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Nemesis: Sub-Terra

Rick said:
I don't think that is an issue in of itself. Cheap Capex and heavy Opex is not the end of the world.
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Heavy Opex has killed a number of Merlin attractions off in the past so it’s not completely unheard of, however ST was not that cheap a Capex compared to the year round scare attractions that suffered the same fate so I think the Smiler incident was a bigger issue.
 
Skyscraper said:
The issue with that is staffing, and we all know why Sub Terra closed in the first place.
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Wasn’t Sub-Terra’s demise caused just as much by restraint issues as it was by staffing costs?

If I’m remembering correctly, I seem to remember Sub-Terra having restraint modifications in its final weeks that made it very restrictive. These changes then breached H&S requirements after the Smiler crash.

I could be wrong there, however.
 
Matt N said:
Wasn’t Sub-Terra’s demise caused just as much by restraint issues as it was by staffing costs?

If I’m remembering correctly, I seem to remember Sub-Terra having restraint modifications in its final weeks that made it very restrictive. These changes then breached H&S requirements after the Smiler crash.

I could be wrong there, however.
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There was no suggestion of H&S breaches at all, I think it just became expensive to sort out and operate during a period of restricted Opex.
 
Benzin said:
I think the restraint changes were made after issues on one (or more) of the Extremis' at a Dungeons somewhere.
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There is no point speculating (and it isn’t fair on the operator to have these things publicly stated if we don’t have any evidence).

At the end of the day it could have been related to an internal Merlin incident/ near miss or ABC could have issued a technical bulletin requiring the change. Although I know the rumours we don’t to my knowledge know for certain on that score.
 
Does it really matter if it's going to have a high operating cost next season? I don't see how that affects us as guests at a time that we've lost a major coaster and various other filler rides across the park.

They could always have the ride reopen with a similar amount of staff next season, then implement staffing cuts if need be as popularity wanes onces again when the new Nemesis reopens. The park opened The Sanctuary when The Smiler got delayed and it's not like this attraction is Valhalla or Hot Ice with seven figure operating budgets...
 
There are enough of those types of rides (many that Merlin own) to get that problem with the restraints fixed relatively cheaply and quickly.

I have no doubts that they just had to lose a labour intensive attraction due to budget cuts and this was an easy option for them as it wasn't overly popular and there's two great big B&M's close by to soften the blow anyway.

I always liked it myself. Yeah it wasn't perfect and I'd have changed a few things if I was in charge but I still felt it delivered a thrilling enough ride experience and the back story was pretty neat too.
 
Cheap enough CAPEX to renew the ride, OPEX traded off between reduced staff needed as no Nemesis to operate and partially using it to market the reopening of Nemesis. They could even run it weekends, event days and holidays if they wanted it to be that lean.
 
Sub-Terra was easy for them to make SBNO at the time. Restraint issues, not a particularly popular attraction, staff heavy... even across enthusiast circles there was/is very little love for Sub-Terra.

2023 is a great time to get it reopened as Alton Towers is well aware of previous issues and can work to reduce/solve these issues, it adds a 'new for 2023' attraction to the line-up, it fills the gap left by Nemesis and can be used to promote the reopening of Nemesis in 2024.
 
James said:
Sub-Terra was easy for them to make SBNO at the time. Restraint issues, not a particularly popular attraction, staff heavy... even across enthusiast circles there was/is very little love for Sub-Terra.

2023 is a great time to get it reopened as Alton Towers is well aware of previous issues and can work to reduce/solve these issues, it adds a 'new for 2023' attraction to the line-up, it fills the gap left by Nemesis and can be used to promote the reopening of Nemesis in 2024.
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Yes, this will be a great way to promote the retrack, hopefully along with a good scare maze at Scarefest 2023.
 
Surely someone must know by now enough to drop a hint / confirmation? I miss the hey day of forums were people would spill information all the time, and we could actually get excited about things rather than everything being a huge secret for the select few enthusiasts to know
 
tayspru said:
Surely someone must know by now enough to drop a hint / confirmation? I miss the hey day of forums were people would spill information all the time, and we could actually get excited about things rather than everything being a huge secret for the select few enthusiasts to know
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Well it's kind of obvious that something is happening, but I'm sure Towers (or, more specifically, the Phalanx) will announce it soon.
 
tayspru said:
Surely someone must know by now enough to drop a hint / confirmation? I miss the hey day of forums were people would spill information all the time, and we could actually get excited about things rather than everything being a huge secret for the select few enthusiasts to know
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Things may not leak as much these days, but on the flip side, I’d argue that the leaks that do happen tend to be more accurate, as in the social media age, it is arguably much harder to fabricate incorrect rumours.
 
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