Galactica, is a Steel Flying Coaster, manufactured by Galactica and is located at Alton in Alton Towers in the United Kingdom. Galactica opened as Air, opened to the public on the 16th of March 2002, at the time it opened as the World’s First Flying Roller Coaster in the world. The ride cost Alton Towers £12,000,000 to construct. It features a height of 66 ft (20 m). Galactica features 3 trains, riders are arranged 4 across in single rows, leading to 28 riders per train. This leads to a maximum theoretical throughput of 1,500 riders per hour. When a train navigates the first drop, it reaches a maximum speed of 47 mph and a maximum positive g-force of 3.5g.
Once you have boarded one of the 3 trains, you take a small right hand turn out of the station, which leads you into the 66 foot tall chain lift hill. Once you reach the top of the lift hill, the train enters the classic B&M pre drop, into a right hand sweeping drop. After reaching the bottom of the drop, you enter a large portal which is part of the rides theming. You then enter the first element of the ride, a Fly to Lie element, where you invert to be facing the sky. This element of the ride provides an excellent amount of g-force, which you can really feel weighing on your chest. You then enter a Lie to Fly element, to bring you back into the flying position. You then take a swooping turn over the plaza of Galactica, directly into an inline twist. This inline twist is very smooth and enjoyable and it leads you into a small airtime hell, into a low to the ground turn around before entering the final brake run of the ride.
Galactica opened, originally as Air in 2002, as the world’s first Flying Coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. This ride, I believe, is very underrated. It is a very enjoyable experience, and it is very smooth too. Out of all the rides at Alton Towers, Galactica isn’t the most intense or inversion filled ride, however its long swooping layout is extremely fun. Combine that with it’s relatively short queue times after the removal of VR this year, it’s very easy to re ride throughout the day. For my final ratings, Galactica scores a:
The Big One, is a Steel Hyper Coaster, manufactured by former American Engineering company Arrow Dynamics and is located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Blackpool in the United Kingdom. Big One opened to the public on the 28th of May 1994, at the time it opened as the World’s tallest and steepest Roller Coaster in the world. The ride cost the Pleasure Beach £12,000,000 to construct. It features a height of 213 ft (65 m), a 205 ft (62 m) drop and a drop angle of 65 degrees. The Big One features 3 trains, riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows with 5 cars per train, leading to 30 riders per train. This leads to a maximum theoretical throughput of 1,700 riders per hour. When a train navigates the large first drop, it reaches a maximum speed of 74 mph and a maximum positive g-force of 3.5g and a maximum negative g-force of -0.5.
Once you have boarded one of the 3 trains, you take a small dip into a right hand turn out of the station, which leads you into the 213 foot tall chain lift hill. Once you reach the top of the lift hill 203 feet above ground, the train enters the first major drop of the layout. A large curved drop at a maximum angle of 65 degrees, this drop especially if you are in the back row, gives an excellent amount of airtime, you are practically out of your seat for the entire drop. After reaching the bottom of the drop and after experiencing 3.5 gs of force, you enter a large airtime hill which provides an excellent view of nearby beach and the rest of the park. However one of the main issues I have with the Big One, is that it doesn’t provide a lot of air time, the first airtime hill of the ride didn’t provide any airtime the last time I had ridden it. After the hill you head back down at a slight bank, into the large turn around section above the entrance of the park, which is a very enjoyable experience because of the great views. You then after the turn around, you enter three consecutive banked airtime hills, which give a slight amount of airtime but can be slightly rough. Then you enter into the mid course brake run, directly afterwards you enter a very forceful 360 degree helix, into a slight bunny hill into a final underground turn around and enter the final brake run.
The Big One at the time of it’s opening was a world’s first and world class ride, it’s total height of 213 feet was a major attraction for so many people. However after 25 years, the ride feels a little lackluster. For a Hypercoaster, it doesn’t provide a lot of airtime, especially for an Arrow Dynamics ride which are known for crazy amounts of airtime. The ride is also pretty rough at times, especially the drop and the 2 hills after the turn around. To improve the ride, I feel like new trains as well as a retrack, this could really do the Big One some justice. For my final rankings, the Big One scores a
The Smiler, is a Steel Infinity Coaster, manufactured by German Manufacturer Gerstlauer and is located at Alton Towers in Alton UK. The Smiler is the world’s first 14 inversion roller coaster in the world and still holds the world record for featuring the most inversions in one roller coaster. It opened on the 31st of May 2013, construction of the ride began in April 2012, with the dismantling of the Black Hole Ride where The Smiler sits now. It took just under a year of construction, due to some issues during construction. The Ride cost Alton Towers a total of £18,000,000, this includes the ride itself as well as the elaborate theming which is present around the queue line and during the layout itself. The Smiler features a total maximum drop and height of 98 ft (30 m) and a top speed of 53 mph (85 km/h). With this maximum speed it navigates 3,838 ft (1,170 m) of track, which features 14 inversions and a high g-force of 4.5 at points during the ride. The Smiler can have 4 cars, seating 4 rows of 4 riders, navigating the track at any one time, leading to a throughput of 1000 riders per hour.
Once you board one of the four trains and exit the station, you enter a small dip into a left hand turn which leads directly into a slow heartline roll. This Heartline roll gives excellent hangtime as you slowly navigate the inversion, even with the over the shoulder restraints. This first inversion leads into one of the two chain lift hills, the first taking you up 72 ft (22m). Directly after the lift hill, you take a right hand drop turn into the next inversion, a barrel roll drop. This inversion is very snappy, smooth and really disorientates you as you drop into the rides layout. After completing the first drop/inversion, the train rises up into a dive loop and into another dive loop directly after. These two Dive loops are very snappy and provide an excellent amount of force during each of them. Once you exit the final dive loop, you enter a small airtime hill which surprisingly gives you a huge amount of ejector airtime. Next you enter another two inversions a batwing element during the back end of the layout, this element is where you reach the maximum g-force of 4.5 gs, which is an obviously intense moment during the layout. After you pull out of the second half of the batwing, you enter a large corkscrew, which provides excellent airtime.
You then hit some breaks, before entering the rides second lift hill, this time the lift hill is vertical. Once you reach the top of the lift hill, you enter the second drop and the second barrel roll drop. After that you enter a very unique element, a sea serpent roll, which is a very intense and snappy element. Once again after the Sea Serpent roll, you enter another ejector airtime hill before entering a large Cobra Roll. This Cobra Roll again is very intense, however the second half of and especially the exit of the roll, is a little rough. Finally after the Cobra roll you enter two consecutive Heartline Rolls which take you into a left hand turn into the final brake run.
The Smiler is a world class coaster, I find it to be the best Roller Coasters in the UK, easily and my favourite ride in the UK at Alton Towers. However, despite only being 6 years old, The Smiler has a rattle throughout the layout and can be rough at times if you aren’t prepared. The ride is very intense, each element is snappy and is overall a very enjoyable experience. An obvious improvement for the ride, is to try and fix the rides rattle and roughness, throughout the ride. For my final rankings, The Smiler scores a
Oblivion, is a Steel Dive Coaster, manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and is located at Alton Towers in Alton, UK. Oblivion was a world’s first coaster when it opened in 1998, it was also the Parks second roller coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. The ride opened to the public on the 18th of March 1998, after only a year of construction where the the previous “Fantasy World” (now X-Sector) was closed off to the public, so the ride could be constructed. Oblivion cost Alton Towers £12 million to construct The ride has a height of 65 ft (18 metres), this is again due to Alton Towers height restrictions. Oblivion actually has a drop of 180 ft (55m), where over 100 ft of the drop is dug underground in a large tunnel. This maximum drop allows the trains to reach a maximum speed of 68 mph, allowing the train to navigate a very short track length of 1,220 ft (372 m) of track. In which one of the 7 trains which can navigate the track at any time, complete the length in 1 minute and 15 seconds including the lift hill as well as a maximum g-force of 4.5. The main feature of Oblivion, is its near vertical 90 degree drop, specifically 87 degrees. This, plus the section in which the train is hung over the drop for a few seconds, is what classifies the ride as a “Dive Coaster”, which is exclusively manufactured by B&M. As mentioned earlier, Oblivion has a maximum of 7 trains to navigate the track at once, each seating riders in one long row of 8 seats, with 2 cars per train. This leads to a very high maximum theoretical throughput of 1,900 riders per hour.
Riders when entering the queue line, experience various sinister and creepy videos relating to the X-Sector’s sinister Ministry of Defense theme. The theme of the ride is generally used to unnerve riders, as the videos include a lot of hyperbole about the ride. Once riders pass through many structures and enter the queue station, they assigned to one of the two rows of the large trains with stadium style seating. The trains were designed this way, in order to give riders a good view of the drop, even if they were sitting in the back row.
Once riders board the train, they head up the 65 ft tall lift hill at a maximum vertical angle of 45 degrees. The train then detaches from the chain lift when it reaches the peak of the climb, before taking a slow 90 degree left turn into the rides signature element. The train slowly crawls over the large 180 ft tall drop, where a chain holds the train in place, hanging over the edge. Riders are left hanging for a few seconds, before the train is let go from the chain and plummets down the drop. The train enters the large underground tunnel at its maximum speed and reaches its maximum g-force, before sharply pulling out of the tunnel into a large left hand over banked turn. Finally the train enters a small rise up, providing excellent air time, into the final brake run.
Oblivion is an extremely fun and re-rideable ride, and for the world-first Dive Coaster, it still provides an intense experience. But obviously due to the fact it’s a world’s first, it feels like a lackluster experience, especially compared to the other newer Dive Coasters located around the world. The ride, despite being over 20 years old, is still very smooth, like almost all Bolliger and Mabillard rides. An obvious way the ride could be improved, is extend the length of the layout, perhaps include 2 or 3 inversions before it hits the final brake run. For my final rankings, Oblivion scores a
Icon is a Steel Multi Launch Coaster, manufactured and produced by Mack Rides and is located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK. Icon is the first newly constructed roller coaster to come to the Pleasure Beach, since the construction of the Big One in 1994 and it is also the park’s biggest investment since the Big One. This is also the parks and the UK’s first double launching full circuit coaster.
Icon opened to the public on the 25th of May 2018, this means there was a total of 17 months construction time for the ride, however most vertical construction lasted from October 2017 to February 2018. The ride cost Blackpool Pleasure Beach £16.25 million to construct. The ride has very little theming, it is said that the ride is ‘Stylised’, so the majority of the £16.25 million was spent on the ride itself. Icon, unlike many of the rides located at Blackpool and in the UK in general, utilised a Magnetic Launch system to get riders up to their top speed of 53 mph. Mack Rides use a Linear Synchronous Motor system, which consists of Electromagnets, to accelerate the train down a straight section of track. Using the max speed of 53 mph, Icon has a relatively short maximum height of 88 ft (27) and a maximum drop of 82 ft (25m). Icon lasts a total of 2 minutes and 41 seconds, allowing riders to navigate 3,750 ft (1,140m) of track and 1 inversion. Riders navigate that length of track, in one of 3 Mack Launch Trains which feature a very comfortable lap bar restraint, which is very rare for a inverting coaster to have in the UK. Each train consists of 4 cars, seating riders in 2 rows of 2 meaning there are 16 riders per train. With this train size, there is a maximum theoretical throughput of 1,070 riders per hour.
Icon, as mentioned earlier, features a single inversion, an In-Line twist. However there is another element during the ride, which is often argued on whether or not it is actually an inversion. The ride features a Immelman Jr, a small version of a regular Immelmann loop. However, this particular element does not invert riders fully, only banking riders at a maximum angle of 90 degrees. Icon mainly consists of mainly twists, turns and a few pops of strong ejector airtime. You begin your experience by passing under the large Japanese Torii Gate Structure and entering the queue line. After navigating the queue line, you enter the station building and enter one of the three Mack Rides trains and pull down your comfortable lap bar restraint. The train then slowly rolls out of the station, onto the LSM holding track, while the music and intensity builds up for the first launch. The ride then launches up to a speed of 50 mph in a time of 2 seconds, this sends riders into a smokey tunnel directly into a 82 foot tall top hat element. This element is one of the few airtime moments during the ride and gives excellent ejector airtime, you are completely out of your seat for the duration of the element. The ride then plummets down underneath the Big Ones lift hill structure, into a non inverting inclined loop, before entering a few banked turns heading towards the back end of the layout. Icon passes under Steeplechase, swerving through a S- curvers, before banking upwards into the In-line twist directly above the pathway. After the only inversion, the train navigates a few more pops of airtime in the form of two bunny hills, until it drops down under the walkway into a second tunnel into the second launch of the ride. This time accelerating riders to the top speed of 53 mph. Directly after the second launch, the train enters the 88.5 foot tall Immelman Jr loop, which is the highest point during the layout. Riders then drop down into a serious of high banked turns, ejector airtime hills, a helix and a serious of S-curve turns before the train enters the final brake run and turns right into the station.
Icon is one of the best investments Blackpool Pleasure Beach has ever made, and it is an excellent addition to the park and to the UK as a whole. In my opinion, Icon was the best ride to open in the UK in 2018, just barely beating out Wicker Man for me personally. Despite the ride not having, the tallest, fastest or most inversion filled layout, it is an extremely fun ride. Icon is also very re rideable, I have personally rode this ride 13 times in a row on one visit, this is due to the ride not being very intense. As for any improvements I could suggest, some parts of the ride definitely feel like the train could be travelling faster, so increasing the launch speeds would be a good improvement. The launches themselves are not very intense, however Mack Rides is known for not producing very forceful launches, so this was to be expected. Over all, Icon is a very impressive new ride and really puts Blackpool Pleasure Beach on the Theme Park map, my final ratings are as follows;
Nemesis, is a Steel Inverted roller coaster, manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M) and is located at Alton towers, in Alton UK. Nemesis was the first Inverted roller coaster to be constructed in Europe, when it opened in 1994 and was the UK’s first B&M ride. The ride is now one of two B&M rides located at Alton Towers. Nemesis opened to the public on the 19th of March 1994, this was 3 years after the start of the initial construction in the winter of 1991, where demolition for the large pit the ride resides in began. The ride cost Alton Towers £10 million to construct, they spent that total of money on the ride itself as well as the theming, which is situated around the rides Station. The ride itself only has merely 42ft (12.8m) in height, however this is due to Alton Towers height restriction. Since the ride is built downwards into a large pit, the rides actually main drop is around 104ft (31.7m). This drop allows the ride to build up a speed of 80 miles per house (80km/h). With this speed it navigates, 2,349 feet (716m) of track, 4 separate inversions and a maximum G-Force of 4. This high amount of G-force, leads this ride to be an extremely intense ride throughout. At most, Nemesis can have two trains on the track at any time, with riders arranged in 8 cars where riders are sat in single rows of 4 which allows for 32 riders per train. With all that considered, the ride has a huge throughput of 1400 riders per hour.
This is because Nemesis is classified as a “Inverted Roller Coaster”, this means the trains and the passengers are sat beneath the track itself. Nemesis was only the 6th invert to open around the world and the first to open outside of the US. Due to the trains design, the main aim of Nemesis is to create an intense and thrilling experience for the rider and it certainly achieves that. Your experience starts when you enter ‘The Forbidden Valley’ section of the park, a well themed area with Nemesis as its main attraction. You can instantly see the ride roaring around its layout, as well as its main theming element, a large alien which encloses the Station building. This alien is the ‘Nemesis’ and the story goes that, it was a unknown creature that was dug up from the site. Construction workers used hundreds of metres of steel to tie down and capture the creature, and that steel is the track you ride during the experience.
Once you enter the well themed station and board one of the two white inverted trains, the floor beneath you is lowered, to leave your feet dangling from the ground. You then take a slow 45 degree turn out of the station, into the 42 ft chain lift hill. Once you crest the lift hill, you enter the classic B&M pre-drop and turn 180 degrees into the 104 ft first drop. As soon as you reach the bottom of the first drop, you whip into the rides first inversion, a right hand corkscrew. This corkscrew is extremely intense and it quickly snaps you over the inversion. Immediately after this, you then enter a 270 degree right hand downwards helix at a banked angle of 90 degrees. This element is extremely intense, as you take it at the maximum speed of 50mph, this is also where you hit the maximum G-force of 4. You can really feel the intensity as you feel the blood rush to your feet, the multiple times I rode this I greyed out 2 of 5 times I rode it. Due to this ride being very snappy and forceful, the ride enters directly into a zero-g roll just after the downwards helix. This zero g roll is one of the best element of the ride as well as intense, this is because of the quick change of G-force from 4 to 0, this is a well known section to cause grey outs. The element provides an excellent sensation of weightlessness. After the zero-g roll the train then enters an overbanked turn around, into a large vertical loop. This is the best element of the ride, especially when riding in the back row. The loop is very intense and really whips you over the peak of the loop, it’s a very enjoyable inversion. The ride then enters a second over bank turn, into a second smaller corkscrew. This corkscrew isn’t as good as the first corkscrew, due to some head banging, however it is still an enjoyable inversion. The train then enters a final 180 degree helix into the final brake run.
Nemesis is a world class coaster, it is one of top 5 Inverts ever constructed by Bolliger and Mabillard and often ranks within the top 20 of the Golden Ticket awards and came at a maximum ranking of 7th in 2003. And I find it to be one of the best Roller Coasters in the UK, easily my second favourite ride in the UK and at Alton Towers. Despite being over 25 years old, the Ride is extremely smooth and is still the smoothest ride at the park. The ride is very intense, each element is snappy and is overall a very enjoyable experience, the. An improvement I could suggest, but isn’t crucial, is to have a longer layout as it does feel a little short. But for time the ride opened, it was an almost perfect length. For my final rankings, Nemsis scores a
Wicker man is a Wooden Roller coaster, manufactured by Great Coaster International (GCI) and is located in Alton UK. Wicker man is the first newly constructed Wooden Coaster to be built in the UK, since 1996 with the construction of Megafobia at Oakwood Theme Park. The ride is also the first Wooden Coaster to be opened to the public at Alton Towers, since the park has only ever housed Steel rides up until the opening of Wicker Man, in 2018.
Wicker Man opened to the public on the 20th of March 2018, just a mere 10 months after construction initially began in May 2017. The ride cost Alton towers £16 million to construct, as well as to Theme, due to the ride having an elaborate and detailed Theme. It boasts a maximum drop of 72.7 (22m) drop, this causes the one of three trains which can operate on the track at once, to reach a maximum speed of 43.6 mph. The ride lasts a total of 3 minutes and 30 seconds, including the Chain lift hill. And during this time, one of the Millennium Flyer trains navigates 2,608 ft (795m) of track length. During the almost 3,000 feet of track, the train will also navigate a maximum banked angle of of 68 degrees. With the use of 3 trains, the ride has a maximum theoretical capacity of 952 riders per hour.
Due to the rides structure being mainly made of wood, the ride features no inversions. This means that Wicker Mans ride experience focuses mainly on lateral g-forces and pops of ejector airtime. Your ride experience begins with entering the station building, where you see the start of theming experience, you experience an excellently themed pre show before boarding one of the 3 trains. After you board a train, you leave the station and enter a 180 degree right turn before passing through a smokey tunnel. This is when you enter the Wicker Mans unique looking chain lift hill, which takes you up to the maximum height of 22 metres. Once you crest the top of the hill, you enter a smoke filled sound tunnel which takes you into a 180 degree left hand turn down into the first 72 foot tall drop. After this it passes over its first air time hill, which is surrounded by the second sound tunnel of the layout. The train then continues to pass through the huge wooden Wicker Man effigy a total of three times throughout the layout, while experience multiple pops of airtime and lateral g forces before entering the final brake run.
The Wicker Man is an excellent addition to Alton Towers, the park lacked an experience which this ride brings to the Towers. As both a ride and themed experience, I love this ride and it’s a ride which the UK needed. The ride, despite being a family coaster, is quite an intense experience especially when riding in the back row. Comparing this ride to the other coasters in the park, it definitely isn’t the best roller coaster in the park but certainly isn’t the worst either.
Overall, I would rate this ride a 8/10. The ride is an incredibly fun experience, however since it is a “Family Coaster” the ride is not as intense as I hoped it be before riding. To improve the ride, I would definitely increase the total height and speed of the ride because at times you feel like the train could be moving at a higher speed.
Thank you for reading my review of Wicker Man at Alton Towers, make sure you come back next week for a review of Nemesis at Alton Towers.
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