Smiler still easily holds the record for most inversions. Aside from crushing your nutsack, how’d you find the overall experience?
It was good - hadn't been to a theme park since I was a kid before then. One of the best memories was going on the teacups - in case you don't know the teacup ride, it is one where you sit in a seat shaped like a teacup which then spins around. The main feature it has is a wheel in the middle so you can manually spin as well. We are all adult blokes and has that thing spinning at mach speed while squealing like we were kids again. The older you get, the less you do things just for the fun of it.
Interesting thing is I’ll go on basically any major thrill ride, but those purely spinning rides have me beat. I just get physically ill with all the spinning. I’m ok with twisting and spinning, but spinning alone is not for me.
My sister used to rave about the waltzer, I went on once, I must've been green when I cam eoff, I can't remember feeling that sick and not vomitting, ever, but I'll go on pretty much anything that gets the adrenaline pumping.
I’ll say this. I don’t like travelling, or setup/tear down fairs or carnivals. I don’t trust the whole operation. We have a very famous one every year in the last two weeks of August with the C.N.E or the Canadian National Exhibition. I won’t ride their thrill riders. However, when we are talking about these big amusement parks owned by massive chains, they’re very safe and safety is priority number one. Admittedly, I have all my experience with Cedar Fair, Disney and Six Flags and none whatsoever with Merlin Entertainment Group.
Exactly. It’s not fear or anything. It’s just like how some people get motion sickness at sea and some don’t.
But that's part of the adrenaline rush, especially when it keeps going 'KKLANKKK' and jolting in a manner that isn't part of the ride.
I know there was a famous accident at the aforementioned Smiler at Alton Towers. Trains collided due to faulty brakes. It was never made clear exactly if was a mechanical or human error. I’ve heard some say they’ll no longer ride when two trains are operating, but have no worries on days that only train is running.
Human error I thought? It was a serious accident, 4 serious hurt, one girl had to have her leg amputated. Think she got something like £11m in compensation, still, not worth losing a leg for!
Merlin’s profits at AT suffered immensely after that incident. They went back and re-inspected all their major attractions across Europe and revamped where needed. Of course, this isn’t to suggest that a big corporation cares about the individual safety of any one particularly individual, but they definitely want the public to feel like they can go to their parks, drop a load of cash there and go home with all their appendages as to ensure future visits.
April 18th 2003. It was an overcast Sunday with a biting southwesterly. And we had pancakes for breakfast.
