[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

[adsoldroyd]

Yup the whole washing machine concept just seemed like one massive fantasy to generate traffic for TTF, just like their constant spamming of my twitter feed with Altons hash tags!

I for one aren't too bothered about the late opening as i always visit Alton in September after the kids have gone back to school. Plenty of time for the themeing to be completed and all the early bugs to be ironed out

 

[Earthwürm]

I remember a few years ago people debating that an SW had to be a B&M because all of them to date had been, then along came Th13teen. Surely that shows the past is irrelevant. Four coasters is way too few to give an accurate definition of what an SW must always be.

So the coaster is late...upset by that or not, I don't see what relevance the code name has.

Although the first SW was Schwarzkopf, so the argument from back then wasn't really correct.

Never said it was, my point was that SW has no definition and is nothing but a code name that Alton can give to whatever project they like and the people that disagreed with this in the past were proved wrong, hence so many people are adamant this is the case now.
The only thing that leans toward giving it meaning is that Alton have begun to use it as a minor marketing tool which obviously would require a bit of consistency, but nothing major and the majority of people will never see or notice it.

As for the late opening, I don't think it's very good of them to allow it to fall this far behind, but I'm sure Alton and Merlin are far more annoyed than any of us will ever be. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though, I'm happy to wait for a finished product.

 

[Nick]

I remember a few years ago people debating that an SW had to be a B&M because all of them to date had been, then along came Th13teen. Surely that shows the past is irrelevant. Four coasters is way too few to give an accurate definition of what an SW must always be.

So the coaster is late...upset by that or not, I don't see what relevance the code name has.

Although the first SW was Schwarzkopf, so the argument from back then wasn't really correct.

Never said it was, my point was that SW has no definition and is nothing but a code name that Alton can give to whatever project they like and the people that disagreed with this in the past were proved wrong, hence so many people are adamant this is the case now.
The only thing that leans toward giving it meaning is that Alton have begun to use it as a minor marketing tool which obviously would require a bit of consistency, but nothing major and the majority of people will never see or notice it.

As for the late opening, I don't think it's very good of them to allow it to fall this far behind, but I'm sure Alton and Merlin are far more annoyed than any of us will ever be. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though, I'm happy to wait for a finished product.

No, I was not going against your argument, I was agreeing with it by giving some evidence to counter your first sentence. And although it was Arrow, that still meant that- even before Thirteen- that not all SW's had to be B&M's. Sorry if that was not made clear.

 

[BigDave]

Alton Towers have tweeted a new photo this morning

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Towers freak]

Alton Towers have tweeted a new photo this morning
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBmxYe1CAAAT408.jpg

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It's good to see the snow is melting quickly, fingers crossed for construction to progress quicker.

 

[daveslodge]

I don't often moan or complain on these forums as I think they are very well run and normally full of interesting and relevant discussion/debate.

However the last few pages have consisted of a repetitive non sensical debate about the meaning of 'sw' that has nothing whatsoever to do with 'the smiler construction updates and ride speculation'.

Can admin please sort this because I've just wasted 10 minutes reading utter drivel that shouldn't be in this topic.

 

[Fredward]

and I've wasted a few seconds reading your drivel about other peoples drivel, then someone wastes a few seconds reading my drivel about your drivel about other peoples drivel, it's a vicious circle of forums I'm afraid, just don't read the uninteresting parts, and certainly don't bitch about it.

I actually find it annoying when team members neuter threads and cut out loads of replies, If it's spam fine, but getting rid of chunks of conversation is pointless. In fact I think it's something which stops people from posting on this forum.

 

[Wilsy]

There is a clear link between The Smiler and this discussion about what makes a secret weapon a secret weapon.

The discussion whether or not it is off topic is definitely nothing to do with The Smiler though....

 

[aru]

How do people thing The Smiler is going to change the feel of X Sector? The area always feels quite open with the focus being on Oblivions drop. I've got so used to the Black Hole tent that it is going to be odd with this tangled mess looming over the X-Sector sign! ;D

I haven't studied the plans in detail but I hope we are not getting another terrible cattle queue like Rita?

 

[Prometheus]

How do people thing The Smiler is going to change the feel of X Sector? The area always feels quite open with the focus being on Oblivions drop. I've got so used to the Black Hole tent that it is going to be odd with this tangled mess looming over the X-Sector sign! ;D

I haven't studied the plans in detail but I hope we are not getting another terrible cattle queue like Rita?

It's a pretty tightly packed queue outside. *insert standard 'assuming the plans have not changed' statement*

I guess they had little option with the sheer amount of track and everything. Should get some spectacular views of the trains flying by though, it looks like it will pass directly underneath the two dive loops, the sea serpent roll, and the bunny hops before the track disappears into the station building. ;D

 

[Martin]

Alton Towers have tweeted a new photo this morning

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Not that I'm pessimistic or anything, but I'm starting to wonder if the reason they're not showing any other parts of the track is because they still haven't built any more of it.

 

[Alastair]

Alton Towers have tweeted a new photo this morning

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Not that I'm pessimistic or anything, but I'm starting to wonder if the reason they're not showing any other parts of the track is because they still haven't built any more of it.

That's obviously the reason. There hasn't been any track construction since the beginning of January, no chance that there will have been any since the Tattenhall pic.

 

[TheMan]

I don't often moan or complain on these forums as I think they are very well run and normally full of interesting and relevant discussion/debate.

However the last few pages have consisted of a repetitive non sensical debate about the meaning of 'sw' that has nothing whatsoever to do with 'the smiler construction updates and ride speculation'.

Can admin please sort this because I've just wasted 10 minutes reading utter drivel that shouldn't be in this topic.

I'm pretty sure that, within ride speculation, and construction, that this debate that I happily admit to starting was based on the proposed rumoured opening times, VS that of what standards should be expected of our pinnacle theme park, developing their pinnacle rides, which have always been under the SW mantra. Being well over 2 months late, is well beyond any weather problems that had occurred.

There was a whole section of SW discussion that went into "throughput" and technical speculation based on very little known facts about lift hills, block/trim braking, how many cars there will be etc. I found this to be over my head, so guess what I did....

What I didn't do, was criticise anyone enjoying discussion about something that interested them, neither would I thank anyone who may have moaned as that part wasn't of interest to them.

Alton Towers have tweeted a new photo this morning

Wont post the pic again, but that is looking rather good! Thanks for the post Dave - At least we know now that construction must be moving forward, let's hope they build up a good head of steam now and really graft to get it open ASAP. The problem sometimes when you move a deadline back, is people relax and rest on their laurels a bit. Not suggesting Alton would do this of course, but you are dealing with a large human team.

The most successful people thrive on pressure and goal setting targets etc - I hope the build team embraces that, rather than eases off the gas a bit. It's only natural after all.

How do people thing The Smiler is going to change the feel of X Sector? The area always feels quite open with the focus being on Oblivions drop. I've got so used to the Black Hole tent that it is going to be odd with this tangled mess looming over the X-Sector sign! ;D

I haven't studied the plans in detail but I hope we are not getting another terrible cattle queue like Rita?

I haven't studied the queue plans in detail, however this is one style of ride you can get away with cramming people into a pen - it works well I feel with Saw, it will have to be compact and largely within and around the ride area due to the obvious size restrictions. I'd not be too worried about this one, I feel it will be integral to the ride, unlike the horrific DF queues where you can't tell who is queuing for what!

As for how it will affect the impact of X-Sector, that's a great question - I doubt it will be middle ground, it will either enhance it brilliantly, or totally knacker it up. The ride isn't exactly subtle.

My bet though is it will make the area far more imposing. Still miss the Black Hole, but if you were going to squeeze anything into that relatively small area, this doesn't seem to bad a replacement thus far.

 

[siralgenon]

^ The picture that was taken this morning has been constructed for ages, it worries me that it has continued since.

 

[Wilsy]

In case people didn't notice, it's been snowing a lot recently. The ride isn't going to officially open until May, there is no need to now attempt construction in dangerous conditions.

I've said it before but for a ride which will be around for 20+ years, you shouldn't worry that it will open a few weeks late.

 

[TheMan]

In case people didn't notice, it's been snowing a lot recently. The ride isn't going to officially open until May, there is no need to now attempt construction in dangerous conditions.

I've said it before but for a ride which will be around for 20+ years, you shouldn't worry that it will open a few weeks late.

No excuse Wilsy! They can move the track on sledges, save crane fees!

The usual pattern so far with me has been, I criticise something about the Towers which is fair about a big budget organisation - then a few weeks down the line, some information comes out which actually makes what they did seem decent given the teams restraints or issues.

I fully expect the same to happen with my annoyance about this rumoured 10 week delay. There has been no where near 10 weeks worth of weather delays. The coaster opening should be more definitive as we are merely a couple of weeks away from their first opening of the season. I stand by that not being good enough regardless.

However not even I am expecting them to be putting up track in the weather we just had! ;D

 

[Wilsy]

It's certainly not impossible that a lot of track hasn't been able to be delivered because of the weather. Cars were struggling to get there.

The only mistake Alton Towers have made was announcing an opening date so early in development. If they left it as Spring 2013 and then announced May there wouldn't have been an issue.

 

[TheMan]

It's certainly not impossible that a lot of track hasn't been able to be delivered because of the weather. Cars were struggling to get there.

The only mistake Alton Towers have made was announcing an opening date so early in development. If they left it as Spring 2013 and then announced May there wouldn't have been an issue.

I know this debate goes on a lot with differing opinions, I will never move from mine though that a new ride should be at season opening, and that suitable planning along with contingency should deal with most things Britain can throw at a project.

I don't think it is right for a park to open rides mid-term. I know many do - but when you watch the video of how they built Kingda (or Top Thrill can't remember now) and the weather they were up against, it made our winter look like a sub tropical summer.

Point taken on deliveries though - not the simplest of places to get to.

 

[Dave]

The trouble is you can't put in contingencies for everything and not all delays are under the control of Alton Towers. Something happened in August i would guess as for almost a month construction just seemed to stop. Then later rain and now snow has exacerbated the issue and prevented them catching up (this is speculation).

I doubt anymore track has gone up, it looks like they wanted that pit and the knot up so they could also get station steel erected. They now seem to be doing a lot of ground-work up the other end of the site which based on the latest pictures seems significant. I would guess that at some-point in the next few weeks there will be another sudden rush of track going up.

I do think we may have underestimated the amount of ground-work needed on this ride when we first saw the plans (maybe because they are not accurate).

I agree with Wilsy, the only mistake they made was announcing a March opening but it's hardly the biggest of sins. The UK is unusual in opening rides at the beginning of a season but thats probably traditionally related to how long our closed seasons are compared to come countries so they always wanted the new rides bringing in guests through-out the season as it was shorter.

I would imagine it wont lose them too much money, people will just delay visiting until the ride is open. Will make March and April nice and quiet.

 

[Tim]

I do think we may have underestimated the amount of ground-work needed on this ride when we first saw the plans (maybe because they are not accurate).

Speak for yourself I don't think we can blame the plans for not showing a lot of excavation when they did. I've been saying for months that the biggest sign that this project is behind has been the lack of excavation at the top end of the site, even now it's a fair way off what is shown in the plans (which I should note are still proving to be 90% accurate, especially as components such as the vertical lift have appeared in marketing and are therefore very likely to still be happening).