The Smiler

The Smiler has a central themed feature named 'The Marmaliser', comprising a large truss-built structure with five 'legs', themed as a device that manipulates riders into smiling. Each leg features a different effect positioned over the track as the trains pass, including bright lights, water spray, water vapour, rolling brushes and rotating optical patterns. The Marmaliser also incorporates a wraparound LED screen that displays themed graphics. Five trains can operate on the ride at once, leading to a theoretical capacity of 960 riders per hour.

Having already been delayed from March, the scheduled May opening was further delayed after technical issues reportedly found during testing and an evacuation from the ride's lift hill was required during a press preview event. Following the preview incident, Alton Towers explained on their website that The Smiler would not open on the originally scheduled date due to "unforeseen teething problems". Alton Towers later announced it would allow guests who had made advanced bookings to change their tickets and on-site hotel reservations free of charge. The Smiler eventually opened on 31 May 2013.