JAMMYD777

^ Bottletop, the creators of all of The Smiler graphics, uploaded it to their vimeo account, they do it with a lot of Alton Towers stuff, there's some Sub Terra stuff there as well. TPC simply reuploaded to YouTube. Here's bottletop's channel if you're interested. http://vimeo.com/bottletopdesign

Not sure if this has been mentioned or not but Thorpe are really advertising to the social media masses this year as they have sponsored quite a few big YouTubers to make videos about Fright Nights. Such people include Emma Pickles and Emma Blackery so I'm sure Thorpe will be reaching out to quite a large audience.

Hi there, sorry to resurrect this topic but out of curiosity, how busy is Good Friday usually at the Towers. I've never been on a bank holiday before but I'm hopefully catching up with old school friends and the 18th April, Good Friday, is a day I'm looking at? Thanks in advance

Considering on Twitter they have stated Zamperla are supplying the ride, and to prepare for an aerial adventure, it's almost definitely an Air Race!

I finally, after hours of trawling through coding, managed to make a custom scripted coaster to include a backwards reversing section. The ride is inspired by both Juvelen and Thirteen and a test POV can be seen below. Now to work out how to script scene objects.

^ I remember when I first saw that video a few months ago and couldn't stop listening to it on repeat. Now you've gone and made me do that all over again.

After a period of RCT3 not working and general computer problems, the video is finally here. Enjoy

New from Bottletop, a brand new video showing snippets of footage from The Marmaliser and audio from 'Buy The Smiler' with a little bit of second lift hill audio. If you ever wanted the chirpier version of the 'Ha Ha Ha', here it is. Original on vimeo here: http://vimeo.com/76856495 OR I have uploaded it to Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWmLweasQxQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UURHF8Ka7aDrbcHHJiCoLIrg Also, there is a snippet of The Smiler Shop TV footage as well. Enjoy

From Alton Towers website, more 'planned maintenance'. Perhaps trying to iron out the kinks as much as possible for Scarefest.

Test run video of the ride below. I have to say, that airtime hill looks very strong and also seems to provide a very close headchopper with the catwalk of the MCBR. However, the twisted drop off of the MCBR does look like a very sharp transition. I hope it doesn't ride badly with the OTSR's.

I believe that since the 'planned maintenance' of those 2 days a few weeks ago, many people have commented how much smoother that the ride has been compared to before. I sure noticed a difference and I was on train 4, row 4 both before and after this planned maintenance and certainly felt improved.

Rode it twice more today. Row 1 and Row 4 (I forgot to look at the train numbers). Row 4 is definitely more rattly however I was surprised at how smooth it was compared to some reviews. The jolts are still quite painful on the shoulders but I was happy to see The Giggler working again. I also observed the support on the exit of the cobra roll and boy does it move. More so than it should be I believe. All other track movements though seemed normal today. In regards to the inside section and what has been done, firstly the strobe is now working again (or switched on) but no mist, and there are still and awful lot of sandbags in there and what looked like bricks.

Absolutely loving the look of the new wing coaster. If you're interested, here is a little recreation to give you a taste. I must say, the inclined pretzel loop element looks and feels wacky simply in NoLimits, I wonder how it'll ride in real life? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJdgy019h3A

Just checking, this won't be trialling during Summer Nights will it? I sure hope not as there are no queues anyway.

Do the annual pass tickets include MAP holders or just Thorpe Park Annual Pass holders? Many Thanks

Wyvern is a mythological medieval creature with reptilian scales and giant, demonic wings. It swoops over peasant villages terrorising the inhabitants before choosing it's prey. The ride is currently finished and I am working on a video as we speak. I would've posted earlier in development but I lost motivation. Feel free to comment. JAMMYD778

Various twitter and facebook users report that The Smiler has now reopened again and a queue is forming. I hope it doesn't keep going down.

Looking at tweets with #altontowers on twitter, it appears The Smiler will be opening today. A queue has been allowed to build and The Marmaliser effects are switched on. Maybe it was a simple fix after all.

According to an eyewitness on various forums, three further trains successfully traversed the join after the bolt had fallen and track separated. I wouldn't like to think how many more would've made it safely if the other bolt failed.

What do people think it will be like on Sunday 14th July?

Slight spoilers ahead, possibly, maybe, perhaps. So I have finally been corrected and in the process, marmalised. Just to reiterate what others have said, The Smiler is so dominant within X-Sector now and the whole area feels transformed. The Marmaliser standing tall and proud with all of its marmalising techniques in full swing is certainly impressive. The queue line is repetitive but is bearable and from what I experienced today, does move at a relatively constant rate. The only thing I could have wished for was for the backstory of The Smiler and its origins to be explained more in-depth, many of the GP I heard only vaguely knew of the 'correction' process. Also, on the good ol' british summer day today, the pit was becoming overrun with water and drainage is obviously an issue. The projection mapping is a nice attempt and definitely adds something to the experience even though it is minor. I loved the dispatch sequence in the station and the pre-recorded announcements just added to the excitement. For my first ride, we began queueing in the main queue at 12:45 and were on the ride by 2:15. This was the shortest the queue was for today that I had seen. Luckily we were directed to row 1 and we took our seats. The indoor drop and following barrel roll certainly get the adrenaline pumping. The first lift is then slowly ascended and the first half begins. I knew to brace myself for the general Gerstache of any Gerstlauer and was surprised at the smoothness. The only 'rough' moments I recall were the exit of the first inverted drop with a slight lateral jolt and a small shoulder jolt when twisting into the second dive loop. The first airtime hill offered more air/floater than I was expecting (although I did leave the restraint slightly loose). Then came the second half (I love the half way audio btw), which was generally smooth aside from a few lateral jolts again, with one being on the exit of the sea serpent roll, the major jolt on the exit of the cobra roll (which btw I braced for and successfully avoided pain, in fact, my head never came into contact with the restraints ) and then one on the entry to the penultimate inversion. Then we twisted into the brake run after a great, great ride. Well, aside from sitting on the brake run for 10 minutes due to a minor delay. The exit route was a brilliant way to end off the brilliant experience. As we'd pretty much done every other ride at this point, we went straight back around and into the single rider queue at around 2:45 and were on the ride at around 3:30. This time I was in row 2 and this did seem rougher. The lateral and shoulder jolts were more noticeable and harder to brace for, although I did still enjoy it. After both rides, I came to the conclusion that The Smiler has it just right in terms of G-force and flow. Every element seemed to gracefully (well, aside from the bite of the cobra) flow into the next and I never once found myself disorientated or lost in the layout as others have said. Overall, a brilliant addition and is certainly worth a ride or two, or three, or four etc. I just pray that the ride doesn't deteriorate similarly to its other Gerstlauer relatives as for now, it is certainly a marmalising experience. (Sadly though, the creative and intense layout of Nemesis just pips the layout of The Smiler, however the experience The Smiler offers is greater than that of Nemesis so neither is better and neither is worse)

Just as a notice, it's nice to see the drainage system in the pit works well. Credit to @hoddsiecanary89

It will be a wingrider. You can see the metal spokes that stick up from in between the friction wheels which only wingriders have as they're used to hold the electrical contacts that contact with the train to control restraints. But just as a point, the same colour scheme again? Really? At least it's better than Merlin's latest colour schemes.

A nice little video here showing some mounted on-ride shots and the legend himself, John Wardley.

The full onride video is now available. Doesn't look too rough but certainly is quick. http://vimeo.com/65887753