Re: [The Smiler] Ride Reviews (Spoilers!)
On my second ride on Friday, the whole bottom of the first drop was smothered in smoke with more being pumped in constantly! Together with the strobes, it made for a very effective and disorientating opening!
Personally, I loved the ride. It's tied with Nemesis for me, I don't like ranking rides, because different coasters suit different purposes, but this has definitely become a must ride for me.
The wait
Waiting to ride was torture, I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink so waiting from 8.30am until gone 11am was a test in itself! We were told that it
"definitely" wouldn't be signed off and opening that morning and they were hoping to get it started around 2pm. I considered, briefly, giving up on it opening that day. Lying gits!
There were some sarcastic cheers from some people when the trains started being moved into the station, followed by massive cheers from most of the queue when the first lift started and the first train was send round.
Even more elation followed when the competition winners were spotted being escorted around the queue and onto the ride, our first glimpse of the ride with a full train. It looked simply smashing!
Waiting was made worse by having to watch the executives/managers have some ERT, some got multiple re-rides. Jammy sods.
Then more waiting while hosts and security were stationed around the queue.
Then, it happened, we saw guy in charge having hushed conversations with staff and security. We were told it was opening.
We were told not to rush, but to walk calmly and slowly and follow the smile assistant in charge!
The queue
The queue, for me, is great. I love the marmaliser, so to be stood at the base of that massive construct was a great feeling itself.
The queue winds back and forth, it looks a bit grubby in places where the paint doesn't quite match or they missed a bit, the plastic chevrons screwed to the floor look dirty already and don't really add anything in my opinion.
However, for me, all that is overshadowed by the sheer proximity to the track, seeing a train whizz feet from your head making that fantastic roar is amazing! I spent so long just staring at track and train that I didn't really notice the queue. I like the LED boards, although as Diogo has said, they get hard to see when they have too much direct sunlight! The TV on the wall before the indoor queue is another quirk I enjoyed, mainly through wondering how someone thought up "thumb convulsions" and the like as symptoms!
The indoor queue is a bit disappointing, only two of the four projections really 'work' for me: the cubes in the corner and the bumpy rectangular wall to the left. The other two didn't seem to do much, or look very effective. You not in there for long, but long enough to notice and get distracted. Also, by the end of the day, one of the projectors crashed and another somehow managed to get mis-aligned with its wall.
Bag faff followed.
Then up the stairs to the station, it looks OK. Nothing special but at least it has one.
The ride
Me and Josh (Bear) were already near the front of the queue with DanB, Kieron, Diogo and Dan! and on course for the second public train but fortune struck! They needed a two to fill the first train!
Me and Josh were on like a shot! First public train of The Smiler, left middle seat of the back row.
The seats are probably the most comfortable coaster seats I've experienced, fighting it out with Blue Fire, and the restraints are amazing! Not too tight, not too close, nice and snug but not restrictive!
Dispatch. The lights, voice over and the smoke really upped the tension! I won't forget the look of hope and anticipation on the watching managers faces. They looked confident but cagey, not letting themselves believe their own hype until actually riders had been round.
They were right to look confident.
The drop out of the station took me by surprise in the back. I didn't expect it to be so tall or so fast! I'll admit I felt let down by the indoor drop and roll on my first ride because it was so bare. The strobe was working but there was no smoke. On my second and third ride, the smoke was working and had filled the space, making the drop SO much more effective. Like Diogo said, it felt like I had already rolled before we even got to the roll. The slow roll along the brakes towards the lift is brilliant, in my opinion, row after row of orange LEDs light up towards the car with the laughing soundtrack almost deafening, it most certainly disorientates riders!
The lift hills are nice and fast. The first half of the ride left me dizzy and confused. I loved it! As I've said before, I'd have been happy if Towers had built just one half of the ride. The cuban eight is a fantastic element taken at a good speed. The airtime hill is good, kinda floaty. The batwing is good, despite the odd look of the bottom of it!
The top of the second half of the batwing provides some nice hangtime. The corkscrew is nice.
Roll up to the vertical lift, again very loud and disorientating music, but this time coupled with screens that don't really show much.
Up the vertical lift, waving at the others that got on the second train. We almost crossed over the toilets. This inverted drop, felt more free than the first. More B&M glide than Intamin snappy transition of the first one. The sea serpent is by far by favourite inverting element on this ride, it just seems to flow really well. The second airtime hill is amazing, ejector and fun before you barrel into the cobra roll.
So far, so smooth.
The first half of the cobra roll is fine, it's where we crossed the other train (this is one of the reasons I'm glad it doesn't duel off the lifts because that limits where the trains will cross, but if one is slightly delayed they can cross on the knot, giving one of the best near misses anywhere).
The second half is bad. The one rough spot on the coaster is the exit to the cobra roll, and it is Rough. The rest of the ride is intense with quick direction changes but this is a genuine, painful jolt.
It doesn't ruin the last two rolls though which are as smooth as the rest of the ride. The last turn provides a nice opportunity to wave at those in queue and waiting to climb the vertical lift.
The exit
The exit is also a great experience. The stairs down to baggage collection are a little underwhelming but the next section makes up for it. The baggage collection area is painted with very effective vanishing point illusion that makes the exit unclear. The exit corridor is very nice, with projections and seemingly calmer music, to indicate your transformation I imagine. The shop is great, with the interactive screens and the shopping channel TVs, which I thought were great just for how silly but creepy they were. I think that's what I like the most about the theme of The Smiler; it's creepy and sinister but it doesn't get too creepy and sinister to become scary. It's like when you walk through the woods at night with some friends, it's creepy and scary but it's fun at the same time.
It was nice to be able to tell the waiting managers that it was amazing. Their faces looked so happy and relieved.
Over my three rides on Friday, I did back middle seat, row two outside seat and front outside seat. I'd say the front is the best just for the view. Row two was good as well. The back row was a little choppier in places.
So, finally, I loved it. It looks amazing, sounds amazing, and rides amazingly. It's that great ride that Towers have needed for some time. I do worry how it will age though.
Sorry, that kinda got away from me!
I've forgot loads that I'll probably come back and add to the thread later!
TL;DR: It's amazing, it's smooth apart from one jolt, the seats are comfy. Get there and ride it.
