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Alton Towers | Wicker Man | GCI Wood

That does sound more and more like Wickerman theme to me. AT must be quite confident to already include part of the SW8 theming in this year's Scarefest line up.
I might check it out from a very far and safe distance...
 
Swat said:
A mysterious group who worship the woods and the animals that live therein like Gods have been disturbed. Every year they host a festival to celebrate their own interpretation of Halloween - the crossing of the worlds of the living and the dead. For the first time they have allowed outsiders to celebrate with them.
But what part will you (‘the outsiders’) play in this ritual? Is this really an initiation?.....
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This is not true. TPW have held halloween events before.
 
NeoXIII said:
That does sound more and more like Wickerman theme to me. AT must be quite confident to already include part of the SW8 theming in this year's Scarefest line up.
I might check it out from a very far and safe distance...
Click to expand...
They did the exact same with The Smiler/The Sanctuary, though? It's really not that they're confident, it's just that it assists in the marketing.

In terms of the theme of this, all rumours point to the nature of paganism, magic and sacrifice and it has from the beginning. The Welcoming is just another tick in the box for it.
 
In terms of locations this ride can lead into, do you think we could get an area re-brand similar to The Dark Forest for Gloomy Wood or Katanga Canyon? If not, what about a new area within the back of the Flume area that is now empty linking to the Haunted Hallows area? Judging by the backstory of the maze this would fit nicely into a re-do Haunted Hallows.
 
DelPiero said:
That's fab Dave, great seeing some of that old promo material again :)
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Yeah, especially the early stuff for Nemesis and Air where the rides seemed fun and thrilling and not just fake-scary.

I'm always puzzled by Rita not being an SW. It's a decent coaster and in the SW range there is a helluva drop between Nemesis and Thirteen. Both literally and figuratively.
 
I always thought Rita not being a Secret Weapon was because it's not unique or innovative in any way, unlike the rest of them which arguably are. Or maybe it was just a change in marketing strategy? Because I remember reading in a book that Tussauds got taken over around that time by someone else who mixed it up a bit - for example John Wardley was not used for the 2004/5 coaster projects. I'm not 100% sure though.
 
Lofty said:
They did the exact same with The Smiler/The Sanctuary, though? It's really not that they're confident, it's just that it assists in the marketing.

In terms of the theme of this, all rumours point to the nature of paganism, magic and sacrifice and it has from the beginning. The Welcoming is just another tick in the box for it.
Click to expand...

I did not know that, I never paid attention to their Scarefest stuff since I joined CF. Sorry! :)
 
Yeah from now I understand it the SW title is given to coasters that are some kind of first:

SW1 & SW2: Scrapped
SW3: Nemesis, First invert in the U.K.
SW4: Oblivion, World's First Dive Machine
SW5: Air, World's First Flying Coaster
SW6: Thirteen, World's First VD element
SW7: The Smiler, World's First 14 Inversion Coaster

Rita was just a standard accelerator, and one they actually bought off the shelf if I'm correct. It and Spinball were done as just additions to the park that it needed, nothing groundbreaking or innovative enough to market the crap out of.

(Though remember, there are infinite universes according to Stephen Hawking, so somewhere out there Spinball Whizzer is the world's first spinning psycoaster with an age limit of 18 where you have to sign a waiver saying you won't get triggered by the terrifying theming.)
 
Just a guess with absolutely no evidence to back it up what so ever, but since Rita was one of the coasters built during the awkward transition between Tussauds and Merlin, when investments were low and they were bought out by some foreign investor, I think the lack of SW and general weirdness of Rita is simply down to a change of style internally brought on by higher ups wanting to put a signature on things. The fact that they reverted back stylistically after the Merlin buyout implies that the team of creatives involved were mostly the same before and after. The weird part is that Rita and the other weirdos (Stealth, Spinball and Fury) all did well for their respectful parks despite their lacking ...well, everything that seemingly made prior successes so important.

It's part of the reason why I'm still so skeptical of any claims that coasters (or anything for that matter) have to be innovative, or that the marketing has to be a certain way, or that the theme needs to be intense and narrative driven... No, it doesn't. Rita was abstract, small and insignificant in every imaginable way and the marketing frankly stupid, yet people still turned up in their masses to ride it.

I ****ing hate Rita, btw.
 
As a non-coaster rider, Rita seems to be very accessible. For me, it's drops that put me off riding. Inversions not so much. Rita is just really really fast.
 
Ok, so, the text on the website says 'Be Chosen', which we sort of guessed it would anyway.

I've worked out like 17 of the glyphs so far, working not he other ones as we speak.
 
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