1 hour ago, Coaster said:

Wicker Man was reportedly on one train this weekend with the queue peaking at 150 minutes.

 

Ouch.

Lots of controversy this evening. They closed the ride well before park close claiming there isn't enough lighting in the area. 

34 minutes ago, Mattgwise said:

Lots of controversy this evening. They closed the ride well before park close claiming there isn't enough lighting in the area. 

That is incredibly poor.

 

Wicker Man opened in 2018, if it still doesn't have permanent lighting then that is an absolute joke frankly. 

 

Why should guests miss out because Alton can't sort out very basic things?  It's just not good enough, especially for a park of their scale.

I do wonder if covid-19 hitting hard in December/January and the freight issues related to Brexit meaning the UK parks are in a position where things just aren't getting in to the country as easily as they were before. 

 

I don't want to make excuses for the parks but it is all a bit odd that none of them have had great starts to the year.

Its too early to blame freight delays on P&O ……

 

but I think that park seasons, staff changes/ shortages/supply issues all have contributed to the issues at hand.  In otherwords the perfect storm for delays

There’s been freight issues for over a year… it’s not just because of a car ferry service.

6 hours ago, Mark9 said:

There’s been freight issues for over a year… it’s not just because of a car ferry service.

 I get that as I work on logistics, I said it was to early to blame P+O a dig at last weeks actions.

So I experienced Wicker Man's pre show for the first time since 2019. And gosh, I really do not like it.

 

Okay, the actual premise is okay. Let's tell a short story about how this mysterious random group are sacrificing guests to a mysterious being and you'll be fed to the flames. And the presentation is nice (the reveal of the Wicker Man head gets a few oohs and ahhs). I think it's a bit unnecessary and could have been done in other ways, but that's not really the point I want to make.

 

Operationally, the pre show is dire. 

1. Let's crowd as many people into a small dark space as possible. Get them to squeeze into all the nooks and crannys.

2. Let's stop guests right below the screen so those at the front can't see anything.

3. Let's also stick a fence near the front that people can't see because it's too dark so they walk into it.

4. Let's have a small queue after the pre show that can fit less people than the pre show room.

5. Let's have an automatic door that tries to shut on people queueing after the pre show.

6. Let's play the pre show even when the door hasn't shut and people are still queueing to get batched.

 

It's all just a bloody nightmare. Maybe I'm just being a bit nitpicky, but I really just do not like it.

Oh!  I think the actual pre-show is pretty good!

I've always enjoyed it, and it definitely adds a bit of drama to the experience.

 

Honestly I missed the pre-show during Covid and I'm glad to have it back.

 

I agree though, they really didn't give much thought to the design of it all did they.

 

That post in the middle of the exit doorway, and the automatic doors that close on people seemingly every time seem dangerous to me tbh, and I'm surprised they are still there after all these years.

That should have been a week 1 "whoops-and-fix" surely?

 

Ideally the bag drop and pre-show needed to be 20 meters 'earlier' in the queue to provide a little more time to organise it all.

Being earlier in the queue would also remove the urgency to start the show that always seems to exist - it's always a mad rush to get everyone's bags stored and in to the show on time, otherwise there's nobody waiting to board the train. Stupid design!

 

I'm surprised the pre-show has lasted as long as it has. I thought it would be a one season wonder tbh, or at least given the axe "because of covid" - Merlin don't tend to go in for things like these pre-shows long term do they.

Looks like a small fire has broke out on Wickerman this afternoon. Hopefully there isn't much damange. 

 

I wonder what caused it? 

 

 

The Sun has published an article on this incident:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29498753/alton-towers-fire-wicker-man/

 

Interestingly, the cause is thought to be a “foreign object” according to an Alton Towers spokesperson… could this mean that a guest dropped something flammable on the track or something?

 

It will also be “closed until further notice” while the park carries out “essential maintenance”, apparently… whether that means a day, a week, or longer is anyone’s guess.

 

It’s a relief that this seemingly didn’t cause any major damage. I am slightly disappointed that this probably means that my favourite ride on park will be closed for my visit on Sunday, but I did get 2 rides on it in March, one of which was an unexpected night ride, so I can’t really complain too much!

Very strange.

 

I can’t imagine there will be much to do in the way of repairs.  It was only a small amount of white whispy smoke.

 

Maybe a smoke machine malfunction or something? Or some tool has dropped a battery pack or vape thing?

Likely to be a battery pack, phone, vape or similar which was in someone's pocket, flew out and became damaged on impact, hence the smoke.

 

That section of track is away from all smoke machines and similar. It is literally just track. So the only way it could have been a malfunction of the ride is if there were excessive sparks that flew between wheels and track which led to the wood catching fire, which is extremely unlikely.

 

An unfortunate situation, but hopefully one which doesn't need much work.

It's obviously done some significant damage for the ride to be shut this long.

Only been a week. Depends what they're waiting for given how burdenous the supply chain is these days when receiving stuff from abroad.

Towers' statement made it appear that the damage was superficial, emphasising that fire-treated wood was used in construction. I think people were expecting it to only be shut for a few days.

Just because something is fire treated/resistant doesn't make it immune to fire damage.

 

Always harder to replace roller coaster components. Especially on wooden ones.

I know that. I'm saying that Towers made it sound like it wasn't a big deal. But, the damage is evidently extensive.

It might be fire treated, but now the structure is essentially compromised so they need to replace the pieces affected.

 

For example, if you have a 30 minute rated fire door that withstands 25 minutes, it might not have failed but the fire stopping material is compromised, so you need to replace the entire thing.

Perfect example from Benin there. And (again, as Benin said) if they need new parts from abroad, it will take time. 

 

It's not a major thing, presumably, because the structural integrity of the affected area hasn't come into the question. But work still needs to be done.

 

somebody call 9 1 1, wicker fire burning on the track floor, whoah, o'neill got that super thing, hotter than the sun of the south of spain, got me as soon as I walked through the queue, oh, my rail started smoking, the way she dropped a flare, that thing, got them wanna spend their money on Wick, Wick  er

1 hour ago, Parm Pap said:

somebody call 9 1 1, wicker fire burning on the track floor, whoah, o'neill got that super thing, hotter than the sun of the south of spain, got me as soon as I walked through the queue, oh, my rail started smoking, the way she dropped a flare, that thing, got them wanna spend their money on Wick, Wick  er

 

*raises a hand to cut the music á la Simon Cowell*

 

It's gonna be a no from me.

 

Don't quit your day job Parm Pap.