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The Smiler - General Discussion

Connor98 said:
Nemesis was a European first built into a blasted out pit with a fantastic theme and an unbelievable feeling of speed and near misses. The smiler on the other hand is a rattling Gertlauer, pulling itself out the ground and built on a flooding algae infested concrete pit. Again don’t take this personally, it’s a rollercoaster and we are all entitled to think whatever we want about them.
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Yep and that concrete base is moving allegedly
 
Ethan said:
Its not the smoothest ride no but its completely bonkers and out of control. I like it because its relentless and pushes the limits. Nemesis feels quite gentle compared to Smiler imo
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It struggles through inversions :joycat: If you don't fill the train enough it won't make it round the track.... Hardly out of control
 
Blackhole_Sun said:
First ride of the season.

Diabolical as always. Violently shaking from start to finish. Really feels like it’s had it.
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Are you there today? I know this is the smiler thread but what are operations like today because the queues look quite long
Edit: Sorry for double posting
 
Ethan said:
Are you there today? I know this is the smiler thread but what are operations like today because the queues look quite long
Edit: Sorry for double posting
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Not great

Rita on one train
Smiler was on two but now down
Hex has effects switched off
Oblivion one station
Wicker is on two but opened late waiting for ice to melt on track
 
Danscott22 said:
As far as I’m aware from what I’ve seen, it can test with dummies or completely empty. I’ve definitely seen it run empty.
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Most coasters need to run with dummies in the morning at first until they're warmed up (especially in colder weather like now), then they can run empty.
 
Skyscraper said:
All coasters need to run with dummies in the morning at first until they're warmed up (especially in colder weather like now), then they can run empty.
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The Smiler and Thirteen are the only rides I’ve seen test with dummies in the morning. Usually start with Rita, and when it tests at about 9:20, it’s always empty. Never seen Oblivion, Nemesis, Galactica or Wicker Man with them either.
 
I can't say I've noticed it testing with dummies in the morning but I usually start of in forbidden valley
 
The Smiler will always test with dummies and always has since it kept stalling. However the number of dummies in a train will change depending on the weather/time of year, the colder it is the more dummies it will run.

However once the ride has been open and running for a while it won’t need to test with dummies and can test empty if it broke down. However if it was down for a long time I imagine they would have to put the dummies in.

As far as I’m aware no other ride at towers tests with dummies during the normal season (TH13TEEN did during covid but wouldn’t usually).
 
djtruefitt said:
The Smiler will always test with dummies and always has since it kept stalling. However the number of dummies in a train will change depending on the weather/time of year, the colder it is the more dummies it will run.

However once the ride has been open and running for a while it won’t need to test with dummies and can test empty if it broke down. However if it was down for a long time I imagine they would have to put the dummies in.

As far as I’m aware no other ride at towers tests with dummies during the normal season (TH13TEEN did during covid but wouldn’t usually).
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Once when I was there last year I think, the Smiler was down due to high winds and they were sending round empty trains every so often. They announced over the tannoy that this was for testing purposes and told people to not hang around the entrance assuming it was about to open.
 
Ethan said:
I can't even be bothered to read comments about this ride anymore. People slander it constantly no matter what. Frustrates me that people hate on it when it's just as good a ride as Nemesis, which gets worshipped to an unhealthy degree
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Opinion is always subjective but you put your opinion out there so here is my counter.

The Smiler layout is good, it’s punchy and intense, if you ignore the terrible profiling and the variable roughness depending on how recently the wheel compounds have been changed it’s an ok layout to do what it was intended to do which is beat the inversion count record.

It’s theme concept I actually like, the theme execution is absolutely terrible.

As for Nemesis it is an example of how to transition from element to element whilst building pace. At the time it was built coasters didn’t do that, even the inverts that came before followed the formula of drop > loop > loop> corkscrew > corkscrew. Nemesis did something new and people noticed.

Also at the time the theme was unique, it was also rare that a thrill rollercoaster would be fully integrated into a theme (at this point Disney didn’t really build thrill machines). Most coasters where maybe a themed station and that was it, but Nemesis used the landscape to enhance the thrill.

Basically the Smiler has a job and it’s layout does the job well, the profiling is dire and the theme concept although good was not implemented well.

Nemesis for it’s time did almost everything correct. I would also argue the helix is more intense than anything on Smiler.
 
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