The Smiler - General Discussion

[Tarin Maria]

Am I surprised they've had problem after problem? No. Let's look at Saw, for example (simply because its another one Merlin have had issues with, and manufactured by Gerstlauer) which has had several issues, parts of track dropping due to subsidence, down-time (even last year for Fright Nights it was down a whole day due to 'mechanical faults'), rough ride. And its only three years old.

Do I feel sorry for Alton and Merlin? Yes, because this was their big thing this year, and its had more down time than time working. Its going to cost them yet more money to fix this, and I have the greatest sympathy for them because if the whole thing hadn't been rushed so much, it'd be better. If building had not been rushed, they would have been able to complete all the safety checks to the highest standard. It seems like there was some kind of miscalculation or something was overlooked, and all the accidents, including the injury to the rider recently, are not giving Merlin the best press. And contrary to popular belief, not all press is good press.

 

[djtruefitt]

The Smiler has certainly been very unlucky, its been closed almost as much as its be open this season, but each problem seems to be different. We have had bolts fall off, flooding in the queue and pit, support/footer issues and now the vertical lift hill problems. All of which are very different issues, but as far as the public is concerned the ride has been closed.

This latest incident could be a 1 in a million chance, or it could be a design problem by Gerst, or even bad maintenance for towers, I highly doubt we will really ever know.

I do wonder what the park will do over closed season to the ride, they surely must sort the issues out like the flooding of the queue line/pit and the very wobbly supports, You can just leave sandbags against the building for years and years.

 

[James]

They will have to do something over closed season, surely? Just what though is anyone's guess. Either way I wonder where the money will be coming from to fix these problems. If it's major work that involves reinforcing the ground at certain points, refilling concrete, building more drainage, partial track fixes etc.. then it will not be cheap! Hopefully this will work similarly to Sub-Terra with Merlin being responsible for it (although Sub-Terra was more of thematic issues rather than having a ride falling apart!).

Saying that, none of us on here have any real idea of what's going on (apart from those in the know) so there may be very little to be done with the ride in closed season!

 

[Jordan]

I know it's not as pressing as the structural issues, but I wish they would rework the queue so that there aren't any dead concrete areas, and so that non-riders can also head down into the pit and around to the shop.

Removing the horrible black corrugated fence around The Flasher would also make it a damn sight more pleasant to queue in.

 

[Rob]

Do I feel sorry for Alton and Merlin? Yes, because this was their big thing this year, and its had more down time than time working. Its going to cost them yet more money to fix this, and I have the greatest sympathy for them because if the whole thing hadn't been rushed so much, it'd be better. If building had not been rushed, they would have been able to complete all the safety checks to the highest standard. It seems like there was some kind of miscalculation or something was overlooked, and all the accidents, including the injury to the rider recently, are not giving Merlin the best press. And contrary to popular belief, not all press is good press.

Thing is, it is Towers fault for things being so rushed, and then hence all the subsequent problems. If they had planned this huge investment in decent time there would not have been anywhere near as many issues. As I've said many times before on here Towers have admitted themselves that they have left things too late in recent years. The concerning thing is that they do not seem to be learning from it.

I'm almost certain that fairly substantial work will take place during the closed season. Various supports have yellow markings on them. There is scaffold in the pit waiting to be used. I might have to trek up into the nearby hills again over the closed season to see what's going on!

Mike makes a good point though. The Smiler has had many problems and there has been a huge variation in the problems. Be it standard downtime, parts falling off, stalling, flooding or wobbly supports. If it was just one problem then it may be cheaper and easier to fix. However instead they have to try and sort out a number of different things. To me this also shows that there are multiple sources of blame for the problems. It's clearly not just TG Cruise as some seem to think. Sure they did a bad job but others did too.

 

[simps100]

Am I surprised they've had problem after problem? No. Let's look at Saw, for example (simply because its another one Merlin have had issues with, and manufactured by Gerstlauer) which has had several issues, parts of track dropping due to subsidence, down-time (even last year for Fright Nights it was down a whole day due to 'mechanical faults'), rough ride. And its only three years old.

Saws never had these sort of problems. From the sounds of it Smilers subsidence is quite different to Saws, which as far as i know is a relatively normal amount for the land its built on. Saw on the whole is generally quite reliable and even in its first year once they sorted its problems with it running 6 cars it never had half the amount of issues.

 

[GaryH]

Also, look at Speed in Oakwood - no problems at all with that.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Well, TBF, it has been a mix bag of a year for Smiler, some problems being a mix from either Alton, Gerst and anything pretty much that make Smiler break down. There is no doubt (hopefully) that over the closed season that Alton and Merlin will have to get all these problems sorted out so that we can have at least a lot less closures next year with it, can't see it being opened flawlessly all next year, even if these problems are fixed.

Maybe put on a second set of loading gates like with Oblivion to help with the capacity.

Or maybe put in ride cars with lap bars on them!

Smiler 2.0 anyone?

 

[Tom]

It all comes down to the fact that it didn't receive enough testing with weighted dummies. A lot of these issues would have been ironed out for X number of hours pre-running.

 

[Sazzle]

It all comes down to the fact that it didn't receive enough testing with weighted dummies. A lot of these issues would have been ironed out for X number of hours pre-running.

You have inside information? Or are you stating opinion as fact?

Personally I don't know what the issues are, and I don't *really* care.

As a guest I'm interested in why I plan my trips with a view to ride the newest addition to the park, and consistently find it closed.

It boils down to a mixture of blame; Alton for poor planning, TG Cruse for shoddy groundwork and Gerst for installing so many new aspects into something that clearly wasn't tested thoroughly enough in many different areas.

I see it's closed again today...

Here's hoping it's sorted for fireworks!

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Rob]

It all comes down to the fact that it didn't receive enough testing with weighted dummies. A lot of these issues would have been ironed out for X number of hours pre-running.

It clearly doesn't all come down to that though. Doing more testing would not have fixed wobbly supports, prevented poor drainage and therefore flooding or ensured that no bolts would fall out. It might have helped with some of the more standard downtime issues that all coasters get but more testing would not have solved all that much.

Having said that, testing is another aspect of The Smiler that was rushed, hence it did not open on full capacity.

 

[DiogoJ42]

I seriously doubt it will open again this year. And even if it does, I won't be going on it until I see proof that it's safe. It takes a lot for me to say I won't go on a coaster. Usually it's because it hurts. Even with Blackpool woodies, I've never said no on safety grounds before!

 

[GaryH]

Im with you Diogo - even if it is open fireworks, I wont be riding it. Again, like you, it takes a LOT to say I wont go on a coaster due to safety concerns, i've even been on a death trap rollercoaster in Porthcawl with sandbags under my feet to keep it on the track, but I feel uneasy with the Smiler for some reason. I just have visions of the track seperating due to subsidance while i'm on it - yeah yeah I know, stop watching Final Destination films!!

But in all seriousness, I'll leave it until next year thanks!

 

[Wilsy]

Nobody here knows how much testing was done, so I don't see how more tested with dummies (which are much different compared with real people) would have detected the variety of unpredictable and freak issues that The Smiler has faced.

The ride is safe, the media blow everything out of proportion, I wouldn't think twice about riding The Smiler right now.

 

[John]

I wouldn't be surprised if Smiler doesn't reopen this year, but I very much hope it's up and running this weekend for 2 reasons:

1. It's my 2nd favourite ride in the park
2. They need it open to minimise queues elsewhere

 

[TheMan]

Nobody here knows how much testing was done, so I don't see how more tested with dummies (which are much different compared with real people) would have detected the variety of unpredictable and freak issues that The Smiler has faced.

The ride is safe, the media blow everything out of proportion, I wouldn't think twice about riding The Smiler right now.

I'd ride it again no worries. Sprang a couple of bolts, got fixed. Spat out some casing, will get fixed. Had a wobbly support, seems to have been dealt with.

Just get the damn thing back open!

Talking of which, any hints of when, was hoping to go tomorrow for a bit of a ridefest!!

 

[Rob]

Talking of which, any hints of when, was hoping to go tomorrow for a bit of a ridefest!!

A complete guess by I reckon it might open for a few hours tomorrow afternoon just so it has some running before fireworks. They'll want to check it's all working ok I'd imagine. I'd be very surprised if it's not open for fireworks, unless this time it is a very serious issue.

 

[Tom]

It all comes down to the fact that it didn't receive enough testing with weighted dummies. A lot of these issues would have been ironed out for X number of hours pre-running.

It clearly doesn't all come down to that though. Doing more testing would not have fixed wobbly supports, prevented poor drainage and therefore flooding or ensured that no bolts would fall out. It might have helped with some of the more standard downtime issues that all coasters get but more testing would not have solved all that much.

Having said that, testing is another aspect of The Smiler that was rushed, hence it did not open on full capacity.

The issues of bolt losses and shedding on 'wheels' could have been identified (IE gotten out of the way) during an effective testing period in my mind. They are literally caused by the presence of (fully laden) trains traversing a flawed design. Bolts and wheels may not have been ejected during an appropriately-long testing phase, but if things were checked for deterioration then they could have been.

As for flooding, certainly not, but maybe buy a hosepipe next time if you're going to appoint cowboy civil engineers

 

[Dave]

My thoughts exactly. It is only a matter of time before this joke of a ride kills someone, and I don't intend to be that person. (If I'm going to die on a coaster, I want it to be a good one.)
I shall be filing The Smiler in the same draw as Furius Baco, labled "WILL NEVER RIDE AGAIN".

Swarm sheds bolts.... you not riding that too?

At the end of the day the H&S in this country is very strict, and Towers have good techies. Personally i feel the papers have over dramatised the whole thing, some small plastic wheels fell, not huge bits of metal.

The ride is a farce from a planning and construction point-of-view don't get me wrong but it's a bit "OTT" to declare it a death trap. Especially when you consider the touring rides in fairs.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Sheding a bolt or two is one thing. But this is way beyond that. Swarm never hit someone in the face with chain guide wheels.