I think this is the toughest sell for any park in the UK (in terms of both to management/investors and to the public) and certainly the biggest risk we as enthusiasts face.
For most Brits, wooden coasters are old things. Our experience of them are as old objects. When we travel to Florida, etc, I suspect we take that misconception with us too. Stampeda, Gwazi etc? They give a similar ride to the old coasters in the UK, so why would we think of them as modern devices?
We have Megafobia of course in the UK which goes against this, but it's so far out of the way it's not really in anyone's mind when they think of wooden coasters (if they're aware of it at all).
The UK public won't (generally) have a great positive view of wooden coasters. The people in charge of deciding on getting one will also be well aware of this. It doesn't help that Megafobia hasn't been a great success in terms of dragging people to the arse-end of nowhere
I think that people are right that they think that we (the UK public) are constantly after the latest and greatest piece of ride technology. "It needs loops and and to shoot you around and to be scary as **** and everything!!!"
Yet in reality, people like rides. People like PMBO and Infusion. They don't care that these are poor examples of the ride types, they like them because they meet what they think of in a coaster. For people who don't ride coasters very often, they're a good ride.
People want satisfaction from their coasters and it doesn't have to come from something new, they do have taste and they do like a good ride. It's why the wooden coasters at Blackpool remain ever popular, at heart, they're not actually bad rides - but more importantly, they match people's expectations of what a coaster should be. Lift hill, big drop, arms up, screams and lots of up and down. It works within their sphere of experience.
The problem is, if somebody in the UK takes the plunge and makes a new coaster, what is it going to be? Are we going to see a smaller scale "family wood"? Another Antelope that is completely overlooked (for good reason)?
Without a lot of confidence in it, parks are likely to plump for the "cheaper option". Dipping their toes into the water of wooden coasters. Something lite on budget, small in scale so that if it doesn't work out (which they don't think it will), hasn't cost too much in terms of space and money.
It's a worryingly possible attitude and that's where the danger lies. If Drayton or Flamingoland went down this route, it wouldn't show any other park that wood is the future. We know as enthusiasts that wood can be every bit as exciting as steel. We have seen in Europe and America that people understand the much rawer thrill of the wooden coaster and lap it up (lift hill, steep drop, arms up, screams, lots of up and down). However, a half-arsed "it'll never take off anyway" attitude will simply prove to the UK industry that they're right. The public don't like them, they don't bring people in and if any park does make one and do it badly, will result in us never getting another wooden coaster in the country again.
So as much as we want (I'd say need) a new wooden coaster to help kick off a desperately needed "good coaster" collection in the UK - it has to be handled correctly, by the right people with the right budget and the right attitude. I don't know if that's something we have in the UK or not, but we need to hope beyond hope that if it's done, we get it done properly that first time around.
