Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[JB1985]

given the riduclous cut backs and money saving ideas AT have had this year, I think we will be lucky to see a painted ride let alone a themed one!

 

[Scott]

given the riduclous cut backs and money saving ideas AT have had this year, I think we will be lucky to see a painted ride let alone a themed one!

I think the theming is safe for this one. The ride system is fairly cheap and any possible cut backs won't effect theming as badly as people may expect. On top of that the ride budget is totally separate from the operations budget and so is (in some ways) ring fenced from cuts...

However I could be proved totally wrong. I hope I'm not though

 

[Alastair]

given the riduclous cut backs and money saving ideas AT have had this year, I think we will be lucky to see a painted ride let alone a themed one!

Yeah they could leave the track as it's bare grey steel colouring and theme it around a failed DIY project with scaffolding everywhere! Would certainly be consistent with other areas of the park

 

[delta79]

scaffolding works for thirteen ;D

 

[delta79]

Nice to see the ground work is coming along. does anyone know if there the project timeline sheets are available to the public?

and sorry James, i will try not to wander off topic again :-[

 

[Alastair]

scaffolding works for thirteen ;D

Scaffolding also works for Hex, Sub-Terra...

 

[Nemesismad]

Don't expect to see anything short of a full coaster, fully themed and looking amazing. SW7's funding will be all set aside and i'am sure they have worked out the amount the overall project will cost and no cut backs will be made to save money.......at the end of the day this thing will make money so why cut back ? just make it as good as possible and it's going to draw more people in. It would be a massive mistake to cut down on costs and not have themeing, but it won't happen. Roll on 2013

 

[Rupert]

Don't expect to see anything short of a full coaster, fully themed and looking amazing. SW7's funding will be all set aside and i'am sure they have worked out the amount the overall project will cost and no cut backs will be made to save money.......

...what? I could cite the examples of Thirteen (ha!), Rita and Air; or most recent investments in the park, but that last part of the sentence is just so... wow. "No cut backs will be made to save money"?! I applaud your optimism sir.

 

[Harv]

I have to agree. With parkwide cutbacks being rolled out more frequently and severely than ever before I honestly doubt that SW7 will live up to it's predecessors of Nemesis, Air and Oblivion. Surely the downwards spiral proves that?

Nemesis - B&M - themed brilliantly, landscaped brilliantly, thrilling, smooth.

Oblivion - B&M - themed well, landscaped brilliantly, thrilling, smooth.

Air - B&M - themed adequately, landscaped adequately, fairly thrilling, smooth.

Rita* - Intamin - themed quite poorly, landscaped/integrated poorly, intense, not very smooth.

Th13teen - Intamin - themed adequately, landscaped adequately, not thrilling, fairly smooth.

*included as it is a major coaster, despite not technically being a Secret Weapon.

It is likely that a Gerstlaurer is likely to offer an even poorer experience, with a track (no pun intended) record of not being smooth and of being all together unenjoyable. However, Gerty may be keen to show off their skills and we can hope that they respond to the challenge by pushing their boundaries. They know how crucial it is to deliver a high-class product if they are to expand in the business. A poor feedback from a huge client such as Alton will leave them crippled, so they'll be eager to impress.

 

[Rob]

I do not think that the current cuts will affect SW7 at all. It will be a completely different budget, Merlin seem to be cutting the operations budgets at the parks, not investment. The £20 million for SW7 will have been set aside and chances are much of it has already been spent. They delivered with The Swarm and I am confident that they will do the same with SW7. A massive investment can draw a lot of people into the park, so they will be wanting to do the best they can to make it a massive success; they will know that it needs to be a hit from opening day.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

scaffolding works for thirteen ;D

Scaffolding also works for Hex, Sub-Terra...

No more scaffolding. Ever.

It is just too cheap and ordinary looking. This is Alton Towers remember!

 

[Alastair]

scaffolding works for thirteen ;D

Scaffolding also works for Hex, Sub-Terra...

No more scaffolding. Ever.

It is just too cheap and ordinary looking. This is Alton Towers remember!

Yeah I was being sarcastic, although it does work in Hex's case. Let's just hope that what someone briefly added to the SW7 Wikipedia never comes true...

Reports and research carried out by Alton Towers confirm that SW7 will be a Gerstlauer EuroFighter. It will also contain features in the seats that add an extra element. It is widely speculated that these elements are to be vibrating buttplugs, as sources linked closely to Gerstlauer have reported they are currently finalising prototype designs. It is not known whether riders are expected to share the buttplugs, or whether they are removable and cleaned inbetween rides. The latter possibility has been received negatively as it will greatly reduce throughput. As of now, a name hasn't been leaked, nor has the complete coaster design. However, the theme is rumoured to be based on shipping containers and scaffolding. Several shipping containers, 10 truck loads of scaffolding, and industrial sized tins of 'rust effect' paint have been reportedly sighted at Alton Towers and are awaiting installation at the SW7 site.

 

[BigT]

I think the theming is safe for this one. The ride system is fairly cheap and any possible cut backs won't effect theming as badly as people may expect. On top of that the ride budget is totally separate from the operations budget and so is (in some ways) ring fenced from cuts...

However I could be proved totally wrong. I hope I'm not though

How do you know the ride system is cheap, do you know something we don't?
You are right about the budget being separate though, this will be a Cap-ex investment so doesn't show on the profit and loss account.

 

[Scott]

I think the theming is safe for this one. The ride system is fairly cheap and any possible cut backs won't effect theming as badly as people may expect. On top of that the ride budget is totally separate from the operations budget and so is (in some ways) ring fenced from cuts...

However I could be proved totally wrong. I hope I'm not though

How do you know the ride system is cheap, do you know something we don't?
You are right about the budget being separate though, this will be a Cap-ex investment so doesn't show on the profit and loss account.

I know, like we all do, that it's a Gerstlauer Eurofighter and therefore is not a particularly expensive ride system in comparison to installing something like a B&M. Of course, were there expensive prototype track elements then this would bump the cost up.

However, from what we know right now, this is a relatively cheap coaster to build, leaving a large theme budget.

 

[BigT]

I think the theming is safe for this one. The ride system is fairly cheap and any possible cut backs won't effect theming as badly as people may expect. On top of that the ride budget is totally separate from the operations budget and so is (in some ways) ring fenced from cuts...

However I could be proved totally wrong. I hope I'm not though

How do you know the ride system is cheap, do you know something we don't?
You are right about the budget being separate though, this will be a Cap-ex investment so doesn't show on the profit and loss account.

I know, like we all do, that it's a Gerstlauer Eurofighter and therefore is not a particularly expensive ride system in comparison to installing something like a B&M. Of course, were there expensive prototype track elements then this would bump the cost up.

However, from what we know right now, this is a relatively cheap coaster to build, leaving a large theme budget.

Not that I'm splitting hairs here but I remember the Gerstlauer bit in the planning document but I don't remember the Eurofighter bit. Similar I think was the word used.

 

[Scott]

We've discussed this thousands of times over on here and on TTF and people are in one of two camps.

Either you believe it's a Eurofighter or not, but the planning docs said that SW7 would be the same ride type and manufacturer as Saw.

 

[Tim]

I was also there the last few days. Today it looked the same as above although I didn't spend long in X-Sector as Oblivion was closed for maintainance, followed by long queues. Excavation is underway although slowly at the minute. A few more diggers on site than shown above.

 

[BigT]

We've discussed this thousands of times over on here and on TTF and people are in one of two camps.

Either you believe it's a Eurofighter or not, but the planning docs said that SW7 would be the same ride type and manufacturer as Saw.

I'm sure it said similar ride type and same manufacturer but I think there may have been more than one noise document floating around.
Your right there is two camps though and I'm in the completely new type camp, makes it exciting that we don't know for sure though.

 

[Alastair]

We've discussed this thousands of times over on here and on TTF and people are in one of two camps.

Either you believe it's a Eurofighter or not, but the planning docs said that SW7 would be the same ride type and manufacturer as Saw.

I'm sure it said similar ride type and same manufacturer but I think there may have been more than one noise document floating around.
Your right there is two camps though and I'm in the completely new type camp, makes it exciting that we don't know for sure though.

You are partly correct. On the second page it says:

Measurements of a similar coaster at Thorpe Park have been used to model and predict
noise levels from the proposed 2013 ride. The proposed ride is planned to be located
approximately where the “Black Hole” coaster once stood, in the X-sector area of the park.

However then later it goes on to say:

Noise from the planned new coaster was modelled based on a similar one located at
Thorpe Park. The Thorpe Park ride, “Saw” is the same type and manufacturer as the
proposed ride, including a “beyond vertical” drop.

So that's why it's almost certainly a Eurofighter.

 

[Adam]

We've discussed this thousands of times over on here and on TTF and people are in one of two camps.

Either you believe it's a Eurofighter or not, but the planning docs said that SW7 would be the same ride type and manufacturer as Saw.

I'm sure it said similar ride type and same manufacturer but I think there may have been more than one noise document floating around.
Your right there is two camps though and I'm in the completely new type camp, makes it exciting that we don't know for sure though.

You are partly correct. On the second page it says:

Measurements of a similar coaster at Thorpe Park have been used to model and predict
noise levels from the proposed 2013 ride. The proposed ride is planned to be located
approximately where the “Black Hole” coaster once stood, in the X-sector area of the park.

However then later it goes on to say:

Noise from the planned new coaster was modelled based on a similar one located at
Thorpe Park. The Thorpe Park ride, “Saw” is the same type and manufacturer as the
proposed ride, including a “beyond vertical” drop.

So that's why it's almost certainly a Eurofighter.

Ah, but it depends what they mean exactly by type. The council aren't coaster geeks, so to them a Eurofighter is the same type as a new coaster type with the same track as a Eurofighter, similar types of track inversions to a Eurofighter and (possibly) similar car types to a Eurofighter. Were that document to say "exact model" then I'd accept what we'd be getting next year is in fact a Eurofighter, but to me "same type" doesn't infer that it will be exactly the same model as Saw is.

For example, if you was to show most people who aren't coaster enthusiasts two pictures, one being of Shockwave, and the other of a B&M stand up, they'd notice the box track, similar looking inversions and (most obviously) the stood up position riders are in, and consider them being the same "type" of ride, despite not even being made by the same company for starters.

Unless they do infact posses a RCDB level knowledge of what is and isn't a Eurofighter, I wouldn't look into "the same type of roller coaster" too much if I was you.