The Smiler - Construction Discussion

Fri May 24, 2013 1:46 pm

Dammit, I'm at a wedding on Monday and I don't think my friend will be too happy if his best man doesn't show up.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:47 pm

It seems to me Management are just living off wishful thinking. The opening date isn't in their hands right now. Its in the hands of the professional construction and health and safety teams.

I really am not bothered at all that it was delayed, I was planning a trip on Thursday but cancelled, so what? Regardless of what has gone on, I think this has truly revealed what an absolute joke and shambles the operations team is at the Towers. The amount of rumours and false dates going around is in no way acceptable. The teams should have been briefed to strictly set no date at all and stopped from spreading rumors. Its basic PR, and its brand damaging. You can tell the team is in a state of panic and disorganization right now and it REALLY shows.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:47 pm

There was also 2 or 3 months of perfect coaster-building weather where the site lay empty with nothing happening.
Planning for this has been shocking and someone has to be accountable.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:47 pm

An update for the smiler app with more augumented reality features and a "the ride" feature mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Fri May 24, 2013 1:51 pm

Just noticed a new version/update of the smiler game has come out...maybe thats why the ride has been delayed as they have concentrated their effort on updating the game first.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:52 pm

And fired the game up and the wheel of win has gone and been replaced by a 3d model of the ride.

On the game the ride is working...shame its not in real life.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:58 pm

jbuckton18 wrote:
youarecorrectsir wrote: Yes, they have had months to build it and they have had months to plan and everything but can you imagine how damn difficult it must be to guess when it will be open!?

It's hardly outrageous, they're trying to get it open ASAP and they made an honest mistake! I don't understand how people can be so abusive and attacking - we're all on the same side!! Alton Towers included.

They've spent £18million on a brand new, world beating monster of a coaster; they overrun by a couple of days and people are saying they are outraged! lol it baffles me.
Sorry but firstly they didnt run over by a 'few days' they run over by 2 months from the original date !!! :/
Secondly , if they made an honest mistake then why did they say it was teething problems , when is clear than they have a bigger issue here ? and i know they are trying their best but they started ground work so late and they have themselves to blame!

Yes it was originally a few months over but that was due to weather conditions! We all knew about that and forgave them for it because there was nothing they could do!

We weren't complaining about the 2 months last week were we? So that, in my opinion, has nothing to do with the matter at hand!

Since the new opening date (which we were all happy with), it has been 2 days... possibly 3. It's much easier to say 'teething problems' then a fully descriptive run down of the problem. Remember most of the people who visit Alton Towers are not enthusiasts like we are.

Yes someone needs to be held accountable for, you're right. But they need to answer to their boss NOT to us. So chill and stop having a go at people who are doing their best to give us a good experience.

Fri May 24, 2013 1:59 pm

rctneil over at Theme Park Review is on site and can confirm the entire x-sector is closed off. He was going for the for 2-3 days like some people here. Link here.

Fri May 24, 2013 2:02 pm

I'll say this as I don't think it's been mentioned yet, at least not in the last 20-odd pages that I skimmed through...

Last night I passed the park at around 9pm. The whole place was in total darkness, there is definitely no night-time activity on The Smiler site.

And for people praising the Guest Services response to the issue, in what world does a manager of a Guest Services department go home early on a day a new ride is advertised to open but doesn't, knowing there would be thousands of guests to deal with, leaving the staff behind with no one to make important decisions on a guest-by-guest basis? A Merlin world, clearly.

Somebody at Alton Towers would have known the ride wasn't going to be ready for the 23rd some time before, but made the decision not to announce it until the day before, and to continue with the 'not opening tomorrow' stuff day after day. A cynical view might suggest this is an attempt to minimise cancelled trips, because a cancelled trip is a loss of potential income for the park, and guests who have made the trip can be fobbed off with free fastrack...

Fri May 24, 2013 2:17 pm

Mabalzich wrote: rctneil over at Theme Park Review is on site and can confirm the entire x-sector is closed off. He was going for the for 2-3 days like some people here. Link here.

I think it's funny seeing my post above that with information from here.

I don't belief the ride opens anytime soon to be honest, I'm just having a feeling it won't. It really bothers me the towers keeps quiet about this.

Fri May 24, 2013 2:26 pm

I was (and I'm still) against people that complained on the 23rd or even today, because it's obviously not AT's fault.

However, I have to admit that AT is handling the issue in a really disrespectful manner. They should just grow some balls (and respect) and announce something like "Smiler to open on the 15th of June". That seems like a realistic deadline to sort any sort of teething problems. In the meantime, if it is ready before that, they can totally have a soft opening. This means that people going before the deadline (15th of June in my example) might be able to ride the smiler but would have no guarantee of it happening. But at least they would have been aware of that and wouldn't have any excuse to complain. Those who actually want to ride the smiler and play it safe should book their trip for after the 15th.

I don't know, it seems pure common sense to me. But clearly, delaying the closed date every day 24h hours before the day after is really poor and disappointing from AT.

Fri May 24, 2013 2:27 pm

Few things:
-I'm going on Tuesday so hopefully it's open by then!
-I'm pretty certain that they are gonna be working day and night to get the smiler open by bank holiday Monday
-I am going to my dads this weekend so I will try my best to find out of him what is actually going on but I think it's a case of the fact that they weren't ready since the queue want finished and there is no way the would have passed the health and safety inspection because the netting above the queueline is yet to be put up

Fri May 24, 2013 2:32 pm

GigaSurimi wrote: I was (and I'm still) against people that complained on the 23rd or even today, because it's obviously not AT's fault.

However, I have to admit that AT is handling the issue in a really disrespectful manner. They should just grow some balls (and respect) and announce something like "Smiler to open on the 15th of June". That seems like a realistic deadline to sort any sort of teething problems. In the meantime, if it is ready before that, they can totally have a soft opening. This means that people going before the deadline (15th of June in my example) might be able to ride the smiler but would have no guarantee of it happening. But at least they would have been aware of that and wouldn't have any excuse to complain. Those who actually want to ride the smiler and play it safe should book their trip for after the 15th.

I don't know, it seems pure common sense to me. But clearly, delaying the closed date every day 24h hours before the day after is really poor and disappointing from AT.

i agree they should just come up with a hard opening that is reasonable because at this rate i am seeing it being a very big disappointment not just for us enthusiasts but for the GP as-well as they dont know whats going on as shown in the TT live photo here: http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/live/files ... 111938.jpg

Fri May 24, 2013 2:33 pm

Barty wrote: Few things:
-I'm going on Tuesday so hopefully it's open by then!
-I'm pretty certain that they are gonna be working day and night to get the smiler open by bank holiday Monday
-I am going to my dads this weekend so I will try my best to find out of him what is actually going on but I think it's a case of the fact that they weren't ready since the queue want finished and there is no way the would have passed the health and safety inspection because the netting above the queueline is yet to be put up

I agree , it's just a matter of addding a few little bits to it ( important bits none the less ) I think if they have worked all day today , tomorrow and maybe sunday then the ride may be ready for a sunday soft opening in the afternoon OR the monday morning when the park opens ! I do trust AT to get this done this weekend even though they have failed us when we have trusted them in the past over this ride.

Fri May 24, 2013 2:40 pm

It appears that the top secret elements are now able to be unlocked in the smiler app so somebody needs to get scanning!

Fri May 24, 2013 2:42 pm

jbuckton18 wrote:

I agree , it's just a matter of addding a few little bits to it ( important bits none the less ) I think if they have worked all day today , tomorrow and maybe sunday then the ride may be ready for a sunday soft opening in the afternoon OR the monday morning when the park opens ! I do trust AT to get this done this weekend even though they have failed us when we have trusted them in the past over this ride.

They should do some work instead of standing around drinking tea all day then they would get something done

Fri May 24, 2013 2:45 pm

cookejj1 wrote:
jbuckton18 wrote:

I agree , it's just a matter of addding a few little bits to it ( important bits none the less ) I think if they have worked all day today , tomorrow and maybe sunday then the ride may be ready for a sunday soft opening in the afternoon OR the monday morning when the park opens ! I do trust AT to get this done this weekend even though they have failed us when we have trusted them in the past over this ride.
They should do some work instead of standing around drinking tea all day then they would get something done

Harsh statement. To be honest , everyone needs a break from work once or maybe twice a day. These guys do have a lot of work on there hands. They are working extremely hard!

Fri May 24, 2013 2:47 pm

Yes that's a very poor and unwelcome statement.

Fri May 24, 2013 2:50 pm

But when my friend was there yesterday he text me and said all they were doing was drinking tea and i know that statement was a bit harsh but its kind of the truth. don't mean to offend sorry

Fri May 24, 2013 2:55 pm

cookejj1 wrote: But when my friend was there yesterday he text me and said all they were doing was drinking tea and i know that statement was a bit harsh but its kind of the truth. don't mean to offend sorry

If anyone it's offending its the builders. Your mate was obviously only there for a little while as they do work 95% of the working day spending the remaining 5% breaking