Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[rctneil]

Just ridden Smiler. Surprisingly smooth apart from a sudden jolt coming out of the cobra roll. It squeaks a lot and has a unique roar sound and most of the time it duals quite nicely. When it was testing it crawled through the second half of the batwing and the following corkscrew but once with people it navigates fine. Will try to post my photos later

[rcrider4]

So rcrider4, you basically said that Eurofighter lifts work like a cable lift? Meaning the car can't catch the chain anywhere?

That is correct, although it is still a continuous chain, not a cable that stops at the top and returns back down. As linearinduction said, it works like straight lift hill Schwartzkopf coasters, such as Scorpion at BGT.

[KingRCT3]

Thanks for the info rcrider! I found a video

.

 

Just ridden Smiler. Surprisingly smooth

 

Glad to hear! But doesn't the Gerstlauer shakiness come with years? How was Saw at its opening?

[mousch]

Just ridden Smiler. Surprisingly smooth apart from a sudden jolt coming out of the cobra roll. It squeaks a lot and has a unique roar sound and most of the time it duals quite nicely. When it was testing it crawled through the second half of the batwing and the following corkscrew but once with people it navigates fine. Will try to post my photos later

 

Exactly my sentiments although our second ride was a bit better as it had warmed up a bit, but Nemesis is still the best coaster in the park, having rode it before myself and rctneil left, it was just so intense and forceful compared to a rather forceless Smiler! But Alton have done a fantastic job with the whole theme of The Smiler, it does look fantastic.

[rctneil]

Here's a few photos of the Smiler from today:

 

[chaos]

I can't get over how awesome those trains look full of people. And I find the washing machine hilarious for some reason.

 

I feel like if I went to Alton Towers right now I'd just get hypnotized watching the ride and how cool it looks as the cars go around the track. And then I finally realize, "Wait! I can actually ride this thing, too."

[Wes]

Certainly my favorite looking ride in quite some time.

[David H]

Great pics, Neil! It's a great looking ride.

 

And props to the park for trying something completely new with theming.

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

This was my most anticipated ride of 2013, and this does not look to disappoint. Very nice TR!

[TyRush]

Wow, those pictures make me Smile

[Nrthwnd]

Great set of photos, Neil!

It all looks wild and crazy.

 

But man, that's going to be some upkeep

they're going to have to maintain, every year,

year after year. All that "stuff", lol.

[ansley]

Finally made our first trip to Alton Towers last Monday, after hearing so much about the park for about 20 years now! I really liked the park, but the coasters were all a bit underwhelming, yes, even Nemesis. I've heard so much about Nemesis since it opened, how great of an inverted it is, and despite it's size and age how it still tops many enthusiasts inverted coaster list and it in many top ten lists. I thought Nemesis was good, really had no idea where I was going,but really honestly felt no better or more intense then most of my favorite B&M inverteds. It is short, like Batman, with no really good drop. It is all about the trenches and theming. A really fun ride, but not even near my top ten steel coasters. I think that OzIris at Parc Asterix last month was clearly better. I think the two coasters I came way really liking were Air and Sonic Pinball! Air was a really fun flying coaster with all the close to ground elements. Not super thrilling, but very well done package and a truly fun coaster. Sonic Spinball was the big surprise. I think I've only been on two of that type of spinning mouse, made by Maurer - Sohne. It was really fun and seriously intense. The G forces in the helix were extreme, was a very long ride with some great twists and turns. Easily the best mouse type coaster I've ever ridden! The park is nice, and seriously large with lots of walking. Had a great time, will be since we have Merlin Annual Passes. Didn't get everything in for the kids, will return and hit everything else later this summer. We only live about 115 miles away so can't wait to head down for a quick day trip! Also, the Smiler was closed which was a big disappointment since originally we thought it would be open. It does look quite cool though, can't wait to ride it!

 

Ted

[larrygator]

Neil - thanks for sharing the photos

[goatdan]

I've heard so much about Nemesis since it opened, how great of an inverted it is, and despite it's size and age how it still tops many enthusiasts inverted coaster list and it in many top ten lists.

 

When I got to Alton, I felt the same way. I think because Nemesis is *so* built up because of the amazing theming, I expected it to be the "be all, end all" of inverts. I came away surprised that I didn't really like it that much at all. It was cool, but I had no intention of waiting in line for it again.

 

Air was a really fun flying coaster with all the close to ground elements. Not super thrilling, but very well done package and a truly fun coaster.

 

I felt the same way about Air, and it was my favorite coaster of the park. I've managed to ride Tatsu and Superman: Ultimate Flight, and I didn't find either of them half as much fun as Air thanks to all the close to the grounds stuff. Air makes you feel like you're flying, whereas Tatsu and Superman make you feel like you're on a roller coaster, hung in a weird position... or at least that is what I and my dad who was with me felt.

 

It's been a long time since I was at Alton, but while Nemesis didn't really impress me, the park blew me away. The Houdini-in-the-castle was amazingly well done, and the theming they did with all of their rides makes it a top five park to me. Nemesis was the only thing that didn't hold up for me, perhaps because I was hearing about it for about 10 years before I got there being one of the best rides in the world. It's hard to live up to that billing.

[jray21]

Great pictures! I really like the look of the trains. Such a great looking ride!

[skitt2010]

Great set of pics, i love the theming of the queue.

 

Despite hiccups its finally built, well done to all those who waited for up to 5 hours in line to ride this beast!!

 

Ill be there in a few weeks time.

[skitt2010]

AMAZING PIC!!!! Perfectly placed fish eye, great quality, on a truly awesome coaster.

 

This picture makes me moist.

[rctneil]

^^^ & ^^^^^

 

Everyones opinions differ, I prefer Nemesis over Smiler at this moment in time. Smiler was good but personally for me, Nemesis still has it. I rode Nemesis straight after Smiler and it was just running as such intensity and it blew me away even though I have ridden it so many times before. The best parts of Nemesis are the first tight helix and the final hidden corkscrew. The heartline roll over the station is the weakest point of the ride to me and yes it can be a bit rattly over there. Overall though, the fact that it is 19 years old and is still running amazingly well has to say something.

 

I do like Air and it is fun but I don't normally make sure I ride it on every visit. The small bunny hop and final turn at the end are the best points to me.

 

Spinball, I honestly could care less about. Chessington won on this one. Dragons Fury is epic. Really nice ride.

[JayTricky]

Stunning photos Neil. Thank you for sharing!

 

Nice to see Smiler get good reviews on the whole. It's literally everything I expected it to be. Stunning to look at, rough in parts, fun, disorientating, and a solid addition to Alton Towers.

 

It's a little bit of an over reaction at the moment on the forums as people are claiming it to be better than Nemesis already. Of course that's their own opinion but let's just give it a while to run in and see how the reviews go from more of the GP and day to day visitors.

 

Can see it coming in the top 20 in the coaster rankings.

[coasterfreak101]

It just looks amazing. Sitting next to it and watching would almost be good enough for me.

[zombi3elephant9]

I love the look of the ride but the theme is just weird. I say just theme after the Nemesis. Hell, re theme all the rides to be Nemesis. Every single roller coaster in the world should be re themed to Nemesis

[TPDave]

Looks cool, I really like the trains!

[yay101]

Wow that ride looks insane. Maybe SFGAm could build one like that for 2014?

[ansley]

It's been a long time since I was at Alton, but while Nemesis didn't really impress me, the park blew me away. The Houdini-in-the-castle was amazingly well done, and the theming they did with all of their rides makes it a top five park to me. Nemesis was the only thing that didn't hold up for me, perhaps because I was hearing about it for about 10 years before I got there being one of the best rides in the world. It's hard to live up to that billing.

 

Ditto, the park was great! We loved the Hex thing in the castle, was absolutely brilliantly executed! We walked through the gardens, did some smaller rides for my kids. The log flume was very long and fun! Overall a truly great day at a wonderful theme park. Can't wait to get back and ride the Smiler and a few other things we missed.

[peytonsgirl83]

Awesome photos Neil; can't wait to ride this thing!