Rides are very strange beasts when they go down and often one problem can cause another and so on, so they could well have been putting a car on that then had the knock on effect of causing the technical problem. As for the way that the communication was handled it sounds very strange, but without knowing the full picture I would be unable to comment. Also the time scale they were up there would be because a vertical lift evacuation would be a last resort measure and trust me it would take much longer than two hours.marita wrote: Hi all
My children and sister were on the back row of the Smiler yesterday when it broke down on the second lift hill....
Now I'm OK with things like this happening but i am not OK with being lied to...
I thought my family were in the queue line when the down time occurred so I went through the exit to the station to see if I could see them to give my youngest his medication. They were not there. I asked in the shop about the downtime to be told that "they were putting another car on the track" now I know it does not take 30 mins to put a car on and they would not stop a car on the lift hill to do this. I waited for a hour, no update just the queue line being evacuated.
I was with another lady who's daughter was on there as a single rider. She was also complaining about the lack of communication. We managed to spot a manager walking towards us and called her over to voice our concerns and ask questions. She replied that there was no safety issues but the harnesses would not open. She also told us there was a power issue to that part of the ride and assured me they were doing all they could. I get that there are problems. I was getting concerned now as my youngest has behavior issues and his meds had run out. A medic came to me took the medication and assured me he would get them to my son. I was assured that someone was talking through the P.A system to the people in the car but they was not communicated to at all they were left there for 2 hours
Next thing you know there is a scream and the cars start to move BACKWARDS down the lift hill.. omg I have never seen anything like it. Now I would of thought that they would of evacuated the car at the bottom but they did not. They took water to people and gave my son his medication. Waited another 20 mins then sent them back through the ride. This I thought was strange.
I cannot fault the staff in the shop and the medics they were blinking brilliant.
Ride Downtime 2013
- Hmv
- Member
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:26 pm
- Location: Far far away
- Wedjie
- Member
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 2:01 pm
- Location: Warwickshire
Is it possible Oblivion is struggling with the extra attention it's getting due to it's proximity to the smiler?
Up until this year I've never seen the queue over 30 minutes - rarely even that high, now its been peaking at 75 minutes, frequently touching 45...
Up until this year I've never seen the queue over 30 minutes - rarely even that high, now its been peaking at 75 minutes, frequently touching 45...
- djedwardsmith
- New Member
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 4:10 pm
To be fair the staff have probably been told consistently not to relay details about breakdowns as no doubt they'll be asked every 2 minutes about it if it stops running. Even though you had a justifiable reason for asking, the staff probably hear all sorts of excuses for needing to know information. The good thing is that you were able to pass on the medication which I'm sure the ride ops must have been compliant with in able to allow them to get into the area.marita wrote: Hi all
My children and sister were on the back row of the Smiler yesterday when it broke down on the second lift hill....
Now I'm OK with things like this happening but i am not OK with being lied to...
I thought my family were in the queue line when the down time occurred so I went through the exit to the station to see if I could see them to give my youngest his medication. They were not there. I asked in the shop about the downtime to be told that "they were putting another car on the track" now I know it does not take 30 mins to put a car on and they would not stop a car on the lift hill to do this. I waited for a hour, no update just the queue line being evacuated.
I was with another lady who's daughter was on there as a single rider. She was also complaining about the lack of communication. We managed to spot a manager walking towards us and called her over to voice our concerns and ask questions. She replied that there was no safety issues but the harnesses would not open. She also told us there was a power issue to that part of the ride and assured me they were doing all they could. I get that there are problems. I was getting concerned now as my youngest has behavior issues and his meds had run out. A medic came to me took the medication and assured me he would get them to my son. I was assured that someone was talking through the P.A system to the people in the car but they was not communicated to at all they were left there for 2 hours
Next thing you know there is a scream and the cars start to move BACKWARDS down the lift hill.. omg I have never seen anything like it. Now I would of thought that they would of evacuated the car at the bottom but they did not. They took water to people and gave my son his medication. Waited another 20 mins then sent them back through the ride. This I thought was strange.
I cannot fault the staff in the shop and the medics they were blinking brilliant.
- Dan
- Member
- Posts: 2339
- Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:08 pm
The Flume and Rapids don't open til 11 o'clock.ollboll9 wrote: According to ridetimes.com the flume and rapids are down,also (not to do with downtime) how the he'll is spinals queue 0 mins
As soon as the park opens all rides are shown as 0 mins. It's not til about 11 o'clock that it starts showing realistic queue times.
- Shutterbug
- Member
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:20 pm
Smiler was down today from at least 1pm until 5:30pm due to it getting stuck at the bottom of the lift hill, people on the ride were evacuated but I think this took about 2 hours...
- camlees
- New Member
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:39 pm
And now with Air leaving people stranded up in the air!
Not looking good for a few rides at AT!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... stuck.html
Not looking good for a few rides at AT!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... stuck.html
- imcn
- New Member
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2013 7:03 pm
- Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
I think The Sun have made it sound a lot more dramatic than it really was.One onlooker said: “It was terrifying. People were just left hanging upside down for ages.
“They looked really frightened. There were people screaming and crying.
“Two members of staff had to go up there and try to calm everyone down. But people were in hysterics.
“It took ages to get the ride going again.
“When the passengers got off they looked really pale and shaken. There certainly wasn’t anyone smiling.
“They re-opened the ride eventually but it put people off going on it. I certainly didn’t fancy it after witnessing that.
- lozzyhickers
- Member
- Posts: 237
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:29 pm
- Location: London
Exactly! I've been stuck on it for much longer than that before, sun are just fishing for a storyimcn wrote: [quote
I think The Sun have made it sound a lot more dramatic than it really was.
- camlees
- New Member
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:39 pm
I mean it is the sun.... but still interesting!lozzyhickers wrote:Exactly! I've been stuck on it for much longer than that before, sun are just fishing for a storyimcn wrote: [quote
I think The Sun have made it sound a lot more dramatic than it really was.
- Themeparksandy1981
- Member
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- Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:34 pm
- Location: Midlands
- Contact:
Has Enterprise been sorted yet?
Last edited by Themeparksandy1981 on Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Jack
- Member
- Posts: 1206
- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:16 pm
- Location: Solihull
agreed, Air is a ride that breaks down a lot, wonder if the sun knew thatimcn wrote:I think The Sun have made it sound a lot more dramatic than it really was.One onlooker said: “It was terrifying. People were just left hanging upside down for ages.
“They looked really frightened. There were people screaming and crying.
“Two members of staff had to go up there and try to calm everyone down. But people were in hysterics.
“It took ages to get the ride going again.
“When the passengers got off they looked really pale and shaken. There certainly wasn’t anyone smiling.
“They re-opened the ride eventually but it put people off going on it. I certainly didn’t fancy it after witnessing that.
- Altonaction
- New Member
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:16 pm
- Location: stoke
They need spit grids on the ground just b4 u go back to the station as the sight of loads of greenies and grot
not ver nice tbh lol
Ive not needed to spit once air has finished so i wonder who the culprits are???
not ver nice tbh lol
Ive not needed to spit once air has finished so i wonder who the culprits are???
- Alex Tyler
- Member
- Posts: 362
- Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:57 pm
- Location: Air, Forbidden Valley, Alton Towers, Alton, Staffordshire, ST10 4DB