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Alton Towers quietly unveils The Smiler, the biggest

investment in its history

Update : 26/01/13 - 19h28 Published by François Mayné the 25 January 2013, New.
Alton Towers Resort, owned by the British operator Merlin Entertainments Group, is poised to once again hit a major blow with the opening of a new roller coaster qualified as a new world first. Introduced under the codename of 'SW7' (Secret Weapon 7), its final name has finally been officially unveiled: The Smiler.

The Smiler, a world first coming to Alton Towers Resort!With an investment of 18 million British pounds (approximately $28.5 million), The Smiler will be the biggest ride ever built in the history of the amusement park. This is the German manufacturer Gerstlauer Amusement Rides which was entrusted with the project of which we know just a few details at the moment.

Indeed, Alton Towers Resort wishing to keep a bit of mystery around this new ride, it has disclosed only a few statistics till today. Built in the X-Sector area and replacing another roller coaster that has been disassembled ('Black Hole'), The Smiler's track will be 1,170 meters long (~3,840 feet) with a maximum height of 30 meters (~98,5 feet) and a ride duration of 165 seconds. Trains will load 16 passengers in 4 rows of 4 seats and reach the maximum speed of 85 km per hour (~53 mph).

As usual, Alton Towers Resort has launched an intensive viral marketing campaign using primarily the social networks to convey its advertising message, a strategy that has clearly paid off in recent years, just as for others amusement parks of Merlin (including Thorpe Park and Gardaland).

Alton Towers quietly unveils The Smiler, the biggest investment in its history

According to the plot led by the park, The Smiler is "an all-knowing controlling force that will make riders compliant until they become a smiling advocate". A the last publicity stunt to date, the park has managed to create a buzz around the country after asking some farmers to tag their sheeps with the logo of the ride. For a week, the regional press and web users seized the subject before the hoax was revealed by the official announcement. In the same idea, the logo was projected onto famous British buildings including Westminster Palace in London!

“We wanted to create some mystery around the name of our new world first rollercoaster, The Smiler. We’ve managed to baffle the nation and hopefully made a few people smile. The Smiler will be our biggest and the most thrilling attraction the Resort has ever seen and we can’t wait for guests to join us in May and experience it for themselves,” said Katherine Duckworth, Sales and Revenues Manager at Alton Towers Resort.

Alton Towers Resort has launched an intensive viral marketing campaign using primarily the social networks to convey its advertising message.Alton Towers Resort has launched an intensive viral marketing campaign using primarily the social networks to convey its advertising message.

The 'Secret Weapons' have forged the success of Alton Towers Resort since the early 90s. In collaboration with the designer John Wardley, the park indeed cultivates the desire to build roller coasters unique in the world since the opening in 1993 of 'Nemesis' (SW3), the first terrain inverted coaster (Bolliger & Mabillard). After that, the park renewed the operation with 'Oblivion' in 1995 (SW4, first Dive Coaster of Bolliger & Mabillard), 'Air' in 2002 (SW5, first flying coaster of Bolliger & Mabillard) and 'Th13teen' in 2010 (SW6, first Vertical Drop Coaster Freefall of Intamin).

Alton Towers Resort is today the most popular amusement park in the UK with 2.6 million visitors (attendance in 2011 according to the report TEA/AECOM).
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