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

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In fairness to the queue line fences, they will turn grey through time and look very good. That would be if chavs don’t obliterate them with graffiti.

I’m loving the copper and red trees they look to be planting, that really will add to the theme.

Also it looks like they are putting some Africa esq theming to the back of the station building. It shows they are trying to keep the Katanga feel to that part of the path.
 
jon81uk said:
Alton Towers have an interview on their blog with Andy Hine of Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain talking about the first new wooden Coaster in the UK this century https://www.altontowers.com/useful-info/blog/andy-hine-why-wood-is-good/
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I was hoping he'd have disappeared from the online community long ago, but sadly his presence is back.

Personally, I don't forget his homophobic comments some years back on Rideas, regarding the idea of naked riders on Air (the record ultimately happened on Nemesis).

A dreadful ambassador for our community.

And his bottom-kissing here shows just how easily he'll sell himself and his club out, promoting a ride that is way below what any coaster and AT enthusiast would have expected from the UK's first woodie this century.
 
Rosie said:
People have complained for years there is too big of a gap at AT when it comes to family rides. We get one and now the complaints are that its family ride :rolleyes:
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The complaints will continue because this is NOT a family ride. The gap in fact continues to grow with the addition of this ride.

"Family" seems to be a generalised term thrown around these parts to describe any ride that isn't Nemesis.

A cbeebies ride isn't a family ride because no one over the age of 3 or 4 wants to ride it. Therefore it's a preschool ride.

A coaster with a 1.2 mtr height restriction isn't a family ride because very few under the age of 7 (maybe older, and even then they would need the confidence to ride) can ride it and the likes of Nan and Grandad wouldn't want to ride it. Therefore it's a Thrill/Family Thrill.

A proper family ride would be an inclusive ride such as Charlie, Duel, Rapids, 4D/3D cinema, RMT, The Flume etc. Opening this coaster will do nothing to fill the hole left in Altons family ride lineup.

In fact it makes it worse as it has replaced an ACTUAL family ride.
 
I'm less concerned by what category it falls into (Family/Family-Thrill/Thrill ect.) than by how well it rides. I enjoy all of these ride types and a proper day out wouldn't be complete without a good mix of all of them.

My biggest fear with Wicker Man is that the layout dies half way through, and therefore ends up not being very good. Take Th13teen for example. I love Th13teen but there's no denying the outdoor section under-delivers. But that's ok because the first half can be sacrificed as a warm up for the second half of the ride. Imagine however that the ride started with the drop and ended with the roller coaster. you'd come off feeling a bit deflated as the experience got weaker as it went along. This is an effect Wicker Man is in real danger of happening too it, unless the second half pulls a few punches. It doesn't have to be an intense thrill, even family rides can pull off an exciting ending.
 
themeparkfan said:
And then BPB release shots of icon in the media and you realise which ride is going to get all the attention !

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And rightly so. BPB have taken a risk at a point where the uk theme park industry is still struggling after a few very unfortunate recent misshaps.

I think both rides are going to pay off it’s just that they are aimed at very different markets.

I’m hoping that wickerman is a complete replacement for the flume. Something that everyone can enjoy. With very good themeing.

I completely get why people say what they do about towers but they really can’t do right for doing wrong. People moan about a wooden coaster they give us one. It’s not the right layout. People moan about theming, they give us great themeing. It’s not the right theming for a family thrill.

Don’t get me wrong I moan about them too. I just wish they would realise the passion what most of the community have for this park. It’s a very special place to a lot of us and they need to start treating it with the respect that we have for it.

I think next ride.... we need a pit!
 
AshleyMason said:
I’m hoping that wickerman is a complete replacement for the flume.
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With a 1.2mtr height restriction, it won't be. It fills a far smaller gap in the parks lineup than the gap it left behind. That coupled with the parks continued butchering of family attractions culminated in the outrageous original decision to cut this further by operating the rapids part time.

However, I must say that looking at those pictures and from I've seen of the ride so far, it's placement in Mutiny Bay is growing on me. I have more confidence that it may actually blend into Mutiny Bay better than I originally feared.

Dare I say it, but I think the ride and its area looks very good. Although spooky woods and forest like themes are getting a bit tedious now, I've always disagreed that the theme is too dark for its target audience and I think it will be a great visual spectacle for non riders. If it's true they are trying to Katanga-up the back of the ride on the KC pathway as well, then that's very welcome as it has always been one of my main concerns. I hope they plant some african plants around the last turn of the rapids to block the view across into MB too as this ruined the immersion last season.

So in terms of visuals, it certainly is shaping up to be a worthy successor for the site. How it rides is now the main concern with such a short and slow looking layout.
 
In the bottom right of those 4 pictures on Instagram it looks like the fence has been painted a darker brown, but they could just look that way because of the rain.

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Shockadelica said:
I was hoping he'd have disappeared from the online community long ago, but sadly his presence is back.

Personally, I don't forget his homophobic comments some years back on Rideas, regarding the idea of naked riders on Air (the record ultimately happened on Nemesis).

A dreadful ambassador for our community.

And his bottom-kissing here shows just how easily he'll sell himself and his club out, promoting a ride that is way below what any coaster and AT enthusiast would have expected from the UK's first woodie this century.
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I thought I had recognised this clown before.
 
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On a slightly random note, do we reckon that the ride is complete, from a theming and landscaping point of view? Or do we reckon that they are still doing stuff?
 
Shockadelica said:
I don't forget his homophobic comments some years back on Rideas,
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I was going to join the club then saw his comments and decided not to.

Anyway the general public will not know of them. And read the article at face value.

If it drums up more visitors then it done it job, even if the enthusiasts community thinks he is a sell out.

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Matt N said:
On a slightly random note, do we reckon that the ride is complete, from a theming and landscaping point of view? Or do we reckon that they are still doing stuff?
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Personally I would think there is just exterior painting / planting left and station decoration inside. The ride itself should be done - the hardest part of this ride is going to be getting the fire effects to interact in a manner that is safe but scares the hell out of you
 
Antelope at Gullivers Warrington in the mid 90s. One of my earliest memories is seeing it getting built, probably what planted the nerd seed in my head.
 
What's so special about that club anyway? You have to pay too d
Martin said:
Antelope at Gullivers Warrington in the mid 90s. One of my earliest memories is seeing it getting built, probably what planted the nerd seed in my head.
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It's a pretty awful ride though. I live about 20 mins from the park and have a 3 year old so it's a good day out as there tons for him to do there. Went on it for the cred but it was pretty awful I must say. Trickles around the corners at walking pace almost and hardly any airtime at all and it's quite big so you'd think there'd be some.
 
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