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The Smiler: 10 reasons to be cheerful

We look at the facts and figures around the largest ride installation to be undertaken at the park in years.

Warning: if you want the whole ride to be a surprise before it opens in May, then we advise that you skip this news story!

• Located in X-Sector on the site of the former Black Hole roller coaster - it will be the first time in 9 years that 2 roller coasters have operated in this part of the park.
• £18 million - the cost of this new installation. This is £3 million more than Th13teen.
• 16 riders per car - 4 rows of 4 seats, with more than one car on the track at the same time.
• Gerstlauer - The ride manufacturer for The Smiler. The German ride engineers have worked with Merlin Entertainments on previous projects for Thorpe Park and Legoland parks. The Smiler is believed to be a custom version of their popular Eurofighter model.
• At least 14 - the number of inversions that The Smiler may have in total, according to several rumours. This would mean that it would break the world record for the roller coaster with the most inversions.
• Top speed of 52 mph - just a smidge faster that Nemesis.
• Ride length of 2 minutes 45 seconds - a whole minute longer than a ride on Air.
• Longest drop of 98.4 feet - equivalent to a 9 storey building.
• 1.4m - the height restriction on this ride. Make sure you're tall enough before queuing to avoid an embarrassing refusal by ride staff.
• 5 - the number of mind manipulating effects to be used by The Marmaliser, which will be the central theming for the ride. These effects, called the Giggler, the Hypnotiser, the Innoculator, the Flasher and the Tickler, will all interact with the ride cars on the track as they pass. Just how, we are unsure yet.

There are definitely more surprises in store with this ride and ATA will be reporting about them as the news breaks.

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