The Smiler - Construction Discussion

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A
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Richardio123 wrote:
coastercrazy18 wrote: i just love the fact that the U.S.A spend at least £30 to £50 million on there roller coasters and we only spent £18 million  for the smiler and its as good in theming, got one of the longest tracks in the world and got the most loops than any other roller coaster in the world. big thanks to John Wardly.
TBH the only company that spend that amount of money on rides is Disney sorry i'll go back on topic :)
Not true millennium force at cedar point cost $52 million
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aress wrote: it bugs me how Alton Towers are listing the speed and length of The Smiler in KPH and Metres!
Parks in this country always do that. It's for marketing purposes really; Rita goes 0-100KPH, sounds much better than 60mph.
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TheSmiler1998
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aress wrote:
coastercrazy18 wrote: i just love the fact that the U.S.A spend at least £30 to £50 million on there roller coasters and we only spent £18 million  for the smiler and its as good in theming, got one of the longest tracks in the world and got the most loops than any other roller coaster in the world. big thanks to John Wardly.
Yeah I agree, but it bugs me how Alton Towers are listing the speed and length of The Smiler in KPH and Metres! Er do we not use MPH and feet in this country? Kilometers and Meters mean nothing to me, except having to convert them to Miles and Feet!
Don't want to make you feel old  ;) but other than the roads everything is in metric practically! Roads and football. There the only two examples I can think of.
If you think about it the ride is mainly aimed at the under 30s who were brought up with KPH and metres! I have no clue about feet and inches, I only know miles because I'm a runner. I guess my point is you can't get young people excited if we have no idea how long the track is. (Aged 14 with 19 year old sister)
Don't judge me  ;) I'm not try to be mean  :D
Last edited by TheSmiler1998 on Tue May 28, 2013 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
@LukeSavidge1998 I follow back so hit follow button! #getcorrect #excited
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Richardio123
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A wrote:
Richardio123 wrote:
coastercrazy18 wrote: i just love the fact that the U.S.A spend at least £30 to £50 million on there roller coasters and we only spent £18 million  for the smiler and its as good in theming, got one of the longest tracks in the world and got the most loops than any other roller coaster in the world. big thanks to John Wardly.
TBH the only company that spend that amount of money on rides is Disney sorry i'll go back on topic :)
Not true millennium force at cedar point cost $52 million
True True :)
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TheSmiler1998 wrote:
aress wrote:
coastercrazy18 wrote: i just love the fact that the U.S.A spend at least £30 to £50 million on there roller coasters and we only spent £18 million  for the smiler and its as good in theming, got one of the longest tracks in the world and got the most loops than any other roller coaster in the world. big thanks to John Wardly.
Yeah I agree, but it bugs me how Alton Towers are listing the speed and length of The Smiler in KPH and Metres! Er do we not use MPH and feet in this country? Kilometers and Meters mean nothing to me, except having to convert them to Miles and Feet!
Don't want to make you feel old  ;) but other than the roads everything is in metric practically! Roads and football. There the only two examples I can think of.
If you think about it the ride is mainly aimed at the under 30s who were brought up with KPH and metres! I have no clue about feet and inches, I only know miles because I'm a runner. I guess my point is you can't get young people excited if we have no idea how long the track is. (Aged 14 with 19 year old sister)
Don't judge me  ;) I'm not try to be mean  :D
I'm actually of a generation that works happily in either measurement. I'm 25 but they tend to use metric cos the numbers are bigger and more impressive from a marketing point of view.
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Richardio123
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Kirsty25 wrote: I'm actually of a generation that works happily in either measurement. I'm 25 but they tend to use metric cos the numbers are bigger and more impressive from a marketing point of view.
Like Smiler goes 85Km/h or 53 Mp/h or a High speed train goes 184 Mp/h or 300 Km/h just sounds better in Km/h
Last edited by Richardio123 on Tue May 28, 2013 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Kathy wrote:
J_Baggie wrote:
Kathy wrote: I second this, It's really easy to see the pictures and think "Oh It's an ordinary rollercoaster" and when you see it in person, you come to realise that they spent £18m on a huge beast that looks absolutely amazing. Yes, the theming may not look as good in some of the pictures, in real life, up close, It's great. I suggest anyone who has only seen pictures to see the thing in real life before making any judgements.

I hope it opens for you, then you can give us a review, maybe.  :lol:
Thanks  :D and yeah I'll definitely give a review! It'll be my pleasure!
Gotta tell us if you're a happy smiling advocate afterwards.  :D
I'm sure I will be! I wouldn't expect anything less from this beast of a coaster
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i was at the park on sat n sun and have to say - the staff was soooo good it was not funny my MAP runs out in 6 weeks and after a 40min que on sunday i just said to them any chance of a bit longer cos of the smiler being shut and he said yes 1 month no issues.

The person in front of me was screaming at the poor lad i felt bad for him but i siad im not going to as there is no point.

Also RE smiler - i took a load of pics over the weekend and alot of the track is scrapped to hell also a new bit of track has been put at the very top of the V Lift (just after) well thats what it looks like.

I also asked the member of staff when they are hoping to get it open and he said your MAP runs till July 12th no that should be ok to come back i asked when if they no and he said clear that there are big issues atm and they are looking at June mid June :) i,ll post pics soon just need to upload them - Real pitty as the park was packed on sunday
Has the magic gone for me - yep almost!
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Richardio123 wrote:
coastercrazy18 wrote: i just love the fact that the U.S.A spend at least £30 to £50 million on there roller coasters and we only spent £18 million  for the smiler and its as good in theming, got one of the longest tracks in the world and got the most loops than any other roller coaster in the world. big thanks to John Wardly.
TBH the only company that spend that amount of money on rides is Disney sorry i'll go back on topic :)

Well mainly Disney but also Universal do spend a lot of the high costs on Special Effects and Themes etc, Strip those away and use only the cost of the Tracks and Trains and there is not a massive amount of difference in costs.

Some of the best and most thrilling rides in the USA are not even at Disney or Universal Parks and they actually cost much less than the Disney/Universal Park Rides.

Take Kinga Ka this cost £16.5M while Stealth was £12M yet Kinga Ka is more than twice the Height and Track.

Where as lets take the Tower of Terror Ride this costs about £105M Average price of Paris/MGM Florida ones, for what in effect is a Pimped up with Special Effects and Theme...... Playstation (Ice Blast) Ride from Blackpool Pleasure Beach that cost about £2M

You see we could have had the Smiler indoors for Half the Ride with Special Effects Galore and Projection mapping etc and we would see the Ride go from £18M to like £50M Easy...

I would just like to add that Colossus (Thorpe Park) Cost £13.5M  and that was 11 years ago, so with inflation and how the Smiler has better theme and more to it (maybe much more) then i think £18M is not a bad price, depends if there was cost cutting and cutting round corners as some Construction Work has been Shabby. By that not only delays but some of the Mistakes and number times they even banged the Trains off the Main Building.
Last edited by DaveBear on Tue May 28, 2013 1:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Richardio123
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DaveBear wrote: Well mainly Disney but also Universal do spend a lot of the high costs on Special Effects and Themes etc, Strip those away and use only the cost of the Tracks and Trains and there is not a massive amount of difference in costs.

Some of the best and most thrilling rides in the USA are not even at Disney or Universal Parks and they actually cost much less than the Disney/Universal Park Rides.......
Yes precisely but the better the theming the better the ride in my view :) That's why The Smiler is so good because it combines both thrill and an amazing theme which some rides don't do
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Kirsty25 wrote:
TheSmiler1998 wrote:
aress wrote: Yeah I agree, but it bugs me how Alton Towers are listing the speed and length of The Smiler in KPH and Metres! Er do we not use MPH and feet in this country? Kilometers and Meters mean nothing to me, except having to convert them to Miles and Feet!
Don't want to make you feel old  ;) but other than the roads everything is in metric practically! Roads and football. There the only two examples I can think of.
If you think about it the ride is mainly aimed at the under 30s who were brought up with KPH and metres! I have no clue about feet and inches, I only know miles because I'm a runner. I guess my point is you can't get young people excited if we have no idea how long the track is. (Aged 14 with 19 year old sister)
Don't judge me  ;) I'm not try to be mean  :D
I'm actually of a generation that works happily in either measurement. I'm 25 but they tend to use metric cos the numbers are bigger and more impressive from a marketing point of view.
lol don't apologise, it doesn't make me feel old! It's just I drive, and all units of distance and speed are measured in Miles/Feet, and MPH. To list a ride's stats in Meters and KPH doesn't make any sense to me. The vast majority of the modern world uses the former rather than the latter!

Anyway, back on topic, is anyone on park today? really would love to see some new photos, especially of that infamous first support after the lift - I wonder what work they did on that...
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Yes i agree some Theme does help with the Ride, and yes you can get better special effects indoors but that adds to the higher costs...

Take Rip Rocket and Rockin Roller Coasters, the Rip Rocket is more tame but it gives better Thrill because it is outside and not a indoor coaster....

I think its about getting the Balance Right  and by that Part ride indoors and themed and part out doors but then it comes down to the costs.  Another limiting factor is the space that is allowed for rides, Alton Towers has limited space that it can build its rides, if they had larger area to work with then maybe they could have done the half way point as another small indoor section.
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Well Metric is the more Accurate Method of working out things, but a lot of people especially in the UK are brought up on Imperial.

You see 100KMPH is 62 MPH so not a round number. Just as a Mile is about 1.6KM (16093M) so its just more simpler for Most people in the World.

When i measure stuff be that to see if certain furniture would fit in my place or what ever, such as cutting wood etc i always use CM  and MM my dad goes by Inches and 8ths and their is always a Margin for Error when doing that.
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Yeah Danny from the Team is on park today as are a couple of members so I believe!
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If we all smile and will it, it may open quicker so altogether everyone...... :D
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tallicay2k wrote: If we all smile and will it, it may open quicker so altogether everyone...... :D
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TheSmiler1998
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Another scintillating conversation on here today  :D although I can't moan as I kinda sparked it!
Alton should let our army of TT enthusiasts at The Smiler! Here's enough of us to get her fixed up in no time, a deed already be up north so we could ride it as soon as we opened it  ;)
@LukeSavidge1998 I follow back so hit follow button! #getcorrect #excited
We know what we are, we know what we are! Erm.... Europa League winners we know what we are! Doesn't have the same ring to it does it?
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TheSmiler1998 wrote: Another scintillating conversation on here today  :D although I can't moan as I kinda sparked it!
Alton should let our army of TT enthusiasts at The Smiler! Here's enough of us to get her fixed up in no time, a deed already be up north so we could ride it as soon as we opened it  ;)
But surely AT would need experienced builders to work on the smiler although we do know alot about roller coasters
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TheSmiler1998 wrote: Another scintillating conversation on here today  :D although I can't moan as I kinda sparked it!
Alton should let our army of TT enthusiasts at The Smiler! Here's enough of us to get her fixed up in no time, a deed already be up north so we could ride it as soon as we opened it  ;)
LET'S DO THAT!!! :moj
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On the bright side of this dissapointing situation at least we will have a completely finished coaster :D I would personally wait for everything to be complete / safe than ride it without everything being finished.

Oh and have they painted the rehydrators surports cream? off colour choice if so  :?
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