Ride Profile
The Wicker Man lives…
It's been 21 years since a new wooden coaster, or woodie opened in the UK, but Wicker Man at Alton Towers Resort is worth the wait. The highly-themed attraction was officially opened on March 24 and it's already won many fans.
W
ith a track length of 2,000 feet (608 metres), Wicker Man by Great Coasters International is not the world's longest woodie. It's certainly not
the highest ride of its kind either. Yet Alton Towers prides itself on making a virtue of notoriously tight planning restrictions that dictate nothing can be built above the treeline. To this day, you'll not see trace of a single ride as you drive down the long and windy roads that lead towards the park in the heart of the English countryside. “Rather than building really tall rollercoasters that you see
at other parks, we have to dig down,” highlights Neil Walker, senior project manager on Wicker Man at Alton Towers Resort. “We did that on Nemesis, Oblivion and The Smiler. There's no exception here, but I think it adds to the whole uniqueness of Alton Towers.” As it did on Th13teen, the park has even integrated the
ride's woodland location into the storyline of Wicker Man. During the pre-show, which features some impressive projection mapping by Holovis, guests meet the Boernen. According to the attraction's storyline, this secret community has been living in the woods around the park in Staffordshire for hundreds of years. They invite guests to come face to face with the Wicker Man in a 'ceremony' tinged with pagan influences, much like the film of the same name. The attraction also takes in local influences. In the ride's theming, for example, there are direct copies of stone walls from the village of Alton. Tunnels that were added to the coaster to dampen
external noise have been packed with additional theming and special effects. A haunting soundtrack by IMAscore creates just the right ambience. And of course there is that 'burning' Wicker Man icon that is the ride's centrepiece and which really comes into its own after dark (although the park usually closes before nightfall, options are being explored for special nighttime opening and events). We won't reveal quite how it's done, but the illusion of fire is achieved using a mix of flame burners, smoke effects and LED screens. For safety reasons, the 17.55m tall (57.5ft) structure, unlike the ride's track, is not actually made of wood.
An immersive pre-show
Experience designer Holovis worked with Merlin Magic Making (MMM) to concept and script an immersive, multisensory preshow for the Wicker Man, as well as producing the media and delivering the complex AV elements throughout the attraction. Onsite, surround audio and immersive media feature
throughout the queue line, preshow, station loading zone, enclosed sections, exit and within the Wicker Man structure. Holovis also programmed all the SFX, including pyrotechnics, and synchronised everything throughout the experience. Peter Cliff, creative director at Holovis, says: “Immersive
pre and post show scenes have now become a staple of the traditional rollercoaster experience, extending the thrill of the ride from just a few minutes to something that guests will remember, talk about and share for years to come.”
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