JoshC.

Ah, my mistake, was getting my facts mixed up. The press release back in October said Smiler will be 3x the length of Oblivion, 3x the ride time of Rita and 10km/h faster than Air. Sorry 'bout that!

Announced by AT's Twitter. Wednesday release it is then.

Will be interesting to see how this goes. There's been enough experience with the Wingrider now from B&M and Merlin to know what works for Wingriders. Something of a similar scale to Raptor would be great, and the Transylvania theme would go down a treat and has plenty of potential with the wingrider concept. I look forward to the development of this!

Hey there - welcome to the forums! If you just scroll over the 'Rides' tab at the top of the website, it still lists X as an extreme thrill, but if go on the Full Ride Listing (http://www.thorpepark.com/rides/full-ride-listing.aspx), it lists it as Thrilling and Fun. So it could be just a transitional phase at the moment if you will. As for the description, I think it has changed again, or at the very least tweaked a bit. Hopefully they don't try and create a 'scary' ride, but just something whih is completely random and weird, which seems like the direction they're taking. Fingers crossed!

Doesn't have to be scary to be good though. I'd also argue that the ride (like Chessington) is marketed at families with people of all ages, not young children. I guess what happens in the cave depends on the story of the attraction. Seems as though we're on safari, and a tree cuts our route off, so we go through a cave that an African tribe has said is dangerous. Have some ancient ritual / chanting and a waterfall in there, and it'd be good. Couple of other effects and it would create a superb ending I think

It's going to mimick a safari pretty much - plenty of people would be interested in that! As for the trucks, I believe they're actually ex-army lorries with 5.8 litre engines. Can't see them wanting to waste fuel by going too slowly.

The length is 1170m; so 3 times the length of Air. If the new No Limits recreation is wholly accurate, then the outdoor section is about 110 seconds, which would still leave about 55 seconds of ride time indoors. Definitely has to be onride pre show(s) for that to happen.

I don't. Maybe you should set one up to see who agrees with you?

And the condoms!

I've no idea what discourse analysis is, but it I can rant about mathematical analysis. Seem like, uni + anything with the word analysis = bad.

Gah, go back to uni on the 20th; can't make any of those dates I'm afraid!

I was under the impression it was more than one.

£70?! *faints over-dramatically* Don't get me wrong, collecting maps isn't a bad thing, I do it myself, at there are some maps which are just beautiful. But I'd never really go to the 'extreme' of buying or selling them really. Or if there ever was one I particularly wanted, I would not pay much money for it. As for paying £13 for the 1998 map, well fair enough, each to their own, but I don't think I could ever value any map at that high a cost; for me, they're more 'sentimental' items. I think I may have a spare 2001 map if you're interested Mr 9?

Dunno whether this is happening for others, but when I try to full screen a Youtube video on the forums, it never works? I can full screen if I got to the video on Youtube fine; just have the issue on the forums. Any help?

Only the 2007 ones are worth any money; they cost 50p for a large part time of the season if memory serves me correctly. Don't quite get why people would sell maps though. They're pretty much worthless (monetary-wise), and if you no longer wanted them, then recycle them or give them to someone who may be interested (to be honest, if you collect theme park maps, you're likely to know someone else who does, even if it's through something like these forums).

"I'm gonna get high!" "Oh, so that's why you're going to Stealth?" "...yeah...Stealth..."

That would be the old site of Treasure Island; an attraction from the 80s/early 90s. I think they connected a long bit of land from there to somewhere near the Maintainance Building a few years back and sorted out a 'pathway' on Treasure Island, so I assume that they could use it more as a service route for easy access to other side of the park whilst it's open. Not too sure on that though. Ride and track delivers I think come through the service gate just to the right of the park (Staines-way), and are stored in various areas. For example, Storm Surge was stored in the staff car park for a while, and some of Swarm's track and supports were placed near the Maintainence Building. Again, though, not 100% sure!

The farm area has now been partially flooded due to the infilling of islands for the likes of Swarm; it's been the park's designated 'flood zone' if you will for ages now. All of the buildings that are there remain as they are Grade I listed I think, but they've probably just been left there really. I remember some pictures were posted a year or two back, and a fair amount had been flooded; more than I was expecting (I've had a look for the pictures, but can't seem to find them unfortunately). The farm closed during the 2006 season due to declining popularity not making it viable. The park were changing target audience and I guess the farm didn't suit people then. The direction they're heading now, thrillseekers, just has no place for a farm, so I can't see it being brought back. I doubt there's any plans to use the area for any investment now; it is very close to Thorpe so there's noise issues to consider and such. I don't think any more infilling is planned either, so it'll probably just stay how it is. The CCR track was all removed slowly but surely, so it's not as easy to bring back connections to the area either. As RideAddict has said, if you go down Monk's Walk by the side of the park, there's opportunities to see it still. Though all you'll probably see are some old buildings, overgrown grass and a bit more water than before.

Fantastic read Peaj; throughly enjoyed it! Seriously made me feel as though I had been there during the day - thanks for taking the time to do that! Gotta say, I'm disappointed in everyone for being beaten by Crippled Sidders - were you all just being nice to him? Look forward to the next TR you do Peaj; hopefully I can star in it as well..

I guess this is where our opinions simply differ. I do feel they combine to give a strong overall impression; it is striking and a complete spectacle for the eye. The moment you walk onto the island, you're meant to think disaster - and that's exact what happens. As for the post hoc explanation, I do agree, but what I was saying about the church was more a possible explanation for those who want it. As amazing as it would be, every detail cannot be explained; people aren't going to have the experience ruined when they think 'Why a church?'. Whilst you're correct about the physical limitations (bar, of course, going underground), there's the unfortunate other limitation that comes into affect here - cost. I'd assume that creating hills and such is going to add to the cost, and it would seem that, in this case, they've gone for themed features than an intricate landscape. It's certainly something Thorpe needs to explore again; Colossus does achieve this to a degree, and that has a fairly surreal feel to it I find. The flat terrain is unfortunate, but I think the only thing which really suffers from it is the queue line. As for the area being poorly integrated, I disagree. Whilst there is not a chance to intereact with the large themed items, I still feel a part of it all. When the fire effect goes off, it doesn't really matter where you are on the island, you feel a part of it. The inverted drop is a key highlight of the ride - by having it feel distant, it means that you feel the need to look at it in a way. If it's not distant, it is just sort of there, whereas the way it works is as something to look at, to keep you interested; it's the beginning of the end if you will and that needs to be poignant. The helicopter is unfortunate really; the origin plans did show a rickety jetty that would allow guests to go a lot closer to it, and not be behind a chain link fence. It would have been great for for turnaround as well. Unfortunately, it was taken out of the plans a few days before they were approved. Not quite sure why, but whatever the reason, it is a shame, as the chopper was designed and placed with that in mind. The plane wing on a pile of dirt doesn't bother me in the slightest - yes, I've noticed it and yes it's convenient, but it's just one of those things which I think is being a bit too pedantic to be honest. . It seems as though you're a bit more of a nit pick than me. I'm not saying that in a bad way whatsoever; I do notice some of these inconsistencies as well, but they're just little issues in my mind which, whilst it would be great that they weren't there, won't bother me in the enjoyment of a ride. That's certainly a general case as well. Again, I guess it boils down to the difference in opinion of 'judging' rides.

People who are apparently in relationships, but then proceed to argue all the time. Then proceed to kiss and make up after a couple of hours / days, then repeat the same thing over again. How can that make people happy?!

As I said earlier, it could well just be something that's occurred on the No Limits edition they have. It's not exactly a brilliant image, so don't read too much into it. If they were to paint any rides at this stage, Swarm would be near the bottom of their list.

The game's main screen, posted on the creator's website. (Credit to TST for posting this on their Facebook page).

Just out of interest, if a new near miss had to be added this year, what would you have liked to have seen? The way I see Swarm's theming is that it shows nowhere is safe. We have the crashed plane, showing that this 'flying creature' known as The Swarm have taken over the skies. We then have a variety of emergency services, ambulance, fire, coastguard, which have all been attacked. Emergency services are seen as safety, and we also have the irony of a fire engine on fire. Throw that in with the church, again something seen as safe place, and have this alien race take over it, like you say. All of this added together tells me that this place is not safe. It has been clearly and cleverly thought out the way I see it. The trouble as it stood last year was that the area was sparse, hence the additional theming. But then, we still have this island with a church and a phonebox, then loads of emergency services chucked about. One thing about Swarm is that it's set at Thorpe Park; it's not like we're meant to feel like we're in a secluded town somewhere in the UK - we're meant to feel as though we're at Thorpe Park and we're being attacked by aliens. The way I see it, by having the church creates irony, as earlier said, and can easily be explained as something that was at the park before it opened, for example. If we have a billboard, then it could further add to the feel that we're at a theme park (billboards = advertising), but also that it's under assault. The emergency services are there because, of course, help was needed, but the Swarm took them out. I do think that Swarm's theming can be judged on different levels, which is another thing I like about it so much. It's hard for me to say whether it's got the best theming in the UK, but from what I've seen and experienced, I think it is. Probably just to do with the track being designed in No Limits or something I think.

Looks like the spider thing is called the 'Marmaliser' as well? Love that video. Look the logo. Love the music. Love the look of the game (looks AMAZING, especially considering it will be free). Love it love it love it. When this gets released (which I believe is next week?), I can see my phone battery going down low very quickly...as well as my uni grades...