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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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I think it's safe to say that it's not just the legions of Towers fans who objected to the Sky interview...
https://www.change.org/p/sky-news-s...-interviewing-of-alton-towers-ceo-nick-varney
Over 13,000 signatures on that petition!

With Smiler out of action I have to imagine there will be some impact on numbers, I for one was planning a visit a few days ago specifically because I hadn't yet been on that ride, whereas the others I've been on countless times. In addition with the particular reason for Smiler being out of action, it's bound to have some effect on a minority of people who either believe everything published in the media, or somehow imagine that the risk of an accident has now increased because there's been one... ludicrous I know but some do think that way.
In reality of course, as on the railways and in many industries, an accident occurring makes things 100x times safer afterwards as new methods of work get implemented, new failsafe systems put in place, etc. So there's perhaps never been a better time to have a safe visit to a theme park in the UK... :)
 
Haven't heard that it's going to be closed again tomorrow it's normal been announced by know
 
ASturge21 said:
but not announced that it is opening as would be expected.
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I just wonder whether they WILL make a specific announcement they are opening? Such an announcement would be like red flag to a bull with the media (who would end up outnumbering the guests potentially!).

I wouldn't put it past them to just open as normal, on time, without any pre-announcement. Sure, they wouldn't get many guests through the door, but it would lessen the PR impact. Could also be a little bonus for people staying in the hotels, who may have had their holidays seriously affected - imagine having a near empty park to yourself!
 
MichelinMan said:
I just wonder whether they WILL make a specific announcement they are opening? Such an announcement would be like red flag to a bull with the media (who would end up outnumbering the guests potentially!).

I wouldn't put it past them to just open as normal, on time, without any pre-announcement. Sure, they wouldn't get many guests through the door, but it would lessen the PR impact. Could also be a little bonus for people staying in the hotels, who may have had their holidays seriously affected - imagine having a near empty park to yourself!
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I would expect as small as possible announcement.
 
ASturge21 said:
Is this a senior member of staff or just a ride op/assistant?
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Middle management, they were carrying out training regimes today with rides operating. The smiler trains have now been completely removed today and sent off to be properly inspected.

Depending on how today goes will then dictate whether the park opens tomorrow. I only know this having visited this staff member over the weekend as he's a friend of mine.
 
FROM ALTON TOWERS SENT TO MEDIA (17.32)

Alton Towers Resort will re-open to the public on Monday 8th June at 10am.

Nick Varney, Chief Executive Merlin Entertainments said:

"The accident last Tuesday was a terrible event for everyone involved. We are very aware of the impact it will have on those involved and we are doing all we can to provide our support to those injured and their families.

We closed the Park immediately whilst preliminary investigations took place and to give our staff time to come to terms with the accident and its aftermath. In recent days our management team have been engaged in a thorough review of our operating and safety procedures before making this decision.

Alton Towers has a long record of safe operation and as we re-open, we are committed to ensuring that the public can again visit us with confidence."


X-Sector will remain closed until further notice.

Spinball will be closed until the enhanced safety protocols have been implemented which will take slightly longer than we had hoped due to the design of the ride.
 
I see they've instantly gone back to moTHeR hEn.

Hn7ALLY.png
 
It will be interesting to see if the enhanced safety precautions on the rides will have an impact on the loading times and throughputs of the rides.

Glad to see it reopening again though! Credit to the team at Towers and Merlin for their actions during the incident.
 
Like others, happy to see Towers open again, hopefully now some more positive news can come out of this which is probably what the PR team are needing right now.
 
Andrew said:
It will be interesting to see if the enhanced safety precautions on the rides will have an impact on the loading times and throughputs of the rides.
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^ This. Very interesting to see what will have changed.

Glad to see the park reopening though and as others have said, credit needs to be given to the park and to Merlin for the way they've acted since the incident happened.
 
I'll be there tuesday so will be able to tell you what if anything has changed, unless of course someone beats me to it by going tomorrow :)
 
Tom said:
There will be some people that stay away because the park has had an accident - it's just a question of how many.

There will be virtually no one that stays away because The Smiler is not available to ride.
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I usually only come once or twice a year and will now probably come next year instead (or whenever it reopens). I know a lot of my friends are the same.
 
If social media is anything to judge by attendance figures won't be affected in a large way. Probably just a minor drop but nothing that will impact the park hard.

I'm actually surprised from the sheer amount of support Towers has got from the general public these past few days.
 
I think people know that these things are as rare as hens teeth. Lets face it, crash aside, the have been so well prepared, and have just got everything ready and in place as soon as possible. Good communication, excellent support for those with tickets and at hotels.
 
Do you think they've closed Sub Terra to implement more stringent practises to ensure people aren't injured in say the maze portion of the ride? TBH I always hated the 'actors' in that ride, completely took away from the experience with their OTT 'acting'.
 
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