The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers. Manufactured by Gerstlauer, it opened in May 2013 as the world’s first 14 looping roller coaster. The Smiler is located in the X-Sector area of the park.
It beat the 10-loop Colossus at Thorpe Park and another 10-loop ride in China to become the rollercoaster with the most loops.
Alton Towers launched a website announcing a new ride codenamed Secret Weapon 7 for the 2013 season.
In January 2013, Alton Towers officially confirmed that the ride would be called The Smiler.
In February 2013 a free game app was released containing a full 3D recreation of the actual ride.
The Smiler is the equivalent of 10 football pitches of ride track.
The rollercoaster was the biggest ever investment for a ride at Alton Towers, costing £18m to build, and celebrities were invited to open it back in 2013.
The frame took more than eight months to build and suffered delays because of poor weather during construction.
On May 31, 2013, The Smiler opened to the public, breaking the record for most inversions on a roller coaster.
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