The Smiler - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Morgan
Member
Member
Posts: 1594
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:22 pm
Location: Altonville Mines

I think the ride itself is fun. The layout is over-the-top and really intense and just really nice to ride. Sure, it isn't buttery smooth, but I wouldn't call it overly rough.
However... the area around the ride and the general experience puts me off so much. Everything is so dirty and horrible to look at, especially the way the ride is dunked in this huge concrete flooding-pit. The queue-line is really bland as well as you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. I'm not interested in queueing much for it any more because of how boring it is. We ended up queueing about 80mins for it at Scarefest once and not once did I feel entertained or excited.
It's such a shame that the experience lets it down- the ride in isolation is great but everything else about it makes me want to avoid it.
User avatar
Ladyofthelake
Member
Member
Posts: 2661
Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 12:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

For me, The Smiler really hasn't aged all that well. It seems to be a little rougher every season, especially that final inversion! The smoothness of your ride also seems to very quit significantly based on which train you get (something which I've never quite understood). I do agree with many of the comments about the overall condition of the ride and area and it really does need a general tidy up and clean. Aside from the queue line and station building, the track itself and Marmaliser arms are looking in a pretty sorry state and need at least a jet wash, and ideally a re-paint.

At the moment I do still enjoy riding The Smiler, however I can't do it multiple times in a row. It is a good ride which crams a lot into a compact space, but it kind of feels like it's lost its spark and needs something to re-energise it.
User avatar
Dom
Member
Member
Posts: 2464
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:00 am
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire
Contact:

I'm sure The Smiler has good and bad aspects to it. When I think of an actual good one, I will let you know :lol But Its bad aspects for me make it so unenjoyable to ride to the point where i'm happy no longer riding it. I've not liked the ride since its beginning. Its just not appealed to me. I genuinely can't think of anything I actually like about the ride. :(
User avatar
wamdue
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:07 pm

Dom wrote:I'm sure The Smiler has good and bad aspects to it. When I think of an actual good one, I will let you know :lol:
wow, that is simply not true.
User avatar
PhNx Survivor
Member
Member
Posts: 433
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:03 am
Location: - Unknown -

The fact the ride has a brilliant soundtrack, a great backstory, and of course a layout filled with inversions in a tight area.. The ride may be run down and in need of a good clean and repairs. But to say the ride hasn't got a good aspect is a bit harsh :-k
“A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one”
User avatar
Dom
Member
Member
Posts: 2464
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:00 am
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire
Contact:

PhNx Survivor wrote:The fact the ride has a brilliant soundtrack, a great backstory, and of course a layout filled with inversions in a tight area.. The ride may be run down and in need of a good clean and repairs. But to say the ride hasn't got a good aspect is a bit harsh :-k
wamdue wrote:
Dom wrote:I'm sure The Smiler has good and bad aspects to it. When I think of an actual good one, I will let you know :lol:
wow, that is simply not true.
It is purely just my personal opinion. Its like food, we all have things we don't like and like with our own reasons. To me, the ride has no positive qualities. People are more than welcome to try to change my mind, but i've thought this since I first rode it
User avatar
wamdue
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:07 pm

The Smiler is easily my favourite rollercoaster at Alton Towers, and probaly the whole of the UK as well. Im not technail enough to change the mind of anyone here, but to simply state that there is nothing good about it, is a sign of a closed mind.
Swarm Chris

In my view, The Smiler soundtrack is the worst thing to have ever come out of a theme park speaker system. To me it's like dragging finger nails down a chalk board. Except that sound finally stops when you reach the bottom of the board. The Smiler's soundtrack just goes on and on, and on, and on... :sick: :lol

And I add a vote for this ride having absolutely no good points! :lol

But be minded I do so with humour and hyperbole. :)
User avatar
wamdue
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:07 pm

It's not fair on the ride, but the soundtrack makes me think of the Jared Leto Joker. As I said that is not a fair judgement on the ride, as the ride came first.

I am unsure if its a good sign or not, that after a days worth of queing, the sound track of the ride, prevents you from sleeping the next night.
User avatar
ProfBurp
Member
Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:40 am

Swarm Chris wrote:In my view, The Smiler soundtrack is the worst thing to have ever come out of a theme park speaker system. To me it's like dragging finger nails down a chalk board. Except that sound finally stops when you reach the bottom of the board. The Smiler's soundtrack just goes on and on, and on, and on...  :sick:  :lol

And I add a vote for this ride having absolutely no good points! :lol

But be minded I do so with humour and hyperbole. :)
I couldn't agree with you more! It really is one of the most irritating soundtracks and also I think it adds nothing to the ride, except making the long queue feel....well.....even longer! Not to mention that the speakers have taken a bit of battering and some of them are so distorted when playing this now, that it sounds worse than ever! It is also far too loud! I really don't know what Alton were thinking when they did this, I am almost disappointed in IMA score for such a poor show of their normally very good skills. I will however defend the ride, as it has had a pretty tough time for many reasons from the day it even opened....or was supposed to open....and then open again....and well you get the idea! It is a good ride, it just could be better that's all, I wouldn't agree with the comment that it has no good points at all though.
User avatar
Dom
Member
Member
Posts: 2464
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:00 am
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire
Contact:

Right to begin with this explanation of why I hate this ride. This is my personal opinion!

The Ride
The actual ride itself isn't that great to look at. It looks like a pile of scrap metal in hole. The older its gotten the worse it looks. For someone who struggles with inversions generally, 14 is way to much for my body to take, so I've never come off without feeling sick. When I do actually ride it I hold on for dear life and practically force my body to stay in one position purely because of how painful each inversion actually is. I always come off bruised. I also have a hate of vertical lifts. I have this same feeling on Saw: The Ride. Even just watching the coaster makes me feel dizzy. It's just a rough ride and a massive eyesore to me. Plus at night, the screens light up the area like the Blackpool illuminations and ruins the whole rides in the dark idea. 

The Theme
There isn't really a theme to me. Its supposed to be a correctional device by the Ministry of Joy, yet I've never come of smiling. There is nothing that points out that it is a device. It feels like they have merged many different ideas to try to get something that is just a mish mash of failed optical illusions. The station is a mix of a dentist and a fun house. I mean, how is that theming. The Marmaliser effects don't always work either, which makes the whole point of the thing pointless. Yes I get what the concept is supposed to be, but i just don't see.

Other
The queueline is just the worse! It feels like you're waiting to die. The soundtrack is just horrendously annoying. If anything it makes me want to ride less. The exit from the station to the shop, I've walked into so many walls in this corridor that I swear I could easily make a claim :lol It's just overall not an enjoyable experience as a whole for me and I actually wish they kept Black Hole.

If I was forced to say one positive about the ride it would be the two split seconds going over the bunny hops. But that is literally the only positives I can come up with and thats taken me about an hour to think off. This is purely my opinion. I do understand why people do like the ride, it just doesn't work for me. Its not like I haven't tried to like it, because I have. I just can't. Plus the Smiler Gnomes all still need to die! Death to the Gnomes!!!!
User avatar
wamdue
Member
Member
Posts: 163
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:07 pm

Ok so, the fact you can't take the ride anymore, seems to be the problem for you, I suggest not hating on something that others like, but yourself can not take. They do hold you at the second lift a little too long, certainly now some of the themeing at that point has been lost. Talking of the theming I always come off smiling, I think it works very well. As for the ride exit, I would love to one up, and animate the logos, to further confuse people.
User avatar
Dom
Member
Member
Posts: 2464
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:00 am
Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire
Contact:

I haven’t said anything negative about others enjoying the ride. Everything I have said is my own personal opinion :) If people enjoy than they enjoy it. I am not the sort of person to hate on someone because they like something I don’t and if it came across like that than I apologise :)
User avatar
Justin
Member
Member
Posts: 2703
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:51 pm

I hold a lot of love for The Smiler (even though I am a Wicker Man fan). My biggest issue is how clean it is, as I have mentioned before, but I actually find it fascinating to watch. Dare I say it, I love the theme music too! It is a great ride! :)
User avatar
Ryan.B
Member
Member
Posts: 1082
Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:48 pm

Still my 2nd favourite ride at Towers, it was my favourite for a couple of years but I think that was "new ride hype" if it was smooth, repainted, and looked brand new it would be perfectly fine. Its the rattly seats that make it rough.

In fact, what is actually causing the roughness? I've never known a ride like it. It's not headbanging to me, but more as if it vibrates your back really aggressively. Feels like it's coming up from the metal floor your feet are on, but then travels through the chair.
User avatar
Nickolai
Member
Member
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

I do find sometimes near the back especially on the 2nd half that it feels like my seat shakes a bit. Although I am sure everything is 100% safe, it is indeed different to any other kind of roughness I have felt before.
Image
Formally Smiler313
User avatar
ProfBurp
Member
Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:40 am

Strangely when you compare it to other Euro fighters like Saw at TP, Smiler has aged very quickly and very badly. Saw does not have the same sensations as Smiler now does in terms of roughness, which is odd. Yes for sure Saw can be rough, but Smiler gives a constant vibration through the floor, right up through the seat, rattling your entire body around! Also I don't know about anyone else, but I find the vertical lift much more uncomfortable on Smiler than Saw. Does anyone else feel this?
User avatar
Ryan.B
Member
Member
Posts: 1082
Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:48 pm

It feels more clunky and sounds more clunky to me. I think that might because the change in technology though, maybe something to do with the rollback system. It does feel different for sure though.
User avatar
Cobby
Member
Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:16 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone

To be honest the lifts probably feel worse on Smiler as both of them are not working as intended. With most gerst's the train stops at the bottom of the lift and the chain speeds up to get the catch car in place before slowing down so it gently connects with the train and then speeding back up to take the train up the lift. I don't know why but this doesn't happen on Smiler (I'm guessing either the train parks wrong or the computer is not quite calibrated properly) so what happens is that the chain slows too early and speeds up before its connected to the train. This caused an interested jolt last season, more noticeably on the vertical lift, as the catch car hit the train causing the train to move forward before sliding back into the catch car.
Image
User avatar
PhNx Survivor
Member
Member
Posts: 433
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2012 11:03 am
Location: - Unknown -

Dom wrote:I haven’t said anything negative about others enjoying the ride. Everything I have said is my own personal opinion :) If people enjoy than they enjoy it. I am not the sort of person to hate on someone because they like something I don’t and if it came across like that than I apologise :)
I'm sorry if I came across aggressive or threatening, I appreciate that you have a dislike for the ride in which you are very welcome to. I can agree with a lot of the points you stated as the queue is literally a cattle pen, and the "theme" isn't really there. But the features the ride provides like the Marmaliser is probably the only good big thing in regards to theming.

Like Ryan.B has stated, the ride itself isn't rough. Its the trains, they are without doubt the worst trains I have ever ridden.. even the corkscrews trains were better than these trains and that's saying something :lol
“A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one”
Post Reply