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

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I think we’ve probably just seen the best fire interaction on any ride to date. Beats Valhalla’s ring of fire and explosions and Revenge of the Mummy’s fake station element imo. Very excited for this. Shame the general public had to see it first on a livestream- probably not the best choice- and some audio would’ve been nice. Still though, my hopes continue to rise every day!
 
Rob said:
Massive theming object full of effects
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Ok, the Wicker Man statue is pretty good, which I acknowledged based on what we've seen. But....

Rob said:
themed (with effects) tunnels, themed pre-show and other bits and bobs; coupled with some nice landscaping.
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Is this speculation though?

Not seen anything yet and it kinda harks back to loads of stuff that was promised with The Smiler. It also reminds me of the situation with Th13teen where people were speculating about the abundant theming and effects, including 3D screens in the crypt LOL :tearsofjoy:
 
PeteB said:
Is this speculation though?

Not seen anything yet and it kinda harks back to loads of stuff that was promised with The Smiler. It also reminds me of the situation with Th13teen where people were speculating about the abundant theming and effects, including 3D screens in the crypt. :tearsofjoy:
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Everything is speculation until the ride is open! Go and ride it once it has and judge for yourself, that's all I can say. From what we have seen so far it seems clear that Towers have learned from the failings of Thirteen, Sub-Terra and The Smiler and invested in a high quality themed attraction. There are no tin sheds, no cheap contractors, no corners cut.

:)
 
PeteB said:
Not seen anything yet and it kinda harks back to loads of stuff that was promised with The Smiler. It also reminds me of the situation with Th13teen where people were speculating about the abundant theming and effects, including 3D screens in the crypt LOL :tearsofjoy:
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Both just felt like incomplete projects. I mean sure, you can use some mental gymnastics and argue that the trees are theming for 13 but we all know everything in between the drop and the crypt is just lackluster. The Smiler had a really interesting backstory with all of this ministry of joy stuff, but where is this in the queue-line? It had all that potential and instead we got a cattlepen queue and a room with projections.
Nonetheless, I'm actually somewhat of an optimist when it comes to Wickerman, the final product actually looks like it could make for a great ride, and the pre show sounds cool.
 
I have to agree with what has already been said about the colour of the flames. Never judge colour based on video! My guess is that to the old mk.I eyeball, the flames will look normal (because, you know, they are), and the lights inside Alan* will be a redder hue, more akin to burning embers. Which even I have to concede is "doing it right".

*I'm calling him Alan from now on. If you don't get it... never mind.
 
JL6k said:
I think we’ve probably just seen the best fire interaction on any ride to date. Beats Valhalla’s ring of fire and explosions and Revenge of the Mummy’s fake station element imo. Very excited for this. Shame the general public had to see it first on a livestream- probably not the best choice- and some audio would’ve been nice. Still though, my hopes continue to rise every day!
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I know people are excited but such hyperbole is just unnecessary... Especially given the fire effects on Valhalla and Mummy are a lot closer... Even Swarm has decent interactive fire when it goes off underneath you...
 
Personally, I think the theming, landscaping and presentation look fantastic, potentially amongst the best in the world so well done Merlin.

At the risk of being branded a Negative Nancy, I will say that I would rather the budget go into a much longer layout focusing on airtime rather than twists, but I'm still excited for this project and think it will be a lot of fun.
 
I think that this attraction is all the park needs to enter a second golden age. After seeing this attraction develop, I am very optimistic for Alton Towers' future under Merlin! Let's hope that if this is successful, they reverse the cuts and it will all be great again!
 
I have no problem being critical of Merlin but equally when they get things right I’ll give them all the praise they deserve.

Wicker Man looks great. It’s landscaped well, themed excellently (we’re not talking Disney or Universal standards because that would be unreasonable) and most importantly well ahead of schedule. It feels like for the first time we are seeing exactly what Merlin can do when not under pressure to meet an impossible deadline (Smiler) and in my opinion it really shows!
I have only one fault with the ride and that is the layout. They could have done a lot more with the space they had. However from that one video the train seemed to be packing some speed so as of now the layout is not a deal breaker.

Great job Merlin and Alton Towers, I hope we see more projects like this going forward!
 
Benzin said:
I know people are excited but such hyperbole is just unnecessary... Especially given the fire effects on Valhalla and Mummy are a lot closer... Even Swarm has decent interactive fire when it goes off underneath you...
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It’s just my opinion. I’ve done both Valhalla and RotM, while of course it’s all down to preference, these fire effects make sense. A 50+foot burning Wickerman? Can’t beat that.
 
JL6k said:
I think we’ve probably just seen the best fire interaction on any ride to date. Beats Valhalla’s ring of fire and explosions and Revenge of the Mummy’s fake station element imo. Very excited for this. Shame the general public had to see it first on a livestream- probably not the best choice- and some audio would’ve been nice. Still though, my hopes continue to rise every day!
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Really? I'd suggest that Valhalla's ring of fire, on the rare occasion where it works fully and the fire ignites on the water in front of you, appearing to be put out by the boat seconds before you reach it, pushes the boundaries far more than the use of fire on Wicker Man.

Of course, the fact it only works once a year is another story!
 
PeteB said:
Ok, the Wicker Man statue is pretty good, which I acknowledged based on what we've seen. But....



Is this speculation though?

Not seen anything yet and it kinda harks back to loads of stuff that was promised with The Smiler. It also reminds me of the situation with Th13teen where people were speculating about the abundant theming and effects, including 3D screens in the crypt LOL :tearsofjoy:
Click to expand...

The sound tunnel drops, according to sources, are filled with smoke and brown static lights. The tunnel before the light hill is purely bare and concrete, and the maintenance shed is completely bare too, which is disappointing.

It is obvious on this project where the budget has been reduced or removed, notably when Nick said in his recnent trading update that they were adjusting their CAPEX spend but are limited due to some projects already being "committed" to.

That said, reports of the station interior and pre-show room are that it is fully themed.
 
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Dissapointing to hear that the first turn is still concrete but then again I guess they can't do much with it as it would be hard to do something to it with the area in between. The only thing I could suggest they could do is place a orange/red/brown light at the bottom, it wouldn't stop people from seeing the concrete but it'll make it look nicer.

Or they attempt to install a wooden fence... :D

Anyway they've got just under a month to make finishing touches!
 
WickerManiac said:
The sound tunnel drops, according to sources, are filled with smoke and brown static lights. The tunnel before the light hill is purely bare and concrete, and the maintenance shed is completely bare too, which is disappointing.

It is obvious on this project where the budget has been reduced or removed.
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That is depressing to hear :(

It seems such a waste to have some areas themed to such a high standard yet others are plain and unthemed.
 
Matt N said:
I think that this attraction is all the park needs to enter a second golden age. After seeing this attraction develop, I am very optimistic for Alton Towers' future under Merlin! Let's hope that if this is successful, they reverse the cuts and it will all be great again!
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I really do admire your optimism and hope for the place, but Wicker Man is far from the dawn of a gold age. The Smiler had no such effect and that drew significantly higher levels of anticipation. The future of the resort should be looked at from a wider perspective; operations, budgets and how the park is being run; not from the quality of a single investment.

Point in case; Derren Brown's Ghost Train.
 
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