I have owned a yearly pass for Alton Towers and Thorpe Park theme parks in the UK for a few years now. Its been well used over the last few years. The last time I went was in late March before going to Tokyo.
Soon after I got back, the smiler crashed and everybody and their mum pointed me at the news. Its pretty shocking and it does make you think but to be fair Rollercoasters are not meant to crash in this kind of way.
I did pay for another years pass before this all happened but haven’t picked it up yet (it becomes active once you go to a theme park and use it). I’m not quite sure how I feel about picking up my yearly pass especially since the smiler is still closed and looks to never be back…?
@ThemeParkInc Due to The Smiler being closed for the foreseeable future, we have decided to remove the branding
— Alton Towers Resort (@altontowers) June 15, 2015
The years pass doesn’t start till I pick it up but I wonder how Alton Towers will react if I decided I wanted my money back?
In reflection, the Japanese way of triple checking everything before letting the train leave the station, is quite sobering to read and think about. My reaction in light of the smiler accident is slightly changed.
- Will I be back at Alton Towers at some point? Yes
- Will I ride the smiler again? Yes but it looks unlikely it will survive
- Am I upset with the way Alton Towers have handled this whole thing? Yes