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[The Smiler] Construction Updates / Ride Speculation Part 2 *SPOILER FREE*
- Thread starter Dave
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Dave
TS Founding Member
Alastair said:
It's why TS as a site is not getting involved in the predictive opening game as we have no idea what might turn up over the next 24 hours but as far as we know as time consuming the current delays have been, they are not that dramatic and the thing will probably open soon.
Thats not to be fanboyish as i'm not forgiving the fact this should have opened 2 months ago.
DiogoJ42
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Metropolitan Line
Joseph said:
The best bit of management BS I ever heard at the Beeb, was on the subject of cutting budgets while increasing quality...
"We need to ensure that two plus two never equals more than three... but looks like five."
Seems to fit the Merlin way of thinking if you ask me.
AirFAN said:
It was me that challenged their information on twitter (@mattr1990), I'm fed up with the exceedingly cheap excuses for delaying the coaster not only by 2 months from its original date. But on a daily basis after only 2 weeks of releasing said release date. To blame it on teething/technical issues after thousands of people have gone out of their way in not only effort but also time and money. Well it's just ludicrous. They're an entertainment business. Yet this whole fiasco is far from fun. And it's insulting they think they can get away with it with "sorry" and "don't know" replys.
Dave
TS Founding Member
Baggies said:
Trouble is the whole thing is a symptom of Merlin, hence why Chessington have opened a dirt track through a waterfall and Thorpe not very much at all. Non of the parks get much very right, Chessy installs minimally, Thorpe do good coasters but nothing else and Towers try and do something every year but fail in delivery.
I would be inclined to moan at Towers (and i have, repeatedly) but the issue are the accountants who run the whole show.
What currently baffles me is the general public have no problem with the delays it seems
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Dave does make a good final point there. The public don't seem overly concerned or bothered about this new delay, it is only really the enthusiasts. I put that down to us knowing more than they do. The general consensus amongst the public that I've seen is that the ride should not open if it's not safe, and many have been defending Towers on Facebook. I'd imagine they think that the ride is not safe to open operationally rather than knowing that it's not finished amongst other things.
Oh i dunno. Just called up tripadvisor and this new entry sums it up nicely i think....
"We visited as a family on the 24th May 2013 in anticipation for The Smiler being launched. Not only was the new ride not available, understandable to a point, technical things can happen, but the whole of the X sector was shut, for those not familiar with the place, this is where almost all of the main rides are located, there was nothing on the website to indicate this and we weren't even told on entering the park, it was only after we had paid and walked over to it we found this out.
At the best part of £200 for a family day out to say we were miffed would be an understatement, anyway, as it was a family day out we decided to try and make the most of what else there was, we went to the Flume, not working, headed for the Skyride, not working.
Due to the fact all of these main things were out of action the queues for the attractions that were open were between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes, and i can understand them selling jump ahead tickets when the full park is open but to see people paying £13 for the ability to jump the queue when the whole reason the queues were so big was because of the operators inability to keep their other rides open was the final straw.
We tried to get something to eat but at £5 for 5 donuts and a courtyard BBQ with so much smoke my daughter with asthma couldn't even stay there that was out of the window too.
I did email the company and was told my tickets would be revalidated, as you can imagine finding them at the bottom of whatever bin they now reside in will be a bit hard.
All this aside i'm afraid it just isn't worth even half of what they are charging these days, tired old rides and attractions, even the fried chicken and burgers aren't even the world famous brands anymore, it's now their own generic brands but with a premium price attached.
If you haven't been before then it is worth going once for the experience but i'd ring before you set off, this could be a very long and very expensive day oput if you have a similar day to mine. If you have been before, apart from the bigger new rides then it's the same old stuff just looking a little more tired. It's not about a family theme park these days, it's corporate hospitality and relying on cheap sales via Sun promotions etc, try Drayton Manor, Flamingoland,Gullivers or Lightwater Valley instead , at least at those places you only lose half of your shirt in the process."
"We visited as a family on the 24th May 2013 in anticipation for The Smiler being launched. Not only was the new ride not available, understandable to a point, technical things can happen, but the whole of the X sector was shut, for those not familiar with the place, this is where almost all of the main rides are located, there was nothing on the website to indicate this and we weren't even told on entering the park, it was only after we had paid and walked over to it we found this out.
At the best part of £200 for a family day out to say we were miffed would be an understatement, anyway, as it was a family day out we decided to try and make the most of what else there was, we went to the Flume, not working, headed for the Skyride, not working.
Due to the fact all of these main things were out of action the queues for the attractions that were open were between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 minutes, and i can understand them selling jump ahead tickets when the full park is open but to see people paying £13 for the ability to jump the queue when the whole reason the queues were so big was because of the operators inability to keep their other rides open was the final straw.
We tried to get something to eat but at £5 for 5 donuts and a courtyard BBQ with so much smoke my daughter with asthma couldn't even stay there that was out of the window too.
I did email the company and was told my tickets would be revalidated, as you can imagine finding them at the bottom of whatever bin they now reside in will be a bit hard.
All this aside i'm afraid it just isn't worth even half of what they are charging these days, tired old rides and attractions, even the fried chicken and burgers aren't even the world famous brands anymore, it's now their own generic brands but with a premium price attached.
If you haven't been before then it is worth going once for the experience but i'd ring before you set off, this could be a very long and very expensive day oput if you have a similar day to mine. If you have been before, apart from the bigger new rides then it's the same old stuff just looking a little more tired. It's not about a family theme park these days, it's corporate hospitality and relying on cheap sales via Sun promotions etc, try Drayton Manor, Flamingoland,Gullivers or Lightwater Valley instead , at least at those places you only lose half of your shirt in the process."
Dave
TS Founding Member
I very much agree with a lot of that review, except the idea that anywhere else offers anything different. Drayton staff are rude and the parks rides are naff except a few small notable exceptions, Flamingo land is horrid and Lightwater is quaint but hardly amazing. If i'm honest the whole UK theme park industry saddens me.
And don't even get me started on Merlins other parks.... Chessington World of "dirt Tracks and waterfall" adventures and Thorpe "turn it backwards and its a new ride" park
And don't even get me started on Merlins other parks.... Chessington World of "dirt Tracks and waterfall" adventures and Thorpe "turn it backwards and its a new ride" park
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Thing is though, that review backs up what I've said. The guest is more annoyed about X-Sector and other rides being closed than The Smiler being closed, stating that The Smiler being closed is "understandable to a point". Because Towers have said it's 'technical issues' and 'unforeseen teething problems', people are just assuming that the ride is not safe to open and they do not want to go on an unsafe ride anyway. The public have been a lot more forgiving than I was expecting.
Also, on another note, this quote from that review: "...but the whole of the X sector was shut, for those not familiar with the place, this is where almost all of the main rides are located"
Yes, almost all the main rides. Nemesis, Air, Thirteen and Rita can all be found in X-Sector along with Oblivion. You start to dismiss the rest of the review once you read things like that.
Also, on another note, this quote from that review: "...but the whole of the X sector was shut, for those not familiar with the place, this is where almost all of the main rides are located"
Yes, almost all the main rides. Nemesis, Air, Thirteen and Rita can all be found in X-Sector along with Oblivion. You start to dismiss the rest of the review once you read things like that.
Shockadelica
TS Member
'You belong to The Smiler' has now been re-worded to 'You be long time waiting for The Smiler'
I have come to the conclusion that all of this is related to the holy garment, Wardley's jacket. It appears that there was an anti jacket, created to cause dispute within the enthusiast community and render rides SBNO. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the leather jacket of sin, beelzecoat.
I fear for Ben Dowson may be he rumored anti Wardely.
I fear for Ben Dowson may be he rumored anti Wardely.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
That's a very harsh and unfair review of cap ex at those parks. So harsh and unfair I have actually bothered to login and respond. I'm not the biggest fan of Merlin and some of the stuff they do but to say they don't invest is rubbish (particularly when you look how much other operators are (not) spending.Dave said:
Chessington - I rode Zufari expecting it to be really poor based on what I read on whiny enthusiast forums. I thought it was really great and a good departure from Merlin's approach to new attractions. It certainly needs some time to bed in by nature of what it is, but the kids in our vehicle LOVED it. Also, for them to leave the concept of the 'zoo' back in the 20th century where it belongs, was great. Interactivity in the pre-show was an absolute slam dunk. Wonderful.
Thorpe - They haven't claimed it's a new ride anywhere that I have seen, they have marketed it as a new experience on an existing ride that was installed last season at a cost of TWENTY MILLION POUNDS. X was upgraded with little fanfare - I thought that was cool too, hardly Rock n' Roller Coaster but it wasn't ever going to be that.
As for The Smiler, it'll open when it opens. I'm not losing any sleep over it. I wouldn't work in Customer Services for all the pick n' mix in Towers Trading at the moment. It's an unfortunate situation without doubt. Calls for Alton to come out and publicly explain the delay are farcical - why would any company want to do that? Apart from Dick Kinzel at Cedar Fair... and we know how that turned out, it turns you in to a laughing stock.
The thing that really infuriates me is that people are complaining as if Alton are delighted that the ride is closed and are rubbing their hands with glee, quite the opposite I'm sure. Alton have way more riding on this install than that one individual who had to go and try and enjoy himself ride Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, 13, Air etc all day.
Dave
TS Founding Member
Merlin have proved that they can invest, no one suggests that Swarm or Smiler are bad investments. My point was the whole of the UK theme park industry is lacklustre compared with most other regions. Zufari may have pleased you and that's fine but for the first real installation since 2010 it's hardly amazing. It's also badly set-up in terms of queue and exit flow.
Thorpe install good coasters but their non coaster years are terrible and swarm backwards IS advertised as a new ride on its TV adverts. And as for other parks some try but it's not the most inspiring.
I'm very positive about The Smiler, i have been at the park this weekend and i havent complained about it not opening as there is little point and i want to see ut finshed properly, I was making the point that the conclusion in that review was to suggest that list of other parks offer a better day out than Towers, they don't.
And no I don't think Merlin have often spent their capex wisely
Thorpe install good coasters but their non coaster years are terrible and swarm backwards IS advertised as a new ride on its TV adverts. And as for other parks some try but it's not the most inspiring.
I'm very positive about The Smiler, i have been at the park this weekend and i havent complained about it not opening as there is little point and i want to see ut finshed properly, I was making the point that the conclusion in that review was to suggest that list of other parks offer a better day out than Towers, they don't.
And no I don't think Merlin have often spent their capex wisely
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