A 72-foot wooden effigy looms over Mutiny Bay, flames bursting from its shoulders as a train full of screaming riders disappears into its base for the third time. That’s Wicker Man, Alton Towers’ wooden roller coaster and the ride that ended a 22-year UK drought for the format when it opened in 2018.
This guide covers everything people search for about Wicker Man: exactly how fast it goes, when it was built, its full stats, whether it’s actually scary, which seat to pick, and what makes the ride’s fire-and-folklore theming different from any other wooden coaster in the world.
Quick Answer
Wicker Man is Alton Towers’ wooden roller coaster in Mutiny Bay, Staffordshire, which opened on 20 March 2018. It reaches a top speed of 43.6 mph (70.2 km/h), drops about 72 feet, and runs 2,608 feet of Great Coasters International (GCI) wooden track with zero inversions. It’s a family coaster with a 120 cm height minimum, but dark theming and real fire effects give it more intensity than its stats suggest.
Stats at a Glance
Park: Alton Towers, Staffordshire, England. Location: Mutiny Bay. Manufacturer: Great Coasters International (GCI). Theming designer: Skyline Design LLC, with late-stage input from Alton Towers’ longtime ride designer John Wardley. Opened: 20 March 2018. Cost: About £16 million.
Height: About 72 feet (22 m) — the tallest structure among Alton Towers’ coasters. First drop: About 72.2 feet. Top speed: 43.6 mph (70.2 km/h). Length: About 2,608 feet (795 m). Track type: Wooden. Inversions: 0. Max bank angle: 68°. Trains: 3 trains, 12 cars each, 2 riders per row (24 per train). Hourly capacity: About 952 riders. Minimum height: 120 cm (3’11”). Ride duration: About 1 minute 50 seconds of track time.
How Fast Is Wicker Man? Top Speed Explained
Wicker Man’s top speed is 43.6 mph (70.2 km/h), reached on the ride’s main drop shortly after the train leaves the station and dives past the wooden effigy for the first time. That figure is modest next to Alton Towers’ steel thrill rides, but GCI’s wooden-coaster airtime makes the drops and lateral turns feel quicker than the number on paper.
Because Wicker Man is a family wooden coaster rather than a hypercoaster, its speed is generated almost entirely by gravity off a single chain lift hill — there’s no launch and no second lift. The 43.6 mph figure is the same speed cited by Alton Towers and the Roller Coaster Database (RCDB) as the ride’s official top speed.
When Was Wicker Man Built? A Full Construction Timeline
Construction began on 28 November 2016 with the demolition of Alton Towers’ former Flume water ride, which the new coaster was built to replace. Timber for the track started arriving on site on 4 May 2017, the lift hill topped out in early July 2017, and track sections were going up by October 2017 — a build sequence documented in detail by fan sites that tracked the project throughout.
During development the project was known internally by its codename, ‘Secret Weapon 8′ (SW8) — part of Alton Towers’ long-running tradition of secrecy around major new rides — before the Wicker Man name was officially revealed in January 2018 via an eight-day countdown. The ride opened to the public on 20 March 2018, three days later than planned due to weather. At a construction cost of around £16 million, it became the first wooden roller coaster built anywhere in the UK in 22 years, and one of the first wooden coasters in the world to combine timber track with real, integrated fire effects.
Meet Big Bob: The Ride Experience
The ride’s central theming piece is a giant wooden effigy nicknamed ‘Big Bob,’ carved with two faces — a calm, god-like human face on one side and a more sinister ram’s head, the Wicker Ram, on the other. Riders pass beneath and through Big Bob’s base three separate times over the course of the layout, each pass triggering real flame effects that burst from its shoulders alongside projected fire, smoke, and an original film score.
The backstory, developed for the ride’s pre-show inside a wicker dome, centres on the Beornen, a fictional cult said to live in the woods around Alton and use the effigy for a ritual sacrifice. It’s a slower build than most coaster queues, but it sets up the fire-and-folklore atmosphere that carries through the entire ride. The coaster segment itself mixes GCI’s signature airtime hills with a top bank angle of 68 degrees; including the walk-through pre-show, the full guest experience runs several minutes longer than the ride itself.
Is Wicker Man Scary? Who the Ride Is Really For
Wicker Man clears the low 120 cm height bar, so it’s technically classed as a family coaster — but reviewers consistently flag that the dark pre-show, tight smoke-filled tunnels, and sudden flame bursts give it a genuine intensity most family rides don’t attempt. It’s common for younger children to find the walkthrough and fire effects more unsettling than the coaster drops themselves.
For most riders aged around 8 and up who don’t mind a bit of theatrical darkness, it plays as a thrilling but manageable introduction to wooden coasters. If you’re bringing younger or more nervous riders, it’s worth describing the flames and the walk-through beforehand rather than letting the pre-show be a surprise — the coaster itself, with no inversions and moderate speed, is milder than the theming makes it feel.
Best Seat on Wicker Man: Front Row or Back Row?
Enthusiast consensus points to the back row for the strongest ride: GCI’s wooden layouts whip the rear cars harder through the airtime hills and turns, and Wicker Man is regarded as one of the strongest airtime coasters at the resort without being noticeably rougher at the back than the front.
If you’re more interested in the theming than the forces, the front row gives you the clearest sightline into Big Bob’s base and the flame effects as the train approaches, while middle-to-rear rows offer a good balance of seeing the effects and feeling the drops.
A Milestone for UK Wooden Coasters
When it opened in 2018, Wicker Man was the first wooden roller coaster built in the UK in 22 years, ending a long drought for the format at British theme parks. Its combination of timber construction and integrated fire effects was billed as a world first for the genre, and the ride placed among the best new attractions of 2018 in Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards. It has continued to place on the publication’s annual top wooden coaster rankings in the years since, reflecting sustained enthusiast praise for its theming and airtime.
The ride replaced the park’s former Flume water attraction and was designed to slot into Alton Towers’ mix of themed lands, giving the resort a family-friendly wooden coaster alongside more intense steel rides like Nemesis and The Smiler.
Planning Your Visit: Location, Queue Times & Tips
Wicker Man is located in the Mutiny Bay area of Alton Towers, on the former site of The Flume. It operates with three 12-car trains seating riders two across, giving an hourly capacity of roughly 952 riders. Because the ride starts with a pre-show walkthrough before the coaster itself, queue lines can move more slowly than the raw capacity suggests, and it’s consistently one of the busier queues in the park — arriving early or riding during the last hour before close tends to cut waits significantly.
Alton Towers operates on a seasonal calendar (roughly March through early November) with opening hours and single-day ticket prices that change through the year, and short-notice ride closures for maintenance or weather are always possible. Rather than relying on any third-party figure, check current opening times, ticket prices, and Wicker Man’s live status on the official Alton Towers website before you travel.
Wicker Man roller coaster FAQs
What is Wicker Man’s top speed?
Wicker Man reaches a top speed of 43.6 mph (70.2 km/h), hit on its main drop shortly after leaving the station.
When was Wicker Man built and when did it open?
Construction began on 28 November 2016 and the ride opened to the public on 20 March 2018, on the site of Alton Towers’ former Flume ride.
How tall is Wicker Man and how big is the drop?
The ride stands about 72 feet (22 m) tall, with a first drop of roughly 72.2 feet — making it the tallest coaster structure at Alton Towers.
Does Wicker Man have any inversions?
No. Wicker Man is a traditional wooden coaster with zero inversions, focusing on airtime, drops, and themed fire effects instead.
Who manufactured Wicker Man?
Wicker Man was built by Great Coasters International (GCI), with theming and layout design by Skyline Design LLC.
Is Wicker Man scary?
The coaster itself is family-friendly with no inversions, but the pre-show walkthrough and real flame effects are more intense than most rides with a 120 cm height limit, so some younger children find it unsettling even if they’re tall enough to ride.
What’s the best seat on Wicker Man?
The back row delivers the strongest airtime and whip through the turns without extra roughness, while the front row gives the clearest view of Big Bob and the fire effects.
Where is Wicker Man located in Alton Towers?
Wicker Man is in the Mutiny Bay area of the park, on the site formerly occupied by The Flume water ride.
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