It appears that in The Smiler's station, one of the gates that open before the ride dispatches has been moved forwards, does anyone know why?

Maybe to allow extra space?

On another note, I had a ride on Smiler last Tuesday, it was quite rough in places, has it always been like that or have I just got lucky on my previous rides?

You've been lucky! There are a couple of jolts throughout, especially when exiting the inversions after the lift hills. 

The worst bits for me are: coming out of inversion 2; inversion 12 and inversion 13.

I haven’t yet ridden The Smiler this season but from pictures I’ve seen it doesn’t seem to be in good shape. It’s a real shame to see an attraction that isn’t even 5 years old yet looking so run down.

I still enjoy it as a coaster but it isn’t ageing at all well.

The station, after ride corridor and shop are fine, but the pre station queue needs serious work. Screens are off, music is too quiet and the projection room is too light, it utterly destroys the atmosphere of the ride.

As well as Wicker Man getting its fire effects back, more effects are now working / been added to The Smiler, including flashing strobe light inside the building, new lighting effects, the water sprayers and TVs all back on, as well as some paintwork having been done. This was all reported by a member of another forum.

If true that's great news! Wonder if they've fixed the dead screen on the Marmaliser.

Oh god, I really hope they have. Did not look good with that huge blacked out section when I last saw it.

I am sorry to tell you guys but The Smiler unfortunately still looks like it is in a horrible state, although giving a smooth back row ride! I was surprised to see it operating on 4 trains today today and whether it helped to speed the queue up or not I am not sure as I always used the single rider line, however I did see it dual more often which was pleasing!

So have none of the improvements that were reported by a member of another forum happened?? Or are you just referring to the general state of the ride, even with any improvements?

I'm inclined to believe the restored effects on The Smiler did occur as I was messaged by a friend that was on park today saying the same thing. I'm going tomorrow so I'll be able to confirm.

Yep, effects working today, same as the other coasters. 

Indeed all the TVs were back on, some had dead pixels etc, the inncoculator didn’t operate yesterday, and I did see the strobe in the projection room. These are steps in the right direction, but I was just saying that the ride is still in a very tired state.

First time riding and having ridden Saw was a little concerned that a ride that long would leave some kind of head injury.

Front row and was really amazed at how smooth it was in comparison, only the last 2-3 inversions started to get knocked around. Was happy to not hold on for I think the whole ride, unlike Saw's braced requirement.

When I went yesterday a train or two were roaring (like in 2013) and the others were quieter. Does anyone know if the trains have different wheel compounds for a particular reason?

Train 4 (I believe) is different in some respects. I'm not sure how exactly, but the restraint sensors weren't happy about someone in row one. They were going to move them to another row, but then said, ah train 4 is next they can just ride that in the same row. So at the very least it runs more accommodating harnesses and is a bit heavier than the rest.

That's interesting, I hadn't heard one of the trains was slightly different than the others before.

Don’t forget, train 4 was built two/three years after the originals. It’s bound to be slightly different. The restraints may have some slightly more advanced sensors, for example. 

Ohh, is this because of the crash in 2015? If so, that was what I was thinking might have been the case. 

Robert.W wrote:

Ohh, is this because of the crash in 2015? If so, that was what I was thinking might have been the case. 

Yeah. The park had a new train (number 4) built after the incident.