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2017/18: SW8 Speculation

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I would love to see the 2017 woody, especially if it was on the scale and had the same imagination in the layout of Dollywoods new coaster.

Unfortunately, it has gone very quiet on the SW8 front and I fear SW8 is a casualty of the media fallout. I'm not even sure that Merlin will use the SW tag again.

I think we will gain a reasonable investment attraction, but Merlin are smart enough to know that any big rollercoaster development in the next couple of years will attract irresponsible reporting and bad publicity that will prolong poor gate figures.

I want SW8, but now expect family attractions, CBeebies expansion, experience based attractions or simulators. Personally i'd rather have a great new water ride instead of these (in addition to the flume, not instead of).

I predict that Thrill attractions for adreneline junkies will be postponed for a while.

Hope I'm wrong though. I'd love to see a new world class coaster on an epic scale.

Come on Merlin. Prove me wrong and make this work.
 
Call me a pessimist, I want it but I feel of recent events that its unlikely Merlin will make a big investment in the Towers in 2017, the 10 Year Plan doesn't have to be kept to. It didn't predict the effects of the recession and certainly not the crash. If Alton are going to launch a new coaster within the next few years of the magnitude of a Secret Weapon, I feel it won't be advertised (in planning and such) as an SW, not only will Wardley not be involved but furthermore in respect of the events regarding The Smiler and its ill-fate of the lucky-number-but-no-so-lucky SW7. Heck, after a few years anything new will be hypeable regardless of it being SW status or not. I see the future lies in Towers rejuvenating the park, boosting their family-friendly image and coping with paying all their staff a Living Wage - expect prices to hike further hooray.
 
What's interesting to note, is that the financial crash of 2008 and the proceeding recession, actually created a boost in leisure and tourism in this country.

Still though, I kinda agree and dont think Towers will receive any big investments in the near future.
 
It would be counter productive to not offer anything majorly new for years and years. Aside from the absence of the park on a slide show, all indications are that they don't intend to deviate from their investment programme. They have explicity stated this in Q&As etc.
 
The idea that Towers won't recieve any major investments in the near future is crazy. Guest numbers for 2015 will have been below 2 million; the first time in a heck of a long time. Things won't be as bad in 2016 but it's not exactly going to be back to normal. The history of theme parks has always shown one thing - big new rides, especially coasters or based on popular IPs, pull in the guests for their first season at least. It is a no brainer!

It won't be 2017 but I would be staggered if 2018 didn't provide us with a major new ride.

:)
 
I would be highly surprised if there were not major discussions and preparations being made behind the scenes ready for next season branding and marketing wise.
 
Sadly I don't think the original SW8 will be happening now let alone being delayed a year.

I wonder what the next big thing as towers really need s major investment regardless of the park problems otherwise they'll be a lost cause before long.

Merlin need to spend money to get money.
 
Matt Creek said:
Sadly I don't think the original SW8 will be happening now let alone being delayed a year.

I wonder what the next big thing as towers really need s major investment regardless of the park problems otherwise they'll be a lost cause before long.

Merlin need to spend money to get money.
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I agree, a woodie would be a risk at the best of times, much more so now considering that the GP have the impression that they're "unsafe". I'm sure the world first ultimate mega ride would attract more guests than "something they already have at Blackpool". I mean, even when I joined this site I thought that woodies are unsafe and boring (thanks for getting me corrected ;))
 
Disagree with the woodies are unsafe comments, they are not perceived that way otherwise people wouldn't go on them.

A solid wooden coaster would still be a good investment for Alton in my opinion, and could revive the park - but will they be in a strong enough financial position to install a new coaster on that scale anytime soon?
 
Problem is the only wooden coasters the UK pop have ridden are at Blackpool (therefore 'old' and 'rickety'), and abroad it's either Stampida (awful), or Gwazi (also awful)...

We won't see Towers build a wooden coaster until somewhere like Paultons ends up building a tiny Gravity Group thing and everyone thinks it's the best thing ever (because GG rides are fab)...
 
Talking to people earlier about wooden coaster (much to their boredom) and their opinion on them I that they look old and don't have as much technology or computer systems (therefore being unsafe) and look like "they are about to fall apart"
 
A new top-notch wooden coaster in the UK won't happen unless a park decides it really wants one, throws market research out of the boardroom window and manages to scrape together a few million to build it. If you ask the public whether they want one they're never going to respond enthusiastically, because the perception of wooden coasters here is so far off the reality of what they can do now. What's really frustrating is that the park that takes that risk and goes all out to build a genuinely amazing woodie will probably see very healthy attendance. New coasters of any sort can be a big pull for guests, but one that completely blows their expectations out of the water? Well, just imagine.
 
Towers, Merlin and the general fanboy community have always gone about wooden coasters the wrong way.

The problem is everybody expects them to market it as WOODEN ROLLERCOASTER. Truth is nobody gives a crap what it's made of. People just want a unique ride.

At any point during The Smiler's marketing did they mention what it was made of? No. What grade of steel? No. Did they mention what colour it would be painted? No. Who cares.

Construction material, just like the colour a ride will be painted, is irrelevant. 90% of people visiting Blackpool Pleasure Beach don't even know they have wooden coasters. Yet they still get on them completely oblivious as to what the ride is constructed of.
 
While I agree that what a ride is made of should not be what the marketing is based on, I find it hard to believe people don't notice that a woodie is made of wood. I once saw some kids freak out at the sight of The Ultimate, one expressing their horror that it appeared to be made of wood, the other assuring his friend that this couldn't possibly be true, because "helf an safety wouldn't let dem do dat!"
 
Whenever non-enthusiasts ask me what my favourite rollercoaster is and I tell them that it is a wooden one (El Toro) I always, without fail, get a surpise reaction. For some reason the British public just do not see them in a good light, probably because we haven't had a good one built that is easy to get to.

So they do flop on market research and I can see why. Does this mean that people wouldn't ride one if it was built though? I do not think so, it just needs a park to go out there and do it.

:)
 
Benzin said:
Problem is the only wooden coasters the UK pop have ridden are at Blackpool (therefore 'old' and 'rickety'), and abroad it's either Stampida (awful), or Gwazi (also awful)...

We won't see Towers build a wooden coaster until somewhere like Paultons ends up building a tiny Gravity Group thing and everyone thinks it's the best thing ever (because GG rides are fab)...
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What about Megaphobia? That was very highly reviewed when it opened.
 
Rob said:
Whenever non-enthusiasts ask me what my favourite rollercoaster is and I tell them that it is a wooden one (El Toro) I always, without fail, get a surpise reaction. For some reason the British public just do not see them in a good light, probably because we haven't had a good one built that is easy to get to.

So they do flop on market research and I can see why. Does this mean that people wouldn't ride one if it was built though? I do not think so, it just needs a park to go out there and do it.

:)
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So tell them your favourite ride is El Toro - why mention it's construction materials?

My favourite coaster is a rusty shade of cream (Nemesis).

I do wonder what market research would say if they were looking to build a new rusty cream coaster. "OMG rusty!!?! Elf and safey wudden allow ppl to go on that deff trap, it'll fall apart".
 
PeteB said:
So tell them your favourite ride is El Toro - why mention it's construction materials?

My favourite coaster is a rusty shade of cream (Nemesis).

I do wonder what market research would say if they were looking to build a new rusty cream coaster. "OMG rusty!!?! Elf and safey wudden allow ppl to go on that deff trap, it'll fall apart".
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I think you have totally missed the point. If I was to just say El Toro they'd wouldn't have a clue what on earth it is. I usually say something along the lines of "a newer wooden coaster over in America which is crazy". Also they is a big difference between a coaster type and a coaster colours.

You can't really market research a woodie without mentioning that it is a woodie. There would be ways around it by describing more the layout/elements/sensations but ultimately you probably wouldn't get a truly accurate feeling for it.

The problem Merlin have always seemed to have with a woodie is their desire to stick by market research and what it says. Market research should only be used as a guide and sometimes the best thing is to go against it. It's a real shame that this is what was meant to be happening at Towers in 2017 but now it looks like it is potentially on the back burner.

:)
 
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