• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

The Smiler: What does the future hold?

Rob

Rob

TS Team
Favourite Ride
Steel Vengeance
So today Alton Towers have re-opened X-Sector for the first time following on from the incident of The Smiler. Of course the HSE investigation will be ongoing and likely last quite a while. However I think the future of The Smiler is valid discussion point and to save the incident thread from becoming clogged up with lots of different topics I have created this thread.

So, Towers have removed The Smiler signs from the entrance:

CHiuZkVWgAAPPMP.jpg


Most other references to the ride across the whole park have also been removed. Does this mean anything. I am certain a re-theme/re-brand will cross management's minds. But will one actually materialise?

Surely tag-lines such as "The Smiler will marmalise your body and mind", "time to get corrected" and "you belong to The Smiler" are asking for negative PR if they return. It would potentially be very insensitive of the park to keep them.

So, what does everyone think?

:)
 
Last edited:
It will always be known for the accident regardless of theme but in particular with The Smiler's theme, can they continue with the 'ha ha ha' music and associated theming given what happened? I also agree about the negative PR, it will be seen as disrespectful.
 
I think the core theming will stay, I mean, it has too, theres the massive marmaliser in the middle!

I imagine it will be toned down abit though, ie. No laughing audio, probably little audio at all, with only the key elements remaining.
 
The easy thing to do would be dilute the theme by cutting various things. However this is a theme park and whatever is cut does need replacing. They would need new tag-lines and/or music etc. It is a shame as The Smiler's brand was very strong and the best they had since Oblivion.

:)
 
I don't think the brand would really work now, regardless of the media.
They would really need to tone down any of the theme for it to work.
I'm guessing they will rebrand for next year.
I absolutely hated the theme, so would be glad to see it refreshed but i know I am in a minority.
 
Jackson Huxtable said:
Yeah, it's a shame that The Smiler brand has been tarnished by the slackjawed idiots in the media.
Click to expand...
Really? I've been pretty surprised how little the media has focused on how unfortunate the name/brand turned out to be given the events that transpired earlier this month.
 
To be fair, as far as I have seen the media have not latch on to the current theme of the ride and its tag-lines. However can be sure some would if it re-opened with them.

:)
 
I think people might look at a rebrand as a way of the park being deceptive about the ride and used to cover this up a bit. I just think that's how the media will spin it to make Alton Towers look like bad guys.

So yeah, I agree maybe a toned down original theme, who knows. Somehow they have to make an expensive and new ride that will always be associated with an accident popular with the general public again, whilst being respectful, which is difficult.
 
No they really have not bashed the Theme at all, yes the theme is really quite unfortunate and i believe it will change, not because of pressure from the media, but out of respect for the victims and the fact that clearly the theme could be a stark reminder of the crash.

I Highly doubt we will see a ride removal here, i mean one of fhe trains on Hero at flamingoland had a large piece fall off it and strike several queuing guests a few weeks back, it closed, they took steps tto get fhe prohibition notice lifted and it started operating again in the last couple of days despite still being under full HSE investigation.

once the steps have been taken to lift the notice, they could conceivably reopen it in the next few weeks, the investigation does not need to be concluded in order for the ride to operate, it will be interesting to see what they do.
 
Jackson Huxtable said:
C'mon, just google "Alton Towers"
Click to expand...
I'm not disputing it has been covered in depth (too much depth), I was disputing that the media hadn't made a big deal out of the fact that the concept of the ride was to alter your mind and body.
 
It all seems a bit too knee-jerk to me - how could a sign offend anyone? Everyone knows what is said, everyone knows what the ride is called - I really can't see it changing personally. Although it is starting to look plausible with the above picture... :( I hope it doesn't change. The Smiler was a coherent brand, and one that fitted the park perfectly.
 
Got to agree, I do not get why they have removed the logo and lettering from the entrance. It doesn't exactly hide of detract from anything - you can see the whole structure behind it!

Although seeing as they've taken off the logo and lettering they may as well go all the way and remove the horrendous cardboard box entrance.

:)
 
How easy would it be to retheme the whole ride including in-ride effects and screens and the cost would be huge.
 
What did they re-brand the Alton Mouse to following its accident where a train stalled at the bottom of a hill, and another one crashed into the stalled train ( has history repeated itself?)

Likewise the Run away mine train, in light of the accident ( reported here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/5198728.stm ) where the train separated and in effect Ran away and crashed into the other part of the train keeping it as the run away mine train is/was or could be considered to be even more inappropriate than ditching the smiller theme /name/branding etc.

It would be a mistake for Alton Towers to completely re-brand the ride, and an insult to those who were injured/ affected by the run away mine train accident.
If there is to be any major alterations made to the smiler, and the 'ride experience' then it may justify a minor re-brand to the New Smiler, or the Smiler MKII this would possibly boost confidence,as it would say that Alton towers/Merlin aren't trying to pretend nothing happened ( by eradicating as much as possible ) yet at the same time stating that they have re-modelled the ride whilst not forgetting the mistakes of the past
 
chilli2 said:
What did they re-brand the Alton Mouse to following its accident where a train stalled at the bottom of a hill, and another one crashed into the stalled train ( has history repeated itself?)
Click to expand...
They ripped it out and sold it to Idlewild.

With regards to the sign, it could potentially become a bit of a selfie thing, perhaps?
 
chilli2 said:
It would be a mistake for Alton Towers to completely re-brand the ride, and an insult to those who were injured/ affected by the run away mine train accident.
Click to expand...

I think that is taking it a little to far. For starters the RMT crash was a totally different incident with very different injuries. I'm sure those involved would not be offended by a Smiler re-brand of sorts.

We live in a very different world to even 2006. The media are very powerful and can have a big impact on public perception. Opening The Smiler with some of the current branding is a potential PR disaster waiting to happen. The fact they've removed most signs of it from the park already show that the implications are going to be serious.

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top