Steve74
TS Member
Well seeing as teenagers go to Towers armed with Sharpies and biros, this is plausible
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TBC: SW9 Speculation
- Thread starter Matt N
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Spark
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I wasn’t a member here back during the pre-construction stage of SW8. Apologies if this is the wrong area to discuss this but what were the most popular coaster theories for it? And was it a huge surprise when a woodie was announced for The Flume’s site?
jon81uk
TS Member
I think it was a slight surprise when the fence went up to close the flume, but it was also seen as cost-cutting following the Smiler incident.
John_P
TS Member
Seem to remember after Ripsaw was removed then the following season Blade wasn't on the park map. Then an initial planning application went in which it would use that area and go into the valley, it did reference sound Tunnels etc so I'd suppose it probably meant either a wooden coaster or an RMC. Then the smiler crash happened and it all went quiet.
Think the next thing was the flume closing and walls going up around it confirming SW8 would be built there instead.
Think the next thing was the flume closing and walls going up around it confirming SW8 would be built there instead.
James
TS Founding Member
I think one of the big theories when the plans came out was a launched wooden coaster, given the odd slanted design of the lift hill. There were a few ideas of a 'world’s first' being inside the building, as Towers were advertising a world first and the outdoor track design did not signify anything. I don't think a wooden coaster was a massive surprise, Towers undertook research on park (in 2014/15? Can't remember the exact year) with surveys asking for feedback on a wooden roller coaster, so that was a bit of a giveaway. I still think enthusiasts were a bit shocked, and perhaps later on disappointed that Towers had finally gone down this route.
John Wardley of course also made changes to the ride design, I can't remember whether that was something that was known straight away or until construction of the ride began (his memorie is worth reading for those unaware).
Edit: Of course, as mentioned above, prior to the Flume site there were strong rumours of a large-scale wooden coaster in Forbidden Valley, involving the removal of Blade and lots of ground works/excavation. This was all rumoured to have been dropped due to the huge costs (particularly surrounding ground works) and the impact of The Smiler incident.
John Wardley of course also made changes to the ride design, I can't remember whether that was something that was known straight away or until construction of the ride began (his memorie is worth reading for those unaware).
Edit: Of course, as mentioned above, prior to the Flume site there were strong rumours of a large-scale wooden coaster in Forbidden Valley, involving the removal of Blade and lots of ground works/excavation. This was all rumoured to have been dropped due to the huge costs (particularly surrounding ground works) and the impact of The Smiler incident.
jon81uk
TS Member
I don't think AT ever advertised a world first prior to construction starting, this was assumed because it is an SW coaster that there must be something unique about it and it turned out there wasn't. After construction the "world first wooden coaster with fire" was tried for marketing but don't think it was true anyway.
djtruefitt
TS Team
He’s been in the world of David Walliams recently
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
What limelight would that be exactly. They are replacing the track like for like so the ride will be exactly the same pretty much in the eyes of the public.
No limelight to steal I would have thought. It is not going to be a significantly different ride experience if any. The park need new rides to bring the guests through the gates. So for this reason I cannot see SW9 being delayed due to major works that are designed to extend the life (and not change) a 30 year old coaster at the park.
I get your point, but with Merlin spending millions of pounds on this I’m sure they’ll want to market it and make it the focus of 2023 or whichever year it’s due to be completed, so that they get some return on investment. I may be wrong of course, especially if Merlin are going to account for this work as operating expenditure “TLC” as opposed to capital expenditure “major attraction”.
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
I am not convinced. What's the USP? What are they going to market about it. They can market a 30 year old ride all they want, that doesnt mean the marketing will be a success and bring people through the door.
If they do slightly update the theme, modify the story ect then maybe they have something to market, as of yet we have seen no evidence of this and I hope that is the case.
But, marketing the hell out of a ride that is essentially unchanged from the past 30 years will not bring huge numbers through the gate. This is not like Rollercoaster tycoon where you can market anything and it will bring guaranteed guests through the gate.
I think Merlins returns on investment in this particular project will come mainly from hugely lower year on year maintenance costs. Alongside having a truly iconic coaster staying in their lineup. The returns might take longer this way but they will come.
They will 1000% be saving money on maintenance, that is the purpose of the project. So that in itself is a huge ROI for it, this is an avenue for making the money back that you simply do not get with new coasters, for obvious reasons and which rely purely on pulling more numbers through the gate in order to return the CAPEX back to the company.
We will see, interesting discussion for sure.
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More I think about your points the more I agree with them. If Nemesis’ retrack is going to be nothing more than maintenance to prolong the ride, perhaps we’ll see plans go in sooner than I thought. After all, perhaps SW9 is just what the park needs to boost attendance to help it recover financially from Covid. As you said, it’s certainly an interesting discussion and debate as to what the park needs !
I might be wrong but we may now be in the period where we’ve waited the longest for a new coaster since the previous once ever since the park became a theme park in 1980. There was the 5 year gap between Rita and Thirteen but that was based on opening day to opening day.
Most of you have probably already watched this but I’ve only just seen it. It offers a really good insight into the future direction that Merlin are taking for their Capex investments, especially their view on worlds firsts thinking that everything has already been done apart from the “one better” gimmicks.
It’s clear they are going for “experiences” moving forward rather than worlds first, so who knows what’s being thrown across the drawing board for SW9.
They mention the U.K. Merlin Portfolio a lot in this interview and how they look at gaps in their portfolio and how they can fill them. Read into that what you will, but I don’t think SW9 will be launched. I’m still hedging my bets on a water coaster.
The work on SW8 began in 2014 according to this interview so I think it’s fair to assume that SW9 is in its detailed planning phase now.
It’s clear they are going for “experiences” moving forward rather than worlds first, so who knows what’s being thrown across the drawing board for SW9.
They mention the U.K. Merlin Portfolio a lot in this interview and how they look at gaps in their portfolio and how they can fill them. Read into that what you will, but I don’t think SW9 will be launched. I’m still hedging my bets on a water coaster.
The work on SW8 began in 2014 according to this interview so I think it’s fair to assume that SW9 is in its detailed planning phase now.
Danscott22
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
There’s a massive flat ride gap in Alton’s portfolio and has been for years yet that doesn’t seem to have been filled (not counting the Retro Squad)
But yeah you’d like to think that detailed planning is where we are currently at
(not counting the Retro Squad)But yeah you’d like to think that detailed planning is where we are currently at
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