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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.

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).

Merlin Entertainments Group - Gerstlauer Amusement Rides - Roller Coasters - -

Written by François Mayné

François Mayné Publishing Director » Contact Us
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Compagnie des Alpes
(25 articles found)

Difficult season for Compagnie des Alpes' amusement parks read more

The Compagnie des Alpes leisure parks recorded disappointing financial results during fiscal year 2012/2013 which ended on September 30. The...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on November 10, 2013

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FEATURE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on September 29, 2013

Compagnie de Alpes' leisure park sales continue to decline in the third quarter read more

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CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on September 9, 2013

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NewsParcs' Theme Park Industry News Roundup is a summary of the latest major news related to the theme park industry worldwide. This Industry Roundup reports news specifically on operators, owners, trade associations and...

NEW | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on August 11, 2013

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CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on June 18, 2013

Attendance throughout global major theme parks reported more than 5% growth in 2012 read more

The global market for theme parks has behaved rather well in 2012. These are the conclusions of the 2012 Theme Index report released last week...

FEATURE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on June 11, 2013

Compagnie des Alpes first quarter results affected by the school calendar read more

Compagnie des Alpes (CDA), which owns and operates ten leisure parks and attractions in Europe including Walibi amusement parks, Parc Asterix,...

CORPORATE | Compagnie des Alpes - Published on February 2, 2013

Bellewaerde Park prepares the opening of Huracan with ZIERER and TAA Industries read more

While the opening of the season is approaching at Bellewaerde Park, the management team of the Belgian amusement park wished to invite the media...