Alton Towers Return Visit

[The Horned King]

Greetings one and all, (Park Reviewed: Thusday 18th June 2015)

 

It is almost a year since my review of Alton Towers and as many of you are aware they have had one of the worst starts to the season on record due to the dreadful incident on the Smiler. I have been sat on the Alton Towers face book page since the incident amazed and confused with the amount of small minded individuals pointing fingers at Ride safety and Alton Towers as a whole. Sick of the constant abuse and flame wars that were erupting all day long, I decided to head to the park and look at what was happening myself, free from the narrow minded and the over zealous media. (Kudos to all the staff at Alton Towers that are trawling through the masses of rude posts on there face book page and remaining helpful and professional). This review is designed to highlight the general atmosphere in the park over two weeks after the incident as well as the new procedures that have been put in place to prevent a travesty of this nature happening again. I would like to take a moment here to say that the results of the HSE investigation into the smiler have still not been released. Nobody, including the media, has every little detail relevant to the investigation. Also the future of the Smiler is still unknown. It could include closing, re-branding or re-opening as normal. Again, nothing has been confirmed. If you are here looking for an opportunity to criticise and belittle Alton Towers without being constructive you have come to the wrong place. As I go through the photo review I will be highlighting members of staff who are really making an effort and keeping spirits high. With this is mind let us continue our review.

 

We arrived at the park for opening at 10.00am. One look at the car park confirmed my thoughts. The park was going to be dead. I knew that a Thursday before all the schools finished for the summer would normally be quiet, but I honestly thought in light of recent events it would be even quieter. Oh, how wrong I was. (Apparently other people don't get up as early in the morning as I do!) It was nice to see that coach parties from local schools had not been deterred as well as other thrill seekers from across the country.

We took the monorail from the car park to the main entrance. They were running the monorails at full capacity. I believe they only had 2-3 on the track, but they were full. We joined the steady flow of people heading into the park and began exploring.

I am really impressed with how honest Alton Towers/Merlin Entertainments has been regarding this incident. They have been very upfront and professional. At no point have they hidden away and they accepted responsibility for it in record time.

We took a brisk walk down Towers Street. Heading over towards the Dark Forest.

Half way down Towers Street we ran into these two characters! Very entertaining! Keep up the good work guys!

I quickly took this obligatory shot of the towers across the lake as we headed onwards. The grounds are very well kept considering how large they are. The general upkeep of the park was pretty impressive. I will go more into detail about this later.

We bypassed Mutiny Bay for now and headed past Battle Galleons. For those who have never been to Alton Towers, Battle Galleons is a heavily themed Mack Rides Splash Battle. It consists of boats that follow a flume and allow riders to fire water guns at each other as they travel around......

 

....Or if your evil like me, you can stand around the ride and use the water guns there to shoot the riders from behind the relative safety of a wall!

We made it to the towers and were pointed in the correct direction.

We headed down to the bottom of the Dark Forest to take a ride on th13teen first.

As I said in my previous review, I like th13teen, I'm just not a massive fan of the coaster part at the beginning. I feel it would have been better if it had more dark ride scenes or if the ride had taken place lower to the ground perhaps taking advantage of the terrain and the close proximity to the trees. Regardless of my thoughts it is a solid coaster ideal for families and younger riders who need a good introductory coaster.

We arrived at the baggage hold where we were greeted by Ian. Ian took the time to talk to us both before and after the ride and was very careful with peoples belongings. A credit to the Th13teen team! Congratulations Ian! You are the first star member of this review. After handing over our bags we headed towards the load area.

I paused at the top of the stairs for a few moments to monitor the new safety procedures that had been implemented. It seemed very clear. The restraints were checked thoroughly, not a quick tap on each lap bar as is common in other parks, these were physically lifted, and in some cases pushed down if there was a large gap between riders and the lap bar. Operators were giving very clear hand signals when they were holding down the dispatch buttons. The staff member in the control room was very alert and was monitoring all activities with eyes like a hawk. I noticed one re-check of lap bars on one train as a guest seemed to be worried. The staff were courteous about the situation and took the time to go and check it to ensure the guest was reassured. This level of attention was visible across the board on all of there rides. SAFETY HERE REALLY IS PARAMOUNT. I'm not claiming for one minute that it wasn't before, what I am saying is that they have really upped there game and are striving to restore guest confidence in there rides and operations. The other thing I noticed was the massive gap left between trains. When one train was in the load area, the next train appeared to be held at the track switch. That is a massive section of track with drive tyres pretty much all the way along it.

 

Overall, Th13teen ran like a dream, very smooth throughout. The ride was in good condition and the trains well looked after. The Th13teen team were working very well together and were very clear with instructions.

Next on the agenda was Rita, sadly it was suffering from technical difficulties. Unfortunately I didn't get this member of staff's name, but they were very polite to guests explaining the situation.

 

I am still amazed how many people are playing on this though, at one point nobody would have bothered about a ride going 101, but now, people are broadcasting loudly that it clearly isn't safe and that it's going to cause an accident. WHY WORLD!! WHY!!! WHY CAN'T THESE PEOPLE BE EDUCATED!!! We shall return to ride you later Rita. "sniggers"

Hex was next. I am a fan of hex. I think it is a well executed dark ride and makes good use of a section of the towers. For those that don't know. Hex is a Vekoma Madhouse that gives the illusion that you are spinning round the walls and sitting on the ceiling all from the comfort of a bench. Very clever illusion. A definite must see. Due to the low light levels inside and not wanting to ruin the experience for everybody else I haven't taken any photos inside the attraction itself. Staff were alert throughout and very clear with instructions in the vault about raising hands for the lap bars to go down. The attraction was very well kept with all effects working including dried ice from the tree itself. No complaints on maintenance and operations here.

We took a trip over to Willy Wonka's Factory to see what amazing sweets he was cooking up. Inside his factory is a MACK water ride that is a shortened version of the original ToyLand Tours Ride. This is not Alton Towers' greatest dark ride offering in the park, but is is good for young kids. When I arrived they were cycling empty boats. Saw 4-5 go through the load dock empty. Not sure if they were removing a boat or adding another but it did seem a little odd. Either way, they opened the gates and we boarded for the short trip around the factory. After the boat tour there is a small trip in one of Mr Wonka's great glass elevators. This is a room with all around projection and a floor that shakes and judders with the animation on screen. A very nice effect, but it could do with updating to something with a higher resolution now.

 

I feel that this attraction has run it's course now. There are quite a few effects that do not function correctly during the boat ride section and quite a few of the ink jet prints on the walls are looking a little bit worn. If there was an attraction that was screaming for an update it would be this one. Also, we were unfortunately with a group of school kids that didn't understand the purpose of the yellow line or the instruction of wait near the doors outside the great glass elevator. There was a recording that was played a couple of times over the PA asking everybody to move forward but this fell on deaf ears. If I was to be honest, I felt there needed to be a member of staff down by the doors just keeping people at bay. This is however not a criticism of the team overall.

Ice Age 4D was a new experience to me. The last time I entered this theater there was a stage show containing some plants and a dragon combining live actors and puppets with songs and dance. I didn't quite get it myself but the kids in the audience enjoyed it.

The theater had clearly undergone refurbishment since my last visit. It looked immaculate. The projection was clear, the sound system well set up and it had a variety of effects. My only criticism of this attraction was that some of the effects were a little out of place. Some of the blasts of air were not necessary and deterred slightly from the overall product. A little bit of a tighten up and this would be awesome!

 

The team working on this show certainly brightened the day however. Very funny in pointing out where the exits were and kept the kids entertained whist we were waiting for the show to start.

We decided to step foot into X-sector. The home of the Smiler.

I think this picture says it all. It was a really weird moment. It's not until you stand where we are now and realise just how big and how compact the smiler is. It puts it into perspective what happened. The speed that the trains come around some of those inversions. I'm not going to pretend for one second that what happened wasn't tragic. It's impossible to disagree.

 

What was really weird......

 

Silence....

 

It was like I was the only person there. I was surprised that nobody was stood at the fences peering in to try and see something. Anything. I was surprised to see nobody bothering the member of staff stood out in front of the attraction. Everybody was over near Oblivion and Enterprise as if nothing had happened. For that one moment I almost had an ounce of faith in humanity restored. There was nobody trying to find the next "big" news. It was really weird.

 

I don't think I have realised how much of an effect the Smiler had on the X-Sector, with it's LED displays on and it's theme tune playing and the roar of the trains racing by, it really brings energy to the area. But, there it is, just sat motionless. All it's branding removed. Trains sat idle in the load area. As I have said before in my "essays" on the Alton Towers face book page. Mine, and the theme park communities hearts go out to all that were injured on that day. It is an incredible shock that has been felt by many on all sides of the table. As I have said many times already, I feel that Alton Towers and Merlin, have dealt with the situation in the best way that they can. They have been very open and very honest. I don't think people could ask for any more from them with the cards that have been dealt. If anybody is hoping to see more about the smiler in this review then you can stop reading now. There is nothing more to add or say until the HSE investigation comes out. Until that time let us wait with baited breath.

Oblivion was our next ride. It was the first attraction we went on in X-sector and I was intrigued to see how they were running it. We queued for approximately 20 minutes. Again, like th13teen, I waited and observed the team loading and dispatching. They were a well oiled machine, checking both restraints and seat belts thoroughly. Also like th13teen there was a massive gap between each train. Alton Towers really are being careful and this shows. The only downside to this is they appeared to be only loading a single train at one time.

 

Oblivion is equipped to be able to load two trains at the same time. The ride then dispatches one straight up the lift hill and holds the other at the bottom until the first has cleared the top of the chain lift and connects with the conveyor at the top that pulls it round to the vertical drop. Today however they were only allowing one in the load area. Unloading. Loading and the dispatching. Allowing another train to come into unload. I understand entirely why they are doing this, but I can see it wreaking havoc on capacity and queue times when the park gets busier. I really hope this is not a permanent thing.

 

This is not a criticism of there operations. I want to praise them on these decisions to make guests feel comfortable. It cannot be easy on operations to deal with lengthy queue times with limited loads. The trouble is at the minute, Alton Towers are damned either way.

 

If they run trains in dual load and there is even a slight chance that two bump into each other, (even though this community knows the chances of that happening are almost non existent with the block sectioning and computer systems in place during normal operation), the media will be all over them like a rash.

 

If they load only one train at a time during peak weeks over summer then the guests will be complaining about the long wait times. Especially when people start buying fast track tickets. I really hope all this settles down I really do!

On a lighter note, Oblivion was also running very well. Trains were all in good condition, A little bit of wear cosmetically to some of the restraints and fronts of the trains, but nothing a little bit of paint or a clean can't sort. They did seem to have one train in maintenance and it looked to be in the process of being refurbished. The team were very efficient and also friendly. Another credit to Alton Towers.

I'm sure you can work out where I am from this picture.

I was surprised to see this ride had the shortest queue in the park considering this had only just re-opened along with the X-Sector. It was mid day when we arrived here, when the park was at it's busiest. The staff were very quick at loading, and again extremely thorough with the restraints. I would like to highlight another star performer here. Eve was very efficient with loading and helped guests put there bags in the storage compartments to help speed up the dispatches. This entire team was brilliant and worked well together. Dispatches were quick and well performed.

This ride was a little rougher than I remember! Still masses of fun though.

I decided to take a wander into CBeebies land as it was under construction last time I visited. I must say I was impressed with the finish and the quality. This land is perfect for the little ones. It has a good set of little track based rides and a decent size coaster.

This was the busiest area of the park. I saw nothing but smiling little kids here. All having a brilliant day out with family. The staff in this are were also very switched on and were engaging with the kids all the time. It really did make for a nice atmosphere. Well done CBeebies staff!

This is the family coaster in CBeebies land. The Octonauts coaster was unfortunately out of action at the time I took this photo. Oddly there was zero panic and nobody screaming and leaving the park due to this ride going down. Sometimes I really do wonder where the tabloids get there stories from! And for some reason people buy it!

After a quick bite to eat we cut through mutiny bay and headed into Katanga Canyon, home of the river rapids and the flume. Due to a limited time schedule, (and the fact I have a thing about getting being wet all day). It always amuses me watching people reactions on rapids rides. They know they are going to get wet but always try and avoid it. Your going to get wet! Still amusing to watch!

The rapids ride and the flume always seem popular!

We took a quick spin on the Runaway Mine train. This is another attraction that is always popular! It is a great family ride and is quite thrilling. I couldn't read his name badge from the load area, but the staff member in the control room with the Australian accent was funny! Also very alert. He realised that one restraint hadn't been checked as somebody had been seated late. He directed the loaders to them quickly and allowed it to be checked. You are another Star Performer our mystery man!

Choo Choo! This is becoming an Alton Towers catchphrase now!

We arrived in Gloomy Wood to have a shot at Duel. Duel is a shooting gallery dark ride with ride vehicles and track by MACK rides. I really like this attraction. It is great fun, especially with a group of people trying to beat each others scores.

We stopped to meet somebody who was riding Ripsaw, as we watched we witnessed someone who wasn't having the best day ever. In fact said person might have eaten lunch a little too close to his adventure on Ripsaw and might have had a slight protein spill......... This leads me on to the next photo.. Don't panic! I wouldn't show you anything grim.

Luke here, wins a Star Award! He certainly has a stronger stomach than I have and had that protein spill sorted in minutes! Well done Luke!

Nemesis was running exceptionally well today. This is still arguably one of the best steel coasters in the world. This is a definite must ride for anyone attending Alton Towers.

 

This is also the ride that I noticed fewer changes on with regards to added safety procedures. This is mostly because if how the ride was operated before the Smiler incident. Due to the length of the ride and the speed at which the train travels, the train that was dispatched last quite often waits on the brake run at the end of the ride as the next train leaves the load area. I will admit they were waiting until the train had come right to the end of the brake run and made a complete stop before dispatching the next train. Again, all checks on restraints were thorough and the team worked well. Well done Nemesis Team!

Nemesis was very well maintained and ran as if it was brand new. The fiber glass shells over the running gear at the top of the trains looked brand new and the restraints were well looked after.

The final ride in the forbidden Valley for us was Air.

 

This ride was being run with two trains and both load areas open. Meaning that whilst load area A was loading and unloading, Load area B was empty as the train was going round the track. Load area A was only dispatched once the train out on the circuit was completely back in Load Area B and visa versa. Again, like Oblivion this ride had a queue. Nothing extreme, but I can imagine this being a bit of a nightmare when the crowds inevitably build back up again. As I have stated before. They are being very cautious. The Air team as always were very thorough and control were listing seat numbers that needed re-checking of restraints. The Air team has always impressed me every time I have visited Alton Towers. Well done guys! You deserve recognition!

As I will never ever get bored of watching Air or other B&M flying coasters loading and unloading. It is such a feat of engineering! A genuine marvel! Yes, I am a little sad! Confession!

Free of it's technical issues, Rita had re-opened. With it being the last ride I wanted to visit we headed back over the the Dark Forest. Rita was being operated in a way very similar to Nemesis. The team were again working very well together and were very efficient. The ride operated very well and has some amazing air time as you travel over the highest peak. A very good ride if not a little bit short.

 

The star ward here goes to another Ian, who had noticed our camera in the baggage hold and had removed it so nobody else took it. Kudos to you sir! A great example of customer service!

 

After Riding Rita, it was unfortunately time to leave the park. So it's time to recap.

 

Alton Towers have really upped there game with regards to safety. I have never felt safer on there rides. There staff are following procedures to the letter and this is clear and very visible if you stand and watch. As I stated earlier. Alton Towers are currently between a rock and a hard place. The media are scrutinising them under a microscope, twisting every little "event" to make it sound as big and as shocking as the Smiler incident. I present to you the story that they drummed up about the Octonauts coaster breaking, causing families to be evacuated off the ride and leave the park amid safety fears. Same with the story that was announced as false by Alton Towers regarding a metal clip falling from Air. It is nothing more than scaremongering and I find this very sad. If what I witnessed with procedures today continues into the busier weeks over summer then I can imagine there being a slight backlash from the public regarding wait times for rides but I am sure the public would rather have them be over the top safe. This brings me back to what I was saying before. Alton Towers are damned if they do, and damned if they don't, and that is a real shame. The other thing to consider is that Alton Towers have a mass of people against them in the general public, these are people that are unprepared to learn as they know best. People that know the rides are 100% not safe, yet have no evidence to support there claims. This is unfortunately outside of the parks control. The maintenance teams had also clearly been working hard. Apart from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory all the rides were in great shape and ran really well.

 

The staff that we encountered during our visit were very friendly, very professional and created a great atmosphere. They really are doing Merlin Entertainments proud. I take my hat off to all of you in what is undoubtedly a very challenging time. I would encourage everyone to visit the park if they get the chance as they are currently pulling out all the stops to ensure people have a great day. 10/10 for your efforts Alton Towers. I, along with others, will be returning very soon!

[RyanTPM]

Great trip review, cant wait for my visit in July