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Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

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It's probably at least partly down to money. The longer it takes to build something, the more you have to pay all the people involved.

Someone I work with is fond of pointing out that if you want something done, you can have two of the following:
Do it quickly.
Do it cheaply.
Do it well.
...but you can't have all three.

We know that it is going to have to be built quickly, so that leaves two options: it will either be incredibly expensive.... or done on the cheap.
 
I'd say that £18 million, the largest sum Alton Towers has ever spent on a new ride, is incredibly expensive ;)
 
A fair point, but that was the estimate before they started running late. Also, we know that Towers include marketing in their budgets.
 
I'd be very worried, that if this gets much later, massive theming cuts will be placed upon the ride... I appreciate that this year has been the first time that Merlin have shown real attention to detail in adding features to their new attractions throughout the season but I still fear that things will be cut and budgets won't allow for extra bits and pieces...


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Im sure I mentioned my concerns a while back about it seemingly being a long way off and the theming would be the first to be cut, I was accused of being miserable and told not to panic. Glad to see Im now not the only one with concerns.
 
It is a concern if the project appears to be delayed within the delay. It was already put back once and now it seems to be behind again.

I worry that this ends up inflating costs, and then other things have to be cut in order for them to proceed.

Here's hoping, however.
 
They won't plough money into it to get things back on track... They will make cuts instead :(
 
They won't cut the budget. However, said budget would probably not increase if costs went up. This happened most noticeably with Air.

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AstroDan said:
They won't cut the budget. However, said budget would probably not increase if costs went up. This happened most noticeably with Air.

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So they'd essentially cut the budget then??
 
Yes, that's what I meant (sorry if it wasn't clear). They won't be agle to magic up any more money, so they will have to make cuts to theming etc.

I'm starting to doubt we will see that spider thing.
 
Surely the theming would be in production/ mostly finished? It isn't made on site, so Surely they would have already allocated the theming budget to Merlin studio's/ commissioned companies.

I'm unsure if I'm not thinking of that clearly, but I would guess each department worked separately, so the delays on site shouldn't affect what's happening in a warehouse somewhere?
 
Fredward said:
Surely the theming would be in production/ mostly finished? It isn't made on site, so Surely they would have already allocated the theming budget to Merlin studio's/ commissioned companies.

I'm unsure if I'm not thinking of that clearly, but I would guess each department worked separately, so the delays on site shouldn't affect what's happening in a warehouse somewhere?
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Knowing Merlin they'd probably melt it down and sell it as metal scrap to a shipping container fabrication factory.
 
Fredward said:
Surely the theming would be in production/ mostly finished? It isn't made on site, so Surely they would have already allocated the theming budget to Merlin studio's/ commissioned companies.

I'm unsure if I'm not thinking of that clearly, but I would guess each department worked separately, so the delays on site shouldn't affect what's happening in a warehouse somewhere?
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If delays are causing the building costs to rise due to increased labour charges or similar costs then it is feasible that Merlin would pull the plug on things they might deem as uneccesary - like theming that hasn't yet been produced.


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Does anyone else think there is a chance they might revise the plans for the queue line? Or are we definetely going to end up with that huge cattlepen? I don't think I could stand waiting in that for 2 hours or more next year.
 
I think the cattle pen staying is one thing that we can be absolutely sure of. :p
 
rightbackgranty said:
I'd imagine its something to do with the fact Alton Towers opens for business in the summer months and closes in the winter months. It sort of creates a deadline for which the job has to be done.

Disney on the other hand, with its year round opening lets them plan things out a little more. For example, Test Track at Epcot has been shut for reimagineering over the summer, something that many of those going to Alton Towers would not take lightly - if the park is only open for a few months, they expect to be able to get on everything!

The luxury of year round opening allows Disney and other parks to make their own deadlines other than the 1st April.
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That idea is kind of flawed. When SW7's construction has been planned to cause no disruptions to other rides. If it were to cause the whole of X-Sector to close for the year, then i would understand that idea. Although that is not the case.

I understand that Disney do not have as strict deadlines as Alton Towers, although Alton Towers are completely aware of how their park operates. So construction could have been planned to begin at an earlier date.

It just seems since Th13teen they've learnt no lessons. Either that, or they have planned this further but there have been more on site issues than anticipated.



I'm surprised we've seen no sign of theming being constructed. The spider like piece of theming is massive, so I'm highly surprised we haven't seen any glimpses of it. Even with Th13teen the theming for the station was spotted outside Merlin Studios.
 
I have a feeling the big spider thing will be made by an external company (the super structure) as its a metal sculpture essentially which might be out of studios skill base. I imagine it will then get decorated by Merlin Studios.

Hopefully that means they have already bought it.
 
I can see them just slapping a load of MDF together and covering it in printed vinyl tbh.
 
Ride theming has historically been made on a wood framework. Nemesis station external theming has in the past come away to show a wooden base. So it fair to say DiogoJ42 comment could be true.
 
The wooden structure for Oblivion's station is in plain sight now. It looks horrific. If it's covered then you don't realise what it's made of until you tap it.

Anyway, I seriously hope they don't cut anything from SW7 and I also hope they open it on time. How did they manage to build Nemesis for the start of their '94 season, as well as Toyland Tours?
 
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