The Smiler vs Wicker Man

Vintage is the reversed stat — the older ride wins. Every number here is the same one printed on the card; see /methodology for how Build Cost and Throughput are sourced.

The verdict

The Smiler sweeps every comparable stat. There is no line on the card where Wicker Man is the better pick, so the only way this duel turns is on who calls the stat.

The Smiler is a steel Infinity Coaster coaster at Alton Towers, GB, built by Gerstlauer. Wicker Man is a wooden Wooden coaster with fire-effect pass-throughs coaster at Alton Towers, GB, built by Great Coasters International.

Both live at Alton Towers, so this is a comparison you can settle on foot in an afternoon — and one the park itself has to answer every time someone asks which to queue for first.

Stat by stat

• Height goes to The Smiler at 98 ft against 72 ft — a long way clear.
• Speed goes to The Smiler at 53 mph against 43 mph — well clear.
• The Smiler inverts 14 times against nothing at all from Wicker Man — the widest kind of gap there is on this stat.
• Throughput goes to The Smiler at 1,050 rph against 952 rph — clearly ahead.
• Build Cost goes to The Smiler at 28.1 $m against 21.3 $m — well clear.
• Vintage is reversed, so The Smiler's 2013 takes it from Wicker Man's 2018 — 5 years in it.