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The Smiler - General Discussion

Going by the amount of people I see around the park either wearing full Smiler get up or some form of Smiler merch I’d say the ride has to be at least somewhat popular. Whether that be because of its theme or the actual ride.

It’s not my favourite on the park and it certainly has its faults and controversy over the past decade, but I do enjoy a ride on it when I visit. I’d be surprised if it was removed from the park within this decade but they do need to put some serious effort into keeping the area clean. Mould is unacceptable especially inside the station.

Still can’t believe they’re dedicating an event to The Smiler yet the ride is in such a sorry state. Whose bright idea was that. Parks such as Efteling and Europa Park would never.
 
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Can i just say from a couple of park visits this year, ALL the rides and ride areas are filthy, and i'm not blaming the park for this exclusively, The weather has been woeful, even the path from the Car Park to the entrance has piles of mud and grime on it, much like the roads at the moment.
 
Blackhole_Sun said:
Do you ever think there would be a case of Alton selling the ride? Still having the most inversions is certainly a selling point.

It used to be pretty common that a coaster would be relocated a few times before being binned. Could we see this happen with Smiler or any other coaster at AT?
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Why would they sell it? It's a big draw, arguably Alton's most famous coaster.
 
Let's be honest colossus is a much worse ride experience (to the majority) and that's slowly being retracked, granted smiler is half of it's age but the smiler is far more popular than colossus, so a smiler retrack wouldn't be impossible.

Obviously nobody here can really comment on the structural soundness of the smiler and how it's actually aging maybe the feat of engineering of how compact it is may cause Merlin to have to make a choice of keep it and put some serious work in or scrap it come sooner than we would expect.

However I wouldn't jump the gun, in a perfect world it would be reprofiled and retracked at sections, somehow slightly change the dynamics somewhere so it can complete the sidewinder without stalling on soft wheels so the wheels don't age so poorly and there's less on ride vibrations.
And then run it on real infinity coaster lapbar trains.
But I think I'd be in la la land to expect any of that to happen.
 
As much as it looks like it The Smiler isn’t going anywhere. Maybe is the next decade things may change, but it’s a world record holding ride that nobody seems or is rumoured to be beating. As per my previous posts I think it’s in a ridiculously bad condition aesthetically, but why would you even consider the future of such ride. After speaking to European and American enthusiasts it seems the smiler is top of their minds!. Nemesis and wickerman will definitely be a draw but the fact it’s the inversions record holder keeps towers on the worldwide map.
 
Max said:
what exactly is being addressed? the rides a state, there’s black mould in the station.
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If there is black mould in the station, and not just staining from previously treated mould, that is a full blown criminal offence, putting the staff and public at severe risk from a number of well known, and easily recorded pathogens.
If that is the case, the parks managers responsible for upkeep need sacking.
It could be treated with a bottle of bleach and a scrubbing brush...hardly massive cost or staffing implications...unless they all die of respiratory failure.
 
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If this event is penned to test the popularity of The Smiler, it’s a shame they couldn’t at least jest wash the pit so it doesn’t look as grimy as it does.

I guess at this point it will be a multi-million pound project to get The Smiler up to scratch (repaint track, fix supports, reprofile track, fix pit drainage, apply retheming, reroute the queue, sort the station building), maybe they are considering whether it’s worth justifying the costs or removing the ride and building something new.

I like The Smiler personally, it still has a USP with the inversion record unbeaten, the theme is still compelling, so I hope they can do something to the ride in the near future.
 
I may have mentioned this more than once...jetwashing is very labour intensive and the job would need doing again in about six weeks with all those trees and shade about.
The concrete needs cleaning, treating and then a sealing treatment added to stop the problem repeating every few months.
All the products are out there, they just need the inclination.
 
They need to raise the floor of the queue line half a foot and create one massive drain below it where the water can drain through and sit without people standing in puddles.

Would be a big project but it wouldn’t ruin our shoes then.
 
Probably frost heave from saturated ground beneath.
I have lots of fun in some of my gardens with shifting frozen foundations of retaining walls on steep ground.
"Knock it down love, leave the footings and slap a few old sleepers in up the slope".
 
If a well constructed coaster like Nemesis needed a retrack after 30 years, I'm doubtful we'll get more than 20 out of the Smiler.

I've always loved the theme and branding but never felt it was of the same quality of the B&Ms or enjoyed it as much as some people do so I can't say I'll miss it personally.

Both Dark Forest and X-Sector though are clearly in desperate need of an overhaul in the next few years whatever they intend to do with ride in the long term.
 
MaxPower said:
If a well constructed coaster like Nemesis needed a retrack after 30 years, I'm doubtful we'll get more than 20 out of the Smiler.

I've always loved the theme and branding but never felt it was of the same quality of the B&Ms or enjoyed it as much as some people do so I can't say I'll miss it personally.

Both Dark Forest and X-Sector though are clearly in desperate need of an overhaul in the next few years whatever they intend to do with ride in the long term.
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I think the park as a whole WOULD miss it though. I know i certainly would, it's a big ride for them, and a fun one for me.
 
OK it happened.

I managed a “smooth” ride on this first thing. In the middle right third row. Still had the janky movements left and right but I at least understand what people mean when they say they don’t find it too bad. It must have been 1/20 though for the amount of times I’ve been on it.

Will revisit again during festival of thrills to see what the smiler takeover is all about.
 
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