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New attraction code names

How should new attractions be referred to?

  • Secret Weapon

    Votes: 28 77.8%
  • Horizon (and the likes)

    Votes: 8 22.2%

  • Total voters
    36
The 'Secret Weapon' thing was always fun in regards to the marketing of new large attractions and seemed to be a significant part of anticipation/speculation leading up to the unveiling. I mostly associate the use of SW with John Wardleys projects & perhaps stepping away from it is just part of moving into a new era? It's certainly quite nostalgic & you never know, it could return when the next large attraction reaches more formal public stages!
 
I would prefer the 'Secret Weapon' tag, but only because it is more nostalgic.
 
The SW tag should be used for something unique especially in the UK and maybe across Europe too. Wickerman and it's ground breaking marketing was complete overyhype for what they delivered. Its a great coaster but nothing special and they watered down the theming when the revamped Colossos at Heide

The problem is that we're unlikely to see something fall under the SW tag for a while and I'd preferred they drop the idea rather than make it lazy marketing.
 
Probably should be in the Horizon thread, but do we really think it’s dead?

Doubt it’s dead. There’s rumours of a lot of investment at CWOA, Thorpe got Hyperia and Lego has had Speedway, Golf and new accommodation so for Alton to essentially have nothing “new” since 2018 with nothing major planned seems unlikely.

Delayed certainly but fairly sure there’s been mild activity at the site so I reckon it’s earmarked either way.
 
I think the secret weapon gimmick has run it's course now personally and let's be honest hardly anything is a secret anymore in this industry because hardcore fans will find the information online anyway most of the time.

Code names like Horizon and Ocean are perfectly fine for me. Maybe Merlin don't want to be using the word 'weapon' in their branding anymore either for what is a family day out.

It served a purpose but time to move on now I reckon.
 
I think the secret weapon gimmick has run it's course now personally and let's be honest hardly anything is a secret anymore in this industry because hardcore fans will find the information online anyway most of the time.



Drayton did a good job keeping elements of Gold Rush a secret.

I believe Paultons had the ride type of their new Ghost Train under wraps until they revealed it?

With AT building an indoor ride there’s definitely potential to keep a lot hidden.

It’s certainly harder than ever in most circumstances but would be a shame to abandon the concept of surprises.
 
Drayton did a good job keeping elements of Gold Rush a secret.

I believe Paultons had the ride type of their new Ghost Train under wraps until they revealed it?

With AT building an indoor ride there’s definitely potential to keep a lot hidden.

It’s certainly harder than ever in most circumstances but would be a shame to abandon the concept of surprises.

It's the 'weapon' side of it that they probably want to leave in the past rather than the secrecy as I went on to say.

And we did find out a fair bit about what the Drayton coaster was going to be before they announced it didn't we? I'm sure a Youtuber got a leak on what it was and the only real surprise was the unique lift hill gimmick.
 
It's the 'weapon' side of it that they probably want to leave in the past rather than the secrecy as I went on to say.

And we did find out a fair bit about what the Drayton coaster was going to be before they announced it didn't we? I'm sure a Youtuber got a leak on what it was and the only real surprise was the unique lift hill gimmick.

Sorry, I misinterpreted what you meant 😳

Agree, the actual “weapon” title aspect isn’t really important.

Drayton I think we didn’t know the route (or routes) it took and what was in the show building (I still don’t know tbh) till the ride opened so that was quite cool I thought for an outdoor coaster that was built many months prior.
 
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