The Smiler - General Discussion

[Danny]

Street view is a totally different entity and I can't really see it being updated for many years, if ever again.

[Danny]

No I looked at dark forest this morning and can see th13teen there?

[Senator]

I was told on the SB that Street View isn't as often updated as just overhead maps because it requires photos.. I think that's what they said anyway

[Hitch]

Street view may never get updated but Google have announced that they will be letting people add their own 360 degree images to maps soon, so we will basically have up to date street view all of the time. And I,m sure Microsoft will get a streetside of Alton sometime in the future for Bing maps.

[demz_4]

Can anybody actually confirm why yet again this season the smoke elements to now Both parts of the first drop are not working

1) The smoke curtain that mists as the train deploys now does not happen at all...
2) The first inversion underground on its opening days had a fantastic effect as you plunged into quite literally a room full of smog which really 'marmalised' you when the strobes flashed through and gave an amazing disorientating feeling.

In my opinion these effects literally made the ride lots more enjoyable and fitted well with the theme!

I was absolutely gutted to realise that not even the mist curtain was working AT ALL on day ONE of the 2014 season on saturday, and i rode the 3rd car to leave the building that morning

I did hear rumours that the first inversion smoke room effect was leaking into the baggage hold slightly and that is why it was turned off, but after the closed season etc i was really hoping a simple fix could be made and the fog returned to complete the theatrical experience!

Anyone have any info?

Heres a pic I've quickly screens shotted to prove the point about the first drop inversion smoke room effect, taken from a POV i found on youtube of the ride during its first day open to the public



Even on the game it had the curtain of mist falling as you drop through the first inversion.

http://i.imgur.com/yiTdAZJ.png

And a shot from opening day - http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 5550_o.jpg

Cheers,

Demz_4

[Martin]

I asked that very question,about the smoke to a ride op yesterday.
The answer I got was "we ran out".....lol
What else can I say?

[Dan]

I asked that very question,about the smoke to a ride op yesterday.
The answer I got was "we ran out".....lol
What else can I say?

How can they have ran out on the first day of the season? The mind boggles....

Something else I noticed is that both The Giggler and The Inoculator effects were switched off in the afternoon despite being on in the morning. I remember this happening during last season as well so they have obviously not done anywhere near as much to the ride over closed season as we had hoped.

Oh, and still having the projector on in the indoor queue despite it showing numerous computer error messages? Very, very poor.

[demz_4]

Its really not good enough at all! very disappointing I hope they go down to the shops n buy some more if thats the case lol!

[Stern John]

After three failed attempts to ride The Smiler last year, today I finally got corrected!
Well, it is an incredibly intense ride with a decent length and good pacing which is exactly what Alton needed.
The bunny hops and final double corkscrews are awesome elements.
The restraints are pretty horrible, really crushed my legs, feel very sorry for those stuck on the vertical launch, sorry, lift!
Really would have preferred lapbars. The Marmaliser is quite cool to look at offride but you can't really notice it when you're flying past so quickly.
The real test will be to see if AT can keep up the maintenance of all the effects, which judging by their previous efforts I can see it looking run down quite quickly.
Anyway, as it stands now what a great ride! Helps that it was walk on all afternoon!

[xnatillyx]

we are coming probably may this year , we went in April last year to avoid the busy period once the smiler was opening.
well anyway as there is single rider there is no issues with my fiance getting on quick when we visit , he likes roller coasters & i would love for him to go on it at least once.
However due to all the breakdowns etc he is a bit worried about going on it , we are both in agreement at the rate its going one day someone is going to get seriously hurt.
so i was wondering what people think about it , i am trying to persuade him to go on once. [-o<
also it does look vomit inducing , he felt sick coming off nemesis :sick:
so yeah just what to know how it feels to ride. did any of you feel sick?
thanks
he really is standing his ground this is him :no:

[Dan]

we are coming probably may this year , we went in April last year to avoid the busy period once the smiler was opening.
well anyway as there is single rider there is no issues with my fiance getting on quick when we visit , he likes roller coasters & i would love for him to go on it at least once.
However due to all the breakdowns etc he is a bit worried about going on it , we are both in agreement at the rate its going one day someone is going to get seriously hurt.
so i was wondering what people think about it , i am trying to persuade him to go on once. [-o<
also it does look vomit inducing , he felt sick coming off nemesis :sick:
so yeah just what to know how it feels to ride. did any of you feel sick?
thanks
he really is standing his ground this is him :no:

Hi xnatillyx

Despite how The Smiler looks it has never made me feel sick in the slightest after riding it, although it wouldn't be a good idea to ride it straight after lunch if your fiance felt sick after riding Nemesis to be honest he is more likely to come off it with a headache.

In terms of the breakdowns, unless the ride was 100% safe they wouldnt open it to the public. Yes it had a couple of well publicised incidents last season but with the checks that these rides undergo every morning the chances of getting seriously hurt are ridiculously small. As it is a new ride it will still have the odd technical issue, and as soon as these occur the ride is shut down straight away, so your fiance has absolutely nothing to worry about.

In my opinion it is a fantastic ride, but it is quite rough in places.

[Benji]

I'd like to add to the topic of no mist or strobe lighting that this is an extremely poor effort on alton towers' part. You'd have thought that on the first day of the 2014 season they'd have got things back up and operating like opening day last May. They might have run out but they've had all closed season to try sort out these problems. It just seems strange to spend £18million on a brand new roller coaster then not maintain the effects that help make the money worth it!

Anyway, besides this, there wasn't much to fault. Even if we ended up having the rattly train the overall ride seemed quite smooth, however the exit of the cobra roll was still quite sharp. Oh and of course the inevitable happened, on the second time round it broke down for about 20 minutes just before we were about to get on :lol

In regards to your questions natilly, even though the smiler has had a few hiccups, it is definitely safe (fingers crossed ) no seriously, with h&s now-a-days if it wasn't, it wouldn't be allowed to operate. Personally I don't think that your fiance will have a problem with feeling sick as there is a well deserved pause before the second half of the ride which gives you time for a quick breather :P

[Mayfly_]

I got to enjoy the thrill of The Smiler again today..

Queued for a good 80 minutes as they halted the queue to add on another car but somehow got lucky and got allocated to the front row, which changed my experience of it completely.

Another amazing experience on The Smiler, I forgot how intense it was.

[KoasterKraver]

The Smiler Illusions

http://pdl.vimeocdn.com/75611/768/21732 ... ler-HD.mp4

[JAMMYD777]

I have to say, having been at the park today, and with The Smiler being walk on for the majority of the day, I have come to the following conclusion about each trains roughness:

Train 1: Smoothest
Train 2: Smooth
Train 3: Was not in service today
Train 4: Rough but not rattly
Train 5: Roughest and incredibly strong rattle and vibrations

Also, may I add, I did not see The Smiler breakdown at all today, not even a minor one.

[stealthsmiler]

Why do the trains feel difference. Surely AT would ask for them fixing

[sw7nutter]

Why do the trains feel difference. Surely AT would ask for them fixing

Its expensive and impractical to fix them all at the same time. Its far easier if they use the trains until they need fixing rather than until they would like to be fixed. Just look at colossus at TP

[stealthsmiler]

Well, I was thinking that it could be done one train at a time throughout the year, so the ride can continue to operate. Is it Gersts fault or due to something else? Surely if its gersts fault they should do it for free to repair their mistake?

[TheSmiler1998]

Hey guys! It's about a year since my last post I think! I don't want to be shot down for asking this here but I thought this was the right place, does the The Smiler now have fastrack? And if so where can they be bought from. I ask as I'm going in October on a sixth form "team building" exercise. Thanks in advance

[Burniel]

Smiler fastracks are available for £10