Afterburner Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 As long as it has Christopher Lee and not Nicholas Cage. Hey, the Nic Cage Wicker Man is comedy gold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1aflack Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 This is just going to be a very solid family, low thrill coaster with a 1.2m height restriction so similar to Thirteen or Paultons new suspended coaster. Which the park need pretty badly. The theme is just to make the ride to a wider base of people than just families. The dark theme will appeal to adults and teens and the fact my 6 year old can ride what she thinks is a big adult ride appeals my daughter very much. The fact the park has 3 nice coasters for the under 1.2m market now I realise isnt that important to the enthusiast but as a dad to a 6 and 3 year old is a draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coasternerd3 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Sounds like a bad idea to fuse wood with fire. Combustion is a chemical reaction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterInk Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 At least it's not themed to fire with the addition of saws... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 When I first saw this announcement I got overly excited that Iron Maiden was involved with the theme of the ride, I was sorely let down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shut It Down Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I’m definitely intrigued to see the on ride and off ride footage of this ride. It definitely looks like they are spending a lot of money on the Wicker Man effect and I hope it doesn’t disappoint. I like the effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Kane Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Gotta applaud a coaster named The Wicker Man! Ah, if only Christopher Lee was around to inaugurate it! (Hope the ride offers as many chills as the original flick did!) Alice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 What it's missing is an animatronic "sacrifice" screaming in (burning) agony, as the coaster plows through the WM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSum1_55 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 ^^Persobally, I would much rather have Nicholas Cage inaugurate this ride. No, scratch that. Instead of a Wicker Statue, I want a giant statue of Nicholas Cage that spews fire. And audio recordings of him during the ride. (Nooo! Not the bees!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 This is just going to be a very solid family, low thrill coaster with a 1.2m height restriction so similar to Thirteen or Paultons new suspended coaster. Which the park need pretty badly. While I do not disagree with this, my issue comes more in how it's being presented. Just like Thirteen, when you watch their preview videos this ride comes off as a BAD ASS OMFG I AM GOING DIE ride appealing to hard-core thrill seekers. Remember Thirteen when they said certain ages couldn't ride it and called it most the psychologically thrilling ride in the world or something like that? It's exactly the reason why I personally gave Thirteen such a poor review the first time we rode it. Not because it was that bad of a ride, but because it was hyped up to be the coaster that was going to fuck-you-up for life! And guess what? It was a giant Roller Skater with a drop track. Had they just come out and said "Thirteen is going to be a really awesome family coaster" then I would have been "okay" with it. But when they actually said old people can't ride it, when it turns out that it's a ride that old people SHOULD be riding with their grandkids...I dunno. Just put me in the camp that makes me think that the marketing side of things just don't line up with the actual rides they are building, and I take issue with that. Just come clean and tell people what the ride is... "A family wooden roller coaster that will be solid, fun, but not overly insane and most people will probably LIKE it, but not if they think it's going to be more insane that Nemesis, Air, Similar or Oblivion, because it's not that at all." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudtheWeiser Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I give it a month before the fire effect fails and Merlin give up bothering to fix it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeCrafter264 Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I'm not here to say Robb that I disagree with you. I know the marketing is frustrating and often over-exaggerates everything but you know something, this tactic works. Th13teen allowed the park's attendance to increase to some of the highest levels in recent years and WICKER MAN has certainly created a buzz on social media, with the fire. Physiologically, it's perfect marketing mixing wood and fire, to play on people's fears and if it works, it could be stunning and scary. As John Wardley said at the TTSP@15 event this year, "It's going to be a super ride. It's very different, different to anything else at Alton Towers." Maybe it's not going to be the most super scary thing ever, but shouldn't riding coasters be about having fun? Wicker Man is going to be a solid addition, adding an extra coaster to the already superb collection of coasters at the Alton Towers Resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I'm not here to say Robb that I disagree with you. I know the marketing is frustrating and often over-exaggerates everything but you know something, this tactic works. Th13teen allowed the park's attendance to increase to some of the highest levels in recent years But that increase only lasted a year. By 2011 it was back down to the same level as 2009, and by 2012 it was even lower still. If a park spends millions on a new coaster, they would surely want more from it than just a 3% increase for a single year? Thirteen doesn't seem like a very good ROI to me. If a 3% increase for a single year is evidence that this tactic works, then what about all the other parks that don't employ this tactic and still get an increase of 3% or more? What about Europa Park which has seen a steady increase in attendance year-on-year? Maybe it's not going to be the most super scary thing ever, but shouldn't riding coasters be about having fun? Exactly, and that's what everybody is saying; it will be a fun ride, just like Thirteen is a fun ride. But 'fun' is not the message coming from marketing. Every time Alton Towers or Merlin lie and make up some dubious 'world first' claim, it just stinks of them having no confidence in their own product. The park did a poll of what coasters were people's favourites in 2010. Despite the fact it was new, and despite the hype, Thirteen came bottom and Nemesis came top. To me that sounds like the symptoms of an overhyped ride. I hope none of this comes across as rude, it's all meant in the nicest possible way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) I'm not here to say Robb that I disagree with you. I know the marketing is frustrating and often over-exaggerates everything but you know something, this tactic works. If getting guests to come in the gate by making false promises about a ride that doesn't actually deliver them is what "works" for the British market then all I have to say to that is Brits have become just as dumb as Americans, which is depressing. Clearly when you see reviews like this posted online... You're not doing any service to satisfying the expectations of your guests...unless your guests expect that everything you tell them is going to be bullshit. Edited January 11, 2018 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOODBOXCREATIVE Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 looks Like Burning Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOODBOXCREATIVE Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Wicker Man / Burning Man. Same thing...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbt Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Someone on Reddit managed to get a pretty decent picture of the ride from up close. Regardless of how it rides, this thing is going to look spectacular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoinItForTheFame Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Holy That looks amazing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Looks good, there. Very impressive. But...all that wood + all that (supposed) fire = ? Hopefully, no sudden 'flare ups'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 This is not supposed to come across as backseat anything but I'm genuinely curious why they went with this I.P? I mean is the wicker man that well known? It's been mentioned here a lot about how Thirteen is wrongly marketed but it feels the same here. Are there die-hard Wicker Man fans out there that will hop a plane for this? The park built on local legends with Hex and, even if it wasn't too well received, built into their own Nemesis lore with the short-lived Sub Terra ride. The only thing I can think of is for this "world's first" with the fire and wood, but being in the section of the park called the Haunted Woods, couldn't they have built their own little story like the previous rides, have a similar structure around a flaming tree, with a more family-ish orientated horror theme and skipped on the costs of paying for an I.P. that has a 15 rating for a family ride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_s Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 the costs of paying for an I.P. that has a 15 rating for a family ride? They paying the Druids? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedazza Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 This is not supposed to come across as backseat anything but I'm genuinely curious why they went with this I.P? I mean is the wicker man that well known? It's been mentioned here a lot about how Thirteen is wrongly marketed but it feels the same here. Are there die-hard Wicker Man fans out there that will hop a plane for this? The park built on local legends with Hex and, even if it wasn't too well received, built into their own Nemesis lore with the short-lived Sub Terra ride. The only thing I can think of is for this "world's first" with the fire and wood, but being in the section of the park called the Haunted Woods, couldn't they have built their own little story like the previous rides, have a similar structure around a flaming tree, with a more family-ish orientated horror theme and skipped on the costs of paying for an I.P. that has a 15 rating for a family ride? They didn't go with any I.P. This has nothing to do with either of the movies of the same name. It just happens to be based on the same druid rituals that those movies are. They paid nothing for any I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 From TowersStreet: New information on Alton Towers website shows that there will be major changes in park operations for the 2018 season. The theme park will open for half an hour of ERT at 9.30am with other rides opening between 10am and 12pm. The schedule is as follows: 9am: Monorail 9.30am (ERT): Wicker Man, Spinball Whizzer, most of CBeebies Land 10am: X-Sector, Marauder's Mayhem, Heave Ho, rest of CBeebies Land 11am: Dark Forest, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Sharkbait Reef, Battle Galleons, Runaway Mine Train, Hex 11.30am: Skyride 12pm: Forbidden Valley, Duel, Congo River Rapids In addition to this, the Congo River Rapids will only open between 6th May – 4th September 2018. So Nemesis and Galactica will only open for 4-5 hours per day and the Rapids is just a seasonal attraction (of course, there's no such thing as seasonal pricing at the park to reflect this). It's really sad to see how Alton Towers is being run into the ground by Merlin. It's just not a fun place to visit any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Wait... Alton Towers closes at 4 or 5 PM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Wait... Alton Towers closes at 4 or 5 PM? Yes, reducing their opening times was another one of the cutbacks they made, along with closing on weekdays (eg, Monday-Wednesdays in September and October), closing food kiosks and quick service restaurants, mothballing or removing rides, closing Splash Landings for six months of the year and making a few hundred staff redundant over the last few years. They were making cutbacks even before Smiler crashed, but since then they have accelerated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now