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Eau de Smiler

The Smiler simply isn't 'incredibly rough', or anywhere near it. It's just not, I'm sorry, but it's not. It's mildly rough at the absolute worst.

Oh sorry, I forgot it's at a M£rlin park! Yeah it's a dreadful atrocity and rougher than falling down the stairs, bloody M£rlin! The evilist corporation in all the land, everything they touch turns to badness.
 
Right ladies and gents... enough now :)

This thread is for the SmilerStink (trademark pending) and not the roughness of the ride. Any further discussion can continue in The Smiler Discussion thread.

Thanks!
 
This; some people on here obviously haven't ridden many Vekomas.

My favourite classic ride is a Vekoma.

I love old woodies.

I do not mind rough coasters, but The Smiler has a myriad of faults. I still like the ride, but would I rather see something of a higher quality and finish at towers? You bet. If that happened to be a smooth Smiler, that isn't sinking, doesn't look like a motorway bridge with some stickers on, and doesn't smell like some city subways on a Sunday morning - great!
 
The smiler is not that bad, yes it has some down sides. Like the smell of the cushioning on the restraints and the light hint of disinfection cleaner in the air after an unexpected ride stop.

(look @Scott a relevant post, hehe)
 
Absolutely Danny. That would eliminate both the smell and much of the discomfort from the rubbish OTSRs. If lap restraints were fitted to Smiler I'd sit further back in the seat, relax my body a bit on-ride and generally gain more enjoyment from the experience. Other guests surely would too?

If Smiler was to actually get lap restraints Gerstlauer would probably prefer it to have the bottom-hinged Karacho style that was designed for the Infinity Coaster in the first place, but the trains would need some significant re-engineering to allow them to be fitted. Dare Devil Dive-style from-the-shoulder restraints would be easier to retrofit if Gerst would be prepared to add a third restraint type to this ride model, though an issue that I suspect would need to be overcome would be the distance from the restraint bar back to the seat body. They protrude quite a way past riders, which isn't an issue on DDD because they're on the outside of each seat and the 3x2 seat layout forms a carefully spaced V anyway. On Smiler I doubt there would be space between the seats for the bars.
 
I would have thought it would need new trains alltogether. Retrofitting different restraints in to trains that were never designed for them sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
 
But Gerstlauer's rolling stock seems as standardised between rides as B&M's, if not more so. Dare Devil's cars look like they're the standard 3x2 Eurofighter/launched car aside from the OTSLRs, and it also looks like they pivot from the same point on the seat as the normal OTSR does. I can only imagine that the system that locks the restraint is the same, especially as I'm sure a Gerstlauer representative said any OTSR-fitted Eurofighter could also be converted if a park wanted to do it.

Smiler's OTSRs are the same as the Eurofighters have, so as long as the bar can get between the seats I don't see why it couldn't have the from-shoulder-lap type too. Failing that, the wheelsets match Karacho's and could surely be reused in a conversion to that car/restraint style.
 
A lap bar could work, but it would be hell on the inverts because it would dig into your legs. They are probably best off just disinfecting it every day or week or so, meaning it smells of disinfectant and not "eau de Smiler"
 
A lap bar could work, but it would be hell on the inverts because it would dig into your legs.
I don't know, considering how fantastically they work on Blue Fire, and I've heard praise on here about Karacho's lap-bars iirc. And considering the Gerstlauer OTSR's clamp down onto your lap instead of acting like those seen on B&M coasters, then there isn't any real point in having the over the shoulder parts at all. It's a waste of time that removes a lot of potential enjoyment from the ride, not only because they completely reek. And, thinking about it, most people who would complain about there not being lap-bars (i.e. some concerned members of the public) won't be observant enough to realise there are lap-bars, as they never know what the hell is going on in a coaster (even when standing right beneath it) so it won't be a repelling factor in the slightest.
 
And, thinking about it, most people who would complain about there not being lap-bars (i.e. some concerned members of the public) won't be observant enough to realise there are lap-bars, as they never know what the hell is going on in a coaster (even when standing right beneath it) so it won't be a repelling factor in the slightest.

True, people can stand next to Nemesis' entrance and ask whether it goes upside down, even though it's right in front of them...
 
The more I ride The Smiler, the more I wonder why the hell anyone would want lapbars on a ride which DEFINITELY requires OSTRs to ensure you stay in a rather upright "comfortable" position. Without this there'd be an insanely uncomfortable amount of movement especially that turn by the shop (unless it had bucket seats.. which it doesn't).

As for Restraint smell.. it can't be sick. The ride barely goes down anymore, and if it does it's never announced for cleaning reasons (which they do say when it is). It's the smell of sweat soaked in. Smell Slammers restraints if you want proof (noone throws up on that!)
 
The more I ride The Smiler, the more I wonder why the hell anyone would want lapbars on a ride which DEFINITELY requires OSTRs to ensure you stay in a rather upright "comfortable" position. Without this there'd be an insanely uncomfortable amount of movement especially that turn by the shop (unless it had bucket seats.. which it doesn't).
It doesn't require OTSR's, though, and it definitely wouldn't be uncomfortable. As I said a bit earlier, they would be like the well-received restraints on Karacho, which are said to be comfortable, and as someone who's ridden Blue Fire, I can say that lap-bars on inversions are a million times better than OTSR's. Think about it, the OTSR's that the Smiler has at the moment press down hugely on your lap, and the over the shoulder parts do absolutely nothing- well, except bash your head in and make you feel physically sick due to the stench; there's absolutely no reason why there should be the over the shoulder part of the restraints.
 
It doesn't require OTSR's, though, and it definitely wouldn't be uncomfortable. As I said a bit earlier, they would be like the well-received restraints on Karacho, which are said to be comfortable, and as someone who's ridden Blue Fire, I can say that lap-bars on inversions are a million times better than OTSR's. Think about it, the OTSR's that the Smiler has at the moment press down hugely on your lap, and the over the shoulder parts do absolutely nothing- well, except bash your head in and make you feel physically sick due to the stench; there's absolutely no reason why there should be the over the shoulder part of the restraints.

Karacho's lapbars are nowhere near the quality of Mack's. The Gerst ones are very tight on your lap, almost uncomfortably so. Essentially like the Smiler's OTSR's are on your lap, although slightly worse.
 
Karacho's restraints were fine and it does fling you around on the last bit before the brakes, though not quite as much as certain parts of Smiler. The sides of the seats prevent you from being chucked from one side to the other too violently anyway. But the freedom to move on Karacho was very much welcome, and it'd be the same on the Smiler.

The only reason it has OTSRs is because the park requested them; Gerstlauer would have otherwise given it lapbars, like all their other recent coasters, and the ones they're currently building.

And besides, other than the two tiny hills, the elements on the Smiler don't lend themselves to chucking you forwards too harshly - certainly nowhere near what the entrance into the only helix of Helix does to you if you're not prepared! :p

I agree though, that comparing the Mack restraints to those on Gerstlauer's recent coasters isn't right as the ones on Mack coasters are a lot better.
 
As I said, I haven't personally ridden Karacho, but I would always take lap-bars over OTSR's.
 
To those comparing the restraints, Mack, B&M and sometimes Intamin are leagues ahead of Gerstlauer here. Like they are in ride smoothness, build quality......
 
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