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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

ihaveaspergers said:
Personally it reads as if someone is jealous they didn't get a press preview invite!

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Maybe that is actually what they think, though. People said the same regarding Shawn Sanbrooke's review of TWD:TR at Thorpe Park, but I think that was exactly what he thought, myself.
 
It's hard to say now if something is to do with New Coaster or a genuine like for the ride.

We can obviously give it time but I think it's safe to say Wicker Man will be on the upper echelons of UK rides rather than the bottom.
 
I think it might have partially helped that a lot of people thought that this was going to be utterly abysmal from the day it was announced. I think I was one of the few that didn't.

For me, I'd say it was a genuine like for the ride!
 
Matt N said:
Maybe that is actually what they think, though. People said the same regarding Shawn Sanbrooke's review of TWD:TR at Thorpe Park, but I think that was exactly what he thought, myself.
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And I guess this links to people's expectations. I have extremely low expectations for TWD:TR because it's still just X.

TWD is different because it's just a fancy retheme.

I don't find any sense though on being negative. I'd much rather focus on what I did like about WM than what I didn't and I think the list for the former is much longer.
 
Yalnix said:
I don't find any sense though on being negative. I'd much rather focus on what I did like about WM than what I didn't and I think the list for the former is much longer.
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I agree! Wicker Man is a fantastic coaster that really surprised me; I certainly didn't expect it to be my favourite wooden coaster out of it and Megafobia! It was great fun, with a couple of great pops of airtime, and it was actually pretty intense! My 3rd favourite coaster at Towers and my 9th favourite coaster overall (out of 40)! The overall experience and the theming are also second to none when compared to the other coasters at Towers, and even other coasters in the UK!
 
I rode it once when it soft opened. Loved it.

Only thing is, i've been back since and was unwilling to join the two hour queue because of the likelihood of a breakdown.

Can't wait until it's sorted, i'll be on it again then
 
I suspect for most people the ride itself will settle into the middle of the pack in terms of track and train. It benefits from the severe lack of high quality wooden coasters in the U.K. so it gives a unique experience for a lot of riders.

For me it is a very competent coaster, I was mostly impressed with the theming which I really liked, particularly the station, preshow and wickerman.
 
The ride is what you make of it, I enjoyed it, it was a lot faster than I expected and I loved the out of control feel, for me it was rough but that's just me being used to B&M smoothness too much and forgetting how rattly woodies are supposed to be (certainly a lot smoother than some of BPB's offerings).

I did go in with low expectations though, that might have helped, the pre-show I can do without but unfortunately 'shows' seem a necessary evil nowadays. I did early on in construction suspect it was going to be better than it appeared because of the height of the hill it was built on, but was still pleasantly surprised, I'd even go as far as suspecting the ride may well be on par with Icon.
 
I think both Icon and WM will provide much different experiences. I think they will both be awesome but for me I am much more into Wicker Man's style.

I feel like a lot of negative reviews are coming from people who don't dig Woodies as much, which is fine.
 
Smiler Opens - Best Thing Ever!

Smiler end of 2013 - Jeez that thing is rough!


Thirteen Opens - Worst big coaster ever!

Thirteen end of 2010 - It's quite good actually!


Think it's quite harsh to put on a belief that anyone who is negative about something is annoyed they didn't get invited to the press day... Knowing the person who did that report/review, they'd find such an statement quite funny really...
 
Thats a good comparison @Benzin . I think the success of a ride is how often people get off and think, I want to do that again. As JW said himself, you can have the most biggest, scariest ride in the world, but if people dont want to go on it again, then it has failed. This is partly true with the Smiler. Its not the sort of ride the majority of people come off and head back into the queue line to ride again.

Nemesis is so successful because the majority of people get off and say "omg, lets do that again". I think Wickerman will be the same, and Thirteen is definately the same especially in terms of the age bracket it was designed for. The great thing with Wickerman and Nemesis is that you get a totally different ride experience depending where you sit on the train, so you can also vary it up a bit.
 
GaryH said:
The great thing with Wickerman and Nemesis is that you get a totally different ride experience depending where you sit on the train, so you can also vary it up a bit.
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Unfortunately the difference is pretty much any seat is great on Nemesis, particularly the front and back. With WM, it's literally only the back. Anywhere forward of the last 3 rows and the experience is pretty mediocre.
 
Alastair said:
Unfortunately the difference is pretty much any seat is great on Nemesis, particularly the front and back. With WM, it's literally only the back. Anywhere forward of the last 3 rows and the experience is pretty mediocre.
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I got a really awesome ride on Row 7 yesterday. Admittedly it was one of the three last trains of the day and it had been raining (Can't remember if that's for better or for worse) and it was just as good as the back row. Front is obviously the worst choice but I still wouldn't say mediocre personally. More either a good ride like a solid 6/10 and a great one like a solid 7.5 or 8/10.

GaryH said:
Thats a good comparison @Benzin . I think the success of a ride is how often people get off and think, I want to do that again. As JW said himself, you can have the most biggest, scariest ride in the world, but if people dont want to go on it again, then it has failed. This is partly true with the Smiler. Its not the sort of ride the majority of people come off and head back into the queue line to ride again.

Nemesis is so successful because the majority of people get off and say "omg, lets do that again". I think Wickerman will be the same, and Thirteen is definately the same especially in terms of the age bracket it was designed for. The great thing with Wickerman and Nemesis is that you get a totally different ride experience depending where you sit on the train, so you can also vary it up a bit.
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Very true. WM is very re-ridable where The Smiler I just wouldn't do again until much later
 
Well, rain makes coasters go faster, so it depends whether you like the increased speed or not.
Especially on wooden coasters, as the combination of water and oil reduces friction further.
 
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