A Bit of Soppiness

[Harv]

Well, then, with The Smiler finally open, many of us self-professed geeks and enthusiasts will have to find other ways to spend our hours than oggling the forums and nitpicking signage. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone on the forum, particularly the team, for an excellent construction period. From the night back on TowersTimes when the SW7 plans were first released, to yesterday afternoon's opening, there's been a non-stop flow of discussion, coverage, analysis and humour. Most of us have migrated here from the old site, but I can safely say that I'm proud to be part of this community, for the members and for the great posts that make this site feel welcoming and friendly.

I'd like to thank all those who have provided pictures of the construction, especially to Rob, for their endurance of the elements, patience and continued updates on the site. Without their images, the boards would have been pretty silent, really, so thank you once again.

So, yeah, I hope everybody enjoys The Smiler as much as I've enjoyed watching it develop on here, and I can't wait to ride it in June!

Thank you team, same again in 3-4 years?

 

[Dave]

I am just going to add a big thank you to those who have brought us all of the amazing construction photos.

Obviously anything Smiler related that has come un-credited from TS has been done by Mike (djtruefitt) who has often ran down to the resort at short notice when our moles have said something was happening.

Obviously there is also Stretchy who has so graciously shared his photo's on this forum, he works with TowersNerd (and if you haven't already you should check out their coverage and videos of The Smiler opening as its amazingly well done).

And then there is Rob who has spent so much time on resort, again often at our bequest and has offered his photo's up for TS to use (at least 70% of our construction content on the site must be from Rob).

The key thing is though that it doesn't matter if you posted a picture once or a thousand times we know this place's success has got little to do with what the "team" do. Its what the community offer up that matters and we hopefully will be able to announce a few ways to develop that community element soon.

Ta Ducks

 

[Sam]

The coverage of The Smiler was absolutely impeccable. Probably the greatest coverage of any ride's planning, design and construction by any fansite, ever.

 

[Rob]

I have to agree that the coverage of The Smiler from start to finish has been utterly fantastic. And I've loved it all, heck almost half of my posts on this forum have been in various Smiler topics!! So much was covered, and so much was discussed. And we had our fair share of SWArguments (still not on the level of Mr Leroy2009Jones though )! But most importantly at all, the people on this forum have been great to share opinions with, discuss things with and so on, even if it did get heated at times.

From a personal point of view, I've obviously followed the construction of The Smiler massively. I never envisaged doing so initially, but it turns out I really enjoyed photographing the site and seeing what was new each time I went to visit. I'm glad that so many people did enjoy my updates, it's something that I'll probably never be able to do again to the same extent. You may find this hard to believe, but I haven't actually taken one photo of The Smiler in operation yet! I've had some really kind words from people about my photos and they really do mean a lot.

 

[djtruefitt]

I have never really followed a ride from start to finish before (OK there was Sub-Terra, but I didn't follow that closely and wasn't on the team then), so it was all new to me following the Smiler. But I have really enjoyed following the construction and working for TowersStreet has certainly turned me into a proper geek.

If you had asked me a year ago if I would be stood at Alton Towers in the snow in January looking at pieces of roller coaster track, or racing after work to get a photo of someone stood in yellow uniform, or even being stood watching the first few pieces of track get delivered in the evening during Scarefest. I would have just laughed at you. But I have really enjoyed it, and it kind of makes me appreciate the ride much more, as I really have seen every little detail come together.

It's always great when you add photos to the TowersStreet Facebook page or on the forum and you get loads of likes and positive comments from your friends and from total strangers, certainly makes me feel like I have contributed something to the site since I joined the team last year!

And now the ride is finished and open I can finally enjoy it! But I do now need to find something else to do with my time and my camera!