Balddadgra
TS Member
Hey everyone! 
My first true post…but I am a proper theme park geek and have been lurking and reading posts on here almost daily, for years. (So apologies it’s so long!)
Used to go to towers every year, sometimes 2 or 3 times a year when coach trips were a thing, seeing as I don’t drive. Now these have died out I can realistically only go to the towers every 2 or 3 years. Unbelievably I have been 4 times since The Smiler opened and it’s been broke or shut every single time I went. 2 years ago I went to the towers for my 40th and got water poisoning off the water refil machine by galatica and had to cut my trip short. So this was to be my salvation…a weekend in the pods and towers and my first ride on The Smiler, Nemesis Reborn and The Curse…!!! Excited was not the word!!
(My verdict later on)
So before my trip report I just want to say I am aware of how expensive towers is and what tosh aramark are…likewise I was wary of certain seats on nemesis and the smiler…and thought that Curse would be random in effects and because sub terra had shut for 2 weeks prior and congo a few days prior I wouldn’t get on these either. add to that on saturday it was predicted rain all day mixed with weather warnings and thunderstorms…I was worries to say the least. History couldn’t repeat itself again could it?
Well no. Despite the weather on the Saturday it was an AMAZING weekend with my son. (Who was experiencing his first time on 50% of the rides and was big enough for the big 6). There were only 2 negatives all weekend in fact, which I will come to.
So we got there around 930am and my son wanted to experience his first ride on nemesis reborn, as did I. We headed straight there walking speedily like most the public and it opened more or less at 10 with only a 10 min or so queue (it said this but in reality it was around 20 we didnt mind). And we got the back row! What can I say: what a massive improvement to the area and it rides better than ever. Did i notice the rattle? Hardly at all. Did i care. No. Is it rough ir headbangery? Not at all. My son LOVED it and despite only being 11 and his first ride, did it with his arms in the air. Quite a feat! (As did I but i’m a veteran now lol).
After that the queues initially started to spike so we constantly checked the AT app for queue times and headed to rita as we knew it can get up to an hour. It was 10 mins so we did the front row queue, which was only an extra 15 mins and as always a great ride. My son loved it! I do think its underestimated. I love Rita.
After that, seeing the Smiler queue going down slightly I thought we better do it before its closed like the last few times. It was only 20mins and by time we got there 25 mins which in reality was about 40 mins but we didnt mind. That cattlepen queue is crazy. I get why some people would hate it but I loved it! Adds to the tension and crazy experience, and as always I LOVE the soundtrack. My son ended up singing it all day too lol. I went in thinking I’d get battered and again got the back row: how lucky! It was AMAZING! What an epic ride and my equal favourite with nemesis at the towers. We both held our hands out throughtout but its the only ride I’ve ever been on that physically pushed my left arm down into my body through the forces. Wow. Such a crazy, fantastic coaster!! My son totally agreed too.
After coming off smiling, we did lunch and then sub terra which had briefly opened the day before, so I thought let’s do it before it may shut again. It was advertised as 25 min wait but was actually around 45-50mins…It’s good we did as not long after riding it, it shut. When we were on it, on the 3rd row towards the right wall, a ‘chunkier’ guy next to us was squashed in multiple times but then moved to another row. The ride ops then pushed down again on the bar in front of me and my son for a couple of mins (was awkward), but we are both very slim, so it must have been a sensor issue. After a further 2 mins of pushing their entire body weight down on the bars, they shrugged thwir shoulders and walked off. Luckily the ride then started. I LOVE sub terra and think its massively underappreciated. The ride ops/actors were as great as ever and added to the experience. Unfortunately i did notice the lift effects were a bit off/out of sync but not by much, and all effects were on. My son got shocked and laughed at the tickling thing that they brush against the front of you (ride ops with a feather duster? Lol) and although the ‘escape’ wasn’t as rushed and chaotic as usual, it was still amazing.
(I am guessing the problems its been having have been sensor and or weight balance issues, as one entire row was unused and on out row they didnt use 3 seats. )
After that as both blade and n:reborn were 5 min queues each, we did those and loved both. We had booked the rollercoaster restaurant, our first time, so we ventured in and had such a magical experience. Lovely food, warm and well presented. (I was worried it would be mashed up. we got lucky and had our table as one that the food went through the loop. Despite this it arrived nearly intact.) i had the smile. Always. Burger and it was delicious. What a fab place and atmosphere. we had our meal which took us to around 540 ish so we did galatica before lines closed. Awesome as ever…, slightly grubby and worn looking (as always) and really starting to show its age, but my son loved it and temporarily said it was his favourite coaster. The ride ops were average and just generally seemed to be slower than usual for whatever reason.
Back to our pod, which we’d done before and as clean and warm as ever. A quiet, pleasant nights sleep and woke up refreshed and early to do the free crazy golf, which we’d never done before.
This was old, worn, broken and out of date, but my son didn’t care and loved it. We did all 18 holes so it took around an hour i think. I was worried we’d miss the rush for first rides of the morning but it was a quiet sunday, queues didnt get busier until at least 11. It was amazing! (I think the previous days weather put some off.)
Sunday couldnt have gone better. We got so lucky. Almost walk on or 5 mins queues to 50% of rides and the most all day was 30 mins ish. As we were walking into the galatica entrance we did that straight away and were walk on front row on only the 2nd carriage of the day! I have never done the front row and it’s clearly the best seat. Loved it! Smoother and can briefly see some of the portal etc. it was fab!
Then as my son hadn’t experienced Oblivion, we did that. It was a 5 min
Queue but then during it, there was a thunder or lightning storm report and it briefly shut, we stayed in the queue and although in total it was about a 25 min wait we were straight on almost when it reopened. Ops were amazing, the ride ops were so quick, although they kept having to eject people too large to ride, kids changing their mind and wanting off etc. which can’t be helped. My son LOVED it and said ‘omg it drops so fast!’. I am terrified of heights, always have been, but i am now so used to it? It doesnt scare me as much as it used to. I felt strangely comfortable on it, i even ‘leant out’ a bit as i was on the front end seat. (Again, lucky, i loved it!) and it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to ride it with arms out, not holding on like my life depended on it, lol!
After that we did smiler whilst it was 15 mins, (was 20-25 in reality) and this time got the 2nd to back at the front, so almost front. It was amazing! I had no preference for front or back. After 2 rides i can safely say those were say it’s rough and head bangery etc. you are wimps. It’s fine! Yes it may bump you around a but but hardly at all and not as bad as say, the Grand National. It’s an exceptional, mad, beautiful coaster. And we loved the exit into the shop.
Then we did spinball (he hadn’t ridden it before and loved it and wanted to do it twice but the queue was mental and ride ops so slow.) and 13. (Both done it before: as epic as always: i love it! Although because it was spitting, it was a bit slower than usual.) then Wickerman (again we’ve both done it before.) which was 30 min queue but in reality around 40. Ride ops were amazing though!
Then the congo before the queue grew longer: love the fact the waterfalls were back on! I got wet my som didnt. He loved that, haha. Didn’t see theRMT in the tunnel sadly.
Then it was time for curse…which we hadn’t done: only when it was the original haunted house (me) and Duel (me and my son.) my son thought he’s prefer duel but preferred curse. I LOVED it. All effects were on bar 1 or 2 minor ones and the trommel/tunnel whatever you call it, really does mess with your eyes. Better than it used to be. Emily was loud and I loved it. We did it twice and on the second run emily vanished on one section and only 1 of the 3 flying ghosts lit up, but apart from that, it was excellent both times. They’ve done such a good job with it. And i loved the pre show and easter eggs on the ride like the flume ducks. Kudos to towers. Impressive.
Lastly we did our first ever time on battle galleons which was walk on, and ace! And justins house. (I hate it as my son wants to just stay in it ALL day, had to drag him out, so carefully planned this as the last ride as we had to leave at 5pm to catch the train/taxi. Justin’s house is already looking really okd and tired, it needs more balls, a repaint and touch up. Great attraction though: kids bloody love it and get to shoot us adults, it’s a laugh.
And that was it: our amazing, lucky, weekend over. In the end my son said The Smiler and Nemesis are his new favourite UK rides, overtaking Icon. Mine has always been Nemesis (OG) but now it’s equally N:Reborn and The Smiler. What a coaster The Smiler is!!! And they have done such a good job with NR and the phalanx theme. Thankyou for a memorable amazing weekend towers!!
(lastly for any WWE fans, we are SURE that CM punk was there on sunday with a female (aj lee?). Can anyone confirm or deny this? As he was in scotland the night before. I was too u sure to approach him but it looked just like him!)
Sorry for the long post! I wanted to sum up a few years of reviews and missed opportunities with the smiler and curse.
My first true post…but I am a proper theme park geek and have been lurking and reading posts on here almost daily, for years. (So apologies it’s so long!)Used to go to towers every year, sometimes 2 or 3 times a year when coach trips were a thing, seeing as I don’t drive. Now these have died out I can realistically only go to the towers every 2 or 3 years. Unbelievably I have been 4 times since The Smiler opened and it’s been broke or shut every single time I went. 2 years ago I went to the towers for my 40th and got water poisoning off the water refil machine by galatica and had to cut my trip short. So this was to be my salvation…a weekend in the pods and towers and my first ride on The Smiler, Nemesis Reborn and The Curse…!!! Excited was not the word!!
(My verdict later on)
So before my trip report I just want to say I am aware of how expensive towers is and what tosh aramark are…likewise I was wary of certain seats on nemesis and the smiler…and thought that Curse would be random in effects and because sub terra had shut for 2 weeks prior and congo a few days prior I wouldn’t get on these either. add to that on saturday it was predicted rain all day mixed with weather warnings and thunderstorms…I was worries to say the least. History couldn’t repeat itself again could it?
Well no. Despite the weather on the Saturday it was an AMAZING weekend with my son. (Who was experiencing his first time on 50% of the rides and was big enough for the big 6). There were only 2 negatives all weekend in fact, which I will come to.
So we got there around 930am and my son wanted to experience his first ride on nemesis reborn, as did I. We headed straight there walking speedily like most the public and it opened more or less at 10 with only a 10 min or so queue (it said this but in reality it was around 20 we didnt mind). And we got the back row! What can I say: what a massive improvement to the area and it rides better than ever. Did i notice the rattle? Hardly at all. Did i care. No. Is it rough ir headbangery? Not at all. My son LOVED it and despite only being 11 and his first ride, did it with his arms in the air. Quite a feat! (As did I but i’m a veteran now lol).
After that the queues initially started to spike so we constantly checked the AT app for queue times and headed to rita as we knew it can get up to an hour. It was 10 mins so we did the front row queue, which was only an extra 15 mins and as always a great ride. My son loved it! I do think its underestimated. I love Rita.
After that, seeing the Smiler queue going down slightly I thought we better do it before its closed like the last few times. It was only 20mins and by time we got there 25 mins which in reality was about 40 mins but we didnt mind. That cattlepen queue is crazy. I get why some people would hate it but I loved it! Adds to the tension and crazy experience, and as always I LOVE the soundtrack. My son ended up singing it all day too lol. I went in thinking I’d get battered and again got the back row: how lucky! It was AMAZING! What an epic ride and my equal favourite with nemesis at the towers. We both held our hands out throughtout but its the only ride I’ve ever been on that physically pushed my left arm down into my body through the forces. Wow. Such a crazy, fantastic coaster!! My son totally agreed too.
After coming off smiling, we did lunch and then sub terra which had briefly opened the day before, so I thought let’s do it before it may shut again. It was advertised as 25 min wait but was actually around 45-50mins…It’s good we did as not long after riding it, it shut. When we were on it, on the 3rd row towards the right wall, a ‘chunkier’ guy next to us was squashed in multiple times but then moved to another row. The ride ops then pushed down again on the bar in front of me and my son for a couple of mins (was awkward), but we are both very slim, so it must have been a sensor issue. After a further 2 mins of pushing their entire body weight down on the bars, they shrugged thwir shoulders and walked off. Luckily the ride then started. I LOVE sub terra and think its massively underappreciated. The ride ops/actors were as great as ever and added to the experience. Unfortunately i did notice the lift effects were a bit off/out of sync but not by much, and all effects were on. My son got shocked and laughed at the tickling thing that they brush against the front of you (ride ops with a feather duster? Lol) and although the ‘escape’ wasn’t as rushed and chaotic as usual, it was still amazing.
(I am guessing the problems its been having have been sensor and or weight balance issues, as one entire row was unused and on out row they didnt use 3 seats. )
After that as both blade and n:reborn were 5 min queues each, we did those and loved both. We had booked the rollercoaster restaurant, our first time, so we ventured in and had such a magical experience. Lovely food, warm and well presented. (I was worried it would be mashed up. we got lucky and had our table as one that the food went through the loop. Despite this it arrived nearly intact.) i had the smile. Always. Burger and it was delicious. What a fab place and atmosphere. we had our meal which took us to around 540 ish so we did galatica before lines closed. Awesome as ever…, slightly grubby and worn looking (as always) and really starting to show its age, but my son loved it and temporarily said it was his favourite coaster. The ride ops were average and just generally seemed to be slower than usual for whatever reason.
Back to our pod, which we’d done before and as clean and warm as ever. A quiet, pleasant nights sleep and woke up refreshed and early to do the free crazy golf, which we’d never done before.
This was old, worn, broken and out of date, but my son didn’t care and loved it. We did all 18 holes so it took around an hour i think. I was worried we’d miss the rush for first rides of the morning but it was a quiet sunday, queues didnt get busier until at least 11. It was amazing! (I think the previous days weather put some off.)
Sunday couldnt have gone better. We got so lucky. Almost walk on or 5 mins queues to 50% of rides and the most all day was 30 mins ish. As we were walking into the galatica entrance we did that straight away and were walk on front row on only the 2nd carriage of the day! I have never done the front row and it’s clearly the best seat. Loved it! Smoother and can briefly see some of the portal etc. it was fab!
Then as my son hadn’t experienced Oblivion, we did that. It was a 5 min
Queue but then during it, there was a thunder or lightning storm report and it briefly shut, we stayed in the queue and although in total it was about a 25 min wait we were straight on almost when it reopened. Ops were amazing, the ride ops were so quick, although they kept having to eject people too large to ride, kids changing their mind and wanting off etc. which can’t be helped. My son LOVED it and said ‘omg it drops so fast!’. I am terrified of heights, always have been, but i am now so used to it? It doesnt scare me as much as it used to. I felt strangely comfortable on it, i even ‘leant out’ a bit as i was on the front end seat. (Again, lucky, i loved it!) and it’s the first time I’ve ever been able to ride it with arms out, not holding on like my life depended on it, lol!
After that we did smiler whilst it was 15 mins, (was 20-25 in reality) and this time got the 2nd to back at the front, so almost front. It was amazing! I had no preference for front or back. After 2 rides i can safely say those were say it’s rough and head bangery etc. you are wimps. It’s fine! Yes it may bump you around a but but hardly at all and not as bad as say, the Grand National. It’s an exceptional, mad, beautiful coaster. And we loved the exit into the shop.
Then we did spinball (he hadn’t ridden it before and loved it and wanted to do it twice but the queue was mental and ride ops so slow.) and 13. (Both done it before: as epic as always: i love it! Although because it was spitting, it was a bit slower than usual.) then Wickerman (again we’ve both done it before.) which was 30 min queue but in reality around 40. Ride ops were amazing though!
Then the congo before the queue grew longer: love the fact the waterfalls were back on! I got wet my som didnt. He loved that, haha. Didn’t see theRMT in the tunnel sadly.
Then it was time for curse…which we hadn’t done: only when it was the original haunted house (me) and Duel (me and my son.) my son thought he’s prefer duel but preferred curse. I LOVED it. All effects were on bar 1 or 2 minor ones and the trommel/tunnel whatever you call it, really does mess with your eyes. Better than it used to be. Emily was loud and I loved it. We did it twice and on the second run emily vanished on one section and only 1 of the 3 flying ghosts lit up, but apart from that, it was excellent both times. They’ve done such a good job with it. And i loved the pre show and easter eggs on the ride like the flume ducks. Kudos to towers. Impressive.
Lastly we did our first ever time on battle galleons which was walk on, and ace! And justins house. (I hate it as my son wants to just stay in it ALL day, had to drag him out, so carefully planned this as the last ride as we had to leave at 5pm to catch the train/taxi. Justin’s house is already looking really okd and tired, it needs more balls, a repaint and touch up. Great attraction though: kids bloody love it and get to shoot us adults, it’s a laugh.
And that was it: our amazing, lucky, weekend over. In the end my son said The Smiler and Nemesis are his new favourite UK rides, overtaking Icon. Mine has always been Nemesis (OG) but now it’s equally N:Reborn and The Smiler. What a coaster The Smiler is!!! And they have done such a good job with NR and the phalanx theme. Thankyou for a memorable amazing weekend towers!!
(lastly for any WWE fans, we are SURE that CM punk was there on sunday with a female (aj lee?). Can anyone confirm or deny this? As he was in scotland the night before. I was too u sure to approach him but it looked just like him!)
Sorry for the long post! I wanted to sum up a few years of reviews and missed opportunities with the smiler and curse.