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insight,” says Platt. “We are playing on the body and mind proposition.”


The resulting theme is sinister: The Smiler will make you smile, whether you like it or not. This has been played upon in the public- ity, which has included the face of a member of the boy band JLS being manipulated into a smile. The early publicity was anonymous, with the logo appearing on billboards, pro- jected onto Big Ben and branded onto sheep! The ride itself, which features a beyond vertical drop, is being souped up with a few elements to disorientate riders: spinning hypnotic wheels, blinding lights and giant hypodermic needles. While they are worry- ing about being impaled on a huge spike, riders don’t even get the chance to mentally prepare themselves for the huge drop which


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Riders sit on the wings of The Swarm coaster to become fully immersed in the story of an alien attack on a devastated post-apocalyptic Earth


is coming, making the whole coaster ride experience all the more memorable. The Eurofighter has already proved a suc-


cess at one of Merlin Entertainments’ other UK parks – Thorpe Park. The first horror-film themed ride in the UK, this time Merlin bought the ride IP. Again, the brand was informed from the feedback from consumers. “Audiences showed unequivocal support for the use of horror themeing, and the general consensus was that a horror film IP would be a great addition,” says Jason Wills, marketing director of Thorpe Park.


“We worked very closely with the film’s creators to make sure all elements of the ride reflected the movie franchise in great detail, right down to adding props from the movies into the ride and its queue line. The movie was all about people having to escape deadly traps, so the ride became the ultimate trap.”


THE WINGED SERPENT


Bollinger and Mabillard’s winged coaster is another ride which has got Merlin’s creative juices flowing. The ride doesn’t have seats on the track, but on wings coming off the side: two on the left and two on the right, so riders feel like they are actually flying. Steel beams hold the two sides of the train together, and these are covered by an object which relates to the overall theme.


Attractions Handbook 2013–2014 95


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