Do you find The Smiler at Alton Towers rough?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Yesterday, I visited Alton Towers and took a ride on The Smiler. I was batched in the front row and sat in an inner seat, which is always widely considered the smoothest seat you can get on the ride, however I must admit that I personally found it very rough. Most of the elements seemed to have rather noticeable jolts going into them that made me bash my head really hard against the headrest, and the whole ride seemed to have a very distinct rattle. I didn’t personally enjoy my ride on it much at all; I used to really enjoy it, but these days, when you combine the roughness with the sheer intensity of certain sections, I find it a bit of an endurance test, personally.

However, my parents disagree with my dislike of it due to roughness. My mum says that it isn’t rough at all, and insists that my pain is down to me riding it wrong. She seems to really enjoy it. My dad agrees with me that it is rough, but he absolutely adores it and says that “it’s supposed to be rough”, citing the insanity and raw thrill of the experience as to why he enjoys it so much.

This spurred me to ask; do you guys find The Smiler rough? I’m not asking this to prove anyone right, as it’s a matter of personal opinion after all, but I was only wondering what you think. I noticed we had a thread querying people about Colossus’ roughness at Thorpe Park, so I thought I could ask a similar question about The Smiler.

 

[Benenen]

Really depends on the train. I too think the roughness adds to the charm of the ride and I wouldn't say it's rougher than Saw or Colossus. The bigger comfort issue for me is the crushing into your thighs.

 

[Matt N]

Really depends on the train. I too think the roughness adds to the charm of the ride and I wouldn't say it's rougher than Saw or Colossus. The bigger comfort issue for me is the crushing into your thighs.

Despite what I said above, I do agree that Smiler is smoother (even if only very marginally) than Saw & Colossus, and I'd also say I found Speed rougher as well. The post-MCBR section of Saw is one of the roughest sections of any coaster I've ever been on, and I sadly think that the fact Saw has left me with a knocking headache every time I get off it is perhaps emblematic of that fact. Maybe Gerstlauer coasters just aren't really my kind of coaster?

It just dawned upon me that Troublesome Trucks at Drayton Manor is now my highest-ranked Gerstlauer roller coaster; I must say, that was glass smooth and surprisingly fun for a kiddie coaster! On the whole, I don't personally enjoy rough coasters, and I would always take a gentle ride over a rough or painful one.

 

[witchfinder]

I've voted yes. It's not rough by old Vekoma/Arrow standards but the fact it is less than a decade old and it's already that uncomfortable to ride is not a good sign. There's not really any excuse to be building headbangers in the 21st century! Furthermore it's just not that great a ride - being inverted 14 times with not much else going on is not really much fun. It's a shame because I think the theme is great.

 

[Hutch]

It's been six years since I rode it, but if I remember correctly the bigger issue for me was the awful restraint. I think there's more of a vibration without any headbanging, but I remember sitting on the brake run thinking "get me out of this restraint."

 

[Matt N]

It's been six years since I rode it, but if I remember correctly the bigger issue for me was the awful restraint. I think there's more of a vibration without any headbanging, but I remember sitting on the brake run thinking "get me out of this restraint."

I don't know about anyone else, but I personally think the ride has deteriorated a lot since 2014, as I remember still finding it quite smooth and enjoyable in 2014.

For me, it weirdly seemed to gradually decline in smoothness post-incident. Pre-incident, I always found my rides relatively smooth & enjoyable. From 2016 to early 2018, it grew a little more inconsistent for me, with some rides feeling quite smooth and others feeling a bit more rattly, but on the whole, it definitely had a bit more of an edge to it in terms of vibration/roughness while not being inherently painful. However, from late 2018 onwards, all of my rides have been very rough and not particularly enjoyable.

 

[JoshC.]

My last ride on it was in 2017.

That was enough roughness to last me a good decade or two at least.

 

[Smithy]

I went for no as the majority of rides I've had on it haven't been rough. I have had one awful one though - I think it depends on the train you get, and several other conditions too. I'm convinced the one rough ride I had was on a train with square wheels.

You will also find that the more you ride it and get used to it, the more you can brace yourself for the sharp points (particularly the pull into the pretzel thingy which you can hear the wheels screeching through off-ride) and thus find it not as rough.

 

[Trax]

Been on it last year end of April. Not great, not terrible.
The OTSRs are of course unfomcortable with it's roughness, but it was allright and far from the worst Gerstlauer I've ever been on. The new Infinity Coaster trains would help this ride a lot imo, but it was bearable rough.
I still found it to be rougher than Saw and especially Collossus though, with the latter one being suprisingly smooth.

 

[gavin]

I rode it last year and didn't have a problem with it. I only rode it once though, and I'm not the kind of person to discount pretty much everyone else's opinion based on one personal experience.

Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Howie]

There's a hefty jolt at the top of inversion 12, but apart from that I usually find it quite bearable.
I have noticed that it seems to get a bit more brutal as the day goes on though. Yes, I'm one of those strange people who's ridden it more than once in one day! ?
A morning ride was absolutely fine, but an evening ride on the same day was a noticeably wilder ride.
It's the 'warming up' theory, but instead of the coaster getting faster as the day goes on, it gets rougher instead. Or maybe it gets rougher because it gets faster.
Saw: The Ride does the same thing.
So there you go, Howie's Handy Hints #432 - always ride Gerstlauers in the morning.

 

[Heth]

I found it to be a bit nauseating on my last ride, but not 'rough'.

 

[Peet]

Yeah like @Howie said, inversion 12 has a jolt, but if you know it's coming and brace yourself for it there's no issue. It's probably the roughest coaster at Towers, but overall not a particularly rough ride.

 

[brok_sasha]

A few days ago I rode the smiler and I would say yes. It is so painful. I was seated in the front rode on the left side. The first half was fun and I had no problems with it whatsoever. But the second half was painful my head was slammed into the restraints, my head was forcefully jolted forwards at one point and it got to the point where I was just begging for the ride to be over. I left with a massive headache and felt dizzy for the next hour which made my ride on oblivion not so fun. I managed to ride oblivion again later which was much more enjoyably. I woke up the next day in agony with the worst neck ache ever, I couldn't lift up my arms without being in agony and my back killed.

It was fun don't get me wrong but it was far too painful and not worth the 1 and a half hour wait

 

[themepark_hannah]

Definitely, on the last inversion especially