Alton Towers Resort have unearthed Wicker Man as the name for Secret Weapon 8 via their official website.
The world’s first rollercoaster experience to fuse wood and fire, riders will race along 2028ft of track through a giant, flaming Wicker Man who stands at 57.57ft – six stories high. Guests will embark on a multi-sensory rite of passage, in which they’ll be drawn into the mysterious world of The Beornen, a shadowy group living in the woods surrounding the theme park.
Costing £16 million, more than 1000 people have worked on the project which has been more than 4 years in development and will be the UK’s first new wooden rollercoaster experience in 21 years, reconnecting riders with the primal essence of rollercoasters. Speaking about the Resort’s newest addition, Bradley Wynne, Creative Lead at Alton Towers Resort commented:
“We are delighted to finally be announcing Wicker Man as the latest ground breaking thrill attraction from Alton Towers Resort for 2018. Guests will be ‘chosen’ to take part in a celebratory ‘rite of passage’ as they race through the flaming Wicker Man.
“We hope visitors will be blown away by Wicker Man’s breath-taking scale whilst the primal essence of the wooden coaster and astonishing effects will leave them delighted, exhilarated and eager to ride again.”
As well as revealing the official name for the attraction, the Resort have also released the first look at the trains for the roller coaster which features a rams head at the front of the wicker styled trains, and what would appear to be a lapbar style restraint system. Set to open this spring, Wicker Man will be the latest attraction to join the Resort’s Secret Weapon Series, joining the likes of Nemesis, Oblivion, Galactica, Th13teen, and The Smiler.
Today’s official unearthing of Wicker Man is the culmination of the Resort’s latest marketing campaign for the attraction, which has seen the release of a series of videos throughout the last few weeks, each of which has teased the public with small details about both the attraction itself, and the attraction’s back story, including The Beornen – the mysterious group who inhabit the woods surrounding Alton village – who have invited guests to ‘reconnect with the earth and its elements’; ‘unite with the Chosen Ones’; ‘ignite your senses’; and ’find your freedom’. Guests have also previously been introduced to the attraction’s backstory via scare maze The Welcoming: Be Chosen, which operated during Scarefest 2017 and was billed as ‘the prequel to SW8’. The Wicker Man burning logo was projected onto the Coca-Cola London Eye to mark the announcement, and the resort has also commissioned Stranger Things artist, Kyle Lambert, to produce its official announcement poster.
What are your thoughts on the official unearthing of SW8? Are you excited for the Resort’s first wooden roller coaster? Make sure you share your views over on the Attraction Source Forum. As further details are unearthed surrounding Wicker Man, TowersTimes will be sure to bring you all the latest news and developments.
