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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
You lot must have short memories.



12:40 - from the man who now says it is one of the worst rides in the UK.

Give it a year and no doubt half of this forum will be slating WM.

:)
 
Smiler is still my #1 at Towers, will have to see where WM slots in but I'm expecting it to be 3rd. Icon has a chance of being in my UK top 5 based on what we've seen so far
 
I'm sure Wicker Man will retain its good reviews as time goes on. Although, when reading through The Smiler's construction discussion, members in there seemed to give Smiler's theming a similar sort of praise to Wicker Man's theming e.g. most detailed in the UK. But now, everyone says that Smiler's thematic execution was awful. What happened there? I don't personally think The Smiler's theming looks too bad, but most on here seem to hate it.
 
Smiler looks stunning off ride. The tight space its in does wonders for its astethics. The theming is pretty good too. The marmaliser looked pretty amazing until Big Bob showed up this year. It's still very good though by UK standards.

The station for me let's it down. Those awful yellow floors which get hundreds of dirty footprints on them. Which braniac couldn't figure out that the floors should be black and the walls yellow? Would have least looked decent then. The actual station is okay i suppose too but could be better.

I'm just not a fan of the coaster itself. I find the second section far too rough and the 3rd and 2nd to last inversions are awful.

It's why it's only number 5 on my coasters now at the park. I prefer all the B&M's plus WM.
 
For me at Towers currently:

1.Nemesis
2. Oblivion
3. The Smiler
4. Th13teen
5. Galactica/Air
6. Rita

Expecting Wicker Man to slot in at 2nd or 3rd. :)
 
I'm sure Wicker Man will retain its good reviews as time goes on. Although, when reading through The Smiler's construction discussion, members in there seemed to give Smiler's theming a similar sort of praise to Wicker Man's theming e.g. most detailed in the UK. But now, everyone says that Smiler's thematic execution was awful. What happened there? I don't personally think The Smiler's theming looks too bad, but most on here seem to hate it.

It is trendy to now consider The Smiler as being one of the worst rides in the U.K. Again, it'd be interesting to see WM views in 2 years.

Everyone has their opinion - granted. However, I find too many follow the views of Sanbrooke for egoistic reasons.
 
It is trendy to now consider The Smiler as being one of the worst rides in the U.K. Again, it'd be interesting to see WM views in 2 years.

Everyone has their opinion - granted. However, I find too many follow the views of Sanbrooke for egoistic reasons.

You are possibly right to an extent, but I do not think that is the case on here at all.

I remember really enjoying The Smiler when I first rode, to the extent that it was a toss up between it and Nemesis as my best coaster at Towers. Even since then The Smiler has got rougher and the jolts more pronounced; although it is possible to have an enjoyable ride on it I do not rate it all that well these days. But the thrill I got from initially riding it was immense.

I had no idea that Shawn rated The Smiler so highly when he first rode it, and no idea that he does not now. I think you might be looking too much in to people's opinions, especially the majority of those on TST!

:)
 
You are possibly right to an extent, but I do not think that is the case on here at all.

I remember really enjoying The Smiler when I first rode, to the extent that it was a toss up between it and Nemesis as my best coaster at Towers. Even since then The Smiler has got rougher and the jolts more pronounced; although it is possible to have an enjoyable ride on it I do not rate it all that well these days. But the thrill I got from initially riding it was immense.

I had no idea that Shawn rated The Smiler so highly when he first rode it, and no idea that he does not now. I think you might be looking too much in to people's opinions, especially the majority of those on TST!

:)

Perhaps :p

I think the maintenance of effects on WM will be key to ensuring it remains a fan favourite.

:)
 
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I voted Icon but to be honest both coasters are exactly the kind of rides that both parks needed. PB were desperate for a good new thrill coaster and towers really needed a decent family thrill ride.

Hopefully I will get to ride Wickerman tomorrow and really looking forward to it. It will be nice to experience a modern woody to see the difference between that and the much older woodies at PB.

Not so much looking forward to Smiler though! Far too much of one thing (loops) for my liking.
 
So... Icon had its boarding pass preview today, and I've personally come to the conclusion that both rides won the battle, but in different ways. I feel like Icon looks to be the better coaster, and many are lauding it as the UK's best coaster (a lot of those who rode this morning did, anyway.) However, I feel that Wicker Man looks to have the stronger overall experience, and many are lauding Wicker Man as the UK's best experience coaster. So I'd personally say that they've both topped the UK stakes in different ways. I would also presume that both will go down as huge successes for their respective parks.

2018 is already shaping up to be a brilliant year for UK coasters, in my opinion. Who'd have thought previously that we would get a GCI woodie and a Mack launch coaster (both ride types that many enthusiasts have wanted in Britain for a very long time) in one year? I would be keen to know your thoughts on the matter now that Icon is starting to have reviews flowing in.
P.S. Sorry for bumping the thread.
 
So... Icon had its boarding pass preview today, and I've personally come to the conclusion that both rides won the battle, but in different ways. I feel like Icon looks to be the better coaster, and many are lauding it as the UK's best coaster (a lot of those who rode this morning did, anyway.) However, I feel that Wicker Man looks to have the stronger overall experience, and many are lauding Wicker Man as the UK's best experience coaster. So I'd personally say that they've both topped the UK stakes in different ways. I would also presume that both will go down as huge successes for their respective parks.

2018 is already shaping up to be a brilliant year for UK coasters, in my opinion. Who'd have thought previously that we would get a GCI woodie and a Mack launch coaster (both ride types that many enthusiasts have wanted in Britain for a very long time) in one year? I would be keen to know your thoughts on the matter now that Icon is starting to have reviews flowing in.
P.S. Sorry for bumping the thread.

I totally agree, Two different and brilliant coasters opening in the same year, everyone wins really
 
In other shocking news, it has been announced that bears are Catholic, and the Pope defecates in wooded areas.
 
My sister lives in backwoods Vancouver.
I refuse to believe in Catholic popes defecating in the woods until I see stool samples and photographic evidence.
These are still to be provided, the theory has yet to be proved.
 
Huh it's almost like it really doesn't matter and people can prefer whatever they want or even like both!

Along the lines of one persons signature on here states....

"No point arguing on the internet, you've already lost."

something like that but this is damn true.
 
Having now done both rides, there's an easy conclusion as to who "won" this "battle".

We've been screaming out for a modern woodie in the UK, nevermind Towers for so long and we finally had one delivered. We've also gained the most varied and surprising coaster from a park that has long been overdue a modern thrill ride and they've done a fantastic job with it.

Two very solid and enjoyable roller coasters have opened in the country this year, each with their own merits and down sides. Whilst Icon suffers from tacky general appearances such as the turfing and the exterior station visuals, as well as the worst launch of any UK coaster, it has a great soundtrack, transitional pacing, surprising air time and will really benefit from the operations that thus far the team on it have been able to demonstrate they can match.

Wicker Man may not be the most exciting layout we were begging for and potentially could have had, however when it warms up and certainly at night, it's for the most part a very enjoyable ride experience. The theming is undoubtedly of a very different scale of anything we've seen from Merlin for some time with obvious care and attention to detail having been applied to the project.

But who or what is the real winner here?

The two rides are too different to effectively compare on paper so it's down to personal preference; but ultimately the real winner here is us as the riders. We've gained two experiences we struggled to believe we'd see in this country that cater for almost everybody. The only tragedy is that Drayton couldn't pull their plans together to put something else on the table.
 
I agree with everything that @Danny said above; they are both excellent in their own right.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Drayton originally due to get some sort of S&S launched family invert in 2018 until they allegedly cancelled it late on in the development stages?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Drayton originally due to get some sort of S&S launched family invert in 2018 until they allegedly cancelled it late on in the development stages?
They were indeed supposed to get some sort of new coaster this year, but I think they cancelled it in the wake of the tragic Rapids incident.
 
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