Secret Weapon 7 Discussion

[EuroSatch]

Thirteen is a dire name. It doesn't convey anything of what the ride is about, nor any consistency with theming. I would have preferred Surrender.

I quite like the idea of Smile being the name, it's a result of experiencing "joy" but also sinister enough to suggest its not all smilesl

 

[Dave]

I don't mind the name Th13teen, it lacks meaning but I think that's an issue with the whole ride not just the name. The Main problem with debates on ride names is that it is incredibly subjective, I for one didn't like "The Swarm" when it came out but I have warmed to it.

 

[Ian]

If you ask me Th13teen was a good name to choose. Better than Surrender like we thought it might be at first. If the ride is called The anything I shall be very disapointted. Alton have always had a way of selecting snappy, one word titles for their rides which sum them up. Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Hex, Duel, Th13teen. They all role off the tongue well, and the simplicity of them sticks in the mind. Not only that, but they all have a good tie to the rides theme I'd say.

Duel - A name derived from the concept of a battle between two things. Links into the ride concept.
Hex - An old name used for a spell or curse. Has a strong link to the curse the hag placed upon the Earl.
Nemesis - A word used to describe an enemy usually. The alien is almost the villain of the story.
Oblivion - Bottomless nothingness (Best way I could describe it ). The theme is you are entering oblivion... Need I say more?

Adding "The" before a name cheapens the effect I think. All of a sudden it sucks the spark and character from a ride I think, and takes away its personality, leaving behind the implication that it is just a tool or object. The rides need charm and character to them. It's what makes them magical!

The whole Smile name idea in itself is pretty dire if you ask me. It's the cheapest and easiest connection they could possibly make to the theme, and comes across as very unimaginative and dull. All I can think of is a fairground with a Jump&Smile. It's a poor excuse for a name at somewhere like Alton. Calling it The Smile makes it much worse in my opinion!

It was the same with The Swarm. Swarm on its own is rather good I think. It captures what the ride is all about, and is a short snappy title which sticks. Putting The before it has somewhat ruined it if you ask me (Yes I realise that the name refers to the swarm of creatures attacking, but that doesn't mean that it needs the in the name. Nemesis' name refers to the Nemesis monster itself, and Hex refers to the curse, but that doesn't mean they have to have the in the title).

Alton and Studios can be far more creative than calling this ride The Smile (or similar). I really hope that these suggestions prove to be nothing more than that personally ???

</The "the" rant>

 

[pluk]

Name wise, after seeing Ministry of Joy written as MoJ a few times I keep thinking of Mojo, which has meanings of self confidence and self esteem, like looking at at yourself in a psychoanalysis kind of way which could fit a theme.

I like that Alton name coasters quite uniquely, I don't think it's really possible to predict what they'll come up with.

 

[Ian]

Name wise, after seeing Ministry of Joy written as MoJ a few times I keep thinking of Mojo, which has meanings of self confidence and self esteem, like looking at at yourself in a psychoanalysis kind of way which could fit a theme.

If it gets this name and the station doesn't have bright flowers painted on it, with trains dispatching to "Yeeeeeeaeh baby!" I will be sorely disappointed

 

[Fredward]

@tim, didn't see replies and forgot to quote! :S


I don't mind th13teen or verbolten, I was attempting to have passive point of view.

I say they are both good names as they stick in your head are recognisable, so when you hear that word elsewhere the park sticks in your head.

Smile isn't a good name in my opinion because I wouldn't instantly think towers or refer it to a ride... Infact it seems more like an amusement park attraction.

Which gave me a further idea. Please have the hypno-smile emblem on enterprise! Get a big cut out!





Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Martin]

I thought ThThirteenTeen was a terrible name. But it's stuck and people like it, so I guess that's why naming rides is their job and not mine.

 

[Mi-Nigle]

I've interpreted the theme as some sort of experimental, extreme rehab clinic where some crazy doctor believes he is helping people by removing unhappy emotions, putting the patients/volunteers into a permanent state of rapture, which ultimately induces insanity.

This might be a lazy way of looking for name inspiration but I think there could possibly be something here or here which would work well. I think a name like this would be perceived as light-hearted or innocent without any prior knowledge of the theme, but when put into context as riders queue/ride it would become twisted and sinister.

 

[Spark]

Tbh it's got to be better than Rita! That to me is the worse possible name for a rollercoaster ever,

 

[Ted]

I think the name TH13TEEN is not horrible, I actually like it myself. However it's been nearly 3 years since the ride opened and many people have gotten used to it. With regards to Alton coasters's names, they usually come up with good ones and I hope SW7 gets the dame treatment.

The names "Nemesis", "Oblivion" and "Air" do not only fit in with the rides's themes. But they sound like what you would expect from the ride. What I mean is that Oblivion fits going into the hole is like going into Oblivion, and Air for instance is like flying through the air, in other words is basically the old saying "Does exactly what it says on the tin.

I wouldn't like it to be named Smile though. I reckon the general public would be like "Smile? that sounds like a Kiddie ride!". I just want a creative name, I can trust Alton on this one.

 

[Alastair]

Name wise, after seeing Ministry of Joy written as MoJ a few times I keep thinking of Mojo, which has meanings of self confidence and self esteem, like looking at at yourself in a psychoanalysis kind of way which could fit a theme.

I like that Alton name coasters quite uniquely, I don't think it's really possible to predict what they'll come up with.

Mojo, rather than reminding me of the word mojo, actually reminds me of Mojojojo from the Powerpuff Girls. Not that I've ever seen that, obviously.

 

[Jono]

Name wise, after seeing Ministry of Joy written as MoJ a few times I keep thinking of Mojo, which has meanings of self confidence and self esteem, like looking at at yourself in a psychoanalysis kind of way which could fit a theme.

I like that Alton name coasters quite uniquely, I don't think it's really possible to predict what they'll come up with.

Mojo, rather than reminding me of the word mojo, actually reminds me of Mojojojo from the Powerpuff Girls. Not that I've ever seen that, obviously.

Glad I wasn't the only person to think it!

 

[Josh]

I'm hoping the construction to pick up a lot of pace next week, as I saw a crane parked next to security yesterday, and apparently concrete trucks will be accessing the site starting from next week

 

[siralgenon]

I've just been staring the poster of the 'face' in my room trying to figure out if it gives anything away, and I've just thought, could the eyes represent spinning? As in the ride vehicles spinning? I dont think there is a rollercoaster which spins and goes upside down? And with Sonic's life unknown, could this idea be possible? Would definitely fit in with the theme.

 

[Joseph]

There is one rollercoaster that spins and goes upside down it lives in Japan and its called Veil Of Dark , it has a launch and one inversion and its made by Gerstlauer.

 

[Nick]

Spinning in the building, possibly

Spinning when outside, no. Far too dangerous.

The possibility could be a Winjas-esqe moving track idea, that could possibly invert.

 

[James]

I still have my money on Ian's idea further back in this topic becoming a likely element of the ride.

I noticed some people have mentioned a tilting track of some sort.

What if...

1: The train leaves the station and enters a trick track.

2: The track tips to the side, Winjas Force style, but to 180 degrees.

3: Train rolls down into a half loop style element

4: When train has reached the bottom it is then the right way around again.

I would assume carts spinning on the track would be rather forceful and not that comfortable.

 

[Tim]

My only issue with that idea is that it's not as much an Alton Towers style World First as it is taking a concept that already exists and adding a full flip. Essentially this track element is the trick track midway through Winja's Force but through 180 degrees. It’s also much harder to market than a Freefall Drop but with 8 visible inversions marketing probably won’t be a problem.

That's not to say I think it won't be the secret element, I just suspect they'll do something a bit more out of the ordinary. Plus I don't think the station is as deep as we've all been assuming. At first I did when they started digging that big hole but with every day it's starting to look less like a hole and more like a pit. Now it's reached the stage where the station only has a little hole underneath it and I suspect the rest of the pit is to house those intertwining inversions which will be a lot lower than they looked on the plans.

In order of the type of World's First I think we'll see I'd still say:
1) Something to do with the tracks duelling nature
2) Something hidden away inside
3) Something midway around the ride... possibly a launch on the vertical lift hill.

I’m actually getting more suspicious about the last one. Has anyone else noticed that the trench they were supposed to be digging for the vertical lift hill hasn’t appeared yet? That’s the part I thought would need the most excavation and yet there’s barely been any. Maybe it’s because they are using that strip of land to improve the digger’s access to the site but with track already overdue I’m surprised we haven’t seen something.

 

[Danny]

The cover of the Scarefest map has just been released on Towers' Facebook page:

Anybody else notice the change to X Sectors look and feel from the sign?

 

[Alastair]

Just looks like they've been lazy and used the Hen font for each area. It's orange anyway, I doubt that it has anything to do with SW7.