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Icon or Wicker Man?

Icon or Wicker Man?

  • Total voters
    35
Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. As the two attractions have each been open for a solid year now, I'd be intrigued to know; which of the 2018 duo of new UK coasters do you prefer?

Now, I understand that these two are very different attractions; Icon is a Mack Rides launch coaster, whereas Wicker Man is a GCI wooden coaster. Due to this, I've put an "undecided" option into the poll for if you don't want to compare them.

However, my personal preference leans towards Icon. The pacing, the airtime, the smoothness; it's just such an outstanding coaster, in my opinion, and each of the elements I just mentioned as well as many more combine together wonderfully to make what is my personal favourite UK coaster and my overall #2 coaster behind only Mako at SeaWorld Orlando. Despite this, I still think that Wicker Man is a fantastic coaster and a brilliant addition to Alton Towers; it is paced wonderfully with many exciting moments, in my opinion! The theming and overall experience is also a particular highlight, and the ride grew on me as the year went on.

One thing's for sure in my mind, however; despite my personal preference towards Icon, I love both to bits, and both were fantastic additions to their respective parks, in my opinion! 2018 sure was an amazing year!

But which of the UK 2018 coaster duo do you prefer, 1 year on?
 
Both are radically underwhelming uses of the ride technology they originate from. I'd be inclined to say Wicker Man less so, but I don't think I can honestly bring myself to say I prefer it over Icon.
 
I'd say WIckerman was underated prior to launch, whereas icon was a little overated both before and after launch.

They are both great... Icon more thrilling, WIckerman more fun.

Can't separate them overall, but we are lucky to have them both.

For me, though, NEMMIE remains the King and it's not even close!
 
Been at PB today and I must say Icon was running like a dream. It's creeping closer to Nemmy as my fav UK coaster for sure. I got some ridiculous air time.
 
I feel like both coasters are running much faster this year. Wicker man seems fast now wherever you sit on the train. Icon is still my favourite ride in the UK on just the ride itself. I could sit on that thing all day it’s so reridable and the queue allows that, whereas wicker man is a great experience overall but the ride isn’t as good. I’m starting to get annoyed at having to watch the pre show every time which makes it less re rideable for me. So that being said I still prefer icon.
 
As Mack launch coasters and GCIs go, neither is really anything special unfortunately (Iceland at EP has a better version of each which doesn't really reflect well on the UK as a whole).

For Wicker Man, my expectations were very low due to the small scale of the ride whilst I had higher hopes for Icon, maybe something like Blue Fire 1.5 rather than on par with Helix. Though WM fared better of the two relative to my expectations, I'd be hesitant to call it the better ride. It's far tamer than the majority of GCI coasters I've done, though the overall package is impressive. Icon meanwhile I really wanted to like, but it's just a bit too meandering with no sense of purpose. It has its moments, but there's a slow start, a slow end and a not particularly fast middle (points to anyone who knows where I stole that criticism from).
 
For me Wicker Man is the one that I would choose between the two. However they both are great rides, but they are both completely different in ride experience, theming and build material, so very difficult to compare.

As @discoinferno has already pointed out, there are already a topic (actually at least two others) similar to this thread.

For me, my favourite ride is always the one that I'm currently riding on and this can change several times throughout the day o_O
 
The actual Wickerman coaster is average at best. The ride is the theming and the overall experience - which there is nothing wrong with.

Icon is an excellent coaster IMO. It could have been so much better though with a little thought to the landscaping. If they made the section under steeplechase feel more enclosed (using bushes or walls/ hills) and berhaps a few near miss elements on the banked weaves back towards the station by having oriental arches/ pillars.

As a coaster enthusiast - icon blows Wickerman out the water.
 
Still think Wicker Man is street ahead of Icon, as unpopular as this will be found Icon slow and quite boring tbf, Wicker Man might be short but its snappy!
 
Danscott22 said:
Still think Wicker Man is street ahead of Icon, as unpopular as this will be found Icon slow and quite boring tbf, Wicker Man might be short but its snappy!
Click to expand...

I think that this clearly proves that we all look for something different in a coaster! I think the best moments of icon are because the are slow - the in line twist and the imalmin... And the airtime hill too!

For me, Wickerman (theming aside) has nothing stand-out about it at all. It is all stock elements. I think it feels quick (due to the closeness of the structure), I would disagree that it is snappy.
 
Wickerman is spoilt by inefficient loading, inappropriate theming for a family ride and the short ride length.
Icon has a boring station and fades away in the final section, which needed a barrel roll to finish on.

The overall experience of Icon is better... you are on there quickly, it delivers plenty of air time and has a long track length.
The rides were the right ones to fill gaps in each parks offering...if they had been built in the opposite park, neither would have worked.
 
Neither are brilliant but I think Wicker Man is the best overall package. I expected Wicker Man to be poor but it wasn't, and I expected Icon to be great and it wasn't.

Wicker Man is a good ride and a nice theme. If you can get towards the back in the afternoon on a hot day then it's great fun. It's not overly thrilling but still good fun.

Icon was a strange one for me... I had one incredibly dull ride and one good ride, so it needs to prove itself to me when I visit again in August. I don't dislike it but I feel like it could've been so much more. The ending in particular is quite weak as it meanders back to the station.
 
Undecided.

Wicker Man is consistently at its best and is a good coaster, but is at a mid-tier level IMO.

I've had the occasional really good ride on Icon but usually it feels too sluggish and lacking in thrill for me personally, I feel it would have benefited from slightly more speed to carry it through the layout better.
 
Just done Icon four times in just over half an hour.
Mr Wicker is currently on a sixty minute queue.
Today, Icon is better than Wickerman.
Just because.
 
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