Coaster Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I was told by someone who was apparently at oakwood yesterday that it was closed. Oh right that's understandable if it was closed, giving out incorrect information on Twitter isn't very good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Saw will continue to be closed tomorrow and will be shut until further notice. No reason has been given but they are probably waiting for the Smiler investigation to finish so they can find out cause and then do a massive system check over the ride to ensure everything is working as it should be. I imagine when the smiler does re-open, it will be equipped with multiple new back up systems to ensure the problem will not arise again, and I'm sure thorpe park will be looking at ways to prevent the same incident occurring on Saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Saw will continue to be closed tomorrow and will be shut until further notice. How did you find this out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Saw will continue to be closed tomorrow and will be shut until further notice.No reason has been given but they are probably waiting for the Smiler investigation to finish so they can find out cause and then do a massive system check over the ride to ensure everything is working as it should be. I imagine when the smiler does re-open, it will be equipped with multiple new back up systems to ensure the problem will not arise again, and I'm sure thorpe park will be looking at ways to prevent the same incident occurring on Saw. I can totally understand this. Until they know what caused the incident on The Smiler, the ride system on Saw cannot be trusted on more than one car, which would be absolute chaos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Tuckwell Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) Thorpe's twitter confirms Saw is closed all day. From the same team that told us Slammer would be open... If it turns out to be a Gers problem, do you think it'll bankrupt them? Edited June 4, 2015 by Altitude Merged your two posts, please try not to double post! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I can totally understand this. Until they know what caused the incident on The Smiler, the ride system on Saw cannot be trusted on more than one car, which would be absolute chaos. I just feel that if they can't trust the ride system then what hope is there? I'm all for all the precautions, but Saw was operating fine and has never had a incident causing problem with its system. I rode Saw about the same time Smiler's incident happened and it continued to operate all day fine. I know Merlin don't want any risks and I'm glad they're taking the safety very seriously (as they always do) but should one incident on one ride stop the operation of the other? Rage and Speed use blocks, as do many Gerst coasters. Cobra at Paultons is a wild mouse with lots of blocks, surely you could say that system can't be trusted. I'm sure if Gerst thought straight out it was a major failure with the computer system they'd contact other parks (or you'd hope so). Six Flags did the same with Iron Rattler when Texas Giant killed someone though so it seems to be a thing companies do. Just because you see lets say a Vauxhall crashed on the motorway doesn't mean you'll avoid all Vauxhalls because all of them will crash, the risk is always there and in coasters it's always very very minimal. Basically, if Merlin can't trust the system then what hope do either of the rides have without major work? Also, people will cotton on very quickly that Saw is closed because of Smiler, and if the press get their hands on it they'll have a field day about Merlin running "unsafe" rides and so on. If only Merlin had come in and taken up that wooden coaster plan instead of going to Gerst for a quick job... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altitude Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 If one item of food in a delivery to a supermarket turned out to be dangerous, they ask all customers to bring it back because that's basic common sense. If they didn't shut Saw, they'd look worse because it looks like they don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 If one item of food in a delivery to a supermarket turned out to be dangerous, they ask all customers to bring it back because that's basic common sense. If they didn't shut Saw, they'd look worse because it looks like they don't care. So then shouldn't they close X and so on? They run of blocks. Varney said this: "At this point I don't know if it was a technological or a human error. We want to know if this issue is isolated to The Smiler. We can't open again until we're sure." http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/alton-towers-theme-park-remain-9387467 So if they don't know if it's just isolated to Smiler and are thinking it could affect the whole park, and then Saw, then surely the other parks have to be taken into consideration in general as well? Saw and Smiler are completely different types of coasters, they'll have different computers I'd guess because Saw deals with loading two and two in off load as well as four others. I can see why they've shut Saw, but if Towers is shut due to the investigation across the park or whatever, then if Saw is shut as Merlin are investigating/checking that other rides have to be considered too. And RE the food, yes, all of the products from that delivery would be recalled. So why aren't all of Gersts coasters shut that use these block systems so heavily? As that's what Gerst rely on because of their smaller cars, multiple blocks. If Saw and Smiler have the same system, surely loads of others will too. Especially as Saw and Smiler aren't even the same ride type. Just saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 I just feel that if they can't trust the ride system then what hope is there? I'm all for all the precautions, but Saw was operating fine and has never had a incident causing problem with its system. I rode Saw about the same time Smiler's incident happened and it continued to operate all day fine. I know Merlin don't want any risks and I'm glad they're taking the safety very seriously (as they always do) but should one incident on one ride stop the operation of the other? Rage and Speed use blocks, as do many Gerst coasters. Cobra at Paultons is a wild mouse with lots of blocks, surely you could say that system can't be trusted. I'm sure if Gerst thought straight out it was a major failure with the computer system they'd contact other parks (or you'd hope so). Six Flags did the same with Iron Rattler when Texas Giant killed someone though so it seems to be a thing companies do. Just because you see lets say a Vauxhall crashed on the motorway doesn't mean you'll avoid all Vauxhalls because all of them will crash, the risk is always there and in coasters it's always very very minimal. Basically, if Merlin can't trust the system then what hope do either of the rides have without major work? Also, people will cotton on very quickly that Saw is closed because of Smiler, and if the press get their hands on it they'll have a field day about Merlin running "unsafe" rides and so on. If only Merlin had come in and taken up that wooden coaster plan instead of going to Gerst for a quick job... I understand your point, but at the moment Merlin are probably absolutely terrified about running any of their coasters, and I fully support them in their decision to close Saw at the moment.I can see people's points about the fact that Saw has been running fine, but until a few days ago the same could have been said for The Smiler (yes it has had issues before but nothing like this). I imagine that once they find out what happened on The Smiler they will have better knowledge of whether Saw has the same defect (if it's even to do with a problem in the ride system - nobody knows at this stage) and it will be able to run again. I can understand the precaution of closing the ride though, even though it is very unlikely to have the same problem. Altitude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge2002 Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Didn't Stealth have a bit of downtime to replace its launch cable when Rita's snapped? It's probably just one of Merlin's policies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Didn't Stealth have a bit of downtime to replace its launch cable when Rita's snapped? It's probably just one of Merlin's policies. It wasn't replaced, they where reviewing the integrity of the cable and ensuring that any extra measures of safety could be be implemented. This is why parts of the launch track now have higher catwalk rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planenut Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Saw is the nearest thing to Smiler in the Merlin stable, so if necessary then they can use it to simulate incidents, but when the result of the investigation has been declared, we can all stop surmising on the fault, and I doubt the systems will be the cause. Training will be necessary to invoke any new guidelines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry-go-girl Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 It felt more like I was getting a free vasectomy when I went on it. Free vasectomy, that's an oxymoron I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 It seems the park have been giving a free return to the park as Saw is closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaz Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Saw's hardware is similar to that on The Smiler. I'm not sure on the software side of things, but my assumption is they aren't too dissimilar. So it makes complete sense that it remains closed until they know 100% what happened. Like the way Spinball closed when the catwalk fell off Dragon's Fury many a year ago. It's being cautious. I would like to think Rage and Speed would still be closed (even if in 1 train operation) but I understand these are back open and operating fine. If it comes out that it's a block/hill/break/sensor issue then these rides could be putting people at risk, even on 1 train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 I would like to think Rage and Speed would still be closed (even if in 1 train operation) but I understand these are back open and operating fine. If that it's a block/hill/break/sensor issue then these rides could be putting people at risk, even on 1 train. I can't really agree with that. Saw and Smiler both have a complex automated block system with multiple cars on the track. The others don't (well, they kind of do but its not really being used one one train opporaration). From what we do know about the incident it cannot be attributed to an actual break failure, which would maybe show a need for a wider closure. How far do you take it? It might be Gurst software that caused it, so shut all the flats too just I case? There's no way to eliminate all risk, but closing these coasters based on this incident would be overkill. Id happily go on Rage right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachoMachine Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 "The Smiler and Saw, a similar ride at Thorpe Park, have been closed since the accident and will stay closed for the foreseeable future. Read more at http://www.ashbournenewstelegraph.co.uk/Alton-Towers-Theme-park-reopen-days-Smiler/story-26642168-detail/story.html#KsUV03sGr0YQZGcK.99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC! Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 "The two additional rollercoaster rides taken out of service are both at Chessington - Dragon's Fury and Rattlesnake." This has really crippled Merlin, I'm happy they are making rides a lot safer but this will cripple Chessington as now only 2 coasters out of 4 are open, hopefully they can sort this soon as Merlin will lose a lot of money from this from people wanting refund etc, I am just happy though they are doing their upmost effort to make sure these rides are safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Fury and Rattlesnake were both open yesterday on normal service, for the record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Fury and Rattlesnake were both open yesterday on normal service, for the record. They are however closed today, according to the queue times - http://www.chessington.com/plan/today-at-chessington.aspx Strange how they've decided to close 2 rides which aren't even by the same manufacturer, but I can see why. Strange they were open yesterday though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Strange how they've decided to close 2 rides which aren't even by the same manufacturer, but I can see why. Strange they were open yesterday though. Block heavy. Cause now established, weren't establish yesterday, is my theory. Back to Saw, I wonder how Lionsgate will view the rides very public association with this incident? Could it affect the renewal of any licencing agreement between them and the park? Would be a shame if it did really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 To make matters worse Kobra is also out of action at Chessington, so that's three main rides off limits there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planenut Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Theories can be dangerous things,and as "boat rocking" as legitimate findings. Block heavy. Cause now established, weren't establish yesterday, is my theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 I don't think a theory that they know something about the incident today that they dd not know yesterday causing confirmed related ride closures on rides that were not closed yesterday is going to rock many boats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhabbi Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Cowa rides were only shut so they can employ new polices for all there multi car roller coasters Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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