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Who will win 2018's new coaster battle?

Which coaster will be the bigger success for its respective park?

  • Icon

    Votes: 80 60.6%

  • Wicker Man

    Votes: 52 39.4%
  • Total voters
    132
Some great answers.

Whilst I agree, you can't compare them directly (thrill and family thrill) and whilst at this stage, Construction 18 appeals to me more as I do like intense coasters, I do love fun as well as thrills. C18 WILL be more intense, but SW8 COULD be more fun.

I agree with Dave, that both manufacturers have impressive records, I'm great full to be getting 2 coasters and will support both parks.

I think we CAN compare them in terms of to what extent they will be successful for their respective parks, and in this area, I think SW8 will be the winner.

Despite a flawed marketing campaign, that initially hid what it really was, Thirteen delivered in terms of guest numbers more than any recent AT coasters, and love it or hate it CBEEBIES basically carried the park after The Smiler incident.

I think AT are going to market SW8 as for families, appeal to the widest possible demographic, get the whole family riding together, and as a result, I believe they will be more successful in increasing guest numbers. On this basis i believe that a correctly marketed family thrill coaster with a 1.2 meter height restriction is exactly what they need right now. Hoping that both parks see a good return on their investment.

Just hope we get a genuine thrill coaster for SW9 (or an amazing water ride). I like The Smiler, but we were spoilt with Nemesis ( I don't think they will ever get near that standard again - hell, I don't think that even JW himself could do that).
 
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I have voted for construction 2018.

It has inversions, launches, and just looks better all round. SW8 just doesn't look as interesting to me, even if it's aimed at a younger audience.

But, there's still a lot we don't know about these coasters. Construction 18 may run at a lowers speed, it will almost certainly have no theming. SW8 looks like it will have some secret element or preshow, so it's hard to judge without knowing what this is. We still don't know what's happening with the lift hill, so it could be much better than it looks at the moment. Theming (and overall theme) will make or break this ride.
 
Construction 18 is the clear winner at the moment with a 34 vote to 1.

But before we write off SW8, it's clearly just early days, this is just a poll and both are from high quality manufacturers and will probably be ok rides at the least.

Construction 18 appeals the most to me, due to being a lover of Mack megalites and adoring Helix and Blue Fire. The fact on how many interactions this thing will have amongst being The Pleasure Beach's biggest investment since Valhalla makes it even more impressive.

Secret Weapon 8 so far comes across as asking for more (given the current average layout), but then again, the USP and marketing for this ride could make it highly successful. Also knowing current situations, the park and Merlin will surely want to blast promotion all out too!

Blackpool wins most excited and Towers wins most successful, but both serve great additions. One park gets an overdue smooth steel inversion coaster and the other gets a family thrill woodie.
 
True. But then most people on here aren't fanboys who are going to vote for everything Towers does regardless.

I don't think anyone out and out dislikes SW8 - Construction 18 is just more appealing at the moment.
 
The thing with SW8 at the moment is that like 13, it doesn't look to deserve the SW8 tagline. Unless there's at least major differences to what we know then Construction 2018 is the out and out winner for me at this stage.
 
A vote for Construction 2018 isn't "writing off" SW8. It's just saying that SW8 looks less ambitious, less thrilling and more family orientated, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a bad ride. Time will tell with these two coasters but BPB will still be the better park at the end of the day in my view :)
 
Error said:
Ambitious?....or just purely because it's a Mack coaster? Thats what i'm sensing after seeing the poll results.
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Ambitious. Very ambitious. One of their largest ever single investments, long and varied layout with multiple unique elements, covers virtually half the park, not designed for gimmicks but instead for a fantastic rider experience. Of course, Mack are a good and reliable manufacturer and that helps, I don't see any reason why we should have to ignore that fact?
 
I was slightly disappointed with Helix, but when we got off the plane in Gothenberg they said it was -4 degrees. It certainly snowed a lot. I'd like to give it another chance in the summer when I believe it runs a bit quicker. These Mack coasters do have a really good reputation. I did, however, really like the trains and Macks are generally very well built. I still really enjoyed it, but it wasn't the world beating coaster I was expecting. I think the cold did have a lot to do with that though.

In terms of which will be more exciting I think it's a hard one to call at this stage. As other people have said they're both good manufacturers and both projects are apparently being completed with a similar budget (which also suggests that there's more to the woodie than we currently know as that's a lot to spend on a medium sized wooden coaster).

All in all though I do believe that a rising tide lifts all the boats. Just as The Smiler accident hurt the industry as a whole (not just Alton Towers), if both coasters get people talking a lot more about theme parks then that's a good thing for all the British theme parks. The UK theme park industry's had quite a bit of negative publicity recently. People who have a good time at Alton Towers are more likely to want to visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach and vice versa. I hope that both rides are well received and get a lot of publicity, and that as a result more people consider visiting a theme park, regardless of which one they chose to visit. I feel like the British public are generally a bit ambivalent towards theme parks at the moment.

In terms of which will be the most successful for their respective parks, for Alton Tower's it's the chance to really move things on from the Smiler accident and hopefully make a serious step towards rebuilding their visitor numbers, as well as offering something for people between the C Beebies Land demographic and the B&M demographic. For Blackpool it's their first significant roller coaster since the Big One, save for a second hand SLC. Aside from Alton Tower's there haven't been many significant thrill rides built up North in recent years, so this is an opportunity for the Pleasure Beach to bring in significantly more thrill seekers. All in all I think Blackpool's coaster will have the bigger impact, but it's a close call.
 
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Error said:
Ambitious?....or just purely because it's a Mack coaster? Thats what i'm sensing after seeing the poll results.
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A double launch Mack coaster of good length will be costing somewhat more (track and train) than a short GCI woodie. Then if you factor in the financial muscle of Blackpool compared to Merlin and you have your answer - it is more ambitious.

The fact is a Mack will however generate tonnes of hype and more possibilty to be let down. Helix is world class, a lot of people (rightly or wrongly) will be expecting something on the same level. I don't think it will reach the levels of Helix mind. GCI woodies are also very good coasters and Wodan is in my top 10, but this one does not look inspiring at all. Having said that my expecations for the coaster are so low that it will be much easier to exceed them than not. The joys of hype!

:)
 
AT will have the national ads, massive build up like they do with all of them. But BPB will have the regional ads and it may serve them better.
 
Tibble said:
AT will have the national ads, massive build up like they do with all of them. But BPB will have the regional ads and it may serve them better.
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If BPB get it right on social media and other forms of online advertising, it will have more pull than national ads.
 
MakoMania said:
In the below article Nick Thompson, deputy Managing Director at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, talks about how Construction 2018 and SW8 will combine to benefit both Alton Towers and BPB as well as the wider UK theme park industry as happened back in 1994 with Nemesis and The Big One:

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/n...smiles-as-new-season-gets-under-way-1-8382766
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Nick said: “We have the longest seasonal operation anywhere in the world.
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Even more desperate a claim than those Merlin make. What does that even mean? How is he quantifying seasonal operation because I'm fairly sure Europa Park just off the top of my head beats Blackpool.
 
If only part of the article read a bit more like this..:

Alongside the construction site sits the Big Dipper, one of the historic wooden coasters for which the Pleasure Beach is famed.

And Nick Thompson knows more than anyone how important they are to the resort and to the heritage of a trade in which he thrives.

He said: “The heritage is so important to us. We feel like we are custodians and its a huge responsibility to ensure that RMC come up with the best plans possible for future conversions."

Now if Blackpool had a double Mack launch and a couple of awesome RMCs I think Towers would really be shaking in their boots.

;)
 
Whilst I wouldn't be opposed to one of BPB's woodies getting the RMC treatment, I would hate to lose both Big Dipper & Grand National! I absolutely love them both!
 
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