TCA_Official Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Hey there guys, Myself and a few of the team members from The Chessington Archives are planning a visit to Alton Towers at the beginning of the 2016 season in the hope of being some of the first (If not the first) people to be on The Smiler after it reopens in the new year! The proposed date is on the Saturday the 19th March 2016 (We'll be staying in the hotel the night before). Is anybody else planning on attending this year? If so would people be interested in having a little rendezvous the night before and joining us in the park the following day? Let us know! Ben The Chessington Archives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 I predict it being open in Feb half term if the event happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pluk Posted November 25, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 But surely on the first day of the season a Chessington fan site will be at Chessington to try out their new ride for ... Oh Phill Pritchard, holtjammy16, Celia Mae and 9 others 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Pritchard Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 Too soon pluk, too soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCA_Official Posted November 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 But surely on the first day of the season a Chessington fan site will be at Chessington to try out their new ride for ... Oh Aha! We plan on visiting Chessington just as soon as we can. The ol' annual passes have expired regretfully. We'll need to renew them! I predict it being open in Feb half term if the event happens... You reckon? I might have to look into that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 well with air most likely closed February half term, it would seem logical to open X sector instead of forbidden valley. Feb half term event got removed from towers website which showed the old imagery with nemesis, air, rmt and sonic spinball... The website now doesn't have a specific Feb half term section still, but shows on the event page with the imagery showing oblivion, sonic and rmt. So depends how much I'm reading into it, but with smiler confirmed to be reopening in 2016 I see no reason why it wouldn't be open in Feb half term if oblivion/X sector is instead of forbidden valley. All speculation of course... But I'd keep an eye out... And even if it's not announced in the ride lineup but oblivion and no other main coasters have been announce then I personally expect it to be a surprise opening; get any bad press out the way with before starting main season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted November 25, 2015 Report Share Posted November 25, 2015 But Smiler can't operate under 5° if I remember correctly, a bit like Saw. And the colder it is the more likely it is to stall. Seems too risky in my eyes. TCA_Official 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Well we've had 17 degrees this November and when I got married, it was a sunny clear blue sky at a perky 18 degrees that February day after a mild winter, so I wouldn't assume temps will be that low next year ATM, we haven't even had a frost here yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchy Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 I think whether it is open half term will be weather dependant. If it is a warm start of the year then maybe. If it is a cold start of the year then there is little chance of it being open for half term. By the way, I will be there both 1st day of half term and 1st day of season with the Nerds so say Hi if you see us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 That's why I don't think they will advertise it, and open it if possible. Admittedly it would be a pretty disappointing lineup if it was just oblivion as the big ride.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCA_Official Posted November 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 That's why I don't think they will advertise it, and open it if possible. Admittedly it would be a pretty disappointing lineup if it was just oblivion as the big ride.. I think it's a difficult one to predict as to whether they'll advertise the opening or not. I currently have a website (www.changedetection.com) that will email me of any change Towers uploads to their site regarding The Smiler just in case, but who knows if there'll be any official news as to the date of its reopening. OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCA_Official Posted November 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 I think whether it is open half term will be weather dependant. If it is a warm start of the year then maybe. If it is a cold start of the year then there is little chance of it being open for half term. By the way, I will be there both 1st day of half term and 1st day of season with the Nerds so say Hi if you see us. The weather (I think) will make a big difference as to whether it will be open or not. The first day of half-term is the Annual Pass preview day if I'm not mistaken? Or is that following up to the main season itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted November 26, 2015 Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Do towers even do a Passholder day? The reason why the parks so quiet is it's probably only passholders that have been going the last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCA_Official Posted November 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2015 Do towers even do a Passholder day? The reason why the parks so quiet is it's probably only passholders that have been going the last year There's truth in that, I suppose passholders would want to make the most of the money they've spent. And to be fair, it's been so quiet I can't see why anybody wouldn't visit if they could do so for free. I'm looking at renewing when (and if) the January sales come so I can get my 2016 annual pass all set and ready. OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchy Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 Alton Towers do not do an Annual Pass day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted November 27, 2015 Report Share Posted November 27, 2015 But they do do pre-season days (which I presume serve a similar purpose to AP days by warming the staff up with a low gate figure and gusts who have paid little so don't mind slightly slack ops) with the John Lewis staff perk day, and the 'emergency service' days which this year are Sunday 13th and Friday 18th March 2016. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Smiler open for these, making it very low profile with no press access, taking the wind out of the sails of any potential story when it does open to the GP by pointing out people have been going on it for weeks already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 I plan to visit Alton in 2016 but not sure what dates as yet. Waiting to see what TPM meets are planned first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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