Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
No, you are not. I rode it for the first time last year and loved it.
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2018: Wicker Man - General Discussion - SPOILERS! - Part One
- Thread starter ThemeParkCrafter
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imanautie
TS Member
It's a really fun coaster, it's just not scary as they marketed it to be
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shakey
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wild Mouse - Blackpool - :(
Alton Towers like to market most of their coasters to be scary for some reason. Not really sure why they do this when the whole point of a ride is that it is supposed to be fun.
Even the new coaster looks like it is going to have a scary theme behind it. They don't seem to be able to go down any other route with their coaster marketing/theming strategy.
If you discount the kids Octonauts coaster, only mine train and spinball have a fun theme, and I think spinball is the scariest coaster of the lot !!
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
It's because dark themes are edgy and they are aiming their big rides at a teenage audience, even if it is a family coaster, See Thirteen, Wicker Man and now X's Walking Dead retheme.
imanautie
TS Member
I suppose it does get more people talking then say a RMT type ad
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TheAverageNerd
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
It really isn’t that dark of a theme guys. It’s more mysterious than edgy. The whole theme seems to be more centered about self discovery and reconnecting with the elements than sacrifice and cults. It’s really not that hard to see these commonly reoccurring themes in the marketing so far.
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AshleyMason
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Oblivion
Not at all. Th13teen is up there for me as one of the best coasters at towers. The woods bit is pretty lame and short. If this part was longer it would have been great. That said when I first rode it I was disappointed.
I do prefer it to smiler though.
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I've been convinced for years that they actively seek to do this.
In the 90's they were building rides with huge capacities because of the parks policy to keep queue times as low as possible. Back when they were promoting the "pay one price to get in and everything is free".
There is no incentive to build high capacity rides with elaborate queueline theming when their main source of income is queue jumper tickets, which as a product costs almost zero to make. They are literally selling fresh air. Rides with high throughput don't require Fastrack, and that means a loss for Merlin.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Alton Towers do not actively add rides with low throughput.
The target is around 1,000 per hour and this has never changed. When run correctly, all of the main 6 (soon to be 7) coasters achieve 1,000+ per hour. Of course, for various reasons - the likes of Rita rarely do.
The target is around 1,000 per hour and this has never changed. When run correctly, all of the main 6 (soon to be 7) coasters achieve 1,000+ per hour. Of course, for various reasons - the likes of Rita rarely do.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
On a random note, I messaged Alton Towers asking them what area Wicker Man would officially be in two weeks ago on the day it was announced... they still haven't responded! Either they haven't seen my message or they don't know themselves yet! Very interesting...
P.S. I am aware that the ride is actually located in Mutiny Bay. I was only asking because on the map last year, Towers said it was in Gloomy Wood.
P.S. I am aware that the ride is actually located in Mutiny Bay. I was only asking because on the map last year, Towers said it was in Gloomy Wood.
Alastair
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Rise of the Resistance
The entrance is in Mutiny Bay...therefore unless there's a retheming of Mutiny Bay (unlikely given seeming monetary situation), the ride is in Mutiny Bay.
ChristmasPud
TS Member
I am 90% sure the reason SW8 was listed on the map as in Gloomy Wood was just because there was space in the Gloomy Wood text box
Although side note, there is still space for a Gloomy Wood coaster actually in woods and beside the lake, especially now Flume has gone (if they can get planning permission around those trees). Put the entrance opposite Duel where Haunted Hollow path goes now, taking you down into the area, very cool woodland setting. The Thirteen that could have been! The unbuilt 'broomsticks' coaster was planned to do this.
Although side note, there is still space for a Gloomy Wood coaster actually in woods and beside the lake, especially now Flume has gone (if they can get planning permission around those trees). Put the entrance opposite Duel where Haunted Hollow path goes now, taking you down into the area, very cool woodland setting. The Thirteen that could have been! The unbuilt 'broomsticks' coaster was planned to do this.
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
It would be cool if they expanded apon the Wicker Man theme for 2019 with the BBQ Smokehouse that they applied planning for and then retheme Haunted Hollow to a Pagan theme, That would be good and give Wicker Man more than just it's own sub area isolated by theme from the rest of the park.
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Of course they do, and of course it's changed over the years. Think!
Most of the old, major rides have capacities of 1400+
The rides now are specifically designed to sell Fastrack tickets. They get away with this by not building rides with ridiculously low throughputs, but just enough to go unoticed and keep the queue times long. This is the reason why The Smiler has no offloading station. Also, they have the old trick of inflating the queue time boards to make people buy more Fastrack, which I (and several others) have caught them doing plenty of times.
Notice that all the rides SBNO'd either do not have Fastrack, or rarely need it.
Staggered opening times are not just about saving a few quid on staffing costs, it's to keep the rides busier and sell more Fastrack.
Lastly, we have the Rapids farce. Nobody buys Fastrack for that, so they decide to close it during times like the easter holidays, pushing the crowds towards other Fastrack rides. All of this is easy to see when you just open your eyes a little bit.
None of it is coincidence, it's all intentional.
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
Alton Towers is not called 'Thorpe Park', Most of the major coasters have 1000+pph, Which is good for a park with ~2mill visitors a year. If they want to oversell fastrack they will run every ride on a one train service, Which is not the case.
Dave
TS Founding Member
1) only Oblivion has a design throughout over 1400.
2) Queue time boards have been a dodgy estimate since they where designed in every park going.
3) Towers is the only Merlin park to have fast track sales caps.
Just to hammer home
Nemesis: 1300
Oblivion: 1700 (never gets this)
Air: 1200
Rita: 1100
Thirteen: 1300
Smiler: 1100 (before incident)
Bar Oblivion all of the coasters have a similar throughout (within a hundred or so)
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Although I agree that some things Merlin do are to try and sell more fastrack, most of this is a load of utter rubbish.
I don't want to drag this off topic so I am going to keep it to Wicker Man, but as I previously pointed out, most GCI woodies have a throughput of between 800 and 950pph. Only Wodan gets more than this (where stats are available on RCBD), and that is because EP made modifications to increase throughput. We have been crying out for a woodie for as long as I can remember; there was no chance of said woodie having a throughput like Nemesis or Oblivion.
1,000pph is not a ridicuously low throughput either. It's acutally quite suitable with the crowds that Towers gets these days. We're not talking about Disney, Universal, Cedar Point or Europa here! Sure 1,200pph would be better but that is simply not achievable with a coaster like this.
shakey
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wild Mouse - Blackpool - :(
Aren't those figures more theoretical than reality ?
Thirteen for instance at 1300 would require a dispatch every 55 seconds (if my maths is correct)
On the 2 occasions I visited last year they were lucky to be sending a train out every 2-3 minutes due to loading problems. Similar story on the other coasters.
Its not always the parks fault of course with the public causing a lot of the dispatch delays but the maximum throughput and what is actually achieved is quite different.
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Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Thirteen exceeded what they thought was its theoretical throughput on opening weekend thanks to the brilliant work by the staff!
Needless to say it does not get this any more, but the initial point of what it was designed for still stands.
jon81uk
TS Member
The Rapids farce is more an over-reaction to the death at Drayton Manor. They have over-staffed the attraction to prevent incidents and therefore can't afford to staff it year round. Yes it should be open, but its not the reasons you are stretching for.
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