Mer

Ooh something I forgot from the Thrills Workshop: They said they want to improve the water effects so that they go higher and get more people wet on the trains

I was actually thinking earlier about posting some of the Swarm pics I took on Saturday here, so here they are, click for full size hugeness!My favourites I think are the train going under the wing, the fire engine shot with the train, going through the Zero-G and the helicopter and train shot :DGotta love my camera for being so awesome yet not being an expensive bulky SLR ^_^Also, has anyone else apart from me and Ben noticed that the helicopter plays sound effects? I believe it was a radio call for help, or something along those lines. And the lights that flicker/flash inside! It's the little details like that which really show how much thought and effort Thorpe have put into this ride

So, I am finally getting round to writing this trip report from Saturday 31st!As some of you know, me and Ben went to the ECC trip that day. We met at 9 and entered the park early, being the first to get on Swarm, woop! We did second row, right hand side, love the hangtime!By the time we had got on and off, the park was open to the public. Reer! So we headed over to t'other side of the park, which was of course, dead! Went on XNWO and had the train to ourselves, then we did Colossus, which at that point was only on one train. Slightly annoying as the queue was only starting roughly where the Fastrack merge point is, had it been on 2 trains it would have been pretty much walk-on! Seeing at it was a Saturday and first day of the Easter holidays, I'd like to think that there was a reason why the second train wasn't on, ie it wasn't ready or something, and not just Thorpe being unprepared.Next up was SAW, which was basically walk-on. The jolt at the bottom of the drop wasn't too bad on our car, thank goodness, but that last turn into the brake run is awful!Went on Logger's, again walk-on, and people were even getting to go round again. It also didn't seem as stinky as last time which was nice!Making our round to the other side of the park, we went on Mr Monkey's for te lolz. It actually had a 5 minute queue! It's fun for kids, I know, but Ben was saying how it could be better if it was a bigger pirate ship ride (forgetting the theme), something I have always thought too. But it's not something I really care that much about though.Next up...Detonator! First time on it this season! Loving that the original theme is back and the ride is still as forceful as ever, definitely still one of my favourite flats there.Got some cheeky Fastrack, and our first was Stealth front row, we can't get enough of it! The force in your face, the airtime, I can't help but come off laughing!Next was Inferno, not much to say, it's Inferno! But in a good way of course!After nomming at BK, where else to go but Storm In A Teacup! Didnt have the most spinny cup but was still a laugh.It was then time to meet back with everyone else and go into the Thrills Workshop! It's basically a building full of memoribillia and other geeky things We had a presentation from one of the Rides Managers who was also involved heavily with The Swarm and input lots of ideas into it etc. It was very interesting and we found out a lot of things, I'll list as many as I can remember, although they have been mentioned in chat before but for the benefit of everyone:The LEDs and fire effects are both awaiting a "Final tick in the box" and then they will be on. Not too sure why the LEDs need a final check but at least we know what is happening with them. And it proves those wrong who said "They will only be on at Fright Nights".The reason they decided to swap SRQ for front row was, aside from the fact that it's what the other coasters there have/being consistent, they went to Gardaland and saw chaos with Raptor's lack of front row queueline, people fighting over the front seats, holding up the dispatches etc.The plane wing had to be worked on and had materials and stuff added to it to make it stronger to ensure it was safe enough to be over the track. The blades inside the plane engine are not real, for H&S reasons.The fire engine (on the ride) had been in the staff carpark for a year or so before they decided to use it for Swarm.They are doing great with the throughputs (can't remember the figures, oops), better than Raptor.They may do a follow-up atttraction from it, like they did with Saw. I'm a bit sceptical about it, but then again the Swarm storyline is far better, more original and for me, more appealing than Saw, so if they did do this, hopefully it will be good!They mentioned the possibility of doing a 3 park deal with B&M in the next few years! But as they pointed out, the high quality and reliability comes at a price, so it all depends, but great to hear!There was a lot of other stuff, plus plans for the ride, plans for the woodie, etc. And seeing all the stuff on display in there was pretty awesome too So thank you Thorpe for giving the opportunity and to the managers for taking their time to do the presntation in the workshop :)I feel I should write more about it but like I said there was a lot, and quite a bit of it was from looking at plans etc, and as geeky as this sounds, you had to be there to really appreciate it all. Plus you've probably heard all the stuff from other people over the past few days anyway! I would have posted images along the way to keep people reading but I don't know what ones to post as there are many interesting ones, but I will post the link to them at the end of the report!After the workshop, it was time for Swarm front row. Oh. My. God. It is amazing!! We got the right hand side meaning we got flipped over at the top, very slowly...but then the rest of the ride is so forceul in your face and so eye-watering! I love how you start off going through the elements slowly then as the rest of the train travels through, you suddenly speed off! Or at least that's what it felt like, it was brilliant. It's sometimes easy to think "Oh second row will be pretty much the same for speed/hangtime/airtime apart from the view" on coasters, but on Swarm, due to the large spacing between the cars, it really is different. Like I said, our first ride on Swarm of the day was the row behind but the hangtime at the front and the speed was so much more different. It is definitely worth it, either queue for it or pay for Fastrack, either way, just do it!Luckily our ORP for this came out well with the timing, so we bought it. As I've said before, I love the overlays and the whole photo cover/design on the front and inside.For a bit of light relief, we went flying on the Fish, and this time actually got 3 laps, no people ruining the ride with their phones out!Next up was Vortex. Hmm. Poor thing has had its cycle shortened, I would love to know why as when I operated it, the cycle wasn't exactly long. It only does about 3 swings at full height now, I *think* it used to do 5? It may have been more, I honestly can't remember. Either way, I know they have throughputs and long queues etc but then again, Vortex isn't really a popular ride anymore, so long queues are rarely an issue. So why shorten the ride cycle when it was average enough in the first place? Maybe there's another reason, we don't know, I don't want to slate the park when I don't know the reasons behind something. But it's just a shame to see these things happen.At this point it was getting quite cold, so we wondered around to keep warm and ended up in BK, after I bought the black Swarm hoodie! I wanted to get the green Stealth one but they only had large ones left in the shop in the Dome and the Megastore didn't even have them. Infact, some items of clothing weren't in the Megastore that were in the Dome shop or other shops. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole point of the MEGAstore is that everything is in there? It's a bit of a pain/inconsistent when you don't know what shop to go in to find something!At 6pm, it was time to meet back up with the ECC for our Swarm ERT. We managed to get 4 goes on it: back left, back 6th row, right 6th row, then right 3rd row. Each row really is different, but my favourite is still back left followed by front right.The part you have all been waiting for...all my pictures from the day, including loads from the workshop, can be viewed here: http://s100.photobuc...WARM/?start=allI know others have posted from that day but please view them! They took ages to upload because they're in huuuge high quality so yeah, please make the time I took uploading them worthwhile! :blush:And what better way to finish off this trip report than with our ORP from The Swarm!Thanks for reading!

Simulator arrived on Monday, saw them testing it etc on Tuesday. I've been off sick and won't be back until Sunday but I assume it will be open at the weekend for Easter hols. Also the backwards cycle on Galaxia will not be returning; there is a sign in the control box saying we can't run it backwards and anyone caught doing so will face disciplinary action Plus I couldn't see any options/controls for a backwards cycle. I have no idea why this is, I may have to be a geek one day and ask

I've never seen one with OTSRs - although the bars do come down over you, maybe that's what Joe means?

Well, I work on one of those rides at Brighton (Galaxia). The minimum height is 1m, riders between 1m and 1.3 must be accompanied by an adult or somebody over 1.3. There are seatbelts which MUST be fastened. The smallest person/child MUST sit on the inside. The bars only lock in one position, they can't be pushed down any more, hence the seatbelts. Now in that video, the child is 1) Sat on the outside and 2) Does not appear to be wearing the seatbelt, or if they were it wasn't tight enough. As for her height - she was 3 years old. Are 3 year olds 1m? I know kids can be tall for their age but then again I've never seen anyone looking as young as 3 ride Galaxia. It says she was the correct height though; maybe the height restrictions on that ride are lower? Either way, they clearly did things differently with where she was sat and the seat belt. And people have the cheek to question Brighton Pier's safety!

Aww all these epic trip reports are making me desperate to get up to Towers! Rer!Interesting that Duel has fewer targets and that they're doing it to improve the ride. Personally I've always thought that with all the theming to look at/interacting with you and the fast pace, it was sometimes a bit too much with all the targets. Especially when those scary men jump out and completely distract you By the sounds of it, it's working great

Oooh :PWell me and Ben have an hour of ERT this Saturday

Apologies for being pedantic but we only rode it 3 times Loved the review though

Lol. The water on Dragon Falls is actually very clean! But yeah, probably best not to swallow it!

Awesome pics Stuz! Particularly love the ones taken at Flying Fish and Stealth queue. The FF one is nice of me and Ben, no offence Maxy but I wish you weren't inbetween us pulling a constipated face! :PSo, my trip report:Train journey was fine, but then I had to get the 950, which got delayed because the bus had ran out of paper for printing tickets. Lol. Eventually we departed and I met Ben <3 YAY!After dropping my change all over the floor at the turnstiles, we entered the park, noticing on the queue board that every ride had a 0 minute queue except for Swarm which was 60 mins! Not surprising of course! Got some cheeky Fastrack tickets then headed straight to Swarm, left hand side, and we asked to sit at the back and they said yes. This also happened later on in the day, so it looks like you can choose which row you sit in, tbh I did think it was weird why they would tell people where to sit, it's one thing you can't even choose which side you get!Somehow, back left seemed even more epic than the last time, it got my stomach quite a bit on the drop! Seriously love this ride!Onride photos are still not timing in propery, later on when we went on again, some photos didn't even have the train in! I don't want to sound picky but you'd think they'd have sorted it by now, it's been open pretty much 2 weeks! I would like to buy a photo at some point Oh and if anyone's interested, the shop still smells of sick lol.Headed over to Stealth for front row times. SO much better than any other seat! Can't believe silly Benjy had never done front row before! While we were queueing we spotted Sheepie, Peaj and Jaymie, who finally spotted us after some amusing, wild arm waving and name shouting!Met up with them, SamP and Steve, then had a spin on Storm In A Teacup, good laugh as always! Especially when we saw Maxy arrive and we were trying to get his attention whilst going round and round!Met up with Maxy then got nice and moist on Rumba. As always at the start of every season, it was quite choppy and the effects were working, so we actually had a decent ride! The water stinks though, ugh!The others went to the meet point while me and Ben quickly did Colossus. Good fun as ever, and I really don't know how people can complain that it's rough. Rattly and vibratey, yes, but not rough, especially if you brace yourself enough. IMO the rattle and noise gives it a uniqueness.Headed to the Swarm fire engine for the meet, lovely to see people again and meet new faces Shame not everyone on the attending list was there though.Went on Inferno then had a look at Detty but it was having a tantrum and not lowering the cage. it kept doing it all day so we never got a ride on it. Hopefully this won't be a recurring issue all season!Next up...Loggers Leap! Tunnel times Good fun but again, the water really doesn't smell nice. It never has but I am noticing it more now, or maybe it's because other people always mention it, I don't know. I feel like this is going to be a stupid question but...why do Loggers and Rumba have such manky water? Is it something to do with the lake? It's one of those things I've always known/been aware of but never really known the reason for or cared about it, until now.Some of the group had lollage on Rocky Express, I wasn't in the mood for it (never been a fan of the ride tbh, don't really know why) but I filmed it all on my iPhone, fun times!Had lunch at Bar 360, nom nom.After lunch - Samurai obviously! Some of the group went to BoreSAW: Alive then waited for us in the rocky/bushy bit opposite the ride, and named it Narnia. Don't ask me, I was in the queue!Not a bad ride on Samurai although I was made to sit in the middle, rer. I haven't sat on the end in ages! *shakes fist*Met the rest of the group at Narnia, then had our traditional TPM ride on FLYING FISH! Wasn't as epic as it could've been, because the operator decided to stop it after 2 laps because some girls had their phones out. I never worked on the ride and I know I don't work there now, but surely that's not right? They could have kicked the idiots off then sent us round again, to be fair? Silleh operator!Some of the others went on Mr Monkey's Big Juicy Banana, then next up was the brain damaging ride that is SAW, but we were sat in the back row and must have had a decent car, because the jolt wasn't too bad! However, that turn after the dive loop doesn't half throw you around! Plus the restraints were really pushing on my legs by the time we got to the end. Sorry to those who are a fan of SAW but every time I go on it, I dislike it even more. Note I'm not using the word hate...yet!Had another cheeky Fastrack ride on Swarm, this time we got the right, 6th row. My favourite things about the right are the inversion into the drop, and the zero-g making my stomach go over. Being sat at the back end of the train, we went through the elements faster which meant they weren't as good IMO as sitting in the middle or front. As everyone says, every seat seems to give a different ride experience and for me personally, the back is better on the left, if you're on the right hand side, make the most of it by riding towards the front: being tipped over into the first drop is amazing at a slower speed!Met with the rest of the group for our last two rides: Stealth and Swarm. Stealth was...well, Stealth!For the final ride on Swarm we were on the left, second row. Again, a different ride experience! Quite a bizarre feeling going through the elements slowly, then picking up speed as the rest of the train goes through! I want to try out every single seat and compare them all!Funny moments from the day:Sheepie being clumsy and almost knocking over someone's pushchair.Rocky Express ride.Banana Boat ride.Standing by Tidal's soak zone, Sheepie at the last minute screams and turns his back to the wave...yet it still hits him! With a satisfying and hilarious splat! I wish someone had caught that on video!Discussing what Stealth would be like with Bruce Forsyth doing the announcements!Storm Surge being broken pretty much all day.Me and Ben on Inferno, looking out for the rest of the group in the queue and shouting "SHEEPIE!" in the hope to get the group's attention...which of course didn't work. Then Ben's comment at the end was something like "It was failed from the start".When we were waiting with Maxy for them to come off Inferno, looking out for Peaj's yellow trousers going up the lift hill!Sheepie getting our attention by shouting "TPM!" which worked, but caused him major embarrassment!Overall, a great meet and great people! Even though there were points where the group split, it didn't affect the day as a whole and it all went smoothly. I wish I had taken more photos, but you just forget when you're having so much fun! I did take this one however, of TPM toilet meetings...And a standard Marc Simpson shot:And...TPM Rocky Express Ride!https://www.facebook...151402811175391

The forums have gone all weird on my iPhone on the mobile format the chat room isn't visible on the menu thing, and on the full version the forum and member tabs are showing twice.

I shall see you all soon!!So out of everyone on the attending list, who is actually still attending?

Sounds like an awesme meet Glad it went well and so many people attended!I was off today but couldn't attend as I had a lot to do, including sorting out stuff for Sunday as I'm working tomorrow, and really needed the spare time I *did* have to chill :)Hopefully we'll see you guys again at future meets

Haha yeah I heard it was quite painful for guys! :PNot sure what's happening with the Move-It, but the simulator is definitely coming soon, and apparently is only temporary until they get another ride. Whether or not that will still be a Move-It or not I don't know, not heard anything else

Straight and in a relationship with the loveliest man ever

They will open the gates and let you go back behind them

Wow. The Swarm is absolutely amazing The pacing is perfect and it doesn't seem that short when you're on it which is what others have said. You can really feel the inversions, especially the zero g, probably my favourite part of the ride It made my stomach go over when sat on the right too! :DThe drop is great, obviously very unique and a fun sensation, and the view! The all-important question: left vs right! I loved the right for the drop and for the stomach going over on the zero g, but the left is definitely more intense and makes the inclined loop and inline twist more thrilling, plus is better for the near misses. In my post in the Premiere Screaming thread I said I preferred the left, I think I still do but its a shame you don't get that feeling in your stomach on the left. However this is, of course, a positive as it means every ride is different and you have different things to look forward to depending on which side you go. I rode at the back left but didn't try the front so I can't really compare the front vs back properly. Back left was intense though, wow! I do wonder why they allocate you to a row. I can only assume because it saves time with people faffing about deciding which row to pick (which maybe contributes to the quick dispatches), other than that I think it's a small negative. For us it's not *as* much of a problem as we are more than likely to go to Thorpe more than once every year and get to try different seats, but for the GP I think it would be nice for them to choose. Well, and us!Everything else, such as theming/atmosphere, I have covered in my trip report in the Premiere Screaming thread, and in great detail, so er yeah...you can head over there and read that too if you wish!

Right, a trip report! Well, I have never been this excited for a new ride since Stealth, to the point where I over excited the night before and have trouble sleeping! I didn't sleep until 2am before going to Thorpe to ride Stealth, but last night I couldn't sleep until 4am! As a consequence, I overslept. Funnily enough I woke up at 8:03 which is the exact time my train to Clapham departed! I got to the park at about 11:15 and met up with Maxy, Luke and Ross, and waited for Sheepie and Peaj (went for a walk and went on Depth Charge in the process!), and headed straight to Swarm island once they arrived.The area is just amazing. At first you have the blown up, smoking fire engine by Depth Charge, which is awesome. But entering the actual Swarm island itself; WOW! I was actually lost for words! You can look at the pictures and videos but they are nothing compared to actually being there. As we were nearing the bridge and had the plane wing and drop in front of us, the train was nearing the top of the lift hill and I couldn't resist running over to watch When we walked under the Swarm sign and entered the island I was like Like I said, you'd think it wouldn't be much different from the pics and vids but it really is! I wasn't sure where to look at first but the plane wreckage really grabs your eye. We went and stood by the fence to admire it and then another train was dispatched, the view is great and a great spot to take pictures, although at the time I was too busy spectating to take any! The actors I think are a great addition and it's a shame they won't be there all the time, they really do add to the atmosphere and it's great to see Thorpe put the effort in. One of them told us to go home, have a hot drink and browse the forums! The rest of the area and theming is fantastic, love all the details, like the lights on the fire engine and that the sirens go off every now and then. The fire still isn't working but hopefully will be on soon! So after much drooling and staring, we joined the queue. It was advertised at 70mins and was about that, if not, one hour. I am already thinking it is the best queue in the park, purely because it moves pretty fast and has the queueline TVs and theming to keep you entertained. The tower is probably my favourite part of the queue, although because it moves quite fast you don't get to spend a lot of time in there, but it is enough to get some photos, videos and to marvel the ride and theming. This is also an area where the Swarm sound plays quite loudly, every time the train goes past and into the inline twist. Love it, it made my spine tingle every time! Next was the "worst" part of the queue. I use inverted commas because it's not awful, it's just cattlepen and you are on the other side of the station which means you can't view as much of the ride, but you still do have the queueline TVs and the overturned lorry theming, plus you can get good footage of the lift hill, and the station from the stairs by the tower.It really didn't feel like we had queued that long and we were back through the tower and at the bag room/first batching point. We started heading towards the bridge over the station to go to the left hand side, but then one of the female soldiers shouted at us pretty scarily to go to the right. I must admit, for a few seconds I forgot about the actors and genuinely felt scared because I thought we had really angered a staff member! This is a great example of how good an effect the actors can have! So, the station. Let's get to the main point that has often been brought up: the lack of roof I didn't even think about it because it works well with the theme. You do feel like you are in a demolished/attacked church. Yes having a roof can have its positives on rides but giving the theme, it really does work. Plus it was raining today, so I can give the "What about the rain" opinion too. Well...the floor gets wet The trains were fine, it wasn't an issue at all and as I said, it adds to the theme. The only issue I found was puddles, particularly on the bridge that goes over to the left. Having just said that the lack of roof adds to the theme and that the rain didn't cause an issue, in very heavy rain I hope it doesn't get too deep with water, I'm assuming there are drains or whatever although I couldn't see any (but then again I didn't look out for any). But like I said, apart from that it doesn't affect it at all, just tread over the puddles and it's fine lol. As soon as we entered the station was when I really got excited as we were moments away from finally getting on! It was very effiecent, no waiting around or confusing with where to go, well done to the staff! By the time we were stood at the air gates I had the giggles from excitement...and some nerves about inverting on that drop! It is a strange feeling getting on the ride as the same level as the track but in a good way of course! We were on row 3 and I was on the inside, and (as I later discovered on my other rides) it doesn't make a difference whether you sit inside or outside when it comes to intensity etc, the only difference is that you can stretch your arms and legs out more. The seats are very comfy, as are the restraints. They're snug and you feel secure, but not uncomfortable. Infact, as I'm typing this I'm thinking "They're the opposite to Colossus' restraints/seats", where they hurt your legs yet you can still come off your seat during the inlines. Yes I know its good for airtime but I'm using it for the sake of the comparison. Right, the ride experience! Going up that lift hill...! I don't know if anyone else thinks this: that it's quick, but also long to get to the top? I guess maybe because I'm only used to climbing to 100ft and not 127ft (apart from PMBO but in terms of what I go on regularly I'm only used to Thorpe's coasters), I dunno. But yeah, going up I was so excited, oh my word! I must have been grinning and laughing and talking a load of random crap like an idiot! The drop is just...wow. When you finally get to the top of the lift hill and you see the view...argh! Can't really explain it, you just have to experience it. The actual drop itself is great, depending on where you sit obviously you either start off slowly or get dragged down if you are at the back. I can't decide yet whether I prefer being dragged under on the left or tipping over on the right, but I think I'm possibly preferring the right at the moment.The zero g, whoa! It really got my stomach on the first go!The inclined loop on the right hand side is nothing special tbh, but the turn by the helicopter is good fun, same for the corkscrew.The inline twist is pretty awesome, again better on the left and has the near miss too. Overall the ride is brilliant fun and has some intense moments, felt more on the left hand side. On my first go I couldn't stop laughing, it's just so fun and awesome haha! The photos have overlays now which look pretty awesome but they are still trying to get the timing right, our one was perfect but another was way out, had the top of their heads missing and mainly could see their legs! Had a browse in the shop, loving all the merch and they have a lot of variety, I will go into more detail on that in the merchandise topic. We ate at Burger King then went to Stealth, which was suffering from breakdowns all day from what I saw and I believe ran on one train for a while. The breakdowns we saw seemed to have something to do with the brake fins, one of them kept popping up and down randomly while the engineers were there so maybe they were doing something with it? Either way, the shutdowns didn't last too long, woo! Good ride on Stealth, although it was raining but luckily not too heavily. I always end up laughing my head off after the airtime hill, still one of my favourite rides there.Luke had to go leave to get his train, we wondered around for a bit, avoiding Inferno due to it peeing rust on people. Went on XNWO to get out of the rain, it's a shame to see that the indoor queue has so much graffiti, clearly from last year at least. The ride has the rave music and the lights were off and there was lots of banter! Went on Flying Fish, good laugh as usual, we got sent round about 5 times! Then we went to Swarm and had two more goes, this time on the left 3rd row, outside seat then left back row, inside seat. As I said earlier the left is definitely more intense, back left - wow! As others have said, the most intense seat on the ride, you really get dragged down the drop and through the inversions! Especially the zero g, you really feel it! And that inline twist! So, The Swarm: Bloody amazing and easily my favourite ride at Thorpe! Left vs right: left, although the right is currently my fave for the drop and the zero G: my stomach didn't go over on the zero G on the left. Well done to Thorpe and B&M!So...overall, a great meet, thank you to and well done to Maxy for organising it! It was great to see people again and meet new faces, looking forward to seeing you people again soon!I will upload photos and videos tomorrow evening after work onto Facebook and link them here somewhere, either in this thread or the Swarm thread.Bring on Sunday 25th!!

Watching these videos has got me really hyped for The Swarm I had a "Omg it's not long until it's me walking through that queueline!" moment :DGah!!

Ickle Marceh! N'awww

Because that is the date when the full advert starts being aired on TV

Wow Thanks for that video Rattlesnake!Also get to see the helicopter blades turning!Watching that has given me a random thought: you know how there's always people who lose their phones, glasses etc on rides? Wonder how many people will be unfortunate enough to drop items into the pool?

I've never heard of this Is this from the helicopter/fire engine, or is it something they kept secret?

The water effects (from the fire engine) can be seen in this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiuU8LNVfggCan't embed the video, disabled by user's request, d'oh!The fire effects were not turned on for the preview day though, so we will have to wait for opening :)The plane has smoke effects too which can be seen in pics and videos!