Ian-S

You hate the system right? So I thought you'd be pleased that the standby queue is aparantly shorter than the reserve'n'ride one.
I forgot the pink text, sorry.

Yes and no, if you made evac points at all the known stall points, it would make life easier for the occupants who have to be evac'd in strange situations, would instill confidence in the GP (often the mere sight of changes is more comforting than it's actual usefulness), and would generally help reputation.
However this needs to the balanced with those people who like to hang their arms out of the cars as they go round so that they don't hit their arms on the evac platforms as they pass, cos a traumatic amputation would not help anybody.
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About the girl, it is unfortunate and I do feel sorry for her, but I do hope they (as in the news and GP), leave them alone and the family themselves don't dwell on the negatives too much, she is still alive after all. You've probably gathered from my previous post that I'm a big motor sport fan and there was this guy called Alex Zanardi who had both his legs sliced off in an accident in Germany many years ago, instead of dwelling on things, he was the complete oppersite and greatful that he was still alive, he has prosthetic legs, walks mostly unaided, has returned to racing, won races and won multiple gold medals at the last Paralympics, I hope someone points this girl in Alex's direction to show her, her life is not over and she can still achieve so much if she wants to.

Yes.

Yes I do.

Merlin are no Thomas Cook that's for sure.

Merlin are no Thomas Cook that's for sure.

I really hope the Media coverage does die down and leaves the families to have at least a some form of privacy. Them targeting them could trigger PTSD which'll be awful and make it even harder for them to recover.

Whilst positivity will help rather than looking at the negatives (which I agree with), it is difficult for anyone, myself included to even begin to understand how it must feel to lose a limb. Yes we can sympathise but we can't know how devastating it must be - not only is it a physical issue but those involved also are likely to be scarred mentally following the incident - PTSD could be a potential issue months down the line or many other conditions.
I don't think anyone here is playing down the injuries caused - but for some it can be possibly construed that way.
As for Smiler merch- I don't personally have a problem with people wearing hoodies/shirts etc and certainly wouldn't go up to someone and have a go at them for wearing it - to be honest I find people walking around with their bits hanging out more offensive.
My partner got a telling off the other day for wearing a smiler pin badge on his lanyard- he was told he was being insensitive - from a group of 13-14 year olds

I totally get what you are saying Ian, and it's not unreasonable at all. 
 
Just watched the BBC news (because why are people ever watching sky 'news'?!) which had a report on the Smiler, still in the main bulletin. They mentioned that Merlin have delivered letters to all the victims ...
 
 
Quite a different and pleasant approach compared to 6 flags when their Gurst killed someone on New Texas Giant, who went massively on the offensive and tried to shift blame pretty much from the moment it happened. When I first heard the Merlin announcement I thought it sounded a lot like they had found it was their procedures, not the ride systems, that had been the cause. But the first few words still leave that matter open and it could be that they are doing this just because it is the right thing to do, and if it later transpires it was a fault with the machine and not Alton they can go chasing Gurst through the courts to get the money paid out back from them.
 
It'd be hard to criticise pretty much anything Merlin have done since the incident really.

Ian's not playing down her injuries he's just saying positivity is definitely going to be a key factor in helping the poor girl recover mentally?

Terrible news about the girl that lost her leg - I can't even begin to imagine what she and her family must be going through right now- I am twice her age and God knows how I would cope if I lost a limb.
I can understand what Ian is talking about - whilst it is incredibly sad about the young lady who has lost her limb, it could have been a lot worse (yes I realise that both her and her family are probably not seeing things like that right now, understandably so). I went to school with a girl who was in all the sports teams and was very active - about 10 years ago she had to have a leg amputated due to a rare condition- s couple of years after that she had the other leg removed so is wheelchair bound. However she is now a Paralympic gold medalist and I often see her on her customised hand bike.
Of course it is terrible what happened and I know I would probably feel very bitter - you don't expect to go to a theme park and end up in a serious condition and having a limb removed. I a just relieved that no one was killed although it is going to take those involved a long time to recover from (not just physically but emotionally).
Thought are with all those hurt last Tuesday and wishing them the best possible future. I just hope that they get some peace from the media during this difficult time

That's not what I'm saying, what I said was I hope those around her support and encourage her and don't dwell on the negatives too much, a person's recovery both physically and mentally can be massively affected by the attitude of those around them.
I'm most certainly not telling her to 'suck it up', just saying it could have been worse.

Yes I do.

Look I feel very bad for those people and if there was some way to help them I would...But I don't know them. I'm not going to act like this is somehow a source of real concern for me, we are not part of each others lives. It'd be pretty disingenuous for me to say I can't laugh and smile today because of those four total strangers that got hurt. We all know J.S217 doesn't blame those four people for Oblivion being shut, he didn't throw a full blown teenage tantrum over it. I think we're allowed to be disappointed about the ramifications of Tuesdays events without being persecuted as heartless monsters, really. 

Unless its anything like the previous times when everyone uses it and then you may be able to get on 2 maybe 3 of the coasters. However it could of course be like the times when people have enjoyed the system which is when no one uses it. 

Dreamland have announced the Scenic will not open with the rest of the park later this month, as the trains are not ready.
 
I'm really a big fan of the project, but this is a bit disastrous. I can't see many people bothering without it, so the park will sit there losing money and gaining a bad reputation. Would be much better of delaying the whole thing until it's ready. Hopefully it won't be for too long, but rather ominously they haven't given a likely opening date yet.

Went to Thorpe yesterday (5th of June) for the first time since 2013. 

 

It was a scorcher so all the rides were running extremely well, Colossus felt especially fast but just as rough as I remembered it. That ride hates me. The park wasn't exactly quiet but wasn't busy either, it was a nice atmosphere. Queues ranging from 5-70 minutes (not that it mattered, I had the disabled wristband as usual which again resulted in some death stares from some - always hilarious) 

 

I was highly sceptical about about I'm A Celebrity because eww ITV, but it was actually really fun. We ended up doing it last and it was a great end to the day. You do get the feeling they're rushing you through on parts though, I thought the woman was joking when she said we had 5 seconds to find as many stars as we could! 

 

Saw closed all day (Obvious reasons) 

Stealth closed all day (Engineers were working midway down the launch at some point)

Samurai on THE most pathetic setting I've ever witnessed (I even overheard a staff member complaining)

Rush had a period of downtime at some point, as did Flying Fish 

 

I had a great day, and I can't wait to go again 

 

 

 

I only have one. It's called mondaymorningphobia

I suspect all the smiler branding has been removed from the resort already.
These events will only affect those too lazy, or stupid to make an informed decision themselves.

"Today, bosses announced it had temporarily shut another Alton Towers ride, Saw, a similar rollercoaster at its Thorpe Park site..." Can people even write

I make it a rule not to sign petitions started by people who cannot write in their mother tongue. 

There were engineers working on the launch yesterday, so something to do with that I guess. 
 
I overheard one of the staff members yesterday saying "If you want to make a complaint you can go to guest services, or you could go and speak to the rides themselves". I love those totally bonkers members of staff you occasionally come across!

Well at that point it wasn't either so even if it is the second lift hill they still broke the rules.
 
 
But I assume as long as you'd like as long as you don't get bored...
 
 
EDIT: There is now actually a petition going round to get Kay Burley sacked after her interview... Gaining signatures at an alarming rate. Going by the comments it's both people who have a grudge against her anyway, as well as those like us who know she didn't have a clue what she was talking about, that are signing
https://www.change.org/p/sky-news-sack-kay-burley-after-awful-interviewing-of-alton-towers-ceo-nick-varney

They need attenuators on the front and rear of the carriages, not the electronics type, there's another type they used in Indycars a few years ago, the result was after they fitted them, nobody has been paralised since. I won't bore you with a technical explanation of how they work, but this type of device would be a great quick fix., and they're realitively light, so shouldn't compromise speed.

When we went on it last Sunday the ride host stood at the side before checking the restraints and shouted 'Listen very carefully, I'm only going to say this once, I'm now going to check all your restraints, please pull your legs in now, I'm not small and believe me, you really don't want me falling on you while you're locked in that seat'.
The first part got a laugh from everybody over 40, the second part made the ride shake as everybody collectively pulled their legs back in anticipation