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

[cotda]

With th13teen they made the queue the night before,

The Smiler; they make the queue up to a week after the second opening,

I wonder how late the queue will be built next time.

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

Alton are never going to make this mistake again, I suppose thats kinda a good thing to come from all this and future rides will be much better planned.

I've gotta agree. Sometimes a company needs to make a huge mistake in order to learn a lesson. In the long run, messing up The Smiler could be the best thing to happen to the way AT do business, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

 

[Olii]

With th13teen they made the queue the night before,

The Smiler; they make the queue up to a week after the second opening,

I wonder how late the queue will be built next time.

They'll be building it as people are walking to the ride!

"Hey, guys, could you just walk to the left a bit? We want to build the queue over there, that's right, now double back on yourselves... Yep, now double back again... And again, and again, great!"

 

[Croftybaby]

I think the watchdog thing has got to be about the smiler, it will be one of those short passing comments they do "This weeks other stories" sort of thing I expect.

Problem is, watchdog isn't what it once was and is more about entertainment these days than hard hitting investigations.

 

[Dave]

Alton are never going to make this mistake again, I suppose thats kinda a good thing to come from all this and future rides will be much better planned.

I've gotta agree. Sometimes a company needs to make a huge mistake in order to learn a lesson. In the long run, messing up The Smiler could be the best thing to happen to the way AT do business, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

Th13teen finished construction the morning it opened
2011 fell through
Sub-Terra opened half baked

I'm one of the more positive people when it comes to The Smiler but how many more rushed/ abandoned or late projects do they actually need before they stop doing it?

 

[TheMan]

Alton are never going to make this mistake again, I suppose thats kinda a good thing to come from all this and future rides will be much better planned.

I've gotta agree. Sometimes a company needs to make a huge mistake in order to learn a lesson. In the long run, messing up The Smiler could be the best thing to happen to the way AT do business, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

Th13teen finished construction the morning it opened
2011 fell through
Sub-Terra opened half baked

I'm one of the more positive people when it comes to The Smiler but how many more rushed/ abandoned or late projects do they actually need before they stop doing it?

Don't ask questions you don't want to hear the answers to mate.

 

[Hitch]

Alton are never going to make this mistake again, I suppose thats kinda a good thing to come from all this and future rides will be much better planned.

I've gotta agree. Sometimes a company needs to make a huge mistake in order to learn a lesson. In the long run, messing up The Smiler could be the best thing to happen to the way AT do business, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

Th13teen finished construction the morning it opened
2011 fell through
Sub-Terra opened half baked

I'm one of the more positive people when it comes to The Smiler but how many more rushed/ abandoned or late projects do they actually need before they stop doing it?

non of those are as bad as this though, Delayed Twice, Failed Health And Safety, Possible stalled car, Having to practically give away tickets to complaining guests, Being on BBC Watchdog for false advertising. Id say they will learn from this.
Edit; I forgot to mention the failed media event.

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

Alton are never going to make this mistake again, I suppose thats kinda a good thing to come from all this and future rides will be much better planned.

I've gotta agree. Sometimes a company needs to make a huge mistake in order to learn a lesson. In the long run, messing up The Smiler could be the best thing to happen to the way AT do business, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

Th13teen finished construction the morning it opened
2011 fell through
Sub-Terra opened half baked

I'm one of the more positive people when it comes to The Smiler but how many more rushed/ abandoned or late projects do they actually need before they stop doing it?

There's no doubt that The Smiler is their biggest screw up yet. At least Th13teen and Sub-Terra opened on time, and whilst 2011's plans fell through there were some crabs for a few months.

There's only so many mistakes a company can make. If they don't learn from this, the consequences could be disastrous.

 

[joelpagett]

Towers2Go have stated that The Smiler will open tommorow at 11am, when asked their source they couldn't say so I don't know how concrete it is... *Fingers Crossed*

 

[Alastair]

Towers2Go have stated that The Smiler will open tommorow at 11am, when asked their source they couldn't say so I don't know how concrete it is... *Fingers Crossed*

Frankly I'd trust spin_doctor over them.

 

[Dave]

Towers2Go have stated that The Smiler will open tommorow at 11am, when asked their source they couldn't say so I don't know how concrete it is... *Fingers Crossed*

They are likely following the same band of information that is coming through to us currently (see news article). The issue is that up-to-press they are still doing work on site, so we are not going to make any assumption in-case a wheel falls off or something (please not). I would guess if it does open tomorrow it will be classed as a soft opening.

 

[Rob]

By the sounds of it lots of different staff on park today have been saying that it will open tomorrow. I expect something on the website saying it is open either later tonight or sometime tomorrow morning. It's unlikely that they will heavily market it as opening tomorrow.

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

From the soun of things tomorrow will probably be the soft opening, and provided everything goes well an official opening announcement will be made tomorrow afternoon.

Sorry if that's pointing out the obvious

 

[Scott]

Just in case you've missed it, here's our article on how things are shaping up:

After further delays and a cancelled opening of the new world first Alton Towers ride ‘The Smiler’, activity on the site has recently been busy with reported work going on with the additional construction of queue lines and protective roofs, adjustments to ride systems and other systems such as phones being installed as reported earlier by us.

However guests to the park have today reported a big difference on the site with little ‘major’ activity going on as well as some rather interesting changes that could be building up to an imminent opening of the new ride.

Guests found that The Smiler has been added to the park’s queue line information screens dotted around the park, with the ride obviously stated as being closed at this time. It was also noticed that most of the construction style fencing had been removed around the site, with just a smaller piece of fence and a staff member barricading the main entrance.

It was also reported that people were able to walk around a small area of the site near to the ‘Beat the Smiler’ game stall, and that the plastic protective wrap on the ride car restraints that has been seen on many of the videos and photos up until now was actually being removed at one point today.

The area music and Marmaliser effects have also been heard and seen testing today, which could all be alluding to the ride is finally nearing ready to open to guests very soon indeed.

With the excitement continually building and people eager to ride, the Resort have remained tight lipped about any further opening dates, and the official website still states that any opening news would be posted online when it is available. However some guests have reported via social media that staff from the Resort have been telling guests that it is expected the ride will open for ‘soft’ previews tomorrow (Friday 31st May) – of course presuming there are no further setbacks – but there has been no official response from the Resort to confirm or deny these rumours either.

‘Soft launches’ are often used by many parks to ensure the stability of rides, systems and procedures before announcing the grand opening to everyone, and it is a tactic that isn’t used by Alton Towers very often – however given the situation with a cancelled opening date and the issues up until this point, it may be an option the Resort is considering now especially during a potentially busy half term weekend ahead.

With rumours rife of the opening and all signs visually looking close to opening – the big question on everyone’s lips is… is it time for you to SMILE?

We’ll bring you more as we get it…. ALWAYS.

http://www.towersstreet.com/news/2013/is-it-almost-time-to-smile-always/

 

[ChocolateStarfish]

It will open Saturday ;D

It's been testing ok all week at night.

 

[TheMan]

It will open Saturday ;D

It's been testing ok all week at night.

TROLL!!

 

[Machin]

Lol defo. Opened at 5:28pm today for a soft opening.

 

[andyramone]

So I've heard there's a pretty big queue forming already, and rumours are it's gonna open at 11am.

Is anyone giving live updates today? Really keen to hear the reviews as soon as they come out.

 

[Danza91]

Swerve going to the park today after looking at the photo posted on Facebook! I hope it does open at 11am when you look at the queue forming already!

 

[rusty]

Towersnerd are doing updates. To behonest I love towers and really want to go on the smiler BUT i wouldnt Q all morning for it.