Re: LC12 - B&M 'Wing-Rider', Thorpe Park 2012
John Wardley is a ride consultant, he's not in charge and hasn't been for years! I think they like him to speak to the press at ride openings because he's done it before and they like a familiar face to represent the company (also Candy Holland seems abit shy). But if you actually listen to what he says, he makes it clear it's not him behind the ride, and tries to direct all the credit to the team which actually (in his eyes) deserve it.
This will be a Candy Holland ride I think. And I'm glad, she's getting better and better at her job, I've noticed an improvement over the past few years. I think she did a great job with Raptor and Krake. It's a shame Krake never got the "mouth dive" but she was probably involved in the idea of it, which is a great one!
I'm not sure on the theme of this yet, her past few rides have harked back to famous horror films (Infact when interviewing for Saw she stated her love for horror movies) and stories. Thirteen was clearly taken from "The Day of the Triffids" a book by John Wyndham, Saw (obvious), Krake another nod to Wyndham "The Kraken Wakes" with influence from the PotC films, and then Raptor conquers sci-fi horror with a wealth of influences.
She knows her stuff and I'm excited to see where she goes with this. Will it be like a disaster movie? Will it be a zombie theme?
Also I know I've said this before but I don't understand the statement about budget cuts effecting the theme! Yes in the troubling early/mid 00s we saw cut backs as the ownership of the parks changed around. But if you look at the plans for Thirteen and Saw nothing got taken out, and infact they added abit more! The tree infront of the station was never in the plans and Saw did exactly what was down on paper. I have faith we'll see everything we see in the plans.
