Ian said:
Over the last week I've heard "water coaster", not woodie information from three different sources. Make sense if they are replacing a water ride and it has the alleged pirate theme. I hope my sources are wrong and if so, sorry GCI Family Woodie, all is forgiven... Maybe it's a woodie water coaster? Mind blown.
The pictures posted on Towers Times did include a splashdown at one point. (See Lord Morton's link on page 3). Whether or not that's accurate remains to be seen. Like I said before, they apparently have to have the gimmick somewhere.
owentaylor121 said:
I'm not sure where all this Merlin making bad coasters is coming from? Th13teen is loved by families and most GP, it was just marketed badly, The Smiler is arguably still Alton Towers most popular ride with the GP despite the accident and still pulls big queues and I don't think I've ever seen hype from goons and GP for a ride like that in years! Flug seems to be well received, The Swarm is pretty well liked now people are used to it, Krake seems to be loved by almost everyone, Oblivion: The Black Hole seems to be well received too and Raptor is well liked.
I know it's might not be exactly what we hoped for but Merlin do have a good track record when it comes to coasters.
Perhaps I should have been more specific and referred to UK Merlin coasters.
Th13teen is poor, both when compared with its Intamin family counterparts and Zierer equivalents in Denmark (at Bakken, Djurs Sommerland and Legoland respectively). The Smiler is bland and rattly, a poor example of a multi-looper, and I seriously doubt it'll age well. The Swarm seems to have been running better lately, but was incredibly bland in its first season. Krake and Oblivion look pretty fab, but I've yet to ride them, and they're not in the UK. Raptor is fab, and if we'd had something like that instead of Swarm or The Smiler I doubt I'd be as cynical.
It's not as if I'm looking for epic, top tier thrill machines across the board. I have no problem with good quality family coasters
if they're well done. I've experienced enough of a variety of rides over the last decade to understand how you a ride aimed at families can manage to appeal to people across the board, but apparently Merlin feel they have the UK market cornered to the point where they don't need to bother.
When we start to see rides on-par with what we're seeing on the continent then I might be convinced that they're getting their act together.