What Should Happen Now? (Smiler Incident 2015)

[TheBeast]

Hey guys, I just wanted to see what people were thinking about what should happen after these tragic events have unfolded. I believe it will give the non-TT visitors a good representation of what people are thinking, as well as giving us a general verdict from the TowersTimes forumers

[Smiffy107]

I think it should be re-opened after the end of the season, for some strenuous safety improvements and testing.

[Aidan Lowe]

Voted to remain closed for the remainder of the season. There is still plenty of attractions to enjoy (ironically they all are breaking down: Enterprise / Sub Terra) but it reassures the GP they are taking it very seriously the incident that occurred.

The damaged trains need repairing, operating on 2-3 trains will mean queues become out of control and should one train need to be removed from the circuit it'll only cause queues to lengthen.

Best to keep it closed, repair the trains, make sure safety procedures & training are up to scratch for 2016 season opening.

[TheBeast]

I agree...I think they are best off keeping the number of cars to a minimum so they aren't watching too much at once. Maybe the queues won't be as big now, the general public could be put off the ride now...butnim not so convinced tbh

[Alex]

Whilst yes they should watch the CCTV, the PLC should dictate when a car should and shouldn't be dispatched so having too many things to watch at once shouldn't come into it. Remember The Smiler has operated before without anything like this happening.

[humanshifter]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but even though it's impractical (and sad ), I think they probably should change at least some of the theming, especially the stuff that's medical-related. I can see how the majority of its theming could be seen as morbid now, especially to those affected in the accident and their friends and families.

(I hope they don't change it though, because I love it. It's just very unfortunate... )

Whatever happens, I think it should remain closed until the end of this season, or longer, depending on how long it will take them to fix any faults/make the ride safer.

[missingaa]

As I've just posted in the other thread, I'm sure that human error will be the biggest contributing factor in all of this. So I would hope that staff training will play a large part. They may also need to address the ongoing issue of the train stalling. If the causes are as I expect, as long as they do their best to ensure it cannot happen again, I would hope it will open up as soon as possible.

I suppose the same goes whatever the cause turns out to be.... as long as they do their best to ensure it cannot happen again, which I am sure they will do, I'd like to see it open ASAP.

Anything else would just be conceding that this ride (and possibly others) is not safe... Which just is not true.

[Aidan Lowe]

I definitely feel also that audio will drastically change for this ride. The soundtrack after this incident and some of the catchphrases will either be changed, turned off or altered. As for the overall theme and name I can't see those changing.

The soundtrack is easily fixed, just remove the vocal and just keep the background sound.

[thrillseeker]

First off, I just want to say I hope the victims make a speedy full recovery and it's a blessing nobody died. My thoughts are with them.

Now to my question: I hate to think that after all the untrue speculated media stories flying around it will put people off visiting and in a few years the park will end up closed down due to lack of business like the American Adventure. I'm a massive Alton Towers fan and will still continue to go and support them even after everything that has happened. At the end of the day, it was an accident and accidents can happen at anytime anywhere. It was a very rare and unlikely occurrence that I'm sure Merlin will make sure will never happen again. But most of the people I've spoken with reckon they'll never visit again because it's unsafe and it won't be long before the park shuts for good because nobody will trust them anymore. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Is this where the future of Alton Towers is heading?

[Sr88]

Anything else – wait until we actually know what happened, and why, then decide what should happen now.

I seriously do not understand why people are so impatient about this. Wait until we know the facts.

[TheBeast]

I dont think its people being impatient as such more...curious. You could argue that on any forum about the future developments of a park if you wanted

[Legoluce]

As much as I would like to see the ride open ASAP, I voted for it to remain closed until the end of the season.

I think after everything that has happened they don't need pressure to reopen before next year. If they did reopen this season and had the slightest technical difficulty (even a bird triggering a sensor) then I feel the media would pounce on them for rushing to reopen and casting doubt on how thorough they were.

I think people would feel more reassured if they waited, but I just hope it does reopen.

[filmAlive]

Considering the HSE have advised that the entire investigation could take up to 2 years and they have served a notice that they cannot operate the ride until the issues have been resolved I can see The Smiler being SBNO for the remainder of this year and well into next.

It would appear that Merlin's investigations have uncovered work to do considering that have now closed SAW at Thorpe Park indefinitely, and 2 rides at chessington while they improve procedures.

Completely appreciate this could just be circumstantial and Merlin playing it safe...
Shame to see the media have made this much more profound without having the facts

[NemesisRider]

I voted open it again this season (for fireworks and scarefest, they couldn't get it open by summer). This is why, if Merlin keep the ride down for a long time, especially at events, two things will happen. Thing 1 is that people will being speculating more and more why The Smiler hasn't reopened. This could seriously damage the park, people wouldn't like to think that when the ride reopens it's had technical issues that kept it shut for such a long time. Thing 2 is that people are mainly attracted by The Smiler and they really need it for capacity. If Rita or 13 broke down on a Scarefest night and there was only the B&Ms to soak up all the guests, the queues would be stupidly long.

In reality, a closure until 2016 is the most likely option, just to let this whole hullabaloo die down.

[leammiles]

I think keeping the ride closed til next season looks better to the GP

What I would do from a marketing perspective is to get the ride fully working ASAP, open up X Sector and have it fully visible to the public with all cars going round, with dummies in the seats and say we are running it full on, at full capacity testing for every possible outcome.

Next season you can say "we tested the ride for 4 months straight without incident, its safe!"

Me personally, I'd jump on it tomorrow if they reopened it, but the general public who don't know about the systems might need convincing.


Another point is that the HSE are taking away the cars that impacted for testing...Now one would assume from the crash, they wont be able to make their way back to the station to be removed from the tracks, and HSE would want the cars intact, so maybe they will have to cut a section of track. If thats the case, there could be some down time due to reconstruction of the area.

Either way, I think next season is the best time to reopen and relaunch it.

[TheBeast]

Me personally, I'd jump on it tomorrow if they reopened it, but the general public who don't know about the systems might need convincing.

Im really glad im not the only one!

[Altontowersbarlow]

I personally voted to keep the ride shut for the rest of the season and to open it at the start of the 2016 season. I still stand by my opinion that this incident was terrible and again offer my condolences, however freak accidents happen and they certainly do not call for the ride to close down permanently. The Smiler's re-opening date relies purely on when HSE remove the compulsory cease of operation notice. Despite this, after a season of SBNO and some serious safety improvements, I am confident that the Smiler will regain in popularity and have a fairly bright future at the park.

As much as the general public can be fooled by media coverage, they also forget easily. As the accident was not fatal, I firmly believe that this accident will slowly be forgotten and the ride will blend back into the park again.

I don't agree with the idea that The Smiler should be re-themed or edited as such, however I think it would be beneficial to change the graphics that represent the ride on their website and social media. If The Smiler's ride information page adapts a new layout and design, I feel it would just give the ride somewhat of a fresh start. I also think it would be a good idea to remove the Smiler from any major marketing campaigns or prominent positions on the parks website/social media when it re-opens. I think this, because the parks excessive advertisement of the ride before the incident on their website and social media pages somewhat magnified the incident.

The only physical change I would make to the ride area itself, would be a new soundtrack as others have proposed. The "HA,HA,HA" riff of the soundtrack is arguably the most recognisable feature of the Smiler, and therefore removing this element would subtly change the rides identity and prevent a constant reminder of the incident.

I am sure that this terrible incident will eventually be forgotten and with some strong reassurance for the general public, that The Smiler will regain it's popularity and have a successful future at the park. With a slight redesign of the way in which the ride is marketed and described, I believe everything will go back to normality. I again offer my condolences for those involved as they should never be overlooked.

[RedStar98]

Re-open it as soon as possible with the original theming once all safety procedures have been carried out, in my opinion

[wakey1512]

I've voted closed for good - it's been a failure from opening and if it's already putting the park image in jeopardy 2 years on then its not going to make the 18m investment any time soon. Cut losses.

[Sentri558]

Re-open it as soon as possible with the original theming once all safety procedures have been carried out, in my opinion

While it may seem easy to just say "one off, let's just let people get back on", unfortunately, 'people' don't trust their safety with this ride any more.

Steps must be taken to ensure that the ride is entirely safe itself, with it's operating staff fully aware of how each procedure should be legally and safely carried out, and the correct protocol in these situations (instead of waiting for the on site medic to call 999)