We went yesterday and rode Smiler having first tried it in November. Gotta say, its smooth as silk and still utterly bonkers. The one mega negative was that the 'show' area had no projections working and instead we had to spend 20 minutes standing in strobe lights which led to feeling sick and a blossoming headache. Not cool at all, AT! Still, ace ride and no hiccups with breakdowns.

Am i the only person to have witnessed and heard how horrific train number 5 sounded at the weekend! I went on sunday and the noise that it was making round every inch of the track was very worrying. everyone in the queue was staring up at it and looking rather un nerved and pointing as it rattled past each time. It sounded like a metal grinding / buzz but it was soooooooo loud! if i was on that car i would have not been happy! sounded genuinely like it was about to fall apart! it was NOT your general rattle! Luckily i managed to get train number 2 and front row, and it was actually the smoothest and most exciting ride on the smiler id had yet! i must have rode it 40-50times by now as well. Just as we re entered the station though i noticed train number 5 was in front and was actually being emptied and sent round on its own with no passengers after a few complaints of the noise! any one have any info??

I can't say that I noticed which number car we rode in when we visited on Monday but the experience you are describing definitely echoes mine! My words when hurtling round the track were 'it sounds as though it's going to fly right off the track!'
Having been on The Smiler numerous times both this season and last I can honestly say it was the roughest I've ever known it, completely painful and unpleasant. Hopefully they will remove this car and figure out what is causing the issue.

I have rode the smiler 8 times last week and the first 7 times were smooth as buttons. The last time we rode and it was loud and screechy and I thought it was going to come off the track. It was car 5 and it hadn't been in operation all today until near the end of the day. Really changed the experience!

Glad others have actually noticed this too. was starting to think i was going insane. Train number 5 sounds like it seriously needs work then! The sunday i visited just gone it really was sounding dangerous as it flew round. Michelle - it seems you were unfortunate to get that train, like i said, i luckily avoided it and got train 2 and it was the best experience id had to date strangely...

Went on Car 5 today and wasn't bad as people are making it out to be. Sounded exactly the same as all the other cars and its not that rough, just vibrates a bit more. (Was on the back row too!)

Has obviously had some work done then.....

After riding the smiler 3 times i picked up a sort of cut on my left collar area, like a cut but not a cut. I don't want to get AT into trouble so haven't made a fuss about it!

I still want to ride it but I wouldn't recommend it as "smooth"

^ Alton Towers won't get in trouble just because you grazed your shoulder.

Good, but back on point. It may be better but it isn't perfect

How do you know which train you are on?

JammyBand wrote:

Just a quick question:

How do you know which train you are on?

Its got the number at the front of the car. Eg will say 2.1 meaning Car 2, Row 1. Think the other rows have it at the side but not sure.

Hey guys not really followed this topic since the smiler opened, I've already been on it 3 times cant wait to go again in June I'm just wondering has it had any down time recently?

I've Only seen it stopped for cleaning up some "stomach mess" after a queezy rider left the train. The downtime thread indicates that not much bad has happened since April's rough start up.

My next visit is in June too, fingers crossed for the both of us!

Posted this in the history topic but then realised it was old memorabilia, couldn't find anywhere to do with merchandise or the sorts so as it's smiler thought I'd post it here just to share, my custom Smiler Jacket I know they sell one in the shops however I thought it's too expensive and too plain so I made my own hope you like

Oh wow. TheSmilerMan, that's super cool!

When I was in the queue the other day, I noticed that as the train came in to the station, the top wheels don't actually spin, they just drag along the track when advancing. Not only this, but when the train stops at the V-lift, the up-stop wheels don't stop spinning because they're not actually in contact with the track and there's no friction to stop them.
Is this normal?

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before so I apologize if it has. The last three times I've been to AT, there's been a test train running with the water dummies running the circuit alongside the rest of the trains which are running as usual. I couldn't say for sure but it appeared as if they were running at different speeds, as one train was struggling to get round the inversions and the other was speeding through them. My boyfriend suggested that they were testing a new train, but it didn't appear to be new. We asked the lady at customer services and she says they're running some tests but didn't know why specifically. On another visit we asked a ride attendant who said he hadn't a clue why and it was just a maintenance thing.
We also noticed that in the last month or so, they haven't been chasing us up the stairs and getting up to their usual shenanigans, and the same guy told us it was because someone complained. Obviously I'm not going into who because I don't want to get anyone into trouble, but this person did mention that it was only a temporary measure so hopefully (well, IMHO anyway) I'll get followed up the stairs again....

I think the fact they're sending a train round with water dummies during the day could be something to do with trying to fix the well publicised roughness issues with certain trains this season. Maybe they have done some work to the wheel assembly which requires them to re-test the train before guests are allowed to ride it again.

As for the staff not being as in character as they used to be, it is only speculation but I've heard that it is down to a staff member who has moved from Dark Forest to The Smiler and apparently they have something to do with the recent change, but in what way I'm not sure.

definedancing wrote:

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before so I apologize if it has. The last three times I've been to AT, there's been a test train running with the water dummies running the circuit alongside the rest of the trains which are running as usual. I couldn't say for sure but it appeared as if they were running at different speeds, as one train was struggling to get round the inversions and the other was speeding through them. My boyfriend suggested that they were testing a new train, but it didn't appear to be new. We asked the lady at customer services and she says they're running some tests but didn't know why specifically. On another visit we asked a ride attendant who said he hadn't a clue why and it was just a maintenance thing.
We also noticed that in the last month or so, they haven't been chasing us up the stairs and getting up to their usual shenanigans, and the same guy told us it was because someone complained. Obviously I'm not going into who because I don't want to get anyone into trouble, but this person did mention that it was only a temporary measure so hopefully (well, IMHO anyway) I'll get followed up the stairs again....

I will keep an eye and ear open this weekend and feedback any info