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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

RoyJess said:
:tearsofjoy:

Merlin thinking

Busy season = The cuts didn't deter guest, so let's make some more cuts next season :rolleyes:
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Precisely, its been a margin protecting game as it has been the last few years. Guest numbers matter very little, as long as they go up a bit (which they inevitably will) and margin increases by even more then they are fully vindicated.

It's the short termism we've been talking about all winter. Race to the Bottom.
 
RoyJess said:
Only at the beginning of the month that Merlin were boasting record visitor numbers, however we were still hit with cuts :rolleyes:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/busines...boss-has-short-shrift-critics-record-visitor/

They no longer care about guest satisfaction, all they care about is keeping the shareholders happy.
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That's expected tactical "talk up" nonsense in that article, wouldn't expect any less from any serving CEO. Worth noting that the share price has not fully recovered (it closed at merely 349.50 on Friday). "Record" visitor numbers, which include the ongoing success of the Legoland brand, also hides the death by 1000 cuts the likes of Towers are suffering, today we clearly saw that strategy in action.

Today is exactly the reason I stand by the view that the "crash" excuse is over exaggerated. Operating cut backs are what are hurting the park now more than 2015's chip paper.
 
Just got back to my hotel in Splash after riding Wicker Man at 8:00PM.

It’s hard to fairly discuss my feelings on the ride; it’s new, so there’s always that risk of looking at something with rose-tinted glasses.

As a coaster, Wicker Man is good. It’s not the most thrilling woodie in the world, so nobody should go in expecting the next Wodan or Troy.

But it doesn’t set out to be the next Wodan or Troy. And that’s evident by looking at the overall package. From the atmospheric soundtrack, to the surprisingly decent pre-show, it’s done with the kind of quality you wouldn’t expect from Merlin.

But the Wicker Man statue is easily the most impressive part of the ride. During the day it looks imposing, but at night it really comes into its own. I can’t think of a single piece of theming that’s as integral to any ride as the Wicker Man. Without it, you’d be looking at a fun family woodie. But what we get is something truly special.

And it’s very hard to even compare Wicker Man to any other wooden coaster I’ve done for that reason. Whilst I prefer Wodan (it’s one of my top coasters for so many reasons), I came off it genuinely not sure if I preferred Troy over Wicker Man. The former is more thrilling, but the latter is the more complete experience.

It feels like the most high-quality attraction Alton Towers has built since Oblivion. It needs to be experienced to truly understand what’s so special about it.
 
AshleeKel said:
Just got back to my hotel in Splash after riding Wicker Man at 8:00PM.

It’s hard to fairly discuss my feelings on the ride; it’s new, so there’s always that risk of looking at something with rose-tinted glasses.

As a coaster, Wicker Man is good. It’s not the most thrilling woodie in the world, so nobody should go in expecting the next Wodan or Troy.

But it doesn’t set out to be the next Wodan or Troy. And that’s evident by looking at the overall package. From the atmospheric soundtrack, to the surprisingly decent pre-show, it’s done with the kind of quality you wouldn’t expect from Merlin.

But the Wicker Man statue is easily the most impressive part of the ride. During the day it looks imposing, but at night it really comes into its own. I can’t think of a single piece of theming that’s as integral to any ride as the Wicker Man. Without it, you’d be looking at a fun family woodie. But what we get is something truly special.

And it’s very hard to even compare Wicker Man to any other wooden coaster I’ve done for that reason. Whilst I prefer Wodan (it’s one of my top coasters for so many reasons), I came off it genuinely not sure if I preferred Troy over Wicker Man. The former is more thrilling, but the latter is the more complete experience.

It feels like the most high-quality attraction Alton Towers has built since Oblivion. It needs to be experienced to truly understand what’s so special about it.
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Great summary tbh. It's one hell of huge step forwards for the park. Just hope it gets over these teething issues quickly.
 
I thought the coaster would be good quite early on in the project, especially when I saw the first drop. Haven’t been on it yet but I’m liking the responses, even from the realists and skeptics. Glad that for once I could be optimistic and pleased about SOMETHING in the era of cuts. I Look forward to riding in the future sometime :)
 
Sauron97 said:
I thought the coaster would be good quite early on in the project, especially when I saw the first drop. Haven’t been on it yet but I’m liking the responses, even from the realists and skeptics. Glad that for once I could be optimistic and pleased about SOMETHING in the era of cuts. I Look forward to riding in the future sometime :)
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I like to think I fall into the realist and skeptic buckets and I can tell you, for me, this attraction is like a flower that grew from a pot of dirt. It's not an overwhelmingly good coaster, but is a surprisingly good quality experience. The rest of the park is embarrassing in comparison aside from some of the TLC work.
 
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Really enjoyed both rides on Wicker Man today. It's obvious how much it warms up as the day progresses, and that's based on the fact it wasn't even running for the entire duration of the operational hours. The second ride on back row at night is one of the most enjoyable ride experiences I've had, not just exclusively at Towers but across all parks.

It's a solid, stunningly themed ride which is quite simply, fun with plenty of re-rideability. No it isn't as mindblowing as the likes of GCI's across the pond or on the continent, but the efforts have clearly been invested into designing an all round immersive experience rather than just focusing on the coaster. Sure, it isn't perfect (ie, the still visible concrete on the station to lift hill drop, and the spoilery nature of the pre-show by standing right at the very front before it starts), but it's easily one of the most fine-tuned experiences Merlin have to put into any of their parks.

Hats off to the management for keeping the ride open well past ride close, and not going down a similar route to The Smiler's opening day of closing the queue well before ride close. Whilst the communication was poor during the ride's initial downtime this morning, a combined 7 hours of queuing today lead to 2 very enjoyable rides. I won't be queuing that long for it ever again mind you, but at least it was justified by the end of the night!

Please, please, please, keep these standards up in terms of experience and theming for future projects and not just a one hit wonder.
 
Was late so missed the worst of the issues, finally rode at 8. It's really good and will only get better as it beds in. I remember this time last year struggling to care about it at all, expectations well and truly exceeded, really happy with it as a package and experience. At the core it's a decent little coaster but with everything else it comes together really well. It's not perfect but it is brilliant. Towers needed to get this coaster right and they really have.
 
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Didn't seem to be a parking issue, seemed more to be with restraints or supposedly overspeeding? It's been running fine over the past week on the soft openings so it's a shame that it had to be plagued with all the hitches today. I have every faith they'll be working on it overnight to get it solved, but they really can't afford to run it on reduced capacity going into the Easter holidays. The throughput was bouncing at around 300-500 guests at certain points today.
 
matthewgcole said:
I like to think I fall into the realist and skeptic buckets and I can tell you, for me, this attraction is like a flower that grew from a pot of dirt. It's not an overwhelmingly good coaster, but is a surprisingly good quality experience. The rest of the park is embarrassing in comparison aside from some of the TLC work.
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Agree absolutely. The attraction is a good use of smoke and mirrors. Makes the park look like it's having piles of money thrown at it, when the truth is far from this. I personally don't like to be too skeptical, but recently I've just felt as though I've been forced to, which is why I see skeptics as realists. I just can't stand that business ruining an industry that should be competing with the Germans.
Anyhow, glad you guys have enjoyed Wickerman, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it too :) I think we should all keep an eye on social media to see how the GP receive it and whether the marketing has worked.
 
It’s fair to say yesterday was an omnishambles for the rides official (again) opening. Was hard not to feel a little sorry for the park really. Will start with the bad.

GCI - Considering they have built a fair few coasters that appear to be solidly dependable rides it has to be assumed that they have completely dropped the ball on this one. The thing seems to have issues with registering locked restraints and over speeding into the station. This resulted in them running the trains only half full and a lot of down time resulting in hyper inflated queue times. To be fair to Towers (who will get all of the blame from the public) they extended ride close and kept the thing running until 8.30pm to get everyone through the ride.

The ride:

The area theming immediately around the entrance gives a good vibe as you approach, the entrance is impressive and the wickerman is obviously the star of the show. The queue works it’s way around the ride perimeter very much like Nemesis does, giving great views of the coaster. What theming is there is solid (and certainly more than we have had in a long time) but if I’m honest I would have liked a little more dotted around. The smoke and misters add to the atmosphere of the area so it has to be hoped these don’t get cut.

The batching area is very well themed and the preshow is very well done and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. Station is possible one of the best themed I have seen in a long time, shame there is no front row (and back row) queues.

The ride itself, first time I went on left me a little cold, the second drop was certainly a highlight but being in a middle row the rest felt a little forceless. The train was half empty and it hadn’t been running long but I didn’t come off grinning ear-to-ear. Second ride however was at the end of the day and further to the front and I have to say was much much more fun, it’s not an airtime machine but had that out-and-out craziness you expect from a good woody. Certainly the ride has the potential as it warms up to improve a lot. It is however and always will be very very short.

Overall it’s the best complete product to go into the park since Hex and that is certainly a good thing.
 
Yalnix said:
How far is it to the station from the shop?
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We asked the guy at the shop “Oh 40-50 mins” hour n 15 mins later at the preshow.

Ok so I’ve slated yesterday’s operations pin pointing it at incompetence and naivety, stating it to be the official opening blah blah blah but not preparing other rides to the absolute potential.
That aside! I thought “F it” and got in the queue at 17:45, got on the ride around 19:45 on front row.
Let me tell you this, that ride in the dark, absolutely craps over any other ride there.
The fire, that soundtrack! I actually thought it was some kind of ritual we were witnessing as whilst watching the wickerman burning, it was frighteningly immersive.
If anyone is there today, wait till the very end before the queue line shuts and try and get a night time ride, it’s damn worth it.

For me the highlight is that soundtrack booming over whilst witnessing the flames bursting out of the statue.
The ride is brilliant in the dark, but during the day, a tad of that immersivness is taken away.
 
Just walked the dog, wearing the jacket I wore two days before on Mr Whicker.
Because of the constant mini closures, we lingered in the smoke and chemical smell for long periods of time.
Definite whiff of Mr Whickers stinky bits lingering on my jacket.
Free souvenir...surprised Merlin didn't charge me on the exit platform.

And...with all the breakdowns, the pre show room is going to be picked clean by lots of greedy souvenir picking fingers.
Nothing left by summer!
 
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