Wicker Man, codenamed SW8 (Secret Weapon 8) is Alton Towers' new wooden rollercoaster, built on the old log flume site and due to open for the 2018 season.
Wicker Man, codenamed SW8 (Secret Weapon 8) is Alton Towers' new wooden rollercoaster, built on the old log flume site and due to open for the 2018 season.
Theme Park | Alton Towers |
---|---|
Park Area | Gloomy Wood |
Ride Type | Wooden Rollercoaster |
Manufacturer | Great Coasters International |
Designer | Merlin Magic Making |
Length | 2028 feet |
Cost | £16 million |
Height Restriction | 1.2m (TBC) |
Wicker Man will be the park's first wooden rollercoaster when it opens at Alton Towers in 2018, and is being manufactured by Great Coasters International (GCI). As is common with Alton Towers' rollercoasters, it was given the codename Secret Weapon 8 - SW8 for short - during construction.
From early on, rumours suggested the ride would have a Wicker Man theme, and rollercoaster's track would pass through large Wicker Man statue. The name Wicker Man was officially confirmed at midnight on 8 January 2018.
Planning for the ride began in 2014, with several areas of the park considered as possible sites. Early on, the rollercoaster was due to be part of Forbidden Valley, built on the car parks near to Air. By March 2015, a location on the site of The Blade was being considered, with the track reaching over to part of the old Nemesis extended queueline. However, ultimately The Flume site was chosen after it was decided that the log flume had reached the end of its serviceable life.
Several options for rollercoasters were considered and passed through focus groups, before the teams at Merlin and Alton Towers settled on a wooden rollercoaster. Proposals from manufacturers such as The Gravity Group (Cú Chulainn, Tayto Park) were evaluated before settling on the design from Great Coasters International (Wodan, Europa Park).
Much of Wicker Man's construction took place during the 2017 season, so visitors to the park were able to watch progress as the wood rose into the sky. The Welcoming: Be Chosen was a new scare maze at 2017's Scarefest event, which hinted at Wicker Man's theme and acted as a prequel to the ride itself.
The first train was successfully sent around the track in December 2017.
Alton Towers' fireworks weekend provided the final opportunity before the closed season to take a look through the fences at the SW8 construction site.
The Katanga Canyon pathway was open for the entire weekend, but the real treat for rollercoaster enthusiasts was after the fireworks shows each evening when the service road was opened up, giving us all our first chance to walk underneath the Secret Weapon 8 lift hill and really get up close with the new wooden coaster.
A final chance to walk down the new path this season and look through the windows in the fence
Aerial view over The Welcoming: Be Chosen scare maze from the Sky Ride
View of SW8 from the Sky Ride
Banked turn and queueline
Track
Fencing and green netting has been put down both sides of the service road underneath the airtime tunnel
Track exiting the maintenance building at night
Inside the maintenance shed
Lift hill
Brake run passing underneath the lift hill
Underneath the lift hill
The wood: close up
A nighttime view over SW8
Airtime hill
Crowds walking along the service road
Lift hill
Between the lift and the airtime hill
Bottom of the first drop passing underneath the lift hill
Up close with Alton Towers' new wooden rollercoaster
Wood ready to go into place
The kiosk building wrapped up against the chilly night air
Beside the track
Bottom of the first drop
Track bed built up ready for the steel running rails
Public access underneath the sound tunnel
What is inside box 10?
The Katanga Canyon path is now being opened from around 4:30pm for the rest of Scarefest, offering a new set of views across the site and the first opportunities to get up close to SW8's maintenance buildings. The path is also expected to be open next weekend during the evenings of the Fireworks event.
A view down the site
Switching direction
Top of the lift hill
Airtime hill
Airtime hill, with supports in place for the sound tunnel
Looking through the airtime hill
Station and maintenance buildings
Pathway past the kiosk building
Layers of lamination being built up for the track bed
The queueline will go underneath the rollercoaster
Queueline being built
Around 95% of the paths are now in place
Queueline path
Queueline fencing being put into place
Track passing through the theming element
The theming element under cover ... could this be the Wicker Man?
Close up of what look like horns
A glimpse under the covers
What is this spike?
The SW8 logo can be seen on the side of the theming element
Track entering the theming element
The lift hill, featuring the bent bit near the bottom of the picture
Lift hill
Top of the lift hill
Track bed being built up
Station and maintenance buildings
Station and maintenance buildings
The track runs through the legs of the ... wicker man?
The Katanga Canyon path which has been closed all season is reopening on Scarefest and Fireworks evenings
The track leaving the maintenance building
The track leaving the maintenance building
Maintenance building
Track emerging from the maintenance building
A view between the legs of the giant theming structure
Theming structure
The Katanga Canyon path passes beside the maintenance building
Up close with the maintenance building
Path going underneath the lift hill and first drop
Path underneath the lift hill
Top of the lift hill transitioning into the first drop
The lift hill and first drop as seen from Katanga Canyon and the Rapids
Banking on the first drop
Banked turn
A view from the Rapids
What is inside box 26?
Remains of old paving from the days of The Flume
Safety First
The Katanga Canyon path into Mutiny Bay
The moon rises over Secret Weapon 8
An animated SW8 logo is being projected onto The Towers during Scarefest
Lots of builders on site today, spread across the site working on various parts of the track. New signs have been put up around the boundary fences, revealing the SW8 logo which looks like a burning man. Could this be another clue to the true purpose of the large theming element, now shielded from view underneath hessian sack material?
The queueline paths and fences are progressing next to the bottom turn around, which follows the circle footprint of The Flume's old station. In an early version of the plans for SW8 there was to be a restaurant in the middle, although this was ultimately not progressed.
Elsewhere on the park Scarefest has begun, featuring The Welcoming: Be Chosen scare maze which acts as a preview to the backstory of SW8. The maze features a group of woodland dwellers who shy away from modern technology. The group have invited outsiders to participate in a strange ritual, with the opportunity to "be chosen" ... whether or not that is something good or bad is only revealed to those brave enough to enter the maze and find out for themselves.
The bottom of the site, with track visible entering the large theming element
Turn around
Queue line under contruction next to the bottom turn around
The Flume turn around
Supports
The first airtime hill and criss-crossing track
The track, with the station building in the background
Track and supports
Kiosk building under construction
Top of the lift
Working on the track
The top of the lift hill
Working underneath the top of the lift hill
Airtime hill with sound tunnel support structure
Airtime hill
Station and maintenance buildings
Working on construction
Carpenter
Looking towards the theming structure
Station building in the background
Queueline
More queueline
New signs revealing the SW8 burning man logo
The Welcoming: Be Chosen scare maze is open for Scarefest
The scare maze opens late afternoon, but is best experienced after dark
The Welcoming: Be Chosen is housed inside the Courtyard in Mutiny Bay
A huge amount of trackwork is now in place, and the ride's layout is clearly visible. Layers of wood are being built up, which will eventually be topped with the rollercoaster's metal running rails.
The station and maintenance buildings have been cladded in dark grey and are now partially obstructed from view by parts of the track. The major theming element has doubled in height and is has been covered over to hide whatever work is going on to it at this point, although there are some grey wooden-like spikes protruding from the top of the structure.
Across from the main construction site, The Welcoming: Be Chosen scare maze is being built within the Mutiny Bay Courtyard ready for Scarefest. The maze is somehow linked to SW8, possibly in a similar way that The Sanctuary maze related to The Smiler backstory at Scarefest in 2012.
More: 30 September Construction Update Video
First drop
Working at the top of the lift hill
Another view of the spiralling first drop
Looking down the site from next to the lift hill
Top part of the lift hill
Airtime hill
Station and maintenance buildings
Track in place
Criss-crossing track
Bottom part of the site
Top of the theming element
Theming element shrouded from view
View from the Mutiny Bay side
Lift hill
Mysterious symbols have appeared on the fences
The Welcoming: Be Chosen under construction
There have been massive changes on the site over the last four weeks. Most notably, the framework of the wooden lift hill now dominates the skyline. It was topped of on Friday, and has German, American and British flags flying from the top. This is clearly visible from several places around the park, including Mutiny Bay and the Congo River Rapids queueline.
A large metal structure has also been erected down on the lower half of the site, which many believe to be the bottom of a giant Wicker Man statue which the ride will eventually pass underneath. Indeed, the track sections under its "legs" are already being constructed. It will be interesting to see how much more of this gets built before an announcement/confirmation of the ride theme is made.
The station and maintenance buildings are also looking much more complete. These now both have the majority of their roofs in place.
More: 9 July Construction Update Video
The lift hill
Flags fly from the top of the lift hill
The lift hill towers over the site
The lift hill in profile
Looking down the site from the top
Base of the lift hill
Station and Maintenance building roofs
Lower half of the site
The turn and 'Wicker Man' framework
Close-up of the 'Wicker Man' framework
Another close-up of the 'Wicker Man' framework
Metal framework with the lift hill in the background
Lift hill
View from the Congo River Rapids queueline
View over the site from the Sky Ride
Another view from the Sky Ride
Construction on the SW8 site has been progressing nicely over the last month. It is now much clearer from looking at the site where certain sections of the track layout will be, and there is a preliminary scattering track supports visible.
However, the most obvious change is over at the station building. The framework for the building has gone vertical and the station, together with the maintenance building is starting to take shape.
More: 3 June Construction Update Video
The SW8 construction site
SW8 Construction site from the Sky Ride
Turnaround at the top of the lift hill
Top of the lift hill looking smooth
Top of the first drop
View from the top of the site
Station Building under construction
Weekend working
Supports emerging from the station
Station, with a show building in front - the train will pass through this to reach the bottom of the lift
Deep Excavation
SW8 Site
Bottom of the site
A corner near the bottom of the site
Bottom half of the SW8 site
The former home of The Flume is now very much a building site. All that remains of the old log flume is the station building and some of the concrete supports in the surrounding woodland. Extensive groundworks have taken place, and construction of the new coaster's main building has started.
The usual path between Mutiny Bay and Katanga Canyon has been closed for the 2017 season to allow easy access to the site for construction traffic. In its place at a cost of £100k, the backstage path between the two areas, only usually open on Fireworks nights, has been opened with a short length of new path which skirts the southern side of the SW8 site.
More: 29 April Construction Update Video
Signs advertising SW8 have gone up on fences around the construction area
Construction of the main building housing the station and preshow has begun
Turnaround at the top of the lift hill
The top of the lift hill
New path linking Gloomy Wood and Mutiny Bay, with windows offering views over the construction site
Remains of The Flume in the surrounding woodland
Concrete supports from The Flume can still be seen
The former Flume ride entrance area
One of the old buildings near The Flume currently remains
Congo River Rapids station in the distance
The Mutiny Bay side of the construction site
The main station building under construction
Overview of the SW8 construction site
Mutiny Bay begins to look a lot different