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I would just ask you to name some highly rated rollercoasters in Europe that are themed incredibly well the whole way through. I could only honestly say Oz'Iris and Taron (I know people who think Tarons theme is dull which shows how subjective all this is). From Shambhala, to Untamed, Katun to Nemesis, I struggled and I think I'm relatively well travelled.

Nope, take off the Merlin-tinted spectacles for a minute. 1) This event is taking place on a Friday afternoon; most people will not be available. 2) When the park have done stuff like this in the past, staff eventually just get tired of non-AP people asking to go in and just let everyone in. It basically just ends up as another test run. 3) This represents a further devaluation of the MAP. Full events have been reduced to a couple of hours of 'you can go on these attractions at a set time'. This stinks of budget cuts and a lack of care for Annual Passholders.

Passholder preview "evening" is from 3pm to 5pm? That really stinks of doing the absolute bare mininum, passholder night used to be 6/6:30pm - 10pm and it was the entire park open exclusively, not just letting people go in the mazes during normal opening hours. They sell the passes with the promise of exclusive events but this is just lazier than lazy. 3pm to 5pm is no use to me and I suspect many others who are at work, and 2 hours wouldn't be enough to justify a visit anyway.

No. At the top of the page it says "Next on 28-29 Sept", then at the end of the description it says the other dates it's on. It's a weird way of saying it, but that's how they've done it the past couple of years. As for extreme, it seems Thorpe need a thesaurus. This is a description of Blair Witch...

Sure, although I brought up the whole attraction and area when I said it was dull, so if "incredibly themed" you mean ignoring everything other than constant Disney style decoration around the track then no. But now that would be picking things apart and anaylsing. As a decent themed coaster where it actaully adds something to the experience, there are far better even in the same park. Nemesis —The quarry setting is incredible and is what creates half the fun, all of which had to be created for the ride as we all know. You get right down into it, explore over and under the ride before youre even at the station. The waterfalls and the ride over pools, the music, it all comes together for a really exciting ride. Hey it even has some junkyard theming but actually adds some style, not just token vehicles parked on flat ground. Nemesis' landscaping beats The Swarm's car park-coaster style by miles. Eve just looking at it, the ride is an impressive picture. Nemesis Inferno—Simple but good, you queue around some jungle planting then up into a volcano. It sets you up well for the ride. Starting the station at high level then immediately into the tunnel is a great kick off to the ride, really pacey. The interaction with the surrounding paths is great. Very different to The Swarm's pretty piecemeal, empty plaza. Colossus—Well, it used to be much better when it was half over the water, and the station is very cheap. But the bridges over the ride mix things up and hide how formulaic the layout actually is, adds some fun interaction. The planting, music and waterfront queue was originally very good. Felt much more substantial than the Swarm ever did. Black Mamba—A real labyrinth of the coaster through the landscape, buildings, paths. The queue deeper into the village and into the cave is a brilliant set up, keeping a lot of the ride quite secret. Incredibly detailed too. Brilliant moment starting and finishing in complete darkness, very memorable. Taron—Whoever says the theme is dull must be one incredbly jaded enthusist! If we're talking about The Swarm being "good enough for the public" then are we really suggesting the same public would shrug their shoulders walking around Taron? Wicker Man—Miles better, has a lot more character than Swarm, the area is a lot more interactive, the coaster is quite thrilling and fast. Ironically many enthusiasts who love The Swarm scorn Wicker Man for being a pretty average GCI (fair enough, but its still lots of fun) despite the public clearly loving Wicker Man and the theme. Raptor Attack—Yes its a dead simple coaster but I actaully think its more fun and the trail down to the ride is a whole lot more creative than The Swarm's pavement. Baron—Probably the only one on this list where the coaster alone is same as Swarm for me, but the brilliant theme is what makes the difference. Cool preshow, simple and good, great station setting, adds a lot to the ride.

My unpopular opinion - Timber Turd Boat is intense. Sit in the middle of that bad boy and you are pretty much just spinning in a circle - not ashamed to say I almost barfed my guts up on one occasion - that said I get horrendous motion sickness and one up chucked after Quantum and came pretty close on the Flying Jumbos. Re Swarm - I used to love it and it was by far my favourite coaster at Thorpe until recent years - it used to affect my breathing/asthma badly but that’s improved a little (Inferno does the same but not so bad) - I used to love the vest restraints but I now hate them with a passion as they get so damn tight. I think the whole Swarm area is themed well when you look at the sheer scale of it (helicopter/plane/ambulance etc) but the station looks pretty bad now. Definitely agree that the ride is short, and for me my favourite part is the drop off the lift hill - probably not a great sign - a bit like my opinion that the best part of DBGT is the ending when you are not even on the train (though I’m guessing there are other that have a similar opinion given how naff it is). Went off on a tangent there - yeah Timber Tug boat - that’s where the thrills are at - ride it straight after eating and succumb to the adrenaline of anxiously praying whatever you devoured for lunch doesn’t make a second appearance.....on a kids ride

Total mediocrity wins out again then, because a few sparse objects, shipping containers and broken TVs scrape by as 'good enough'. No wonder we are so far behind many other parks in Europe and people are steadily not bothering to go back to Thorpe Park for the cost. If you enjoy it then good but it's not as amazingly themed or a special ride as fans often make out.

It will have to be quite something for it to beat Experiment 10 and Asylum. Those 2 were the definition of extreme. Nothing since has ever been produced that can compete. They could be digging a hole here.

That'll mostly be it then. I love me a sustained g manoeuvre, a real brain draining sustained force. But if that is not for you then there's not much about Swarm that would be! It is too short, the station is dire (especially now it has been unclad), the theme is dull, but I've come to love what there actually is of the actual ride. It has worn in superbly.