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2017/18: SW8 Speculation

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Rob said:
Was it though? Lift, big drop, back up, a couple of turns, lift, big drop, back up, brakes. No doubt the drops themsleves would have been epic but there was little else to the ride. Heck I could have desgined a coaster with drops that follow the profile of the valley (no disrespect to John Wardley intended here, just stating it was a simple design compared to say Nemesis).

You're right in saying it would never get planning permission, the report by planning officers to the SMDC planning comittee stated that the development was totally inappropriate. I doubt that situtation has changed much at all.

Of course there was also the woodie planning as part of Project Shark over in coaster corner, this was to be a woodie of similar size to what we are seeing for SW8. Alas that development fell through when Merlin took over.

My initial point of this post was going to be that we don't need John Wardley to design this coaster for it to be good. It would be great if he did and I'm sure he'd do the best layout he could be manufacturers such as GCI and Gravity Group are more than capable of desiging good woodies themselves. Wodan, Troy, Potato Land woodie and even some of the smaller ones more comparable to SW8 like White Lightning and El Toro (Freizeitpark Plohn).

Towers have considered woodies on all scales in the past from thrill to family. It looks like we are getting a more family one this time around. What intrigues me the most is that they have already confirmed that SW8 will be a new concept so what is this? And why the bizzare looking lift hill with a changing gradient a third of the way up? There will be more to this than meets the eye I feel.

:)
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Some good points made. I still think Epic was the right word. It was meant to convey the sheer scale of the project in terms of size, length, drops and ride time.

I agree it was a simple design without the complexities of this year's woodies at Dolly wood, etc, but like Oblivion, I think it would do what it did well incredibly will, with 2 of the best wooden coaster drops in the world, packaged between a more sedate ride that would enable riders to enjoy AT fantastic scenery.

Irrespective of size, I still believe that this coaster will be a lot of fun, and that the SW tag along with the groundbreaking claim means that we will be getting something world class in a inventive creative way as opposed to a length and height way (and sometimes this means a better ride).

Whilst JW is a hard act to follow I'm sure that AT will have put together a talented team.
 
I still can't handle the fact that the extra space taken up in the woods currently by the Flume is going to go to waste. Couldn't they maybe get planning permission if they promised to make the track really quiet and follow pretty much the same path as the Flume track? Maybe not eh, haha ;)
 
Yep, All that lost space, the flume covers a big area, lost forever ! :(

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It's not really lost space if planning permission would never be granted though.

If they can't remove foundations of The Flume due to trees there must be major doubts over gaining planning permission. You'd expect them to have got the council in and asked opinion on what would be likely to get permission.

Pleased that plans are being seen relatively quickly, and that it seems it's something that will fit with the area.
 
Thats what the docs submitted are, a Screening Opinion Request,
Screening is the process of deciding which projects require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). An applicant for planning permission may ask the planning authority for a "screening opinion" before submitting the application.
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Personally I would bulldoze the entire site and stuff the wildlife !
 
There is space currently taken up by an existing attraction. The new attraction would be taking up a chunk of the land formerly occupied by the old attraction, apart from a large space which will then be largely redundant when the old one is removed (in terms of a ride). That is lost space. It's not a very hard concept really.......
 
Maybe they're planning on using the old Flume foundations for a new ride later?

:p
 
To me it's only lost space if it would be available to use in the first place. From what i've read over the years (not just on here) it's extremely doubtful that a ride would get permission in that area (the part the new ride doesn't seem to be utilising) and so could;t be used for this development anyway. If people have a different view of that to me, fine, so be it.

Flume was developed under old planning rules and a different "understanding" of how permission would be given. Times change, Towers have to live within those rules. End of story really.

The next few years will be interesting to see what happens, both with this development, TLC and so on. Hopefully Towers will recover and keep going for many more decades, but it will keep changing - and needs to.
 
The flume mark 2, worlds first reinstated flume including ducks.

Sorry about the cack joke. Seriously though, if they wanted to go into the woods, they would be in the same boat as the original cross valley coaster. As @Tannwick said and many others, chances of the new ride being accepted in planning could be slim. Also with the proximity of the gardens. If you think about it, the flume never made much notice until they played the duck music along the course.

This plan as much as it may change is a good thing. It will create a new dynamic for the old flume site and cater for hopefully, family-thrill or a family ride that will offer something different to what Towers already have. I still think the ground breaking tag is to try and sell the woodie concept to the GP (21st century woodie, not like you know at Blackpool).
 
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It's 99% certain but this may not actually be a woodie, unless I have missed something confirming this.

B&M 4d prototype?
 
shawnoc said:
Sorry, but keep dreaming dude. Not on the old flume site.
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Whilst I think your right and the plans seem to indicate woodie..... And I am pleased do we actually know hand on heart 100% this is what we are getting. Until I see either full plans or construction I will sit on the fence. I just can't think of a usp for Merlin to use here. Unless...for once..they are just building a good solid ride with no worlds first
 
I'd be absolutely amazed if this wasn't a wooden coaster. I would guess at GCI, but Intamin shouldn't be ruled out. I'd also be surprised if the layout were 100% correct as shown, although interestingly it has been purposely omitted from the screening op plans and only appears as an appendix to the arbirocultural report (an oversight by the consultants?) The wording 'groundbreaking' is also interesting, it's either not a world's first, because they would just say so, or the tech is also in the pipeline for another park too so they can't gaurantee they will get it first.

I know that everyone wanted a woodland RMC, but if this is CGI and features a bit of innovative tech this will still be a great addition and there's always SW9.
 
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