I see no reason why it wouldnt have lifted once they worked out the issue with it. I guess we have to wait until the new season to see tbh. i just hope its reputation hasnt been tarnished too badly
edit- there was a dude on page 94 who said that it had been lifted but couldn't give his source. so im guessing it has been lifted?
All depends whether the new measures to prevent, or at least better detect, stalling in the batwing are enough. Since it wasn't a mechanical fault I'd say it must be lifted by now, but we can't say for sure until it's announced.
Digging into the prohibition notice thang it seems that an immediate prohibition notice cannot be lifted, it will stay on the system for 5 years. Kind of like a big black Mark on your credit history which affects everything you do subsequently. You can address the reasons for the notice being raised but the notice won't go for 5 years.
As such searching the prohibition notice is fruitless as it will remain on the system until 2020, with no indication beyond the successful reopening of the ride that it's been complied with.
The park must be really worried about the ride as they would have reopened it for scarefest or the fireworks event. It would also question why they were testing it with only 1 test dummy. It's the stalling part they more worried about.
If they were testing I bet they were ready. It could be the Towers way of going "look at this ride, do you see how its working?" We will have to wait unfortunately...
The prohibition notice might have been lifted, but we won't know when, most likely and we will only know for certain that it's gone when the ride re opens.to prove it stays on there after its been lifted, the 2013 prohibition notices before it opened are on there.
What I'm aware off is that the Smiler ride was officially handed back to Alton Towers on the 19th October. Alton Towers internal Health and Safety team ordered for the ride to have x amount of hours testing icnluding x amount or hours with staff riding it.
They did not open it for the Scarefest as this would have caused bad press "Horror crash ride opens for scarefest"
I was on the understanding that there could be a small possibility that the ride would reopen in time for the fireworks, but then again, how will that go down with the media with the headlines of "Smiler opens with a bang".
The Friday morning of the fireworks, a staff member received an email saying that the Smiler will now be opening next season.
The above information is based on what I've been told as well as the circumstances which I witness on Tuesday morning of the 20th October. How true the above is, I can't say. So treat the information as you wish.
With all the speculation of the other ride closure for the next season, I also wouldn't be surprise to see the Smiler as part of the SBNO line up.
ROYJESS wrote:With all the speculation of the other ride closure for the next season, I also wouldn't be surprise to see the Smiler as part of the SBNO line up.
If we've got no Smiler, no Hex, no N:ST and no Ripsaw I'll jump up and down in a furious rage!
ROYJESS wrote:With all the speculation of the other ride closure for the next season, I also wouldn't be surprise to see the Smiler as part of the SBNO line up.
If we've got no Smiler, no Hex, no N:ST and no Ripsaw I'll jump up and down in a furious rage!
I would have thought the opposite. If the closure list is true, Merlin are "doubling down" on coasters believing that is what the people want, and are reopening Smiler but need to save money by closing rides that are less of a draw.
CharlesParry wrote:I would have thought the opposite. If the closure list is true, Merlin are "doubling down" on coasters believing that is what the people want, and are reopening Smiler but need to save money by closing rides that are less of a draw.
If attendance is anything like the season just gone the coasters get boring fast due to low queue times and with nothing else to substitute them it'll lead to a lot of people postponing trips, not renewing MAPs or simply cutting their days short.
As for when the prohibition notice was lifted, not really sure if there any point discussing that at this time. If it opens on March 19th we know it has been lifted, if its not open then we can speculate further.
I didn't realize that (according to wikipedia) there had been a similar incident years ago on the Alton Mouse ride, albeit an operator had the override keys and was able to restsart the ride . Is there any truth in this ?
iaintraynor wrote:I didn't realize that (according to wikipedia) there had been a similar incident years ago on the Alton Mouse ride. Is there any truth in this ?
I went back to towers on the day it reopened, and was there for 3 days. The smiler was testing then with a full car of dummies. Why were they testing it with only 1 dummy?
Maybe testing variations in speed when tackling that inversion with full weight & hardly any weight while taking into account wind speeds.
If they need to send test cars around without public in they may need some guideline of how many dummies to put in so it doesn't have the possibility of stalling.
That's what I figure, the notice was raised because they "failed to prevent two ride vehicles colliding" so that'll be making sure this can never happen again and the safety features now in place are robust enough to cope in any situation.
It has been hellishly windy recently, I wonder if they've been doing these tests in it, would be ideal with the park closed as they can check without a twitchy gp watching and panicking if a train stalls.
Vicky was at Sundays X-Factor and Simon Cowell is inviting her to meet with himself in the new year for future career discussions. Not all bad news coming from The Smiler's tragic situation.
