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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

I imagine the manufacturer would have been consulted during the design and build as to any impact that the water effects would have on the ride. Both from a maintenance and H&S perspective.
 
I think any suggestion that GCI used sub-standard (or not treated correctly) timber on the ride is rubbish.

GCI have 26 operating wooden rides, 7 of which are in European countries - of these countries, they are all in northern Europe, so with climates not dissimilar to the UK. In the case of Thunderbird at Powerland (Finland) the ride will be exposed to the Finnish winter weather, which can be pretty harsh - certainly makes the few inches of snow that drives the UK to a halt look like nothing.

Then you have rides like White Lightning (Fun Spot USA, Florida). The Florida climate can be incredibly hot, humid and very wet - when you get a Florida afternoon downpour in the summer you know about it - and they can go on for hours. Winter weather in Florida can also fall below freezing too (doesn't happen often, but snow is not unheard of).

I would suggest that if - and I use the word IF - Wicker Man is having major work done on it this closed season it would relate to a design issue, as opposed to sub-standard materials used in the construction.

Also bear in mind this could be closed season speculation as people are bored (even more so with the lock-down). GCI build good coasters & Towers researched Wicker Man by visiting Europa Park to see & ride Wodan. I cannot see a park operator like Mack (owners of Europa Park) holding back too much on comments if they felt GCI had sold them a dud ride (Wodan would have been running for about 2 years when Towers visited). Mack / Europa Park like their rides to run like clockwork with German efficiency. Visit Europa Park and you will see very little ride downtime when compared to a Merlin park in the UK.
 
I’ve got a suggestion; GCI have recently started publicising their steel track product, known as Titan Track, a lot more recently, and one of the uses for it is said to be “refurbishment of existing GCI rides, including in high-stress sections”.

So what I’m suggesting is; could Alton Towers possibly be putting Titan Track onto the problematic section(s)? Would certainly explain the alleged 7-figure price tag...
 
Matt878787 said:
What happens if it’s a manufacturing fault? Do they not have a warranty? Genuine question, I don’t have a clue how this works.
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Yes, if its proven to be a fault and ride teething problems then the manufacturer will cover cost.

But if this was the best option that GCI could deliver given the budget (say if a less durable material had to be used or there was no budget/time to redesign aspects in the later stage) then Merlin would have been offered the option. So Merlin would have instructed to go with the budget option themselves, knowing that it may result in maintenance problems arising quicker down the line.

But the fact is nobody knows what might be causing any issues, this is all totally hypothetical
 
Matt N said:
I’ve got a suggestion; GCI have recently started publicising their steel track product, known as Titan Track, a lot more recently, and one of the uses for it is said to be “refurbishment of existing GCI rides, including in high-stress sections”.

So what I’m suggesting is; could Alton Towers possibly be putting Titan Track onto the problematic section(s)? Would certainly explain the alleged 7-figure price tag...
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That is very likely indeed, but we'll have to wait and see. :)
 
7 figures to rectify and issue? Over £1m - don’t think so some how. If that were the case surely it would be a major issue causing significant down time ?
 
Out of interest, has anyone heard anything else about this alleged major work that Wicker Man was supposed to have had done this off-season?

I’ll be intrigued to see whether it rides any differently at the start of this season to how it apparently did at the end of last season...
 
Matt N said:
Out of interest, has anyone heard anything else about this alleged major work that Wicker Man was supposed to have had done this off-season?

I’ll be intrigued to see whether it rides any differently at the start of this season to how it apparently did at the end of last season...
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It's been sorted out apparently. Whether that means it's running better we'll find out. They did work on it multiple times last season but weirdly it got worse
 
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