Alton Towers today confirmed the opening day of The Smiler to be Thursday 23rd May. Confirmation was made through Alton Towers’ official Facebook page cover photo, and also a tweet from their official Twitter account. The ‘world first’ ride has faced a catalogue of delays and issues during its construction phase but the end is finally in sight now and is likely to attract thrill-seekers from across the country.
Alton Towers’ Facebook Reveal
The first construction on the site began over a year ago when the old Black Hole tent began its deconstruction. It’s been a very long project since then and one that was originally expected to open in March of this year. Unfortunately because of various delays with the groundwork on site and the adverse weather that hit Britain over the winter, the ride was pushed back until the vague date of ‘May 2013’. In recent weeks, track construction was completed alongside The Marmaliser theming element and this all pointed to the opening date being imminent.
It is interesting that Alton Towers have picked a Thursday to open the ride, but we believe that this is a fairly sensible choice as it gives the ride two days of operation before what will probably be a very busy weekend. The weekend following the opening date is a bank holiday as well as the start of school Half Term and so will presumably attract very large crowds to the park.
Although the opening date has been revealed, this does not mean that the ride is completely finished! There are still finishing touches to be made as well as rigorous testing of the track and trains – which we believe to be currently ongoing.
Are you a fan of the opening date? Will you be attending? Why not let us know by joining in on our popular Talk forums, or pay us a visit on Facebook to discuss the date there! You can also tweet us @towersstreet and tell us if you’ll be attending the opening day!
Smile. Always.
Alongside the reveal of the opening date, Alton Towers also released Part 3 of their ‘Smile. Always.’ series of promotional videos relating to The Smiler.
The video, which can be seen above, is the penultimate in the series and once again features the popular character from The Sanctuary: Dr. Kelman. It seems like it will be Kelman’s final appearance as we transition into a story focussed around the ‘advocate’ Miles Cedars and the bodiless female voice we hear speaking to the doctor. The other two videos can be watched on The Smiler’s official website.
Part 4 will be released soon and will presumably tie this pre-story together completely. It will also allow fans to complete the code on the website and attempt to win a VIP experience for themselves! If you’re a fan of the videos, why not discuss them on our Marketing Discussion thread on our Talk forums?
