In April we reported that the possibility of a wooden roller coaster at Alton Towers had got one step closer as the UK theme park revealed plans for a new ride.

In a document submitted to the local planning authority various details were given, including a layout for the new ride, with a station towards the top of Mutiny Bay, the track passing through several buildings including a pre-show, a lift hill or launch section, followed by a series of turns and changes in elevation. 

The latest planning application is for the "Demolition of existing structures and the installation of a new roller coaster, construction of associated buildings, landscaping and ground works". The Flume will be completely removed except for some of the footers within the woodland area for conservation reasons. Some sections of the new ride will be below ground level or within 'sound tunnels' to improve the ride experience and mitigate the impacts of noise. 

It is specified that a 10m 'silent’ magnetic lift hill at a 24° incline will guide the roller coaster to the first and highest drop. The structure will be formed from dark stained timber elements, predominately made up of Southern Yellow Pine. The rails will be formed from a combination of timber and steel. The build-up will comprise six timber strips fixed on top of one another, with a solid steel rail guider fixed on the top of the strips. The trains will have steel wheels that will be guided by the steel and timber construction.

The new ride development will include a maintenance and station building, shop, games unit and food kiosk, which will have a combined maximum of 1,223sqm interior floorspace. It is proposed to build a new board walk linking the entrance to the proposed new buildings. The buildings will have thatched effect roof tiles and the upper portions of the buildings will be clad in aged, horizontal timbers, while the lower portions will be clad in a combination of grass and earth or sandstone effects. This suggests that it will be themed to fit in with Katanga Canyon rather than Mutiny Bay.

In addition, two themed features are proposed to be incorporated into the ride, the first a maximum height of up to 14.6m and the second a maximum height of up to 16m. Reference sound measurement data has been provided by the ride manufacturer, which was taken from similar roller coaster constructions located in the US. These are the Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend Park, Wildcat at Hersheypark and Ozark Wildcat at Celebration City. 

The plans also state that the theme park expects the new ride to bring in an additional 120,000 visitors annually along with a 5% increase in traffic. If the planning application is successful construction may begin in September 2016 for completion in December 2017, with the ride opening for the 2018 season.

SW8 follows a long line of Secret Weapon roller coaster projects including SW3 (Nemesis), SW4 (Oblivion), SW5 (Air), SW6 (Thirteen) and SW7 (The Smiler). 

Previous plans for a wooden roller coaster at the park have included a cross-valley ride between Dark Forest and Forbidden Valley.