Alton Towers | Wicker Man | GCI Wood
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Matt N
CF Legend
I'm sure we'll have some ground level testing footage soon. That'll probably give a better idea of speed. And then we'll have a POV. And before you know it, we'll have a video of Robb Alvey on it screaming "WHEEE!!! TWISTY!!! TAKE THE TUNNEL!!!" or maybe even "TAKE THE WICKER MAN!!!" *shudders*
Bert2theSpark
Mega Poster
Robb has made his disgust for Wicker Man very clear and is critising everything about it. And he hasn't visited the park since 2005...
Matt N
CF Legend
I thought I read that he visited in 2010 for Thirteen? Or did I imagine that!
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
It's January and it's new. Coasters run slow in the cold. We won't know until it wears in and....
I dunno who I'm kidding, that is slow.
This ride belongs at Chessington with a theme appropriate to the obviously tame ride experience.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I dunno who I'm kidding, that is slow.
This ride belongs at Chessington with a theme appropriate to the obviously tame ride experience.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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CrashCoaster
CF Legend
So the testing footage has been deleted by Attraction Images, due to Alton Towers' request.
I hope someone has a backup of it...
I hope someone has a backup of it...
Lofty
CF Legend
Literally this.
Yeah, coasters do need to wear in and cold weather plays havoc with woodies, but, my god THAT was slow.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
I dunno if anyone else here has ridden, or even just paid attention to Invadr at Busch Williamsburg, but it really is the most mundane and uninteresting ride.
"But it's a family coaster." **** off. That isn't a legitimate excuse to be crap.
I'm a firm believer that target audience shouldn't matter. There are exceptions some smart arse is going to point out, but if you can all put on your gradient hats instead of the regular black and white ones for just a second and listen, that would be just awesome.
...Your target audience might be ...10 year olds, but if you create something of quality it might be most enjoyed by 10 year olds, but their parents and older siblings will enjoy it to.
With rides, the only legitimate boundary to a ride being accessible to all audiences are safety restrictions. There might be the odd case where you wanna make a rides theme inappropriate for a younger audience, but that should be (and is outside of Merlin ffs) a rare event.
Invadr isn't lame because it's a family ride, it's lame because it's not good.
There are plenty of people who aren't fans of GCI and I can understand why, but Lightning Racer and Thunderhead are some of my favourite rides.
I've been worried from the start that this is just Invadr... Only with an inappropriate theme. It wouldn't surprise me if it has a height restriction above necessity. It wouldn't surprise me if they market it to be adult and scary.
And then Wickerman's teen/adult target audience will come off it and go "that was lame, wooden coasters suck".
Also Invadr was like, rougher than other GCIs? Like, it's no Wildcat at Herhsey, but it wasn't smooth and sweeping like they usually are. Seems like they've got a consistency problem and cannot do anything outside of their bubble.
Wickerman isn't going to be amazing. Like, that much is plain as day. At this point we can still hope and even expect it to be a welcomed difference in Alton's lineup. But... I feel like I've been doing this now for long enough to look at that and turn my nose up. But I'll admit if I'm wrong and end up loving it.
I haven't been paying much attention to the construction of this, but does it have trims anywhere? Is there a chance they're on for testing? Clinging to hope. And I guess, if it's as rough as Invadr, maybe the slowness will be a blessing lol. :/
There's just so many problems with this thing that I don't even know what to make of it really. We finally get a woodie and it's little and lame. It's got another dark theme, but it's clearly a family ride. It's got a eh layout and runs it slow. The theme is the only thing I'm on board with - what a cool, Alton appropriate concept, but whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy is it so at odds with the damn ride. It;s as if they don't know it's going to be tame and lame... Or it's as if tame and lame is all they can get, for whatever reason? Is it the fault of the actual manufacturer designers not being able or creative enough to make a quality layout within Alton's constraints of budget and height etc? Is it Merlin's fault for not having budget to dig or whatever? WHAT is the problem here?
"But it's a family coaster." **** off. That isn't a legitimate excuse to be crap.
I'm a firm believer that target audience shouldn't matter. There are exceptions some smart arse is going to point out, but if you can all put on your gradient hats instead of the regular black and white ones for just a second and listen, that would be just awesome.
...Your target audience might be ...10 year olds, but if you create something of quality it might be most enjoyed by 10 year olds, but their parents and older siblings will enjoy it to.
With rides, the only legitimate boundary to a ride being accessible to all audiences are safety restrictions. There might be the odd case where you wanna make a rides theme inappropriate for a younger audience, but that should be (and is outside of Merlin ffs) a rare event.
Invadr isn't lame because it's a family ride, it's lame because it's not good.
There are plenty of people who aren't fans of GCI and I can understand why, but Lightning Racer and Thunderhead are some of my favourite rides.
I've been worried from the start that this is just Invadr... Only with an inappropriate theme. It wouldn't surprise me if it has a height restriction above necessity. It wouldn't surprise me if they market it to be adult and scary.
And then Wickerman's teen/adult target audience will come off it and go "that was lame, wooden coasters suck".
Also Invadr was like, rougher than other GCIs? Like, it's no Wildcat at Herhsey, but it wasn't smooth and sweeping like they usually are. Seems like they've got a consistency problem and cannot do anything outside of their bubble.
Wickerman isn't going to be amazing. Like, that much is plain as day. At this point we can still hope and even expect it to be a welcomed difference in Alton's lineup. But... I feel like I've been doing this now for long enough to look at that and turn my nose up. But I'll admit if I'm wrong and end up loving it.
I haven't been paying much attention to the construction of this, but does it have trims anywhere? Is there a chance they're on for testing? Clinging to hope. And I guess, if it's as rough as Invadr, maybe the slowness will be a blessing lol. :/
There's just so many problems with this thing that I don't even know what to make of it really. We finally get a woodie and it's little and lame. It's got another dark theme, but it's clearly a family ride. It's got a eh layout and runs it slow. The theme is the only thing I'm on board with - what a cool, Alton appropriate concept, but whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy is it so at odds with the damn ride. It;s as if they don't know it's going to be tame and lame... Or it's as if tame and lame is all they can get, for whatever reason? Is it the fault of the actual manufacturer designers not being able or creative enough to make a quality layout within Alton's constraints of budget and height etc? Is it Merlin's fault for not having budget to dig or whatever? WHAT is the problem here?
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Mysterious Sue
Strata Poster
The voice of reason as ever @Joey.
I've wondered from the start if fear inherited from the Smiler has made them cautious. Like, the creatives on this project had a clear idea of what they wanted and both the idea and themed elements are great. But then, those in charge of comissioning the actual ride have reined the whole thing in.
Surely GCI would have had a discussion with Alton that involved them choosing between a traditional drop vs the neutered drop we got? OR Alton specifically went to GCI with a request for a neutered ride. It seems to me this is all from Alton not GCI.
I've wondered from the start if fear inherited from the Smiler has made them cautious. Like, the creatives on this project had a clear idea of what they wanted and both the idea and themed elements are great. But then, those in charge of comissioning the actual ride have reined the whole thing in.
Surely GCI would have had a discussion with Alton that involved them choosing between a traditional drop vs the neutered drop we got? OR Alton specifically went to GCI with a request for a neutered ride. It seems to me this is all from Alton not GCI.
Bert2theSpark
Mega Poster
At least the first part of the ride looks good.
And the ride still looks faster than some pars Galactica and Thirteen. I don't see why this coaster will be bad, The actual ride will be decent, But nothing overwhelming at least the theming looks great on this and there will be some great headchoppers.
And the ride still looks faster than some pars Galactica and Thirteen. I don't see why this coaster will be bad, The actual ride will be decent, But nothing overwhelming at least the theming looks great on this and there will be some great headchoppers.
Sandman
Giga Poster
It won't be the worst ride in the world, sure. Won't even be the worst woodie in the UK. If Drayton, Lightwater, Oakwood etc came out with this project, the pessimism wouldn't exist. For parks of those size and calibre, this would be very impressive. But this is Alton Towers, and they can afford to take risks, be bold, and more inventive than a GCI family coaster masquerading as a dark, brooding thrill machine. Fair enough if it was a one-off, but we've seen all this **** with Thi13teen and we'll probably see it again in the future.
Just the thought of queueing for this is already offputting. I guess the redeeming point is that it looks quite nice, but I think wood was always going to suit the natural landscape of Towers.
Just the thought of queueing for this is already offputting. I guess the redeeming point is that it looks quite nice, but I think wood was always going to suit the natural landscape of Towers.
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
Off topic, but I'm sure there was a thread about SW9 that either got locked or deleted. It would be nice to start speculating.