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The Smiler - General Discussion

The Smiler might not be rough, but it certainly rides worse than Nemesis and the fact that is it a 7 year old coaster versus Nemesis at 26 it doesn’t bode well for the future.

Beyond that, the actual physical environment of Nemesis is a nicer place to be than the Smiler.

Nemesis is a far better theme park design in terms of landscaping, queuing.

The Smiler is a damp, dirty, claustrophobic concrete pit.
 
AT86 said:
Beyond that, the actual physical environment of Nemesis is a nicer place to be than the Smiler.

Nemesis is a far better theme park design in terms of landscaping, queuing.

The Smiler is a damp, dirty, claustrophobic concrete pit.
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I can agree with that! Although tbf when they're trying to fit that amount of inversions in that space they won't exactly have room for landscaping
 
Ethan said:
The smiler isn't even rough. If you truly believe it's that bad you clearly haven't been to pleasure beach
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The Smiler is rough.

I like the ride, very much indeed - it offers a snappy intensity unlike any other coaster in the UK.

But to say it isn't rough would be wide of the mark.

Of course, some ageing wooden coasters are far rougher, such as those of which you refer to at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. But the jolts in the Smiler, most notably in two locations on the ride, should simply not be there and it is due to the poor build quality and the manufacturer that they are.

Gerstlauer coasters are rarely refined. I am not saying I would want them to be, but there is a reason they cost less than some other manufacturers.

Sadly, The Smiler is a badly built mess. But it's my favourite coaster in the park.
 
On a slightly different note because I can’t comment on the roughness as still to beat it, it seems ironic that on TapaTalk the Smilers thread picture is a picture of Nemises


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I never used to think that The Smiler was overly rough, but I think it's gotten a lot more rattly with some more pronounced jolts in recent years. In a rather odd coincidence, I actually think that my rides post-incident have been distinctly rougher and less comfortable than my rides in 2013 & 2014, for the most part. Oddly, I've also found the Gerstlauer OTSRs less comfortable as I've grown taller; I've noticed that they close very lowly on your shoulders compared to the ones from B&M, for example, and there's a bit at the bottom of them that squashes your crotch. Is it only me who's found the restraints a bit uncomfortable?

To be honest, I used to love The Smiler; when I was a younger enthusiast, it was my 2nd favourite at Alton behind Nemesis and stood solidly in my top 10 for years. It'll always be an important coaster to me simply because its construction & opening in 2013 was arguably the thing that first led me to the enthusiast community. However, in recent years, I've found myself going off it. This is probably in part down to my tastes changing to gravitate more towards fun, comfortable and rerideable coasters as opposed to solely intense coasters, as well as me riding more coasters and different types of coasters, but I also think that the ride itself has aged quite considerably since I first rode it.

I admire the ambition behind The Smiler, I think it's an absolute masterpiece of engineering, I can completely understand why someone would love it and I know that a glass smooth coaster with that much track in that little space would be nigh on impossible to produce, but I just don't really think it's my kind of coaster anymore.
 
The smiler has a couple noticeable jolts yes but I wouldn't particularly say it's a rough coaster. I personally think it's aged well as my most recent rides have been the smoothest. Me using single rider means that I end up on the front all the time though, and I admit it's much more enjoyable at the front than the back
 
Each to their own, but The Smiler is one of my least favourite main attractions at Towers. I don't like Gerstlauer coasters in general. Biggest issue for me though is the theme. I think it's tacky and cheapens the park. It doesn't belong in a place like Towers. I really don't like the soundtrack either. I do admit it's amazing what they have done with the available space.

But that's just my own opinion, and I fully get why others like it.
 
Aside from the two major jolts I don't find The Smiler to be that rough, though it certainly doesn't feel refined.

It's no Nemesis beater though, for sure.
 
If The Smiler wasn't so rough and not in a concrete jungle it would probably be rated quite highly.

I really love The Smiler, I love the design and how John Wardley/Candy Holland managed to fit all of that track in such a small space, superb work. The theme is great and compliments X Sector nicely, it's perhaps a bit too in your face but I quite like that. I personally don't find it that rough, it depends what trains/rows you end up on. The jolts are probably the worst parts for me.

It's the failings of Gerstlauer and TG Cruse's appalling work that resulted in the final product, and Merlin of course for being lazy with minimal theming.

It's a hugely popular ride so it will be interesting to see what Towers/Merlin do as time goes on and it ages very badly.
 
I must admit, one thing I've always liked about The Smiler is that I think the theme is very clever; they did the theme so that the happy vibe and the creepy vibe contrast with one another really nicely! I also think it fits into X-Sector very well, despite being somewhat more in-your-face than Oblivion, I think they contrast each other well, and quite frankly I couldn't quite imagine the area without The Smiler! The Marmaliser is a really nice centrepiece to the ride, the exit corridor is wonderfully disorientating and the station almost gives off a sanitised, medical sort of vibe, and I do quite like the interesting views of the coaster you get from the outdoor queue line; the only bit I don't really like is the indoor queue just before the former baggage hold, where it flashes a horribly bright strobe at you that always makes me wince whenever it goes off.

While it's no Wicker Man, I still think that The Smiler has some really good theming and is a nicely pulled off experience, even if I'm not the biggest fan of the coaster itself these days. Besides, I don't think it was really intended to be an ornate themed experience in the same vein as Wicker Man.
 
Matt N said:
The Marmaliser is a really nice centrepiece to the ride, the exit corridor is wonderfully disorientating and the station almost gives off a sanitised, medical sort of vibe
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No offense but you really need to visit more theme parks if you think some compost bins painted yellow strapped to trusses, a breeze block corridor with some lights and an empty, boring white station actually has any of the atmosphere they were going for. The Smiler has some of the cheapest, nastiest 'theming' at a big park Ive ever seen

Trust me, there's real fun to be had out there! Parks where every moment is a surprise, not even as big as Towers necessarily, just anywhere where the fun isn't on drip feed!


James said:
I love the design and how John Wardley/Candy Holland managed to fit all of that track in such a small space, superb work.
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John and Candy had nothing to do with the layout, but I can't remember who designed it for Gerstlaurer now. John in particular was just used as a PR spokesman
 
I know that it wouldn't solve the issue of rattling and jolts, but do we think that the clamshell lap bars like other Gerstlauer Infinity Coasters have would solve any of the ride's issues? They would eliminate the headbanging for a start, and if they're anything like the similar restraints on B&M hypers, they would be some of the most comfortable coaster trains in Britain; Mako's trains were some of the most wonderful I ever sat in, whereas I don't personally find The Smiler's current train design overly comfortable.

Also, I think the reason for some of the ride's imperfections might simply be because Gerstlauer were less experienced at building big coasters when they built The Smiler; at the time, it was probably the most challenging ride they'd ever built, by some distance, possibly barring Takabisha, as that's a large ride. Now, though, Gerstlauer have built some even more ambitious rides, like Karnan, and their newer Infinity Coasters are allegedly glass smooth, so I think lessons have been learnt since they built The Smiler!
 
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