[The Smiler] Construction Updates / Ride Speculation Part 2 *SPOILER FREE*

[TheMan]

At Thorpe Park on opening day this year I was actively encouraged by ride staff on a lot of rides to stay on and see how many re-rides I can handle.

If that is stealth, I am on it till it closes ;D

 

[James]

I would believe to a certain extent that H&S have been involved in some way with the delay. Although perhaps not in the way people think of that Alton Towers are being 'ordered' not to open it. More in the way that a large proportion of the queue line was not ready for the original opening and considering nearly all of the queue line is underneath the ride itself, this causes a massive safety issue as all of the queue line will have to be secure with a running ride above it hours on end.

I think people like to throw the H&S finger around as there are a few particular H&S staff on resort that have made some ludicrous changes to some ride operations and safety rules over the years - rules and 'orders' which have not actually been needed (look at Rita tunnel 2013).

It's more of a last resort blame. With The Smiler you could blame multiple departments and multiple contractors for the delays. Health and safety has probably not played such of a big role within this.

 

[Dar]

It seems fairly obvious to me that it's financially motivated. Trains are going round less frequently on dead days etc.

I'm sure that in America they feel that someone might sue them for not letting them get off the ride or something.

I think the health and safety discussion is relevant to the topic really because no end of people have falsely blamed "H&S" for The Smiler not opening.

H&S is to blame though. H&S doesn't just mean the Health & Safety Executive, it includes the H&S department on park. The ride isn't signed off as safe because the queue isn't finished so can't be declared safe for the public.

 

[Alastair]

There is no law or regulation regarding time on rollercoasters. If Alton Towers have their own policy then they are entitled to it. If it comes from their own safety advisers then they are entitled to do that. However when people say "we can't, it's health and safety" they are misleading people into saying that the park have the rules imposed upon them from the authorities.

How do you know though Tom? That is the point I am making. With respect, I can say you are wrong without providing an answer as to how I know (because I don't).

I'm not doubting you, but it is easier you will understand to believe staff, and especially when the parks I visited also seemed to stop doing it around the same sort of time, & to my knowledge I am not aware of any parks that allow for constant re-rides during quiet periods anymore (on their intense rides).

BPB allow you to reride if there's no one in the queue, as many times as you like. I know because I did it last week. Also, they have no problems with rerides in American parks either if the area is dead, although some parks have their own self imposed limits on each ride. For example, the ride ops on Montu will only allow you to ride 3 times consecutively then you have to go around the queue.

 

[AirFAN]

As ride staff you are trained to say that it's H&S due to 'excessive forces' but it is no secret that it is a form of queue management

Queue management in what regard? To create a queue or lessen one? I only ask because you'd only ever normally ask for a re-ride if no one was waiting to get on.

When younger and staying at the Alton Towers in the closed season when they opened X-Sector for hotel guests for a week, I couldn't understand why they wouldn't let us re-ride Oblivion when there was literally no one waiting to get on. We got a fair few rides with no one else on the carriage.

 

[TheMan]

As ride staff you are trained to say that it's H&S due to 'excessive forces' but it is no secret that it is a form of queue management

Queue management in what regard? To create a queue or lessen one? I only ask because you'd only ever normally ask for a re-ride if no one was waiting to get on.

When younger and staying at the Alton Towers in the closed season when they opened X-Sector for hotel guests for a week, I couldn't understand why they wouldn't let us re-ride Oblivion when there was literally no one waiting to get on. We got a fair few rides with no one else on the carriage.

Actually a bit peeved now to find it is some bod in the Towers themselves making this call.

HSE I could understand, but when four of us are on a train, and only a couple wish to board, and we have to go around again and they send it straight out with only a couple of people on again - why?

 

[Novas]

The Health and Safety Executive are mainly an investigatory body for accidents. I can't go into lots of detail but my partner has acted for them in a legal capacity before, and whilst it's not impossible that they could recommend a policy such as no re-rides, it is extremely unlikly that they would unless they have been called to investigate a serious incident in which re-rides were found to be a contributing factor.

The odds are that the rule was introduced from an internal Health & Safety audit and the implimentation of any such 'recommendation' was dedcided by Towers management.

 

[Rupert]

This ride really pushed the envelope of what is possible.

How in any way has it 'pushed the envelope' of what is possible?!

It's a completely standard coaster. It has a lift hill, it goes around some inversions; it has another lift hill and it goes around some more inversions. There's no launch, there's no drop track, no trick track, no crazy station mechanism like Air - it's all completely run-of-the-mill. It shouldn't go wrong.

It's compact but that should have no effect on how it runs. I'm not sure how it being 'on top of a hill' is an excuse in any way. The inversion count shouldn't make a difference at all.

Maybe it has stalled and track needs to be reprofiled (which appears to be speculation because a crane was there?), or there is another factor we don't know about which has further delayed things. Perhaps though they just completely underestimated how long all of the associated crap (queue, additional theming etc.) would take, and wasted time by covering the site in fancy lights and press events.

 

[TheMan]

Bear in mind Merlin is a business - would you invest such a sum again in the future? A few days' delay is one thing, but the potential knock-on effect is far more worrying.

I am not entirely sure of exactly how it works, and agree with the majority of your post, but that last bit makes it sound a bit like Merlin would not consider such investment again. I don't think that would be the case at all. Alton is the flagship park, & I believe Merlin's team are heavily involved in the project (could be wrong).

I don't think Alton are by any means alone, or arguably even in the main, at fault for this. They are however, copping the brunt of the sharp end of months of farce.

The opening announcements yes, I'd imagine they are the parks fault - however, that aside, even as a vocal critic, not even I am blaming Towers for all that.

This ride really pushed the envelope of what is possible.

How in any way has it 'pushed the envelope' of what is possible?!

It's a completely standard coaster. It has a lift hill, it goes around some inversions; it has another lift hill and it goes around some more inversions. There's no launch, there's no drop track, no trick track, no crazy station mechanism like Air - it's all completely run-of-the-mill. It shouldn't go wrong.

It's compact but that should have no effect on how it runs. I'm not sure how it being 'on top of a hill' is an excuse in any way. The inversion count shouldn't make a difference at all.

Maybe it has stalled and track needs to be reprofiled (which appears to be speculation because a crane was there?), or there is another factor we don't know about which has further delayed things. Perhaps though they just completely underestimated how long all of the associated crap (queue, additional theming etc.) would take, and wasted time by covering the site in fancy lights and press events.

Essentially because of the intense compact design, difficult construction (which not even I can dismiss) and amount of inversions - keeping that pacing with a big 4 train car like that cannot be easy. As a whole, I believe it to be quite an achievement. In a track that tight, I find it harder to believe the max/min tolerances would be anything like as easy to plan for.

How have I ended up on the side sticking up for them exactly pmsl?

Going for a lie down.

 

[smidgey]

Is the issue with the queue line being under the ride? Pictures on TT's Facebook page show some kind of roof being added to the queue line. It looks awful.

I cannot share it on my phone sorry.

 

[JamesDLD]

I'm sorry, but this is just awful. I don't know about other people, but the thought of being caged in like this fills me with terror:

 

[BigAl]

That looks amazing! <3


Edit: Best point out that I'm joking. They've made what was a pretty ugly queue look even worse. Hideous.

 

[djtruefitt]

A few minor updates today since my last visit on Thursday.

- Overall the ride and area looks pretty finished, the queue line seems to now be complete, apart from a few bits that need painting, and metal mesh fencing has now been put on top of large amount of the queue line (to stop things falling in I imagine!), as posted below.

The entrance board was testing (240 minutes anyone?!), unfortunately its green LEDS and not yellow as I hoped

- Some work was going on in the pit but no idea what.

- There are now loads and loads of new bins at the bottom of the site waiting to be placed around the ride.

And I think that is about it for today! I know Rob took loads of photos so no doubt they will be online soon!

 

[GaryH]

I think the Smiler is going to be a huge flop for Alton towers. I just have a feeling....

As for all these delays - I agree - its about time Alton released a statement to their fanbase and to treat them with a bit of respect. Many people had arranged days off, train tickets, hotels etc

 

[stretchy]

OK some photos from today - This will be my last update of photos for a while.

I think we now know why the ride failed it's H&S. They seem to be hurriedly adding grating to the top of all under ride queues.

With more pieces of queue meshing being bought in constantly

By the end of the day it looked like this

The queue board was also working today. Its started with this:

And then changed to the following picture causing a short lived flurry of excitement.

From the top of the site what we think is the pre-show now has this sign

And looking into the other door you can see some of the interior. It looks a bit cattle pennish to me.

A car was being added to the ride around lunch time.

and a closer look at the wheel assembly.

This guy sat there for ages feeding little bricks into that hole.

Here we have one of the staff praying to the god of grey boxes to make the ride work.

He was soon joined by his friend, who corrected his praying method.

Work was also being done on the stairs by the end of the platform.

 

[Novas]

Cage queue is a great idea. I actually really like it and it makes perfect sense. I would have prefered it to be silver or black as the rusted brown sticks out like a sore thumb against the crispness of everything else, but I don't have any issues with the idea.

 

[Ollie]

As much as I understand it may have to be there, I hate to think how claustrophobic it will feel. Imagine being in there, surrounded by people in the middle of the line with little idea of how far you are in the queue. Doesn't make you think of a positive or interesting queueing experience. :S

 

[DiogoJ42]

All queue lines should be caged in to prevent fence jumping. If I had my way, they would also be no wider than 18" so people couldn't push past.

 

[khalichanan]

I understand why the queues are being caged. Frankly with how close those trains are going to be I'm rather glad! Can imagine people jumping over the top!!

Have they changed the wheels on the trains? They look different but alas my computer is at uni, and I'm at my parents so can't get a good photo but looks like that perhaps!

 

[GaryH]

Im surprised there was no netting placed over the queue lines given all the loops, things are bound to be falling out of peoples pockets. No doubt the cage idea is to prevent things falling into the queue lines...