Really? Merlin have shareholders. No business writes of £18m no matter what has happened. People have died on rides that are still running.This was always going to reopen it is just a case of when, which we don't know despite all the speculation.
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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015
Really? Merlin have shareholders. No business writes of £18m no matter what has happened. People have died on rides that are still running.This was always going to reopen it is just a case of when, which we don't know despite all the speculation.
XXBENNXX
TS Member
200 pages.
i feel like i could have used some more sensitive wording the other day. For those i may have offended, i apologise.
still i feel the woman was morally wrong but i could have been more tactful in my wording.
Everything clearly points to the ride reopening this season, it is just a matter of waiting now. The shop is stocked, the pit is cleaned, the bins are lined.
I will get in my car and drive 4 hours to the park if it opens before Tuesday. (Next wage withdrawal)
I am looking forward to it reopening but if it doesn't this year, i won't be that hurt either.
i feel like i could have used some more sensitive wording the other day. For those i may have offended, i apologise.
still i feel the woman was morally wrong but i could have been more tactful in my wording.
Everything clearly points to the ride reopening this season, it is just a matter of waiting now. The shop is stocked, the pit is cleaned, the bins are lined.
I will get in my car and drive 4 hours to the park if it opens before Tuesday. (Next wage withdrawal)
I am looking forward to it reopening but if it doesn't this year, i won't be that hurt either.
200 pages of anger, care, hope, concern disgust and longing. This thread itself is a world class rollercoaster for all the ups and downs, helixes, stall turns and even the odd dive loop or two. It does feel closer than ever but as stated we're still just in the same position we were in after they opened the park and x sector back up. I love all the speculation but it is strange what that longing will do and where it takes people.
phildenholm
TS Member
Someone has already said that and been shot down so let's not go there. Anyone on site today? Been a few days since there was any updates from site.
LordOfDarkness
TS Member
Could be nothing but there's a crowd being drawn at the entrance of the smiler according to people on twitter...
BarryZola
TS Member
Sm1lingAdvocate
TS Member
Apparently a cherry picker by the shop, maintenance and red wearing guys in station (I believe they're staff but not 100% sure) and people working on the marmaliser. It's getting closer!
Sm1lingAdvocate
TS Member
It was Alton towers staff in station, Campbell scientific van parked behind maintenance bay and maintenance are now checking V-Lift- source is Andy MC on Towerstimes.
I think 200 pages is quite an achievement, in particular due to the varied debate on here, and the way we have been able to conduct ourselves without getting into flame wars, or being offensive to each other. Yeah the debate may have strayed in a few places but its pretty well mannered - which I think deserves recognition!!!
U
UserDeleted
It has got pretty heated at times!
Grand_Nash
TS Member
On Twitter Alton was asked about the ride opening today their response
Burbs
TS Team
It's good to see that their response has changed from the standard "The Smiler will remain closed until further notice/for the foreseeable future." etc.
phildenholm
TS Member
I think this was mentioned last night, but yes its good that their stance has changed
"Cannot" or "will not"? The way I see it, does Alton Towers want to publicly give a set date where they will have completion of the ride's prep done and all relevant paperwork to sign off the site? As I see it, there are two potential things that can happen if AT announce a fixed date for reopening:
1. Delays either by internal or external personnel mean that AT miss opening, which could cause some backlash through the media (no doubt they'll sensationalise that somehow or another).
2. AT meet the deadline/fixed date and the ride re-opens, to be greeted by a number of press outlets who travelled there to get the exclusive story who had been told the fixed date.
If AT are going to announce it at all, they will announce it through either a press conference, video (including NV riding the ride first as promised), or through a press statement the morning BEFORE it re-opens. In my opinion, they won't announce it at all, and they'll just let it silently re-open the ride and let it run for the day. Only after the ride has been in operation all day would they release a statement/hold a press conference to answer any potential questions from the press. Whatever angle you look at it, AT are going to get bad press from this, but they need to work towards minimising the bad press as much as possible - they can do this by making it absolutely crystal clear that additional safety steps have been incorporated into the ride's already vigorous safety checks, to further prevent an incident like this happening again. They should also mention what that their internal investigation has concluded (eg. human error combined with an unique set of circumstance - eg high winds I'm presuming for the stall, and system override to reset the ride and get it moving again) and ensure that it is made clear that thorough training has been taken place over the last few weeks (hence the testing) to ensure that staff are fully competent in operating and working on the ride. Mention that they're continuing to support the victims and that they discussed the reopening with them before they made the decision to re-open the ride.
Ps. changing the wording that the Social Media team have put out recently is a positive step forward considering recent events, although "foreseeable future" was suitable enough for what it was needed for, as sick and tired we all was of seeing it! I do feel bad for their Social Media team however, cannot imagine how difficult it's been for them responding to people about it for the last 3-4 months. Let's hope that a reopening is near!
Surely can't be many now?! Think about the work they've done on the site recently, the clearing and cleaning of the whole site overall, the constant test runs, weather reporting system being installed/linked up, etc..... I don't think we're too far away from a reopening, and it can't be too long until we see it back in full operation again.