The Smiler - Construction Discussion

Smile always. New for 2013.
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JW599
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Anyone else noticed AT is no longer using the smiler themed logo on their Twitter account:

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Chaz
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JW599 wrote: Anyone else noticed AT is no longer using the smiler themed logo on their Twitter account:

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Nor the background of their main Twitter page. Hmmm
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Heisenberg96
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JW599 wrote: Anyone else noticed AT is no longer using the smiler themed logo on their Twitter account:

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Beat me to it!

I wonder why...I'm sure we're looking too much into it, it could just be because that logo is a lot more recognisable. I don't know really...but it does put a little trace of doubt in your mind.
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On site again this morning. Quite a few builders here already. Mostly putting fences up along the treeline next to the 1st lift hill. I'll try get a picture at some point
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lewis97
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It could be to reduce the amount of attention drawn to The Smiler, obviously AT want to minimise complaints as much as possible, and although it isn't really, some people may claim it is false advertising.

Furthermore, it is also more inclusive of their other 50+ amazing attractions, as it's not all about The Smiler...
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GigaSurimi
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andywhit 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.

err..... its a jolly good looking coaster but it certainly not up there with the best themed in the world which would be expected with that budget. its good themeing but not on the scale of the mega budgets....
LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
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Heisenberg96 wrote: True, but I'm sure Alton Towers must know if its not going to open for a long time.

And I think the reason everyone was annoyed about the 23rd date was because Alton Towers must have known it wouldn't open then about a week before they announced it.
I'm sorry but I disagree. Why do you think AT must have known a week before? Why would they deliberately annoy their most loyal customers (those keen enough on a new coaster to ride it in its opening few days) by holding back on such information? I would say they were being (possibly foolishly?) optimistic that they could overcome in time whatever problems or H&S feedback they encountered at the 11th hour.

Again, with the new/next/final opening date: I don't think they do know for sure how long the current tweaks will take to conmplete and get signed off. I would say they are still very much aiming and hoping for the near future, rather than thinking it's going to be another month or more. Offering a hard & fast date before that can be guaranteed would be catastrophic after 2 false starts...
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GigaSurimi wrote:
andywhit 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.

err..... its a jolly good looking coaster but it certainly not up there with the best themed in the world which would be expected with that budget. its good themeing but not on the scale of the mega budgets....
LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
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lewis97 wrote:
wburgess wrote: I thought the smiler was closed for the foreseeable future? Surely TowersTimes didn't get a big statement like that wrong?

Oh hang on... The news article has changed and the header removed...

:roll:
This post of mine may be of interest to you...
Thanks for that, it is indeed interesting.

Also my original post has now been deleted, even though it concerns the opening time of the Smiler.

I think the chances are we will see an opening date appear today, as has been said, the ride is almost finished and it seems like it has been testing throughout the night.

However, now they have removed the trims, does that entail more testing or corrected(!) trims to be manufactured?
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MARMALISER EFFECTS ARE TESTING

Just seen the tickler and hypnotizer being tested (spinning)
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Last edited by J_Baggie on Wed May 29, 2013 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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J_Baggie wrote: MARMALISER EFFECTS ARE TESTING

Just seen the tickler and hypnotizer being tested (spinning)
confirmed ! Ive just seen it too ! Chain lifts were testing earlier on aswell ! :)
Some say they've seen angels, Ive seen The Smiler - That's enough
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ProjectK wrote:
Heisenberg96 wrote: True, but I'm sure Alton Towers must know if its not going to open for a long time.

And I think the reason everyone was annoyed about the 23rd date was because Alton Towers must have known it wouldn't open then about a week before they announced it.
I'm sorry but I disagree. Why do you think AT must have known a week before? Why would they deliberately annoy their most loyal customers (those keen enough on a new coaster to ride it in its opening few days) by holding back on such information? I would say they were being (possibly foolishly?) optimistic that they could overcome in time whatever problems or H&S feedback they encountered at the 11th hour.

Again, with the new/next/final opening date: I don't think they do know for sure how long the current tweaks will take to conmplete and get signed off. I would say they are still very much aiming and hoping for the near future, rather than thinking it's going to be another month or more. Offering a hard & fast date before that can be guaranteed would be catastrophic after 2 false starts...
That's what I meant. If Alton Towers wanted to finish all their themeing so fine-tuned to the point nobody can get on the ride until its completely done...a week before they surely could have looked at it and said 'we still need to do this, this and this' and accepted it wasn't going to be finished than try and optimistically push for the 23rd.

At the end of the day it's an ongoing argument none of us will know the answer to unless Alton Towers explain exactly why the delay occurred.

With regards to opening, that's exactly what I thought. But some posts that I have read on here make out as if its a lot more of a long-term process, and the fact Alton Towers just say 'The Smiler is closed' than give a timescale suggests it'll be a long time...I understand they can't release a certain date but it makes it seem a lot longer away. It's quite confusing that some people make out it's months away, and others like myself think opening is coming very soon.
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Heisenberg96 wrote:
GigaSurimi wrote:
andywhit wrote:
err..... its a jolly good looking coaster but it certainly not up there with the best themed in the world which would be expected with that budget. its good themeing but not on the scale of the mega budgets....
LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
Sorry but have you been to the USA? You do get much, much better themed rides than the Smiler over there. If you've ever been to Universal or Disney, you'd understand. Spider-Man for example. Jurassic Park. Expedition Everest... test track.... But their budget is 100m plus on those parks so I don't understand it when people try to compare it to their parks.
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JayTricky wrote:
Heisenberg96 wrote:
GigaSurimi wrote: LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
Sorry but have you been to the USA? You do get much, much better themed rides than the Smiler over there. If you've ever been to Universal or Disney, you'd understand. Spider-Man for example. Jurassic Park. Expedition Everest... test track.... But their budget is 100m plus on those parks so I don't understand it when people try to compare it to their parks.
Thats Disney they spend 50+ million on their rides but six flags etc don't !
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JayTricky wrote:
Heisenberg96 wrote:
GigaSurimi wrote: LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
Sorry but have you been to the USA? You do get much, much better themed rides than the Smiler over there. If you've ever been to Universal or Disney, you'd understand. Spider-Man for example. Jurassic Park. Expedition Everest... test track.... But their budget is 100m plus on those parks so I don't understand it when people try to compare it to their parks.
I have been to America and i have to say all the theming is based around something so it's so much easier to make theming for it and not much effort has gone into the design of the theming compared to The Smiler. However the Smiler has very very unique themeing .. what other ride in the world bases it's theming around a 'hospital/asaylum/Ministry of Joy etc etc ? None ! Whereas Spiderman , Hulk etc in America ( althoigh great rides ) All have a similar superhero Marvel theming to it! Gets a bit boring after a while ! Whereas we wont get bored of the Smiler ! 18 million for this ride and the unique amazing theming is a superb price compared to the prices American parks pay for less of a ride but for 10X the money !!
Some say they've seen angels, Ive seen The Smiler - That's enough
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Not at work today so don't really know what's happening, but from what I read on here sounds like their building upto an opening in the next couple of days!! :)
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Hmv wrote: Not at work today so don't really know what's happening, but from what I read on here sounds like their building upto an opening in the next couple of days!! :)
Does look that way ! Seems to be only small minor touches ( albeit important) being completed here or there and testing on the marmi has also started again :) :) Possibly Friday ?
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JayTricky wrote:
Heisenberg96 wrote:
GigaSurimi wrote: LOL sorry what?  :shock: :shock:
What did you expect with "that budget"? Is your statement based on any realistic budget calculation or are you just throwing that out to troll?
I'd really like to know more about it if you have any knowledge on this! :)
I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
Sorry but have you been to the USA? You do get much, much better themed rides than the Smiler over there. If you've ever been to Universal or Disney, you'd understand. Spider-Man for example. Jurassic Park. Expedition Everest... test track.... But their budget is 100m plus on those parks so I don't understand it when people try to compare it to their parks.
Yes, but America use superheroes and films as the basis of their themeing. Spider-Man is a film and the theme is already there they just have to spend a fat whack of money on making big, flashy themeing. It's not original. Alton Towers come up with completely new ideas and theme it based around an original concept. Alton don't need to spend £50m on a ride to make themeing amazing because its something unique that nobody knows anything about. Whereas Spider-Man...you know exactly what it entails - Spider-Man! Alton Towers themeing is just as good in a different way, a way which I much prefer.
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3 staff/builders have confirmed night testing for the past 2 days. Also, tickler is testing, and there's a guy taking pictures from the hypnotiser leg. I'll report back later!

EDIT: Hypno's testing now
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jbuckton18 wrote:
JayTricky wrote:
Heisenberg96 wrote: I agree, and considering Alton Towers is famed for its impeccable quality of themeing...I really doubt you get much better in America. Plus, the US usually create rides with established themes like Superman, so it's not hard to make themeing good. Alton Towers use their own unique themeing...that's what makes it so fantastic.

I don't really understand why you say £18m isn't enough for fantastic themeing and is just 'that budget'. Anyway, we've seen the themeing for The Smiler and it's absolutely amazing!
Sorry but have you been to the USA? You do get much, much better themed rides than the Smiler over there. If you've ever been to Universal or Disney, you'd understand. Spider-Man for example. Jurassic Park. Expedition Everest... test track.... But their budget is 100m plus on those parks so I don't understand it when people try to compare it to their parks.
I have been to America and i have to say all the theming is based around something so it's so much easier to make theming for it and not much effort has gone into the design of the theming compared to The Smiler. However the Smiler has very very unique themeing .. what other ride in the world bases it's theming around a 'hospital/asaylum/Ministry of Joy etc etc ? None ! Whereas Spiderman , Hulk etc in America ( althoigh great rides ) All have a similar superhero Marvel theming to it! Gets a bit boring after a while ! Whereas we wont get bored of the Smiler ! 18 million for this ride and the unique amazing theming is a superb price compared to the prices American parks pay for less of a ride but for 10X the money !!
John Wardley himself says that he admires Disney and Universal's Islands of Adventure: http://www.john-wardley.demon.co.uk/
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