a worlds first.
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Wasn't Nemesis the first ride to hit 4 G's or something and so that's why it got the tag line "worlds most intense ride experience"? I'm pretty sure there's a sign still up somewhere near the entance with the old logo on it.

That's kind of a World's First in a way. Although it was definitely Europe's first inverted, but they never used that in the marketing.
 
Shockadelica said:
Perhaps SW = Standup Woodie
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The problem there is that Standup coasters are on a decline, Togo no longer exists and their contraptions are being phased out, even the B&M standups are being turned into floorless coasters. We also have Shockwave at Drayton Manor which is a stones throw away from Alton and a coaster a lot of Alton visitors will have ridden more than likely. ;)
 
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