March 20, 20178 yr comment_248331 News just in, it's also Thirteen hinted here. It probably is the Big Six Challenge making a comeback. (Alton Towers on Facebook)
March 21, 20178 yr comment_248343 On 19/03/2017 at 10:22 AM, silenthillXD said: Not going to lie it's rather funny seeing people freak out over something that's pretty obviously just a rebrand of the Big 6 challenge. Please actually go for that job as a met investigator your skills are impeccable
March 23, 20178 yr comment_248418 On 3/21/2017 at 1:41 AM, wegloo said: Please actually go for that job as a met investigator your skills are impeccable Haha who say's I'm not one already In all seriousness though, it just seemed kinda obvious? I mean there was no way it would be some form of new ride, as we would've seen planning, or heard some marketing hype by now. Likewise, smiler VR? Nah too many people would hurl. I mean we kinda knew it would be something they wouldn't be investing in as they've got all the ceebeebies stuff and towers loving care stuff going on this year. Also it was inevitable the Big Six Challenge would come back, they're not going to waste a good marketing tool just because of the unfortunate smiler incident.
April 13, 20178 yr comment_249274 will be my first time on the smiler this weekend and was just wondering if the air time is good on the airtime hills thanks
April 13, 20178 yr comment_249277 I don't really remember much airtime - my head was so dizzy from all the constant inversions I don't remember much else!
April 13, 20178 yr comment_249280 1 hour ago, Halfwaycorrected said: will be my first time on the smiler this weekend and was just wondering if the air time is good on the airtime hills thanks There is only one that really strikes me on the Smiler and that I can really remember as its (obviously) mainly inversion after inversion - definitely worth riding - hope you enjoy!
October 8, 20177 yr comment_253225 Something that amuses me about Smiler now is that people are point blank terrified of riding the front row. Means its the easiest ride to get the best seats in the house.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256463 The Single Rider Queue on Smiler (and pretty much every other ride at Towers except Spinball..) is gone. One clear reason for this is to reduce staff numbers, as now the bag room and batch host are no longer there, with these lovely boxes on the station instead: Image from TowersStreet Facebook
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256465 17 minutes ago, BaronC. said: The Single Rider Queue on Smiler (and pretty much every other ride at Towers except Spinball..) is gone. One clear reason for this is to reduce staff numbers, as now the bag room and batch host are no longer there, with these lovely boxes on the station instead: Image from TowersStreet Facebook Does that mean the stairs are now gonna be rammed or are they still going to manage the amount of people on them?
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256466 Will also be interesting to see how this works when The Smiler is running all its trains...
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256468 I do like how the fastrack queue just goes through the fire door. A terrible looking short term fix that I suspect will be in place until the end of time. The images towerstreet uploaded just show how tired the smiler is looking. The yellow hasn't aged well and the mistake in drainage design really hasn't helped the ride look presentable either.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256469 19 minutes ago, Project LC said: I do like how the fastrack queue just goes through the fire door. A terrible looking short term fix that I suspect will be in place until the end of time. The images towerstreet uploaded just show how tired the smiler is looking. The yellow hasn't aged well and the mistake in drainage design really hasn't helped the ride look presentable either. Didn’t they do a “TLC” on the yellow the other year?
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256470 They did some work on the multicoloured exit stairs and some of the station last closed season I think. A quick once over with a pressure washer and some work on the drainage would go a long way to getting it back to a decent standard. I'm gutted pretty much all the SRQs are now gone, it seems very short sighted and I would not feel comfortable leaving my bag in the cage when all the trains are running.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256471 1 hour ago, Mattgwise said: Will also be interesting to see how this works when The Smiler is running all its trains... It's never gonna be running 5 ever again, we'll be lucky if it ever runs 4 on most days...
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256472 The other side of removal of baggage drops is actual lockers at the park, those electronic ones they have at Towers & Chessington very rarely work. Anyone know if any lockers have been added / replaced around the park?
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256473 As far as I know the lockers by the entrance didn't work at all last season, guest services got pretty shirty when I complained. Said I could use the ones by Galactica instead.... When they work though I really like them, being able to nip back and drop off/pick up things instead of carrying them around all day was very useful. No worries about losing your key either.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256474 I did manage to use the ones at the entrance on 4th November last year but as you say it’s very hit and miss. I too have had the same “customer service” with regards to the lockers. It would be good if they had a few other £1 lockers dotted around though. I won’t use the Chessington electronic ones anymore after it offered us someone else’s full locker for use. Poor staff member said she dreads when someone mentions lockers!
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256475 35 minutes ago, Benin said: It's never gonna be running 5 ever again, we'll be lucky if it ever runs 4 on most days... Exactly what I meant. My point essentially being that there's actually less storage there than all of the other 2 train Merlin Coasters and this runs 3 or 4 trains most of the time.
March 10, 20187 yr comment_256477 Great to see progress in our parks. Who needs bag holds anyway, when you can just cram them on a few B&Q shelving units and cut the costs of expensive staff. Clearly much quicker and easier for everyone. Merlin really are pushing and innovating our parks.
March 11, 20187 yr comment_256482 It’s not like bag holds are an amazing solution - will it really make much difference to throughputs - I’m not so sure, and the queuing after to get your bag wasn’t much fun either. Would quite like to see merlin to go down the more universal route, lockers before the queue, it will be a job convincing people to part with their bags for an entire queue though.
March 11, 20187 yr comment_256483 The biggest issues I saw with The Smiler was not allowing enough people up the stairs to fill the trains, I've even seen platform staff get pretty angry as they had run out of people to batch! Not strictly a bag hold issue but still. As much as I dislike the Universal system it is the safest option, at least give us the option of lockers near the start of the queue. As it stands the nearest lockers are by the park entrance(?) Assuming they're working of course.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.