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The Smiler


th13teen

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There has been a large update on the Alton Towers Resort media page regarding The Smiler. A press release shows how the Marmalisation process will... mess with your mind!

It also discusses some information on the ride as well as the experiments they did to try and research fear. more info here

"Alton Towers Resort announced today that its new 2013 roller-coaster, The Smiler, is going to ‘marmalise’ the minds of riders to give them a thrill like no other. Not only will the ride involve plunging 30-metre drops, hurtling speeds of up to 85km per hour and extreme turns, but The Smiler will feature twisted psychological effects to mess with riders’ mind. The combined physical and mental assault is rationalised by a new report from researchers at New Scientist magazine revealing that mental anticipation is a key-contributor for ensuring an extraordinary thrill experience. Existing roller-coasters at the UK’s leading theme park already put the body through its paces. Now, The Smiler will play with the mind by blurring the lines between illusion and reality. Riders will be subjected to five mind manipulations including jabbing needles, blinding lights and optical illusions, to maximise the fear factor"

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Are they still trying to flop Smiler as a world's first roller coaster to 'physiologically' mess with your mind?

Even though they tried that with Th13teen & to some extent oblivion.

Yes, it's the new fashion for rollercoasters to "disturb you psychologically" it seems. It's just marketing nonsense, and the Smiler will not really have that affect on your mind. And the study into how "rollercoasters work best when structured like a story" is probably made up; I mean what they are saying is true, but theme parks over the world have been storytelling for decades, you don't need scientific research. They are just trying to reintroduce understanding of 'theme' amongst the public, by advertising the "marmalisation" concept more than the ride itself.

If this was ten years ago, when British theme parks gave up with proper theme design, The Smiler would be heavily advertised for its record breaking inversions and world first elements. Instead they have taken a far more thematic approach to marketing, and not even mentioning that it will break the inversion record yet! This is a good change.

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Yes, it's the new fashion for rollercoasters to "disturb you psychologically" it seems. It's just marketing nonsense, and the Smiler will not really have that affect on your mind. And the study into how "rollercoasters work best when structured like a story" is probably made up; I mean what they are saying is true, but theme parks over the world have been storytelling for decades, you don't need scientific research. They are just trying to reintroduce understanding of 'theme' amongst the public, by advertising the "marmalisation" concept more than the ride itself.

Or maybe they're being uber sneaky, they'll release the study saying storytelling does no good, that way Merlin can build rides without stories to their heart contents, because no one can complain about it!

IT'S A CONSPIRACY, MAN! ;)

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Now, you see this track in person and my god it's just purely bloody mental. It's very difficult to follow it's direction!

Psychcoaster marketing or not, when people turn up and see this they'll be blown away. There's no chance of disappointment from guests ala thirteen.

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It's amazing to think that after so much effort to hide the "world's first" element, the end of that video was the moment they revealed it. That was it. They left it down to a random woman to ask what it was, who seemingly didn't notice the drop was special, and have an unimpressed man mutter "Well it has the world's first vertical drop".

And I love the little "clap" he does after the airtime hill to try and look enthusiastic!

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The smiler to me looks like it could be a headache inducing nightmare, just seems to be inversion after inversion with some very tight transitions. I hope they've profiled the track right so it isn't like this, otherwise "The Smiler" will be the most ironic name for a ride since Stealth!

I'm not saying it will be an uncomfortable ride, I just hope they've learnt from Saw. Still looking forward to it though :)

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