Alton Towers | Wicker Man | GCI Wood

[Lofty]

I just can't get excited for a GCI. Like, their layouts and newer coasters just scream 'stuck in their ways' in terms of design. They're not the most exciting and apart from the occasional Tony pop of floater airtime don't really have much to scream home about?

The whole 'Secret Weapon' category just doesn't fit this addition, but then again, neither did Thirteen, which is a FAMILY COASTER, just like this will be, and how many of us like Thirteen? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I know this won't be trimmed to death, but it'll ride not far off of the same in terms of experience.

The layout is incredibly small, if it was for a larger coaster it wouldn't be so bad, but this thing is **** tiny in height.

It'll be great for families but I'm personally finding it hard to get any form of excitement for this?


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[spicy]

Looks like we are finally getting wood at Alton which everyone's wanted to see since 2005 and now people are mad it's not a steel/wood hybrid :lol:

I'm just so pleased that it looks like FINALLY there is a new wooden roller coaster coming to the UK. And White Lightening is awesome, if it rides anything like that it will be perfect in my opinion.

Shame we aren't getting the cross valley monster woodie, but we all knew that was never gonna happen.

 

[Lofty]

White Lightening is ****. It's fun, yeah, but it's really nothing to shout about like most enthusiasts say.

 

[gavin]

White lighting is great for the park it's in. It would be great as a family woodie in a park that already has woodies. It would not be a great fit for Alton.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Its not the woodie we were all hoping for, but its wooden, which is enough to please me and the last time I was remotely excited for something UK Merlin has proposed was 2009. There's almost nothing in the UK that will offer a similar ride experience (megaphobia?) and if its a success, maybe they'll roll out a larger woodie at Thorpe (though it'll be GCI again). Personally I'm not that bothered its a family coaster, sometimes I find them more enjoyable than the adult coasters - after all, Spinball Whizzer is one of the park's best rides I'll try not to think about what it could have been and hope its a start of something new for Merlin.

 

[elephant58]

To be fair, we don't know that it's necessarily a small, family coaster yet. Plans can change and someone on TT spotted on the plans that the lift hill has 2 different gradients, which could suggest a unique element like a launch. I'm not saying it would suddenly make it a thrill coaster, but something like that could make it a very different experience and it's also a very Towers thing to do.

 

[Ian]

Ah, gutted it isn't the RMC rumour that I heard but whatever it is, I'm sure it will be fun. When more concrete details come out, perhaps I will get slightly more excited. Right now I'm quite happy to see what happens but have no thirst to find out more. Something about this will excite me eventually!

 

[owentaylor121]

Plans do change though and the coaster doesn't end up like the plans first submitted, The Smiler for example. I'm so excited for this either way!

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[davidm]

To be fair, the mock-up posted on TT makes the possibilities of that plan look pretty nice - I might retract my earlier "family" cynicism.

(bit rude to just link the images, so go here ; http://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopi ... 9&p=842443 )

 

[spicy]

If it ends up looking like that we are in for a great coaster. Not a world beater by any means, but a good solid woodie for the UK and AT in my eyes. Really hope it has that launched lift hill.

On the RMC Rumours that loads of people have heard - When can those that are 'in the know' allowed to go into more detail and reveal more about what was rumoured seeing as its not happening now..?

 

[cjbrandy]

Really hope it has that launched lift hill.

No no no. Prototype/experimental technology can **** off from Alton for once! A chain and a motor will be absolutely fine

 

[MouseAT]

Really hope it has that launched lift hill.

That just strikes me as being typical Merlin. Gotta have that all important gimmick in there. Who gives a flying **** about ride quality?

It does look very woodie-like, which is good, but the shortish layout worries me a bit.

After all the fuss about the British public not being interested wooden coasters, what a hindrance it could be if the first new one was a bit duff.

Exactly my thoughts. Merlin's track record has been consistently poor for the last decade, and I'm certainly not expecting anything worthwhile from them now.

GCI clearly can build a good woodie, but my experiences with them have definitely been more miss than hit. If Merlin want to break public perception of wooden coasters, they need to absolutely knock it out of the park with this one, and I have zero confidence that Merlin will pull that off.

 

[Chris Brown]

Surely this project is running extremely late? From what I can see it hasn't been granted planning permission and it's due to open next year? Just checked out the pics from tower street and they look pretty cool!

 

[owentaylor121]

Surely this project is running extremely late? From what I can see it hasn't been granted planning permission and it's due to open next year? Just checked out the pics from tower street and they look pretty cool!

Due for 2018.

 

[Ian]

On the RMC Rumours that loads of people have heard - When can those that are 'in the know' allowed to go into more detail and reveal more about what was rumoured seeing as its not happening now..?

I heard from somebody who works for Vekoma (who is running RMCs construction arm in Europe) that a it was cited for Forbidden Valley, with the station being on the old Blade site. It would have launched over where the games building is and then mince around in the woods, with a second launch propelling it back to Forbidden Valley. I had no reason to disbelieve him as he's very well connected in the industry. I have no idea why AT have decided to look elsewhere.

Will SW8 be the best coaster in the UK? No, it probably won't even be the best coaster in the park. But what it will be is a sound investment that will, quite possibly, compel other parks to consider wood as a coaster type. I'd love Pokemanjac's comment about it testing the water for a more thrilling woodie at Thorpe to come true. We all know Merlin like to multi-buy rollercoasters from manufacturers, so hopefully they won't break the habit. Still gutted it's probably not going to be a RMC but whatever it is, it'll be a significant coaster that AT fanboys will hail as the best woodie in the UK. And they'll probably be right.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Wow, okay.

Much like my opinion of Busch's woodie - this could be terrible and it's still awesome. Weird coincidence that both parks are getting something so similar?

Alton is a family theme park, and whilst their assortment of family rides is way above what most large "family" parks have (I'm looking at you, Dollywood and Busch), it's always great to see more.. So a family friendly little woodie in the woods? Yes! Yes please. I approve.

In my opinion, wooden coasters don't need to be very good to be... Well, good. A steel coaster of the same objective standard is usually not as good as a mediocre woodie.

Would I RATHER a 200ft drop monster through the valley? Or an RMC launching awesome awesome-fest? Well, yeah, of course the coaster enthusiast in me wants that... And part of me wants an awesome wooden coaster just to prove to the public that they are awesome. But Alton needs more Runnaway Mine Train, more Thirteen, more Spinball and Rapids, it needs more Hex and Haunted House. It will always need more of those because that is the core product - family. It also needs more to unite everything about Alton which is atmospherically great, and I believe a little family woodie in the woods is a great way to do that.

I like GCI's rides. I think it's trendy for enthusiasts to hate on them or, on the flip side, rave about how great White Lightning is. In reality, the company has a really solid lineup of coasters which are fun and is let down by a few appalling examples like Wild Cat and Gwazi that people remember and exaggerate. Thunderhead and Lightning Racer aren't just good coasters imo, they're outstanding. Roar is pretty decent, it's the gem of SFA, and people seem to like Troy and Woodan. White Lightning was a tonne of fun.

Think about it - would you rather have a steel coaster of the scale and objective quality of Thirteen or Spinball, or a "mediocre" wooden coaster? Because I know what I'd choose. If it is a family woodie, then it will become the Alton's family coaster in my books, regardless of how good it is.

The idea of an Alton woodie becoming reality is incredible. 10 years ago was when that supposed cross valley wooden coaster was going to happen.

I'm surprised though? I mean, post-Smiler 'en all. You'd think now, more than ever, they would be put off by the possibility that the public would perceive a ride style to be unsafe. It begs the question of what happened to the Forbidden Valley launching RMC rumour? Though there's nothing to say this won't pave the way for one!

So, yeah... I'm happy. Very happy. If this is real, if it's true we're finally getting a woodie for Alton, oh my god! <3

 

[RyanB19]

This was posted on TowersTimes - For those wanting to know in the talk yesterday it was said that the original SW8 was supposed to be in Forbidden Valley (as we pretty much knew) and would've had its station where Blade is and the track would have gone up into the extended Nemesis queue line area and behind Sub-Terra. However, the speaker said that the project was abandoned due to the excessive cost of rock removal in Forbidden Valley, that would basically have blown the budget. As suggested by signage, the new site for SW8 is the Flume area, and the speaker said that the ride will open in 2018. He said he was very excited about it ( well he would ) and that it would be a new concept for Alton Towers.

It is a shame that was abandoned, but hopefully just because we're getting what seems to be a woodie in 2018 doesn't mean we wont see a large scale RMC in the future! I'd love to see the original plans revisited at some point though.

 

[Chris Brown]

Surely this project is running extremely late? From what I can see it hasn't been granted planning permission and it's due to open next year? Just checked out the pics from tower street and they look pretty cool!

Due for 2018.

Cheers! Has this always been the plan? I seem to remember a lot of people were saying 2017 and when PPB had their ride pushed back to 2018 people were still saying 2017 for SW8

 

[Lofty]

There's no confirmation on any year, but, due to the lack of construction it seems that it'll be 2018. What absolutely pisses me off is the fact they're marketing this now around the park, the only reason being that they've shut everything else and need to remind people there's a reason to go back, it's **** stupid and the park can go **** itself at this moment in time.

Not to mention that next year is their year for their high investment and they're putting it in for the year after? Piss off Alton.

 

[Ben]

Sorry but a family Woodie like that will be overshadowed and completely forgotten about if they open it the same year as Mackpool.

This is a mistake, IMO. Get something **** off and huge and wipe the competition out, don't shove something generic and short in and get forgotten about.