Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[Swat]

I really can't wait to see if they have this dueling properly, that should looks outstanding given the size of the trains and compact track work!

[DougMJr]

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

[vimeo]

[/vimeo]

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

Edited May 12, 2013 by robbalvey

[BenFreeze]

^From what I understand, there is a barrel roll in the building before the first lift hill.

[OCJ48]

^^It looks awfully rough for a brand new ride. Could be something to do with the way they mounted the camera, but it seemed to rattle pretty badly all the way through in the video.

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

There is one barrel roll before the lift. You can see it in the early construction images before it was enclosed.

[andybarnes84]

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

 

That video was posted a couple of pages back, but yeah as everyone says the 14th inversion is prior to the first lift hill. Word (as mentioned on the last page) is that they are aiming to get the coaster to duel with itself, don't know if this is good enough for a World's first but apparently they have said that the inversion count isn't it.

[Rollercoasters4Life]

^^It looks awfully rough for a brand new ride. Could be something to do with the way they mounted the camera, but it seemed to rattle pretty badly all the way through in the video.

 

Rough? Looks pretty smooth for a ride with 14 inversions all taken at high speeds. The only part that looks a bit to snappy would be the exit to the Cobra Roll. The last two inversions imparticular look glass smooth! The true test of time will be if it can stay like that or if it will get unbearably rough.

 

Can't wait to ride on the 23rd!

[A.J.]

^^It looks awfully rough for a brand new ride. Could be something to do with the way they mounted the camera, but it seemed to rattle pretty badly all the way through in the video.

I would agree with the issue being the camera mount. The journalist did a lot of shuffling back and forth, and every ride has at least a little bit of vibration. I've never ridden a perfectly smooth steel coaster.

[Garet]

Why don't we just wait until its open and people have ridden it before we judge how rough it is?

[Dobba]

A very brief update...

The base of the Marmaliser is beginning to take shape.

(Source: Towers Nerd Facebook)

[Dinnwitted]

Has anyone else seen the news videos? It seems the ride keeps up its pace quickly and there is a lack of real head banging.

On the other note: why are the trains designed like that with the smile on front?

[pehs]

I have looked for pictures of the track with the barrel roll befor it was enclosed and am unable to find. Are you able to post one please?

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

There is one barrel roll before the lift. You can see it in the early construction images before it was enclosed.

[RCT3Bross]

I have looked for pictures of the track with the barrel roll befor it was enclosed and am unable to find. Are you able to post one please?

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

There is one barrel roll before the lift. You can see it in the early construction images before it was enclosed.

Here from a Towerstimes update. Between the steel you can see it.

[robbalvey]

Daybreak Weather Correspondent got to be the first to ride. Here is the ridercam footage!

 

[vimeo]

[/vimeo]

 

Looks absolutely INSANE! But I'm missing an inversion. I only counted 13... is there one in the building?

 

^^It looks awfully rough for a brand new ride. Could be something to do with the way they mounted the camera, but it seemed to rattle pretty badly all the way through in the video.

 

It's absolutely the way they mounted the camera. They did such a shitty job with this "first" video of the ride.

 

I'd understand if it was from some enthusiast or something, but it pains me to see such terrible quality video by people who produce for television! The GoPro was so poorly mounted causing all that warping and distortion, let alone the noise of the plastic casting vibrating. Especially when it's so EASY to mount a GoPro and produce BEAUTIFUL footage! It's great to have video of the ride, finally, but people who do this kind of thing professionally should be embarrassed by the quality of video they produced.

[rctneil]

Can't wait for you to come and mount the TPR GoPro's on this next time you visit. The footage will come out superb. If your footage of those horrible rough knock off SLC's can come out silky smooth then there'll be no worries for Smiler!

[Shockwave]

 

It's absolutely the way they mounted the camera. They did such a shitty job with this "first" video of the ride.

 

I'd understand if it was from some enthusiast or something, but it pains me to see such terrible quality video by people who produce for television! The GoPro was so poorly mounted causing all that warping and distortion, let alone the noise of the plastic casting vibrating. Especially when it's so EASY to mount a GoPro and produce BEAUTIFUL footage! It's great to have video of the ride, finally, but people who do this kind of thing professionally should be embarrassed by the quality of video they produced.

 

I thought exactly this, there's no way the ride would be that rough unless the camera was mounted really poorly. A couple of friends of mine who do freelance camera work for a lot of media organisations such as BBC and ITV spoke to me about how badly the camera must have been mounted, which in turn ruins the picture, and the sound when the two are put together, and makes the whole experience presented very badly to the people that Alton Towers want to ride it.

 

If I had just blown £18 million on a record breaker, I'd want any promo or media coverage to look damn good to make sure that my potential clientele don't get the wrong idea about the ride. If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. If it isn't, leave to the people who really know what they're doing!

[OCJ48]

^^^Thanks for clearing that up, Robb!

[australianalex]

Even though most of the apparent roughness is caused by the poor camera mount as Robb said, there does seem to be a pretty painful jolt coming out of the cobra roll. But other than that it honestly doesn't look too bad at all!

[RCT3Bross]

Last part of the Smile always.

 

Interesting story behind it.

If you know more about Miles Cedars you can give this information to the park you could win a sneak peak on the Smiler.

 

More information about the sneak peak here:

http://www.the-smiler.com/videos/

[Dobba]

Aaaaand we're testing!

Some planting has begun around the ride area.

[DougMJr]

^Is that fence temporary? I just think it looks tacky although it could look a lot better in real life.

[coasterfreak101]

Looking forward to seeing more videos and pictures of this thing in action now that they're running it during the day. Can't wait for it to open in 10 days (and to go ride)!

[Dinnwitted]

Wonder if this will beat Gatekeeper for best new coaster, this year. I really am amazed by Smilers crazy layout.

[DougMJr]

Wonder if this will beat Gatekeeper for best new coaster, this year. I really am amazed by Smilers crazy layout.

 

I don't think Gatekeeper will get best new Steel Coaster. With iRat and this alone it has some stiff competition.

[TyRush]

Wonder if this will beat Gatekeeper for best new coaster, this year. I really am amazed by Smilers crazy layout.

 

I don't think Gatekeeper will get best new Steel Coaster. With iRat and this alone it has some stiff competition.

Seriously? I think Cedar Point could build a kiddie coaster and it would win best new coaster. The GTA's love CP. Even though i agree Smiler, iRat, Outlaw Run should be top contenders.

 

About the shaking, i have only been on one euro fighter and it was smooth as hell. So i cant tell what the average euro shakiness is.