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

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ihaveaspergers said:
It looks awesome, I just wonder at what point merlin will screw it up

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My working theory at the moment, is that they will build a giant statue of Satan, then fail to understand why there is currently a big media scandal happening!

There is also the possibility of them building the smiler 2.0. Where they build an impressive giant theming structure, and stick it in an empty gray pit on its own.
 
ihaveaspergers said:
It looks awesome, I just wonder at what point merlin will screw it up

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Keep faith my friend. Theming wise this is looking good, however lets just wait and see the marketing campaign go full force to see how Merlin can mess up what could be a decent effort for pushing this ride to the wrong audience.
 
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Does anyone know if the whole "launched woodie" theory has been debunked yet? Saw it floating around on a bunch of different forums.
 
It's amazing the number of people that seem to be able to predict the future around here! And it's an incredibly bleak future at that!

Personally I am keeping an open mind and taking each day as it comes. Watching the ride develop into what is this far looking like an incredibly polished attraction, the likes of which we haven't seen at Alton Towers since maybe 2000? It's an exciting project to watch and I look forward to seeing where they take it next!


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ParkBoi said:
Does anyone know if the whole "launched woodie" theory has been debunked yet? Saw it floating around on a bunch of different forums.
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The rumour came about because the plans said something about a magnetic lift hill system to reduce noise. So the theory was that if the train will be powered up the lift using magnets it could well be some sort of launch.

However during construction a small building has appeared underneath the lift. On GCI coasters these buildings contain the lift hill mechanisms so this suggests it will in fact be a chain lift. However it could well be that the anti rollbacks will be magnetic (like on The Smiler) and this would explain what was said in the planning documents.

So in short there is almost certainly no launch.

:)
 
Cheers Rob! Accidentally deleted my post instead of editing it haha but oh well. Bit of a shame there's no launched lift hill but it'll be a fun ride regardless.
 
Personally, I think any fears about the ride are 100% justified!

Merlin have a history of making amazing rides then pulling some bs out of thin air and allowing said bs to consume everything else, th13teen-marketing, subterra-actors ect.
SW8 so far, looks like a point for point repeat of th13teen, a family coaster, with an extreme 15+ scaremaze to advertise it!
 
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I’m optimistic that Merlin will have learnt their lesson about misleading marketing after the chilly reception that Th13teen got in 2010, although the fact that this is probably going to be themed around cult worship/human sacrifice does make me wonder how Alton/Merlin are going to make this appeal to the families that GCI clearly designed the ride for.

On a side note, this is looking like a very complete experience so far. Not that Merlin’s other coasters aren’t good experiences, but this is looking like it could rival The Swarm as UK Merlin’s best experience coaster. I personally reckon that the enclosed section of brake run at the end could hold a nice animatronic scene with a big Wicker thingy jumping out at you as a fun little jump scare. You could go in and it could play audio saying something like “You have been chosen” or “The Wicker Man has risen”. Then you could go into this enclosed section and the lights could flicker and some of the Pagan runes that the park have been marketing with could light up on the wall preparing for a Wicker Man animatronic to appear and scare the riders. That was just an idea of mine; I really think Merlin should consider something similar.
 
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Matt N said:
On a side note, this is looking like a very complete experience so far. Not that Merlin’s other coasters aren’t good experiences, but this is looking like it could rival The Swarm as UK Merlin’s best experience coaster. I personally reckon that the enclosed section of brake run at the end could hold a nice animatronic scene with a big Wicker thingy jumping out at you as a fun little jump scare. You could go in and it could play audio saying something like “You have been chosen” or “The Wicker Man has risen”. Then you could go into this enclosed section and the lights could flicker and some of the Pagan runes that the park have been marketing with could light up on the wall preparing for a Wicker Man animatronic to appear and scare the riders. They could even buy an Audio-Animatronic like That was just an idea of mine; I really think Merlin should consider something similar.
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Nice idea but I can't see them doing something like that on the brake run/transfer track. Also if we hope for nothing on the transfer track, and we get something It'll be a nice suprise. We don't want another Mystic Timbers on our hands...
 
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Head of structure, resembling a nose and horns visible.

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Airtime hill.

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Face on shot of the Wickerman.

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Wickerman seems to have Groot-Esque top of head.

Credit TS Facebook.
 
Bert2theSpark said:
22046557_1615501595186945_2275187447077258492_n.png

Head of structure, resembling a nose and horns visible.

22007644_1615501601853611_2188258374865729529_n.jpg

Airtime hill.

21764874_1615501648520273_8407494720696487113_n.jpg

Face on shot of the Wickerman.

21687914_1615501745186930_4005238149940481736_n.jpg

Wickerman seems to have Groot-Esque top of head.

Credit TS Facebook.
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Groot the tree creature. Hmm am I adding your idea + wooden coaster and getting a match? Wicker could be a false lead on their part.


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Matt N said:
I’m optimistic that Merlin will have learnt their lesson about misleading marketing after the chilly reception that Th13teen got in 2010.
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Considering the 2010 season was one of the most successful seasons Towers has ever had, bringing in more guests than ever before, Merlin would consider that a success (despite the backlash from Th13teen), so they would want to replicate that with a similar aggressive marketing campaign.

It's all about the numbers in business, and let's not forget that, unfortunately, Merlin are a business :p
 
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