Mer

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!

MMMMMMM :wub:A variety of hoodies Oh my! What one do I buy Then there's the other design (a pic was posted in the Spoiler thread), plus the Megastore, being bigger, will have more merch than the actual Swarm store.And who knows, maybe more merch is waiting to be brought out, ready for official opening...Can't wait to have a good browse!

Love this :DI just watched the tesitng video then this one straight after, you can really see the difference in speed!4 days to go until the Premiere Creaming Screaming meet

Ssh I had already asked for the days off but by the way the supervisor worded it, I thought he was the one to get it authorised.

Hmmmm :PAnyway it got sorted, basically I was under the impression that it was the supervisor's job to get authorisation, turns out it is the staff's job so I was supposed to go and see the authorisation man myself. Lack of ze communications

Haha I doubt they will read this though!

Stressed out right now! A few weeks ago I asked my supervisor for some days off: Sat 17th, Sun 25th and Sat 31st March, for Thorpe trips, although I didn't tell them this. Even though weekends are busiest and the 31st is the first weekend of the Easter hols, he said they are fine to take off and he just had to get authorisation from someone. So it wasn't 100% definite that I had got the days off but he said to me, quite clearly, I can go ahead and make plans because he thought it would be highly unlikely that the dates wouldn't be authorised. But today when I see the rota for next week, it says I'm working Sat 17th. Don't know about the other dates because we don't have the rotas for those weeks yet. I ask a senior member of staff and from what they were saying to me, it sounds as though the supervisor I asked about having the days off has forgotten to get them authorised, because I asked "so long ago" (yet if I asked too late I'd have had less chance of getting them off!). So tomorrow I have to speak to one of the staff members who authorises days off, I just hope there aren't any problems. I've done everything right by asking in advance, it's the supervisor that forgot to do their job. So I hope they don't say I have to work! I don't want to get funny with them or cause problems but if they do try and get me to work I will tell them that I was told I could make plans, and in the politest way possible, maybe say that I'm annoyed that it's not even been authorised yet. Hopefully it won't come to that though. Or, seeing as they don't know the reasons for me needing those days off, I could just lie and say I'm away the night before etc, I've booked tickets for something etc. Shouldn't have all this stress though! Argh!

Noice. Glad I'd finished eating my lunch when I read that!I'll be brief as I'm on break: Swarm looks fooking epic, merchandise also looks epic, the whole thing looks epic :DI did laugh when I read that it broke down though Oh Thorpe... :')

Oh my! Those trains, sex on wheels :PThose seats are gonna be a mission to get into!

Omg Fantastic photos! This totally makes up for me forgetting my earphones for the train to work :DIs anyone else playing "Where's Marc?"

Gonna be honest, don't care how immature it sounds...bloody envious of those going today and those that are off so get to watch the live coverage! :oHave fun though

Ooooh what colour are the shirtrs and hoodies?

Yeah, it does make sense not to have added a where to stay option now you mention it :PThe age thing is difficult. I don't want it to look like older members would be selfish and like we would just sit and get drunk and not look after the younger members, of course we wouldn't And yes, as Sarah said it could cause friction, and many members here are under 18. But certainly a 16+ restriction for the reasons already mentioned could be worth considering, even if some do get permission. I mean, let's say an under 16 member has permission to go and we book the rooms etc then their parents changed their minds or they get grounded, etc. We'd then have to cover their costs or change the booking etc. Sorry to keep repeating myself; I apologise if it sounds negative. And maybe I'm thinking too far into it too soon

The age restriction is something that was also mentioned/agreed in the mod section when we discussed the possibility of an Alton meet, so I'm kinda speaking on behalf of the mod team too. Also, if some members had to travel by train, this is also where age could be a factor, with getting parents permission to travel so far, possibly alone. As I said, I don't want to sound negative, just being realistic. If we do this meet, we need to plan it thoroughly and consider everything.

Yeah you can enter the park, your pass hasn't run out so why wouldn't you be able to :PAs for seat sizes, 52 inches chest restriction on the rides with restraints, Inferno has larger seats on the middle rows, the other coasters don't. I don't know about Swarm though, but B&M seem to be easier for larger guests to fit into even in the normal seats Colossus and Vortex seem to be the hardest

I think another good thing to think about which should have been added to the poll is where to stay. Alton/Splash Landings hotels are awesome but expensive, although there is AP discount. When this had been discussed previously, Travelodge etc has been suggested as it's much cheaper. But ofc the downside is having to travel to the park etc. Also, no offence to younger members but I think a 16+ or 18+ restriction would probably have to be in place. Younger members would have to have parents permission and the over 18s may wish to have drinks at the hotel bars etc. Plus there are the hotel/petrol costs, again something younger members who aren't working would probably be unable to pay for. As I said, please don't take offence, I don't wish to push members out, I'm just being realistic and considering potential outcomes.

Even though this probably isn't the TV ad (as others have said they filmed one with people and we've yet to see it), I actually really like this one, don't get what the issue is tbh. I get all tingly and excited everytime I watch it Not too keen on them speeding the ride up but the sounds etc and just the whole thing I thought worked really well

I do agree - I can imagine Swarm hoodies being black, and it would be nice to have more colour variety, without looking silly/not suiting the ride etc. Plus cat hair shows up the worst on black clothes