Alton Towers opens The Smiler in low-key fashion

The Smiler logoAlton Towers opened its latest rollercoaster The Smiler in a low-key fashion today, but the ride still attracted large queues.

Following repeated failures of meeting advertised opening dates, the record-breaking 14-inversion ride opened on the last day of May.

Originally scheduled to open on 16 March, the ride’s opening was billed as being simply in May for several weeks.

A 23 May opening date was advised earlier last month but problems with the ride’s queue lines pushed back the project further.

The Gerstlauer-manufactured rollercoaster attracted queues in excess of two hours, and has received a largely positive reception from guests on Twitter.

Alton Towers was featured on the BBC’s Watchdog consumer affairs programme on Thursday, with a negative report briefly outlining how the ride had failed to open on time.