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

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Bert2theSpark said:
I've heard World's First Pyrocoaster tossed around as a joke and honestly it wouldn't be a bad idea if they actually did that.
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Although that is a joke, it will be something along those lines.

For those holding out for an Oblivion or Thirteen style world first, you'll be out of luck.

Firstly, it's impossible to see what they could fit inside that shed that would be anything significant, and that's the only feasible place a World's First could now be without us knowing about it.

Secondly, this comes off the back of "World's First 14 looping roller coaster", "World's First roller coaster fully dedicated to VR" and "World's First Cbeebies Land Hotel". The recent track record speaks for itself.

Thirdly, this is the first time "World's First" has been mentioned when the ride opening is less than 3 months away. This suggests this will be a low key marketing slogan that will be used temporarily to gain interest in the ride that will fizzle out over time and be eventually dropped. If it was a significant world's first, they would have been shouting that phrase from the rooftops to build hype from day one.
 
I think it looks a very good mid size family / thrill coaster, but compared to similar rides around the world, for me there has always been a discrepancy between the size of the coaster and the claimed budget. A genuine (as opposed to what Merlin have been up to recently) world first could explain this.

The clues have been there all along.

It's an SW project. None of them have been standard models.

The budget compared to similarly sized coasters around the world.

The attempt to hide parts of the ride otherwise in plain sight.

Groundbreaking, becomes, globally unique experience becomes world's first. They could all mean the same thing.

I haven't got a clue what genuine world firsts remain, so here's hoping this is incredibly imaginative. I think some kind of visual effects is more likely than anything though.

Also good to hear them finally referring to it as a rollercoaster rather than an experience.

I'm quietly optimistic.
 
If they could get away with it they would market it as " the worlds first wooden coaster in staffordshire" :D :D

(And i am joking by the way)
 
Could be the world's first roller coaster fully dedicated to CBeebies Land for all we know. The whole wicker man thing could have been a red herring...

On a serious note, I don't reckon there will be any sort of fancy element to this ride. I reckon the most the world's first could potentially be is something to do with the tunnel effects that TowersTimes mentioned.

Bert2theSpark said:
We all know how both Merlin and GCI love giving weird names to elements as well.

Or unless something to do with the giant Wicker Man can be considered 'World's First'.
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Merlin and GCI were beaten in 2015 on the weird element naming basis by Kentucky Kingdom, who introduced the "Corked Roll", the "Trick Track Double Up" and the "Barrel Roll Downdrop" when they announced Storm Chaser.

Merlin could also be marketing the Wicker Man theming element as "the world's first dual material statue" or something like that.

Oh god. I just thought of another world's first they could do... "the world's first SW without a world's first". I can see the marketing campaign now: Nope. We're not hiding anything with Wicker Man, NEW for 2018 at the Alton Towers Resort. It's just a plain old wooden roller coaster. Nothing to see here. But still come and ride it, because if this thing isn't a success, the higher ups will cut our budget even more! Come on! We're desperate!

On a final serious note, I actually reckon that the world's first might not be something that Merlin is shrouding in secrecy, but something they've been dangling under our noses the whole time. I reckon @Bert2theSpark is on to something with regards to a new ride element. I actually think that Merlin might market the lift hill as "the world's first roller coaster with an angle changing lift hill. It will change the angle you view your life through!"
EDIT: Sorry for the long post.
 
MakoMania said:
A wooden coaster with fire effects isn't a world's first. One example is Apocalypse at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
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And in any event, it would hardly be a marketable tagline. The world first/USP/gimmick will likely be a physical attribute of some kind.
 
Altonadvocate1 said:
They wouldn't dare... Would they?
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Saw the rides world first was "World first Saw themed coaster" or something haha..

I think they'll call it a pyrocoaster to be fair, if merlin are using a load of fire they want to people to know :p Since the marketing is stuff like "feed the flames" whatever the USP of the ride is, it will be something to do with fire. Though id love a tilt track section on a wooden coaster.

Also, if the lift hill had a rollback section like what Gerstlaur did with the new infinity, that would be really cool especially when it changes angles. Could make sense too as the ride is likely to run 3 trains, so they've got a bit of time since im guessing the actual coaster part wont be much more than 30 seconds
 
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DiogoJ42 said:
Expedition Everest has an anti rollback dog that is held up by an electro magnet, powered by a dynamo on one of the wheels. It automatically drops down and engages when the train stops moving.
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Yeah - I think that is what I was getting at! :)

Diagram below I have found which I reckon SW8 will have:
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This’d be cool to see in action. Hopefully we’ll get some good views of the lift hill during the 9 hour queues that we’ll no doubt be standing in


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I think it might be the worlds first standing woodie. Based on the wickerman statue the tagline might be " become the wickerman or something
 
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Jame said:
I think it might be the worlds first standing woodie. Based on the wickerman statue the tagline might be " become the wickerman or something
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It'll probably be either "Be Chosen" or "Feed The Flames".
 
I guess it is what this chap it talking about which is the world’s first


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