• 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?

Leah said:
The smiler will never be as popular, but the reason i want the smiler open is not for (purely) selfish reasons. They have noting to lose and lots to gain by opening. As a map holder, i often forget that £50 is a lot to get in, and if i was willing to spend the whole day in the smiler queue and do only that ride, i wouldn't spend £50 to get in if the one and only ride i wanted to experience was not open. Looking on towers Facebook, many people feel this, and many are holding off until it opens. These people will make 1000s for towers a day, yet they are at home. If it was open though, they would be there. It was a terrible accident, but leaving it closed isn't going to heal their injuries.
Click to expand...

And as for that last sentence... Show a bit of compassion will you. It's not just changed a few people's lives, it's ruined many.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom
How exactly does it discourage people?

as for your second post, that was aimed from business aspect. It wont affect them when it reopens really. It was tragic and i really feel for them. I would never want to be in that situation and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

you clearly don't feel the same about when it should open, but i believe that for towers sake, they open it as soon as possible. I have to ask, when would you like to see it open?
 
Last edited:
I kind of agree with you in some ways, Leah. As selfish as it may sound, the damage is done, those young peoples lives cannot be fixed and Towers has suffered. They may as well open the ride this year. Whether it opens now, March 2016, 2017 or whenever, there will always be people saying it's too soon, it's disrespectful to those involved, it should be removed, the park should be closed down etc... I don't think it matters when it opens. Whenever they open it though, it needs to be done 'quietly' and they need to have some form of press release ready for when the media quickly catches on to it.
 
James said:
I kind of agree with you in some ways, Leah. As selfish as it may sound, the damage is done, those young peoples lives cannot be fixed and Towers has suffered. They may as well open the ride this year. Whether it opens now, March 2016, 2017 or whenever, there will always be people saying it's too soon, it's disrespectful to those involved, it should be removed, the park should be closed down etc... I don't think it matters when it opens. Whenever they open it though, it needs to be done 'quietly' and they need to have some form of press release ready for when the media quickly catches on to it.
Click to expand...


Don't get me wrong, i do think it should re-open and it will.

i think people saying they won't go on it again is over the top! we all know how safe these rides are.

i just think on the business side of things, i think waiting a little longer, after every victim has been on TV and had their say will do them a lot of favours.

i don't think it would help AT if they reopened it and then one of the victims who hasn't been on TV then goes on "this morning" and says how disgusting it is that they have reopened.

and yes, a little bit more compassionate way of putting it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom
In not sure that any of the others will go on tv. Its a possibility, but they might not. If they wait, they might be waiting a long time.
 
The important thing, is addressing the safety issues, assisting the families which it seems they have, & the only way to get confidence back now is once the ride is signed off as safe - opening it.

You have a wall of media waiting for when it does. They will scrutinise & use every available opportunity to flog their rags. That's what the media are. They're not news, they are populist rambunctious opportunists.

It's their job to SELL newspapers, not give you news.

If you want news, follow crowd sourced, citizen journalism, or proper investigative etc.

The relevance of that, is from a purely pragmatic viewpoint, the media will be waiting whenever it opens, it will never go away, so if you're going to reopen it (which one logically assumes they are), it's best to get it done ASAP and take the undoubtedly deserved heat on the chin.

A very slow, steady, testing phase, gradually increasing etc however not just a "we're open" would be the most sensitive and steady manner to counter any negative PR they will receive.

And they will. Those uninformed would of course be baying for the ride to never reopen.

On the matter itself, I still haven't read anything as to how it happened & I remain shocked it did. I had many problems with Merlin & did NOT renew my pass, but I never expected something of this nature to occur at Towers.

Oh, and hello again ;)
 
While March 2016 may seem like an eternity to some of the obsessives here, it is in reality not that far away. It seems obvious that they have determined that benefits of waiting until (at least) then outweigh opening at any point this year. I agree with this approach also. If so many of you seriously think that biting the bullet now would be in the park's interested, I suggest you write to them.
 
Tom said:
While March 2016 may seem like an eternity to some of the obsessives here, it is in reality not that far away. It seems obvious that they have determined that benefits of waiting until (at least) then outweigh opening at any point this year. I agree with this approach also. If so many of you seriously think that biting the bullet now would be in the park's interested, I suggest you write to them.
Click to expand...

Does it? Varney said it will not open again this summer, not this season. He has left the door open for a potential opening this year. Will it happen? I have no idea. There are pros and cons of it opening this season or next season.

Thing is we all know it could open tomorrow and be perfectly safe. It probably is unlikely that it will open this season, I just still think it would be good for Towers to get the re-opening and associated bad press out of the way so that they can begin to put the whole thing behind them. Saying that they do need to make sure nothing goes wrong with the ride in terms of it shedding bolts or those little wheels falling off again in the weeks and months after it re-opens (whenever that may be) otherwise they will be in a spot of bother with the press!

:)
 
If a Re-brand is to go ahead, i had an idea of how to retain some of the brands image.

it was only quick so i won't take offence lol


2nc4194.jpg
 
I can't see it change that much. I think if it was a retheme it would be very similar. Maybe the marmaliser or somthing but anything's possible.
 
Last edited:
Nice idea, but spiders have 8 legs, not 6. :p I'd actually like to see it become more sinister, like x-sector was before The Smiler. I'm not sure how that would be done though. Possibly a secret service experiment like how The Smiler was originally an experiment to make people happy carried out by a secret government ministry.
 
I find that there is one loophole in the smiler concept; a sinister government facility... to make you happy?? If they could sort this out I'd welcome a retheme.

However, I was sceptical about the smilers theme at first, the name sounded so cringy compared to nemesis and oblivion, but after I went on it I realised that it just fit in. I wouldn't want a retheme (but I would understand why they would) it is such a strong brand and it would be a shame to lose it.
 
alee298 said:
Nice idea, but spiders have 8 legs, not 6. :p I'd actually like to see it become more sinister, like x-sector was before The Smiler. I'm not sure how that would be done though. Possibly a secret service experiment like how The Smiler was originally an experiment to make people happy carried out by a secret government ministry.
Click to expand...

ok ok....

delta79 said:
Please don't call it the spider, it would not be long before someone says loudly " what spider is missing 2 ****" and it will be in the mirror as AT sticking two finger up to the accident victims
Click to expand...

stick another couple of legs on it and away we go....


similar sounding name, and not much re-theming!


2e3y43q.jpg
 
I've been thinking...

I don't think that Merlin will have any major issue with actually opening the ride any time soon. I think the issues will be surrounding any potential problems the ride could have in the weeks and months after its reopening.

Although technology is wholly unpredictable and breakdowns are inevitable - the park will only want to open when they can almost guarantee absolutely nothing of note can happen to the ride once it is back up and running.

That'll be the deciding factor in the reopening. The PR around it will be the same regardless, but it is minimising anything negative directly after that which is key.
 
I can see them putting a sign up on the enterence saying that breakdowns are regular and not to be alarmed if an empty train goes aroun the track but I think if it was to have a breakdown (even a very minor one) lots of people will leave the queue
 
Leah said:
I can see them putting a sign up on the enterence saying that breakdowns are regular and not to be alarmed if an empty train goes aroun the track but I think if it was to have a breakdown (even a very minor one) lots of people will leave the queue
Click to expand...

I think this worded correctly could be a great idea.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top