I think row 3 must have magical powers or something
@Brad97, because out of the 3 rides I've had on Wicker Man, the ride I had in row 3 was my favourite!
Out of interest, would anyone say that their opinions of Wicker Man have changed at all since the ride first opened? Because I'd say mine have slightly, even though I loved the ride from that first ever ride on opening weekend! Many of you may remember that I reviewed Wicker Man back in March as part of my trip report from the ride's opening weekend:
https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/alton-towers-24th-25th-march-2018.4702/#post-217857
However, I'd say that there are a few opinions of mine that have changed since that first ride, so I'd now like to share my updated review so to speak with you all:
Matt N's Updated Wicker Man Review
Since my first ever ride on Wicker Man, I have ridden the ride twice more and experienced it in varying places on the train. I have managed to ride the coaster in row 10, row 3 and row 1, for clarification.
For starters, I remember saying in my initial review that I loved how good the whole experience the ride provided was, and that hasn't changed! I still feel that Wicker Man is the UK's best experience coaster, and one of Alton Towers' most immersive attractions alongside Hex. I love the pre-show, I love how much detail has gone into the theming and I just love how every element of the experience blends together to make something truly wonderful!
Now onto the ride itself. In my initial review, I said that Wicker Man had usurped Megafobia as my favourite wooden rollercoaster. To tell you the truth, that wasn't my initial impression when I came into the brake run, and after that first ride, it didn't quite top Megafobia until I gave it a little more thought later in the day. It did pleasantly surprise me as a ride, however, as I was expecting a top 20 ride at the very most before I boarded Wicker Man for the first time; I was expecting something similar in thrill level to Thirteen, despite seemingly being optimistic about the ride compared to most others during construction. So I was incredibly surprised with what the ride was actually like, and as I said above, it did top Megafobia for me after I gave it a little more thought, which I certainly wasn't expecting during construction when everyone was referring to it as a family ride! Due to this, I was a little nervous that I had rated the ride too highly before I boarded it again, but when I rerode the ride in August 2018 and September 2018, respectively, it was better than I'd remembered if anything, and it definitely proved I was correct to place the ride ahead of Megafobia! I was towards the front of the train, as well, so I can only imagine what it would have been like at the back!
I also said in my initial review that I liked the ride's pacing, but that it wasn't as intense in terms of forces as Megafobia, despite having better pacing than Megafobia, in my opinion. My more recent rides, however, were even faster than my ride in March; the pacing was simply obscene on both of my more recent rides, with the coaster feeling wild and relentless from the second it crested the lift hill to the second it hit the brake run! It felt even faster than it did in March both times, and I loved the ride's pacing in March! I also felt that the ride's intensity was better, with the coaster feeling at least on par with Megafobia for intensity! And I again reference the fact that I was sat towards the front of the train! I'd go as far as to say that out of the 6 woodies I've ridden, Wicker Man has the best pacing, with Nickelodeon Streak at BPB being a close second!
Furthermore, I said in my initial review that I felt that one of the ride's main drawbacks was its airtime. I only felt one or two gentle pops of airtime on my very first Wicker Man ride, and I'd say this is still the case now. I do remember the ride's level of airtime being the only thing that even slightly underwhelmed me after my first ride on Wicker Man, as I'd heard many people praise the airtime hugely prior to my first ride. One person even compared the amount of airtime that Wicker Man has to the amount that Shambhala at PortAventura has, and while I haven't ridden Shambhala, I have ridden it's Floridian cousin; Mako at SeaWorld Orlando! And I don't know whether anyone else thinks this, but I personally think that Mako's airtime is in a completely different league to Wicker Man's airtime. While Wicker Man's airtime is fun and it's certainly better than no airtime at all, I don't think it's particularly fair to compare its airtime to Mako's. However, me criticising the ride's airtime is awfully picky, as airtime isn't Wicker Man's focus! So I apologise for that.
Overall, the ride still sits as my 3rd favourite coaster at Alton Towers behind The Smiler and Nemesis and my favourite wooden rollercoaster. It's a fantastic coaster, and I'll admit that it's incredibly harsh of me to criticise the ride's airtime, as from reviews, airtime doesn't really seem to be the focus of any GCI coaster. The main focus of GCIs definitely looks as though it is to be twisty, fun rides with great pacing, which Wicker Man excels at, in my opinion! I also forgot to mention during my review, but I also think that Wicker Man doesn't feel that short when you're on it!
So all in all, I absolutely love Wicker Man! It's a fantastic coaster, and a stunning overall experience; it gives me great faith in Alton Towers' future, as well as future additions from Merlin! If I was to review it out of 10 compared to everything else I've ridden, I would give it a very solid...
9/10
P.S. Sorry for long post. Also, sorry if this review is a bit rambly or unnecessary.
