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2017/18: SW8 Speculation

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Ketz said:
Surely Charlie will go in the near future, but will the the ride itself go. I think boat rides often struggle with story telling, with all sorts of timing problems all the time.
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Boat rides work best when there is a story that doesn't need a narrator to explain it. Things like Pirates of the Carribean.
 
That blasted chocolate factory will be closed within the next two years thankfully.
 
jon81uk said:
Boat rides work best when there is a story that doesn't need a narrator to explain it. Things like Pirates of the Carribean.
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Even Pirates is tough to follow, and in the end my family who had almost a full boat used the ride as a sort of elaborate spot capatain jack sparrow in most scenes.
 
Ketz said:
Even Pirates is tough to follow, and in the end my family who had almost a full boat used the ride as a sort of elaborate spot capatain jack sparrow in most scenes.
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You don't need to follow as there is no plot. Each room is a seperate scene. The pirate autioneing off women to be their wife, pillaging the town, robbing and so on.There are a few gags that carry forward such as the wife one pirate gets a wife from the auction who is then chasing him in the next scene. But generally the reason it works is you don't need to follow any plot, just enjoy each scene for what it is.
Similarly Jungle Cruise, while that is narrated, each scene still stands on its own, you can laugh at the backside of water, but then have no idea what is happening in the next scene and it doesn't ruin the ride.
All of this also generally applies to Haunted Mansion (and haunted house / Duel too) there is nothing huge that follows on from one area to the next.
This is also why I didn't really like Transformers, I had no idea what was going on as the ride moved too fast to explain the plot! Although strangely I didn't feel the same with Spiderman. Generally Universal's rides are a lot more plot-driven than Disney

I think with a new dark-ride at Thorpe it will be more on the Spiderman/Transformers style, but they need to remember to explain plot quickly and make sure you can just pick it up from what is going on. Whereas at Alton Towers, as they are aiming for a wider range of ages visiting they should keep it simple and do a dark ride with show scenes that doesn't need a lot of explanation.
 
jon81uk said:
You don't need to follow as there is no plot. Each room is a seperate scene. The pirate autioneing off women to be their wife, pillaging the town, robbing and so on.There are a few gags that carry forward such as the wife one pirate gets a wife from the auction who is then chasing him in the next scene. But generally the reason it works is you don't need to follow any plot, just enjoy each scene for what it is.
Similarly Jungle Cruise, while that is narrated, each scene still stands on its own, you can laugh at the backside of water, but then have no idea what is happening in the next scene and it doesn't ruin the ride.
All of this also generally applies to Haunted Mansion (and haunted house / Duel too) there is nothing huge that follows on from one area to the next.
This is also why I didn't really like Transformers, I had no idea what was going on as the ride moved too fast to explain the plot! Although strangely I didn't feel the same with Spiderman. Generally Universal's rides are a lot more plot-driven than Disney

I think with a new dark-ride at Thorpe it will be more on the Spiderman/Transformers style, but they need to remember to explain plot quickly and make sure you can just pick it up from what is going on. Whereas at Alton Towers, as they are aiming for a wider range of ages visiting they should keep it simple and do a dark ride with show scenes that doesn't need a lot of explanation.
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I think with the 3D rides like Transformers and Spider-Man you do need to concentrate and keep up with the plot, but this is I think totally intentional, not only to add to the sense of pace and drama but also to keep you moving through the ride, so you are not literally stuck in front of the screen for to long critiquing the surroundings, which then ends up adding to the overall realism. I agree that if thorpe and probably Alton will probably need to tweak the system a little cus they probably won't have as recognisable characters who you already now what they are about.
 
Boat rides usually work best when there's no plot/story to follow. Although with Charlie they did have the right idea with on board audio and scenery syncing up with that, plus the continuation of the story on the screen before the lifts and also inside the lifts. It's a shame the execution of CATCF was poor, going through it you can kinda see what they were trying to achieve although it feels very disjointed on the whole.

I think for the future though maybe the whole building should be gutted and the boat trench removed. Get something a little more interesting in there.

If the rumours of Thorpe's dark ride costing £30m+ are true, at least we know Merlin can be serious with investing in dark rides. If that turns out well Merlin could actually put some pretty decent work into dark rides at Towers (the dark ride at Thorpe will be a good testing ground for Merlin Studios so when they get to something big at Towers they are more prepared). I actually find the future of dark rides at Towers the most interesting and exciting yet to come.

Anyway, maybe someone should create a dark ride thread since we're going off topic here. :p
 
Just seen over on coasterforce that the blade has had a reprieve, it is going to open on the 21st, I'm glad they are opening it as it will mean that there is not a rotting ride just standing there when you enter FB. Peolpe would be asking when the ride will open if it is just standing there. They may as well run until it's time to remove it when a new ride/coaster get planning permission and they begin construction.
 
If they put a date of removal on it, so enyone that want to have a goodbye ride on it can before its too late.
 
Alton submitted a 'screening opinion' request to SMDC in early March, these are normally submitted to the LPA in advance of a major planning application to ask for the council (and other key stakeholders) opinion on whether the planning application will need to go through the full Environmental Impact Assessment process. Generally a screening opinion would be requested if the developer feels that the application has some environmental impact and it is close to having a large and material impact on the environment. This can be due to many factors such as tree removal, impact on Archaeology, impact on habitat , increased traffic, material disposal (for example spoil from a large excavation), noise impact etc etc. It would therefore suggest that the application is related to either a major new ride, a change to the layout of the park (new entrance?) or a large expansion into an otherwise untouched area of the park. Alongside the blade removal / recent tree clearance things are starting to strongly point towards a major development in and around Forbidden valley. A full EIA takes time though, so we could be 6 months away from a full application, depending on what the LPA respond with.
 
Hmmmm...

q2vLZMy.png


Isn't that an anagram of...

...absent inner hawk?

What does that mean? That the ride may be themed around missing spiritual birds?

#MysteryThickens
#Speculation
#SW8
 
Just to throw a complete curve ball into the mix, I had a crazy thought about SW8...

There has been a higher than usual amount of tree clearance over the closed season, and rumours so far are suggesting RMC as a possible contender for the park's next coaster. Now, looking at RMC, Wildfire (their 2016 coaster that was scheduled to open in Kolmarden) is facing delays due to local planning and the environment agency being entirely unhappy.

Now, these are both random thoughts that entered my mind, but could open up some new discussion (lord knows we all love to moan about delays)

a) The park are clearing trees early in the hope of bringing forward the construction schedule on SW8 , or at the least to avoid the same problems Wildfire is facing. This is supported by the recent screening opinion , as it shows the park are in some capacity planning for SW8

b) Wildfire will be bumped into a 2016 / 2017 construction timeframe, leaving further delays on other projects (potentially including SW8)
 
My understanding regarding the tree and undergrowth removal was that it was part of the battle against the fungal infection in the area, not specifically clearing for any future developement.
 
SW8 is not a ride, its a genitic splicing experiment where they has spliced a £50 note with a fast growing perennial to create a money fern :D
(Yes, this is a joke)
 
I do think they are doing a lot of tree work all over the park so they can get away with thinning out areas that might be of interest ;)
 
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