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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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As I've said before, Vicky Balch is well within her rights to go on TV and make a career out of what happened. And correct me if I'm wrong but Leah and her came very close to dying. The term 'survivor' is a grey area as strictly speaking it suggests there were deaths but I don't really have an issue with it being used in this instance.

Still, to those saying she's milking it and to get over it, why don't you get over the fact that she's chosen to live her life in the media? Don't like it, don't read/watch it. Simple.
 
As I was getting on it I put my hand on the lap bar but pushed it closed, as it closed I fell over and my hand took the whole impact, now for the lucky bit. I didn't have anything done about it for 2 weeks, when I had an X-ray on it I was told that because I had left it too long there was nothing they could do and come back in 3 weeks. Fast forward 2 and half weeks, I was planning my trips for the next week and planned to go on a few days that week, but on one of the days I had another X-ray so couldn't go, the day of my 2nd X-ray was 2nd of June, and I normally get back to the smiler at about 1:30 when I go.
 
Putting aside all this tv stuff. And getting down to what was shown.

I am not a real fan of tattoos. The meaning is one of strength though support, and that is a really powerful message to have permanent affixed to your body.
The artwork of the tattoo itself is amazing, something that would not go amiss in a art gallery.
Vicky look like she was over the moon with it. It is nice to see someone who had a really bad time and was close to death, smiling and getting on with life.
 
I have mixed feelings about Vicky. On one hand, she has every right to say that it's to soon to open it, appear on tv, or even get a tattoo about it. It was a traumatizing accident; good for her if she can find positives from it. On the other hand though, she is milking it and I don't think some of the things she has said are right. Also (through no fault of her own) the way the media continue to cover this, making her a celebrity just for being in a rollercoaster crash disgusts me sometimes. "Lets make this company/park that has delivered entertainment to millions and built the businesses of those living locally out to be evil and dangerous".
 
Do we think the Smiler will re-open as the Smiler or under a new name?

They were keen to strip the ride of all it's regalia due to the insensative nature of the name considering. I'm wondering if it will be rebranded. :confused:
 
Is there a chance they may add a front row queue now. There wasn't one before, but I can see a lot of people asking to be in the middle and it would probably be easier for the staff.
 
I hope they dont, i liked being able to ride the front row without having to queue up for ages and yes i would still ride it.
 
oh right i see, so you predict a reverse of most situations where as instead of wanting to go on the front people will want to queue to not go on the front? In that case bring it on! (wonders how many people have been ran over crossing the road since June 4th). People are very fickle, i worry what 2016-2018 holds for towers, low investment and even lower visitor numbers, from what we have seen it doesn't look like there will be much to wow people into getting past the media reports.
 
Would be a good idea. Could they implement that in the loading area though? It's quite a small area when you get to the top of those stairs.
 
James said:
Would be a good idea. Could they implement that in the loading area though? It's quite a small area when you get to the top of those stairs.
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If I remember correctly, the stairs and path leading to the op cabin are right next to the queue. You could fairly easily move the fences to create a front row queue. Or just rename the single rider queue.
 
spinba11 said:
From my understanding you couldn't ask for the front row, it was luck if you got it.
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to be honest, it really depends on how busy the ride is- if it's quiet, then there's more chance of getting the front row. if it's busy, then there's less of a chance and, as you said, it's just luck.
 
Leah said:
If I remember correctly, the stairs and path leading to the op cabin are right next to the queue. You could fairly easily move the fences to create a front row queue. Or just rename the single rider queue.
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The stairs to the op cabin are on the other side of the station, where you would disembark from the train.
 
Leah said:
Sorry, wasn't sure. Haven't been there for 7 months. SRQ would still work though, only a few people use it anyway.
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The SRQ is actually quite popular, and can dramatically reduce the wait time on busy days, so it would be a mistake, in my opinion, to remove it. The way around this would be to pre-batch at the merge point, and in a group of an odd number, they assign a member of the SRQ to them, and use the current SRQ line after the merge point as a front row line. :)
 
I agree a SQR would be good for Smiler but is it practical with the queue line as it is? I doubt it but why didn't it have SQR from opening?
 
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