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[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

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So will this mean that Alton will have to start building thei major attractions two years before they open from now on? :p
 
Good photos but starting to get a bit bored to looking at the same thing over and over all the time - bit like seeing pictures of Kelly Brooke, first few and you think, phhoooaarr, then after a few more, you'd rather look the other way and watch a bit of snooker.
 
Shame to see more of the same, but any update is appreciated! Looking good so far, let's hope it picks up now.
 
How many more times are we going to stare at the same element?
Nice angles though, and its great to see that X-Sector is finally receiving some attention!
 
I know its frustrating but I'm glad they are still giving us some images to see whilst we wait for more track, and some nice angles too. God knows how guests will get on site from the enterprise end though.
 
cotda said:
Excellent construction progress! Is it Gerstlauer, or GoSlower building this ride?? :p
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I would guess this is a ground work issue which is not Gersts remit, who knows what's up though its truly baffling :(
 
I'm just guessing here, but I don't even think the Gerstlauer chaps are around at the moment. Their car hasn't moved at all in the last few weeks. It does look like they want to get more groundwork done before calling Gerst back in.

:)
 
Dave said:
God knows how guests will get on site from the enterprise end though.
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Yes I noticed that and was quite confused. From pictures it looks like the ground level of the station is at a higher level than the ground around it and you can see there is a concrete wall underneath which means as you exit the shop there will be a drop. This was not what was shown in the plans. They could always build the ground level up around it I suppose but I dont see how they will be able to with the pond being so close. They will have to put stairs in by the looks of it, which won't be ideal because this will create bottlenecks of people exiting the shop.

Then where will they go once they leave the shop? The whole area seems to be blocked by supports and concrete footers in such a tight space the only way will be to get people through the legs of the supports which again is not ideal. It's all a bit of a mystery at the moment as to how things will be exactly when they are finished - all adds to the fun of speculation I suppose!

:)
 
Dave said:
cotda said:
Excellent construction progress! Is it Gerstlauer, or GoSlower building this ride?? :p
Click to expand...

I would guess this is a ground work issue which is not Gersts remit, who knows what's up though its truly baffling :(
Click to expand...

I was just kidding :p Just a pun I thought of xD
 
Well I heard that they are still not working overtime on the site yet, you would think they would be getting their finger out by now.

This leads me to believe they are waiting for something to arrive on site, weather this a the much talked washing machine element or some other special element I don't know but they look to be waiting for something.
 
Indeed I enjoy the speculation side of things that seems to have died off recently, that was always the fun of an SW. The reality is just not matching up to the plans which to me is exciting.

It's a long walk around if you leave via Ents and but only way in is near the old BH entrance but its looking more and more likely.

EDIT: cotda yeah I realised that after I posted, I'm a little slow :)
 
I personally now believe too that the entrance and exit from the shop (and therefore ride exit) will be at the other end next to the queue line entrance . I just think the space is too tight at the other end, especially as it now seems plainly obvious you won't be able to get over there from underneath the ride because the plaza is now a huge pit.

:)
 
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this might not even open in May. Close to nothing has been visibly done in the past 1 and a half months. There are no signs of construction speeding up either, nor any indication that anything of note has been going on.
 
Alastair said:
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that this might not even open in May. Close to nothing has been visibly done in the past 1 and a half months. There are no signs of construction speeding up either, nor any indication that anything of note has been going on.
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Your not wrong but on the other had we have had no real idea of what ground work is happening at the top of the site and we know there was nothing up that side of the site before Christmas.

Or this is just going really really slow.
 
Regardless of how good or bad it may turn out to be in the end, the construction of this roller coaster has been nothing short of an embarrassment. There aren't really any decent excuses as to why it has been delayed so much, quite frankly I think it is just poor planning. It's a little tedious hearing "im glad it won't open until May because I want a finished ride and it will hardly damage their reputation" all the time. Whilst this is true, it is besides the point.

I personally think it is very concerning that The Smiler will unlikely open until May, there is going to be hardly any time at all (in fact none really) to break the ride in and iron out teeting problems before the busy half term and then the summer holidays. Then again, the easter holidays can't be much after the 16th March so even if it did open on time it would still be hit with large crowds very early on but the point still stands that there will be considerably less time to sort out potential operational issues before summer.

:)
 
I'm sure they are doing a lot of stuff that we aren't able to see, and hopefully that means a lot of groundwork. There is a risk the construction crews think that now they've got until May they can take it easy, if that does happen then it would be a disaster. Fingers crossed there has been major progression in groundwork though since the snow thawed.

:)
 
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