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

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Tim said:
I know right! Never expected to see a queue line this side of close season (or even 2017)
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It definitely feels like they learned their lessons from The Smilers ground work issues and do as much work in the summer as possible in case of a wet winter causing problems.
 
I cannot wait to see the theming structure, it is going to be mighty impressive. And those queue line fences are looking good too, you can see that they have put some thought into it which could not be said for The Smiler or Thirteen.

As for the wood, £25 is a rip off but if they have sold out already then that price is totally justified. The profit margin will be ridiculously good. I am sure that they will have more in stock soon, and I am sure that next year they will be selling wood with the ride's name/logo on it.

:)
 
GaryH said:
I still cant believe some people bought a bit of wood for £25 with some SW8 scribble on it in black pen. Whatever next, bags of dust from the props inside Duel?
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To be fair the text is engraved, still way to much money. Maybe if it was actually from the ride and had the ride logo on it (Like they will probably do next year), it could spark my interest.
 
delta79 said:
I think the wood merch was aimed at hardened enthusiasts.


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Yeah, to be fair there was only 50...

If one 1 in 10 enthusiasts is interested they will go pretty damn quickly...

I mean, even if 1 in 50 are interested they would still sell in no time... It's not Merlin's first rodeo!

Although I have heard of multiple people buying multiple of them which seems a bit dodgy on a limited run.
 
It wouldn't surprise me if they jack the price up once the name has been revealed seeing how quickly the first batch has been shifted.

I've only ever bought two coaster wood blocks with the more expensive piece relating to Dreamland's Scenic Railway. At least that actually serves as a functional mantelpiece clock however...
 
jon81uk said:
It definitely feels like they learned their lessons from The Smilers ground work issues and do as much work in the summer as possible in case of a wet winter causing problems.
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I wouldn't pat them on the back too much for that though, or display too much gratitude to them for the build not being a disaster in general. The Flume did close over 2 YEARS AGO now, so it's not as if they haven't had an immense amount of time to plan and construct a baby woodie.
 
matthewgcole said:
I wouldn't pat them on the back too much for that though, or display too much gratitude to them for the build not being a disaster in general. The Flume did close over 2 YEARS AGO now, so it's not as if they haven't had an immense amount of time to plan and construct a baby woodie.
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Yes the flume sat SBNO for the whole of the 2016 season, but it was operating at the end of the 2015 season so was closed less than two years ago. The 2016 closure was obviously just to save cash and nothing to do with construction, so if you ignore that then SW8 construction has been going on for most of 2017 as it didn't really start until Spring this year, which again was sensible as it avoided doing groundwork during most of the winter.
 
I think the rate of construction is a reason for praise. Back when The Smiler was first revealed it was clear the ride was being rushed for a 2013 opening due to the incomplete planning application. With hindsight there is no denying that had they pushed the ride back to 2014 all of its crippling flaws could have been resolved.

After the incident with The Smiler they would have been completely justified to push SW8s opening forward to this year to try and boost attendance. Instead they've learnt from their mistakes (at least that's how it seems) and given the ride time to properly develop. As a result we have seen proper landscaping, general themed details and an actual queue line (aka. Not just multiple cattle pens). All of this before the winter season!

For once I'm optimistic. We'll have to wait until March to see if it pays off. At least it's a good sign that we aren't going to end up with another DBGT, Smiler, Sub-Terra or VRS; All of which could have been great had they been given more time to develop.
 
jon81uk said:
Yes the flume sat SBNO for the whole of the 2016 season, but it was operating at the end of the 2015 season so was closed less than two years ago. The 2016 closure was obviously just to save cash and nothing to do with construction, so if you ignore that then SW8 construction has been going on for most of 2017 as it didn't really start until Spring this year, which again was sensible as it avoided doing groundwork during most of the winter.
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I'm no geologist or civil engineer, but would some of this SBNO time during 2016 been to allow the ground to drain and "dry out" fully where the lake was? (wrong choice of words but you get what I mean!)
 
Love the runes on the queuline fencing, and the fact the fencing is a little different to other rides, it's the small details that count. :)

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Robert Jones said:
Is there any credence that all will be revealed at the fireworks night and the event being SW8 related? Or would you expect a SW8 themed fireworks at the end of next year, as it did after Galactica opened?

Of course there is a third option of neither but surely Merlin would love a bit of self promotion on a historically popular weekend.
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Traditionally the shows are always related to the rides in their opening year, so I would expect 2018, but with so little going on this year I can't imagine how they could possibly theme the show to anything else. They've done plenty of none ride themed shows before but with the current lack of imagination and creativity at the park I think they'll struggle to come up with ideas.

Unless of course, we get a CBeebies Hotel Land World Area themed firework show lol.
 
In update news:

We can now see the head chopper of the theming structure that the track will pass through. (I know it has already been shown a few pages back, but here is a much clearer image)

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Men were at work covering up the element in a brown sheet, presumably so they can get rid of the bin bags!

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More here: http://themeparkguide.biz/construction-projects/project-updates/361
 
PeteB said:
Traditionally the shows are always related to the rides in their opening year, so I would expect 2018, but with so little going on this year I can't imagine how they could possibly theme the show to anything else. They've done plenty of none ride themed shows before but with the current lack of imagination and creativity at the park I think they'll struggle to come up with ideas.

Unless of course, we get a CBeebies Hotel Land World Area themed firework show lol.
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I'm sure they'll find some more lasers to theme it around just for you Pete. World's first VR laserwork show :p

Personally I hope they theme the show around it and drop the covers on the main theming element to generate buzz in the off season. Only if it is finished though.
 
Hmm, I'm not really too fussed which year they theme the fireworks to SW8 as long as they do actually do it. Galactica wasn't the best show but themed well to promote or celebrate the ride. They missed a big opportunity with The Smiler, it could have easily gone back days of Oblivion fireworks with The Smiler's theme.

That being said, I'm not sure it would work doing it this year. Outside of the enthusiast community the GP don't have a clue what SW8 is, it's too early for that, and they'll want a theme for the fireworks which has a broad appeal.

Maybe they'll come up with some crazy prequel story that links the new ride at the end of the show.
 
Since more rides seem to close than open these days at Towers, they'd be spoilt for choice for closed rides to theme the Fireworks to! Perhaps Bye bye Baby by the Bay City Rollers playing whilst a visual ode to each ride goes up in smoke.
 
Is anyone else confused by the seemingly unbanked corner part-way around the layout? It can be seen in construction updates and seems to occur here in the layout plan;

 
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