Sidders

You won't need to worry about international students much longer. The sheer cost of education in the UK is absolutely atrocious. I can hop over to France for a couple of years, enjoy the scenery, the culture and the night-life and be educated to honours degree level for a measly £1,450 a year if I wanted. Why on Earth would foreign student optionally choose to be educated in the UK? Oxbridge ain't that good.

Well, looking at Merlin's recent endeavour over in Soltau suggests they may be focusing more on effect upkeep in the future.Damn I jinxed it.

Corr, to even have people say "The Swarm" in my school would be amazing. Let alone talk about all this crap PR.

Love the way you write these articles, Mark. Such a Thorpe fanboy in a past life

Anyone else think that eagle décor looks like chocolate melting? And those eagles look so weird one you see them as a whole row of just... heads.

Also, there's better, or more realistic, textual renderings of The Swarm and Raptor's trains. The warts, the scales, the teeth etc. These just look like finely sanded material and smoothed over before painting like an eagle. They could've made the train like so much better if they'd carved in feather detail or beak detail.

It's not pathetic to those who've had the grave displeasure of having to be pumped through the academic sausage factory that calls itself UCAS. Honestly though, Josh, I wouldn't be too bothered about being rejected from Cambridge. A small glance at the news will tell you which way they're headed. In fact, it's possible that the reason you got rejected is because you came from a below average school (as did I, where my 5 or more A*-C grade percentage was 29%). Cambridge don't seem to even regard "riff-raff" these days. If you come from a disadvantages background you're not worthy of those uppity bigots' time, money and austere lack of character judgement. Anyone else think the UCAS application process is just so demoralising? Nobody wants to have their future potential or capacity for success entirely quantified, with not a look-in at the individual behind the situation, do they?I know a candidate who came from the same secondary school I did, who completed their GCSEs with 8 A*s and 3 As in whatever subjects they took. But she got rejected from The Imperial College of London, Oxford University AND The University of Cambridge, after only managing to get an interview for Oxford before being declined. As a result, she has now decided to take a gap year as she... well, her ambitions were destroyed within those three weeks of sending her UCAS application. She got an offer from The University of Exeter and one other college that escapes my mind, but that's what the "shock" if you like, of being completely rejected has done to her. She was heading for A*A*AB at A-Level (she does four A-Levels, but one was irrelevant to the course she applied for to University).It's genuinely ridiculous, and I'd personally steer well clear of Cambridge as they seem so up their own arses about who they let in it's not even about just grades anymore. Ah well, University of Winchester - make room for me!

That one was built ages ago and was this one that Dollywood came across when they thought of the idea of having one. In this video you can see the eagle supposedly going to Dollywood, but it's already built and will not be the one Kevin Stone is making for Dollywood. At 0:37 seconds you can see the claws of the eagle in the video and how they match with the picture above - they are closed and are shaped downwards. Stone will build one whose claws outstretch forward, with it's talons open. He speaks of this and how it'll be golden brown on it's back so I don't believe that picture is of the one going to Dollywood myself.EDIT: THIS is the eagle going to Dollywood:Observe the rustic feathers and those beastly talons. :DIn other news... someone get one of THESE for Dragon Khan's make-over!

Well, if we're being pedantic, the faces are different. I think I prefer The Swarm's.

If you believe everything you read, stop reading. Especially if it's a tabloid or CF.

That's not the eagle going to Dollywood. I'm going to sound incredibly nerdy when I say this but, when the guy building it did that video on the previous page (or maybe the one before that? Jack you posted it! ) you can see that the talons are directed forward as if the eagle is about to swoop down a grab hold it's riders/prey. Also, the eagle going to Dollywood was promised to be rustic gold and brown in colour, meaning the shiny metal eagle above is already made and not going to Dollywood (I'm pretty sure you can see that very eagle in the video too). Wish CF would open their eyes... seriously.

In other news, The Mirror was useful for once! For capturing a snap of this damn sexy beast.Phwoar. DAT TRAIN.Video is meh. Nice to see they're continuing the theme of government conspiracy seeing as pretty much all viral hype was sidelined with the construction in full-swing, so it's nice to know they've not completely disregarded it. Although, that said I want to see some development now. Let's hear more about The Swarm and how they got here, as well as the government's involvement, ja?

Anne Robinson gettin' mardy?

Aww gees, Liam...Sub-Terra? Jury's out.

Has shiny hair and that's nothing too bad.

Still registered to fly? Does that mean the rotor-blades and body aren't bashed up and the windows shattered, and it's just plonked in the middle of a helix?

Shambhala's first lift hill section is up, with more supports being placed for next week, according to the PA Community.Credit to the PAC.

*sigh*

I just don't get the point of Divertical coasters... I hold my hands up.

Keep in mind that corkscrew is about 50ft high...

Yes Sheepie! And welcome to the forums, Jack! :DI really want something that's a cross-over between Gothic choruses and industrial, mechanistic ambience. That 'Hanging' from the Misfits score would be perfect station music!

Cold weather conditions, first wheels and it being the first (if not, one of the first) ever test runs will mean that there's still quite some tweaking with the ride speed to get done. Give it a few weeks and The Swarm will be run nice and smoothly, offering one helluva ride.

What I love about the position of the queue and the tower is that, in that narrow little corridor all you'll be able to hear every 90 seconds is the low rumble of a B&M sex beast and then the screams of 28 people getting louder and louder before the train literally SHOOTS round the corner from nowhere and straight over your head! Ahhh

http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/17-01-2012/New-Swarm-VideoINLINE TWIST. It's... "slow", you say? Keep in mind - we queue underneath this!Credit to us because we're awesome.