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The Smiler - General Discussion

Connor98 said:
Pull your finger out Steve
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Sorry, I'm letting the side down! I will get my pinny on, and with my feather-edged marigolds and will start cleaning imminently!

On a more serious note, while ride staff are responsible for and [should] be encouraged to improve and take pride in their ride (looking at the repaint and repositioning of the Nemesis sign by the smoking gun, done by some Nemesis staff a few years ago), this sort of cleaning probably requires all sorts of paperwork - working at height, working with dangerous chemicals etc etc and no-doubt Towers management will probably get an external company in to do it; maybe there is a plan to get somebody in soon, who knows?

To us, it's a simple "get some bleach, a sponge and job done" - and would be done without thinking if it was our homes, but in the workplace it's a different kettle of fish!!
 
Sorry, I used to be responsible for management of cleaning schedules for care inspectors.
It is a routine job that should have a job method and risk assessment, and cleaning maintenance programme in place.
It is very much "get the scaffold stage out and treat that hazard to health now, and every x months, following the plan" situation.
That hasn't happened Steve, because the naughty managers didn't ask you sooner.
Not your fault at all, and I'm sorry for casting aspersions.
Again.
 
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All mould is back in smiler station. Had a look today in the single rider queue and the ceiling is disgusting. Bleach won’t sort it as the plaster board is now rotten. Needs pulling down or the source of the water needs stopping.

It’s either leaking through the roof or water from the floor at the bottom (was soaking today) is evaporating and has nowhere to go. Painting lasted a few weeks at best.
 
Blackhole_Sun said:
All mould is back in smiler station. Had a look today in the single rider queue and the ceiling is disgusting. Bleach won’t sort it as the plaster board is now rotten. Needs pulling down or the source of the water needs stopping.

It’s either leaking through the roof or water from the floor at the bottom (was soaking today) is evaporating and has nowhere to go. Painting lasted a few weeks at best.
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New ride slogan to compliment Obvilion?

"Don't look up"
 
Danscott22 said:
They should be absolutely ashamed for this. Completely unacceptable in every sense of the word.
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Sssh! Keep it quiet, otherwise they'll close it down and the park will be without it's two biggest coasters for the season....
Yep, something has got to be done, but let's hope it can be held off until the closed season if it requires major work
 
Not to let @Steve74 off the hook for clearly not pulling his finger out ("no one asked me" my **** sunshine!), but this building is little more than 10 years old! How on earth can there be so much damp ingress inside a building that was built 5 mins ago?
 
Most likely condensation damp...wet floor, wet punters.
When the damp rises as moisture in warmer air, it condenses on the coolest walls, in the unventilated corners.
Needs treating before painting (algon, about a quidsworth for that damp), then ventilation improving.
...and mould can be deadly, so do it again Towers or you are liable for any staff breathing issues.
Very easily treated with routine maintenance.
Real risk to health.
No excuses.
Hang heads in shame time, risking staff and customers health in cutting costs.
 
It does make you wonder what are the maintenance budgets on these rides. They are all rotting in some way.....
 
Jb85 said:
It does make you wonder what are the maintenance budgets on these rides. They are all rotting in some way.....
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The mechanical budgets are very good. The coasters at Towers run flat out alot of the time, trains being dispatched as fast as possible, so everything mechanical must be kept in tip top. The coasters would not be able to do that without VERY well maintained mechanicals.

The presentation budget however.....what presentation budget.
 
DistortAMG said:
The mechanical budgets are very good. The coasters at Towers run flat out alot of the time, trains being dispatched as fast as possible, so everything mechanical must be kept in tip top. The coasters would not be able to do that without VERY well maintained mechanicals.

The presentation budget however.....what presentation budget.
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I wonder how much of the parks budget goes towards wages. There's got to be hundreds of staff. A large proportion of the budget seems to go on future investments too. Horizon is £12.5m and Nemesis refurb will be £10m+ aswell. So how much will that leave them for things like presentation. As you said operational budgets seem to be a priority, which is understandable as people will judge the park on ride availability and how many rides they get on, not how clean the rides are
 
Ethan said:
I wonder how much of the parks budget goes towards wages. There's got to be hundreds of staff. A large proportion of the budget seems to go on future investments too. Horizon is £12.5m and Nemesis refurb will be £10m+ aswell. So how much will that leave them for things like presentation. As you said operational budgets seem to be a priority, which is understandable as people will judge the park on ride availability and how many rides they get on, not how clean the rides are
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Wages are usually a very high cost for any business. Nemesis and Horizon won't be coming out of the park's operational budget, unlike wages.

Operational budgets will always be a priority. No point in cleaning your rides if they do not run. But a park like Alton Towers should be given a larger operational budget to clean the rides. Not to mention it can make them look unsafe. Even though us enthusiasts know they are not, other guests may not. Its just bad for overall impressions really.
 
Ethan said:
I wonder how much of the parks budget goes towards wages. There's got to be hundreds of staff. A large proportion of the budget seems to go on future investments too. Horizon is £12.5m and Nemesis refurb will be £10m+ aswell. So how much will that leave them for things like presentation. As you said operational budgets seem to be a priority, which is understandable as people will judge the park on ride availability and how many rides they get on, not how clean the rides are
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As per the documents filed to support the project Horizon planning application, the wage bill for the resort was £32million in 2021.


On your point regarding availability vs cleanliness, I would argue guests judge them on both, and it’s hardly asking much that the rides both work, and are clean.
 
AT86 said:
On your point regarding availability vs cleanliness, I would argue guests judge them on both, and it’s hardly asking much that the rides both work, and are clean.
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Oh I agree with you I'm saying maybe they're only concerned about ride availability so cleanliness isn't really thought about
 
Matt.GC said:
Not to let @Steve74 off the hook for clearly not pulling his finger out ("no one asked me" my **** sunshine!), but this building is little more than 10 years old! How on earth can there be so much damp ingress inside a building that was built 5 mins ago?
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I've only got one pair of hands you know. Do you know how hard it is to fix an SBNO ride with just a single can of WD40? 🤣
Connor98 said:
Doesn’t @Steve74 already do that? 😉
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I do, and just for the record I asked for £25k but settled for £20k and a free "chicken" meal and a doughnut every day. Oh how I regret that deal now...
 
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