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WTF Merlin?

JoshC.

Strata Poster
I did BounceZilla yesterday (not as part of the press event, just as a guest). And, to be fair, it's fun. I mean, obviously it is - it's a giant bouncy castle.

But the whole thing is terrible. It looks garish, the music is awful (think cheesy pop songs from the past 20 years, including the likes of Gangnam Style and Baby Shark, mashed together along with a horribly cringey voiceover every 20 seconds), and it just doesn't fit. It feels so out of place, literally like something you would see it a pop up fun fair, or a well-off school fair, for a day or two. God knows how this will last 3 months.

So yeah, in its own right, the bouncy castle is fun. And I think I could overlook the horribleness of it all if this had been a sideline attraction in a year of good quality events, with quality additions either year of it. But given this is effectively THE big thing for the year, the way they're celebrating their 40th anniversary (after having loads of other things fall through) and supposedly a signal for a change within Thorpe, it just makes me worried.
 

ukthemeparkfan

Roller Poster
this has probably been mention somewhere on this thread but this has been buliding up for sometime but merlin cannot seem to get a queue time right its either an over estimate or an under estimate and its really quite annoying because most I never seem to know how long I'm going to wait for a ride
 

bob_3_

Giga Poster
this has probably been mention somewhere on this thread but this has been buliding up for sometime but merlin cannot seem to get a queue time right its either an over estimate or an under estimate and its really quite annoying because most I never seem to know how long I'm going to wait for a ride

It's odd that you say it's Merlin that fail to record accurate queuetimes, as it's purely down to the ride operator at the time to record the queue so the times are purely down to the individuals running the rides. If there's consistancy over how inaccurate queue times are, it will be down to the resources such as charts and trackers (slips of paper given to guests with a start and finish time). I've found most parks have times where they struggle with queuetime accuracy, not just Merlin parks, I'm not sure on a solution though. I've seen people accusing ops of giving higher queuetimes to encourage fastrack sales, but it's not true. Operators want to give guests the best experience with their rides.
 

WhollyRudeTech

Roller Poster
I did BounceZilla yesterday (not as part of the press event, just as a guest). And, to be fair, it's fun. I mean, obviously it is - it's a giant bouncy castle.

But the whole thing is terrible. It looks garish, the music is awful (think cheesy pop songs from the past 20 years, including the likes of Gangnam Style and Baby Shark, mashed together along with a horribly cringey voiceover every 20 seconds), and it just doesn't fit. It feels so out of place, literally like something you would see it a pop up fun fair, or a well-off school fair, for a day or two. God knows how this will last 3 months.

So yeah, in its own right, the bouncy castle is fun. And I think I could overlook the horribleness of it all if this had been a sideline attraction in a year of good quality events, with quality additions either year of it. But given this is effectively THE big thing for the year, the way they're celebrating their 40th anniversary (after having loads of other things fall through) and supposedly a signal for a change within Thorpe, it just makes me worried.


Isn’t that what a birthday celebration is meant to be? Cheesy fun? Not like they are charging extra for it.


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CrashCoaster

CF Legend
I was at Towers today, Wicker Man was down all day. Not a single slither of life from the ride at all, not even a test run. Anyone know what's up?
 

NeoXIII

Best Newcomer 2016
I was at Towers today, Wicker Man was down all day. Not a single slither of life from the ride at all, not even a test run. Anyone know what's up?

I've read from Towerstreet that it broke down yesterday mid-day already. Seems to be a bigger issue?
 

Niles

Giga Poster
Seems that Wicker man has a bigger problem:

A spokesperson for Alton Towers Resort said: "Wicker Man is undergoing maintenance and is currently unavailable.

"We are working to open it as soon as possible.

"We apologise to our guests for any inconvenience caused.”

Hopefully they fix the issues and get it back up and running.
 

Geeky Pastimes

Mega Poster
That whole process is interesting, like are there a lot of 'standard' parts GCI just keep in a warehouse or is it stuff that's only for Wicker Man so has to be made to order?

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Kw6sTheater

Hyper Poster
That whole process is interesting, like are there a lot of 'standard' parts GCI just keep in a warehouse or is it stuff that's only for Wicker Man so has to be made to order?

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According to GCI (if I recall correctly), all of their parts are made to be cross-compatible on every one of their coasters! The only things that I'd imagine would be custom to Wicker Man from GCI themselves are probably parts of the trains - its zero car or the side cars' detailing.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
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According to GCI (if I recall correctly), all of their parts are made to be cross-compatible on every one of their coasters! The only things that I'd imagine would be custom to Wicker Man from GCI themselves are probably parts of the trains - its zero car or the side cars' detailing.
I wonder if it's more a case of 'our machines are currently not producing that part' rather than it being a particularly customised part. But, unique enough that they don't have any in stock.

It's probably not got a simple answer, these supply chain things probably rarely do.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
It's more of a case of having those parts shipped (cause god forbid having spare parts on site, that would actually cost money).

Depends on what the part is. It can be impractical to have every spare part imaginable in storage sitting there 'just in case' something breaks.

They'll have plenty of spare parts on site, but larger / more expensive may well only be ordered when needed. Parts will have life spans and be replaced appropriately during closed seasons, but as with any machine, they can go before then.
 

CrashCoaster

CF Legend
This can't be legit:-

I've heard the coaster is closed due to problems with the chain lift, which would explain the clanking it makes frequently.
 
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