ashleyrose-66
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Posts posted by ashleyrose-66
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Cheers guys.
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Please excuse my ignorance here, but given there has been (newspaper scaremongering) reports that Smiler will never re-open, it dawned on me that the problem was that 2 cars came together on the track.
So if there were genuine concerns about having 2 cars running simultaneously on the track, wouldn't Alton Towers just consider having it as a 1 car ride in the future?
Due to the design of the ride, the loading station etc, they may not be able to have longer cars, so may just send 16 people round at a time on a 1 car ride?
Yes, it would mean horrible queues, but surely that would be a better option than ripping down an £18m ride, just as the media have suggested over the weekend?
As I say, I have never worked at a park so I don't know how these things work, but wanted to know if Merlin would consider re-opening on a 1 car system, or if they could, in some way, extend the cars to mean more people would get on, whilst still only running 1 car at a time.
Cheers!
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You're right, the main car park (the tarmac one) is a far nicer entrance to the park, but Chessington have obviously seized the opportunity to find a way to try to get people to pay a premium for parking.
If they seriously do plan to make the grass car park the main car park, then they really should get in to some sort of consultation with the Council and the Highways Agency to get some traffic lights and a proper right hand filter lane put there for traffic driving from the A3 (past the new VIP car park and the Premier Inn).
You can often find yourself waiting ages to turn right in to the entrance, and I have seen cars ahead of me zipping across with little room to spare from traffic coming in the other direction.
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If they are going to force people in to using the grass car park then they should do something about the roadway.
There are huge pot-holes on that roadway, and every time I drive in to that entrance, I am genuinely worried that my car is going to get damaged by either hitting one of those pot-holes, or have a stone fly through the windscreen having been flicked up by the car in front.
The parking situation is a total shambles!
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Dragon's Fury has re-opened. Rattlesnake remains closed.
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Yes, in theory a fountain arch should be simple to sort out, but as someone who had a new bathroom fitted last year and had huge problems with a very small pump, which took a long time to resolve and 3 different plumbers, it might not be as straight forward as it seems. (that is assuming it is a problem with the pumps!)
I know Chessington gets a lot of stick over the maintenance of areas of the park, and theming (I'm looking at you Dragon Falls!) but I am sure they will be working to try to get it repaired as quickly as they possibly can.
- dk3, Adam P and Mysterio Ka
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Well, we all know that Bubbleworks is in a desperate need to some proper TLC. We hoped it was happening in the closed season as they never opened it throughout the Festive Zoo Days, but alas it didn't happen.
I suspect the fountains being off is a temporary measure whilst they fix a problem with them. But as I said, I guess they thought it would be even worse if they'd had the whole ride closed, given that they are already without 2 major attractions.
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I guess they're damned if they do and damned if they don't...
Obviously having the fountains out of operation (especially that long) is really bad. But imagine if they'd closed the ride until they fixed it?
With Rattlesnake and Fury out of operation, the last thing they needed was to close another very popular ride, even if it does look ghastly!
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Now confirmed that Leah Washington suffered an amputation above the left knee following the incident.
Joe Pugh suffered 2 broken knees and an extensive hand injury.
Dreadful news!
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Sky News have a caption up saying: "MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS CHIEF EXEC: SAFETY PROCEDURES CLEARLY "WEREN'T ADEQUATE" ON THE SMILER" which is not what Varney said at all. That is a terrible thing to say.
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Yep Kay Burley is sharpening her tools as I type this...
Sky New have been flying their helicopter over both Thorpe and Chessington in the last half-hour to show viewers what Saw, Rattlesnake and Dragon's Fury look like. Both parks look very quiet from what I could see from the air.
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Nick Varney (CEO of Merlin) is giving an interview/update on Sky News at 2.30 today.
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First and foremost, it is absolutely right that Merlin are ensuring that the investigation is thorough, and I think everyone accepts and appreciates that.
The fact the park is going to remain closed tomorrow is somewhat surprising. Obviously the weekend is going to be far busier than during the week. The loss of revenue must be absolutely huge - not just admission prices, but also the cancelled hotel bookings plus secondary spend (food outlets, merchandise, photos, the side show games etc.)
To take the decision to keep the entire park closed 4 days on, when they could by now successfully completely close off X Sector and re-open the rest of the park is (in my opinion) quite worrying. I know Merlin obviously have a duty of care, but they are also a business who are losing a lot of money. I wonder if the decision to keep the park closed is their decision, or has been enforced by the HSE.
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Alton Towers will be closed tomorrow (Thursday)
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Not so sure. I think the public may be slight less sympathetic (not that AT needs sympathy) if it seemed they were adopting a "business as usual" approach.
If the park being closed means a thorough and precise investigation can begin without the eyes of the public and media staring at them, then it makes sense to me.
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Sky News saying eye witnesses have reported (and I quote what they said) "people unconscious" and "there was blood everywhere".
Possibly some people over-egging it, but it really doesn't sound good at all.
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West Midlands Ambulance Service are saying 4 people seriously injured as a car with 16 people collided with an empty car.
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Sky News and BBC now reporting it. One car had 16 people in it, the other was empty. Air ambulances arriving on the scene now.
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Breaking News on Sky. Two cars on The Smiler have crashed in to one-another!
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Yep, we don't know why they have low water levels... Could be that they have a repair to do and have had to drain some water out to be able to do so.
As stated above, lowering the water level and having 2 per boat rather than close then entire ride is a satisfactory solution. Hopefully, it will be running at normal capacity over the weekend when it will be far busier.
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They were operating a 2 people per boat service due to "low water levels" apparently!
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Zufari
in Chessington World of Adventures
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The problem with Zufari is it simply doesn't make sense any more!
The ride is nice - you get to go along and see the animals, and when I went on last week, 2 Giraffe were very close to the truck so we got some good photos.
BUT... They have totally given up on the pre-show. There is no Gotze or Chase van Driver any more. The queue operators hold you outside the "ACRE Expedition room" and when the time comes, send you through the room, straight through the other doors and in to the final queuing section.
So when you finally board your truck, and Chase starts talking to you, you have no idea who he is, or what he is going on about (unless you visited in 2013).
It's such a shame that Chessington have simply done away with the pre-show. It was cheesy, but it worked.