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

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Alton Towers have just posted on the Youtube account a video about rider safety on the Wicker Man, stating that they ensure that the riders will never come in contact with the fire and most of it is an illusion created by special effects. Seems the feedback has prompted this response.

 
Alton Towers are trying to answer the Daily Fail's concerns...


"Much of what will appear to be fire is actually an illusion created by special effects"
 
Wow, what has H&S in the country come to? A theme park having to confirm that riders will not actually come in to contact with fire? Well derrrrr, it is such a shame that the gutter media in this country are trying their best to ruin theme parks for everyone.

:)
 
Rob said:
Wow, what has H&S in the country come to? A theme park having to confirm that riders will not actually come in to contact with fire? Well derrrrr, it is such a shame that the gutter media in this country are trying their best to ruin theme parks for everyone.

:)
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That's exactly my thinking, it's extremely sad that a theme park has to go on record to say no-one will come into contact with fire in an attraction. Did Blackpool Pleasure Beach have to with Valhalla? Or Universal with The Mummy?
 
On the plus side - Big Thunder Mountain style faux-fire effects confirmed! Let's hope that they are even half as good as the effects on that ride as they are excellent and really pretty convincing. And probably even more so combined to an extent with real fire!
 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/09/alton-towers-the-wicker-man-rollercoaster


"A chilling, folky, doom-laden meditation on the consequences of unchecked religion now shares a form of entertainment with Professor Burp’s Bubbleworks."

I don't know, Prof. Burp's BubbleWorks seemed to end up a pretty disturbing display of cult behaviour too last year!

This article's attempt to be droll comes across so up-its-own-arse either way, from a try hard wannbe Charlie Brooker, what else would you expect I guess! Completely debased by the fact the ride is not actually anything to do with the cult movie, and "wicker men" are a lot older than that. Lol!
 
Yes, as you have already said, nothing to do with "The Wicker Man" apart from the fact that they both contain wicker men.
To be honest, though, he is not the only one to make this connection, a lot of the GP and passholder's have mentioned the same thing and I don't particularly blame them, it's hard to get away from that connection when the names are the same minus a "the", that aside, the article is drivel...
 
jmc said:
For me that video simply just reinforces how tenuous their worlds first claim is considering most of the fire isn’t even real.
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World first claim or no world first claim - the ride is the same as it would be whether they use the wording or not.
 
I think with the worlds first is that It's all about the wording, the worlds first is not "Worlds first wooden coaster with fire" it's all to do with the word "fusing" which means "join or blend to form a single entity." which hints that fire is the "main course" of the experience unlike Wodan or Apocolypse and Joris (probably some more) which has fire to improve the experience but isn't the selling point, like a side dish.

Still a poor excuse for a world first though...

EDIT: Just had an email from Alton Towers Holiday which says this:

"New for 2018, Wicker Man — the world’s first rollercoaster experience fusing wood with fire. Only at Alton Towers Resort, Wicker Man is a multisensory rite of passage guaranteed to get your heart pumping and senses tingling!

Join the chosen ones on the world’s most immersive rollercoaster experience to date, unifying cutting edge special effects with classic wooden coaster technology for the first time!"
 
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I think the worlds first claim is only their because of Merlins obsession with a “killer image” and the fact that Alton Towers have become synonymous with worlds first rides.

If it didnt have one people would be saying “boring”, instead they’re saying its dangerous etc. So I guess either way, there’s always going to be moaners!


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Lol you all need to lighten up about that article and not take things like that so seriously and read it in the spirit it’s intended.

People are so quick to get defensive about the theme park industry they forget to look outside it’s safety bubble(works)

EDIT:
Also, people need to stop naively saying there is no connection to the Wicker Man film. Of course it’s not a an IP, but do any of you realistically think that when this theme was sketched out that nobody during the design process considered a link to the film, and that there is a possibility people would collate the two?

Like it or not, Wicker Man is a brand, of an isolated and sinister self-sufficient community luring a person(s) in to be a sacrifice. The less said about the kinky and incestuous orgies the better. AT knowingly developed this theme against that backdrop. It’s potentially clever, is very unique, but anybody who isn’t a defensive enthusiast will be thinking of that film when they ride the coaster.
 
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EuroSatch said:
Lol you all need to lighten up about that article and not take things like that so seriously and read it in the spirit it’s intended.

People are so quick to get defensive about the theme park industry they forget to look outside it’s safety bubble(works)

EDIT:
Also, people need to stop naively saying there is no connection to the Wicker Man film. Of course it’s not a an IP, but do any of you realistically think that when this theme was sketched out that nobody during the design process considered a link to the film, and that there is a possibility people would collate the two?

Like it or it, Wicker Man is a brand, of an isolated and sinister self-sufficient community luring a person(s) in to be a sacrifice. The less said about the kinky and incestuous orgies the better. AT knowingly developed this theme against that backdrop. It’s potentially clever, is very unique, but anybody who isn’t a defensive enthusiast will be thinking of that film when they ride the coaster.
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People might be a tad less up tight about the article if it appeared in Private Eye or the Sunday Sport, but it's in what is supposed to be a reputable publication, and not just that but the guy can't even get simple facts right like the name of another ride (that hasn't existed for how many years?) and it's location (I don't ever remember riding Bubbleworks at Alton).

If it was supposed to be an satirical article, he didn't do a very good job of conveying that to the reader.
 
Merlin have started cross posting it on the Twitter accounts of other attractions.


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