June 29, 20196 yr comment_265120 Wickerman reopening is great and definitely better than nothing! Lets hope Lego Merlin can reopen those other rides.
June 30, 20196 yr comment_265122 THEY WERE WAITING FOR A PART! The takeover will have had nothing to do with Wickerman reopening... Come on guys it happens...
June 30, 20196 yr comment_265124 Yep, because my post above was clearly being serious! We won’t even notice the takeover differences for at least two years I reckon, if there’s any even!
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265856 Wickerman is sick, managed to get on it for the first time last weekend and it was pretty damn intense, we managed to get on the second from last train of the day and front row too - my ribs genuinely hurt after - loved it.
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265867 Glad you enjoyed it. Now try a back row then! I find the front to be slow and sluggish so you will find the back out of control and so much better!
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265870 Wickerman in the back row is just plain amazing. I really hope Merlin decide to build more GCI's
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265872 It's really dislike that they don't let you choose the rows, I mean fair enough if there's some free and they want to fill them but why force people who want to sit at the back in row 3 and then people who might prefer nearer the front sit at the back? It's a nightmare. On Troy they actually encourage people to sit at the back with a seperate queueing space!
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265876 1 hour ago, Coaster said: It's really dislike that they don't let you choose the rows, I mean fair enough if there's some free and they want to fill them but why force people who want to sit at the back in row 3 and then people who might prefer nearer the front sit at the back? It's a nightmare. On Troy they actually encourage people to sit at the back with a seperate queueing space! I am totally with you on this as it is only a decent ride in my opinion on last three rows, but where would the space for a seperate queue go in Wickerman's station? Troy oddly I enjoy far more at the front compared to the back.
August 15, 20196 yr comment_265893 3 hours ago, Coaster said: It's really dislike that they don't let you choose the rows, I mean fair enough if there's some free and they want to fill them but why force people who want to sit at the back in row 3 and then people who might prefer nearer the front sit at the back? It's a nightmare. On Troy they actually encourage people to sit at the back with a seperate queueing space! Its bizarre because sometimes I’ll go and they will let me wait longer for the back and other times they will not. I would say it’s to do with the queue times but it seems the times I’ve asked for the back has been when the line has been longer then when they don’t allow me!! Guess it depends on what mood they are in!! The back on any GCI is the best seat in the house. Mystic Timbers for example was pretty average in the front row but in the back, it’s absolutely brilliant and the same very much goes for Wicker Man. Any seat other than the back 2-3 rows and it’s pretty naff to me.
August 16, 20196 yr comment_265897 Fill from the front is easier if there's a disabled person requiring the back row... That and the poorly designed station means that having some people waiting would cause a lovely bottleneck... Plus you then get everyone wanting to wait for a specific row and it's like "GUYS YOU CAN'T ALL SIT IN THE SAME ROW FFS GET ON THE RIDE!" At the end of the day some rides operate better with designated rows, often down to loading times needing to be quick and on the money, hence why Europa do it on Blue Fire and Wodan...
July 14, 20205 yr comment_270734 Two seasons on and I think Wicker Man has embedded itself as one of Alton's best coasters. At first it may have been the novelty of a wooden coaster at the park but now, it's up there with Nemesis and The Smiler for me. it was running very well at the weekend.
July 14, 20205 yr comment_270735 Wickerman is arguably the best coaster Towers have built this Millenium. Sure, it’s not the biggest or longest coaster but what it does is great and delivers theming and storyline not many other coasters have really done in the U.K., especially during recent years.
September 2, 20204 yr comment_271204 The Wickerboi has been down for a number of days now, and a little tent has appeared on part of the track. Vicious rumours were that Extinction Rebellion had taken it over but a more believable rumour is that there was a track issue, perhaps the heat the other week didn't help.
September 4, 20204 yr comment_271233 MAPpers and Pop Badge Collectors rejoice, the WickerLad is open again! And probably with a RAP queue bigger than the main queue.
November 15, 20204 yr comment_271821 It's a shame that Wicker Man's lighting package seems to be missing after just two seasons. Surely it would have made more sense to install it on a permanent basis initially? Unless I'm mistaken and it was on during Scarefest, however it definitely wasn't when I visited for Oktoberfest.
November 15, 20204 yr comment_271822 It's not missing, it was only rented. Because permanent lighting costs too much money. Obviously.
November 21, 20213 yr comment_274922 Sorry to bump this thread, but I just wanted to ask; is it me, or has Wicker Man been riding a little better in 2021? From my experiences, the ride has felt a little bit faster than in previous years, and it has also been packing quite a few pops of surprisingly excellent airtime where there was previously none! Does anyone else agree with me, or am I just perceiving things? I’ve always really liked Wicker Man since first riding it on opening weekend in 2018 and having my expectations exceeded by a considerable margin (given that the forums were very pessimistic about how Wicker Man would ride and I had no prior GCI experience to compare with, I had pretty low expectations, but I was absolutely blown away!), but over the last year or so, it’s strongly grown on me! Since an excellent couple of rides in July 2020, I’ve been absolutely loving it, and it seems to have gone up by another level again for me in 2021! I just love the fast pace of it, as well as the fun turns, great pops of airtime and the relative smoothness and comfort compared to other wooden coasters! Overall, I do absolutely love it, and it really is a coaster I rank highly! I apologise if this is controversial, but as someone who rates fun and rerideable coasters highly over the out and out intense, I personally have it as my comfortable favourite at Alton Towers, and it’s only narrowly beaten by Icon within the UK for me! For me to rank a ride highly, it has to pack enough thrill for me to get a real kick out of riding, but it can’t be so intense or rough that it causes nausea or hurts me, and I personally think that even though I wouldn’t traditionally call myself a wooden coaster person, Wicker Man satisfies that brief for me more than the vast majority of coasters I’ve ridden! It’s certainly made me look forward to hopefully riding Wodan next year, anyway, as most seem to think it beats Wicker Man by a considerable margin…
November 21, 20213 yr comment_274924 I remember end of 2020 it was riding dreadfully, just crawling round the unbanked turn around, which then seemed to sort itself out in 2021. For me I still find Wickerman to be a bit naff near the front of the train, and earlier in the day. If you can get towards the back at the end of the day I find it packs more of a punch.
November 21, 20213 yr comment_274925 Wicker Man received some work last closed season. I believe some retracking which shouldn't necessarily have had to happen so soon. That would explain why some people noticed it running better this year compared to last. It's also why the ride has been more reliable this year.
November 23, 20213 yr comment_274938 When riding the Wicker Boi at Oktoberfest this year it seemed noticeably faster than last year, was throwing us round the track - was almost a little bit too violent!
March 20, 20223 yr comment_276191 Wicker Man was reportedly on one train this weekend with the queue peaking at 150 minutes. Ouch.
March 20, 20223 yr comment_276192 19 minutes ago, Coaster said: Wicker Man was reportedly on one train this weekend with the queue peaking at 150 minutes. Ouch. It does make you wonder what is going on during closed season that Thorpe AND Towers open up with one train services on coasters. I guess 5 months is nothing..... Hopefully fastrack sales went well though!!
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