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Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

NuttySquirrel said:
Agreed, it is basically the equivalent of not bothering to get your car serviced for five years and then being surprised when it breaks down and you have a repair bill as long as your arm that you cannot afford to pay. I hope they learn from this!
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But they won't learn. If I neglect my car for 5 years then get a huge repair bill, it's me who is up the swanny / on the bus / push-bike. Towers neglect rides and just close them - the punters still pay admission, so no real skin off their noses as the vast majority will only visit once or twice a year anyway.

That said, it is pleasing what they are doing with Nemesis. Admittedly, given the made-to-measure shape of the terrain they didn't have a lot of choice without huge additional expense to put something different in.
 
Kraken27 said:
But they won't learn. If I neglect my car for 5 years then get a huge repair bill, it's me who is up the swanny / on the bus / push-bike. Towers neglect rides and just close them - the punters still pay admission, so no real skin off their noses as the vast majority will only visit once or twice a year anyway.

That said, it is pleasing what they are doing with Nemesis. Admittedly, given the made-to-measure shape of the terrain they didn't have a lot of choice without huge additional expense to put something different in.
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It's different with Nemesis, they know what they've got there, arguably still the best coaster in the UK. With Hex if you break it down, it's just a spinning drum
 
Why would they need to replace the drum? It’s made of steel and is indoors. Structurally it is going to be fine.

Now by all means they may have purchased new bits of hardware or maybe having to replace some of the weight bearing elements (the arms at either end) but a whole new drum seems implausible. Just to be clear I’m not saying they are doing any of that.
 
Truckload of salt time. I had heard a similar story about Hex needing a Mad House 2.0 replacement from an old flatmate who works at Merlin, in a finance department of Resort Theme Parks. I was keeping schtubm mostly due to discretion and not wanting bragging rights etc, but with it being independently raised I thought I'd pop my head up and say I've also heard similar things.

Allegedly Vekoma were called out to assess Hex for repair, after replacement parts were ordered last season, installed and then "broke" this season. As the repairs were done internally by Towers and not by Vekoma, they looked it over and couldn't/wouldn't carry out any further work. They did, however, point out that they had a new shiny upgraded model that Towers could purchase, if they so wished. This is what I've heard they've done.

Is he telling the truth? I'm sure he is are far as he's concerned, or he's at least relaying a story he believes to be true. I wouldn't normally post a story like this on its own volition, but the fact that somebody else had allegedly heard something similar, made me think that it might be ok to share it.
 
I mean, it is entirely plausible that they are upgrading a lot of parts to bring it mechanically up to date with the latest mad house models. Which I guess you could do without replacing the actual drum itself.

If this is true and it is a big if, staying statements like 'they will never learn' is slightly unfair. If it turns out to be true, this along side all the current investment going into the park right now shows serious amounts of cash are being spent, much more than under the Merlin PLC days, cash that is attempting to right the lack of maintenance that was given over the years.

Given that, it is entirely plausible they will maintain and look after their equipment better after the 'new' Merlin have spent so much money in bringing aging equipment up to scratch. But, as was said previously, the ride has been run hard all of it's life, this would be inevitable one way or another eventually.

Skyride is one of the oldest large scale ropeways on the planet, the same could be said for that. Large investments would be needed at some point, especially given the astronomical operating hours both attractions have accumulated.

You can maintain equipment to a really high standard, run it really hard (as is most certainly the case with Hex) you will end up in the same boat as if you had not maintained it properly.

The part about Vekoma not wanting to touch Hex could be true, this is usually the case when parks carry out large scale repairs, which can be for a number of reasons. As then, if it breaks again, the liability could be pushed over to Vekoma, when in actual fact the root cause could have been caused by something done internally. Much easier for the OEM to refuse to touch it, this happens in many, many different industries.
 
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Merlin of thr past may have neglected their parks but i think 2023 has seen alot of investment in coasters and flat/dark rides. Im feeling really positive that they will do the required work on hex and the skyride to have them open for 2024.
 
Hex is, at the end of the day, a quality flat attraction.
No skyride, no access around the park for many disabled people.
I have made enquiries about when I will be able to access the park fully, as I have done in the past, but I am still awaiting a reply five months later...
 
Might as well throw in that I have also been given the same information, that a madhouse 2.0 has been purchased, but hadn't mentioned it given that I obviously can't name sources.

The version I had heard was slightly different though, in that the current madhouse had been built on slightly uneven ground and, coupled with the excessive weight of the theming used inside the drum, had been putting too much weight laterally on one end, then in come Vekoma...

The reason I consider that part important to the story, IF it is true, is it justifies them starting over entirely with a new model.
 
lee2804 said:
Merlin of thr past may have neglected their parks but i think 2023 has seen alot of investment in coasters and flat/dark rides. Im feeling really positive that they will do the required work on hex and the skyride to have them open for 2024.
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Has anyone seen any work being carried out on the Sky Ride? Everything I have seen points towards nothing being done as yet.
 
Hex and Sky ride - I was at the event which had the Q&A with the new Alton Towers boss Bianca, both reopening for the start of 2024 is a priority, Skyride was shut for the year to get the work it needs done properly rather than a quick fix. So those two sound promising, although we don't know what work, if any has actually happened on them since they closed.
 
If true, it would be a big job to undertake. They could start before closed season theoretically, as the warehouse is accessible at the back of the park. I would be surprised if it reopened at the start of 2024.

Whatever happens, it would be great to see all the pre-shows given a makeover, and a professionally designed sound system installed.
 
If the rumours of Hex and Skyride not being opened for 2024 are true (personally I'd pick Skyride to be sorted first just for transportation sake which the park needs) then I'd wonder if the team at MMM might be tempted to try some tweaks with Hex to bring the story up to date being the oak tree in a worse state than before (ironically in the same state as the ride!) And that the curse has now affected the Towers even further.

Not saying Hex 2: Electric Boogaloo but there is potential for given Hex an update if they are upgrading the ride system then the story could see a change for 2025 in which will be the ride's 25th anniversary...what better way to celebrate with an all new Hex ready to go?
 
If HEX 2: Electric boogaloo is going to happen, they probably want a new pre-show and a re-recording of the soundtrack, because god, by 2023 standards they look crispy. 420pp doesn’t cut it anymore folks!
 
Legoland California were due to apparently get a madhouse opening for 2023. There were pretty solid rumours surrounding this. Van Bilsen of Vekoma wouldn't explicitly say the next Madhouse 2.0 was going here, but there was a lot to suggest it was. He did say in an interview in 2019 ish (I can't recall where, maybe drdb) that there were more 2.0 models on the way.

Merlin are the ONLY known people so far to purchase Vekomas Mad House 2.0. No one else has brought them. Period. Legoland Windsor has the first purchased 2.0 model. This second one apparently purchased for Legoland California has not shown up anywhere yet.

I wonder if Alton Towers are getting the hypothetically purchased madhouse that was hypothetically supposed to open for 2023 at Legoland California but ultimately has not materlised.

Obviously all of this is a shovel of salt. But there are alot of things suggesting and pointing in the same direction. No one is saying it is true, not a single person. These are just rumours, very interesting ones with an interesting set of circumstances at that.

You could get it open for the start of 2024 quite easily. It's a straight replacement. All of the foundations, infrastructure and works that take the longest to complete are already in place and done.
 
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The_bup said:
If HEX 2: Electric boogaloo is going to happen, they probably want a new pre-show and a re-recording of the soundtrack, because god, by 2023 standards they look crispy. 420pp doesn’t cut it anymore folks!
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Still hoping for hex one day to be the part 1 in an Alton “rise of the resistance” sized mega ride, where the story doesn’t end there or there and you leave the building and board some form of earls motorised vehicle around the ruins or flying machine experiment.

I live in hope…
 
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