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Skyride General Discussion

Matt N said:
That’s a shame. I wonder what made them delay the opening?
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As @Danscott22 suggested, I think it is down to the predicted 25C+ temps this week.

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And of course, its not the temperature its operating in thats the issue but they have to think about guest safety in the event of a breakdown. Those gondolas are mini greenhouses in hot weather and direct sunlight. Imagine getting stuck in one of them for 30+ minutes on Thursday.

Towers are being slated on social media. Part of me thinks they should've said about it being the temperature (if that is the real reason) but even then, they'd be abused for that reason.

Either way, as per usual, no matter what Towers do in announcing good or bad news, they cannot win. It's almost like people want them to fail and be crap at things.
 
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Steve74 said:
As @Danscott22 suggested, I think it is down to the predicted 25C+ temps this week.

1745946743748.png
And of course, its not the temperature its operating in thats the issue but they have to think about guest safety in the event of a breakdown. Those gondolas are mini greenhouses in hot weather and direct sunlight. Imagine getting stuck in one of them for 30+ minutes on Thursday.

Towers are being slated on social media. Part of me thinks they should've said about it being the temperature (if that is the real reason) but even then, they'd be abused for that reason.

Either way, as per usual, no matter what Towers do in announcing good or bad news, they cannot win. It's almost like people want them to fail and be crap at things.
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People do want them to fail, the people who post on social media are geeks for the most part, Merlin have annoyed a lot of them for so long love turns to hate.

The hysteria is stupid and the people posting need to get a life but Merlin fed this beast.
 
Dave said:
People do want them to fail, the people who post on social media are geeks for the most part, Merlin have annoyed a lot of them for so long love turns to hate.

The hysteria is stupid and the people posting need to get a life but Merlin fed this beast.
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Yeah! Uncultured philistines! If you're going to complain and moan at least do it on an old school forum, far more civilised!
 
Yeah I was going to say, the weather being the reason in my opinion would be ridiculous. Would they have not run it if the temperatures were feeezing?

Anyway, with the amount of time it’s been shit (should say shut but I’m leaving this here for dramatic effect and is it wrong) and how much money they’ve spent on it they should have whacked some AC on top of each gondola.

They clearly don’t feel confident with the product if ‘the weather’ is forcing them to delay the opening.
 
Without knowing anything about the level of work that’s required, the cynic in me wonders if maybe April 30th was always going to be a challenge for them, but given several weeks ago they said opening in April they had no choice but to aim for it.
 
Blackrock said:
Yeah I was going to say, the weather being the reason in my opinion would be ridiculous. Would they have not run it if the temperatures were feeezing?

Anyway, with the amount of time it’s been shit (should say shut but I’m leaving this here for dramatic effect and is it wrong) and how much money they’ve spent on it they should have whacked some AC on top of each gondola.

They clearly don’t feel confident with the product if ‘the weather’ is forcing them to delay the opening.
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Hot weather always has always an issue with the Skyride, so if this is the real reason it is nothing new and they are simply putting guests health and safety first - after all would you want to be stuck in a gondola where internal temperatures would be above 30C for half an hour or more if there was a power cut or other reason they couldn't get your gondola back to a station?

It's the same reason for why it doesn't operate after dusk - the ride is perfectly capable of running in the dark, and sure they could put more lighting in the gondolas, but it's the breakdown and evacuation procedures that have to be considered - worst case scenario is evacuating guests by abseiling them down from a stranded gondola. While many of us on this forum would like that (myself included), they have to assume the vast majority of guests wouldn't or couldn't do it in the dark, and ultimately would be unsafe for both the guests and the rescuers.

I'd imagine that AC units would be prohibitively expensive considering the amount of days they'd be used. Not to mention the additional power and weight additions they'd need to factor in. If AC was a viable option on these design of gondolas, why didn't Disney install them on their Skyliner system?
 
Blackrock said:
Yeah I was going to say, the weather being the reason in my opinion would be ridiculous. Would they have not run it if the temperatures were feeezing?

Anyway, with the amount of time it’s been shit (should say shut but I’m leaving this here for dramatic effect and is it wrong) and how much money they’ve spent on it they should have whacked some AC on top of each gondola.

They clearly don’t feel confident with the product if ‘the weather’ is forcing them to delay the opening.
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that isn't really possible without a major rework of the entire gondola system.

for starters where do they get the power?
the gondolas are un powered, they have a small battery for the radio and speakers but that is it the powere for an AC unit is huge, and it isn't a case of adding power to the line through cables as the gondolas detach and attach themselves to each cable meaning no permanent connections can be made, so you would have to install a battery.

how dose this battery charge? high powered electrical pickups would need to be added to the stations
how long do they last? stuck in 30'c+ for 2 hours, well AC for only 10 mins isn't going to be much help

this battery and AC unit would weigh a tonn, would you be happy if they reduced the capacity down to like 4 or 5 people so they can fit the added weight to the gondola.

I am sure some systems exist with AC (I know some have seat heaters that only activate when they are in the station, and are powered from pick ups) but this system wasn't designed for that, the added weight between the towers on the valley, etc.
 
Steve74 said:
Hot weather always has always an issue with the Skyride, so if this is the real reason it is nothing new and they are simply putting guests health and safety first - after all would you want to be stuck in a gondola where internal temperatures would be above 30C for half an hour or more if there was a power cut or other reason they couldn't get your gondola back to a station?

It's the same reason for why it doesn't operate after dusk - the ride is perfectly capable of running in the dark, and sure they could put more lighting in the gondolas, but it's the breakdown and evacuation procedures that have to be considered - worst case scenario is evacuating guests by abseiling them down from a stranded gondola. While many of us on this forum would like that (myself included), they have to assume the vast majority of guests wouldn't or couldn't do it in the dark, and ultimately would be unsafe for both the guests and the rescuers.

I'd imagine that AC units would be prohibitively expensive considering the amount of days they'd be used. Not to mention the additional power and weight additions they'd need to factor in. If AC was a viable option on these design of gondolas, why didn't Disney install them on their Skyliner system?
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Is there going to be a power cut? What’s the probability of that happening tomorrow on its scheduled opening day, one in a million maybe?

It just screams ‘we’re not sure it’s going to work properly throughout the day so we’re not taking the risk’. That’s fair enough from a guest safety point of view but surely after being closed for two years, millions being invested and it testing for weeks why is that the case?

Why do Alton Towers suffer from weather dependent rides, are they unlucky or is it a lack of foresight and maintenance that’s the issue?

I’m not expecting it to be running the dark, that’s ludicrous because of its location but if (and there’s a strong possibility) the weather is the issues I’d be asking why they don’t want to take the risk.

No, the skyline doesn’t have AC but they have other methods in place and even then granted it’d get too hot after a short period of time but we can’t surely be comparing the Floridian sun to the sun in the staffs moorlands.

It’s just seem that’s Alton towers likes to work in the Goldilocks zone, too hot (nah), too cold (nah), just right (we’ll try).
 
Blackrock said:
Is there going to be a power cut? What’s the probability of that happening tomorrow on its scheduled opening day, one in a million maybe?

It just screams ‘we’re not sure it’s going to work properly throughout the day so we’re not taking the risk’. That’s fair enough from a guest safety point of view but surely after being closed for two years, millions being invested and it testing for weeks why is that the case?

Why do Alton Towers suffer from weather dependent rides, are they unlucky or is it a lack of foresight and maintenance that’s the issue?

I’m not expecting it to be running the dark, that’s ludicrous because of its location but if (and there’s a strong possibility) the weather is the issues I’d be asking why they don’t want to take the risk.

No, the skyline doesn’t have AC but they have other methods in place and even then granted it’d get too hot after a short period of time but we can’t surely be comparing the Floridian sun to the sun in the staffs moorlands.
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Of course there could be a power cut. I bet people in Spain didn't wake up yesterday expecting a power cut!
It maybe one in a million, but still a chance. Towers are known for having power cuts around the park.

They don't want to take the risk because of the risk of breakdowns and stoppages in extreme heat and therefore the potential risk to guests health.

Yes the Skyliner has other aids like reflective glass and vents (more of which I think have been retrofitted to Tower's gondolas?) but it also moves a lot faster I think, helping airflow inside the gondolas. Also - and I don't know for sure - but I'd hazard a guess that the Skyliner doesn't go as high as the Skyride or go over fairly inaccessible areas like the Skyride does making evac processes far easier and potentially faster.
 
Blackrock said:
Is there going to be a power cut? What’s the probability of that happening tomorrow on its scheduled opening day, one in a million maybe?

It just screams ‘we’re not sure it’s going to work properly throughout the day so we’re not taking the risk’. That’s fair enough from a guest safety point of view but surely after being closed for two years, millions being invested and it testing for weeks why is that the case?

Why do Alton Towers suffer from weather dependent rides, are they unlucky or is it a lack of foresight and maintenance that’s the issue?

I’m not expecting it to be running the dark, that’s ludicrous because of its location but if (and there’s a strong possibility) the weather is the issues I’d be asking why they don’t want to take the risk.

No, the skyline doesn’t have AC but they have other methods in place and even then granted it’d get too hot after a short period of time but we can’t surely be comparing the Floridian sun to the sun in the staffs moorlands.

It’s just seem that’s Alton towers likes to work in the Goldilocks zone, too hot (nah), too cold (nah), just right (we’ll try).
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my guess is that it isn't a case where they will only run it sub 25'c, but mroe the fact it is opening for teh first time in year (thus higher chance of extended down time, as often rides are quire unreliable then they find a sweet spot.

unreliability can be caused by many things, guests loaded too heavily on one side tripping a sensor down time. once the ride is opperating for a while it is much smoother for tech and opps to prevent / resolve issues quicker (e.g if the sensor issue happens again, the tech can know what the issue is caused by quicker, check everything else is ok and restart the ride. also opps could learn about how to load the gondolas to prevent the issue.

it really is there to prevent the sun, the mirrror etc from making an article about how their newly reoppened ride left people stranded in 25'c+ heat for an hour
 
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