• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

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

Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Craig said:
Ok so I've got a quick breather now the event has ended, so a quick review from me. The whole experience is brilliant. The audio is top notch, the pre show is fantastic (It's not too long, not to short, works brilliantly and has a great finale to it). The station looks fantastic, and there's still some tweaks to be done, but everything has a real quality look/feel to it.

The ride really warms up as the day goes on, back row is the best without a doubt. Obviously it's not going to be the most thrilling woodie in the world, but there's some fantastic pops of airtime and the speed is faster than I thought it would be. Coupled with the mist/smoke effects (there's lots, and on murky days it really hangs around like Oblivion's drop) it really creates a thrilling ride. The corner mid ride is a little boring, but it soon gets going again with the drop after it.

Overall I'm far more impressed than I thought I would be, it's Merlin's most polished ride to date without a doubt. Riding at the end of the day as it gets dark is going to be a really fun experience.
Click to expand...
Out of interest, how would you say it ranks in comparison with the park's other coasters? I know that this is not a ride that should be judged in comparison to the park's other rides, but I'm merely interested.
 
I think that's a difficult one as it's very much personal opinion, and the novelty factor really skews things. For me, I'd be putting this after Nemesis at Towers. But then again, that's my own opinion and it might change over time - others might have a completely different view.
 
Craig said:
I think that's a difficult one as it's very much personal opinion, and the novelty factor really skews things. For me, I'd be putting this after Nemesis at Towers. But then again, that's my own opinion and it might change over time - others might have a completely different view.
Click to expand...
I can see why you'd put it in such a high position for a ride at Towers, I imagine in some ways, TH13TEEN is the most similar ride to compare it too, and I have that in third place behind Nemesis then The Smiler. I could easily imagine Wicker Man at least being in third place for me! :)
 
Not sure ITV News Central will add anything we've not seen elsewhere today but (if you can put up with some Royal propaganda) it's just got started.
 
Craig said:
Riding at the end of the day as it gets dark is going to be a really fun experience.
Click to expand...

Good to read your review however this last bit just is a bit of a shame that now with summer coming, the evenings will get lighter so we will have to wait until Scarefest now for this opportunity.
 
GaryH said:
Good to read your review however this last bit just is a bit of a shame that now with summer coming, the evenings will get lighter so we will have to wait until Scarefest now for this opportunity.
Click to expand...

To an extent yes, however on the other hand the smoke/mist really creates some lovely lighting when the sun shines through as well. So on one hand Summer could look great too!
 
Loving the themed 'Danger: Ride Area' signs, not something I expected to see given the plain DANGER OF DEATH signs plastered everywhere else the last two years... and themed bins! My oh my! We're at Oblivion levels of detail here!

The theming and attention to detail looks top notch. The ride being 'fun' sounds as I think most people expected really. I can't say I would go on the ride expecting anything more.

Personally the only things I'm disappointed with is Mutiny Bay not being rethemed into a village and the smokehouse not coming in to reality.
 
Moley said:
Not sure ITV News Central will add anything we've not seen elsewhere today but (if you can put up with some Royal propaganda) it's just got started.
Click to expand...
There were a couple of little nuggets - views of the control panel and clearly stating the Wickerman statue itself is not made of wood. Francis also makes an appearance and says that no train can be dispatched when one is on the track; there'll be 2 in the station area and one on the track. Oh and of course there is the obligatory mention of the Smiler crash.
 
Last edited:
Really impressed with what I've seen so far.

The station interior looks stunning. To think this is the park that brought us the whitewash concrete mess of The Smiler's station, this is a huge step up from that. The soundtrack is okay, though doesn't really have anything unique or memorable (from the snippet anyway) - I imagine it'll create a nice atmosphere around the ride anyway. Fire effects are a bit of a letdown IMO considering they were a focal marketing point for the ride; the overall effect is nice, but no fireballs!

Of course, as others have said, I highly doubt this will be outstanding as a coaster, but it's still exciting to have a new wooden coaster opening and going by the pictures released, the presentation of the ride looks fantastic.
 
If this is the standard of theming we can expect, this looks promising for future Alton (and Chessington!) investments. It’s about time we raised the competition in this country.
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top