First post here !! Been following ALL the forums regarding the smiler ! I'm a coaster enthusiast and what people have in terms of information and speculations is incredible ! Brilliant reading what people will think we / will not happen !! Personally , i think that this roller coaster is nothing short of spectacular ! i mean .. just , just look at that thang ! Gonna easily be the best coaster in the park ( alongside Nemmy ! ) Been a while since AT had a very good coaster like this as i though th13teen was a disappointment anyway ! Interesting stuff been going on around the V chain lift ! Looks to me / sounds to me that there may well be a chain snap / roll back and if that is the case then oh my days that will be epic ! Signing off now , looking forward to the updates !

JayJay90 wrote:

Evostance wrote:

I'm just going to throw this out there.  No belief on my part really, but..

Chain snap and roll back on the first hill instead?

Wouldn't be a worlds first as its already been done im afraid on Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars I think??

A vertical chain snap however hasn't

EVen then, it's just too similar to the BGM chain snap. Whatever it is, it's bound to stand out from everything.

JayJay90 wrote:

New image from ATG showing the final turn into brake run being complete


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

Looks like its headed straight for that footer!

A family member of mine who builds rollercoasters ( best job ever ) and he is actually been assigned the job ( along with around 75 other workers ) to build 'The Smiler'. He has said to me that they have currently slowed down track erection (sorry!!) and that they have concentrated on electronics / interior work. He reckons that the track will be fully up by the end of the week ( excluding the 1st chainlift which HASNT arrived on site  ) He isnt allowed to speculate on SE or ride ops etc etc with me though Im not making this up before people accuse me of it haha !

why are people still speculating that the SE has something to do with the outside track  and now a chain snap? haha I said this a few times before that JW said that you will have to
RIDE IT to SEE IT  This will clearly be seen without even riding it!! ( please don't take this is a angry way I mean it as light humour ) anyway a vertical drop back may be a feature but personally I hope not, But i dont think its the SE

arE Y0u R3AdY t0 Sm1Le? wrote:

why are people still speculating that the SE has something to do with the outside track haha I said this a few time JW said that you will have to RIDE IT to SEE IT this will clearly be seen without even ridding it!! ( please don't take this is a angry way I mean it as light humour ) anyway a vertical drop back may be a feature but personally I hope not!

John Wardley also said that thirteen would be every coaster youve ever wanted to ride in one...

i really wouldnt read into it THAT much lol

looks like theyre working on getting this part finished today
more track leading to final brakes


Source: ATG facebook
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

Just to show an overview of that end:


(Image from The Alton Towers Guide Facebook)

As you can see, two supports have also been put up - one for each inverted drop. The final turn is being worked on as we speak also.

I am loving these photos, gets more and more exciting - thanks to all who are posting them! 

Roodles arrived at AT about 20 minutes ago so we should have some photos from him soon.

To be honest I hope there isn't any silly trick involved with the vertical lift, we've got a great layout here as it is.
Let's just leave it at that, no need for a fancy lift/vertical lift.

I'm unsure what the purpose of those fins are, could be there for a variety of reasons. Guess we'll have to wait until testing starts, which should be fairly soon - if they want to open during May.

Buschgardensfan wrote:

Roodles arrived at AT about 20 minutes ago so we should have some photos from him soon.

He posted this 8 minutes ago:


(Image from Mark (@Roodlesnouter))

So the bend is nearly complete, just a straight connection to the brake run then that section is complete.

Nice pics ! Keep them coming !! Need to get myself down to AT again soon and catch up on construction !

Rollercoasters4Life wrote:

Buschgardensfan wrote:

Roodles arrived at AT about 20 minutes ago so we should have some photos from him soon.

He posted this 8 minutes ago:


(Image from Mark (@Roodlesnouter))

So the bend is nearly complete, just a straight connection to the brake run then that section is complete.

Oh my god... I love how tight that bend is!

And now i suppose we can fully confirm there will be 14 inversions to the smiler what a record it is and what an effort it will be to be beaten..... certainly in such a manor as this..... I mean comparing this to the footprint of Colossus which has held the record for 11 years.......



The smiler's is about half the size!!!!! HALF!!!!! and it has an extra 4 inversions

All i can say is wow....

(images taken from google maps and are both seen at the same scale )

Tom-TT wrote:

To be honest I hope there isn't any silly trick involved with the vertical lift, we've got a great layout here as it is.
Let's just leave it at that, no need for a fancy lift/vertical lift.

I'm unsure what the purpose of those fins are, could be there for a variety of reasons. Guess we'll have to wait until testing starts, which should be fairly soon - if they want to open during May.

I don't think there will be any sort of trick on the vertical lift, or the normal lift for that matter. Pretty sure the fins are there as a noiseless anti-rollback device, baring in mind the problems Alton have from the neighbours regarding noise in that area it would make sense to use something like this rather than the usual noisy way. Just listen to how noisy SAW's lift is, especially at the bottom when the chain is finding the car.

Phild94 wrote:

And now i suppose we can fully confirm there will be 14 inversions to the smiler what a record it is and what an effort it will be to be beaten..... certainly in such a manor as this..... I mean comparing this to the footprint of Colossus which has held the record for 11 years.......



The smiler's is about half the size!!!!! HALF!!!!! and it has an extra 4 inversions

All i can say is wow....

(images taken from google maps and are both seen at the same scale )

Journey To The Stars, a chinese coaster, has had 11 inversions for a while.

I don't think Journey to the Stars has opened yet, so Collossus and "10 inversion roller coaster" may still hold the record

plus Collossus has been open since 2002 so has held it for 11 years as Phild94 states

mattsteveal wrote:

I don't think Journey to the Stars has opened yet, so Colossus and "10 inversion roller coaster" may still hold the record

plus Collossus has been open since 2002 so has held it for 11 years as Phild94 states

Journey to the Stars is a Chinese knock-off of Colossus but with another loop instead of the airtime hill, so essentially the same layout/footprint.

RCDB says there are 3 other Colossus clones being built by Intamin this year as well.

Some more pictures from our friend Roodlesnouter -

Work continuing on the final turn:


Work also continues on The Giggler leg: