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Does anyone know why Air never got its full planned themeing? It can't be prohibitively expensive to build some ponds and fountains.

I know I already posted but I'm really disappointed about this. Air as it stands is my favourite ride (anywhere, though I haven't been to a great deal of theme parks). I even have the Air theme music on my ipod as it reminds me of happy times!

I agree that Thirteen might be a good option. I think it would enhance it rather than change it too much.

I actually had a dream last night that The Smiler now had VR and but it wasn't very good. In my dream the Air train was without its restraints, just wooden pegs, and people had to hold on very tightly to stay on!

Just read about this and I'm disappointed - apart from the concrete tunnel I think Air is perfect as it is, including the themeing and music etc. I don't want it to be a virtual reality rollercoaster. Does anyone else feel this way? Will the VR be optional?

I think there was - the news reports said that the operators misunderstood a shutdown message. That suggests that the training wasn't adequate, if the operators misunderstood. It sounds like the new measures will stop this happening again. When this incident happened I was very shocked, as we...

I think it was around the middle of the show.

Air broke down all the time when it first opened. I had the impression it was much better after the first couple of years. Has it got worse, or did it just look good to me because I was comparing it to the days when it was rarely open? I haven't been much over the last few years.

Enterprise is old now, over 30 years. So I wouldn't be surprised if it left. As I understand it Ripsaw hasn't been in its prime for 5 - 10 years now? I would be sad to see these go though. Reading the recent posts, it seems that Nemesis and Oblivion are considered to have more longevity than...

Maybe even just having something very obvious about its reasons for stopping the ride. For example if the ride stopped because a train didn't get to the second sensor (as it seems happened) then on restart it could have a warning saying 'stalled train detected, confirm this has been removed'.

I've just noticed that Google has The Smiler listed as 'Permanently closed' (Google 'The Smiler' and it's at the top right of the screen).

I am confused as to why some people feel there would have been less damage if the railing wasn't there - surely if it wasn't there to absorb some of the impact the injuries would have been worse? Regarding re-naming - I think certainly after a couple of years some of the general public will...

You said the stalls have been less frequent - was that because of changes they made to the ride?

From what I've read on here the design of the ride could arguably be a factor given that it was possible for a train to stall due to not having enough power to get round (when it was empty and the conditions were windy). So even though it appears the ride did its job by stopping the carriage on...

I've also been wondering if it's a short term or long term problem. I'm a little surprised that visitor numbers are still extremely low a couple of months on. And I agree that Blackpool Pleasure Beach feels a lot less safe (and probably is a lot less safe). I suppose people are reacting to the...

I do like the airtime on Rita - as long as I remember to push my head back into the seat I enjoy the non-launch part of it!

Thanks for the comments about the name - it was a baffling decision. I've never particularly enjoyed Rita but I think that's due to the style of rollercoaster rather than Rita itself. I don't really enjoy the sudden launch. It's interesting that Grand_Nash said it's a good one to start with...

So the reason behind the name isn't known for sure?

Is there a story behind Rita's name? I remember when it opened I was at the height of my Alton Towers fandom, but the name was really disappointing (and made me feel a little less proud when telling my friends about it!) (Not sure what the practice is regarding oldish threads, but I thought...

Some new photos of the rescue have been released. They're on the Mirror website (not sure whether linking is ok?) Edit: Also a story on the BBC with some comments from rescuers.