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The Smiler - General Discussion

WORLD'S FIRST:

NEW FOR 2014!!

"The Smiler brings you a world first queue system, using a unique new "rapids flow" technology you embark upon a water craft, through glorious scenery and theme, before arriving at the door to continue into the ethereal and mysterious concrete shed, where creepy broken/crashed/misaligned projection mapping, peeled off stickers, and a random headache inducing strobe awaits you!"

Don't miss it.



ALTERNATIVE ADVERT:

"Missed riding The Smiler last year? Come back in 2014 and "dip your toe in the water".
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
The design incompetency is staggering.

Why oh why wasn't the queue routed up round the back of the ride we will never know.
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There is an access road around the back. Plus to route the queue upthat they would of had to reverse the entrance and exit as the track is in the way. I can't think of much other space that could have been used, they have already added an extension to use the available space near the toilets.
 
jon81uk said:
CoasterCrazyChris said:
The design incompetency is staggering.

Why oh why wasn't the queue routed up round the back of the ride we will never know.
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There is an access road around the back. Plus to route the queue upthat they would of had to reverse the entrance and exit as the track is in the way. I can't think of much other space that could have been used, they have already added an extension to use the available space near the toilets.
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I don't mean the access road.

It should have gone right at the entrance, up round the back of the vertical lift hill then down the hill by the main lift hill. Then a small cattlepen at the bottom before going into the station.

If this had been built in the 90s then the current queue area would instead be a nice plaza area for spectators.
 
There was originally a plaza area planned for around The Marmaliser at the bottom of the pit. Along with the planned two pieces of smaller theming that never happened, and also the jetty... shame all of that never happened really.

The queue area had a lot of potential. The way the new extension reaches to the top of the site now just shows that the queue design could have been so much more. Ah well, maybe next time!
 
The original plans for the plaza and viewing jetty would have been fantastic - though I'm not sure if there would have been enough room for the queue with it.

Obviously these plans were a bit off the mark as it was clear there would be no room for a plaza as soon as the digging begun!
 
I wish they'd take the approach to finishing things though. The entrance and queue really is awful. As is that concrete building. I know we've discussed it loads before but it is a shame the bean counters stifled the ride experience. The indoor section could have been phenomenal.

That's what still irks me the most, is what it COULD have been with that extra stretch of budget and effort.
 
TheMan said:
I wish they'd take the approach to finishing things though. The entrance and queue really is awful. As is that concrete building. I know we've discussed it loads before but it is a shame the bean counters stifled the ride experience. The indoor section could have been phenomenal.

That's what still irks me the most, is what it COULD have been with that extra stretch of budget and effort.
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It really isn't good how the whole ride is fenced off - one of the big things John Wardley said was bad about coasters in the states is how if you don't ride you don't get enjoy it because the whole thing is fenced off from spectators! Yet this is exactly the case with The Smiler.

Also, there is little theming coherence between The Smiler (yellow MDF boxes) and the rest of X-Sector (stylised rendered buildings).
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
It really isn't good how the whole ride is fenced off - one of the big things John Wardley said was bad about coasters in the states is how if you don't ride you don't get enjoy it because the whole thing is fenced off from spectators! Yet this is exactly the case with The Smiler.

Also, there is little theming coherence between The Smiler (yellow MDF boxes) and the rest of X-Sector (stylised rendered buildings).
Click to expand...

The outer queue has made this even worse, I think it looks awful now. The open path into X-Sector was great and it definitely imposes on it.

And like you say, as for that entrance.

It doesn't look as contradictory on the whole as I thought it would when I saw it in person, in fact it kind of fits, and it's rather good to view from Oblivion, but they addition of that extra queue without revising the entrance etc has tipped the balance from just about acceptable to dire. Some of the best views of the ride were through that fencing now where the extended queue is.

Look at how Oblivion was designed, you can stand right by the drop and get that gust of breeze and mist as the ride rollocks past you! There is nothing for people who don't want to ride to do like Nemesis, Oblivion, Air to a lesser degree and even Rita!

The black hole was fantastic in that it was shrouded in mystery, personally if they needed fencing I'd have gone the other way and put up higher fences totally blacked out and themed so it was more intimidating.
 
Sorry but I dont really agree, I stood round watching the smiler from near the exit and entrance for quite a bit when I visited the weekend before last with the family (they wont go on but wanted to see it). Dont get me wrong its not ideal but there are viewing points. You all need to remember that it was shoe horned in to a site which is far too small, its full of compromises but it is what it is and I think people need to embrace it rather that constantly moan about what it could have been :)
 
phildenholm said:
Sorry but I dont really agree, I stood round watching the smiler from near the exit and entrance for quite a bit when I visited the weekend before last with the family (they wont go on but wanted to see it). Dont get me wrong its not ideal but there are viewing points. You all need to remember that it was shoe horned in to a site which is far too small, its full of compromises but it is what it is and I think people need to embrace it rather that constantly moan about what it could have been :)
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Yep and the whole queue winds under the ride so riders are really immersed into it before riding too.
 
I think the issue with the queues immersion isn't with how close you get in it but how you can't get all that close if you're not riding but want to watch.

Having said that, the view from the exit/shop is pretty awesome!
 
phildenholm said:
Sorry but I dont really agree, I stood round watching the smiler from near the exit and entrance for quite a bit when I visited the weekend before last with the family (they wont go on but wanted to see it). Dont get me wrong its not ideal but there are viewing points. You all need to remember that it was shoe horned in to a site which is far too small, its full of compromises but it is what it is and I think people need to embrace it rather that constantly moan about what it could have been :)
Click to expand...

There are no viewing points that were specifically designed, only snatched glimpses that you can get through the fence that surrounds the whole site.

You can't get up close like you can with Nemesis, Air and Oblivion. They could have incorporated them into The Smiler (like the viewing platform) but they just couldn't be bothered.

I think it looks amazing from the top of the site from the toilet block when you look down at the mass of track, but I find it hard to appreciate an attraction which has been botched so badly in general.

It's like no-one put any real thought or care into anything, instead they just took a "that'll do" attitude. I think it's obvious John Wardley had no input beyond the track layout (which is amazing I should add).
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
TheMan said:
I wish they'd take the approach to finishing things though. The entrance and queue really is awful. As is that concrete building. I know we've discussed it loads before but it is a shame the bean counters stifled the ride experience. The indoor section could have been phenomenal.

That's what still irks me the most, is what it COULD have been with that extra stretch of budget and effort.
Click to expand...

It really isn't good how the whole ride is fenced off - one of the big things John Wardley said was bad about coasters in the states is how if you don't ride you don't get enjoy it because the whole thing is fenced off from spectators! Yet this is exactly the case with The Smiler.

Also, there is little theming coherence between The Smiler (yellow MDF boxes) and the rest of X-Sector (stylised rendered buildings).
Click to expand...

I think by "whole thing is fenced off" he meant when the queue is nowhere near the ride - as in the case of Goliath at Walibi Holland for example. The queue is in one single area nowhere near the track so you can't see anything of the ride except the lift hill from the station.

2637ods.jpg


In the case of The Smiler, the queue couldn't really be closer to the track could it?
 
Alastair said:
I think by "whole thing is fenced off" he meant when the queue is nowhere near the ride - as in the case of Goliath at Walibi Holland for example. The queue is in one single area nowhere near the track so you can't see anything of the ride except the lift hill from the station.
Click to expand...

No he did actually say "if you don't ride you don't see it".

Wardley was talking about building Katanga Canyon and how beforehand unless you queued for the rapids ride you didn't get too see it or enjoy it at all and so they built the area in the middle.

Not sure if it was the same or different occasion where he said coasters in America are always fenced off.

I'm amazed that anyone would try and defend the shortcomings of The Smiler's design - the queue is appalling anyway and was shoved under the ride as they had no better ideas.
 
Alastair said:
CoasterCrazyChris said:
TheMan said:
I wish they'd take the approach to finishing things though. The entrance and queue really is awful. As is that concrete building. I know we've discussed it loads before but it is a shame the bean counters stifled the ride experience. The indoor section could have been phenomenal.

That's what still irks me the most, is what it COULD have been with that extra stretch of budget and effort.
Click to expand...

It really isn't good how the whole ride is fenced off - one of the big things John Wardley said was bad about coasters in the states is how if you don't ride you don't get enjoy it because the whole thing is fenced off from spectators! Yet this is exactly the case with The Smiler.

Also, there is little theming coherence between The Smiler (yellow MDF boxes) and the rest of X-Sector (stylised rendered buildings).
Click to expand...

I think by "whole thing is fenced off" he meant when the queue is nowhere near the ride - as in the case of Goliath at Walibi Holland for example. The queue is in one single area nowhere near the track so you can't see anything of the ride except the lift hill from the station.

2637ods.jpg


In the case of The Smiler, the queue couldn't really be closer to the track could it?
Click to expand...
Proof there that The Smiler queue could be worse! Haha!
 
Scott said:
Alastair said:
CoasterCrazyChris said:
It really isn't good how the whole ride is fenced off - one of the big things John Wardley said was bad about coasters in the states is how if you don't ride you don't get enjoy it because the whole thing is fenced off from spectators! Yet this is exactly the case with The Smiler.

Also, there is little theming coherence between The Smiler (yellow MDF boxes) and the rest of X-Sector (stylised rendered buildings).
Click to expand...


In the case of The Smiler, the queue couldn't really be closer to the track could it?
Click to expand...
Proof there that The Smiler queue could be worse! Haha!
Click to expand...

Even I will concede that point Scott lol!!!
 
Even on the orignal plans the queue was just a cattle pen but I think you can blame the lack of viewing areas (i.e. the plaza) on the shoddy and last minute planning. They obviously made last minute changes to the groundwork plans, and even after this they still go it wrong, which resulted in just building a massive concrete pit rather than a nicely landscaped plaza. I'd imagine it would have cost too much to have the substantial foundations that they needed along with a nice landscaped plaza on top.

:)
 
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