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Accident at Alton Towers

Been at Alton for the past 2 days and the words on most people's lips are when will it be back open and The Smiler is amazing hope it reopens soon.

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Aye as Ian says, Varney's latest comments go from just total acceptance and utter shock, to a sense of almost an underlying "What the **** else do you want from me?".
 
Let's be realistic, the park has been dead since the accident. The popularity of the ride itself is going to be staggeringly low. One train would be sufficient initially!
 
If anything it will be interesting to see if this coaster can re-open and become popular again as we have never really had an incident like this in the UK that has ever generated this much media interest.

I know similar accidents have happened on Big Dipper and the Big One which have been pretty much forgotten about but those accidents didn't result in loss of limbs or generate any near the amount of media attention this accident has.

With parks across the UK apparently being really quiet in July this accident has clearly affected UK parks in general not just Alton Towers.

But yeah will be interesting to see how popular The Smiler is in August 2016.
 
There will be other reasons the parks have been quiet this year - no new attractions apart from Blackpool doesn't help nor does the fact the weather in July has been crap.

It's a factor but not the only factor.
 
Ben said:
Well, anecdonely there was no one at BPB last weekend cause the weather sucked.
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So we don't. Ok.
I would expect that they might not be affected very much as the media made sure Merlin's name was at the forefront of every article with mentions of which other parks they owned and their individual disruptions.
 
I truly believe that if Smiler opened tomorrow, it would have the longest line.

I also think it's fair to assume all UK parks are suffering reduced attendance - I really don't think the kind of people who'd be put off going are smart enough to figure out which parks are Merlin and which are not.

I would guess that Legoland is least affected, actually. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather walk barefoot over a mile of awkward lying Lego bricks than go to Legoland, but for some unknown reason, the public love the place. No amount gimmicky fairground rides with capacities lower than a Twizy, stretches of barren unthemed nothingness, broken animatronics and dirty figurines can sustain the public appetite for that place. My logic is that Lego's branding and distance (not literally... I mean like, brand wise) from the rest of the Merlin parks, and actually wider UK industry as a whole, would keep it safe. It's not "one of them" funfair parks.
 
Joey said:
Great way of putting it Smithy! I agree 100%.

The reason the media kept pointing out Thorpe and Chessie is because they had rides closed - so whilst I'll agree that both of those and most notably Alton are going to have the largest cuts in attendance post-Smiler, how much of that is down to public awareness that attractions are closed?

I would predict that annual pass attendance is up, not down. The kind of people who get annual passes are going to be shocked and interested in the Smiler accident, but not put off going. Well, the majority of. I bet some people demanded refunds, but I'd guess the majority have caught on that the parks are quieter and usual and are making the most of it.

I'd also bet that Blackpool and similar parks have been hit hard. Blackpool has a public perception issue regarding it's H&S anyway.
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Well yes but the reason the rides were closed was because there was a big hoo-ha about Merlin's rollercoaster safety procedures in general which was talked about as a countrywide issue in a number of papers. Merlin always advertise their other UK parks at different attractions (like with all their annual pass stuff) so I think a lot of people are aware on which parks they own etc.

As I said earlier, I do expect that all parks have had some effect as well, just not as much. Again, as I said I think the big 3 will have felt the biggest effects.

The annual pass groups on Facebook seem to have thousands of people in them (like 15k if I remember rightly and that's only fb people) so they extend much further than just being for enthusiasts. I saw a lot of AP people wearing lanyards on my last trip to Chessington which I hadn't seen previously at their parks.

Obviously we don't "agree 100%" so we can beg to differ on the subject on which we are merely speculating. We'll only know more when the yearly stats come out but even then we won't know for sure as a lot of other external factors come into play as well (like weather, local events etc).
 
How many of the general paying public have annual passes though? Must be a tiny amount compared to the visitors they get.

I agree with Joey, I think rollercoasters in general as a 'brand' have suffered as a result of the Smiler accident, I don't think it's a problem unique to Merlin parks.
 
Great way of putting it Smithy! I agree 100%.

The reason the media kept pointing out Thorpe and Chessie is because they had rides closed - so whilst I'll agree that both of those and most notably Alton are going to have the largest cuts in attendance post-Smiler, how much of that is down to public awareness that attractions are closed?

I would predict that annual pass attendance is up, not down. The kind of people who get annual passes are going to be shocked and interested in the Smiler accident, but not put off going. Well, the majority of. I bet some people demanded refunds, but I'd guess the majority have caught on that the parks are quieter and usual and are making the most of it.

I'd also bet that Blackpool and similar parks have been hit hard. Blackpool has a public perception issue regarding it's H&S anyway.
 
Blackpool has been doing really well this summer, every post I've seen from the park it has been busy and a family member has been at the park for a few week days and said it has been busy. With Blackpool it Is a lot more accessible for teenagers to get to than Alton Towers, with it having a close train station, etc.

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The Mail and Mirror have both published an interview with Leah Washington:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rever.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/al ... ah-6220010

Parts of it are pretty harrowing and there's lots to pick out, including this quick explanation by a medic as to why the rescue from the car took so long:
‘It was the most complex job I’ve ever had to deal with, and there were some very hairy moments up there. The rescue attempt was like playing Jenga with human beings. The carriage was hanging at a 45-degree angle and if you removed a bit of metal, all four [front row victims] would have fallen out.’
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Joey said:
Great way of putting it Smithy! I agree 100%.

The reason the media kept pointing out Thorpe and Chessie is because they had rides closed - so whilst I'll agree that both of those and most notably Alton are going to have the largest cuts in attendance post-Smiler, how much of that is down to public awareness that attractions are closed?

I would predict that annual pass attendance is up, not down. The kind of people who get annual passes are going to be shocked and interested in the Smiler accident, but not put off going. Well, the majority of. I bet some people demanded refunds, but I'd guess the majority have caught on that the parks are quieter and usual and are making the most of it.

I'd also bet that Blackpool and similar parks have been hit hard. Blackpool has a public perception issue regarding it's H&S anyway.
Click to expand...
Well yes but the reason the rides were closed was because there was a big hoo-ha about Merlin's rollercoaster safety procedures in general which was talked about as a countrywide issue in a number of papers. Merlin always advertise their other UK parks at different attractions (like with all their annual pass stuff) so I think a lot of people are aware on which parks they own etc.

As I said earlier, I do expect that all parks have had some effect as well, just not as much.

The annual pass groups on Facebook seem to have thousands of people in them (like 15k if I remember rightly and that's only fb people) so they extend much further than just being for enthusiasts. I saw a lot of AP people wearing lanyards on my last trip to Chessington which I hadn't seen previously at their parks.

Obviously we don't "agree 100%" so we can beg to differ on the subject on which we are merely speculating. We'll only know more when the yearly stats come out but even then we won't know for sure as a lot of other external factors come into play as well (like weather, local events etc).

But anyway, that x ray is horrific! Sad article but glad to see she is making progress.
 
I know what you mean about the annual pass people wearing lanyards, saw loads at towers, never seen it before either.

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Has anyone been to Alton in the last couple of weeks? Im going with a friend in a about a week and want to know if the claims of the queues being really short now are true.


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