• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Nemesis Vs The Smiler

Which do you prefer

  • Cant Choose Between Them

    Votes: 16 21.1%

  • Nemesis

    Votes: 40 52.6%

  • The Smiler

    Votes: 20 26.3%
  • Total voters
    76
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
It was hell for me, 2 1/2 hours stood down there in the blazing sun, with the noise of the ride going right overhead, and the music - I had such a bad headache when I finally got on the ride.

Give me a 2 1/2 hour queue in Rita anyday!!!
 
QUEUE TIME: 90 mins from here etc, would do something, but you just have absolutely no idea where you are going, how long is left, which direction it goes next, there's no structure to it at all. Very disorientating, noisy, claustrophobic, uncomfortable and unpleasant, whilst in a concrete bunker.

Given what it is queuing around, and the potential, it really is a fail.

I find that quite sad as an enthusiast, because with some imagination, it could have actually been the best one on the park, given it's constant proximity to the ride.

Rita is bad, but you are surrounded by trees and wood, it's a softer experience overall, but this being so angular feels very uncomfortable, there is no respite.
 
I thought the queue was ok actually. Great ride interaction, always something to look at. It moves quickly compared to other cattlepens, the shop is perfectly placed as opposed to thirteens for instance.

Ok its no Oblivion or Nemesis (with the full queue 1994 style) on that front but its certainly not the worst.

And, lets face it, if all we have to strop over is a queue, then surely this is good news?
 
Personally I think the queue experience is just as, if not more important than the ride experience.

I think a lot of people ignore a crap queue of a good ride just because the ride is always the last thing on their mind. I've actually avoided going on some rides in parks purely down to the queue experience (unless the ride is that worth it to me). Portaventura being the key example of how to make unpleasant queues.

Anyhow, I'm going a bit off topic.



I'm yet to ride The Smiler. But it's interesting to see the majority still rate Nemesis higher. I wonder though if that is just purely down to nostalgia and the fact The Smiler is a Gerst ride and Nemesis is a B&M. Or may be nothing will beat the world class beast. Suppose I'll make my own verdict when I get on The Smiler.
 
James said:
I wonder though if that is just purely down to nostalgia and the fact The Smiler is a Gerst ride and Nemesis is a B&M. Or may be nothing will beat the world class beast.
Click to expand...

Personally, I think a lot of it is down to nostalgia, but equally, a lot of peoples decision are swayed as The Smiler is the new kid on the block.

Hence the poll, interested to see peoples reactions more than their reviews of the rides
 
I'm not the worlds greatest Nemmy fan (Nemesis was ranked 8th in my last Mitch Hawker steel poll ballot behind 3 other B&M Inverts) however Nemesis does beat The Smiler for me. I really like The Smiler but once you've ridden it and then go on Nemesis you can feel the difference in the quality of the ride.

:)
 
I'd believe that a lot of Nemesis' support comes down to nostalgia, were it not for the fact that I'm not very nostalgic about it and yet I still rate it as being one of the best coasters on the planet.
 
There's a reason people are nostalgic for it.

Simply, it's one of the best rides ever built.

Having not ridden The Smiler, I can't compare them, but it will take something special to displace nemesis. not even The Ultimate quite manages that, so it's a big ask for The Smiler to.
 
They are both good rides, but the way Nemesis makes you feel, that floaty feeling you get as you come off the lift hill, the sheer power of it, the non stop intensity, the feeling your going to hit your legs on the rocks, the boom boom cha, boom boom cha of the trains as they enter the station, and the fact its been running all these years and yet is still as smooth as the day it was built, nah, not nostalgia for me, its just a fantastic ride that will never be topped.
 
JB1985 said:
And, lets face it, if all we have to strop over is a queue, then surely this is good news?
Click to expand...

Yes but you might spend 2 hours in the queue, but barely a minute on the ride. For me queuing for a ride like The Swarm did not build my anticipation for the ride it just made me want to leave the whole park and never come back. It is only bearable with some half decent company. I have no time or respect for theme parks which do not consider the guest experience.

Of course having a kick ass rollercoaster is always the bread and butter but it's only a tiny part of creating a decent experience. And the tired argument that the masses only care about the ride and not the overall experience falls flat on it's face because that is basically what Disney and Universal are built upon.
 
Could not disagree more with that.

The ride is the most important bit. That's why people visit. not for the queue.

Yes, all the other stuff enhances the experience, but if the ride is only a small part, places like Blackpool, Cedar Point and Six Flags would not exist.
 
Blaze said:
Could not disagree more with that.

The ride is the most important bit. That's why people visit. not for the queue.

Yes, all the other stuff enhances the experience, but if the ride is only a small part, places like Blackpool, Cedar Point and Six Flags would not exist.
Click to expand...

But none of those parks are THEME parks.

4/5 years ago I may have agreed with your viewpoint, but a rollercoaster is just track and supports almost always with a standard design from a manufacturer just with a differing layout. It's all the other stuff which makes it special, not the ride on its own.

All due credit to those who took the time and trouble to give us construction updates of The Smiler, but in all honesty most of them bored the pants off me. Once I have seen once piece of standard Gerstlauer track and supports I have seen them all.
 
The queue is just as important as the ride in my eyes.

Nemesis is the best example of how to make an entertaining and enjoyable queue with minimal work having to actually be done (apart from the initial queue design). It's open, it gives you a good sense of where you are, it allows you to interact with the ride... that is a textbook example of how you do a queue!

The Smiler had the same potential with the ground area it covers yet they still went for a cattle pen. It shows a lack of creativity still with queue design in the UK. Not since Oblivion have we seen Tussauds or Merlin create a queue of the same standards. I'm hoping out for SW8 to surprise though!
 
I actually prefer Portaventura style cattle pens to the way Merlin do them. At least at PA you can see how far you have to go, but Merlin queues seem deliberately designed to confuse you. They take you right up to the station, only to turn away and take you miles away again. It's soul crushing.

Tl;DR: If you must build a cattle pen, just make it a basic zig zag, not a maze.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Tl;DR: If you must build a cattle pen, just make it a basic zig zag, not a maze.
Click to expand...

The designers (for want of a better word) of these monstrosities should be locked in one of their creations and told to find the exit.

Blindfolded.
 
I haven't even ridden the Smiler and I know for a fact I'm still going to prefer Nemesis. I think I'll always be biased. That said I genuinely think I'd still think Nemesis is the better ride.

Give it a few years and the vote I'm sure will be even more in favour of Nemesis. I can just see the Smiler getting worse in every aspect with age.
 
Queues are necessary, and are more often than not a part of the experience where you just accept that you're going to be bored. They aren't important at all, and although it's great if they interact with the ride or are well themed, it's nowhere near a priority. The ride is the focal point, that's what people are at the park for. The queue is merely a means to the ride.
 
To me a queue is nothing more than a necessary evil that you have to go through to get to the ride. By all means make them good by theming them and not making them awful cattlepens, but it's the track that I've come for. The best queue in the world can't generate speed and g force.
 
I'm sure the designers of Die Vliegende Hollander, Fluch von Novgorod, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Wodan would agree with you.

A queue can build the scene for a great ride.

;)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Status
This topic has been locked. No further replies can be posted.
Top