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The Smiler - General Discussion

Enter current queue entrance, optional pen left that goes down to the shop and back, then the queue goes up past the toilets, down the back of the ride, under the brake run, inside (revamped to not be a flashy nightmare) and up the stairs. Basically remove the queue from the pit entirely
 
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I just had two quick questions:-

1) Does anybody know whether the rumoured "washing machine" pre-ride spinning track was ever actually considered for The Smiler (see video below), or whether this was just pure speculation from fans online?

If it was legitimately considered then does anybody know why it was never built?


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy1agS8-7RQ


2) I have heard conflicting theories regarding the mysterious one-way glass panel in the floor of the exit of the Smiler shop; some people say that it was installed the wrong way up, and that it was originally supposed to look down onto the track beneath - but, as far as I can tell, there is nothing beneath the shop to look onto? If anybody has any information on this then I would be grateful! (if it was installed incorrectly, then surely it could just be flipped the correct way around afterwards?)
 
It was complete splatwater as far as I know. A wild fanfic from a member who made wild posts. ;)

EDIT: "one way" glass relies on a semi mirrored film and lighting. You will only be able to see from the dark side to the light. On the light side, you see a mirror. So it was never going to work looking from a bright shop in to a dark tunnel.
 
The washing machine element never existed. Towers Times seemed to believe it was real, and their reporting of this is what made enthusiasts aware of and talk about it a lot (at the time, they were adamant that it was real and happening). I think this was fueled by those 'in the know' being aware of the world's most loops on a coaster and the planning application not showing this, thus the belief that the indoor section (not viewable on the application) consisted of some contraption to hide the world's first. Whether Towers Times was given fake information or fabricated the rumour themselves, well, that's up to you to debate.

In reality, it was a simple case of John Wardley and Candy Holland amending the track design for the planning application to hide the world's first attempt at the most loops on a coaster.

The glass floor was (or is, I'm not sure if it's still there) located just where you enter or exit the shop. It looks down into the first inversion/track underneath the building. It was just a poor design. The mixture of a dark room filled with smoke (no longer in use) and daylight beaming into the shop meant you couldn't see anything through the glass. On the ride, you go past the glass so quickly that there's nothing to see either. An odd idea that seemed to go through with little thought.
 
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I didn't think it was one-way mirror glass... just glass with white spots that make it incredibly difficult to see into. If you stand and wait in just the right light you can see the train enter the first inversion as the strobes fire.

Ill thought out. Whether mirrored or not, as DiogoJ42 says, looking from a bright area to a dark one doesn't help.
 
You can see the glass panel from underneath in this photo taken during a 2015 backstage tour:-

(It was mentioned in the description that the view is only clear from underneath - not above)


I'd also be curious to know what the story is behind this mysterious floating door:-

(I've heard rumours that it has now been welded shut in order to prevent staff from falling into the pit below!)

 
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Plastic Person said:
The window in the floor is a decent example of The Smiler’s general ‘close, but not quite’ shoddy design. It was designed to be a cool focal point/easter egg for the shop, but has been compromised from day one by natural light levels.

Thanks for making me aware of the mysterious floating door!
Click to expand...

Yep defo one of those ideas that just didn’t work. Odd though that nobody thought about natural light coming down a tunnel.

And as for that door - never noticed it - but what on earth could it be for
 
rob666 said:
Perhaps it was the access point to the wonderful plaza that was planned, but didn't actually happen in reality.
We should have been able to stand and watch within the bottom half of the ride as spectators, I bet that door was the station link...
Possibly.
Click to expand...
Forgot about that - seems plausible- with the station being built before the plaza was scrapped …. Small door though
 
There was to have been a platform for viewing around the lower end of the ride, a bit like the bottom of nemesis valley.
I think it is clearly on the original plans and designs, but the reason given for not constructing it was safety and a lack of height clearance for it to be feasible.
But the construction was a constant battle with the weather and mud, so the result isn't surprising.

I remember the toilet roof...
 
They expected rock work like the Nemesis pit. I think the ride ended with far more supports than originally anticipated. The concrete jungle was not anticipated and skyrocketed the budget. Hence, there was no plaza, which is probably why the building is in its state, with supports cutting through it left, right, and centre.

The whole construction is probably one of the biggest shambles seen at Alton Towers. Luckily, Merlin has seemed to learn its lesson since then, and construction projects have (generally) been better handled.
 
This is all really interesting information, so thank you to everybody who has responded to my post! I wasn't following the construction of The Smiler in detail, so most of this is new to me (the only thing I remember was that parts of the construction photos were blacked out in late 2012 / early 2013).

I'm surprised at how much I don't know about this ride, as the Reddit thread below suggests that 'War of the Worlds' was an original theme for the ride (together with concept art); this could explain why the Marmaliser resembles a tripod alien, and why it originally had six (insectoid) legs instead of the current five.

The thread / concept art also suggests that it was originally supposed to be a regular Eurofighter rather than an Infinity Coaster (with 8 seats per train instead of 16), but that this concept was scrapped - possibly because the beyond-vertical drop would have made Oblivion somewhat redundant!


From: https://www.reddit.com/r/altontowers/comments/1ijevh1/original_scrapped_concept_for_the_smiler/
 
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