[The Smiler] Construction Updates / Ride Speculation Part 2 *SPOILER FREE*

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

It looks like there are a large amount of teams on site now judging by The Alton Towers Guide album of photos today. It shows just how much is going on. Today alone there has been giggler tank installations, ground moving for final marmaliser footer placement, transfer track mechanisms construction, remaining concrete panels added to station wall facing the toilet block, construction of the final wall of the maintenance shed, construction of theme object on the X-Sector island (which at the minute looks very puzzling), addition of more pipes to the station building, as well as more ground work at the top of the site. As well as this there were probably tons of other, smaller jobs going on around the site.

I think that puts into perspective just how determined they are at getting this finished and I hope they manage it to a high standard.

With track now on -site and the installation of a support at the top of the site, I believe we will see the first drop constructed tomorrow.

Exciting times. :twirly:

EDIT: Also love the logo used on the giggler tanks. It is ingenious and I hope we see a lot more of these little touches from the Resort.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Here is another photo TowersStreet posted on their Facebook earlier, showing more themeing added to the marmaliser:

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

That's the best picture of the spider yet, to be honest.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

A few things from today:

What the site looks like near both lift hills - notice that both Cranes are this side of the ride:


Notice the mini support where the first drop will lead into the first dive loop:


Transfer track work on-going - also a look at The Tickler brushes:


The Giggler leg - now with attached cannisters/barrels, and nice logo:


The Marmaliser:


Station building:


This is where Theming C on the plans is. Some building going on, what could it be - the original planned vehicle?:


Soon to be shop:


Theming pipes on the side of the station - supposed to be going all over the station building:


More theming parts - oh, and another look at our new shipping container! :


Maintenance building still having its side walls put on - looks comfy doesn't he?:


Flasher leg:


All photos taken by The Alton Towers Guide

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Novas said:

Very tired of the unjust negativity now. I was going to single people out but I've decided to behave, however as an example one person has now posted in this thread 12 times in the last 48 hours and every single one of their posts has been a complaint. They are not alone and frankly I am so bored of re-reading the same peoples opinions every time a new bolt is fixed into place.

Whilst the team have tried hard to clean this thread up and get people on topic it remains a serious chore to read at the moment. At times it is endless pages of “OMG I can’t believe they’re leaving it like that!” and then 24 hours later “O look, they fixed it, nevermind.”

It would have been so flippin easy for the park to go with a non-descript space theme and blend the ride in seamlessly with the existing area, but for once they decided to think outside the box and I for one love the results. Everything about the ride is over the top, fantastically daft and fun*

Some aspects of the Marm look weak at the moment but It does seem to be improving with every update, the syringes look fantastic and I hope they're interactive.

The idea of a shipping container shop is the first thing to make my heart skip a beat. I get it, shipping containers make great shops, but I do hope that they make some kind of effort to disguise it!

I'm not sure about the reliability of Ride Rater for news, but It would be a rather unusual and pointless story to make up or to exaggerate. The date seems about right for me, get the lift hill up over the next week and they'll have a full month of testing... it could be legit.

* Some of you may need to think back to your pre-enthusiast days to recall the meaning of this word.

Click to expand...

Those of us who have negative opinions never complain about people who are positive. We accept that your view is different. Funny how the "positive" people are always so offended by someone not agreeing with them.

---

Not much to say on construction, since as far as track goes there doesn't seem to have been much progress for a couple of days now.

I still say the Marmaliser needs it's legs clad to make them look more solid, but that's clearly not going to happen now they have started bolting things on to it.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

DiogoJ42 said:

Not much to say on construction, since as far as track goes there doesn't seem to have been much progress for a couple of days now.

I still say the Marmaliser needs it's legs clad to make them look more solid, but that's clearly not going to happen now they have started bolting things on to it.

Click to expand...

Looks like more track will be put up tomorrow now. Also the only cladding I could see is on the bottom section of each leg to stop people climbing up and it may also say the names of each leg like it showed in the concept art.

I've updated my overview map, to show what is left - here is the image:

As of 9th April 2013:

(Larger Image - Click. Things in orange are unknown as to whether they are happening yet)

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Novas said:

Very tired of the unjust negativity now. I was going to single people out but I've decided to behave, however as an example one person has now posted in this thread 12 times in the last 48 hours and every single one of their posts has been a complaint. They are not alone and frankly I am so bored of re-reading the same peoples opinions every time a new bolt is fixed into place.

Whilst the team have tried hard to clean this thread up and get people on topic it remains a serious chore to read at the moment. At times it is endless pages of “OMG I can’t believe they’re leaving it like that!” and then 24 hours later “O look, they fixed it, nevermind.”

It would have been so flippin easy for the park to go with a non-descript space theme and blend the ride in seamlessly with the existing area, but for once they decided to think outside the box and I for one love the results. Everything about the ride is over the top, fantastically daft and fun*

Some aspects of the Marm look weak at the moment but It does seem to be improving with every update, the syringes look fantastic and I hope they're interactive.

The idea of a shipping container shop is the first thing to make my heart skip a beat. I get it, shipping containers make great shops, but I do hope that they make some kind of effort to disguise it!

I'm not sure about the reliability of Ride Rater for news, but It would be a rather unusual and pointless story to make up or to exaggerate. The date seems about right for me, get the lift hill up over the next week and they'll have a full month of testing... it could be legit.

* Some of you may need to think back to your pre-enthusiast days to recall the meaning of this word.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, just a few things;

1- how on earth would a generic non-descript space theme fit in with x-sector?

2- there's outside the box, and then there's just bad ideas, and a car washer attached to a metal frame doesn't exactly spell out the sinister, human experiment theme we were expecting.

3- You may be sick of people complaining, but they are merely voicing their opinions, the fact that its different to yours may upset you, but a majority of the forum will be negative and critical, because it hasn't turned out as hoped so far, and mainly because we care about the project.


The fact is that the theme at hand here is incredibly dark when you think about it, alien monsters, haunted forests and zombies are all rather far fetched and as a result can be toned down to the extent its acceptable in a family theme park. But human experimentation? Insanity? That is really dark stuff.

The smiler is essentially a battery correctional facility for those suffering from insanity...... wow.

So there is a need for all this fluff, the car washer, the over sized syringes, and the slightly cartoony set out. Because there's a fine line between creepy and dark, and horror.

Alton could create a sanctuary style ride if they really wanted, surrounded in a sinister dark theme, with blood on the walls, people in straight jackets and all it brings with it, but that would be crossing a line I think, a line they create when they market themselves as a family resort.

So ye, unstructured rant over, I don't post often so sorry if this doesn't make any sense at all, but that's my opinion on the whole marm argument. I don't like it, but I think it helps bridge the gap between an acceptable ride, and an incredibly sinister and dark ride. :/

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

So, I kind of ended up at Towers again today. And I kind of took lots of photos!

WARNING, VERY PICTURE HEAVY POST!!

We start with a look at the Marmaliser:


The station walls are now complete and theming is being added in the form of yellow pipes:




A look back up the site, featuring the lovely looking airtime hill (said hill may feature heavily in this update! ):


The Marmaliser from Blivvy's queue:


A look at the Giggler:






The station from a different angle:


The Tickler:


A close up, notice the motor to the right. Evidence that the Tickler will indeed spin:


The Inoculator:


Here you can see that the second airtime hill is bigger than the first:


The Inoculator is going to be a fantastic head chopper:


A support being lifted into place:






Working on the wiring on the final brake run:


Starting to put in the back wall of the maintenance shed:


An overview of the top of the site, all/most of the footers now appear to have been completed:


The back wall of the station:


Another look at the Inoculator, here you can see that the needles are not complete:




Working on constructing the base and mechanisms for the transfer track:






Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's the base of the vertical lift:




Here it is in place, although it is yet to be aligned with the track and secured to the ground. I'm not overly sure how they are going to secure it to the ground:


A look over to the shop. Notice that the indoor drop has not yet been enclosed:


Here you can see some cladding on the Flasher leg, this is the piece of metal that will be at the base of all the legs saying what the leg is called:


You can see it is black on the other side as seen in the concepts:


That airtime hill again:




This is now where we think a van is going:


Yeah, I don't think it's going to be a van! Not sure what it could be:


More parts added to the Giggler:




And parts waiting to be put in place:


The shipping container!


A catwalk sitting on the concrete, looks like it could be for the top of the first lift going by its shape:


Looking down the site from a slightly different angle:


The back wall of the maintenance shed is now complete, although the tops aren't levelled out as it were:


Track:




And some more. This was put down in the same place. Unfortunately I couldn't stay to find out what it was used for. One of those pieces would have been transfer track I imagine:


A final overview:


There we go, hope you enjoyed! These updates of mine are becoming far too regular! Expect the next one on Sunday!

As usual, all photos taken from areas of the park fully accessible to the public. Please do not replicate my photos without permission. TowersStreet may use them if they wish.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

DiogoJ42 said:

Novas said:

Very tired of the unjust negativity now. I was going to single people out but I've decided to behave, however as an example one person has now posted in this thread 12 times in the last 48 hours and every single one of their posts has been a complaint. They are not alone and frankly I am so bored of re-reading the same peoples opinions every time a new bolt is fixed into place.

Whilst the team have tried hard to clean this thread up and get people on topic it remains a serious chore to read at the moment. At times it is endless pages of “OMG I can’t believe they’re leaving it like that!” and then 24 hours later “O look, they fixed it, nevermind.”

It would have been so flippin easy for the park to go with a non-descript space theme and blend the ride in seamlessly with the existing area, but for once they decided to think outside the box and I for one love the results. Everything about the ride is over the top, fantastically daft and fun*

Some aspects of the Marm look weak at the moment but It does seem to be improving with every update, the syringes look fantastic and I hope they're interactive.

The idea of a shipping container shop is the first thing to make my heart skip a beat. I get it, shipping containers make great shops, but I do hope that they make some kind of effort to disguise it!

I'm not sure about the reliability of Ride Rater for news, but It would be a rather unusual and pointless story to make up or to exaggerate. The date seems about right for me, get the lift hill up over the next week and they'll have a full month of testing... it could be legit.

* Some of you may need to think back to your pre-enthusiast days to recall the meaning of this word.

Click to expand...

Those of us who have negative opinions never complain about people who are positive. We accept that your view is different. Funny how the "positive" people are always so offended by someone not agreeing with them.

---

Not much to say on construction, since as far as track goes there doesn't seem to have been much progress for a couple of days now.

I still say the Marmaliser needs it's legs clad to make them look more solid, but that's clearly not going to happen now they have started bolting things on to it.

Click to expand...

---

Ok, I’ll do my best to keep this quick as I’d rather not envoke the wrath of the mods...

My problem is not with negativity. I’m a as cynical and pessimistic as they come. My problem was having to read the same peoples negative opinions over and over again in a “It’s crap,” “It’s still crap” “OMG this is crap” “OMFG I can’t believe this craps not butter” kind of manner without adding anything new to the discussion.

I also think you’ve jumped the gun by assuming it was aimed at you, and I’m also quite offended that you think I get offended by anything on the internet. (I actually just wrote that sentence and physically facepalmed for the first time in my life. )

I do not wish to start a personal confrontation with anyone, (I appreciate that my posts don't always read like that, but trust me, you'll get use to it. ) In the meantime if you, Chris, or anyone else has taken my comment personally and would like to discuss it further my inbox or the tavern are always open.

---

Oil drums are very cool, pipes don't look great but I remain hopeful on the station. Anyone who doubts the potential of a plain grey building needs to check out a Transformers photo update.
:*

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Rob said:

So, I kind of ended up at Towers again today.
...
These updates of mine are becoming far too regular! Expect the next one on Sunday!

Click to expand...

Mate, you need to stay in more.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Wow, great photos getting very excited for this ride! Looks like Towers are really throwing everything they've got at this. The marmaliser is looking amazing - I cant wait to see it finished and working.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

I think the needles would look better mounted at and angle so they point at riders, so it looks like you're about to go into the points, rather than just hit them.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Great photography Rob.

There almost doesn't look to be enough clearance from the Marmaliser's elements for the general hands in the air clearance! The world's first true headchopper, perhaps...

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

How lucky are thepeople working on this? Its not everyday you get to lift massive car washers, or giant needles in to place!
This ride is mental. I cant wait to ride it. Woww

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Brilliant photos Rob, thanks! Loving the artwork on the giggler tanks. I'd assumed the innoculator needles were just for a headchopper, but they've got wiring in them; wondering what that's all about?

Nice to see the cladding on the bottom of the legs will still happen, I like the legs as they are now, but the clad sections will hopefully give the legs a bit more solidity against that whole mess of track nearer the ground. Old spidey really is shaping up well IMO.

That last inversion looks an absolute beast, second airtime hill looks sexeh! Niggle: Alton please paint those damn silver ladders leading up to the airtime hill catwalks, my OCD cannot cope with them.

Bit concerned about the station but hey it's not finished yet. Yeah, what can I say other than I love how this is turning out. <3 <3

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

The needles will be pulsating air jets.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Tom said:

The needles will be pulsating air jets.

Click to expand...

Yes think that was debated a while back.

Liking the look of the Marmaliser more and more, wonder what the Wooden structure is where the van was going to go though.

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

This is bloody awesome, the marmiliser looks great. Even the tickler when lined up next to a man looks impressive.

Has anyone any screen shots from the game of what the station exterior should look like, I still havent played it.

And as for that second airtime hill, wow

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

JB1985 said:

This is bloody awesome, the marmiliser looks great. Even the tickler when lined up next to a man looks impressive.

Has anyone any screen shots from the game of what the station exterior should look like, I still havent played it.

And as for that second airtime hill, wow

Click to expand...

There are loads of screenshots of the game, including the station in our news article from when the game was released: http://www.towersstreet.com/news/2013/the-smiler-game-released/

Re: [The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation Part 2

Those needles look like they will spray water given the tubes inside and the "blue" valve clearly seen in one of them