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2022: General Discussion

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Shaggy_Dog_ said:
I think that with regards to The Smiler, Alton Towers never actually specified why the ride was closed closed from September onwards last year or even confirmed that it was having an extended downtime for whatever reasons. I think it’s that lack of communication over what it going on with it adds to the frustration.
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I agree with this but I think the main reason towers won't want to publicly say that these rides are shut is because it'll put people off and the number of guests will decrease. Its all about the money
 
djtruefitt said:
Towers are by far the worse park for lying (or ignoring the truth). I mean the smiler, rapids and Hex were closed for the final month of the season, but they refused to mention that on their website, fb, twitter or instagram pages. You’ll only know once you’ve got in to the park. Any other decent park (even Thorpe park) will put it on their website.
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Case in point, Charlie and Lola was only taken off the website and app on Friday, which is more or less two years to the day after it last operation. Admittedly, when it first closed they did plan to re-open it, but it should certainly have been off the website by the time the windows were blacked out last season.
Ethan said:
I agree with this but I think the main reason towers won't want to publicly say that these rides are shut is because it'll put people off and the number of guests will decrease. Its all about the money
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I'm not really sure how true that is, though. I'm not sure the majority of guests would change their plans if they knew that one or two rides would be shut, (what happened yesterday of course is on a completely different level) for most people they will have taken time off work and/or put in too much planning for a single ride to derail their trip.

And Legoland, don't seem to think it would affect their visitors numbers too much, as they are usually pretty good at communicating what is on offer on any given day. I would say they are the best Merlin park for this sort of comms and, correct me if I'm wrong, the most financially successful.
 
All leisure parks have this on there websites.
Merlin will endeavour to ensure that as many rides and attractions as possible are available for use by guests at the Attraction. However, we reserve the right, without prior notice, to close and change the programme of rides and attractions and/or the Attraction's operating hours. Merlin in its absolute discretion reserves the right to close the whole or any part of the Attraction at any time or to restrict the number of persons having access to the Attraction. The reason for any closure or restriction provided by this condition may include technical or operational reasons, capacity, inclement weather, special events or to ensure the safety and security of guests or if Merlin reasonably considers the circumstances so require. For tickets purchased in advance, if the whole Attraction is closed for any of the reasons set out above, Merlin may offer replacement Tickets for admission to the Attraction on an alternative date in substitution for any other form of redress.
But think they could put it on the website so guests can plan there day around which attractions will be closed or opening later like Drayton Manor do.
 
djtruefitt said:
I don’t think wicker man has ever ran one train since the ride opened. So this must be the first time ever for that!

It really is a poor show from towers. If I was JL I certainly wouldn’t be best pleased, even if they are offering return visits to those who went today.

These buy out days are sometimes a bit hit and miss, but never usually this bad. They’re certainly never had a whole area closed for the day before.

Towers are by far the worse park for lying (or ignoring the truth). I mean the smiler, rapids and Hex were closed for the final month of the season, but they refused to mention that on their website, fb, twitter or instagram pages. You’ll only know once you’ve got in to the park. Any other decent park (even Thorpe park) will put it on their website.
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I experienced wicker man on 1 train on weekend 2 of the 2019 season. Taken 80 Minutes to go from the bottom of hill to the top where the shop is, I presume the actual wait time was about 3 hours but we left the queue and got free fastracks
 
I believe this was taken today. Shows Enterprise is still very much in pieces and no sign so far of a Retro-Squad ride to replace Mixtape.

I believe that the Enterprise cars might be what is being stored on the Submission site waiting to be put back on the ride.

 
Yeah I think X Sector just wasn't ready. There's a picture of Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride and not all of the seats are attached to the arms so I think the rides that were down for maintenance were just last on the draw and couldn't be done in time. Interesting that Hex was scheduled to be open, but didn't open at all.

EDIT: Interesting points to note from that video for anyone who doesn't watch it:
He says "If you knew the real reason The Smiler was down last year you'd want it to stay closed until they fix it" ??????
Congo River Rapids "theming"/masks that were added to the waterfall bases last year seem to be gone - plus a new facade - does this imply the waterfalls are back? New signage also around.
New CBeebies additions look better than their predecessors. The JoJo and GranGran facade actually looks quite high, taller than I expected it to.
The new lampposts in TWoDW look..... interesting? Better than fences I guess.
New/working effects confirmed in Duel.
States that "a lot of things have been shifted" around Sub Terra.
 
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Danscott22 said:
He says "If you knew the real reason The Smiler was down last year you'd want it to stay closed until they fix it" ??????
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He clearly doesn’t know the real reason then and despite it being a third rate you tube vlogger that is really irresponsible talk.

Fact is if a ride is down you always want it to stay closed until it is fixed, there is no ride closing fault that potentially can’t lead to harm, hence why rides are designed to be so cautious in their operation.

Sounds like the usual hyperbole rumours some geeks get hold of from various dodgy sources. The fact is the Smiler was down because of a major fault for sure but the length of time it was down was more to do with brexit related border controls limiting Gerst ability to deliver parts.
 
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Looking at 0:50 in this video, all the scaffolding is removed from the waterfalls in the rapids and the mask things are gone too. They do look like they've been tidied up a bit. Maybe the masks are gone in preparation for some form of waterfall to return or they just haven't put them back yet!

 
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