Alton Towers - SW7 - "The Smiler"

[gouldy]

Miles Cedars (Smile Scared)

Watch til the end.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

And it'll break and have no timing in 3 months.

It's not a Six Flags park so I guess it'll break down after 1 or 2 years.

[TheArchitect]

Dan, that is so cool. Hope you were paid to make that!

[gouldy]

Originally posted by TheArchitect

Dan, that is so cool. Hope you were paid to make that!

It seems there is more than one person called Dan...


Edit:

Cars going on the track right now:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 0643216122

[TheArchitect]

:O but it sounded like you too!

[gouldy]

Listening back, at points he actually does sound like me, but he's no where near Black Country enough


There is now at least one complete train on the track. Testing due to begin at the weekend/beginning of next week.





EDIT:

Part 2 of the series of virals for Alton Towers:





EDIT 2:


More of the bizarre advertising from Alton Towers. Part 3:






EDIT 3:

Opening date announced!

Thursday, 23rd of May




Might want to drag up that old March 16th meetup thread...

[gouldy]

In the early part of this week, there was a load of rigging and lighting being set up all around the ride, which was then removed yesterday. Everyone was a little confused about it all, but this seems to clear it up...





Looks pretty sweet at the end, with the overview of the coaster and all the lights and mist.

[Oscar]

looks good

[gouldy]

Although none of us have seen it testing, in person or by video, we do now at least know that it has completed the circuit, as the World Record certification has now been given:





I bloody love the yellow wheel assemblies! Weird seeing a 4 car Gerstlauer train.

[gouldy]

We have some on-ride footage! It's only the second half of the ride, and it's not POV.




The rolls at the end look to be taken really fast! Faster than I was expecting. It also doesn't look as rough as I was expecting (yet), although there do appear to be some spots of jerkiness.


EDIT:

Offride shot of the second drop.





EDIT 2:

Offride video of (almost) the entire ride:

The 4-car trains look sooooo cool! Gerstlauer never seizes to amaze. I'm still in awe of what they crammed into that space.

[gouldy]

Awesome long exposure shot of the ride from the other night:




A shame there's not a larger version of this photo, because it would make a sweet desktop...

[Coasterkidmwm]

Fly Freddie over there and he can tripod it to victory

[GavG]

Originally posted by gouldy

Awesome long exposure shot of the ride from the other night:




A shame there's not a larger version of this photo, because it would make a sweet desktop...

Agreed would make a great desktop and also CK, Freddie would be the guy to get the job done.

[gouldy]

Damn that's close....

[gouldy]

(Really very almost) Full POV of Smiler. It's got the lights on inside and doesn't have any of the prelift effects, but it essentially confirms there's no other "secret element". Also, the entire video is mirrored for some unknown reason, quite what televisual purpose that serves, I have no idea.

http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2 ... -new-ride/


Edit: Ignore that, someone flipped it and put it on YouTube. Stupid ITV.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Looks a tad slow, but that could be an empty train/wheels not being broken in yet but it looks like a really neat ride overall.

[gouldy]

The new train has been running slower than the first train they put on, because it has (I believe) all soft wheels on, whereas the other had the hard wheels on, and was therefore a hell of a lot faster. The speeds we've seen so far will meet in the middle eventually when they've got the balance of the wheels right.

im still not impressed with it, all it has is 14 inversions, so what...

it looks nice and all.. but all black track kinda just bores me to death

they should have gone with smaller trains, those trains are bulky and huge



and in the beginning, is there two sections where there possibly is switch track
cause i noticed the video you linked goes to the left but in a video i saw, it went to the right and then up to the same area, so possible dual stations.. with two intros..?


EDIT: http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2 ... -new-ride/

can someone explain why it looks like there are two differnt sides to this ride.?

I think the compact footprint creating the "jungle of steel" is what makes the ride exciting, to be honest. The rolls get fairly repetitive towards the end, I just wish there was more variety. I liked the moments with the air hills in between inversions, but it's just inversion after inversion after inversion... it is what is is.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by highthrills2

im still not impressed with it, all it has is 14 inversions, so what...

it looks nice and all.. but all black track kinda just bores me to death

they should have gone with smaller trains, those trains are bulky and huge



and in the beginning, is there two sections where there possibly is switch track
cause i noticed the video you linked goes to the left but in a video i saw, it went to the right and then up to the same area, so possible dual stations.. with two intros..?


EDIT: http://www.itv.com/news/central/story/2 ... -new-ride/

can someone explain why it looks like there are two differnt sides to this ride.?

I'm not too sure what you mean by two different sides? The ride has two lifts and will self duel, with two trains on the track at any one time, if that's what you're referring to?

There is definitely only one station, though, not dual stations.

For me, the bulky-hugeness of the trains is the best thing about them. I don't particularly like the design of the trains, personally, but they look massive flying around the track, which is awesome.

I do agree, though, that the black track and supports is a little boring, we've been seeing a LOT of black/grey coasters in England recently - Merlin seem to love it. It has to be said that that is the theme of X-Sector though...


I somewhat agree with A113 that the ride is a little inversion after inversion, but it's fair to say that this is the design intent. We know that Alton Towers is all about the marketing, and it's after the "we have the coaster with the world's most inversions!" line to draw in the thrillseekers of the general public. But I do feel that it is varied enough, or as varied as you probably can be when trying to shove that many inversions into that small of a space, and those rolling drops are something that I can't recall seeing before!

[gouldy]

Looking a lot yellower on site now more finishing touches have been added! Started to add lots of grass/turf and plants around the site, too!




Photo credit to RoodlesNouter of TowersTimes.co.uk

i love the layout. the inversion after inversion really works with the very unique layout.
at least its not a B&M stand alone inversion monster as everything seems to interact with something else. it just works alot.

cannot wait to ride it on the 25th (damb work and such)

[gouldy]

Funky lights installed in the entrance to the queueline...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=56 ... =2&theater


A shot of some of the new plants. You can just see some of the new turf they've laid under the final turn into the brakes, on the left.




image and video credit to Alton Towers Guide

[mkingy]

Less than a week