• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

2018: Park Operations & Ride Availability

speedy said:
Originally somebody asked, would you prefer to see the rides ran in high winds? I would prefer they operated them how they always have (with regard to wind) as long as procedures have been tightened to prevent a train being sent out with another in the same section.
Click to expand...

Obviously all us enthusiasts would be fine with this as we understand that a ride stalling is not the end of the world. But can you imagine the effect it would have on the park if the smiler stalled again, even if no one was hurt due to more robust procedures? They simply cannot afford to have it stall again. Ever.

Especially not in high winds as that was highlighted in the HSE report.
 
Benzin said:
Being transparent is as much an issue though:

"The ride should re-open in 15 minutes"

*15 minutes later*

"Nope it's still closed"

*guest complains because host has given incorrect information, ruined their family's day out and demands a refund etc.*


In terms of transparency regarding the nature of a break-down, that's asking for even further trouble, especially given the distinct lack of wanting to listen to 'experts' these days... Plus then someone can post on Twitter saying "RESTRAINTS FAILING AT ALTON TOWERS!!!" and suddenly there's a massive media storm...

Though saying that the ride hosts are normally the last people to know any details about breakdowns, as it's kept between the operator/team leader/engineer mainly...
Click to expand...
That is a possibility. I'm not a ride op, if anyone here is I'd love to hear more about what causes most "breakdowns", I was under the impression that usually when there is a "breakdown" nothing is broken, just a sensor somewhere has tripped and the ride needs to be checked.

On the other hand maybe if the public knew more about why roller coasters stopped, it would improve confidence since we all know how safe roller coasters are statistically :)

Josh said:
Obviously all us enthusiasts would be fine with this as we understand that a ride stalling is not the end of the world. But can you imagine the effect it would have on the park if the smiler stalled again, even if no one was hurt due to more robust procedures? They simply cannot afford to have it stall again. Ever.

Especially not in high winds as that was highlighted in the HSE report.
Click to expand...

I totally agree - I'm sure the park has weighed up the public's opinion on downtime vs a ride stalling while implementing the advice from the HSE. Enthusiasts are only a small portion of the market
 
Austin Towers said:
The buck stops at inadequate processes in my opinion. Neither ops or tech services to blame. Purely down to mismanagement.
Click to expand...
I agree with mismanagement (it was not the fault of any person 'on the ground'), but the report was happy with the operations processes.
 
speedy said:
That is a possibility. I'm not a ride op, if anyone here is I'd love to hear more about what causes most "breakdowns", I was under the impression that usually when there is a "breakdown" nothing is broken, just a sensor somewhere has tripped and the ride needs to be checked.

On the other hand maybe if the public knew more about why roller coasters stopped, it would improve confidence since we all know how safe roller coasters are statistically :)
Click to expand...

Depends on the ride, but even if a breakdown is down to a sensor reading false information (which would usually be pretty simple reset, that depends on what the process is in the park's opinion); blurting out on the PA "Sorry guys, we've had to temporarily halt operations due to a sensor not reading things correctly" does not to me (having been on the front line of park operations) seem a sensible thing to do 10 years ago, let alone now...

Of course in a situation like a powercut, then fine, because it's pretty obvious to guests that there's little can be done about it (and the parks USED to deal with them quite well)... But given the chance for someone to easily tweet to or about Towers, or any park, about the faulty sensor on Nemesis and suddenly 1000s of people find out that the system isn't working as it should exactly, can you imagine the over the top reaction that would get? It's bad enough when rides break down on lift hills with zero information...
 
Benzin said:
Depends on the ride, but even if a breakdown is down to a sensor reading false information (which would usually be pretty simple reset, that depends on what the process is in the park's opinion); blurting out on the PA "Sorry guys, we've had to temporarily halt operations due to a sensor not reading things correctly" does not to me (having been on the front line of park operations) seem a sensible thing to do 10 years ago, let alone now...

Of course in a situation like a powercut, then fine, because it's pretty obvious to guests that there's little can be done about it (and the parks USED to deal with them quite well)... But given the chance for someone to easily tweet to or about Towers, or any park, about the faulty sensor on Nemesis and suddenly 1000s of people find out that the system isn't working as it should exactly, can you imagine the over the top reaction that would get? It's bad enough when rides break down on lift hills with zero information...
Click to expand...
I guess so. I would have no problem hearing that. For myself I find it more frustrating when we don't hear anything. I should have stopped myself before writing, since as an enthusiast I look at roller coasters differently!
 
Steve74 said:
Oh yeah, the Daily Mail and The Mirror saying guests left hanging upside down on Galactica's lift hill! If that's upside down then we all sleep upside down every night in our beds! :D
Click to expand...
They always find a way to twist the truth! Only use for the Daily Mail is the "free" LEGO sets they have occasionally.
 
speedy said:
I guess so. I would have no problem hearing that. For myself I find it more frustrating when we don't hear anything. I should have stopped myself before writing, since as an enthusiast I look at roller coasters differently!
Click to expand...
The operations team should still keep you informed. The policy was always to be nonspecific, for example a 'technical issue' or 'guest illness', unless it was due to weather (then you could say that). Being technical with people who don't understand it is not helpful. It is likely to concern them rather than reassure.
 
Last edited:
If specifics of ride breakdowns were disclosed to guests on park, that opens up a whole can of worms. If anything that would get some guests in a bit of a panic, 'what if that breaks when I am on it' 'that cannot be safe' 'I am going to record this message and send it to The Daily Mail'... sometimes saying very little is the best option. I doubt guests care about why rides break down, they just want to know how long it will be broken down and when it will reopen.
 
Once again, Alton Towers' tech services team appear to be unable to get the rides running.

We've had a pretty good couple of months but the past week has seen a tumble.

Dreadful for the park's reputation.



Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
To this day I’m still annoyed by the attitude of 2 hosts on smiler, I discovered a major issue and ran to tell the host at the entrance about it, they told the female op about it (she has been there many years, going on 10) but the ride still continued to do test runs (it was down due to an unrelated issue). About 5 mins later it reopened, I went again to report the issue to the staff member at the entrance (not the same one) same thing phoned the op but the ride still continued to operate. It was then the other op turned up to take over, I had to take them and show them what the problem was before the ride was shut and the problem fixed.
 
It's an unfortunate truth that a lot of staff assume the public don't know what they are talking about.

I remember seeing an episode of Aircrash Investigation once, where a passenger called the cabin crew over in a panic to tell her there was a hole in the wing. Without even looking, she dismissed it as "no, it's just the flaps" (despite the fact the plane was cruising at the time).
Goes without saying, given the name of the program, the plane crashed.
 
Meanwhile...
5a9a1eebe920458eac694a4898a98446.jpg


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
AstroDan said:
Meanwhile...
5a9a1eebe920458eac694a4898a98446.jpg


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

My local park. Well done Tayto. Granted they have a bit of a zoo there and other things to see after you've done the one coaster, water ride and various flats. If the queues are too long at Alton you can always go and look at all the caged animals in the smiler queue I suppose. I'll praise them for the beautiful gardens though.

Tayto are doing the right thing by at least trying to make guests happy so they keep coming back. If they keep investing they have the potential to be a fantastic park.
 
spinba11 said:
To this day I’m still annoyed by the attitude of 2 hosts on smiler, I discovered a major issue and ran to tell the host at the entrance about it, they told the female op about it (she has been there many years, going on 10) but the ride still continued to do test runs (it was down due to an unrelated issue). About 5 mins later it reopened, I went again to report the issue to the staff member at the entrance (not the same one) same thing phoned the op but the ride still continued to operate. It was then the other op turned up to take over, I had to take them and show them what the problem was before the ride was shut and the problem fixed.
Click to expand...

When was that and what was the issue?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top