Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[crazywolf88]

Which is why I proposed new trains/wheels as another option. Having to run that risk every night with the only way to fix it being bringing in a crane isn't exactly efficient.

 

This accident is another issue with blocks yes, but the train valleying quite a lot is an issue in and of itself.

[linearinduction]

Doesn't look good for the park, two cars on Sonic Spinball collided.

 

Link

If I had a Dime for every time I've seen a Maurer Spinning Coaster or Wild Mouse Train bump into each other, I'd be a Rich Man! lol

[coasterkid124]

There could be a simple solution to help with the valley problems. Colossus at Thorpe Park has heating lamps underneath the track in the station that is used to heat up the wheels and bearings when cold. This helps when testing on cool mornings and nights to help the trains go faster.

 

While the logistics of Smiler are different, and this might not be a miracle solution, it would definitely help a lot. Considering Merlin is in charge of both parks, maybe they will adopt the idea and ring it to Alton.

[linearinduction]

There could be a simple solution to help with the valley problems. Colossus at Thorpe Park has heating lamps underneath the track in the station that is used to heat up the wheels and bearings when cold. This helps when testing on cool mornings and nights to help the trains go faster.

 

While the logistics of Smiler are different, and this might not be a miracle solution, it would definitely help a lot. Considering Merlin is in charge of both parks, maybe they will adopt the idea and ring it to Alton.

Fire Dragon at Lagoon has Base Board Heaters in the Waiting Zones and I've seen Cedar Point use the Disk Heater things and Visqueen to keep Millennium Force's Wheels Warm. However, it's just as easy to run Fire Dragon back and forth from Waiting Zone 2 to Waiting Zone 3. However, we don't know if Smiler valleys because of cold wheels.

[KarlaKoaster]

It was a blustery day so I am sure that this is what caused the valley, not cold wheels.

 

In related news Merlin have issued a profit warning as a result of the accident.

 

"Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments says the rollercoaster accident at the theme park in June could affect profits by up to £47m. Profits for the theme parks division in 2015 are expected to be between £40m and £50m, compared with £87m last year."

 

Advertising was suspended for a while too, and as well as the money lost through closing the park there were compensation payments made to the victims of the collision. It's also worth mentioning that it has been quite a quiet year in terms of new additions so I guess profits would have been down a bit anyway.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33672357

[lewis97]

Alton Towers have recently submitted a planning application for enhancements to Air, including improvements to the ride's station, the addition of a photo opportunity kiosk and also the addition of two new theming features, although the plans give no indication of what these will actually look like. TowersTimes has taken a detailed look here.

 

With the Rollercoaster Restaurant development on the top level of Air's station, it has been suggested that some sort of retheme or sponsorship of Air could accompany it. This has also been fuelled by a current 50% off promotion on all Air merchandise (excluding clothing), with some thinking that this would be an excessive way of simply going about reducing stock for the smaller retail space.

[Captain Swashbuckle]

Looks like The Smiler crash might be having an impact on Alton Tower's summer. I guess we'll have to wait until the end of summer to see what the attendance figures actually are.

 

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3180987/Heading-Oblivion-Alton-Towers-quiet-thrillseekers-barely-queue-popular-rollercoasters-park-shuts-early-hardly-s-there.html

[KarlaKoaster]

A lot of the gutter press have been posting pictures of empty trains/boats/car parks etc. I never post links to articles like this because it's all basically click-bait but I guess you cannot deny that the park HAS been very quiet since the accident. I visited one Saturday and it was very quiet, and every time I look at the ride times online most waits are 0-5 minutes long, and the odd one might be 20 minutes (normally Spinball).

[canadianparkfan]

I remember visiting Galaxyland out in Edmonton a few years back, and people were still talking about the accident on the mindbender that happened almost 25 years ago. Now almost 30 years after the accident, whenever I mention how the Mindbender is in my top 5 coasters, the first thing that's usually out of people's mouths goes something like, "Isn't that the ride where people died or something... You're lucky to be alive".

 

I understand the accident at Alton towers wasn't quite as serious, but it was still pretty horrific to see something like that happen, and given the dark nature/theming of the ride, I could see this attraction getting a pretty bad rap from the GP for at least the next year or two.

 

That being said, I'm hoping the accident doesn't leave as much of an impact on the park as a whole as the Mindbender accident did here in Canada. I'd imagine Alton's PR team is far superior to the seemingly non existent one at Galaxyland, and the general atmosphere of the park seems much cleaner and friendlier than the Edmonton park.

[StealthFan]

That being said, I'm hoping the accident doesn't leave as much of an impact on the park as a whole as the Mindbender accident did here in Canada. I'd imagine Alton's PR team is far superior to the seemingly non existent one at Galaxyland, and the general atmosphere of the park seems much cleaner and friendlier than the Edmonton park.

 

Merlins PR team are some of the most creative and insane people there is. The ideas they have come up with to advertise stuff over the years is nothing short of unique. The park will recover in the end I'm sure peoples attention span these days is a lot less than it was 10 years ago thanks to the internet so I'm sure when the next major news story breaks people will forget.

[RyanTPM]

I was there on Friday and it was certainly busy, there was a lot of people there, but they wasn't riding anything and queues were 0 to 10 minutes at most.

[lewis97]

Planning documents have been published for a recent application by the resort to extend the Alton Towers Hotel. It is proposed that the 4-storey extension would open mid-late 2017 and comprise of 74 bedrooms, a restaurant, cafe/bar area and entertainments area. TowersTimes have published a detailed article.

[DonkeysWaffles]

Does anyone think The Smiler will be taken down?

[Ed Farmer]

Does anyone think The Smiler will be taken down?

They will Rocky Mountain It.

[baileybrucem]

Does anyone think The Smiler will be taken down?

They will Rocky Mountain It.

 

That seems like the obvious answer nowadays

[StealthFan]

So Halloween is creeping ever closer, parks are starting to announce their new attractions for the spooky season and Alton Towers is no exception.

 

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Featuring 2 new scare mazes, 2 new scare zones, a new route for Tower of the Terrors plus the brand new "Sub Species: Operation Lockdown" scare attraction it looks like Scarefest is getting a complete over haul.

 

New for 2015 - extreme horror escape room experience

 

In 1994, a government organisation known as The Phalanx, tasked with protecting the world from unknown threats, took on their most high profile case ever - to control the Nemesis creature and contain those that served it to the underground. Now, this post-apocalyptic, sewer dwelling community has been infested by a species from another world. The Phalanx have been called upon again to destroy the threat and they need you to join their ranks; become a Phalanx Operative and help battle the latest threat to life as we know it.

 

Join The Phalanx on their latest mission and take on a series of challenges to destroy the alien species and ensure you and the rest of humanity survive.

 

Sub Species: Operation Lockdown is a two hour extreme horror escape room experience. As Phalanx Operatives you'll be put into small groups and must complete a series of challenges throughout the operation including facing one of three escape rooms. Gain points by being the least contaminated Operative at the end of the mission and be entered in the leader board of infamous Phalanx Ranked Operatives. This will be a test of skill and nerve as you work together as team.

 

Do you have what it takes to take on Sub Species: Operation Lockdown?

 

Two hours extreme horror escape room experience with theatrical immersive story

Escape room challenges exclusive to the Sub Species: Operation Lockdown mission

Over 18s only

Very limited numbers available

Limited dates

From £99 per person

 

20% discount for Merlin Annual Pass holders. Limited places and times.

 

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So what do you think of the new Scarefest? Do you think it will help boost back Alton Towers attendance figures? Comment below.

[TyRush]

Seems like news on The Smiler has died down a bit, finally. Hopefully the park announces plans for its reopening. Probably won't be until next season. Any more info on investigations I may have missed?

[RyanTPM]

^Unfortunately there isn't any information on the investigation yet, only that its on going. In regards to Scarefest, Sub Species sounds incredibly interesting.

[Awesomefaceninja7]

I've been on the Coaster counting website. The Smiler was greyed out. I searched up 'Alton Towers Smiler' on Google.

 

it said permanently closed. Is this the end of the Smiler? The answer is most likely yes.

 

But you can't trust Google all the time. Can anyone confirm the death of this Coaster or maybe a possible revival?

[Purplepills]

Have you been reading the Daily Mail?

 

Its still listed as a ride on the Alton Towers website, and their daily ride time website albeit shown closed. Its not closing, but, the general opinion seems to be that it probably won't be open again until next season. Depends when the HSE investigation is complete.

[RyanTPM]

^^Its listed on google as permanently closed as they don't have an option for SBNO, only closed or open.

[Awesomefaceninja7]

Oh, okay. Since I live so far away from Alton Towers, I've only been there once. I don't want to miss out on the Smiler or anything. I'll just wish that it'll be open next season or something.

[StealthFan]

Oh, okay. Since I live so far away from Alton Towers, I've only been there once. I don't want to miss out on the Smiler or anything. I'll just wish that it'll be open next season or something.

 

Honestly Alton Towers is fantastic with or without the Smiler so the fact thats its closed shouldnt stop you visiting at any point. The park has Nemesis in it and that alone is worth the trip.

[Awesomefaceninja7]

I agree. Alton Towers looks like an amazing park. I think I might go there next year.

[viking86]

So the latest news is that the rides computer system was working perfectly fine and human error is to blame. I don't know how reliable this article is though.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3207431/Two-workers-quizzed-human-error-Alton-Towers-horror-Engineer-turned-automatic-safety-lock-operator-let-truck-slam-stalled-carriage.html

 

Two staff from Alton Towers are under investigation over the horrific Smiler ride crash that seriously injured four people, including two young women who each lost a leg.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that human error and a failure to follow basic safety procedures led to the devastating accident.

An engineer overrode an automatic safety lock, allowing the ride operator to send the carriage full of people careering into an empty vehicle that had ‘stalled’ further down the track.

 

 

Our revelations – particularly the fact that staff are able to perform manual overrides at all – will raise disturbing questions about the safety features on the Smiler and other rides.

This newspaper understands that despite the blunder, both employees involved are still working at the park, though in different roles, while a criminal investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is under way.

 

Student Leah Washington, 18, had her left leg amputated after the collision on June 2. Boyfriend Joe Pugh, 18, had both knees smashed. Dancer Vicky Balch, 20, had her right leg amputated below the knee three weeks afterwards.

 

 

Sources at the Staffordshire theme park told this newspaper how problems earlier in the day on the Smiler had resulted in an engineer being called.

 

These accounts tally with our exclusive interviews with Leah and Joe, who both recalled boarding a carriage when they reached the head of the queue, then being asked to disembark so the vehicle could be sent round without passengers.

 

Crucially, that empty carriage never completed a circuit, possibly because of high winds, and failed to make it up the ‘bat wing’ section of the ride, rolling back down the slope and coming to a rest.

 

The most fundamental safeguard on the German-built ride is that two carriages should never be able to travel on the same section of track because sensors trigger braking devices to prevent it.

 

When the 16 passengers, including Leah and Joe, were loaded into a carriage for the second time, it was halted at the top of the first upward section as the automatic brakes kicked in.

 

The computerised safety system was working perfectly as the sensors were being told there was another carriage on the same section of track, even if operating staff were inexplicably unaware of it.

 

The teenagers recalled being held at the top of the section for about ten minutes, but did not know why. Joe said: ‘It was really windy and we were freezing up there.

 

‘I said to Leah, “Something’s not right here – this shouldn’t be happening.”’ Meanwhile, an engineer engaged a manual override, allowing the carriage with passengers to continue once the ride operator had restarted the system. One Mail on Sunday source within Alton Towers said: ‘The engineer should never have manually overridden the safety lock with people on the track.’

 

An HSE spokesman said yesterday: ‘Our inquiry continues.’ Merlin Entertainments said: ‘We continue to work closely with the HSE as it investigates the causes of the incident and we are unable to comment further.’

Edited August 23, 2015 by robbalvey