Above, you'll see the video of when I took to the internet in shock to report the on-going's at Alton Towers after the crash which saw a ride train of people injured and some even losing limbs.
News has been coming out about the theme park all year since this incident as the british media try to stalk the park and make as much news as they can, but the most recent news to come out of the park has had people in shock.
The news broke not too long ago that Alton Towers wanted to re-open the ride, only a government restriction on the park meant that the ride remains closed to the public until the health and safety executive had concluded it's findings (I also believe they are close to coming out with their investigation details).
This news really did shock some people and I think it is possibly un-fair, but a failure is on the way for the theme park.
Going back to before the incident on the ride, the Smiler was a brilliant attraction and it wasn't too long before I had friends telling me of how the que's could often be almost 3/4 hours long just for 1 ride on this world first. Alton towers themselves had spent millions branding the ride and building it, only to have it plagued by problems, even before it opened.
So how are we all so shocked?
I personally am a little shocked at this news that they want to re-open the ride too. To be completely honest I feel they can re-open it, but it would not be welcomed back to the british public, its reputation is too tarnished and I don't see the ride having a long life-span, if it was to re-open. However, I cannot argue against it's safety if it was to re-open, since it would be the government to clear it to be open again, and let's face it, despite all it's set-backs and incidents, the ride itself has managed thousands of sucssesful trips and given thousands of people a ride to never forget.
What will happen if they re-open the ride?
It's possible that the Smiler could become a popular ride again, however the main perception of the ride to the british public now, is that it isn't safe, given the major incident earlier this year and of course we're still waiting to see what the cause of the incident was. That said, you may never see a long que for this ride again.
Would they consider closing it and removing from the park for good?
Of course. Alton towers owners (Merlin) have only said that they would like to re-open the ride, not that it WILL open. If the result of the investigation is of one that cannot be resolved, as in an actual floor in the rides design, then of course Merlin are not going to ever want to purposely put a customer's life at risk.
So what is the actual news of The Smiler? What is it's fate?
At the moment, not even Merlin know. There is no / will be no news officially speaking on the ride until the government's report is completed. Then and only then can Alton Towers make a decision on wether to re-open the ride and we can make the decision to ride or not ride.
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