Ever fancied scaling the Wicker Man lift hill? You’re in luck — Alton Towers is offering highly-anticipated track walks in the 2024 season, and we just had to check them out.
Wicker Man is a thrilling wooden roller coaster that opened at Alton Towers in 2018. After a spooky pre-show where riders are chosen to be sacrificed in a Pagan ritual, guests are thrust around a wooden track featuring the blazing Wicker Man head.
The ride itself has a lot of backstory – much more than you usually learn on a single ride. We won’t spoil the entire experience for you, but here’s a little bit of what you can expect when heading out on an Alton Towers track walk.
The Wicker Man Track Walk Experience
The experience was brilliant. It lasted around two hours and started with a detailed 15-minute safety briefing about where to stand, what to touch, and, more importantly, what NOT to touch.
Our group consisted of eight guests and four staff members – two operators who could chat through all the technical details (and answer some very detailed questions) and two hosts to support with the rest of the track walk.
We didn’t have to be harnessed in for the Wicker Man walk as there was a handrail the entire way around the track. The guides explained that it’s one of the only roller coasters in Alton Towers where they don’t need to use harnesses.
We then got given a case for our phones (so we could safely take photos) and had to “lock in” which involved us each putting a padlock on a giant keychain. This was so they could keep us all safe and accounted for. At the end of the experience, we had to unlock our padlock again so that the staff knew everyone had returned from the lift hill.
Empty Wicker Man train in the station and the view of the station from the lift hill.
You are allowed to take photos and videos anywhere on the tour except for the control room. This was not the case at the start of the 2024 season, but Alton Towers quickly changed the policy so that guests could document the track walk.
For safety reasons, it’s advised not to use your phone when walking up the lift hill but the guides stopped multiple times along the way so that we could snap some photos.
The areas shown during the experience are the pre-show area with all the lights on, the main station, and the control room. We also got to take a peek at the room where the ride maintenance team works on the coasters, which, by the way, is on the final part of the track (where the orange smoke billows in your face before turning back into the station.)
Then it was time to head out onto the track and up the lift hill…
Climbing the Lift Hill
Close-ups of the lift hill are only seen on a Wicker Man track walk.
If you’re afraid of heights, this experience might not be for you. That said, you cannot see the ground underneath your feet as the wooden panels are very wide, and the handrail provides a lot of support.
The lift hill is 22 metres tall and, from there, you get an incredible view of the Wicker Man's head. The double-sided structure features a human head on one side, staring up at the sky waiting for the sacrifice, and the ram head on the other, symbolising that the sacrifices were tricked into giving themselves up.
Wicker Man Track Walk: What to Know Before You Go
Alton Towers currently offers two track walk experiences: Wicker Man and Oblivion. The Wicker Man experience costs £65 per person and includes the after-hours guided track walk, Express Parking for the entire day, and a Fast Track pass for Wicker Man before the park closes.
Guests must be at least 1.2 metres tall to take part in this track walk (or 1.4m for Oblivion.) It’s safe for most people with a reasonable level of fitness – we had a guest in our group with some mobility issues and they managed to climb to the top of the lift hill with extra support from the guides.
Note that these experiences do not include park entry, so guests will also need valid park admission on the day of the track walk.
After your track walk, keep an eye on your emails as you will get sent a certificate congratulating you. Ours arrived the next morning but, if yours hasn’t turned up in a couple of days, make sure you contact the Alton Towers VIP services and they’ll send it over.
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