I think the point isn't that stories are bad, it's when the primary focus moves to that over the quality of the product itself. They either need to go full on and cover every angle or leave enough wriggle room in themes vagueness. The attraction itself and immersion should be the primary focus, not trying to fit it around a strict narrative. If you can do both, then it's a bonus.
Wickerman tells a story, even spoon feeds it to you. But it's little more than "we're a weirdo cult, we're going to sacrifice you to a big structure we worship, here's some fire, here's a woodie to ride". I have no idea what the runes mean (even though I know some kind of translation exists somewhere), or why there's a human head on one side and a goats head on the other, that's mostly left to the guests imagination. It's just cool looking. I'm sure the choice of manufacturer, type of coaster, layout, desire for a pre-show, and a central photogenic theming structure took priority over the intricacies of excusing why it all exists.
Now imagine if they tried to think of some sort of excuse for more of it than they eventually did and plastered 2d leak signs everywhere like they with Enterprise trying to explain it all? For me, Wickerman looks fine in Mutiny bay as it doesn't really clash with the rest of the area even though it has a different "theme" and 'story".
What if they then tried to excuse why both exist next to eachother? Your focus moves onto that. "Oh the leader of the sacrifice cult is married to a pirate's cousin. They went to University together where they got drunk on rum and played walk-the-burning-plank for a laugh."
Del and Rodney loosing all their money after walking into the sunset and moving back in to the exact same flat was lame. Jigsaw dying in Saw 3 and miraculously finding a load of people with the same weird particular mentality and engineering skills as him and having the fosight to bury cassette tapes in bodies to be heard by the exact right moment by the exact right people was a lame excuse to carry on churning out movies. The excuse to bring the Joker back in Arkham Knight. The frequent mechanisms used to explain why there's 2 Sonics in a lot of games now. Rita being an abandoned race track in a forest that aids your escape. The rubbish attempts to link the Smiler with the rest of X Sector.
Just seems all a bit Dallas dream plot line to me. Or finding your wife in bed with another man "I promise I can explain". Make the new Forbidden Valley flat look like it fits in, theme it to look cool and let the enjoyment of the ride and theming quality speak for itself. There doesn't have to be a reason why some army have enlisted a Huss flat ride to aid them, all spoon fed with signage, audio announcements and app literature. As long as it's good and looks the part, that should be the priority in my opinion. If geeks want some sort of explanation, then make a few extra quid flogging them another comic or something.
