JoshC.

Only been on it once, but I quite liked it really. Fun experience which is quite different. I also seemed to be fine with the restraints; no way painful at all and I was on the furthest inside. I can see why people would find the uncomfortable, but I was fine with them and they caused no issues. I can think of a couple of flat rides (top spins, Slammer...) which I find much more uncomfortable and less entertaining (especially in the case of Slammer for the latter there).

She's definitely been involved in a lot of projects around all the Merlin parks, which I guess is only natural considering she's been working at Tussauds/Merlin for 17 years (according to this link - http://www.coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=751914). Pretty sure Wardley called Smiler "Candy's baby" as well at some point in the radio interview, and based on what we've got so far, can't go wrong. She was also used in Saw's marketing shortly after the announcement of the name - http://projectdylan.co.uk/Construction/106 (finally found that link after goodness knows how long digging! ). So, she seems like an obvious choice if they were to continue with having a 'creator' in the press I guess. XD

Definitely not on Inferno. If you were evacuated, you'd have to tred on the woodchippings / whatever it is just before the lift, and so you could risk getting splinters and such, so you have to have footwear on. On the other hand, you can wear shoes on Nemesis at AT I believe. Presumably the entrance boards at each attraction will state whether shirts and/or shoes must be worn on rides. If you have a spare 30 seconds, you can check through them to see if it says so or not.

I've found that the pods rotate more easily this season, not sure whether that's down to not riding it in a while or whether the pods have had a bit of attention over closed season though.. Samurai is still quite a popular attraction, so it's unlikely it would be outright replaced or removed. What would the cost of a new topscan be though? And would it be worthwhile enough to see a difference in the way it's run and how long the park would want to keep the attraction? To be honest, I think we won't see it replaced by a newer model any time soon, because it will either lead to an increase in cost (which, of course, no business really wants), or replacing it instead of doing something else, which in itself could cause issues.

Posted by Danny on TTF. Banners around the site are coming down and apparently fencing around the area has finished / nearing completion. I'd guess as soon as fencing and theming are finished, it leaves a 100% clear run for testing all day and not just evenings. There's also been delivers are temporary lighting and rumours that ITV are on site as well, with an official media announcement coming soon. Should be interesting to see how it spans out...

In all of my visits this season, reliability has been very good - I didn't see many, if any, breakdowns, and the main reasons for ride closures was the weather. It's a shame that there were many breakdowns yesterday, but at least situations like that are becoming rarer (compared to a few seasons ago, where it was a miracle if all the rides were open on one day...)

Finished reading the book a couple of days ago.. Fantastic read; cannot fault it. One thing that struck me was the amount of humour that was just intertwined in the book and seemed so effortlessly done - I guess showing he is a showman through and through. Sometimes I've felt Wardley is miscredited by enthusiasts for the work he does, but reading this book shows that the praise he's given is well and truly deserved, even if it has been a bit miscredited sometimes. If he reads this - thanks for taking the time to do this; I'm pretty sure all enthusiasts of any description would love this! A question on my mind since finishing the book, though, is now Wardley has retired, I wonder who - if anyone - will be used by marketing as the 'creator' of rides for interviews and such, a position Wardley has taken for the Merlin parks recently...

I heard something about the roots of the trees causing problems with Samurai itself, so all of the trees needed complete removal; can't remember where though, so could be complete rubbish.

And in the space of just over a week, plans have changed again, with Alton Towers now confirmed in August, and maybe a Scarefest trip on the cards! Drayton next month is probable, and a trip to Legoland is on the cards over Summer, along with a couple of fairs and such. May not seem much, but at least it's an expansions away from Thorpe and Chessie. Hoping Flamingo Land and/or LWV to be on the cards for next year too.

From Theme Park Collective Live Well, all the supports are concreted in, and the supoort-that-doesn't-support-support now supports. So, testing is probably next. I bet the first test run will be some time tomorrow (except they'll have already done one at midnight, just to make sure it works... ) EDIT: Recently tweeted by AT: I guess once they've got testing underway, they'll be able to know a date when it can be green-carded. After that, it should all be plain sailing; definitely think we're looking at it opening between 18th and 25th though!

Bringing this topic back! Well wasn't yesterday's episode great?! It just had a great storyline and everything fit so well together. Loved it all, and Strax is just a great character! This and the previous episode have been two of the best episodes in a good long while. EDIT: By previous episode, I meant Hide - for some reason, I completely forgot about Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, which was rather average... :S

I bet big name stars will always come with large figures for one performance (5 figure salaries for just one night in some cases I bet...), and normally you want a large, sell out crowd in a huge theatre for those sort of comedians to be worth the cost. Also, the cost per ticket would shoot up as well. I haven't heard of any of those comedians, but most people in showbiz has had that 'lucky break', and these sort of nights will help some lesser known comedians get them, hopefully. I'd much rather see the money invested in other events, such as Fright Nights or Sun Scream, or to their other big evening events, liek Ride and Rave (or whatever it will be called this year).

This one seems to have stayed off the radar... https://www.facebook.com/notes/mount-olympus-water-theme-park/mt-olympus-resorts-press-release-hades-360-summer-2013/463854223660627 Turns out RMC aren't the only ones trying inversions on hybrid coasters, The Gravity Group have joined in as well. The inversion is an 'inverted roll', so presumably some sort of barrel / zero-G roll, and is replacing an airtime hill on the coaster, orginally called Hades, at Mt Olympus Park. An image of the roll, from 25th April, taken off the park's Facebook page. Interestingly, it's repeatedly said to be the first 'all-wooden' coaster with an 'upside down' roll, which confuses me. Clearly from that photo there's a steel structure holding it up, and with Outlaw Run open (and well under construction when this was announced in November last year), it seems strange; probably just marketing talk I guess? So that's another coaster that has wood with an inversion. Interesting that this ride was voted Best Wooden coaster when it opened in 2005 (by the Golden Ticket Awards), and it's now scrapping an airtime hill for an inversion. So, inverting woodies - a thing for the future, or just a fad which will pass?

But even when a higher inversion coaster opens, Smiler would still be the 'World's first 14 inversion coaster' - nothing can take that away. Also, a park in China have built an 11 inversion coaster, but it hasn't opened yet. An Intamin 12 inverting coaster has been designed, but one has yet to be built yet. So, the moment, Colossus and its Chinese clone still hold the record for most inversions on a coaster.

Well, the lack of stopping on the brakes should make the whole experience less awkward, like how it was the last time I rode it. Still reckon I'll prefer it backwards with the stops than forwards without the stops though. Anyone know why it only happened recently, as opposed to when the ride opened? Was it to do with Vekoma? I had heard when the rumour first came about the brakes would no longer be used, so it doesn't seem to be a late of plan.

Agree with what you're saying here Marc, but I reckon if Smiler say *only* had 9 or 10 inversions, the marketing could easily focus on all the inversions, and people would still be drawn into it. The world first thing is just helping it all the more in this case. Yeah, it does seem like these boxes have been released a little early really. You also forgot how posters advertising the logo with the name came out a day or two before the name was officially released. It's a shame, but it's certainly not disasterous to any of the ride experience thankfully (like Th13teen, for example). Just to be clear, I'm not trying to strip you limb from limb - I too am just expressing my opinion. But anything which is a world's first is there for life, as others have said. Personally I feel combining it with inversions is a bit silly in a way - if a 15 inversion coaster comes along soon (which I however doubt), it will look strange for AT to say 'Well, we've got the first 14 inversion coaster'. But until that day comes, AT are on to a winner with that marketing.

I reckon The Disorientator is simply the indoor inversion. On The Marmaliser screens, it mentions strobes and something else I think, so it's probably going to 'disoreintate' you in the sense that it will make you feel like you're inverting more or less than you actually are. But that's just my views - no one really knows what it will be!

The only people this will be slightly predictable too was enthusiasts, who make up only a very very small percentage of the park's guests. To your average guest, this is going to be something surprising, shocking and unexpected. Sure, they've seen it and decided to count how many inversions there are, they won't be surprised by the large number, but will lap up the 'world's first' tagline. It's pretty much exactly the same with Th13teen - many enthusiasts had guessed / found out the secret long before it has opened, but the majority of the public (ie - the ones who didn't watch ITV the day before it opened...) had no clue what to expect. Edit: It's a lot better than with Th13teen I guess. To be honest, I highly doubt many people are going to take note of this for the time being - most people won't even pay attention to it. It won't be until AT scream and shout about it that people will know about it and think it's only just been 'revealed'. Also, about below, the Guinness Book of Records now has a specific record for track inversions - http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/1/largest-number-of-track-inversions-in-a-roller-coaster

Cereal.

This was found in my local Tesco by the way As for it being a "naff" world first.. This ride doesn't need a world first - it could easily market itself; imagine an advert showing a train just going through the track, inversion after inversion. Most people would immeadiately think it looks great. Then, include the theming and story, and most people will be drawn in. It's a Secret Weapon, so by definition, it will have some sort of 'first' connected to it. You say that sooner or later it will be beaten. Think about it this way - the first 7 looping coaster, Goudurix at Parc Asterix, held the title of 'Most inversions' for 6 years, then Dragon Khan (with 8) for 8 years. Colossus then held the title for 11 years. So, I'd expect it will last for several years, if it gets beaten at all. Look, for example, at roller coasters with the steepest drop in the world. When Steel Hawg opened in 2008, it had the steepest drop in the world. Then Mumbo Jumbo opened a year later to steal the record by 1 degree. Then, in 2011, Takabisha blows all the S&S El Loco coasters out of the water and has its 121 degree drop. Doesn't look likely it'll be beaten any time soon really. With roller coasters, you can only go so far, and I think 14 inversions on a single coaster is pushing towards the limit, unless you want to build a ridiculously long coaster with several brakes, lifts and goodness knows what else just to throw in a few more pointless inversions. The Smiler's record is here to stay for a long while in my eyes, so it is something worth shouting about. Of course, Wardley did say in the radio interview he gave that 'You'll have to ride it to see what it's about' (well along those lines), so we shall see I guess what else is in store...

Slap my wrist I'm double posting, but... It's official - the world first feature on Smiler is that it has 14 inversions.

I think it was mentioned a couple of pages back. I noticed it was Saw when I saw the dive loop first time I watched it, but I didn't notice the blades; only noticed them after looking at that video twice and just caught them for a second.. I don't think it spoils the atmosphere or anything; they've used footage of a similar ride for a few seconds at a sister park - nothing wrong there whatsoever. I bet most people will just assume it's Smiler and that's it.

It was the best meme I could find at the time

http://www.the-smiler.com/videos/ New section of the minisite, along with the second video. Love the second video with the 'Don't Look Down' and 'Submission' references! Fantastic stuff. Great to see Kelman returning too Can't wait to see how this develops. By the 'clues' section, looks like there'll be 4 videos about Cedars, each with their own clue. Alton Towers - you are doing an absolutely brilliant job!