The Smiler

The Smiler
Dueling trains on The Smiler
Alton Towers
LocationAlton Towers
Park sectionX-Sector
Coordinates52°59′14″N 1°53′43″W / 52.98722°N 1.89528°W / 52.98722; -1.89528
StatusOperating
Opening date31 May 2013 (2013-05-31)
Cost£18 million
ReplacedThe Black Hole
General statistics
TypeSteel
ManufacturerGerstlauer
ModelInfinity Coaster
Track layoutInfinity Coaster 1170
Lift/launch systemTwo chain lift hills
Height30 m (98 ft)
Length1,170 m (3,840 ft)
Speed85 km/h (53 mph)
Inversions14
Duration2:45
Capacity1,050 riders per hour
G-force4.6[1]
Height restriction140 cm (4 ft 7 in)
Trains5/4 trains with 4 cars. Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 16 riders per train.
Fastrack available
Single rider line available
The Smiler at RCDB

The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It is an Infinity Coaster model from Gerstlauer and is located in the X-Sector area of the park. The ride set a world record for most inversions on a roller coaster when it opened in 2013,[2] featuring 14 inversions that include dive loops, sidewinders, corkscrews, and other inverting elements.

Development

The new ride was planned for the site previously occupied by the Black Hole, an indoor roller coaster which had closed in 2005.[3][4] A planning application to build The Smiler was submitted to the local authority in December 2011. Permission was granted on 15 March 2012 following a Staffordshire Moorlands Council meeting.[5] Gerstlauer, a German manufacturing company, was hired to build the roller coaster.[6] Alton Towers subsequently announced the new ride, codenamed Secret Weapon 7 (SW7), would open in the 2013 season. The codename followed the park's tradition for previous roller coasters during their planning.[7][8] The park began dismantling the remaining Black Hole building in April 2012.[9][10]

Promotion for The Smiler started around the same time as construction began when, on 11 April 2012, a minisite was launched allowing visitors to register for updates on the ride's progress.[11] A competition to be the first to ride the rollercoaster started in July.[12] A countdown timer on the ride mini-site revealed an initial scheduled opening date of 16 March 2013.

During the ride's construction, promotional stunts included overnight spray painting of a stencil logo (later revealed as the ride logo) all over the park and later appearing in various forms across the country, including billboards in London;[13] ticket barriers at Leeds railway station;[14] projected onto various buildings including Big Ben;[15] and sprayed onto flocks of sheep in areas including Leicestershire, Devon and Perthshire.[16].[17]

On 17 October 2012, information about the coaster was revealed to the public including its maximum speed, track length, ride time, passengers per train and ride cost.[18] The first pieces of track also arrived at the park late that month.[19]

The name of the roller coaster, The Smiler, was revealed on 21 January 2013, in the Metro newspaper, and the scheduled opening delayed to May.[20][21][22] In February 2013 a free game app was released, containing a 3D recreation of the ride and a preview of the ride's merchandise.[23][24][25][26]

The trains arrived in March 2013.[27][28][29] Vertical construction was completed approximately one month later, with the installation of the crest of the first lift.[30][31]

John Wardley, a ride consultant on the project, confirmed in a radio interview on 19 April 2013 that The Smiler would feature more inversions than any other roller coaster in the world.[32] Although construction had revealed this earlier,[33] the statement was the first official confirmation that The Smiler would break the inversion record.[2][32] In an earlier interview, Wardley had said that The Smiler would have "5 mind manipulating elements that play around with you on the ride, so it's more than just a physical rollercoaster."[32][34]

Between April and May, Alton Towers uploaded four episodes of a promotional video series named "Smile Always".[35][36][37][38] This was followed by footage of weather presenter Laura Tobin riding The Smiler, live on ITV's Daybreak programme and an advertising campaign on boxes of Krave cereal.[39][40]

Opening

Having already been delayed from March, the scheduled May opening was further delayed after technical issues reportedly found during testing and an evacuation from the ride's lift hill was required during a press preview event.[41][42][43] Following the preview incident, Alton Towers explained on their website that The Smiler would not open on the originally scheduled date due to "unforeseen teething problems".[43][44] Alton Towers later announced it would allow guests who had made advanced bookings to change their tickets and on-site hotel reservations free of charge.[45] The Smiler eventually opened on 31 May 2013.[46]

Description

A key feature of the ride is the large, metallic spider-like structure that serves as a centrepoint for the coaster track. Called the Marmaliser, it has five legs which are responsible for manipulating riders into smiling, in accordance with the theme of the ride. It is also equipped with a wraparound screen that displays themed graphics and video. The roller coaster's track intertwines within the structure, enhancing the experience for riders.[47] Five trains can operate on the ride at once, leading to a theoretical capacity of 960 riders per hour.[48]

The Smiler's theming feature
The ride's batwing element

Track elements


Source:[49]
Inversion
1. Heartline roll
2. Corkscrew
3. Dive loop
4. Dive loop
5. Reverse Sidewinder
6. Sidewinder
7. Corkscrew
8. Corkscrew
9–10. Sea serpent
11–12. Cobra roll
13-14. Double Corkscrew

Ride experience

The train dispatches from the station, playing audio of a man saying, "Join us!" The train immediately enters into a sweeping drop 180 degrees to the left. Partway through this drop, riders encounter a heartline roll, the ride's first inversion. The train then comes to a stop on block brakes, before ascending the first lift hill. Upon reaching the top, the train drops into another 180-degree right turn before banking into the second inversion, a downward corkscrew. The train drops down into the next two inversions, two consecutive dive loops before travelling over a trimmed airtime hill into the ride's largest element, a Batwing (this element consists of a sidewinder and reverse sidewinder).[50]

The train then travels through another corkscrew before reaching the second set of block brakes, after a brief pause the train ascends the second lift hill, this time at a 90° vertical angle. The train then enters another drop, 180-degrees to the left, banking into a downward corkscrew. Riders then navigate through a sea serpent roll, followed by a short drop into another trimmed airtime hill where the on-ride photo is taken. The train then dives into a cobra roll. Upon exiting the cobra roll, the train twists through two consecutive corkscrews before a short left turn into the final brake run. The words "Process complete" are visible to riders as the train returns to the station.[50]

Incidents

See also: Incidents at European amusement parks
Date Reopened Details
21 July 2013 25 July 2013 48 people were evacuated from the ride after debris fell from a section of track. Some eyewitness reports described the debris as a 1-foot-long metal bar (0.30 m), while others described it as a bolt. The incident caused two sections of track to partially disengage creating a small gap in the track.[51][52][53][54]
30 July 2013 4 August 2013 The ride was closed for five days after cracks were found around the base of one of the ride's supports.[55][56][57]
2 November 2013 7 November 2013 Four people suffered minor injuries when they were struck by guide wheels that detached from the chain guide as the train ascended the vertical incline.[58][59]
2 June 2015 19 March 2016 A fully loaded train travelling approximately 50 mph (80 km/h) collided with an empty, stationary train. Of the eleven riders who required medical treatment, five were seriously injured. Two required partial leg amputations in the weeks following the incident. According to reports, the train carrying passengers was stopped automatically on the lift hill by the safety block system that prevents two trains from occupying the same section of track. It correctly detected that the empty train sent previously had stalled. A ride engineer manually overrode the system allowing a ride operator to restart the halted train, which led to the collision.[60][61][62]

June 2015 incident

A major incident occurred on 2 June 2015, when a loaded train collided with an empty test train, causing serious injuries to a number of riders. An additional train had recently been added to the circuit when an empty train was dispatched for a test run and stalled mid-ride due to a gust of wind. The ride's block system shut down the ride accordingly, but it was overridden by the engineers on duty, as they were unaware there was now an additional train present that had stalled. This allowed the following train, loaded with passengers, to collide with the stalled train.[63]

Two of the riders sitting in the front row required leg amputations.[64] Varney released a public statement stating:

This has been a terrible incident and a devastating day for everyone here. We have a very strong record of safe operation of our rides here at Alton Towers and it is our priority. I would like to express my sincerest regret and apology to everyone who suffered injury and distress today and to their families.

— Nick Varney, speaking to PRWeek after The Smiler's crash in June 2015[65]

Subsequently, Merlin Entertainments decided to temporarily close Saw – The Ride at Thorpe Park and two other roller coasters at Chessington World of Adventures while safety protocols and procedures were evaluated for its multi-car roller coasters.[66][67] The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served a Prohibition Notice upon the Smiler, preventing the ride's use until remedial action had been completed.[68] On 27 July 2015, it was stated by Merlin Entertainments chief executive Nick Varney that The Smiler would "not be opening this summer".[69] The Health and Safety Executive initiated a criminal investigation.[70]

Alton Towers and its owner Merlin Entertainments observed a drop in revenue and visitor numbers in the incident's aftermath. Due to the financial impacts of the incident, up to 190 jobs at the park were reportedly made redundant[71] and six other rides remained closed during the following 2016 season.[72]

The ride eventually reopened on 19 March 2016 with additional safety features.[73] Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd was prosecuted by the HSE at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 22 April 2016, in which the firm pleaded guilty.[74][75] On 27 September 2016, after a two-day hearing at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Michael Chambers QC fined Merlin Entertainments £5 million; the value of the fine was reduced by one third from £7.5 million as credit for the guilty plea.[76][77] In September 2018, Vicky Balch and Leah Washington, who lost their legs on the ride after the crash in June 2015, sued Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd for negligence and/or breach of statutory duty.[78]

References

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