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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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phildenholm said:
I think the buffers hitting together have pulled the front middle of the car inward at a v angle which is why the middle of the car seems to have caused the worse injuries. I appreciate the victims opinion but if it was me I wouldn't want the company to suffer once the ride was proven safe and I'm aware it is yet to be proven safe but with all the upgrades the HSE must be on their way to lifting anything that is still in place? Oh I don't know it's too early for compassion and logic.
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Tbf buddy, your not in the victims situation. Your outlook might of changed if you had gone through what they had.
 
Honestly, assuming that it's going to open one day anyway, what's the difference to the girl whether it opens now or several months later? It's not as if they tried to open the ride a couple of weeks after the incident. It's been a good while now and there has been a thorough investigation and Towers have handled things brilliantly with regards to the victims and everything else. I have sympathy for the people who were seriously injured but it will only stretch so far if they begin to court certain newspapers who they know will seriously twist and exaggerate stories (ironically 'just to make money').

I think we can consider this the beginning of the serious mudslinging for when the ride inevitably opens quite soon.
 
Based on that Mirror article it's probably best that it now does open this season as to not damage visitor numbers for next season. With it opening next season that would delay all the bad press and affect next year and meaning that Merlin would lose a lot of revenue from one if it's parks for 2 seasons running. Is Alton one of the parks flagship parks worldwide as this could effect when they decide to open it.
 
As much sympathy as I have for all the victims, seriously injured or not, especially the the two who suffered amputations, I don't think anything they say will (or should) affect the opening date, just the media will sell more **** about how they open it even though the victims think it's insulting.

Vicky added: ‘They weren’t asking our opinion, they were just informing us. I got upset. I knew they’d want to reopen it, but not so quickly. It’s disrespectful.’

Vicky’s mother Karen, 51, said: ‘I’d like to see them tear it down after what happened.
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Merlin want to tell the vctims first hand when it is going to open so they don't find out through social media or whatever as this could be even more damaging. Towers open ride with consulting crash victims doesn't sound good on Merlin's behalf
 
I think it was common courtesy to inform them, but nothing more, and I feel it's in line with Merlin's handling of the whole thing, which has been exemplary. Being a victim gives one perspective but unless they can distance themselves from the accident it will rarely be a reasoned perspective.
 
BarryZola said:
I have sympathy for the people who were seriously injured but it will only stretch so far if they begin to court certain newspapers who they know will seriously twist and exaggerate stories (ironically 'just to make money').
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Long-term lurker here. Thought I'd add a few measly words.

Although I've quoted your post Barry, please rest assured I'm not singling you out here - there have been a handful of similarly-veined comments throughout the last few months.

Never, ever underestimate the lengths that 'journalists' will go to in order to twist, incorrectly contextualize or downright lie about what the injured riders have said in order to convey their chosen narrative. It is highly likely that the root of this article lies not in the victim courting certain 'news'papers, but in the 'journalist' contacting the victim - seemingly innocently - and a few off-the-cuff comments in an otherwise balanced conversation have been presented in such a manner as to conjure up strong, base emotions. Presumably having had little to no media training, an individual or family who suddenly find themselves not only dealing with an utterly horrific, lifelong change in circumstances are also now finding themselves at the epicenter of a media circus which even the most experienced and professional publicist would find challenging. Remember - these are the very individuals who feel that it's acceptable to hack a murdered girl's phone in order to provoke a response from her parents. Building them up and tearing them down is standard procedure and most if not all victims eventually find themselves - through no fault of their own - beginning to be presented as the bad guy in a retold version of David vs Goliath. The fact that there will likely be all manner of financial transactions flying around only serve to further convolute a sophisticated and perplexing yarn which will always remain outside the control of the individual and serve only the needs of a well-oiled and utterly nefarious machine. In short, they're utter c**ts.

Don't forget, 'Alton Towers Enthusiasts maul crash amputation victim' would also make a most splendid clickbait-inducing headline and if you think this forum thread is not read by 'journalists' seeking to twist, incorrectly contextualize or downright lie about what genuine enthusiasts have said in order to convey their chosen narrative, then hey ho and all that.

At the end of the day, this young girl was involved in terrifying and horrific ordeal that will affect her physically and mentally for the rest of her years. Anything she says, anything she does - irrespective of how that will undoubtably be twisted, incorrectly contextualized or downright lied about by 'journalists' in order to convey their chosen narrative for their own ends is deserving of nothing but sympathy.

Anyway, it's a fantastic ride and it's obvious opening is imminent. It's the best way in my experience - get the storm de merde over and done with so everyone can move on - including the victims. Be prepared though that the inevitable, though transitory media onslaught is likely to make Kay Burley's interview seem akin to setting sail on the magical In The Night Garden Boat Ride, even if, this time, your eyes may rest not on Igglepiggle, but the very beast itself.
 
As someone who doesn't go on coasters much (bad back long term) I would hope as well as addressing how the accident happened I would like to see them address the batwing section and why it stalls as if anyone stalls there there will be panic. Or do most big rides stall the amount this one does or is this bad design?
 
pj said:
As someone who doesn't go on coasters much (bad back long term) I would hope as well as addressing how the accident happened I would like to see them address the batwing section and why it stalls as if anyone stalls there there will be panic. Or do most big rides stall the amount this one does or is this bad design?
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In fairness it had only stalled a few times..... But that's a few times too much. Some roller coasters are designed in the way that stalls are possible, but I do strongly believe this is down to bad design.

It shouldn't have to be weighted for it to do its job. It's too sensitive. I do believe if it was taller, it would be faster and wouldn't stall. Or even if they emended the bricks on the airtime.
 
Alton Towers only have bad press to go on now with regards to The Smiler. They cannot change that until they have a new shiny roller coaster to advertise instead.

Therefore I think we will now see Alton Towers embracing the bad press, and this is why they are so keen to reopen it despite what anyone in the press says. No one is ever going to agree to show Smiler imagery in cereal packet marketing again, it won't be pictured on the 241 offers in the newspaper, no. The only press it will now get is bad, or none at all, so maybe bad is better than none. Alton Towers, as a business, will have to embrace that, and try and use it as best as possible to drive visitors to the park once The Smiler reopens.

Indeed, the only way to try and drive more visitors to the park right now, sort of relies on the reopening of The Smiler making a big splash in the press, even if it is horrifically negative. The park will never admit to this strategy of course, but this is what is going to happen.

I can assure there will be many many people out there who were putting off visits to the park, not because of safety concerns, but because the ride lineup was incomplete. And there are many more who will now be aware and interested in The Smiler who were not before, and want to ride it. Do not underestimate the notoriety factor, teenagers especially will dig this, and will be daring each other to get on the ride. The amount of people put off by safety concerns will be offset by extra attention and notoriety.

"Alton Towers - The park with big scary rollercoasters"

Remember, I know it's weird for us enthusiasts, but roller coasters are meant to be scary, and thats the attraction for most of the general public. And this is basically the scariest one going now. There may be some small press release about how the ride is perfectly safe, and they did all the appropriate checks blah blah, but they are not going to make a big song and dance about how safe it is, when they will be looking to trade off of notoriety.

I think Alton Towers will stop short of running some insensitive Smiler marketing campaign, e.g. "Dare you ride The Smiler", but at least on a subtle level they will definitely be looking to do this type of marketing.

I think you are going to see attendance at the park bouncing back in a big way once the ride is reopened, this is my personal prediction. Never has a ride opening at the park got so much press, as this one is about to get.
 
According to the Mirror tower bosses told the victims the ride would be opening as they 'were losing a fortune'.
 
Getting it open asap is the best way , for those exact reasons: ride out whatever transient negative attention the gutter press drum up, it shouldn't take long as they have the attention span of sugar loaded toddlers.
 
It doesn't matter when they open it really. Tomorrow, next week, next year, in 5 years... there will still be bad press and there will still be people saying it should be dismantled, it's disrespectful, they should be ashamed of themselves etc etc...

They'll firstly have to get through the initial bad press of it reopening, then bad press when it breaks down, then bad press in June when it marks one year of the crash, then probably more bad press when a victim pops back up in the news, then of course it'll be mentioned when the next coaster gets built at Towers ('Alton Towers today has unveiled their latest rollercoaster, two years following the horrific Smiler crash') ... the media are loving this and they will keep reporting the crash for a long long time.

I'd like to see it open soon (in a selfish way because I'm visiting this Scarefest) but in the grand scheme of things the bad press won't just be around when the ride opens, it will be around for years to come, so in a way it doesn't matter whether they open it now or in March, the impact will be the same on Towers for a while.
 
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