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John Wardley Interview

Smithy

Smithy

Strata Poster
Not sure if this has been linked or discussed on here so I'll link it and sum up what's discussed as it's a long video (50 minutes).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxGTdRBh5CU[/youtube]

Talks about how to encourage Oakwood to invest in a woody, he flew them out to America to ride several of them to sell it.

Mentions that before Smiler, there was a plan for a B&M stand up to go underground before circling Katanga Canyon.

Nick Varney is obsessed with unique selling points. Rides presented to him have to have a highest, tallest, most of something to work, and ultimately that was what stopped the cross-valley wooden coaster.

Is full of praise for the current marketing director, states that the success of marketing The Smiler without relying on it's usp could be valuable in the future in assuring Merlin head office to invest in a woodie.

To decide on what rides go where, Thorpe decided they wanted a ride that was thrilling for teenagers (Saw) and Alton wanted a thrilling family coaster with a surprise for teenagers (Thirteen).

Reason for 14 inversions is 11/12 was being done elsewhere, 13 is unlucky and the name is in use, so why not 14.

The Saw site was earmarked for a set of racing woodies but again it didn't pass Merlin's approval.

Port Aventura nearly had a Loch Ness Monster rip-off as it's major coaster, with the interlocking loops it's usp and they were adament the two trains would duel consistently. Wardley says he didn't like El Diablo's plans but the contract was already signed and he put a stop to the Loch Ness Monster clone. He then pushed for B&M to replace Vekoma as the manufacturer for the parks signature coaster (Dragon Khan).
 
That was a really interesting video. It certainly explains a lot about Merlin's obsession with building unique rides rather than good ones.
 
Thanks Smithy, it's a great interview. I love how the bane of Alton Towers isn't the planning as everyone assumes, it's the head of Alton Towers' board himself. I appreciated that's his job and all, but hopefully Swarm's unpopularity will loosen him up for actually good rides. The PortAventura Vekoma ride is interesting as well, I didn't realise just how many rides Wardley's been involved with.
 
Interesting interview! It's got me thinking about marketing a wooden coaster. Surely a woodie with a good theme could create a unique selling point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the main selling point with Saw the fact that it was themed to Saw and not really to do with the coaster itself? So if Alton or Thorpe built a great woodie with an interesting theme for the guests, wouldn't that be enough to sell it to them?
 
Did anyone else think Carnival of Screams when he mentioned the woodie themed around a haunted circus? How awesome would that ride have been, had it's theming and station been as good as what we see in carnival of screams.
 
The most interesting thing about this so far is the "spooky horror circus woodie" thing.

I had the same idea, haha. ****. Theres me thinking I was being original.
 
Fantastic interview! good find.

Didn't seem to impressed with The Smiler did he? he complimented it once but he knows as well as we do that its another big investment wasted on a mediocre coaster.

I know he's got a job to do and all but this Nick Varney seems like a real douche to work with, John Wardley describes him as being someone very one dimensional and that could spell trouble for the parks in the long run.

Also loving the idea of a new Stand-up, seems parks are still thinking about B&M's forgotten child, I wouldn't bet against us seeing a new one in future to be honest, with a reconfigured restraint system B&M Stand-ups could be given a second lease of life.
 
I think a B&M stand-up could easily be marketed in the UK as Shockwave I'd say is pretty much unknown to the general public. As to whether it'd be a good investment, I'd say it'd be something Varney would consider as it could easily be marketable, but it'd hardly bring anything special to the scene (and I just can never see one fitting in at Alton ever).

But yeah, watched this a few days back and was mildly interesting.
 
The thing I love about Wardley is how critical he is of Merlin. There's no hiding his distaste for the way they do some things and that kind of attitude is what makes people warm to him. It's rare for someone in the industry to not only come forward into the enthusiast world but to so openly admit when things could be better.

I just hope that, behind closed doors, all employees in every company are the same.

I wonder how much of what he says is said for enthusiast ears though or out of pride for his own work.

I hope Merlin never get a stand up at a UK park. It's wrong on many levels, the first being operations. And I found it intriguing that when Wardley spoke about reasons for getting certain rides operations wasn't really mentioned. Advertised throughput is very different from whats manageable at certain parks for certain reasons. I personally think the link between the parks themselves and the development of new attractions must be really weak.

His points about marketing Smiler are really interesting. It is weird that at no point did they really shout about 14 inversions, but I think part of the reason why was because Smiler is a "proper roller coaster" and that visually every image shown of it advertised it just as a big scary ride. It makes you wonder how often marketing has been so intrusive into a ride that it's been detrimental? What's sad about Smiler is we won't get a good picture of how well the marketing did because it spent the majority of it's time this season closed.

I still think a wooden coaster is right for Thorpe or Alton, or maybe even both. I don't think it'll neccissarilly bring crazy crowds through the gates, but what it will do is produce a ride that'll get through the grape vine in a world where enthusiasts have power over the worlds most powerful marketing tool. Swarm didn't boost gate figures, so clearly big steel coasters are a no now too, right?
 
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