Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[Prometheus]

They can advertise this as the ultimate coaster as much as like. It'll do a damn better job of living up to the title compared to how Thirteen has.

I suppose we'll be seeing footers going in this month, and the possible laying of the station's foundations.

Absolutely, I think the hype and marketing will work this time. It's exactly what the public seem to want after Thirteen and it looks like Alton have listened. I just hope that Gerst are on top form and deliver a solid, smooth(ish), forceful ride to compliment a very promising design.

 

[aru]

I'm glad there is no real hype yet as it got silly with Thirteen. AT should keep it low key then knock us out when then ride opens. ;D

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I'm afraid it's time to accept that the heady days of Nemesis and Oblivion (even Air) are over, and whilst I'm pretty certain this will be a sound coaster I doubt it is going to be groundbreaking in anything other than a gimmick.

Of course we are still in the relative eary stages and there is lots more excitement to come (track!!), but I think the proof that the park is down the crap hole is evident when even the construction of a multi-million pound secret weapon cannot save the park from such a drab and soulless season.

I mean in the last month alone there has been nothing much worth discussing about Alton Towers on this forum (asides from boring marketing campaigns and the usual price increases) - you'd never think a £20 million ride was about to open in little over 7 months!

 

[adsyrah]

Oh Chris. Ever the voice of optimism!

Considering you're only 18 (according to your profile) I have no idea how you can even comment on the "heady days of Nemesis and Oblivion"!

It's still pretty early in the grand scheme of things, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see actors later in the season (like the wraiths for Thirteen and the military ones for Sub Terra). So I think there's plenty of time for AT to ramp up the hype. But after all the criticism they received for their handling of Thirteen's marketing you can't blame them for laying low a bit.

This is an exciting project for me. A world first, multi-inversion coaster in a much neglected area in the park. What else do AT need to do to drum up a bit excitement from you?!

 

[aru]

Scarefest will be prime for getting people talking and doing something interesting on park. Although we seem to know a lot about the project - we still don't know anything about the story, the worlds first element and even the true scale and impact of the ride. ;D

There will be lots to talk about but I really hope that AT stick to the olden-days of promoting a ride - based on merit and not 'fantastical' 'all-you-could-ever-dream-of' rubbish.

 

[Martin]

I'm disappointed there's been no hoaxes or anything like there was with Thirteen.

I agree that this one isn't as 'magical', we know too much. There's been no wild speculation and mystery about it.

Not to say it's not exciting.

 

[Tim]

In general there seems to be a misconception that Thirteen was hyped from day one. At this stage 3 years ago Thirteen had no more marketing than SW7 has already seen. All there was were a few flyers and the sign over the construction site. The legendary hype that people go on about with Thirteen (the whole Ultimate roller coaster nonsense) didn't start until February Half-term, a month before the ride opened.

That aside though I agree with Chris, SW7 just isn't exciting me. The coaster looks good and the robotic spider like creature looks great but I'm just not getting the same intrigue I had with Thirteen or even Sub-Terra.

I'm afraid it's time to accept that the heady days of Nemesis and Oblivion (even Air)

You say that as if you've only just decided those days are over

 

[Alastair]

I can't believe the ultimate coaster tagline is still used. It's actually an embarrassment. What they should have done was save that for this year - at least SW7 looks like it would live up to it a bit more.

 

[James]

Quick reminder if we could keep all non-construction discussion in the SW7 Discussion topic. This includes the rides theme, marketing, world's first and any other aspects of the project that do not directly relate to the construction of SW7.

Muchas Gracias.

 

[Jono]

I think its very difficult to make everything a secret and construct at the same time, especially since the tallest ride in the park is sitting right next to the site.

I agree that we wil be seeing construction really getting to grips once the crowds have died down in September.

Does anyone think they'll do a big publicity stunt during Scarefest? Construction will definitely have begun by then, so i think thats when AT will start to get the GP all around the UK to realise what is coming to X-Sector the following season.

 

[Jono]

I wouldnt exactly say that i'm not excited for SW7, just not as excited as Alton could have made me. I mean, even a cheesy slogan on the wall surrounding the construction site would get me pumping with excitement for a few days.

I am also looking forward to what name Alton choose for SW7, thats the only thing aswell as the Worlds First element that makes me check these forums every day for news.

But nothing really exciting has happened yet.

 

[Danny]

I hate to say it, but at this point in 2009, I was more excited for Thirteen than I am right now for SW7 ???

 

[James]

I have to say they have done nothing so far for SW7 to excite us.

I think it's the fact we know more about this coaster than we did with Th13teen and the pure fact Th13teen was a Secret Weapon project we'd been waiting 6 years for. So the excitement of a massive project excited us more than anything.

Alton Towers marketing team really need to get the ball rolling. Ideally they need to get some actors around X-Sector and Towers Street, put new teaser posters up teasing the world's first and they need to plaster teaser posters around the whole park - along with handing out leaflets to guests leaving the park with a half price offer for next year. This summer is one of the big chances to go all out with it. If attendance figures are down Alton need all the hype and marketing they can get right now.

 

[adsyrah]

When did all the Les Coogan stuff start with The Swarm?

The marketing machine that Thorpe rolled out was amazing. AT could learn a thing or two from them.

 

[Danny]

All the posters and such went up in late April, and then Thorpe officially announced The Swarm on 1st August [1 year yesterday!].

We probably won't get anything official as such until closed season. It wasn't until December Alton revealed Thirteen, but kept the world's first secret well up until days before opening. And considering they kept Sub Terra's name and details about it under wraps until quite late in the closed season, the same will no doubt happen with SW7.

They'll probably do something at Scarefest and then maybe a countdown in closed season to reveal the name and any other details.

 

[Dave]

Th13teen has a lot more ground-work to complete with the huge hole and the helix trench to dig-out so we had more interesting updates early in the season to drool over. Alton Towers tend not to be as open as Thorpe about their future rides. From a marketing point of view more is happening with SW7 at this point than it did with Th13teen around the same time (there was a single small banner behind the Rita queue). I would expect things to heat up with construction gets interesting at the end of August beginning of September.

 

[Harv]

Why aren't men in costume patrolling around X-Sector? Why aren't guests being urged to avoid the area. Why aren't we seeing the surveillance van that was included in the plans driving around the area?

They should be marketing the hell out of this. Standards have slipped. Check out this* from 4:55. That's Oblivion's fantastic marketing. Why we're not seeing stuff like that is beyond me; it just looks tremendous.

*If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you see the whole thing anyway.

 

[Martin]

Because there's still a very long way to go yet. It's only early August, promotion won't really get going until late summer/early autumn.

Plus, I'm not sure that stuff will work any more. Apart from it already being done (and we know we'd criticise them for being lazy if they did that), it probably would be considered silly.

 

[Vicky]

Because there's still a very long way to go yet. It's only early August, promotion won't really get going until late summer/early autumn.

Plus, I'm not sure that stuff will work any more. Apart from it already being done (and we know we'd criticise them for being lazy if they did that), it probably would be considered silly.

But we saw marketing almost identical to that for The Swarm and Sub-Terra so I doubt it will be seen of as silly. I'm amazed that marketing hasn't been stepped up yet, during the busier summer season.

After the overall disappointment that was Th13teen, people would be getting so excited about SW7 if they knew what it was! Heck, I don't even think that most people know that it's going to be a new rollercoaster, let alone the fantastic ride it looks to be!

 

[josht]

Looks like foundation have been started some major holes appearing