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Alton Towers | The Smiler | Gerstlauer Infinity

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Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Thinking about it now, they have less than 2 weeks to get this sorted and fully tested before it can be signed off.

It's going to be tight for the 18th as I would expect they will actually need to replace them supports.

Real shame tbh.

It can happen though, also happened to Kiddy Coaster at AI.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

I think the issue is that there's not a great deal of room for error now. The track/support correction (it needs to get corrected :p ) will be part of the project time they will spend testing the systems, electrics, etc. So it's not really a worry. It's if there's a fault anywhere when they cycle cars that will slow things down. If - like Saw - they have issues with the cars running too fast, or sensor/control response issues that don't allow them to run enough cars, or they run through blocks dangerously (or whatever). I'm sure they put some timescale in for "trouble shooting", but how much of that has been eaten by odd days here and there over the last few weeks - we just don't know.

I think if we see cars being cycled tomorrow or Saturday, then we'll see the ride on schedule for the weekend of the 18th. If we don't, I think we'll see soft openings on the week after, and the official opening day on the 25th. I've no doubt at all that the official public opening day will be a Saturday.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

The supports were not concreted in during construction. They were placed in the footers and then held upright with some wooden chocks which allows them to have a little bit of flex to align with the track. They were concreting the supports in yesterday so must be happy now with how it all fits in together.

I believe all of the issues besides the first picture are now solved, where I guess they'll just weld on a new top to the support. This sort of thing doesn't surprise me when you build a rollercoaster from opposite ends and hope they meet in the middle! Apparently (according to the ATG) there are men working on this support as we speak. :)

Also, looks like the trains are being lowered onto the track at the moment.

smilercar_zps70651ba8.jpg


Credit to Alton Towers Guide
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

My first immediate thought when I saw this picture was the bull being lowered into the Velociraptor habitat.

I think I need more sleep if my immediate thought heads off towards a freakin cow >~>
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

At least one of the cars if now fully put gether.

Also if any of use are on facebook, The Alton Towers Guide are by fasr the best page to follow for daily updates of The Smiler, post constant image's almost everyday.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

^ Huh? They've had a car constructed for a while, for their adverts?
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

I've just seen this comment by Alton on their FB page in relation to someone asking whether it's open yet or not:

We haven't announced an opening date for The Smiler however we should have more of an idea over the next week or so... Please keep an eye on the website below for when the official opening date is announced.
Click to expand...

Also, here's a picture of the full train on the track.

943393_557958280902021_912838121_n.jpg


Image from Alton Towers Guide
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

This just appeared on Alton Towers' YouTube channel

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycwM4DqIOj0[/youtube]
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Blimey, that was terrifying!
I love it!

The guys in the garden humming Hall Of The Mountain King was a nice touch too
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

The trains look to be such a massive improvement <3
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Miles Cedars... Well you can spell "Smiler" With that... And you're left with Cedas.

...hmmm. Decas? Scead? I think Im looking too much into this.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

"Smile Scared" / "Scared Smile" surely?
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

One thing I worry about is that the adverts for The Smiler will all be shown after 9pm, due to some possible appearances of people with inhuman smiles. It is targeted at teens and adults yes, but I feel it should be shown through the whole day at any time (not including the inhuman smiles). If it is both, I'll be happy but I'll wait and see what happens. Anyway, those trains look great. Very simple and mechanical looking. Lovely.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

How can such bad acting even exist, let alone be uploaded to the world by one of the UK's top tourist attractions? Mental.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Christ that was bad.

I couldn't decide if I'd do the guy with the beard though? Probably is the answer.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

the king said:
One thing I worry about is that the adverts for The Smiler will all be shown after 9pm
Click to expand...

Same here. I was just about to go to bed, but there's really no point now.

That video is dreadful. I get that it's supposed to be a bit "Blair Witch", but something filmed these days, on modern digital camera just wouldn't look like that. Yeah, I'm being pedantic and it really shouldn't matter.

The abysmal acting, however, should. The supposedly creepy bloke is horribly miscast for starters. Not only can he not act for ****, he's also way too young to be convincing as the character they're going for.

Cue the "lighten up; it's a bit of fun" posts...

No. It's f**king s**t.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Yes that video was aload of crap, but meh.. Also if they could show The Swarms advert then they should be ok with this ride, but I guess it depends on how 'extreme' they go.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

Mysterious Sue said:
Blimey, that was terrifying!
I love it!

The guys in the garden humming Hall Of The Mountain King was a nice touch too
Click to expand...

Isnt that the music from the game though?

Also, it kinda is creepy on the whole factor of being "unnaturally happy". One of my old vice principles always smiled and she really creeped me out at times cause nobody can be that **** happy. Granted the whole thing was utter turd, but it does strike an uneasy factor into play.

Plus, the chair was moved and the spot where it was supposed to be sitting was visible and it bothered me.
 
Re: Alton Towers | The Smiler | Unknown Gerstlauer World's 1

I think all of this psychological babble will soon be forgotten once the ride has been open for a while. It's a great way to get the ride into people's minds but once The Smiler established people will just see a messy looking coaster (that's a good thing btw!) with some "random" industrial theming. There is a glimmer of hope if we look at Swarm, the story and reason behind the ride is still obvious due a year on. Somehow I think all of this "unnaturally happy" and "perma-smile" stuff will be lost unless it's blindingly obvious like Swarm.
 
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