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The Smiler - General Discussion

Yes, not a fan of the single rider queue being moved now. You can’t really judge how long it will be as you are held in quite possibly the worst queue line known. You wait for a member of staff to let you up the stairs which is usually full which is why you are being held. 30 minutes from the beginning before you enter the hold I waited but it was on 3 trains so may be shorter.

They won’t take full drink cups at the bag hold and force you to take them into the station so I don’t think much is gained in that respect. I won’t be doing it as much this year as I’m fed up with how it rides anyway. Had an absolute shocker on Sunday. Looking closer at the outside of the station it still looks awful to me.
 
rob666 said:
Old git calling...again.
Having had a few years now, on balance, I think I prefer that spot with the Black Hole on it.
Real family fun, shelter in the rain, fantastic first time ride with kids.
In the words of Moloko, Bring it Back.
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I’ve never had an enjoyable experience on Smiler so second this.
The queue is awful. You’re literally stuck.

The station experience isn’t nice - it feels half done.

The actually ride layout - it’s impressive but poorly executed.

The good points of the ride are taken away by the poor queue layout. It could be a great spectator ride but misses the trick unfortunately.

A better manufacturer and more thought into the overall experience could have made this ride great, as it should be.

May sign up to some social media sites and spam AT with the hashtag #BBBH (Bring back Black Hole)
 
I know it’s not going to happen (because by way of its strong branding and number of inversions the Smiler has become an absolute icon to many) but I’d be completely happy seeing it flattened and a Mack Stryker being built in its place. On paper the Smiler should be a fantastic ride but unfortunately in reality it’s a janky one with the most hellish queue line imaginable.
 
Benzin said:
I don't think 11 years ago there would've been many alternatives offered up for the space available with the inversion USP.

Even nowadays probably be hard pushed.
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In hindsight the inversion USP is probably what makes the ride so bloody awful. It's way too long, much of the same, and all those inversions and not even one loop. Nemesis' loop is greater than any inversion on the Smiler, it also labours through almost all of the 14 inversions. The day it crashed it actually stalled twice, one car failed to make it to the second lift hill and staff had to push it to get it to engage.
 
RIPCorky said:
The day it crashed it actually stalled twice, one car failed to make it to the second lift hill and staff had to push it to get it to engage.
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The park were operating the ride well above its wind limit so the accident has really given them a kick up the arse to follow simple manufacture rules. I’m glad they were fined millions because the ignorance to continue operating a ride when it isn’t supposed to is just laughably stupid
 
Ethan said:
The park were operating the ride well above its wind limit so the accident has really given them a kick up the arse to follow simple manufacture rules. I’m glad they were fined millions because the ignorance to continue operating a ride when it isn’t supposed to is just laughably stupid
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It did stall four times in opening year at the Staffordshire knot. Whether it was the wind or unfilled trains/different wheels I don't know. It not operating in wind is because it will stall, Oblivion I assume is down to safe evacuation?
 
RIPCorky said:
It did stall four times in opening year at the Staffordshire knot. Whether it was the wind or unfilled trains/different wheels I don't know. It not operating in wind is because it will stall, Oblivion I assume is down to safe evacuation?
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Wind has always been an issue for Smiler and yet they chose to still run it above the manufacture limit. Have no sympathy for Towers because the list of errors leading up to the accident is inexcusable. They’ve learnt their lesson now and thankfully look to be in a much better financial position. If this happened to any smaller park they would never recover and would inevitably end up closing down
 
Ethan said:
Wind has always been an issue for Smiler and yet they chose to still run it above the manufacture limit. Have no sympathy for Towers because the list of errors leading up to the accident is inexcusable. They’ve learnt their lesson now and thankfully look to be in a much better financial position. If this happened to any smaller park they would never recover and would inevitably end up closing down
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Whichever way you look at it, poor design is the main reason sometimes it is unable to complete the circuit


From: https://youtu.be/NLw1Mpx-KaE?si=3EnYTDSIUQ4SxBC3


If you watch this video at 0:39 and 2:00 it is super slow through that element.
 
RIPCorky said:
Whichever way you look at it, poor design is the main reason sometimes it is unable to complete the circuit


From: https://youtu.be/NLw1Mpx-KaE?si=3EnYTDSIUQ4SxBC3


If you watch this video at 0:39 and 2:00 it is super slow through that element.
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To be fair, the video you’ve used there is one of the earliest test runs. The ride has been faster than in that video for pretty much the whole time it’s operated.

The ride has evidently shown a tendency to stall in high wind speeds, but a number of other coasters have done the same. Stalling in itself is not overly unheard of even on the best designed coaster going.
 
Matt N said:
To be fair, the video you’ve used there is one of the earliest test runs. The ride has been faster than in that video for pretty much the whole time it’s operated.

The ride has evidently shown a tendency to stall in high wind speeds, but a number of other coasters have done the same. Stalling in itself is not overly unheard of even on the best designed coaster going.
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My point is more so the fact that it's always had an issue on that part of the ride, that's the only place it has stalled on the track (multiple times) That and just before the second lift hill.

So in my opinion there was a slight miscalculation with that part of the ride.
 
RIPCorky said:
Whichever way you look at it, poor design is the main reason sometimes it is unable to complete the circuit


From: https://youtu.be/NLw1Mpx-KaE?si=3EnYTDSIUQ4SxBC3


If you watch this video at 0:39 and 2:00 it is super slow through that element.
Click to expand...


Seeing that video reminds me how many effects no longer work on the marmaliser. Would be great to have them back.

I particularly liked the little squirt of water on the airtime hill.
 
It would be great to see all of the effects fully restored.

Regarding stalling, the ride stalled countless times during its early days. It seems the ride has been able to 'bed in' more, which has reduced the risk, although they are more cautious with high winds for obvious reasons. While train stalling was a primary factor in the 2015 incident, the staff's failure to notice this stall and proceed to send another train round was more of a concerning issue.

I'm not an engineer, but the ride had huge issues with groundwork throughout the construction, so I wonder whether that's a factor with the bodged track, too. I know it gets slammed a lot, but I really admire the thought behind designing such a large amount of track in a small space. Had it not been for the accident, it would probably be admired as a feat of engineering.
 
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