Project 2025/Holzfäller: Big Bad Wolf 2 (B&M Family Invert)

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CastleOSullivan said:
Park President Kevin Lembke didn’t even say Wölfsturm right. But if he did, it really sounds silly.
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Can I just say that the fact that they translated WölfSturm in the poll as "Wolf Storm" and not "Wolf Attack" is INSANE. Why the hell would a coaster be named "Wolf Storm?!" Is this like a Sharknado situation?! Are the wolves in the storm?! Are we talking like raining cats and dogs, BUT WITH WOLVES?!

Sturm, you know, like most words, has multiple translations and somehow this was lost on whoever built the poll. Someone literally just dropped it into Google Translate and picked the first option without even pausing and thinking, "Wait, but doesn't this seem SUPER dumb...? Are we sure this is right...? Are we really rolling with the German for "Wolf Storm...?" What does the coaster have to do with a storm? What is a wolf storm? Isn't this about a terrified village or something? Don't we have two family coasters in Oktoberfest themed to storms already...?"

AND THEN, FAR WORSE, EVERYONE TASKED WITH REVIEWING ALL OF THE MATERIAL BEFORE EVERYTHING WENT LIVE WAS JUST LIKE "WOLF STORM? COOL. PROCEED."

My head literally exploded when I read "Wolf Storm." I just... No words.

And this interpretation is giving BGW the benefit of the doubt, for the record. Presumably the person who pitched WölfSturm did actually know that Sturm translates to "Attack" and they, in fact, did mean it to be "Wolf Attack" and not "Wolf Storm." Honestly though, given that a ton of people had to look over the page before the poll went live with "Wolf Storm," maybe that benefit of the doubt is unearned...
 
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Zachary said:
Can I just say that the fact that they translated WölfSturm in the poll as "Wolf Storm" and not "Wolf Attack" is INSANE. Why the hell would a coaster be named "Wolf Storm?!" Is this like a Sharknado situation?! Are the wolves in the storm?! Are we talking like raining cats and dogs, but with wolves?!

Sturm has multiple translations and somehow some braindead marketing person put it into Google Translate and just picked the first option without even pausing and thinking "wait, but doesn't this seem super dumb...?"

And this interpretation is giving BGW the benefit of the doubt, for the record. Presumably the person who pitched WölfSturm did actually know that Sturm translates to "Attack" as well and they, in fact, did mean it to be "Wolf Attack" and not "Wolf Storm." Honestly though, given that the poll went live with "Wolf Storm," maybe BGW don't actually deserve that benefit of the doubt here...
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They used google translate
 
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Nicole said:
By a process of elimination, I have come to the conclusion that I would hate GeisterWolf the least. To be clear, I am not saying I prefer it to be named that, just that want the other two even less. I wish I could say that I am surprised that we are likely facing three terrible options. I guess at least they tried to use some German and didn’t go with Revenge of the Wolf or Son of Wolf or whatever.

I understand that GeisterWolf sounds stupid and is redundant with Alpengeist: They already have a “spirit” themed coaster one hamlet away. But I, personally find that less disqualifying than my objections to the other two options.

WolfSturm initially feels like something from Nazi Germany. Upon a second look, that impression is validated. Given that the “w” is pronounced as a “v,” it is essentially one letter removed from this Nazi initiative:


(Source: Volkssturm - Wikipedia)

So, it is very reasonable for people to associate “volfstrum” with “volksstrum.” Moreover, Hitler’s Brownshirts were called “The Sturmabteilung” (Storm Troopers), further correlating “sturm” with Nazi Germany.

While not really an issue on its own, Hitler’s personal association with wolves further ties this name to Nazi Germany, making it too close for my comfort:



Source: The important lessons: Why Hitler considered himself a wolf and his enemies vampires

In fact, It seems that I was not the only one to make this correlation:

View attachment 34370


So, what about WolfsReign? Honestly, it feels entirely non-kinetic and doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The Big Bad Wolf is an outside threat to our home and hearth, not an evil overlord. The idea of a persistent, internal threat is antithetical to the long-standing notion of the wolf as a wild danger that attacks from the dark. Moreover, the homophone “rein” implies human control over a beast, which makes no sense if the wolf is supposed to be a threat. So, the name introduces implicit contradictions.

Additionally, coasters are about movement and forces and speed. A “reign” has none of those connotations. It is the time during which a single person is in control, so it is intrinsically about stability, not change, which seems like an odd choice for a name. Moreover, considering that Hitler called himself The Wolf, this also has some concerning Nazi connotations. Hitler did reign over the Third Reich.

I am also told that a popular anime series was called “Wolf’s Rain.” I question the choice to associate a German coaster at BGW with a Japanese IP.
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This seems like a potential marketing disaster where they may have to back out of a name because they didn’t do simple research. With any German theming one would think anything that could be tied to Nazis would be avoided.

The names are all bad. Geisterwolf is the least worse, but it’s just dumb to use the same word across coaster names when there’s so many words in the language.

2025 is definitely the year of bad ride names.
 
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All I can say is, Rapterra may take the wind out of the sails of WolfXXXXX if it hasn’t already done so for
many, but it has for me. I know they are different rides, but still…

This park announces new rides like big pharmaceuticals introduces new pills.

Where’s the hype??? Where’s the POV? Where’s the hint-display at the front of the park?

Asleep at the marketing wheel, once again…
 
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On the whole name topic, I remember what a German professor said once in class:
When you try to theme something to German history of culture you might as well just stick with English names, because of the atrocities in the history of the country.

That’s not so say you can’t but it’s very easy to misstep if you don’t do some very deep research on the history. Now some of it is more obvious to avoid but there’s some harder to avoid things. He actually advised companies with this stuff at one point of being able to avoid historical references in German themed events and instillations.

So long thing to stay:
I don’t think it’s not ok to misstep like BGW, but I can understand that it could happen. I really think the best thing for BGW to do at this point is to just quietly drop that name, pick up something else, and keep the poll going.
 
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warfelg said:
I really think the best thing for BGW to do at this point is to just quietly drop that name, pick up something else, and keep the poll going.
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I mean I guess I’m cynical but the poll results aren’t public in real time so they could just rig it to pick the one they want if they decide halfway through they really don’t want one of them. It wouldn’t shock me if they were already doing that regardless and the whole “poll” is just to generate buzz and was never actually a true “the public gets to pick” thing.
 
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One other thing that BGW failed to consider with these options - you’re marketing this ride as a family coaster, and chose 3 name options that adults are already having a hard time spelling/pronouncing. You think the kids who are making this their first full-sized coaster are gonna be able to say it correctly? They're just gonna call it the wolf coaster.
 
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VB06Hokie said:
One other thing that BGW failed to consider with these options - you’re marketing this ride as a family coaster, and chose 3 name options that adults are already having a hard time spelling/pronouncing. You think the kids who are making this their first full-sized coaster are gonna be able to say it correctly? They're just gonna call it the wolf coaster.
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Wolfstrum isn’t hard to pronounce
 
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madmax said:
Wolfstrum isn’t hard to pronounce
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Counterpoints:

CastleOSullivan said:
Wölfsturm sounds cool if it’s pronounced properly. I’m afraid the park is going to conduct a poll without giving proper pronunciations and people are going to vote for something cheap like “Wolfsregin.”

In “Wölfsturm” the W is pronounced as a V and the UR is pronounced like the word “ore.”
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CastleOSullivan said:
Park President Kevin Lembke didn’t even say Wölfsturm right. But if he did, it really sounds silly.
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