Alton Towers - Wicker Man

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Alton Towers are set to open a new wooden rollercoaster this year... the Wicker Man.

https://www.wickerman.com/

Oooo how spooooOooooOOoky. Looks fun! I, for one, shall be riding.

In b4 injury lawyers 4 u.

Also, AT’s hotel website is unspeakably bad. As is their hotel, actually.
 
Amazing rollercoaster, it is very fast and very out of control. I went on it years ago and have not been on one quite like it since. Dragon Khan was also an amazing ride back then
Have been on those - both good! DK is very 90s now with its endless loops. Shambala however is an absolute BEAST. Best ride I’ve ever been on including Orlando parks and Busch Gardens.

I mean, just look at it (blue) next to Dragon Khan (red)!!!! :eek:

9JlPCvD.jpg
 
A mini-necro to say I rode this yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it was really good fun. Being a woody it felt more 'out of control' than any other ride at the park and, whilst I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying I was jerked out of my seat, the drops were satisfying and there were many squeaks and screams from my fellow passengers. Overall a good addition to the park and better (and more thrilling) than I expected. Cool pre-show too.

Some minor niggles
  • Half way around the track there is a slow and unbanked corner which is a little odd and unsatisfying.
  • There are some low resolution screens within the Wicker Man structure that look rather naff - just get rid of them tbh.
  • After the ride there you go through a shed which seems like there should be something that happens... but nope. Maybe they ran out of money!

I'd place Wicker Man amongst my favourite rides at the park :)
 
I think B&M have lost it a bit tbh, at least their rep in the UK. Coasters ‘going up-side down’ is no longer the big draw to enthusiasts as it’s been firmly established that going upside down does not necessarily make a coaster good and that many that don’t go upside down are far more fun than those that do. Classic B&Ms like Kumba just feel a little dated now.

Hyper & giga coasters are the kings and we are unlikely to ever see one of these in the UK due to height and cost. What we get are truncated and uninspiring rides from B&M in the UK. In fact, are there any other than Nemsis that are genuinely great? Thumbs up to oblivion and and air for originality and for Alton Towers for demanding world firsts but they now they are poor versions of rides elsewhere. Meanwhile, something like the Saw ride at Thorpe Park is far more interesting ride experience and less ‘doing the motions’ than something like, say, swarm or nemesis inferno.

My favourite coaster is a B&M (Shambhala - a hyper coaster), so it’s clearly a problem with budgets and planning rather than B&M. I suppose I’m just saying that Nemsis being legendary no longer grants them a free pass on everything else, especially in the UK.
 
You said it yourself near the end. B M make great rides, not much they can do with Altons restrictions
That’s sort of true but Swarm and Nemesis Inferno are still a little underwhelming and are certainly not ‘special’.

We just need a copy of Steel Vengeance installed at Alton then I’ll be happy :D

Seriously considering flying to Ohio just to go on it. Looks utterly ridiculous.

Off to the cinema now but I’ll post my review of Walking Dead: The Ride later. Just, so so so so so bad! :D
 
What were your queue times like?

I went on it about 2.5 weeks ago, we had a 2 day ticket with ERA on the Monday. The Sunday had consistent queue times of at least 3 hours plus, so we never bothered attempting to queue. But Monday with early ride access we figured we'd at least be near the front of the queue. We were queuing behind i reckon 200 people 45 minutes before the park officially opened. They spent about an hour doing pre-ride checks and when they let the first batch of people on, the bloody thing broke down. Cue another 45 mins of checks before they started to let people on it again.

I think we'd queued for close to 2.5 hours before we were even able to get on, it kind of soured the experience a little bit. Frankly if they know the pre-ride checks take a while, then god knows why they're not starting them at 8am, so that extensive pre-ride checks are completed before the park even opens.

My advice for anyone going over the summer/warm months, if the queue times aren't any longer than the other coasters, then go for it. Otherwise you'll end up spending half your day queueing for a single coaster.
Midweek during school term time is the only time to go - went on it twice (yesterday) and both times were walk straight on.
 
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