The Smiler - General Discussion

[djtruefitt]

To be fair they did repaint the station and during the season most of the Marmaliser was also painted, the first time since the ride opened. So hoping this winter they might have done more to it and sorted the missing signs and stuff on it.

Unfortunately the nature of the ride and area it’s in and the bad design of it all, means it never looks clean and new for long.

 

[Martin]

Regarding the miserable queue experience, I would argue that it was designed that way as the feeling of being shoved into a cattlepen, enclosed like an animal whilst making you feel uncomfortable, fits the ride theme perfectly. Almost as if it was designed that way, for good or bad,

Yes it absolutely was designed to be deliberately horrible to match the story

Problem with that is, thematically appropriately horrible is still horrible. It's like they forgot actual people were meant to use the queue and feels like a satirical park someone makes on planco

 

[RIPCorky]

From the moment you enter the queue right until you step off the ride, the whole experience is rather horrible to be honest.

 

[Ash]

To be fair they did repaint the station and during the season most of the Marmaliser was also painted, the first time since the ride opened. So hoping this winter they might have done more to it and sorted the missing signs and stuff on it.

Unfortunately the nature of the ride and area it’s in and the bad design of it all, means it never looks clean and new for long.

Maybe they could use their in house theming dept…

Oh wait

Thanks O’Neil you clown

 

[Jb85]

To be fair they did repaint the station and during the season most of the Marmaliser was also painted, the first time since the ride opened. So hoping this winter they might have done more to it and sorted the missing signs and stuff on it.

Unfortunately the nature of the ride and area it’s in and the bad design of it all, means it never looks clean and new for long.

It’s one of those situations again. Dammed if they do dammed if they don’t.

I actually think last year Smiler looked better than it did for a long time. But my word it rides poorly for its age. And who signed off using concrete like that is beyond me. You’ve got a perfect (well, not so much these days) example of how to mix concrete and nature next door to it.

All they needed to do was follow on from oblivion really in terms of thematic style.

 

[Mick]

The Smiler is popular to the casual fan - if you asked someone with a passing interest in AT to name one ride, anyone of a younger age would likely say The Smiler (older people more likely to say Nemesis, imo).

It’s not the most enjoyable of rides (although I enjoyed it more in 2024 than I usually do), overall experiences and aesthetically it looks a bit of a mess but it’s status means I’d be having several coasters on the chopping block before it, notably Rita, Galactica and Oblivion.

Improvements to it though yes please.

 

[flyingguitar]

The Smiler is popular to the casual fan - if you asked someone with a passing interest in AT to name one ride, anyone of a younger age would likely say The Smiler (older people more likely to say Nemesis, imo).

It’s not the most enjoyable of rides (although I enjoyed it more in 2024 than I usually do), overall experiences and aesthetically it looks a bit of a mess but it’s status means I’d be having several coasters on the chopping block before it, notably Rita, Galactica and Oblivion.

Improvements to it though yes please.

I personally really enjoy the ride, if you get past the roughness (which varies even throughout the day) it is a really unique ride, on a slow day you can gat plenty of hang time on multiple inversions and I just find it a really fun ride.

I don't go in the main queue that often for it though, normally I wait in single ride, which is mostly indoors, so I rarely get to experience the missery of queuing so that may contribute to my enjoyment.

I could see it slowly getting small retracks here and there similar to the big one potentially allowing it to be smoother, as it is still really popular with the general public.

This is probably a bit unpopular opinion but I don't want to see the coaster go, it is really unique.
It would be amazing to see it get a themeing overhaul with worse elements being removed and the better elements being improved upon

 

[Dhev123]

I always wondered what were gertslauer thinking when they decided to profile the exit of the cobra roll like that??? If it were profiled the same as the entry, it probably would be a relatively smooth element

As for the rest of the ride, I don’t think it’s actually that rough - maybe the inversion following the cobra roll, but I hear people complain about the very final roll but I think it’s a pretty smooth and hang time filled element!

 

[flyingguitar]

I always wondered what were gertslauer thinking when they decided to profile the exit of the cobra roll like that??? If it were profiled the same as the entry, it probably would be a relatively smooth element

I think it has gotten more and more sharp over time, it still doesn't looks perfect but it doesn't look much better than it currently is and I think it could do with either retracking or reprofiling.

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlIp9T7KUh0

 

[AltonLover123]

I always wondered what were gertslauer thinking when they decided to profile the exit of the cobra roll like that??? If it were profiled the same as the entry, it probably would be a relatively smooth element

Its proximity to the station and the route it needed to take to get back is why it’s profiled like that.

They were tasked with fitting the most into a very compact footprint.

The brief wasn’t smooth and floaty.

Whilst it’s not the most comfortable, if you know what to expect you can easily make it a better experience. If you’re just riding it the once, it’s not really an issue.

 

[flyingguitar]

I would argue it may be possible to better profile it, that roll could have been spread out a bit more rather than being a big jerk. I think the main problem is the roll.

 

[Poisson]

All the footers will be moving. That's why it's changing. There's loads of survey targets plastered all over it to track how much it is moving.

 

[AltonLover123]

I would argue it may be possible to better profile it, that roll could have been spread out a bit more rather than being a big jerk. I think the main problem is the roll.

I think it’s also important to note, that originally the entire area under the Staffordshire knot was to be used as the entrance to the rides plaza where most of the queue currently is. I imagine that even after this plan was revised, the track/supports and foundations could not be revised and could explain another reason why it is profiled that way.

 

[James]

The grounds issues threw things up in the air. They were expecting rock work similar to the Nemesis pit, so they didn't intend on the concrete pit of hell we’re left with. It was all downhill from there, really.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Surely after digging that insane hole for Oblivion, they should have been more than familiar with the ground conditions on the site? Even if they'd forgotten, how was it not discovered by survey before construction?

 

[AltonLover123]

Surely after digging that insane hole for Oblivion, they should have been more than familiar with the ground conditions on the site? Even if they'd forgotten, how was it not discovered by survey before construction?

The original plans had the entire ride at a slightly higher elevation to account for the plaza beneath the ride. I assume the surveys would have been at the level of the ground it was originally sited on.

Once the plaza idea was changed and the elevation reduced, maybe that is where the issues came into play?

 

[flyingguitar]

one thing I have been wondering is, if there was a nemesis reborn style refurbishment (maybe they are doing a mini retrack and want to clean up the ride similar to colossus) how would you reroute the queue to make it much better.

for me there are a few requirements:
move the entrance as it causes too many traffic jams.
reduce the number of high cage and netting to reduce the number of enclosed space
try to increase shading in the queue (something nemesis reborn did quite well, it is very much in shade)

the best idea I think I have had so far is to expand the preshow area to include more of the queue (like 60 mins worth) and ensure there is some air-conditioning, add some sky lights so you can see it, but i feel like that could ruin the interaction between the ride and the queue but I can't think of a good way to move the enterance, they could make soe of the queue more of a plasa so the enterance is in the pit

 

[djtruefitt]

one thing I have been wondering is, if there was a nemesis reborn style refurbishment (maybe they are doing a mini retrack and want to clean up the ride similar to colossus) how would you reroute the queue to make it much better.

for me there are a few requirements:
move the entrance as it causes too many traffic jams.
reduce the number of high cage and netting to reduce the number of enclosed space
try to increase shading in the queue (something nemesis reborn did quite well, it is very much in shade)

the best idea I think I have had so far is to expand the preshow area to include more of the queue (like 60 mins worth) and ensure there is some air-conditioning, add some sky lights so you can see it, but i feel like that could ruin the interaction between the ride and the queue but I can't think of a good way to move the enterance, they could make soe of the queue more of a plasa so the enterance is in the pit

If anything I’ll want less indoor queue as that’s the worse bit of the queue for me!

I’m not sure how you really could change the queue line now. You could possibly go up past the toilets more and maybe down the side of the back of the ride and back, but that wouldn’t add much extra queue to be able to remove queue under the ride.

 

[flyingguitar]

If anything I’ll want less indoor queue as that’s the worse bit of the queue for me!

I’m not sure how you really could change the queue line now. You could possibly go up past the toilets more and maybe down the side of the back of the ride and back, but that wouldn’t add much extra queue to be able to remove queue under the ride.

I don't like the current indoor queue either (the flashing lights, and projections) but my thought is that this would be more akin to hex, or the walking dead where it is just themed area and non of those affects, I suggested it as on hot or rainy days the smiler queue can be the worse due to its lack of trees and an air-conditioned space could be really nice on a hot day.

if you are going up past the toilets, why not move the toilets and make them part of the queue, I can't recall how big they are but they would probably hold a reasonable length queue, then drop in and you could probably only need like 20-30 mins worth of queuing in the pit. or you could continue it round and get down around the lift area.

 

[Martin]

Could it not just be straightened out (minus avoiding supports etc) into long sections with 180 degree turns at each end instead of wrapping around itself and meandering? Maybe try and reduce the amount of time it spend under the track so it didn't have to be covered? Would still be grim but at least it would be slightly better, and could still have shortcuts put in and wouldn't cost as much as doing a new path elsewhere.