Dan9

If it really was 'absolutely dead' then it was probably cost saving or something, considering the other changes Merlin have made this season. Or they could be taking advantage of the quiet days to be doing some necessary maintenance. A number of possibilities, frustrating when you're there I know but during those really dead days it's fairly understandable I guess... Great to see the park maintaining all the effects, the fountains and audio triggers really do improve the experience leaps and bounds.

Such a stunning sight, the twisty Kahn and the pure domination of Shambhalalalalalalalala.

How does that counterract my point in any way?

Explains the enormous plane, helicopter, fire truck, church building, water, audio and (soon) fire effects then.

I think the word 'family' has lost it's meaning a bit here. A family doesn't just mean children, a 'family park' should fundamentally cater for the entire family, as the name derives. This kind of suggests that a 'family park' should have a sufficient amount of rides to entertain all sectors, people who enjoy slightly larger rides included. It feels a bit like a lot of people's instict when a park is labelled with 'family' tag that all sources of thrills are suddenly out of place. Loyalty also comes into play a bit here too. Most of us probably find more enjoyment from The Swarm than we would Tiny Truckers, but many of us still continue to return to Chessington because it's special to us. Some of us might have spent our first theme park years there and I know from experience that some non-enthusiasts still hold that feeling and enjoy returning. Why then try and continue to remove the few avenues for thrills left? There's only so much that can keep our generation from returning, and Rameses is a ride which probably has a bigger impact in that respect on Chessington than it would Thorpe. This doesn't just apply to removing Rameses (because it doesn't haul in the crowds as it is), it's also about the scope for future Chessington projects. There's nothing wrong with providing a few thrills as well as fun, and judging from the gate figures Chessington has plenty of that...

Neither is 73... RELEASE THE KRAKEN BANHAMMER.

"We've teased the geeks"Respect for Merlin +++++++++++++++++++

Transylvania > Bats > Wings...Seems legit.

Just as I was listening to the entrance music in anticipation.

Surely that's a fairly fundamental issue? I don't know how easily or frequently this can become an issue, but since you flagged it up as a primary one and considering it's in its eighth year of operation you'd have thought S&S would have a restraint locking system which doesn't allow moisture into it or to affect it so harshly. I'm hardly very clued up on technical stuff as you can probably tell but this stuck out at me as fairly common sense... if Inferno can pound round in the rain without having restraint issues why would they let Slammer suffer so easily?

It offers a completely unique experience and swinging over forwards never fails to make me laugh. It's a shame that you have to go through an extraordinarily lengthy loading procedure for effectively a ride which only delivers for half of the cycle, but as a ride experience it has good potential, so calling it a failure is a tad harsh in my view.

I'm sorry, but I really don't agree with your tent philsophy. It isn't massive, it's not part of the area, and it makes no effort to distract. I was in the area for almost four hours in total on Saturday and I didn't notice nor think about the tent once in that time. What I completely fail to understand is how you're so vocal about the tent, and then you claim Saw is much better on the theming front. Saw has two rides, both in different areas to Saw and both blue, completely dominating over the plaza. One of them also happens to make probably one of the mightiest rackets known to the theme park world. The other as I said earlier, swings around hysterically over the area, creating a lot of attention for itself. That's where in my view your opinion completely loses credibility.It makes it worse that at the end of your recent review, you seem to want to imply that we all only enjoy it because it conforms to the 'mainstream' that B&M must be gods or something. If you're going to come out with one of the least-consistent reviews ever written (not only the Saw comparison, calling it as jerky as the load of tripe that was Baco didn't help) and then not even bother to respect ours, where do you honestly think that's going to stand you? And pretty much all the reviews I overheard where consistently positive, 'best in the park' floated around a lot too. See what I did there? Next...

Forgive me if all you want is an indie opinion, but you do realise the tent has been there for years and has no affiliation with The Swarm at all? You claim SAW is better themed and then set about a vicious onslaught on a tent. Yet surely if you consider the island's surrounding environment as part of the theming then SAW would automatically suffer the same problem by default, what with the rather awkward ninja warrior supposedly sitting inside a lost atlantic city right next to the area entrance. The tent is barely visible from inside the The Swarm plaza, and doesn't draw much attention to itself. Samurai is bright blue and swings around hysterically over the area. I know it's your opinion, but at least be consistent if you're going to compare it. Otherwise it looks a bit like you're just trying to pick out as many faults as you can and it becomes difficult to respect that opinion.

You say you want to get rid of Stealth for spacial reasons, so I think you should bear in mind that Stealth probably occupies the smallest amount of space that a launch coaster can possibly take up.

I don't think anyone's doing that, Mark9 especially just reinforced the point that the GP don't always see things so clearly, no idea where he's put someone else down with that at all. I was as confused as Ryan the first time round. I understand you probably have good intentions but you're overreacting now. It's pretty easy to understand why someone would become confused by their first two posts, there's never really been any debate on here as to whether powered coasters are rollercoasters because they just are. All it was really needed was clarification as to what they meant and now BlackFlames has given that to us and we can move on.

I'm not claiming it's as rip-your-senses-apart intense as Nemesis, but for me it was easily just as fun as either of those two. That said, there are definitely two or three very intense moments, some of which are less obvious than others. (I greyed out on two occasions, both of them just as we were exiting the pond turnaround into the corkscrew.)I couldn't feel much of a significant difference between inside and outside seating either, the outside is probably slightly better but it's not really something to make a big fuss about.

Quick summary. Definitely one of the best rides I've ever been on, it even rivals the likes of Nemesis and Black Mamba for me. It's an absolutely perfect mixture of face-pulling intensity, and just pure fun. I had fairly high expectations but it probably even exceeded those. Massive, massive congratulations to Thorpe, they're onto a definite winner here. This. Scared the life out of me on the first ride, so simple but so very effective. The little things like that are what makes the ride experience so much more enjoyable. Something to bear in mind though, it's easiest to hear towards the back of the train.

Yes, you're right, I've already admitted the phrasing of my post and my point in general should have been better. I just thought it was pretty obvious why people would air such concerns, especially after the video that was posted. No I don't know where and what they'll be playing, but from the limited information people are bound to scepticle of why this would benefit the opening day experience, especially with the kind of atmosphere The Swarm is trying to convey. It was just a concern, not a complete write off.I'm sorry you feel that way, frankly I can't remember me 'shooting down people defending the truth' in an unfair fashion but each to their own. I'm hardly bullying you out of this forum, my reply was in response to you making a sarcastic comment for someone elses opinion (not mine, but Benin's. He did just give his opinion regardless of whether you think what he said was necessary, when he might not know the full situation. The sarcastic response wasn't necessary either.) I took time out of the forum as well fairly recently for similar reasons anyway. I've no idea what my posting was like maybe a year or two ago but I know I've rarely posted and definitely changed my way of posting since then so if you can think of any recent examples do enlighten me and I'll take it on board. It is just frustrating for others to see those who probably have a lot more inside knowledge not always putting yourselves into the shoes of the general public, who only see what they want us to see and can only base our expectations on what's happened in the past. Not always you, but I remember it happening a lot before I left and was hoping it wouldn't be such an issue now. Agreed, and I give full credit to Thorpe for everything they've down with this project. From the coaster itself, to the station floor paving, it's a beautifully designed ride in every aspect. I don't know anyone who thinks or remember anyone saying that the ride was going to 'crap' or 'cheap' but I haven't always been around so I'll take your word for it.Indeed, the debate's definitely gone on for longer than it needed to. We've aired simple concerns but as I said before, Thorpe could easily prove those wrong and I hope they do.

Christ, talk about an overreaction. Guess I should remember tongue-in-cheek comments aren't welcome here. Especially when according to Ricky here, none of us apparently know what we're talking about. In that case there might as well be no point in conversation here at all. Because we don't know what we're talking about... OH WELL.What I meant to do was just voice concern over how it might affect the atmosphere the ride is trying to portray. In my imagination it doesn't seem like the two would mix that well and the whole 'Swarm' experience might not be as wholesome and absorbing as it could be. But hey that's just my view and they may well end up proving me wrong, because I don't work for Merlin and I'm just a mere peasant. Better?Disclaimer: I fully appreciate my first comment probably wasn't necessary and could have been phrased better, but the elitist attitude of some people is somewhat irritating. I'm not sure what I can and can't say anymore before I get a hostile correction from someone apparently more 'in the know'. Remember we're only here because we care...

Different as in... worse?

The only problem being that most people I know genuinely believed it and don't actually want to go on it anymore...

I'm not sure here, a forum from a site dedicated to the entire place, is a great judge of that really is it?

I see TPM's still doing well ensuring all new members feel as welcome as possible then. Not everyone's an experienced forum maestro from the word go Benin.

Supposedly the highlight of said Zane Lowe show last night...

From what I gather, anyone attending the ERT itself must be a registered member.