Alton Towers | Wicker Man | GCI Wood
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supersion
Mega Poster
But you will find everyone differs in opinion. For some people Hex is their favourite Alton ride... And so on... The point I'm making is that for some people this has the potential to become their favourite Alton ride... I'm not saying it's for everyone. Some people dislike rides as intense as Nemesis... So something like this could be suited for them. Then others will prefer Nemesis over this... Either way... It's a win win for Alton because then they cater for both types of guests.
However I can totally agree with you that they are in dire need of new flat rides to widen the range of attractions. I'm sure it's something they are fully aware of, but are just taking their time to rectify.
Robbie
Hyper Poster
It's true, and people could embrace the unique characteristics of SW8. This short family coaster near the rapids could become just as beloved as that other short family coaster near the rapids.
... however, there's little doubt that Merlin will pretend and market it like it's the most intense/scary/sickening multi-sensory experience on the British Isles since the Great Fire of London. The quality of the coaster isn't the problem per se. It's how it, by all accounts, will be hyped up as something much bigger, darker and more sinister than it really is. Had Alton played with open cards and said "We're going to add a mid-size wood coaster, fun for the entire family!" from the get-go, they'd probably be met with more goodwill. But no, they use dark imagery and creepy symbols and edgy taglines, while the reality is known that this is just a mid-size wood coaster which would have been fun for the whole family if not for its overly sinister themeing. Just like Thirteen, or the new theme for Rita.
The coaster itself isn't the problem. It's the charade.
Quoted three times to try to show how thoroughly I agree with this summary.
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
So... are Ram horns part of a Wicker Man?
I agree with the comments of the expected theming is poor choice.
Thrill seekers will be disappointed with a ride that is tamer than it is advertised.
Young children will be discouraged by a ride that implies you or someone else will die. Sure, there are children who don't care, but I was a child who used to get freaked out by that. Even when I was fourteen and visited Alton Towers with school, I found Oblivion off putting and the music around Nemesis and The Haunted House (Duel) disturbing.
Thrill seekers will be disappointed with a ride that is tamer than it is advertised.
Young children will be discouraged by a ride that implies you or someone else will die. Sure, there are children who don't care, but I was a child who used to get freaked out by that. Even when I was fourteen and visited Alton Towers with school, I found Oblivion off putting and the music around Nemesis and The Haunted House (Duel) disturbing.
Lofty
CF Legend
Most British Pagans don't follow or worship Cernunnos, in fact they follow Pan, who is also a horned god - I don't think this has Celtic backgrounds whatsoever, but more a generalised Pagan/rural worship.Well, the wicker man tradition stems from Celtic Paganism, where the main god is this dude:
So basically, yep.
I'm so split, I don't like the context of the theming, but I love the theming itself.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
As much as I'm loving the look of this theming feature, I'm so concerned that we're getting another Smiler and that that'll be it.
Smiler has the Marmaliser (which in itself is impressive to be fair), a bit of indoor theming and that's pretty much it. There's not anything so far to convince me that this will be anything different, which would be a shame as there's potential for much more.
Smiler has the Marmaliser (which in itself is impressive to be fair), a bit of indoor theming and that's pretty much it. There's not anything so far to convince me that this will be anything different, which would be a shame as there's potential for much more.
Chris Brown
Mr CoasterForce 2016
I agree with the general gist of the recent comments above. There are occasional pictures of this that get me a little optimistic but others that just completely blow any form of expectation, I’ve never really had that feeling with a new coaster being constructed before.
In regards to the dark theme and target audience aim I believe Merlin continually make mistakes with this, as per @scw55 post I believe the marketing / theme of this ride will actually go further in putting off the rides main target audience that it will attract it. Its an issue I’ve had with DBGT and Thirteen most recently. The latter is clearly a family ride but I’ve seen families turning back out of the queue line after finding the Plasma Globe area to be loud and intimidating, I get that most adults / teenagers aren’t going to find this scary or unnerving but we aren’t who the ride is marketed to. We come off the coaster disappointed whilst some of the target audience find it too intimidating or unnerving to even ride the thing. Similar thing with DGBT, its clearly not aimed at families but the build up, advertisement and marketing for the ride lead people to believe it was one of the scariest experiences going. This put off loads of potential riders and left only the relatively brave people to ride it, the people more tolerant to scare attractions ride it and are disappointed (it’s really not very scary at all) yet the people who would have likely enjoyed it or been thrilled by it the most were too scared to ride in the first place.
I mean I have no idea how far Merlin will go with the marketing of this attraction but I know DBGT had a huge marketing campaign and I still see TV adverts some 2 years after it was built. In my opinion this is clearly talented Merlin marketers / PR being given an inferior product by upper management. The campaigns they do are always very good they just don’t always reflect the product they’re being given to work with. I actually think Merlin feel like they are in the position to cut costs on actual products knowing they can, in their opinion, make up for it with some excellent marketing. From a GP perspective this model clearly works, doesn’t quite fool us nerds though.
In regards to the dark theme and target audience aim I believe Merlin continually make mistakes with this, as per @scw55 post I believe the marketing / theme of this ride will actually go further in putting off the rides main target audience that it will attract it. Its an issue I’ve had with DBGT and Thirteen most recently. The latter is clearly a family ride but I’ve seen families turning back out of the queue line after finding the Plasma Globe area to be loud and intimidating, I get that most adults / teenagers aren’t going to find this scary or unnerving but we aren’t who the ride is marketed to. We come off the coaster disappointed whilst some of the target audience find it too intimidating or unnerving to even ride the thing. Similar thing with DGBT, its clearly not aimed at families but the build up, advertisement and marketing for the ride lead people to believe it was one of the scariest experiences going. This put off loads of potential riders and left only the relatively brave people to ride it, the people more tolerant to scare attractions ride it and are disappointed (it’s really not very scary at all) yet the people who would have likely enjoyed it or been thrilled by it the most were too scared to ride in the first place.
I mean I have no idea how far Merlin will go with the marketing of this attraction but I know DBGT had a huge marketing campaign and I still see TV adverts some 2 years after it was built. In my opinion this is clearly talented Merlin marketers / PR being given an inferior product by upper management. The campaigns they do are always very good they just don’t always reflect the product they’re being given to work with. I actually think Merlin feel like they are in the position to cut costs on actual products knowing they can, in their opinion, make up for it with some excellent marketing. From a GP perspective this model clearly works, doesn’t quite fool us nerds though.
Should've saved themselves the bother and kept it Mutiny Bay/pirate themed, called it Marauder. Job done. Overthinking / misselling the thing again.
Meh, at least when I get back to Alton in the next year or two I'll have a +3 to pick up.
Meh, at least when I get back to Alton in the next year or two I'll have a +3 to pick up.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Dunno man, DBGT managed it with me.
EDIT: I should clarify that I actually like it this year, but in opening season it was utter garbage.
I rode the marine simulation ride at Porta Aventura. The queue line does a good job of building up tension and I was really anxious waiting and regretted agreeing to queue.
The ride itself was actually pretty meh. The narrative was predictable so I wasn't shocked. It was interesting but boring. I left the ride feeling disappointed. I avoided experiencing Temple of Fire because of how intimidating the attraction appeared. It probably would have been fun, but I'm someone sensitive to atmosphere and I have a wild imagination.
This was with a ride clearly aimed for families, but the atmosphere around the queue made it seem more scary that it should have been. Maybe as someone who enjoys designing rides in those management games, I know what nasty horrible things you can do for guests.
I expect a lot of disappointed riders if Merlin goes too far with creating scary atmosphere.
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Families won't want to deal with crying children. So they'll generally avoid riding rides that distress their younglings.
The ride itself was actually pretty meh. The narrative was predictable so I wasn't shocked. It was interesting but boring. I left the ride feeling disappointed. I avoided experiencing Temple of Fire because of how intimidating the attraction appeared. It probably would have been fun, but I'm someone sensitive to atmosphere and I have a wild imagination.
This was with a ride clearly aimed for families, but the atmosphere around the queue made it seem more scary that it should have been. Maybe as someone who enjoys designing rides in those management games, I know what nasty horrible things you can do for guests.
I expect a lot of disappointed riders if Merlin goes too far with creating scary atmosphere.
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Families won't want to deal with crying children. So they'll generally avoid riding rides that distress their younglings.
Pink Cadillac
Giga Poster
It's their fault for judging a book by its cover
The actual wickerman looks like it's going to be huge. I mean I know it can't go above the tree line, but if that's the size of a ram's horn, then the whole structure will be a sheer spectacle and arguably a gimmick in itself (similar to the marmaliser but more grandiose). I hope the wickerman is gay.
That's not his horn...
spicy
Giga Poster
I think the idea of a burning Wickerman theme for a wooden coaster is actually a pretty good one. This just doesn't have the hardware to back it up.
The once planned cross valley woodie (which coincidentally may have opened around the same time the infamous Nicholas cage film hit theaters) would definately have had the layout to back it up.
The once planned cross valley woodie (which coincidentally may have opened around the same time the infamous Nicholas cage film hit theaters) would definately have had the layout to back it up.
Dave
CF Legend
If it's called Labyrinth that would be amazing, but alas probably not, not quite the mature Merlin cheese.....
