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2016: The Smiler Reopening

Will you ride in 2016?

  • Yes

    Votes: 147 94.8%
  • No

    Votes: 8 5.2%

  • Total voters
    155
I enjoy the smiler. I prefer nemesis but I think over time it could be a classic alton ride IMO. The smiler is fun and I love the airtime hills which no other ride at alton offers.

The only thing I wish it had was some more intense moments, closer headchoppers, maybe a helix just work on the ride layout. If it has SAWs inside section and the smiler outside it would have an epic layout and could be as good as nemesis.

Regarding the roughness of the ride it varies on where you sit. The back is crazy rough but makes me laugh as I like a bit of rough.

Overall its good to see the smiler being back open, gives x sector the buzz, the only down side was some queue pushers decided to hit my gf in the queue line! But alton staff were great
 
They haven't chopped corrected out of the projection room audio, heard it a few times yesterday but the volume is much lower in there than it used to be
 
I'm guessing the smilers wind system is similar to saws and saw was down most of the afternoon due to high winds. Even though everything else was still open. I guess this is there way of preventing stalls
 
Most of the screens have visible areas in which pixels are either dead or missing certain colours including the marmaliser screen. Most of the projectors were unaligned in the projection room as always which was a shame because it doesn't look like it would be a difficult job to align them properly. The giggler didn't seem to be working but I think I've only ever seen it working once and that was during 2013. The smoke in the station wasn't working either.
It's always been like this. If you look back at photos from before, the screens are in the same state. The projection room was misaligned before the crash, though I agree that it really can't be that hard to fix any of this. The smoke hasn't worked since 2013, and I believe this is because it was coming up through the glass floor in the shop and setting off the fire alarm. On the subject of the glass floor though, it desperately needs cleaning. You can't even see through it now, and I'd love to see it.
 
The projectors always move in that room. Whenever they realign the projectors a week or two later they've moved again!

When it comes to the underground section they could place a black mat with The Smiler logo over the glass in the shop (blacking out the tunnel beneath), and change the fire alarms from smoke to heat detectors to allow the smoke to come back. I believe the smoke is mainly turned off because smoke was leaking into the baggage room and causing issues (although again it's an easy fix by finding the leaks and covering up gaps etc).

The glass floor was pointless when they intended the section underneath to be a black room. When I first heard of the glass floor I was expecting pretty much the entire shop with a glass floor, and the room underneath where the track goes to be bright yellow/black/white with flashing lights. That would have been more of a spectacle.
 
They haven't chopped corrected out of the projection room audio, heard it a few times yesterday but the volume is much lower in there than it used to be

If they cut it out of other audio and removed the sign on the vertical lift... Why leave it on in the projection room?
 
Half a job as usual but the volume is far lower in there so clearly someone realised but too late to do much about it.

Ah right I see. You think the music is turned down because someone dropped a clanger and left "corrected" in by mistake. That makes sense.

Surely wouldn't they be better just playing the other music in there?
 
The only rough parts are the first inverted drop and the exit to the Cobra Roll, the rest of the ride is fine. We've always had problems with the Cobra roll jolt though and the first inverted drop was 'forced' together when they were constructing it so hardly surprising. Still a great ride though and one that I enjoy queuing for.
 
Thought I'd create a video of The Smiler a week after reopening on my visit on Saturday 26th March.

It shows most of the screens, effects and the half-way corrected screens and audio working properly (minus a couple of changes visible), as well as various shots of the ride in action, inside and outside.



:)
 
There is no way this ride will last as long as Nemesis.

It will probably sink by then!

Glass floor is daft, has those stickers on to be non-slip I believe so er, also none see through haha!!

The dark tunnel/glass floor is another example of a total lack of common sense and application of a good idea.

It's infuriating because if this was all done properly it would be an incredible experience of a ride. That tunnel had huge potential but just ended up becoming, well, just a bit dark - the drop drop and twist out of the station is great.

I have to say though, the volume of the hahahahahah etc before you wait for the first lift hill was always WAY too loud and annoying.

Talking about this ride though, been too long since I've been on it!
 
The smiler is a great ride, and it does get a lot more criticism than it deserves. If they built it better and thought about the theming more (seriously, who thought of "the tickler" anyway?), It would be quite possibly the best ride in the park. They could have done so much more, but it seems to have become about her victim of typical m£rlin "it will do". Shame, but hopefully tlc will at least improve the themed features already there.
 
Been on park today and was great to get back on The Smiler. Ride was pretty much walk on all day so didn't really get to observe many of the indoor effects. Music seemed quieter all round. The ride was operating on 3 cars. Found it interesting the staff in the station asked us if we "mind" the front row, guess they have had a lot of people avoiding it. I replied "as long as the operator is awake" to which they replied "don't worry she's the best". :) Staff were all very friendly and focused which is to be expected. Found myself looking toward the batwing as soon as we left the first lift to see it was clear. Not that I could do much if it wasn't lol. I witnessed the ride closed twice during rain. Wind was up but no stronger than at points of the day when it was open, so not sure what that was all about. Really enjoyed our day on the park and riding the smiler again! Welcome back!
 
Thought I'd create a video of The Smiler a week after reopening on my visit on Saturday 26th March.

It shows most of the screens, effects and the half-way corrected screens and audio working properly (minus a couple of changes visible), as well as various shots of the ride in action, inside and outside.



:)


@Martin.C How have you managed to get the full soundtrack in HD from various areas of the ride? Is there any chance that you could upload these? :p
 
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