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2021: General Discussion

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Matt.GC said:
One of the great design aspects of Towers is that you can get up and personal with many of the coasters. From the Oblivion hole, the Nemesis pit, queueing above and around the Wickerman pit, Galactica swooping above the plaza (where I lost my phone through carelessness a few years back) and to a lesser extent queuing directly underneath the Smiler. Although I despise the thing to ride, Colossus at Thorpe is superb to walk around and view off ride. This makes the park quite unique as there's a spectacle for off riders and is something the park does very well.

The last thing I'd want is future projects built completely behind fences and cheap clutter with Danger of Death signs retro erected everywhere to solve a loose article problem.
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This shows how well designed Nemesis, Air, Oblivion and Colossus are compared to the Smiler. They managed to create fantastic interactions between the ride and spectators whereas The Smiler just plonked the queue underneath the ride.
 
Matt.GC said:
One of the great design aspects of Towers is that you can get up and personal with many of the coasters. From the Oblivion hole, the Nemesis pit, queueing above and around the Wickerman pit, Galactica swooping above the plaza (where I lost my phone through carelessness a few years back) and to a lesser extent queuing directly underneath the Smiler. Although I despise the thing to ride, Colossus at Thorpe is superb to walk around and view off ride. This makes the park quite unique as there's a spectacle for off riders and is something the park does very well.

The last thing I'd want is future projects built completely behind fences and cheap clutter with Danger of Death signs retro erected everywhere to solve a loose article problem.
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John Wardley said in his book that is was important for a coaster to be able to entertain both the people riding it and the people being able to watch it. As a kid I could stand and watch nemesis for ages and I did while I waiting for my parents to ride. It was just great hearing it roar round the track and watch people just having a good time.

Nemesis is a superb example of how to design a ride where you can watch it and enjoy it off ride. You can walk through a lot of the structure and you can stand right next to the twists and turns with just a fence in between you and the train.
 
jon81uk said:
This shows how well designed Nemesis, Air, Oblivion and Colossus are compared to the Smiler. They managed to create fantastic interactions between the ride and spectators whereas The Smiler just plonked the queue underneath the ride.
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Queue line aside, you have to admit that in it's own way The Smiler is a thing of beauty to watch from the paths, especially the odd time when it duels.
 
As people have said I used to love watching nemesis as a kid and being so excited for when I could finally go on it, but I do agree with @Steve74 that smiler is enjoyable to watch as well. The queueline isn't the best, but personally I view it as in theme with the sort of factory vibe of the ride, churning out people who have been marmalised, but maybe thats me being naive. I think it's also important to note that the smiler being newer means that a lot of us didnt watch it as a kid and waited to be able to ride it, so a nostalgia factor comes in as to why people don't think it's as enjoyable to watch offride
 
Park marked in the app as closed Wednesday 1st September. I've tickets and Fastrack purchased and I'm travelling all the way from Northern Ireland. I think I'm going to explode!!

Flights, accomodation, hire car everything booked and they do this a week before we go.
 
Austin Towers said:
Park marked in the app as closed Wednesday 1st September. I've tickets and Fastrack purchased and I'm travelling all the way from Northern Ireland. I think I'm going to explode!!

Flights, accomodation, hire car everything booked and they do this a week before we go.
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jon81uk said:
Shows as open on the website
https://www.altontowers.com/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/opening-times/
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Just looked on the app and it says open on that date. :)
 
jon81uk said:
This shows how well designed Nemesis, Air, Oblivion and Colossus are compared to the Smiler. They managed to create fantastic interactions between the ride and spectators whereas The Smiler just plonked the queue underneath the ride.
Click to expand...
I actually like being in The Smiler queue - if it's moving!

I find the trains passing by overhead quite thrilling, especially when you get the gust of air accompanying them.
 
Rick said:
The opinion of the ride is caused by the incident. The issue described in the post is caused by a misguided queue set up.
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Tell him the ride is safe - if it's operated safely. And every coaster has had someone lose their phone on at some time, even wacky worms....
 
Every coaster has had someone drop a phone on it.
Very few coasters have the whole queue under the main multi looping body of the ride.
In such a setting, netting needs to be secure and comprehensive.
 
Mikw said:
I actually like being in The Smiler queue - if it's moving!

I find the trains passing by overhead quite thrilling, especially when you get the gust of air accompanying them.
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I like watching the trigger points and trim brakes on the Marmalizer airtime humps. If you watch closely, as the train passes over the crest of each lift hill, the trim breaks reset to maximum on the next hump it is due to pass through. Then, on one of the inversions before the hump where there is a blue sensor block attached, when the train passes over it you see the trim brakes drop according to the speed it calculated by passing that sensor. There could be a sensor further back and it's calculated the speed between the two, or it simply has timed from the top of the lift hill to the sensor and calculated the speed it expects it to pass over the hump. Either way, it's fascinating to watch. The more you see of things like that (an any coaster) the more you realise just how intricately designed these things are and you wonder why there aren't more stoppages due to technical difficulties with sensor systems!
 
A slight correction, as the train leaves the lift the brakes all reset to minimum (down) and the required amount pops up just before the train arrives. I’ve never actually been able to physically see the sensor that causes the brakes to pop up but I know the general area of track they are on.
 
jon81uk said:
This shows how well designed Nemesis, Air, Oblivion and Colossus are compared to the Smiler. They managed to create fantastic interactions between the ride and spectators whereas The Smiler just plonked the queue underneath the ride.
Click to expand...
This is true but you can't deny the views below the ride for the smiler are amazing
 
spinba11 said:
A slight correction, as the train leaves the lift the brakes all reset to minimum (down) and the required amount pops up just before the train arrives. I’ve never actually been able to physically see the sensor that causes the brakes to pop up but I know the general area of track they are on.
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Are you sure? I'm sure I've seen the blades rise up at that point, maybe I'm mis-remembering and thinking of them rising up when they hit the sensor. I guess what determines whether they reset to min or max is what would be more dangerous in event of a failure of the speed adjustment system and the brakes staying reset - allow the train to fly through at maximum speed or slow it too much it doesn't make the next inversion? Saying that what would the maximum trim brake setting do to the train? Slow it so much that it wouldn't make the next inversion?

The sensor is on the inversion directly before the brakes I think.

EDIT - sorry, getting carried away here, forgot this is in the 2021 General Discussion thread!
 
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