The Smiler - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Oblivion_Guy
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Think it's about time they demolished it


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Sawboss
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Oblivion_Guy wrote:Think it's about time they demolished it
And built one twice the size! 28 inversions, make it so!
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ponder
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Owen wrote:I am beginning to get so sick of hearing about this silly ride! Wether it be from media or enthusiasts everyone is over reacting to every tiny little thing at this point and it's boring if you ask me. The exact same cycle keep recurring and it's just pointless at this point surely?

1 - Media "The Smiler Did X Today"
2 - Enthusiasts "The media know nothing, let's all complain now"

Am I the only one who finds that incredibly tedious? Evidentially complaining isn't going to stop anything so why bother, why put the effort into giving a reaction which at this point people have been giving for the past year. Blimey people are going mad over this thing in equal measure and it's insane to watch how one ride can cause such a divide between people.
Here's the thing - the media are like this about everything. It's in their interests to embellish stories to sell newspapers and Sky subscriptions, it's also in their interests to put a particular spin on things to serve their agenda. There are far worse lies the media spread than about a ride at a theme park.

If you buy newspapers, or put money in the pocket of the likes of Rupert Murdoch then you are contributing to the problem.

Complaints etc don't do anything - look at the Leveson enquiry for example. The only thing that hurts these people is lower profits.
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wamdue
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Sawboss wrote:
Oblivion_Guy wrote:Think it's about time they demolished it
And built one twice the size! 28 inversions, make it so!
gets my vote
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Themeparksandy1981
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I can prove how much of a impact the Smiler had on families.
Back in July I had a Sun free ticket the wife couldn't go in the end as she was recovering from a op. I offered the ticket to work collages and my friends and most said you never get me back there again. So I took my 4 year old and if it wasn't for school trips the park would have been empty.
The big car park wasn't even half full.
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Nickolai
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wamdue wrote:
Sawboss wrote:
Oblivion_Guy wrote:Think it's about time they demolished it
And built one twice the size! 28 inversions, make it so!
gets my vote
And build a new one by Mack or B&M! In all seriousness though we should all calm down, in the end Alton Towers will be fine. Remember If the Sun is covered by clouds, it still Shines! (I didn't mean The Sun Newspaper though!)
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70s_kid
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Owen wrote:I am beginning to get so sick of hearing about this silly ride!.............
Owen, with that in mind can I suggest a theme park forum, and particularly a thread called "The Smiler - General Discussion", may not be the best place for you to be spending your time?

Maybe a CD of crashing waves or whale sounds would help you to chill your beans a little and put you in a better place. I hope this helps.
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Owen
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I was referring to hearing about the attraction in the media and from people in my life, 70s_kid. I am sure I am not alone in thinking things have gotten over board and so I don't really see the patronising manner of which your post implies necessary. I am fully aware this is a theme park forum, one of which I have been an active member on for multiple years now, and that this is the smiler thread - hence why I posted my thoughts on how people from both ends of the spectrum are over reacting to The Smiler and how its gotten to a point where it is tedious to say the least.

I hope this clears things up a bit, if there are anymore issues feel free to PM me as I don't think that it's very on topic! :)
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Aidan Lowe
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It's interesting to hear how the media has affected people's judgement of this ride and condemned it. Because I visited a lot friends, family & colleagues knew I had a bit of an addiction to coasters so when this latest news broke they quizzed me and everyone seemed to side with the media and general consensus on that it should be closed down. :bored: Needless to say I was utterly displeased with how media has brainwashed them.

We know what happened last year and it was human error, that case is closed. Now a report of debris flying off resulted in staff e-stopping the ride as a precaution and to investigate. And this makes national news? I don't think they understand that the HSE don't care about if Alton Towers lose profits, if it was really life threateningly unsafe it would not be allowed to operate.
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stealthsmiler
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Owen wrote:I was referring to hearing about the attraction in the media and from people in my life! :)
I understand what you mean however this one has got to be my favourite. Real headline news if you ask me Image


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kemperink
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Andy Mc wrote:It's interesting to hear how the media has affected people's judgement of this ride and condemned it. Because I visited a lot friends, family & colleagues knew I had a bit of an addiction to coasters so when this latest news broke they quizzed me and everyone seemed to side with the media and general consensus on that it should be closed down. :bored: Needless to say I was utterly displeased with how media has brainwashed them.

We know what happened last year and it was human error, that case is closed. Now a report of debris flying off resulted in staff e-stopping the ride as a precaution and to investigate. And this makes national news? I don't think they understand that the HSE don't care about if Alton Towers lose profits, if it was really life threateningly unsafe it would not be allowed to operate.
still no reason given why the train stopped in the first place
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RyanJames
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kemperink wrote:still no reason given why the train stopped in the first place
Didn't this happen during its testing period, due to a light train and high winds? Please correct me if I'm wrong (pun intended).

Is it safe to assume that was the same reason, or could there be another reason for it? :)
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Owen
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kemperink wrote:still no reason given why the train stopped in the first place
The ride stopped because it's saftey mechanisms were working and so stopped the attraction from running since the other train hadn't made it over the inversion due to the operators running the ride in higher winds than it should, which is why there are much more strict measures on wether with the attraction.


Moving away from this discussion, is the projection room back? It was off when I last went, which was quite disappointing! :(
Last edited by Owen on Mon Sep 05, 2016 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nickolai
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I was reading Coaster Bots Twitter the other day and when he went last he stated that the Projection Block was back to normal apart from one E-Light near the entrance flaps. I was so excited to show my friends the Block when we went with School but then to find we were waiting for ages, in the baking heat (probably why it wasn't working) with all the lights on was quite depressing. It builds up the anticipation and I like how Towers contrasted it so that you went from a very dark room to the station which is a fairly light room! When it works it is great!
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118hazaman
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Smiler313 wrote:I was reading Coaster Bots Twitter the other day and when he went last he stated that the Projection Block was back to normal apart from one E-Light near the entrance flaps. I was so excited to show my friends the Block when we went with School but then to find we were waiting for ages, in the baking heat (probably why it wasn't working) with all the lights on was quite depressing. It builds up the anticipation and I like how Towers contrasted it so that you went from a very dark room to the station which is a fairly light room! When it works it is great!
I made a correction to the post shortly after. Visiting both today and yesterday, the main lights have been off, leaving the indoor queue dark. There are two small lights, one near the entrance and one on the opposite wall to the entrance. I assume this is to allow people to acclimatise to the darkness.
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rosco1982uk
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Smiler case being heard in court right this very minute with an outcome expected later today.
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ROYJESS
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The court case sentencing hearing is scheduled for two days. Here is the up dates

https://web.archive.org/web/20160926110 ... ph-8914914" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Alton Towers Smiler 'operated in 46mph winds on day of crash against manufacturer 33mph limit guidelines"
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PJ.
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ROYJESS wrote:The court case sentencing hearing is scheduled for two days. Here is the up dates

https://web.archive.org/web/20160926110 ... ph-8914914" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Alton Towers Smiler 'operated in 46mph winds on day of crash against manufacturer 33mph limit guidelines"
Doesn't sound good does it. If someone drives over the speed limit, it isn't like the are asking for a crash but they can't be surprised if something happens. What could the court do worst case? Could they close the ride? (Not saying I think they should)
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ROYJESS
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This also don't sound good either

"Four engineers working on day of crash 'had not see or read ride's operating instructions"


"Giving an example of the idiosyncratic approach, Mr Thorogood said one engineer who worked on the Smiler that day told investigators after the crash that he had “assumed” the rollercoaster had been fitted with a type of safety trip-switch present on at least one other park ride, when in fact it had not."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... ve-8914914" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Dan
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PJ. wrote:
ROYJESS wrote:The court case sentencing hearing is scheduled for two days. Here is the up dates

https://web.archive.org/web/20160926110 ... ph-8914914" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Alton Towers Smiler 'operated in 46mph winds on day of crash against manufacturer 33mph limit guidelines"
Doesn't sound good does it. If someone drives over the speed limit, it isn't like the are asking for a crash but they can't be surprised if something happens. What could the court do worst case? Could they close the ride? (Not saying I think they should)
It's already been established that the Smiler is both "technically and mechanically sound" so there is no chance of it being closed permanently.

The worst case scenario is a hefty fine (probably 6 or 7 figures)
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