[The Smiler] Construction Updates and Ride Speculation

[Andrew]

The concrete base for the van has now been installed and The Smiler logo has been placed on top of the Rehydrator instead of the Fanta sign!

Lots going on!

 

[Alastair]

I hateeeeeee the queue line for colossus! I like to quote how I felt that day I had to endure a 2 hour wait...."an insane bear". As well as the smokers and the security walking up and down....not very pleasant. And I detest those stupid huts which sell food.....th13teen...prime example. What a way to hold a queue up!

To be honest, unless the huts are too close to the station I can't see what the problem with them is. They don't really hold up the queue as such, merely alter the timings that it moves.

 

[Tim]

And I detest those stupid huts which sell food.....th13teen...prime example. What a way to hold a queue up!

Yeah, because holding a queue up for a few minutes at a time really adds to your queuing time - It doesn't. It doesn't make one blind bit of difference. You will either be stood where you are for a few minutes or just slowly shuffling forward. It annoys the hell out of me when people walk past the people ordering things as it doesn't affect whether they are stood behind them waiting or in front of them...waiting! Just wait for them to finish then move forward with them.

This is coming from someone that has never bought anything from a ride store too.

The thing is though it does have an effect, not in physical waiting time but physiologically. People don't like standing still in queues.

For example take two car journeys, both last 30 minutes. One is over a greater distance the other is at peak time during rush hour. Of the two the one which feels the longest and causes the most stress is the second when in reality both are the same length.

If we go back to Diogo's comment about the cattle pens at Europa Park (and there are quite a few that have fairly bland surroundings) the reason that they feel many times better than Rita's cattle pen is because you never stop.

This is one of the reasons why I think all parks should be aiming for a higher capacity than they need and finding ways of keeping people moving even if there is a mid-queue shop. I hate constantly reusing EP as an example but they also had a great example of a queue line shop where it passed by several points on the cattle pen, you ordered at one and paid and collected at the other. Win for all involved

...The Smiler logo has been placed on top of the Rehydrator instead of the Fanta sign!

I hate to criticise them for making an improvement but really if any logo should go on that roof it should be Oblivion's pointed straight at the drop. Having the Smiler there just seems rather unfitting.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Also, in Germany, it is generally accepted that if you stop at a shop, you've lost your place in the queue, and everyone will walk past you.

 

[Tim]

Curse the British for being so polite and considerate
But I think the Germans probably have the right idea.

 

[Dar]

I am slightly concerned that this particular support looks to be held up with a ratchet strap!

I believe the support is like that as it has not yet been concreted in place, just to ensure a little 'wiggle room' is available when connecting and matching up the rest of the track.

It would be indeed for that reason.

And I detest those stupid huts which sell food.....th13teen...prime example. What a way to hold a queue up!

Yeah, because holding a queue up for a few minutes at a time really adds to your queuing time - It doesn't. It doesn't make one blind bit of difference. You will either be stood where you are for a few minutes or just slowly shuffling forward. It annoys the hell out of me when people walk past the people ordering things as it doesn't affect whether they are stood behind them waiting or in front of them...waiting! Just wait for them to finish then move forward with them.

This is coming from someone that has never bought anything from a ride store too.

I was being facetious.

I'm of the same viewpoint as Diogo and Tim, if you stop at a shop then you've lost your place. You're queuing for the shop instead of the ride.

I don't mind cattlepens like the swarm's that don't seem to be just straight back and forth, but meander a bit as well. I think the problem with cattlepens is a mental one: if you see a big group of people, you assume that the queue is long and is going to take forever, but if it's spread out, you can't see how long the queue is?

I'm also not so keen on the Smiler logo on top of rehydrator.

This ride looks great.

 

[Quetzal]

Ooh, something about the Smiler Logo being on top of the Rehydrator doesn't feel right at all.

 

[cotda]

^ Really? An awesome, theme related logo or fanta?

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

^ Really? An awesome, theme related logo or fanta?

Yes, but Rehydrator does belong to Oblivion and its theme.

I don't really mind personally, but I would like the pipes black again.

 

[John]

I also think that the Smiler logo on Oblivion intrudes too much. The rides should maintain separate identities IMO.

 

[Prometheus]

Looks like lift hill equipment going in under the maintenance shed on TT's latest update? All on a frame, I'm guessing that explains why we saw no footers being prepared down that end of the trench.

 

[Rollercoasters4Life]

I'm of the same viewpoint as Diogo and Tim, if you stop at a shop then you've lost your place. You're queuing for the shop instead of the ride.

Why should you though? If there was no shops in queues then people would just hang on and wait till they are off the ride. But thats the thing, parks put them in to be used. You are not going anywhere faster by moving past someone else or overtake one set of people. It's just common decency to wait behind the person till they are finished. After all they have been waiting just as long as you. You achieve literally nothing by pushing past them - in essence its queue jumping. The parks put them there to be used and when people use them then they shouldn't be punished by losing their spot - if they left the queue to go and get something then they should, but in this case they shouldn't.

To clarify, you gain nothing, and the person loses their spot - hardly a win for any party and is just pointless. You ride queue time will still be the same and if anything that big leap in movement will make the queue seem faster just as when you don't move seems slower.

I'm also not so keen on the Smiler logo on top of rehydrator.

I'll agree with you on that point though. I've said it before, the only thing that should be on top of Rehydrator is an Oblivion logo or the words Oblivion.

 

[James]

Shops in queues annoy me.

If you want to eat then do it before or after the ride. If you want a drink then go buy a bottle and carry it with you in the queue. I suppose a snack is fine in a queue, although again, buy it before hand. Having a shop in the queue just causes unnecessary faff.

 

[Dar]

If someone can't be bothered to wait until after riding, I can't be bothered to wait for them at a shop.

I'm still intrigued as to what, if any, interaction there will be with the ride. Paths and stuff between sections and the like.

 

[Tim]

There is no right answer.

As it happens I have already written about this issue for a side project I've been working on to define the best elements of ride design. Here is what I wrote on the matter:

Queue Line Distractions
A Queue Line Distraction is anything which is present in a queue line which in some way prevents the user to be queuing normally. These can include:
□ Seating
□ Vending Machines
□ Kiosks
□ Toilets
□ Queue Line Activities

These facilities pose an issue to normal queuing

When confronted by a distraction there are three ways around the situation:
1) Sacrifice the distracted persons place in the queue by allowing others to go ahead of them
2) Hold the queue up behind the distracted person.
3) Allow others to go ahead but let the distracted person queue cut to the place they were before.

None of these options are ideal.
- The first option is normally considered to be the correct course of action by other guests. You have decided to be distracted and therefore forfeit your place in the queue. However from the point of view of the park this is not a profitable attitude to take as it may detract the guest from being distracted and in the case of a vending machine or kiosk result in lost sales.
- The second option seems harmless but can be very frustrating for those who are left waiting. Queuing is always less noticeable when the queue is moving at a good rate. Even worse is if the shop has been placed too close to the rides entrance there is a chance that a long delay could stop people reaching the station.
- The third option only benefits the person in question while causing confusion and annoyance to everyone else. This option also violates the rules on queue jumping and can result in being removed from the queue.

I've gone onto write about ways to avoid these situations all together but it's all very rough at the moment and way too long for me to repost here.

 

[Martin]

If they're at the shop, they're out of the queue and you should go past them. People waiting makes the Thirteen queue about twice as long. If everyone just walked past, you'd take about 15 minutes off your wait. Soon as you go past the shop, you're practically on the ride because it's throughput is so high, but before the shop, you hardly move because people are too polite.

 

[James]

Would you mind sharing the full thing on here sometime in the future, Tim? Obviously when you have something more finalised, I'd be very interested in reading the full thing!

 

[rightbackgranty]

With regards to queueline shops, if the queue is held up whilst those that shop make their purchases surely the queue time isn't affected a great deal? Though it may feel like you are queuing for longer due to being stationary, the queue ahead of the blockage is disappearing. Once the purchase has been made then the queue can advance a large distance. Its essentially Stop + Start v Slow meander and they usually take the same time. It is more annoying than anything because you feel you are going to have to queue for longer.

Just to add though, looking at the most recent overhead updates it does look like there are screens surrounding the top of The Innoculator much like in the promotional images. I'm very pleased if so as it is by far the best piece of themeing on it.

 

[Lottie.]

Love the latest pics of the Smiler <3 As for the Mr. Twirly logo, I'm not surprised they added that on top of Rehydrator but so glad they have removed the Fanta logo.

 

[rightbackgranty]

Nice to see the shop floor going in too, especially as the shop had been rumoured to have been cut. I think its highly unlikely that there will be a glass floor, though there is a large area of "unfloored" space around the support that passes through the building. Could they put a viewing window there - rather than one you walk over?

Just having a look at the pre 1st lift hill area - a chain pulley wheel seems to have been fitted in one of the segments before the lift. Confirmation that we wont be seeing a launched hill (if we needed any more?)