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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

djtruefitt said:
The Wicker Man chain has been doing that for a long time now, you’ll notice usually only when it’s cold and wet. Never when it’s dry. It’s been reported a few times and I’ve even seen it reported on Twitter and it’s been stated it’s perfectly normal and okay to do that.

I can only guess it’s either the weird angle of the lifthill, or just the design of the ride. The way it bangs though I’m surprised it’s not come out of its runner.
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Probably a mix of the unusual angle of the lift hill and the fact they have quite basic chain tensioning. If you look at most steel coasters the chain usually runs through an array of gears near the base of the lift hill to tension the whole chain including on the return.

Wooden coasters seem not to do this (well GCI don’t), unsure why.
 
I thought I went mad for a minute and read that : a. Someone thinks that the gentle train ride that is Blue Fire is better than Icon and b. Alton should actually be encouraged to turn off smoke effects on a ride!

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Matt.GC said:
I thought I went mad for a minute and read that : a. Someone thinks that the gentle train ride that is Blue Fire is better than Icon and b. Alton should actually be encouraged to turn off smoke effects on a ride!

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Off topic here but I'd say the general consensus is that Blue Fire is superior to Icon.

Describing Blue Fire as being a "gentle train ride" whilst comparing the two is, I would argue, extremely ironic. I used to think Blue Fire's launch was tame until I rode Icon, but it's positively thrilling by comparison.
 
D4n said:
Off topic here but I'd say the general consensus is that Blue Fire is superior to Icon.

Describing Blue Fire as being a "gentle train ride" whilst comparing the two is, I would argue, extremely ironic. I used to think Blue Fire's launch was tame until I rode Icon, but it's positively thrilling by comparison.
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Captaincoaster.com disagrees
 
D4n said:
Off topic here but I'd say the general consensus is that Blue Fire is superior to Icon.

Describing Blue Fire as being a "gentle train ride" whilst comparing the two is, I would argue, extremely ironic. I used to think Blue Fire's launch was tame until I rode Icon, but it's positively thrilling by comparison.
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Blue Fire disappoints me the more I ride it. Neither ride is about thrilling launches, they seem to be used more of a means of gaining momentum than thrills in their own right. BF seems to meander around in extremely comfortable seats and restraints doing very little, whereas on Icon I found myself floating all over the place. I don't know if it's just the fact it's in EP or the fact it's the first of its kind that means BF gets more respect than I think it deserves, but I personally find the layout very dull.

But I'm about to be told off for going way off topic, so I'll digress to the WM smoke issue. I doubt some water vapour would cause any more damage than the sheer amount of rain that falls on the structure during closed season. With a pretty average and small layout, taking away any theming effects from Wickernan will seriously degrade the experience. WM is good because of the overall experience, the coaster layout on it's own simply won't cut the mustard.

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Matt.GC said:
Blue Fire disappoints me the more I ride it. Neither ride is about thrilling launches, they seem to be used more of a means of gaining momentum than thrills in their own right. BF seems to meander around in extremely comfortable seats and restraints doing very little, whereas on Icon I found myself floating all over the place. I don't know if it's just the fact it's in EP or the fact it's the first of its kind that means BF gets more respect than I think it deserves, but I personally find the layout very dull.

But I'm about to be told off for going way off topic, so I'll digress to the WM smoke issue. I doubt some water vapour would cause any more damage than the sheer amount of rain that falls on the structure during closed season. With a pretty average and small layout, taking away any theming effects from Wickernan will seriously degrade the experience. WM is good because of the overall experience, the coaster layout on it's own simply won't cut the mustard.

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Each to their own but to my mind Icon is a well presented monorail. It does absolutely nothing.

Anyway that is waaaaaaaaaaaay off topic.
 
Been on wicker man and th13een so far. Not bad waits 40 mins for wicker man and 15 for Th13teen and now I'm in the queue for Galactica. The park seems really quiet around the paths and grounds but the queues seem long. That being said it's certainly a lot quieter than it was in the summer and the crowd levels are much more reasonable
 
Ethan said:
That being said it's certainly a lot quieter than it was in the summer and the crowd levels are much more reasonable
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Historically weekdays from about now until scarefest have always been the quietest days of the year (hence they were going to be closed days or 4pm closures). I would have been more surprised if it was busy.
 
Ethan said:
Been on wicker man and th13een so far. Not bad waits 40 mins for wicker man and 15 for Th13teen and now I'm in the queue for Galactica. The park seems really quiet around the paths and grounds but the queues seem long. That being said it's certainly a lot quieter than it was in the summer and the crowd levels are much more reasonable
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Ive got a mate who's gone today and it looks slightly busier than yesterday, probably why it's been extended. Nemmy and the dark forest was pretty much walk on by 3pm yesterday.
 
Went today. Quiet on the paths, queuelines fairly busy but quieter than they have been this year so far.

Social distancing, and limited loading makes the queues longer - and i have to say it was well observed with many announcements.

Kudos to the lady on the Smiler PA - she said "Masks must be worn in the indoor section of the queueline, on the ride, and in the shop - that means you! Yes you, picking your nose!", The offender in question then put on his mask.
 
Has anyone else ridden Wicker Man since it's has its retrack? The section that's been altered is incredibly rough compared to the rest of the layout!
 
Burbs said:
Has anyone else ridden Wicker Man since it's has its retrack? The section that's been altered is incredibly rough compared to the rest of the layout!
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That's interesting, thought the whole point of re-tracking is to make it smoother. :p:confused:
 
skyscraper said:
That's interesting, thought the whole point of re-tracking is to make it smoother. :p:confused:
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I'm not sure it's the "point", but it's certainly an effect of a retrack usually. Not this time! If the whole ride was as rough as that bit it would be very, very unpleasant to ride.
 
Burbs said:
I'm not sure it's the "point", but it's certainly an effect of a retrack usually. Not this time! If the whole ride was as rough as that bit it would be very, very unpleasant to ride.
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It's not too bad imo I just think that bit is insane more than anything. The only rough ride as such at towers imo is the smiler. And that's only the last few inversions aswell
 
Out of interest @Burbs, when did you last ride? Some people were beginning to find the drop rough towards the end of the 2019 season/the start of the 2020 season, with some even complaining of back pain caused by that section.

I found it fine in July, and I have a very low roughness tolerance, but these rides can vary, and your report has made me somewhat more worried to get back on it than I was. I don’t have a high tolerance for things that are rough, so I’m slightly worried I really won’t like it if it is really rough when I go back on it.

One thing I admit I find odd about Wicker Man is that it has seemingly aged more poorly than a lot of other GCIs. Many people say that it’s not the smoothest compared to other GCIs at only 2 years old, whereas GCIs of a somewhat comparable age like Heidi and Mystic Timbers are apparently much smoother, and even slightly older GCIs like Wodan, Troy and Joris are apparently much smoother.
 
Matt N said:
Out of interest @Burbs, when did you last ride? Some people were beginning to find the drop rough towards the end of the 2019 season/the start of the 2020 season, with some even complaining of back pain caused by that section.
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Before yesterday I last rode it in July this year. It's only for a few seconds so I wouldn't worry about it, and as far as I can tell the rest of the layout is riding as it always has.
 
Burbs said:
Before yesterday I last rode it in July this year. It's only for a few seconds so I wouldn't worry about it, and as far as I can tell the rest of the layout is riding as it always has.
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Ah, so around the same sort of time as I last rode then! Very odd that the retrack has seemingly caused it to be rougher...
 
My rides on it on Wednesday were enjoyable, it did feel a bit slower but that was due to it not opening till 12/1pm so it didn't warm up much that day. But I do agree that section is a tad rough but it's not uncomfortable, in all honestly I quite like it like that, makes it feel like a proper woodie, I'm sure I'm not the only one who kind of feels that way (or maybe I'm a nutter)
 
Sorry to keep asking questions, but did that section feel as rough as say, Grand National or Big Dipper, or sections of Megafobia on the back row?
 
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