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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

Has any one else notice the Wickerman lift-hill Judder?

I talking about the first part at the bottom where it is at the steepest. The train seems to rock the riders back and forth. You could see this from the queue line, as the occupants rock back and forth as if they are rowing a boat. It can also be felt when riding it. But it smooths out completely once you are over the steepest part of the lift hill at the bottom.
 
RoyJess said:
Has any one else notice the Wickerman lift-hill Judder?

I talking about the first part at the bottom where it is at the steepest. The train seems to rock the riders back and forth. You could see this from the queue line, as the occupants rock back and forth as if they are rowing a boat. It can also be felt when riding it. But it smooths out completely once you are over the steepest part of the lift hill at the bottom.
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My partner counts these every time we go on. One day he got to seven. But have to admit it’s got stronger as the season has gone on.
 
I'm no expert but are't lift chains weighted to take up the slack? So I presume this rocking is the weight mechanism bouncing then settling down after the weight of the train is added to the chain as the train attaches? I think you can see the weights on Oblivion by the gear box just outside the station - I seem to remember seeing the weight move downwards slightly as the train climbs.
 
Yes that's the chain tensioner. You can also see the one on Nemesis which is above the lift motor (at the bottom of the lift).

I don't know where Wicker Man's chain tensioner is but it could explain the jerkiness.
 
What causes the chain to get into that cycle of normal movement > slack, goes slow, bangs against chain guides > normal movement > slack, goes slow, bangs against chain guides? That happened last month and not long after the ride closed for a bit. Later on in the day it was back to normal.
 
Steve74 said:
What causes the chain to get into that cycle of normal movement > slack, goes slow, bangs against chain guides > normal movement > slack, goes slow, bangs against chain guides? That happened last month and not long after the ride closed for a bit. Later on in the day it was back to normal.
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That was happening when we were there (second Sunday of Scarefest) We managed to get on the last ride before it went down for quite a long time. On a plus side we were given fast passes for having to sit on the break run for 15 mins after our ride.
 
On a random note, would you guys say Wicker Man looks better than The Smiler did in opening year in terms of thematic execution? Because looking back through The Smiler's construction topics from 2013, everyone seemed to give The Smiler's thematic execution similar praise to what Wicker Man's has received, yet it is slated now.
 
Smiler as a coaster (track only) is a lot more impressive to look at than wicker man. However, wicker man has much better theming so while smiler may be cool to look at, wicker man is at a whole new level.
 
Matt N said:
On a random note, would you guys say Wicker Man looks better than The Smiler did in opening year in terms of thematic execution? Because looking back through The Smiler's construction topics from 2013, everyone seemed to give The Smiler's thematic execution similar praise to what Wicker Man's has received, yet it is slated now.
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Smiler has never been as good of a finished end product (in terms of theme from start to finish) as Wicker Man is.
 
After my annual Alton Towers trip for fireworks last Sunday I’ve now finally ridden Wickerman and it may even be my favourite coaster in the park. Easily better than Smiler for me. Wickerman is faster than you expect it to be and almost unrelentless, but the combination of speed, airtime hops and forceful corners was just great.
The relentlessness for Smilers inversions is a much more sickening experience for me whereas Wickerman is just fun. Of a course Nemesis will always be one of the best rides in the park, but Wickerman gives better competition than I expected!

My only thought was is something else meant to happen in the tunnel on the return to the station?
 
The video also reminded me that Wickerman sticks to some of John Wardley’s principles that were put in place with Nemesis (and tested on an episode of Tomorrow’s World with Collosus at Thorpe). The queue line gives a great view of the ride, especially the first switch backs at the Wickerman and the big banked corner. Non-riders can also clearly see the Wickerman and watch trains going in and out of the structure. You can walk in and around a lot of the track (well in the queue for Wickerman). JW believed that seeing the ride first built up the hype and fear in your mind and the experience was far more than just riding a coaster. This is what Tomorrow’s World proved with a group kept in a separate room while another group queued and watched Collosus for an hour before riding. They gave both groups heart monitors to see the reaction while riding.
 
Alsty said:
In fact you don't even need a bay loader when there are 2 people per row. I don't know why Alton Towers are wasting their precious, limited operating budget providing one. It's more relevant on rides like Nemesis where you get two people in row 3 and two in row 4, and they never think of sharing it until you ask them.
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I disagree, batchers are always important.
We had this issue on other rides (Vampire at Chessington always comes to mind), if you are party of six and there is a group of two in rows 2, 4 and 7, you can actually get all six of you on the same train in consecutive rows. Even worse if there are already six people in the air gate and you need to wait for multiple trains to work out if your group is all going to get on the same train or if their aren't the same number of guests in a row.
 
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