• 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?

Good to see its been painted in sonic spinball style :|

Not sure it would be the same without the tent.
 
I'll remember that next time I visit furuvik. That is, when the holiday fund hasn't gone towards yet another legoland visit. Personally, I prefer thorpe/Alton...
 
Nice to see The Black Hole has a new life, my first ever rollercoaster!
I think that the trains from the Smiler will be scrapped and re-designed or heavily modified to minimise the injuries they caused in the crash. It looks like the ride is going to be re-themed. It would be nice to keep on to the original idea but with a different twist. I also think more sensors need to be placed around the crash section and low points of the ride to prevent the system from 'losing' the positions of the cars after a reset or manual override. In my opinion, the ride should not move an inch even in manual mode until it knows all of the train locations. And I hope Alton Towers and Merlin remain open about the cause of this and what measures they've taken to at least make me feel a little easier about going on it again.
 
Stuntman707 said:
In my opinion, the ride should not move an inch even in manual mode until it knows all of the train locations
Click to expand...

If you think about it they must have known about the stalled train. The engineer would have seen it when he arrived and I'd be surprised if the ride op didn't know after 10 mins as well so in my opinion they must of
  1. accidentally sent it over
  2. or ( less likely) the system sent it over (mabe after being reset?)
I'm no expert so please correct me if I wrong. ;)
 
Makes me wonder, during the 10 minutes the ride was doing what it was supposed to, whoever was in the control room may have been fighting the ride safety system itself to intentionally override it. Also Gerstlauer's approach of stopping the train at the top of the lift doesn't give the operator much time to react if it did start moving again unintentionally. B&M trains slow down or stop on the lower half of the lift if there is a problem which means there is less chance of the train accidentally going over the point of no return and it would make it easier to evacuate.
 
when The Smiler was announced i thought the name was diabolical!!! Cheesy as.... but then the whole brand worked!
i don't think we will get a rebrand guys.
<----------
but if we do i have put together a new name and logo which i am proposing to AT.

let me know what you think.
 
I've been having a think, I doubt it will happen but I would like to see Alton Towers cut their losses and open The Smiler as soon as they possibly can. If that means next week then open it next week. Of course it all depends on whether the prohibition notice is in place and if they have complied with any improvement notices.

It's almost been two months since the incident now and the performance of Alton Towers has been impacted severely. It is obvious that they will get more bad press whenever they do decide to re-open it; whether that be this year, next year or in three years. More bad press in the next few weeks won't have a significant impact on already low guest numbers. Bad press around the start of next season, just when they need to be pushing to get people back to the park, would (in my opinion) have more of a negative impact on Alton Towers.

Towers and Merlin have had the chance to review all procedures on The Smiler, any new procedures can be implemented and staff be trained. If new CCTV or sensors needed to be installed then there has been time to do this and if it still needs completing then it shouldn't take too long. Videos/annoucements can be edited as necessary like they have done on Oblivion, that did not take long.

They would only have three trains but with guest numbers so low I think it would be able to cope until the end of the season. Then come the closed season they can look into getting a new train or two and carry out a slight 're-theme' to make sure changes made result in a cohesive theme.

As I said I do not think it is something Merlin will consider. They will deem it as insensitive to re-open it at this stage.

I say all this on the assumption that Merlin/Towers now know exactly what happened and caused the incident. I think they more than likely are but if not they definitely can't re-open it yet.

:)
 
There's no need for that, it can just about cope on three trains. They'd only have a problem at Scarefest and Fireworks based on current queues.

:)
 
Even if the prohibition notice has been lifted, it would be very hard for the ride to re-open without an explanation being given as to why the crash happened (or, rather, why it won't happen again). Would it be seen as appropriate for Merlin to do that before the HSE publish their report?
 
The thing is, can't HSE reports take years to complete? If so, they could be waiting a long time to reopen on that basis.
 
I think the GP will want to hear what went wrong as to know its safe in their minds to get back on it. They will want to know that something was found to be at fault and what has been done.
Not like the GP have any idea what will be being said to them as they are generally thick!
 
GaryH said:
Sigh - I miss the Black Hole. Would much rather have that ride back than the Smiler.
Click to expand...

...and i agree with you... I'm not really a fan of the smiler. it just doesn't feel fast enough for me, and is just a dizzy machine.

The Black Hole was in my opinion scarier and more intense.

i also have to admit, every time that i have been on the smiler, i expect it to break down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top