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The Smiler - General Discussion
- Thread starter Scott
- Start date
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Wasn’t it one of the James Bond actors who invented Magnums? Or am I totally imagining that? I could have sworn I heard it was a James Bond actor who invented Magnums… I want to say Roger Moore?
On the topic of Smiler, I think the longest I ever waited for it was the best part of 2 hours (I seem to remember 100 minutes being the mooted queue time by both the board and my parents) in its opening season.
Actually, come to think of it, the longest I ever waited for it was somewhere in the region of 110 minutes in July 2020, just after the park reopened from the first COVID lockdown. They were having some sort of issues with it, because the throughput was the lowest I’ve ever seen on any of the big 7 by some margin; a train was being dispatched about every 2 minutes, leading to a throughput of roughly 480pph, and of course the trains weren’t being filled at this point, either. I seem to remember that my exact timing was either 494pph or 454pph… I can’t remember which, but it was somewhere in the ballpark of 450-500pph. As such, the queue moved very slowly.
That wait might even have been a full 2 hours, come to think of it… if not, it was certainly close. Within 10 minutes of it, at least.
On the topic of Smiler, I think the longest I ever waited for it was the best part of 2 hours (I seem to remember 100 minutes being the mooted queue time by both the board and my parents) in its opening season.
Actually, come to think of it, the longest I ever waited for it was somewhere in the region of 110 minutes in July 2020, just after the park reopened from the first COVID lockdown. They were having some sort of issues with it, because the throughput was the lowest I’ve ever seen on any of the big 7 by some margin; a train was being dispatched about every 2 minutes, leading to a throughput of roughly 480pph, and of course the trains weren’t being filled at this point, either. I seem to remember that my exact timing was either 494pph or 454pph… I can’t remember which, but it was somewhere in the ballpark of 450-500pph. As such, the queue moved very slowly.
That wait might even have been a full 2 hours, come to think of it… if not, it was certainly close. Within 10 minutes of it, at least.
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Jonathan
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Helix <3
Well, Roger Moore did claim to have come up with the idea, but Wall's have denied it - was invented in Aarhus (Denmark) in the 1980s.
Wicker Man on the other hand has a fantasy Magnum purchasing station in the queueline.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
What do you mean by a “fantasy” one? Are you referring to the queue line shop?
I meant fantasy as in it's like a dream it's that good, and yes I mean the queue-line shop.
Groundking
TS Member
I think the longest I've ever waited for Smiler is like half an hour 
I'd rather do anything else than spend a bunch of time in that queue line
The ride itself is fun enough but that queue is a special kind of hell.
I'd rather do anything else than spend a bunch of time in that queue line
The ride itself is fun enough but that queue is a special kind of hell.
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
Think my partner and I waited about 100 mins for smiler a couple of months ago for his first go on it. I hated it, by far my least favourite queue line at towers. Single rider every time for us now until the kids hit the magic 1.4. I don’t mind riding on the end of a row next to strangers if it means I don’t have to be stuck in what is essentially a cage surrounded by strangers at all angles for the best part of 2 hours.
djtruefitt
TS Team
They added a fence between the vending machines this season, so even thin people can’t queue jump.
How??!?! Do you live half way around the world or somethingYep, 9 years and I'm still yet to ride it.
George W
TS Member
12 amazing rides on smiler today all had pretty good dueling action all pretty smooth, no head banging whatsoever just really really enjoyable.
My friends who I went with don't do smiler so all rides were in single rider queue definitely had some good chats in the single rider queue with people lots of enthusiasts on park today it seemed.
Every ride had my hands up all the way round although I find it better to brace at the end of the ride as you go down the cobra roll and into the final double corkscrew.
The 2 airtime hills is still the best airtime on park for me and by the end of the day the ride was flying round more than I've found it before, the ride is brilliant for me I love the pacing, pulls about the right amount of forces that I like, intense not super smooth but just adds to the demented feel of the ride.
My main take back is that I've been very impressed with how it's been riding this season still feel the 2-3 jolts in the suspect spots but it's nothing awful but I've not had a single bad ride this season.
My friends who I went with don't do smiler so all rides were in single rider queue definitely had some good chats in the single rider queue with people lots of enthusiasts on park today it seemed.
Every ride had my hands up all the way round although I find it better to brace at the end of the ride as you go down the cobra roll and into the final double corkscrew.
The 2 airtime hills is still the best airtime on park for me and by the end of the day the ride was flying round more than I've found it before, the ride is brilliant for me I love the pacing, pulls about the right amount of forces that I like, intense not super smooth but just adds to the demented feel of the ride.
My main take back is that I've been very impressed with how it's been riding this season still feel the 2-3 jolts in the suspect spots but it's nothing awful but I've not had a single bad ride this season.
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Great to hear. I agree that it's a top class ride. Were the operations good on it today? I'm assuming so if the trains were dueling at times
pluk
TS Member
I'll agree with this. The jolts, which would be bone shattering on occasion in the early years, are definitely far less pronounced now, just little clicks as you go over them.
They are also the best moments on the ride, by far. I just don't find that many inversions particularly interesting to ride, it's all very samey.
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
Managed to get a few rides on Smiler today thanks to the single rider queue, even when it was fairly busy we still waited way less than the advertised time for the stand by queue. Seemed quite rattly to me today but not terribly rough. The 2 airtime hills are definitely my favourite parts of the ride.
One thing I noticed today which I’ve not noticed before on any ride is that some of the restraints were really smelly, like old sweat. I’m guessing the recent heat wave we had won’t help with this, but it did take away from the ride experience slightly on the couple of times I was unlucky enough to get a stinky seat.
One thing I noticed today which I’ve not noticed before on any ride is that some of the restraints were really smelly, like old sweat. I’m guessing the recent heat wave we had won’t help with this, but it did take away from the ride experience slightly on the couple of times I was unlucky enough to get a stinky seat.
Alsty
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Fury 325
This is nothing new. There's a whole thread devoted to it.
Mattie boy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shamballa
Has the leaking marmalizer been fixed yet ? When we were there last in late May it was leaking quite bad and filling the first part of the cattle pin with water
BigShadowtinytree
TS Member
I’ve never come across this thread before, hilarious. And all these years later it’s still an issue.
Danscott22
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
The Giggler leg was dripping water down quite harshly in late may - used the single rider queue so I assume this is what you mean. I’m not sure if it’s just spray coming down though as it’s supposed to, as the misters on that leg have been quite powerful this year