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The Smiler


th13teen

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This whole thing is a bit pathetic really. With the work that has been going on in the last few days after the scheduled opening, taken with the obviously severe problems the ride itself has been having since press day, it must have been clear the date was unrealistic long before the 20 hours notice given.

It seemed obvious at the time that the date given was wildly optimistic and that they were setting themselves up to fail, and now they've failed. I don't deny that on top of the initial planning being seemingly rushed and construction late starting they've also been plagued by problems it would have been hard to foresee, but this opening fiasco at the business end is inexcusable really. Once you end up with a mid season opening date there is no doubt soft openings are the way to go, stops a finished ride sitting there out of action (which doesn't matter on closed season constructions) but without having to set a date for the moment it could be ready and then disappointing everyone when it isn't.

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The whole project has been a mess. Yes it's looking quite good now; and I am very excited for it, but the way it has been carried out is not really what I would expect from a major professional company like Merlin..? They should have allowed extra, extra, extra time considering the scale of this project. Poor project planning in the aspect that they haven't allowed themselves enough free time to consider unprecedented events. Cedar Point left LOADS of free time for GateKeeper to ensure it was 100% perfect before opening.

Just been thinking about the timeline of events...

  • Surely from the experience they had with Saw (which had PLENTY of time to test, but still had problems when opening) should have made them think more in the planning process and timeline of construction milestones.
  • Planning went in for SW7 in December 2011. Now, it was accepted shortly after and deconstruction of the Black Hole tent was slow having started right at the start of the season in Feb / March. It wasn't all deconstructed until June and even then they still had a big pile of rubble leftover in the middle of the site...
  • The site clearly needed a large amount of excavation and this took a fair few months before any footers or concrete appeared, with October 2012 being when the concrete walls started going in around the pit of the Staffordshire knot. Just for comparison, Saw was track complete by late September in it's equivalent year!
  • Track arrived November 2012 but didn't start to get put into place (excuding station track) until mid-December for the Staffordshire knot. Surely by now they should've known that it would not open for March...
  • February 2013 and the first drop structure above the toilets gets constructed, track all completed mid-April.
  • And now they set a second deadline of it opening in May and fail to meet that by more than 1 day too.

I know it will open and it will (I'm sure) be a brilliant ride. It's just frustrating that they seem to have been and done a bit of the case of secondary school homework where you realise you've started too late with it and "oh ****" I can't finish it on time / it won't be up to a good enough standard.

The project should have had more time to iron out problems, with space permitting for bad weather and delays in construction. I think even if the groundworks were to have gone to plan and the weather were to have been fine, they still wouldn't have opened it for March, nooo way.

:ninja: Sorry if this sounded a bit of a rant, but it is really as we're enthusiasts and naturally we should care about the way things like this are handled! I'm saying June is when we see it open if we want it open on full capacity anyway, there's been very little testing recently... Has there even been any testing on more than 2 trains yet??

Maybe there should have never been an opening date... I'm thinking it would have been better to do surprise soft openings instead.

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They've updated the FAQ section on the website regarding The Smiler. I think they're embarrassing themselves a bit now with the use of the "over 50 rides and attractions" sentence... Just look, they've felt the need to tell us it three times in case you didn't already know!

http://www.altontowers.com/the-smiler-faqs/


Due to unforeseen teething problems, The Smiler will not be open on 25th May.

FAQs

I have already booked tickets for 25th May what should I do?

The Alton Towers Resort has over 50 amazing rides and attractions which are open for our visitors to enjoy. Guests who have booked tickets for 25th May to specifically ride The Smiler can have them revalidated for another visit during the season. There is no need to contact us, simply turn up and your ticket will be accepted at the gate.

I am planning to visit this weekend, will The Smiler be open?

The Alton Towers Resort has over 50 amazing rides and attractions which are open for our visitors to enjoy. If you are visiting this weekend specifically to ride The Smiler, keep an eye on this page and we will update it with the latest information on a regular basis.

I have booked a hotel stay for next week, what should I do?

Whilst the Resort does have over 50 rides and attractions, if you are visiting to ride The Smiler, we will be happy to change the date of your stay, free of charge. Please call us on 0871 2221100 and one of our team will arrange this for you.

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I went yesterday, and whilst it was disappointing it was closed, plenty to do.

Doesn't make up for the rest of the park though; serious shortage of inside spaces that are pleasant. Got rather drenched in the odd hail/rain downpour and decided to pop to the bar in the court yard for a drink to warm up, doors all wide open, freezing inside. Ended up going round the Aquarium just to get somewhere warm! I appreciate there is food outlets, but compared to Thorpe with its various Neros and Bar 360 etc, theres not many places to chill with a beer in the warmth. Did admittedly realise we could have gone to Woodcutters bar/restaurant later but didn't think about that. Log Flume is very tatty, Duel had plenty of decor not working (tunnel being a major one), and breakdowns. Chicken World in X-Sector is ok, but admittedly the chicken isn't great, glad I went for a burger, some raw chicken going out!

Plenty of breakdowns, the hydraulic locks on ripsaws seemed a tad temperamental. Rita was a bit screwed up by the weather, frequently closing. Oblivion though was running fantastically, as was Nemesis & Air.

Most entertaining was seeing so many enthusiasts on park and the various meet ups! Seemed like everyone had a good day anyway, despite the appalling weather and breakdowns. Also managed to park right at the entrance as we were in a mini bus. Not entirely sure we were supposed to do that ;)

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Couple of quick photos from yesterday and today

Stickers have been added to some of the supports

P1050399.JPGand

P1050401.JPG

and

P1050403.JPG

We have a new sign too, by the way, look at the state of that entrance roof already.

P1050408.JPG

OK onto today. I popped down. I had heard some off rumors about cows in tunnels, The whole of X sector was blocked off with no one allowed anywhere where you could see much. The following 2 pics were using the zoom.

P1050416.JPG

I moved around the side of the toilet block, with rather perfect timing if you ask me.

P10504193.jpg

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and

We have a new sign too, by the way, look at the state of that entrance roof already.

P1050408.JPG

What I said when this yellow first come out, the whole thing is going to look really dirty, tatty and old very quickly using such a vibrant colour that will show up the dirt unless they really keep on top of cleaning and maintenance, and we all know how good they are at that. At this rate it'll look knackered before it has even opened.

I moved around the side of the toilet block, with rather perfect timing if you ask me.

P10504193.jpg

What the actual ....

Am I missing something, do we know what this is about?!

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In other news, Smiler won't open this Bank Holiday weekend at all - http://www.altontowers.com/the-smiler-faqs/

Can't see them making the advertised May opening now unfortunately...

But it's okay, because.... "The Alton Towers Resort is however open as usual from 10am-5.30pm with over 50 amazing ride and attractions for you to enjoy." ;)

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OK some photos from today - This will be my last update of photos for a while.

I think we now know why the ride failed it's H&S. They seem to be hurriedly adding grating to the top of all under ride queues.

P1050427.JPG

P1050433.JPG

With more pieces of queue meshing being bought in constantly

P1050529.JPG

By the end of the day it looked like this

P1050552.JPG

The queue board was also working today. Its started with this:

P1050442.JPG

And then changed to the following picture causing a short lived flurry of excitement.

P1050480.JPG

From the top of the site what we think is the pre-show now has this sign

P1050499.JPG

And looking into the other door you can see some of the interior. It looks a bit cattle pennish to me.

P1050448.JPG

A car was being added to the ride around lunch time.

P1050487.JPG

and a closer look at the wheel assembly.

P1050469.JPG

This guy sat there for ages feeding little bricks into that hole.

P1050478.JPG

Here we have one of the staff praying to the god of grey boxes to make the ride work.

P1050513.JPG

He was soon joined by his friend, who corrected his praying method.

P1050510.JPG

Work was also being done on the stairs by the end of the platform.

P1050503.JPG

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I don't have an issue with the roofing of the queue really. However, it looks like a quick fix job and that they've salvaged rusty metal sections from the tip, so not a good look in that respect.

I just want to see this ride open now, for the sake of the park...

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Yeah lets go back to being owned by DIC, those were fantastic days!

Fine!! But really... as much investment has been pumped into all ex-Tussauds parks, at what cost is this in the long run? Merlin have bitten more than they can chew (not exactly relating to The Smiler I admit, but it's a valid concern me thinks)

Question. Should I be looking forward to this ride? Bare in mind it's a Gerstlauer and the fact I find Saw to be complete utter... ....The layout looks nuts, not a fan of the black 'n yellow (but that's really subjective), the cars look pretty funky, but will it ride like other Gerstlauers in this country? I'd like to know what similar, if any, rides out there are like?

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Not all Gerstlauers are as bad as Saw. I can only vouch for the 10 or so of their rides I have been on but none of them even come close to the pain and misery that Saw inflicts on me.

Only problem being most of those rides invert you 2-3 times or not at all. This thing could be brutal.

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