The Smiler - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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RubyGaga
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dazza4783 wrote:
RubyGaga wrote: Lost my smiler virginity today! Was the best experience I've had on a ride! Also the queue was only 60 mins today at 10 :) the staff were nice too! The lady at the front of the ride said there was no queue line for the front row, but she said she would save us a couple of seats on it! Rode front row :)
It broke down for about 20 mins at lunch. Nobody seemed to be smiling then!
Also what's up with the glass floor? :s
Did the ride open at 10 today, will be there tomorrow so trying to get an idea as to whether or not it will open on time tomorrow.
It opened at 10 this morning. However there is a very long queue outside x sector which is very messy and silly. However, the wait wasn't very long at all
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deeve
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Why is there a discussion about secret elements know the ride is open. Alton towers is a theme park not an ammusement park. A theme park is about themed make believe attraction. Secret weapon attractions at alton towers are about the whole experience not just One element. The station, digital maping,the shop, the trains, the colour,large theming elements and so forth. Anyone of these aspects are subject to surprise or secret by park designers. A lot of professional people such as artists, engineers, arcitects and contractors may wish there work to be protected from plagrists. Ammusement parks tend to build rides where the only thing riders experience is just the ride and no escapism. Towers times dudes have done a great job covering the biggest ride at alton towers.
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Phild94
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I know everyone will hate me suggesting this but here me out.....

I think The Smiler will stall again tomorrow :/

A bold statement I know BUT I think they may want to test the wind tolerances in the morning seeing as there is forecasted high winds for most of the day, either that or it won't be operational...

I know some other rides operate on a tolerance system as if the wind speed reaches too high then it will valley :/

I know this will all have been considered during planning and development etc etc but I don't think the smiler will be open tomorrow.... And if it stalls I don't think we will see the train taken off for a few days or at least until the wind dies down :/

Feel free to "correct" me if I'm wrong but just thought I'd try to make people aware of my concerns :/ by no means do I want this ride closed EVER but i don't think it will be operational tomorrow :(
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dazza4783
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RubyGaga wrote:
dazza4783 wrote:
RubyGaga wrote: Lost my smiler virginity today! Was the best experience I've had on a ride! Also the queue was only 60 mins today at 10 :) the staff were nice too! The lady at the front of the ride said there was no queue line for the front row, but she said she would save us a couple of seats on it! Rode front row :)
It broke down for about 20 mins at lunch. Nobody seemed to be smiling then!
Also what's up with the glass floor? :s
Did the ride open at 10 today, will be there tomorrow so trying to get an idea as to whether or not it will open on time tomorrow.
It opened at 10 this morning. However there is a very long queue outside x sector which is very messy and silly. However, the wait wasn't very long at all
Should be there about 9 anyways so will get in the queue for it when the park opens  :D
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DaveBear
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I love this image you posted....

The Faces of the two on front at the left of the train (right of picture) in contrast to the other two next two them hands raised...

What a Ace Capture shows on one side Thrill Seekers and on the other, well ......

Mind you at first i was like shocked as what not to expect but by time 2nd inversion was over i realized ride was smooth and i was smiling... well by 2nd half and cobra roll etc i was just like wooo wooooooooo! 

And i wanted to just get back on..... but alas the Que Time even at 45 min Single Rider...

This is defo a ride to Abuse a Platinum Fast Pass on..... for those Insane enough to cough up £90 quid lol

One thing i can say about the Smiler is how wonderful the ride looks off ride, when you take a photo of it, it really does stand out.... so while the color theme/scheme and Maraliser Screen and Legs and Props... dont really add to the ride when your on it so much as you cant notice them much...  well for me..

When off ride and when you look at photos taken, the ride certainly stands out from the crowd and i must say not many rides are as Wonderful to the Camera as this Baby!
Last edited by DaveBear on Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DaveBear
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deeve wrote: Why is there a discussion about secret elements know the ride is open. Alton towers is a theme park not an ammusement park. A theme park is about themed make believe attraction. Secret weapon attractions at alton towers are about the whole experience not just One element. The station, digital maping,the shop, the trains, the colour,large theming elements and so forth. Anyone of these aspects are subject to surprise or secret by park designers. A lot of professional people such as artists, engineers, arcitects and contractors may wish there work to be protected from plagrists. Ammusement parks tend to build rides where the only thing riders experience is just the ride and no escapism. Towers times dudes have done a great job covering the biggest ride at alton towers.
I for one was one of those who expected their to be some elements that are Worlds First, i took this from Wardleys Comments about it having many Worlds First... and his previous interview about he is not a fan of World Records and Gimmicks that dont add to the Ride.  This Interview he said is why the SW Coasters are unique like Oblivion, Air and Th13teen....

So maybe they had some ideas, but they dropped them maybe due to budget? time restraints or purely because they realized once on the ride you would not really notice things like being tickled, funny smelling smoke and having the trains stop to show some Illusions etc on Screen would slow down ride times.

So yeah as far as the Interviews go, The Smiler at the end of the day never had nothing unique and World First like those Rides...... It was more like Nemesis which again was not a Worlds First just a Europes... and thus 14 Inversions is a record but one that will be broken.

But while that seem negative, in that there is nothing ground breaking....

We need to look at the Ground Breakers...

Oblivion, Air and Th13teen.....

Then ask when its all said and done, do these rides give the Thrill Factor and Intensity of a....

Nemesis, Rita and now The Smiler...

The Answer is NO!

So if the aim was to give us a long awaited Thrill Ride, and one with so many twists in a enclosed space and a ride to give Alton Towers some of that Wow Factor that has been taken by Thorpe Park with Nemesis Inferno, Colossus, Saw and Swarm...

Then yes i would say they have done their job Well.....

I do think the so called Marmalising Process, could have been added to the que lines....  Maybe the ideas was scrapped because originally we saw a description of all the Marmalising Elements and then the Disorentator (The Track)  but now we get the video used for the Disorentator  but name now changed to Marmaliser, which now implies the track is the Marmalising Process...

Still think would been cool to add the 5 Marmalising Elements in the Que..

So you walk past one stage and get sprayed as you walk through a door with water....  next you could like go through a door with strobes.... these areas have a Advocate outside to hurry you through in groups of up to 4 to next part of the que... 

Then have a small tunnel for the Giggler which sprays smoke that smells, and another small tunnel in que line for Hypnotiser which would have some projection mapping or just screens with optical illusions on.... 

Oh and the Giggler again a Door like Entrance that you go through 2 or 4 at a time that then tickles you as you walk through.

These effects would be more practical than having them on the ride or interact with as you would not notice them much on ride... but off ride as you que i think would have added much more to the experience....

However maybe some of these could be added at a latter date...
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A question for anyone who has ridden.. Is there any reference to the backstory of the ride in the queueline? TV screens playing videos about the ministry of joy or anything like that? Seems a shame if not because most will not really know what it is all about.
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RubyGaga
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Okay so it's having technical difficulties.
We ran straight there at 9 and got sent away.
Went on nemesis and thirteen and can back half an hour ago. We've been let into the queue but have not been told when it will be open. May be a few hours yet so who knows!

Somebody get us a drink were sat down and thirty haha!
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carlbrim
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Gax wrote: A question for anyone who has ridden.. Is there any reference to the backstory of the ride in the queueline? TV screens playing videos about the ministry of joy or anything like that? Seems a shame if not because most will not really know what it is all about.
Yes exactly that there are tv screens around the queue line and marmaliser screen that advertise the MOJ but it doesn't really tell you a story, just a few clips here and there. But all is lost when in the indoor section of the queue, no dr. Kelman in there! ;)
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gordon_mfc
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Hi guys,

LONG time watcher of the forum... especially this one, and have tracked the smiler from its planning stage!

Just a quick question... Im finally going to the park on tuesday, how busy to you guys think it will be? Im not really familiar with the english term times.

Also, I'm just off the phone with alton towers and they just said the smiler fast track isn't available at all. Can anyone help clear this one up?

Thanks  ;)
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ProjectK
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ridetimes.co.uk is showing both Smiler & Oblivion as closed. Can anyone on park confirm or expand?

It's 2 weeks since opening now and we still seem to have an awesomely expensive, awesomely enjoyable but horribly unreliable coaster! I really hope AT/Gerst can iron out these teething troubles soon! I'm sure AT/Gerst are hoping the same!!
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gordon_mfc wrote: Hi guys,

LONG time watcher of the forum... especially this one, and have tracked the smiler from its planning stage!

Just a quick question... Im finally going to the park on tuesday, how busy to you guys think it will be? Im not really familiar with the english term times.

Also, I'm just off the phone with alton towers and they just said the smiler fast track isn't available at all. Can anyone help clear this one up?

Thanks  ;)
Hey Gordon,

Welcome to the forum! It's really hard to say how busy it is going to be, with The Smiler being new we noticed a lot of parents taking kids out of school when we were there last week.

It's odd that they said that about the fast tracks as they have been selling small amounts of them every hour. Maybe it's because The Smiler has technical difficulties today. Go up to the box office when you get there on Tuesday and ask them for fast track!

Phild94 wrote: I know everyone will hate me suggesting this but here me out.....

I think The Smiler will stall again tomorrow :/

A bold statement I know BUT I think they may want to test the wind tolerances in the morning seeing as there is forecasted high winds for most of the day, either that or it won't be operational...

I know some other rides operate on a tolerance system as if the wind speed reaches too high then it will valley :/

I know this will all have been considered during planning and development etc etc but I don't think the smiler will be open tomorrow.... And if it stalls I don't think we will see the train taken off for a few days or at least until the wind dies down :/

Feel free to "correct" me if I'm wrong but just thought I'd try to make people aware of my concerns :/ by no means do I want this ride closed EVER but i don't think it will be operational tomorrow :(
^^^^ Now thats just weird ^^^^
Last edited by Deejay on Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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SamPowell
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Nice one PhilD94, you jinxed it  :x 
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SamPowell wrote: Nice one PhilD94, you jinxed it  :x
Oh Jesus, there's no confirmation it has stalled though is there? So, maybe there is hope. I understand it was down this morning and due to open this afternoon, but with Oblivion down as well, could this be another crane-issue?
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Anyone know why oblivion is closed?
Also in my own opinion the smiler is more trouble than its worth, im not queueing 3 hours for something that could potentially stop workin in the last 10 minutes of the queue that would be a complete waste of time, maybe next year it will be all good, after the closed season.
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mike_roller
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My mate said that he got told it won't be open until 3:30 maybe. Stalled again?
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Wedjie
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Starting to look like we might have another Air on our hands, reliability wise.

Even if you take out the 'major' problems (ie stalling) I haven't heard a report of anyone queueing who WASN'T delayed by a minor breakdown.

I mean obviously there will be teething problems (like, real teething problems, not what AT claim are teething problems...) - but I feel it's always going to be one of those coasters littered with minor problems.


Is there any further information on today's problems? Specifically why it has led to closure of other rides?
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ProjectK
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I'd say The Smiler is certainly proving to be a major concern for the park so far! The downtime is bad enough, but its jeopardising of its neighbouring rides in X-Sector is worse! I, for one, would be gutted to visit the park and find both The Smiler & Oblivion off limits!
I wonder if AT are getting some sort of compensation from Gerst for all of these problems...
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The Smiler hasn't stalled, that's a certain. I admit the downtime is worrying, but it's a new coaster, it's to be expected in some cases. Hopefully it can be sorted out soon with regular 10am openings.
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Chin-up guys and girls, the next gerst eurofighter won't have these issues.

Was gonna come back in August for The Smiler but I think I'll postpone till next season.
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