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Alton Towers | Wicker Man | GCI Wood

ATI said:
^It was a GCI though... and it had Millennium Flyer trains.
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Just because it's a GCI doesn't mean it's the second coming of Jesus. To be honest, Saw is a better investment than this (the Canada Creek woodie) most likely would have been.
 
spicy said:
But a massive piece of poop GCI is still better than a Eurofighter.
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^ In terms of marketing the coaster though? It's really not.

Saw has quite a few assets to market. Vertical lift, beyond vertical drop, record for steepest freefall drop, multiple inversions, and a popular intellectual property. How would you go about marketing the GCI with the same impact? Yeah, it's made of wood... There's nothing else that remarkable about it really.I'm not saying the GCI would have been a bad coaster, but I'm certain that the Eurofighter was a far better investment for the park. Besides... We've seen how good Merlin are at looking after their wooden coasters with the current Colossos issue... I can't imagine the GCI would last much longer than a Eurofighter at Thorpe Park.
 
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Hi guys. I'm new here. I just wanted to say that I am cautiously optimistic about this attraction. I know it's only going to be a family coaster, but I'm still cautiously optimistic. I attempted to recreate the layout in Planet Coaster, and it actually looked to keep a decent pace of above 35mph for the whole layout apart from the very end, and that was only because I built the station way too high! Can't wait for March 2018!
 
Ethan said:
To be fair, Abyss came a fair few years after Saw, so I don't think we can hold that against Merlin and their originality as at the time of opening, it was one of a kind.
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But her statement of 'are one of a kind' was written in 2017, not 2009, so that's moot.
 
^ True, I get your point, and technically her point is incorrect. I still don't think Saw should be seen as less imaginative because a park on the other side of the planet wanted to rip it off!
 
Saw is based on pre-existing ideas with regard to the theming/visual elements, so I would say it's not that imaginative. I also think Eurofighters are one of the least imaginative coaster types out there in terms of layout and elements. It's not total ****, for sure, but it isn't a work of art or anything close to pioneering.
 
Sandman said:
Saw is based on pre-existing ideas with regard to the theming/visual elements, so I would say it's not that imaginative. I also think Eurofighters are one of the least imaginative coaster types out there in terms of layout and elements. It's not total :emoji_poop:, for sure, but it isn't a work of art or anything close to pioneering.
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Yes, Saw uses assets from the original property, as does every attraction based on an external IP. And whilst I agree that nothing about Saw is pioneering, I'd say it's a lot more interesting than a mediocre looking wooden coaster, which was the original discussion point. Whilst I'm sure the GCI would have been fun, it would have been a lot more difficult to market, and I very much doubt the park would have had anywhere near as much success with it as they did with the Eurofighter.

Which is why I was pretty surprised when the plans for SW8 were released. It looks like a decent enough coaster, but with nothing particularly special about it from what we can see so far, it'll be interesting to see how successful it is for the park. I'm not saying all coasters need gimmicks to be good experiences and successful, but it's evidence that taglines and gimmicks often go down well.
 
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I wasn't really commenting on whether the woodie would have been more successful than Saw, I just wanted to bash Saw :p

But to be fair, I think the success (or failure) of SW8 comes down to the marketing and not so much the ride. Firstly, why is this even a Secret Weapon? Is the definition of Secret Weapon basically just 'new major investment' now? I think this immediately puts them on the wrong footing with the usually loyal enthusiasts. At least with Thirteen, it had the whole 'world first' thing, which fits into the SW bracket. This is just a family wooden coaster which has the potential to be 'moderately fun'. Then there's the theme and snippets of marketing. It's clearly not suited to a ride of this size. Maybe the ride will be fun and the theme will be fantastic, highly detailed and "immersive". But it still just seems a bit mismatched? It's the equivalent of a horror film that uses all the scariest bits in the trailer to make it look more extreme and graphic.

Look at Oblivion. Perfect marketing really. Build you up, tease you and make you focus on one moment of terror. Then that terror is delivered quite literally. This Wicker stuff is actually pretty dark material, yet at the end you're going to ride a family ****ing GCI. Nonsensical stuff to me.
 
Sandman said:
I wasn't really commenting on whether the woodie would have been more successful than Saw, I just wanted to bash Saw :p

But to be fair, I think the success (or failure) of SW8 comes down to the marketing and not so much the ride. Firstly, why is this even a Secret Weapon? Is the definition of Secret Weapon basically just 'new major investment' now? I think this immediately puts them on the wrong footing with the usually loyal enthusiasts. At least with Thirteen, it had the whole 'world first' thing, which fits into the SW bracket. This is just a family wooden coaster which has the potential to be 'moderately fun'. Then there's the theme and snippets of marketing. It's clearly not suited to a ride of this size. Maybe the ride will be fun and the theme will be fantastic, highly detailed and "immersive". But it still just seems a bit mismatched? It's the equivalent of a horror film that uses all the scariest bits in the trailer to make it look more extreme and graphic.

Look at Oblivion. Perfect marketing really. Build you up, tease you and make you focus on one moment of terror. Then that terror is delivered quite literally. This Wicker stuff is actually pretty dark material, yet at the end you're going to ride a family :emoji_zipper_mouth:ing GCI. Nonsensical stuff to me.
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I guess Alton want a good return on any roller coaster they spend a lot on, be it because the ride is actually good or because it's ok themed / highly marketed. They know if they use "SW" they'll pique the interest of the enthusiasts, whether it's a good ride or a bad ride. Many will still go there, despite it being disappointing in their eyes. It also gives a good way for the newspapers to publicize it before they actually release the name of the ride, which of course maximizes profits. After all, it is Merlin.
 
Efan said:
I guess Alton want a good return on any roller coaster they spend a lot on, be it because the ride is actually good or because it's ok themed / highly marketed. They know if they use "SW" they'll pique the interest of the enthusiasts, whether it's a good ride or a bad ride. Many will still go there, despite it being disappointing in their eyes. It also gives a good way for the newspapers to publicize it before they actually release the name of the ride, which of course maximizes profits. After all, it is Merlin.
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But what baffles me and probably others is - why muddy the waters with a mature horror theme? If this coaster is an attempt to draw in the thrillseekers, then why wouldn't they build a coaster clearly designed for thrillseekers? They could have gone for something more cost effective and 'GP friendly' than this. Something that looks good to your average joe... I can't imagine teenagers/adults salivating over a 50ft (guess) woodie at Towers after The Smiler. And if they are actually aiming to please a family market then why go for this theme? Maybe I'm missing a trick here, but wouldn't Merlin gain more in the long term by going for a theme that caters to a wider family audience? I would have thought that was the safest bet, this seems riskier? Just trying to understand from a business point of view, I guess.
 
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