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

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I know we all love cuts, but let's stick to Wicker Man discussion here please! Potential cuts and general dissatisfaction with Merlin is already being discussed over in this thread.

If and when any cuts are announced then a new thread will likely be created.

Thanks!

:)
 
It's quite worrying that the wicker man isn't creating much interest that this topic keeps wondering off topic. I can remember a lot more interest and discussion about SW7/ Smiler when it was announced. When is blue Peter coming to ride it?

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That is true. I would say there are two key reasons for that.
  1. Wicker Man as a coaster, track and train, does not look as impressive previous SWs and therefore discussion among enthusiasts on a number of different forums is less.
  2. There is less discussion these days on forums as a whole. Many people who might have thought about signing up to a forum prefer to make quick comments on social media posts. Forums like this have suffered because of social media.
We're also at a fairly quiet time in terms of Wicker Man. The ride was constructed early so there are no real updates to post about and discuss. Towers aren't really feeding us much, just the odd video and to be honest they aren't that exciting. I think now we are just at the point of waiting until opening day, there won't be too much more released between now and then!

:)
 
It's interesting that people think a POV will lower excitement? Seems an admission that it's going to be a bit naff and people would rather be conned out of their money than make an informed decision about the ride.

The POVs for ICON, Helix, Valravn, etc. didn't seem to dampen excitement, if anything they increased the excitement. But they're decent rides, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
themeparkfan said:
It's quite worrying that the wicker man isn't creating much interest that this topic keeps wondering off topic. I can remember a lot more interest and discussion about SW7/ Smiler when it was announced. When is blue Peter coming to ride it?

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Let's not forget, also, that the park was in open season when the final bits were being completed and people were waiting to get testing footage etc. It was around the time lots of new Alton FB pages started popping up and The Smiler was THE BIG THING for those new pages. I know this because even I was there on the first evening of testing along with the likes of Sanbrooke (I wasn't one of the new FB pages though) and we both got some decent footage between us. It did mean staying over slightly after everyone else had left the area at the end of the day. Helped that I had a tip-off that it may be worth hanging around a bit later on that day:

 
Rob said:
Many people who might have thought about signing up to a forum prefer to make quick comments on social media posts. Forums like this have suffered because of social media
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I would say that social media has actually helped filter out all the rubbish that used to posted on forums such as this.

It's true that topics used to be busier, but there was an awful lot of trash posted back in the day on the old TTF!
 
The problem is more, "is there actually anything TO be excited about?".

We pretty much know exactly what the situation is, the construction has been pretty much flawless (compared to Smiler's numerous errors especially), that's before considering the ride itself looking not particularly outstanding...

About the only thing that could be the basis of discussion is the pre-show(s). But given Merlin's track record again, is there much to be excited about?

It's a very peculiar project all in all. But no doubt a more interesting layout would've helped the excitement no end.
 
MaxPower said:
I would say that social media has actually helped filter out all the rubbish that used to posted on forums such as this.

It's true that topics used to be busier, but there was an awful lot of trash posted back in the day on the old TTF!
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I agree. We used to spend days discussing stuff that had already been discussed a thousand times. Whenever any real new hit it used to get berried so quickly you'd spend the next week backtracking to find it.

However I'd also say a big part of the reason there isn't as much hype is because people feel burned by Alton/Merlin. Both Th13teen and The Smiler made promises that didn't meet expectations (all be it for completely different reasons). Then in the last few years the state of the park has deteriorated to the point that people have stopped caring.

I visited Alton Towers 11 times in 2011. By 2014 that number had dropped to 4, and I haven't been back since. But I don't feel like I have Theme Park fatigue. UK parks simply don't offer the fun, immersive environment I want to spend time in anymore. But I come on here because I can discuss the places that do still interest me, even though they are too far away to frequently visit.

Edit: Just to bring this topic back on track I will note that Wicker Man has re-sparked my interest.
 
Id like to see a POV of the ride, I find them interesting and if rumours are to be believed there is some pre-show then cutting that part out (or blurring it whatever) adds some further interest while giving a view of the main ride.

a POV is just what it says, a POV, you cant review it as a ride experience as you miss out on the speed, the forces, the movement, the smells and overall experience. If people just viewed POVs as a whole experience of a ride Youtube would have killed off theme parks years ago.

Id like to see a WickerMan POV, it would probably do very well for the tags and shares on social media and they are a cheaper marketing tool than any half assed media exaggeration .
 
What size do we reckon the trains will be? I've seen comments earlier on in this thread about them being the larger 12 car trains... really? Look how small pretty much all of the drops are. My money would be on the mid size (8 car) trains.
 
apparently the trains are going to be 3 trains with 12 car (at least that is what Wikipedia is saying)
 
MakoMania said:
Wasn't it done based on the number of station airgates shown on the original plans?
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I believe that it was yes. The airgates did suggest that there would be 12 rows, I have heard from elsewhere that the trains are likely to be shorter, but this was quite a while a go and I would not say it with certainty. It won't be too long before we find out anyway!

:)
 
Anyone know the expected throughput? I'm not seeing many blocks on the track layout, and with trains only having 2 seats in width this is going to be no match for Th13teen.

I think we have another 100 pph Rita on our hands.
 
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