Wicker Man at Alton Towers-Ride Review
Wicker Man is Alton Towers newest rollercoaster. It’s the first wooden rollercoaster to be built in England since 1996. The last wooden rollercoaster to open in England was Megafobia at Oakwood Park in Pembrokeshire. The theming of Wicker Man has taken its inspiration from The Wicker Man film released in 1973. The centre piece of the ride is a hugely impressive 6 story-tall Wicker Man Effigy, which the coaster goes through twice. Smoke and flames are released as the trains pass through the effigy.
The surrounding areas of the ride and queue are heavily themed with props relating to the rides story.
The ride cost Alton Towers around £16 million and was designed and built by GCI.
Alton Towers have created a unique story for this ride revolving around the legend of the Wicker Man. You’re guided through the story by an old pagan group that live in the woods of Alton Towers called the Beornen. The elders in the group pass down a story that the woods are watched over by The Wicker Man and that one day he will return. They say that when he does return, he will reward the Beornen with freedom and well-being.
For The Wicker Man to return a ritual must be completed. This is the part of the story where the role of the guest is explained. The ritual requires that a “chosen few”(riders) must be sacrificed by being passed through the burning effigy.
The queue for the ride weaves in and around the coaster itself. This provides some good views and photo opportunities of both the coaster and The Wicker Man effigy.
The queue leads into a small pre-show building. Just before the pre-show there is an opportunity to hand in bags and larger loose articles not permitted on the coaster. The pre-show provides guests with the back story, detailed earlier in the article, using both visual and audio effects. The pre-show room exits directly into the rides loading area.
The height limit for this ride is set at 1.2 metres. This height limit indicates that the ride itself is more of a family style coaster. However, the ride theming and pre-show seem to be more targeted towards adults, as they could be considered too scary for younger children.
The ride itself lasts around 2 minutes. The coaster drops, twists, turns and dips in and out of tunnels. The ride design links nicely with the surrounding forest. The fire effects on the effigy and the speed at which the coaster passes through the structure are good sensory additions to the ride experience. The coaster itself was a more thrilling experience than I expected, but not as thrilling as some of the larger steel coasters at the park, such as Nemesis and The Smiler. However, it does provide more thrill than rides such as Thirteen and Spinball Whizzer.
The ride trains seat 24 people (2×12) and the park was operating 3 trains throughout the day. Seats on the ride are not as accommodating to larger guests as some of the other rollercoasters in the park.
Throughout the day the ride was having a few technical issues. These pauses in operation seemed to rarely last much more than 15 minutes. According to employees working the ride, the technical issues were due to a problem with the rides computer system not recognising if restraints were locked or not. This was only the fourth day the ride had been open, so a few technical issues are to be expected.
One slight criticism of the ride is the lack of theming at the end. The train stops in a room for about 30 seconds as they wait for the next train to leave the station. I feel that Alton Towers could have added a final show scene at this point, instead nothing really happens apart from a quick blast of fog. However, this is a very small criticism and I still feel that Wicker Man is one of the best themed outdoor coasters I have ever experienced.
Overall, I think that Wicker Man is a fantastic addition to Alton Towers and adds to the parks already impressive coaster lineup. Alton Towers have done a fantastic job with the rides look and design. I am sure that this new rollercoaster will be a huge success.
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