• 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.

Skyride General Discussion

Dave said:
They have added vents, they haven’t got new gondolas. Hopefully they have brought some of the mothballed gondolas back into service.
Click to expand...
Hopefully, because its throughput certainly wasn't great in 2022.
 
rob666 said:
Yes, I would be fine with it, even after three years.
It hasn't dropped any punters yet has it?
Click to expand...
I’m sure it would be fine but if i got stuck on it I’d freak out. I’d be fine with the towers street - dark forest one, but the idea of hanging over that valley for ages whilst they get the ride running gives ke palpitations - I never use that limb of the sky ride for that reason.
 
This was testing pretty much all afternoon on Friday, can't be too far away now. It was strange actually walking through areas seeing it running, a sight that I'd long forgotten. My dad has mobility problems due to a hip replacement among other things and was in considerable discomfort without the Skyride, so it will be good to have it back for our next visit in May.
 
Josh555 said:
I’m sure it would be fine but if i got stuck on it I’d freak out. I’d be fine with the towers street - dark forest one, but the idea of hanging over that valley for ages whilst they get the ride running gives ke palpitations - I never use that limb of the sky ride for that reason.
Click to expand...
I think there's a difference between not feeling safe on a cable car and not actually being safe. It's a pretty deep valley to cross and you are suspended pretty high up, certainly a challenge for anyone that doesn't like heights. I've been on that section when it has come to a temporary halt before and it does sort of bob up and down on the cable, a couple of our group really didn't like that at all.

But rather like a rollercoaster, how comfortable or otherwise you feel on that ride has absolutely no relation to how safe you are. If anything, after such a substantial refurbishment it should be safer now than it has been in years.
 
I wonder if they test these attractions for longer than other attractions, to allow the mechanicals that were replaced to bed in better, than would other wise be needed for other attractions.

As the ride has tested for a while and a serious breakdown on this, would mean people would need to be abseiled off, something I'm sure the park and Poma would not want.

I would assume it woulr be better to run it like they are, for a given amount of hours, to let everything properly bed in, so when it does open to guests, the chances of a serious non restartable breakdown are tiny.
 
Cable cars have operated around the world for hundreds of years. Of all the things to worry about at Towers, a just-fully-refurbished example of a tried-and-tested mechanism is pretty low down my list.

...Unless the guy sitting opposite me in the gondola smiles at me with metal teeth, that is....
 
Poisson said:
Skyride has multiple backups before you get to abseiling.
Click to expand...

They do, but the backups are all based around getting the cable moving again.

If say, the same thing that happened in 2003 or 4, happened again, where the gondola got stuck between coming off the cable and onto the station wheels / chain, completely jamming the system, you are abseiling and no amount of backups will help you out. In this case though, as the jammed gondola was at risk of falling, guests were abseiled off, they then managed to un jam this gondola, allowing the system to restart, after many guests were stranded for many hours. The gondola was entering the FV station from Ugland, I remember it well.

I suspect this is the sort of issue they will want to prevent, by bedding all the replaced hardware in well.

Edit: taken from the Towers Times 2004 end of year review.

"Another park stalwart also had a rough time in 2004; after a serious malfunction in June, which left guests hanging 200ft above the gardens, the Skyride was out of action for much of the season, eventually reopening in time for the fireworks."

It even made BBC news...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top