2018
I was genuinely shocked when I saw wickerman running at full speed for the first time. Its much faster than anything indicated and I'm impressed. Admittedly its still not the best GCI but my god is it solid and the theming is some of the best I've seen outside of the big parks. My respect to the folk who designed it, they have pulled what is likely Alton's best ride by a mile out of the bag.
Yeah it doesn't look better than Nemesis or Smiler
I honestly agree with all three above points. It looks gorgeous IRL, the pacing is much faster than I anticipated (and we all know how hyped I was already), and you can see that for what they've done with that £16m, they've put every bit of it to use! From a massive marketing scheme to the consistent theming throughout the entire ride area, I can predict Wicker Man being a massive hit for Alton Towers. Agreed, certainly not being the best GCI by a COUNTRY MILE, but the environment and interaction with the Wicker Man itself will enhance what's there. I for one, am unbelievably excited to ride it on Sunday now.
How is the integration between it and Mutiny Bay? Apparently they changed the courtyard restaurant to fit in a little more with Wicker man?
It looks incredible from what I've seen, I just worry about the clash in styles..
Yeah so the courtyard tavern has been completely rebranded to fit the new theme of the Beornen's village. Runes painted on the internal and external walls, flags outside, the tavern is now called 'The Welcom-inn' (cringe), and there's a live band with ritualistic diagrams on flags inside the tavern. It looks very nice!
EDIT: Can we for a moment talk about the SHOP???
Newish Hyperion overview
God damn, what a beauty. (Pic from amusement_park_outlaw on insta)
Twisted Cyclone progress @ SFoG
^Check out that long support/first drop headchopper. Noice.
Edit to add an imgur album from this post on reddit.
Especially for its size, I'm a big fan of this particular conversion, if for no other reason than that it focuses more on big, sustained elements, and when its out of steam for those, it just ends, instead of continuing on for a few hundred more feet of track that doesn't really add anything.
That wave turn looks absolutely bonkers.
I'd love to know how it's gonna feel to be completely 90 degrees on your side while the track curves slightly inward like that.
I am sooooooo excited for that wave turn. I think the reverse cobra roll will be awesome, but this will be the signature element. Gonna be great!!! Yay home park!
That wave turn looks more fun than Half-Life 2.
I'm not a fan of how short the ride is, but considering every part of the layout holds something interesting I think it'll be pretty badass. That wave turn off the side of the lift is so goddamn cool.
BBSpeed, I think that's a good analysis. I agree with that. There are tons of short rides around that do just fine, no need to try so hard to draw it out. Maybe they could've fit in one more solid sized straight camelback where the brakes are in the animation (maybe they did that in a change) but it's good as is.
At the Twisted Timbers media day. The ride is great! Lots of hang time on the first drop, air all over the place, smooth, and good pace throughout. It's a great addition to the park.
I'll likely be riding it on the 7th of April - I'm so excited to ride my first RMC
It's a fun ride! Not really intense, but it's really cold out here. It'll probably pick up speed as it warms up and the ride breaks on. Here's a short video of the first drop and turn: https://youtu.be/1uEQ0JEuQFg
Looks like its already better than Hurler, which is what we really should care about.
The rumor of Lagoon's 1921 Classic Wood Coaster getting new trains has some more credibility. The tarpped shapes look like GCI Millennium Flyers! Way better than the 40 year old PTC's it has had....
^Is it getting a total retracking too? I didn't think GCI was doing Millennium Flyer sales unless they basically also got to do a full retrack...
Also, the first Twisted Timbers POV is up:
Worth noting that it's cold (~40°F or ~4°C) and the train was empty during filming. I'd love to see another one once the weather warms up and/or with some weight in the train, because man, it is positively sleepwalking its way through the second half of the layout.
This is what Storm Chaser should have been, if they didn't mind pouring a ton of extra footers.
In what respect Soko? Seems to me they did pretty well using all the juice out of Storm Chaser's little lift. Haven't ridden but it looks good particularly given constraints. I like the design better than this one by far, but of course that ride had a FAR superior layout to start with so it's not much of a fair comparison lol.
I hope the weather will be warmer by early to mid April when I’m going.
^I wasn't completely serious about that. They both have a similar kind of drop and Twisted Timbers genuinely looks fun. I guess it's unfair to say one would be more fun than the other, even tho I can guess from the POV that it does look more fun partly because I'm not as familiar with it.
Just based on the videos I've seen of it, the theming looks excellent. Definitely the best at Alton. It's just a shame the ride doesn't seem to match the tone the ride sets, a family coaster doesn't really fit with the theme of you being a sacrifice to a pagan spirit. That said though, the theming still looks great and the ride looks pretty fun.