Off topic slightly but I feel that Wild Eagle is pulling a Griffon/Sheikra on the Wing Coaster. Taking a concept and throwing all the important bits out the window.
I'm sure Wild Eagle will be outstanding, but it's complete rejection of everything that even Six Flags have took onboard is just odd, I think. Why go for a Wing Coaster and then just pretend it's any old sit down? It feels like It's missing an opportunity to point out why it's different and special by not drawing attention to the isolation of the seating. I don't think by name alone it's really doing that at all, but hey we'll see.
This is one thing I really like about Tussauds/Merlin, they don't ever miss an opportunity to go "LOOK! Look, this is special... BECAUSE it does this! It's DIFFERENT from that BECAUSE it does this!" and I think that's important. Making the general public aware like that is fantastic.
I'm not saying Swarm will be a better ride than Wild Eagle or that coaster types cannot ever evolve, but from a creative perspective I really think it's such a missed opportunity.
The second video of Swarm looks pretty spectacular actually. Really fantastic having it roll over the station like that. It's going to feel like it's completely out of nowhere when it does fly across because the Station is still mostly enclosed. The drama that Thunderhead at Dollywood creates when it rockets past the station roof is great.
