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

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KingNemesis said:
Who says it's themed to the film? Is the Wicker Man festival linked to the film's too? Surely it could just linked to the premise of a wicker man, not the film / films

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Yes that's what I had thought. But the lack of success of the films and the bad reviews of the films could impact the success and public perception of the ride.
 
This is a terrible, terrible idea. If they'd just called it "Wicker" maybe ok but putting "Man" in a ride name is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard in the history of leisure and tourism.

...and a Wicker Man theme for SW8, really? Another dark theme. Another Th13teen happening all over again.

This is not appropriate for a family audience they are targetting, and no doubt they'll be hyping it as the biggest thrill machine since thrils began.

Continuing to dig their own grave, thats all.
 
PeteB said:
This is a terrible, terrible idea. If they'd just called it "Wicker" maybe ok but putting "Man" in a ride name is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard in the history of leisure and tourism.

...and a Wicker Man theme for SW8, really? Another dark theme. Another Th13teen happening all over again.

This is not appropriate for a family audience they are targetting, and no doubt they'll be hyping it as the biggest thrill machine since thrils began.

Continuing to dig their own grave, thats all.
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Britford said:
Ohh I can't wait for this family coaster being marketed as a horror maze!
Th13teen!
DID THEY LEARN NOTHING?!?!
Th13teen!






Out of touch idiots!
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Can't believe a park that has seen visitor numbers drop would want another TH13TEEN on their hands, with the record attendance figures it brought.
 
Moley said:
Can't believe a park that has seen visitor numbers drop would want another TH13TEEN on their hands, with the record attendance figures it brought.
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It did bring in decent numbers in its first year but the guest satisfaction was extremely low due to expectations of the ride.

Furthermore, repeating that combined with a wooden rollercoaster is asking for trouble. It's on record numerous times over the years that the park/merlin have had serious problems with market research regarding wooden rollercoasters. The public simply don't respond well to the idea of a wooden rollercoaster.

That being said, what they're doing with SW8 could be quite clever. A wicker man theme would require wood. The coaster is wood. It's almost like they're hiding the obvious in plain sight. Maybe people will just think all the wood is part of the theming.

I suspect there'll be no mention of a wooden rollercoaster in the marketing, people will just assume its supposed to look like wood. Definitely hiding the wood in plain sight.
 
PeteB said:
It did bring in decent numbers in its first year but the guest satisfaction was extremely low due to expectations of the ride.

Furthermore, repeating that combined with a wooden rollercoaster is asking for trouble. It's on record numerous times over the years that the park/merlin have had serious problems with market research regarding wooden rollercoasters. The public simply don't respond well to the idea of a wooden rollercoaster.

That being said, what they're doing with SW8 could be quite clever. A wicker man theme would require wood. The coaster is wood. It's almost like they're hiding the obvious in plain sight. Maybe people will just think all the wood is part of the theming.

I suspect there'll be no mention of a wooden rollercoaster in the marketing, people will just assume its supposed to look like wood. Definitely hiding the wood in plain sight.
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I'm convinced they will try and keep the word Rollercoaster out of the marketing as well as the word wood. Keeping it as an experience will work well people don't know what to expect from a rollercoaster but not what to expect from an experience so overall there will be less disappointment.
 
rob666 said:
Please let it be flame pipes.
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If you look at the logo, it seems to suggest this Wicker Man has a fireball for a head. So that might be the effect they're trying to achieve. Although that could be incredibly expensive to run for 7 hours every day, so it could be an intermittent effect like most other fire effects you see.
 
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Now I'm not one to be picky, but can you imagine people going round saying "Do you want to ride Wickerman?" Might end up with a few splinters in some uncomfortable places...

In all seriousness though, I don't mind the name and do really like the logo. Fingers crossed the whole ride is themed well to match.
 
They can't really use Sean...he works there, and as an employee they can't really display favoritism. Plus the point of using a YouTuber is a wide audience, forgive me when I say Sean's channel is somewhat too niche - although relevant. Also, if we're talking about the guy who presents those SW8 videos...I dunno who he is, so they clearly didn't choose well.
 
Jared said:
They can't really use Sean...he works there, and as an employee they can't really display favoritism. Plus the point of using a YouTuber is a wide audience, forgive me when I say Sean's channel is somewhat too niche - although relevant. Also, if we're talking about the guy who presents those SW8 videos...I dunno who he is, so they clearly didn't choose well.
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I agree completely... But I still think he went Psycho when he found out...
 
For some bizarre reason, the logo reminds me a bit of the "set fire to your hair" verse in Dumb Ways To Die. :oops:

Also, have Alton themselves released anything official yet? Or is this just from the trademark?
 
PeteB said:
This is a terrible, terrible idea. If they'd just called it "Wicker" maybe ok but putting "Man" in a ride name is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard in the history of leisure and tourism.

...and a Wicker Man theme for SW8, really? Another dark theme. Another Th13teen happening all over again.

This is not appropriate for a family audience they are targetting, and no doubt they'll be hyping it as the biggest thrill machine since thrils began.

Continuing to dig their own grave, thats all.
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You are so right... and yet so wrong at the same time.

I'm an old man now, but seriously Pete, when you were a kid, did you want to hold mummy's hand whilst playing nicely on the climbing frame... Or did you want to hang out with your mates, smoke, drink, snog the girls, get into fights and act like you were the coolest, hardest guy in the world (till you got older and knew better).

Merlin aren't stupid. They know that older kids want to grow up (ironic as when you grow up you want to be a kid again).

Make the ride edgy, scary, cool and challenging and those older kids will want to ride it for Streetcred and to impress their mates, but make it a family theme and those same kids, will be too embarrassed to ride.

Go on Pete, admit it, you were a rebel kid if I read you right!

I bet you had a few notches on your handlebars...
 
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