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The World of David Walliams: General Discussion

Interestingly, Gangsta Granny is listed under "Laughs & Frights" as opposed to "Young Fun & Imagination" like the other two rethemed rides in the area; maybe Towers wants it to appeal to a wider family demographic as opposed to just young children?

Also, I wonder if the park will announce any of the "other surprises" any time soon?
 
Matt N said:
Interestingly, Gangsta Granny is listed under "Laughs & Frights" as opposed to "Young Fun & Imagination" like the other two rethemed rides in the area; maybe Towers wants it to appeal to a wider family demographic as opposed to just young children?
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The 'Young Fun & Imagination' tab is for the smallest of rides aimed at very young children. With this being a aimed at older children and including effects that would probably scare infants this is why it'll be in the middle tier.
 
siralgenon said:
The 'Young Fun & Imagination' tab is for the smallest of rides aimed at very young children. With this being a aimed at older children and including effects that would probably scare infants this is why it'll be in the middle tier.
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Ah right, thanks @siralgenon! I was only saying because the other two rides, as well as Driving School and everything in CBeebies Land falls under "Young Fun", whereas this falls into the same category as rides like Hex, Runaway Mine Train, Congo River Rapids, the Alton Towers Dungeon and Duel.

I won't lie, part of me would quite like to ride this, as I'm actually a big fan of Walliams' books and read many of them in my early teens, but I don't want to try and ride if I'm going to be embarrassed to the extent that I was when I rode Octonauts in CBeebies Land; I won't lie, that put me off ever riding a kiddie coaster again.
 
Well now I've got to know, what happened on Octonauts?

All dark rides are for everyone. If I can ride the gruffalo at Chessington I can ride this.
 
Lurker said:
Well now I've got to know, what happened on Octonauts?

All dark rides are for everyone. If I can ride the gruffalo at Chessington I can ride this.
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Sorry to go off-topic a little, but basically, when me and my mum rode it, the ride host laughed at us (to be fair to him, it was more of a snigger than a really noticeable laugh), and it made me feel quite awkward for the whole rest of the time I was on it. The only reason I even rode it was because it was on a pretty much walk-on queue (which is a rarity; when I visit Alton Towers, it seems to have at least a 45-60 minute queue!) and it was the only coaster credit at Alton Towers I was missing. To be fair, I probably shouldn't have been riding it, and I definitely won't do it again now I've done it, but my family had been talking to me about getting that last credit for years and I thought it seemed like a golden opportunity. So that's what puts me off riding Gangsta Granny a little.
 
Matt N said:
I won't lie, part of me would quite like to ride this, as I'm actually a big fan of Walliams' books and read many of them in my early teens, but I don't want to try and ride if I'm going to be embarrassed to the extent that I was when I rode Octonauts in CBeebies Land; I won't lie, that put me off ever riding a kiddie coaster again.
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While life is too short to be waiting forty-five minutes to be earning 'creds', life is also too short to worry what some bloke checking lapbars on a children's rollercoaster thinks about you. :)
 
@MattN Well thanks for the story.

Likelihood is he wasn't laughing at you. That guy puts people of all ages into that ride every day. It's your hobby, and you've ridden every damn rollercoaster in Alton towers! Be proud, not embarrassed.

Even if he did laugh, who cares! The park exists for fun. Whether that's cred collecting, experiencing new rides and attractions or complaining about minutiae nobody else seems to understand. Trust me, everyone has their thing.
 
I don't think it was just that; I don't know what it was, but I sort of felt as though the parents and young kids waiting to ride it also looked at us as though we shouldn't have been there and I just felt very awkward and embarrassed the whole time I was on it.

Besides, I think I've come to realise that I don't think coaster credits are necessarily the principal thing I want to gain from a visit to a park. Where possible, I do aim to ride all of the notable (aka non-kiddie) coasters at a park so I can add them to my count, but if I was at a new park and you gave me a choice between waiting 45 minutes for a kiddie coaster or waiting 45 minutes for a highly revered non-coaster, I'd easily pick the latter.

Anyway, Gangsta Granny looks like a fun little ride for its audience, and I think it'll be great when it opens on 21st March!
 
Haven't done Octonauts but Beastie was always a must ride.

I have roughly counted credits but I don't actively chase them. Skipped loads of rides in America because they just looked crap.

Britford said:
Just say "if anyone asks, I'm here for the credit" at the gate and play it off cool, that's what I did!
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There's nothing cool about that sentence :p
 
AstroDan said:
I teach 9 year olds; Walliams is a major hit with most my class and has been for the past few years. They love him.

The target for this is your Key Stage 1 and 2 age group mainly; ages 6 to 11.

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In fairness they're maybe playing it cool....9 year old lad hit 1.4 right at the tail end of last year and is chomping at the bit to get back on Smiler etc

Daughter's just turned 12 and thinks she's too cool for christmas at the moment

Both of them are fans of the books...and although they might not be excited by it i'm sure they'll like it

Just like they did with Gruffalo and Room on the broom (We had a run through just the 4 of us on the later on our chessington visit last year at halloween)
 
I think Gangsta Granny will be good for TWODW's target audience, but I must admit I have slight concerns about Raj's Bouncy Bottom Burp & Royal Carousel, as these seem a little more aimed at young children of CBeebies Land age. If we're counting Cuckoo Cars, then that is also a touch concerning as it has a maximum height restriction of 1.4m/4ft 7in, a height that I exceeded at about 10 years old. Admittedly, I may have been a little above the average age reading Walliams, but I read Walliams' novels in my early teens (I probably read them from when I was about 10/11 to when I was about 14/15, by which point I was a good 20-30cm over the max height restriction of the CCL rides.

Although to be fair, I suppose Gangsta Granny is the main thing that Alton are selling about this area, and Driving School is potentially not even being included, so that eliminates that issue to an extent!
 
The ride looks like a solid improvement, offering something for an audience the park has not had much for to date.

My worry is that it will end up as one thing in a barren CCL area, and have little longer term benefit. The other two rides announced belong in CBeebies, as do the CCL cars... so it risks providing a disappointing experience to the families the adverts will be trying to drag in.

Hopefully the shop will be impressive, and some characters for meet and greets might help, but it needs a cut of the 3D version of Mr. Stink TV show (the only one in 3D IIRC?) in the theatre to make it a land people want to come back to IMHO.
 
Lurker said:
The park exists for fun. Whether that's cred collecting, experiencing new rides and attractions or complaining about minutiae nobody else seems to understand. Trust me, everyone has their thing.
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Two out of those three sound exactly what theme parks aren't meant to be about

And let's be honest, it IS weird for adults to ride childrens rides for entertainment or "for the cred" (Ive got in trouble for saying that before on here). Ive done it before when the park is so quiet that you've got time to fill, it's a laugh. But if you really want to go on a kids ride, just go in knowing it's weird, and just do it anyway! Theme parks arent to be taken too seriously after all!

Although Alton Towers is missing a big dark ride that has an all-round appeal like it used to.
 
It's doesn't really matter if that's what it's meant to be about. Everyone enjoys things in different ways. There is often a distinction made between the GP and the enthusiasts for this reason, that we enjoy things differently than how they were intended.

As you mention, just do it anyway! Who cares, it's exists for our entertainment, whether in the intended way or not.

And whilst I haven't ridden octonaughts I will have a 'go on granny' because i do enjoy a dark ride, and a good sit down honestly.

Who else is going to have a go on granny? We can all take turns having a go on granny! We aren't ashamed to ride granny all day long!
 
I think alton is missing a trick. Have a month of enforced family only riding (one or two adults per child). Then offer enthusiasts ride time after ride close for a fee.

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