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

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The TPW walkthrough of the queue looks fantastic. This is one of the most picturesque rides anywhere in the world from what i've seen so far. The views of the ride from the queue are amazing and the little bits of theming look really great. The audio is very fitting for the area and sets the tone nicely and it doesn't sound like it will get old (looking it you Smiler "hahaha"). With all of the landscaping and trees that have been planted, the ride area itself looks like it will only get better with age, provided that the park actually maintains all of the theming. Perhaps my biggest concern is how delicate some of the theming looks. Given some of the UK weather, I can see it getting damaged or blown away entirely so I hope that the park is prepared to keep it looking good. It's amazing how Merlin can go from the sub-par disappointment regarding the theming on The Smiler to what looks to be the most immersive theme park attraction in the country. I really hope this is successful and that it inspires Merlin to put the extra effort in both at existing and future Alton Towers (and indeed other Merlin) attractions.
 
Craig said:
Ok so I've got a quick breather now the event has ended, so a quick review from me. The whole experience is brilliant. The audio is top notch, the pre show is fantastic (It's not too long, not to short, works brilliantly and has a great finale to it). The station looks fantastic, and there's still some tweaks to be done, but everything has a real quality look/feel to it.

The ride really warms up as the day goes on, back row is the best without a doubt. Obviously it's not going to be the most thrilling woodie in the world, but there's some fantastic pops of airtime and the speed is faster than I thought it would be. Coupled with the mist/smoke effects (there's lots, and on murky days it really hangs around like Oblivion's drop) it really creates a thrilling ride. The corner mid ride is a little boring, but it soon gets going again with the drop after it.

Overall I'm far more impressed than I thought I would be, it's Merlin's most polished ride to date without a doubt. Riding at the end of the day as it gets dark is going to be a really fun experience.
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Can you confirm wheather there are extra entrances as well as the main one (such as disabled or single rider)?
 
TheAverageNerd said:
The TPW walkthrough of the queue looks fantastic. This is one of the most picturesque rides anywhere in the world from what i've seen so far. The views of the ride from the queue are amazing and the little bits of theming look really great. The audio is very fitting for the area and sets the tone nicely and it doesn't sound like it will get old (looking it you Smiler "hahaha"). With all of the landscaping and trees that have been planted, the ride area itself looks like it will only get better with age, provided that the park actually maintains all of the theming. Perhaps my biggest concern is how delicate some of the theming looks. Given some of the UK weather, I can see it getting damaged or blown away entirely so I hope that the park is prepared to keep it looking good. It's amazing how Merlin can go from the sub-par disappointment regarding the theming on The Smiler to what looks to be the most immersive theme park attraction in the country. I really hope this is successful and that it inspires Merlin to put the extra effort in both at existing and future Alton Towers (and indeed other Merlin) attractions.
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It's not the weather that concerns me, but how long before "Chasnay 4 Eva" is gouged into the queue-line fences or the rockwork near the station entrance :eek::(
 
Steve74 said:
It's not the weather that concerns me, but how long before "Chasnay 4 Eva" is gouged into the queue-line fences or the rockwork near the station entrance :eek::(
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Maybe they could incorporate it into the story? "The fabled Chasney, legend of the Beornen, roams the queue in the hopes that he may find his next prey in the form of some really nice rockwork that he could defile with a switchblade."
 
Fair play that looks superb! Well done to the theming folks behind this project. As much as I love the sound of the
generators those fairy lights on the bunting are going to be fantastic. It really does remind me of Nemesis with it's winding queue-line.
Lets hope this is the end of the cattle pens and home made theming, This is proof that you get what you pay for and hopefully will as Wardley suggested be only the start of wood at Towers

It still wouldn't make me want to visit, I don't tend to get drawn in by one ride anymore, more of the overall days experience which obviously is still seriously lacking but i'll look forward to riding it when i'm up next.
 
Well I have to say I’m very pleasantly surprised. Looks very atmospheric and definitely seems like it fits nicely into the ‘fun’ category.

Also really nice to see the area doesn’t really have the typical gloomy feel to it.

I am looking forward to this now.


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Just read on Towers Times that the trains don't have seatbelts. Can anyone confirm this? Would help throughput if true.
 
Ooh! Fantastic! As Francis Jackson has also apparently said that the ride can run 3 trains at once, I reckon the theoretical throughput on this will be at least 1200pph! Mystic Timbers apparently achieves that, and I think that ride has seatbelts! Not entirely sure, though.
 
Matt N said:
Ooh! Fantastic! As Francis Jackson has also apparently said that the ride can run 3 trains at once, I reckon the theoretical throughput on this will be at least 1200pph! Mystic Timbers apparently achieves that, and I think that ride has seatbelts! Not entirely sure, though.
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Pretty sure all GCIs have seatbelts except Wodan and now Wicker Man.
 
As an interesting point, Wodan is the only other GCI I am aware of that does not contain seatbelts, and that achieves a theoretical throughput of 1250pph. And Wodan is over 1,000ft longer than this ride. With 3 trains, I reckon Wicker Man could achieve a theoretical of 1300pph, possibly even 1400pph if we're being optimistic. I think it will deal with queues better than The Smiler did myself, but the proof will come on the 17th!
 
One thing from that extended time lapse is how good it looks in the snow. When we inevitably get some more, with the ride area no longer being a construction site, I hope the park takes some photos and put them online.
 
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