JoshC.

Well, it seems heads are already turning to the park's next major addition:Taken from Dan Hotten's Facebook; I found it on TTF.The translation is "Transylvania. It is big. It is fast. It is closer and closer and closer. Unique in Germany, opening in 2014."Interesting to say the least. After seeing how Merlin have done the past couple of years with theming, the quality of theming should be pretty awesome. One thing which interests me the most though - why is it being advertised now? I'm not all that clued up about Heide Park or anything, but advertising something which is coming in 2 years time is a bit...unusual?

Any Being Human fans see a resemblance?

Not gonna lie, I think they're both pretty good. I agree that the one used last year sounds somewhat more dramatic, but either sound just as good on the ride if I'm honest.

Probably would find that a Sunday would be slightly quieter (bar Easter Sunday of course), though most days will be as busy as each other I'd guess. The best way to put it is it'll be packed whenever you go, so if you're planned on going, just go whenever it's most convenient for you!

Not really moaning about, just simply saying that it may give a small minority a little grumble. (Of which I'm not one of; I'm glad they're opening earlier, I was just saying the small minority of people may not be).One thing I did notice is the queue boards on park were showing that some ride opened at 9:30 as it was. So, by the looks of it, they're changing opening times to extend them - whch is of course only a good thing.

Anyone want to see the aforementioned fence that's been put around MHFS? What a stupid question, everyone wants to!

So, I popped down with the family to Thorpe Park, for what was the fourth time this year. However, with two of those visits being before the park opened, and my visit last week being all about Swarm, today felt like my first 'proper' visit of the season.With a 10 o'clock opening, and the sun shining gloriously, we headed to the park for half 9. We arrived just before, and to what was not really my surprise, the gates were open. It seems as though Thorpe are making a habit out of opening earlier this season, which I have mixed opinions on. Whilst it's great that they're making the effort and helping guests who arrive rather early, those who will be planning on arriving say 10-15 minutes before opening may get a slight sour taste in their mouths (a similar feeling that my friend got last weekend). The decisions are probably for the best and please the majority, but I won't be surprised if some people get a little bit annoyed by it.The glorious sunshine.As the park had opened early, we decided that we may as well go for Swarm. I like this little idea of putting up these signs; it just 'feels' right.Water effects behind the leftover stage. They were working slightly more in sync than before.The queue for Swarm moved incredibly quickly. It was just after the tower, and we never stopped for more than a minute or so it felt; the staff really must be praised for how well they worked on getting the trains through!The Swarm arose to the heavens.One thing which I half like / half hate about Swarm is that the near misses do look much nearer off ride than on ride. I like it because of how visually stunning it is, but dislike as I fear people may be left feeling short changed afterwards. We decided that we may as well try the front row queue out, and see what the system was like. We queued for the pass for a couple of minutes, and then we were in. As a side note, I like how they've added numbers to the split queueing. Probably makes it easier for staff if someone asks 'Can I go on the left hand side of the ride?' for example. Anyways, we were directed to the right hand side of the ride, and were greeted by a massive front row queue; it took up about 2/3 of the length of the bit in the station. I don't mind queueing extra for front row if that's my choice, but I was surprised (and other front row queuers were shocked) at how long it was. I also think there was too many from rowers put on the right hand side as opposed to the left; we had the huge queue, whereas the left was struggling to get people in the front.. Many people were giving up there front row passes just to sit anywhere, seeinghow the queue for it was so long. Sorry Thorpe, the front row queue needs a rethink or getting rid of. The dispatches were running extremely well, and at times they were waiting for the train to finish the circuit to send the next train - much praise should be give to Swarm's team! Also, as ever, the ride was fab.. Yeah, not much else to say. If the only negative point I can really think of for this coaster is the fact the front row queue doesn't work, this just shows how good of a ride it well and truly is!ORP.. :PWe moved our way to Storm Surge, and queued for about 10 minutes. I really don't know what to make of this ride any more; the boats aren't spinning (which, at beginning of season, is not good), but the water squirters were permanently turned on, which left for a good bit of water being splashed upon us. Really and truly, it's an okay ride made out of a hunk of junk.. It was also INCREDIBLY squeaky. With the hot weather and big attentions of the coasters, the water rides didn't have much of a queue, so we ended up on Rumba Rapids. Okay, it's not the longest rapids, or the best looking, but I love this ride so much - the pre tunnel and in tunnel waterfalls are just working so well, and you do get quite wet on the ride. Much love for this ride, and hope it gets a spruce up in the near future.There was also a Dr Pepper event today. The whole idea was to set a Guinness World Record for the most people in a pair of pants (I believe), and there were some games set around pants and stuff. Nice bit of fun for guests I guess. Swarm in the background.The big pants (no, not Stealth...)We headed back over to the dome and decided that we may as well get the new Annual Pass refill a-ma-bob. I really dislike it if I'm honest. It seems smaller (which people may say doesn't matter, as it's unlimited, but a smaller cup = more refills), it looks ugly, and it just doesn't feel right. The only plus I have about it is the fact that the label seems much better. Rant of the day over. We then headed over to Roast and Relish (R&R for short ) for lunch. So, pretty much you choose a gammon baguette or pork baguette (and the baguettes are fresh and are of more than generous size!), have free stuffing, crackling or sauce and that's that. I love the place. At £4.75 a baguette, or 4 for £15, I think it's well priced and you get more than your money's worth. I'd highly recommend the place for anyone who likes their meat.Being close to Swarm, the tables have subtle, yet appropriate, theming.Swarm shadow.We headed all the way to the other size of the park to go on good ol' Loggers Leap. Good solid log flume, not much else that can be said about it. We passed Saw Alive on the way. It had a big queue...I'm disappointed in how 'leftover' Canada Creek feels. There's been so much focus on Swarm side, the other side of the park seems a bit forgotten. If CCR has gone, and isn't returning, get rid of the track, the barriers and open up that space a lot.A fence has now been put up to conceal Miss Hippo's Fungle Safari. Sign of future development, or lack of it?Crazy bikes have been moved next to the Loony Ladders, opening up a nice bit of space.The new Ben and Jerry's unit by the Lost City flats has yet to open. Shame, could've done with one today. :(We threw in quick rides on X:\NWO (which still feels faster than normal, but lacks the extra dimension without the strobe lights) and Quantum (a good fun, ride). A final couple of shots to do with Swarm:By midday, the mist under the plane had conked out. Under the lift hill / drop.How the Swarm area looks now...How the area looked on the 14th April last year.And I'll leave you with that.

Really gutted I can't make this - darn college! Hope everyone has a great time tomorrow. Hopefully similar ERT events can occur in the future; think I remember one happening a couple of years ago?

I assume the cycle order of 1-6 goes in order from least intense to most intense?Just out of interest, does anyone know what cycle Samurai operates on, generally, when it is open to the public? After experiencing it on "it's most intense and longest cycle", I'm just slightly curious as to what I'm generally experiencing..

Woo - a big happy birthday! :PMust admit, when I rode it on media night, it seemed much smoother. May give it a few more rides this season, seeinghow that side of the park should be a little less busy..

The instrumental is played, but it blends in quite well with the rest of the audio. If you're not listening out for it, you probably wouldn't notice it.. :PAs a side note about You Me At Six fans, I remember seeing a discussion come up on my FB feed last night about how 'Thorpe Park named their roller coaster after the band's new single'...

The Swarm is now Number 1 in the UK Rock Chart! Quite suprised as to how well it's been doing in honesty..

Great review - thanks for that! One tiny thing though, I think you may have got your left and your right mixed up.. You say that the left flips you over rather than under the first inversion, and the left hand side has the helicopter inversion - but it's the right! Thought you might like to know.

Top quality advert from Thorpe there - absolutely love it!That is all.

So, after attending the media night a couple of Thursdays ago, and plans to visit Thorpe on opening day falling through, today was my first public visit of the year to the park. As ever here's a quick PTR for your enjoyment!So, a couple of friends and I decided to meet up for the first time in a while, and decided that Thorpe Park would be the place to be this weekend. With one of the group arriving just after 12, two of us decided to get there for opening time... Well 10 o'clock at least. We arrived at 20 to 10, and noticed the gates had already opened...apparently they opened half an hour early because so many people turned up early. A bit annoying for us, but I'd much rather the park end up opening earlier than later I guess.The weather for the day way a bit dull and rainy. It didn't deter many people though, it would seem.As we approached the turnstiles (with the old entrance music back, which is great!), I noticed Lez Cougan and his followers causing some commotion with visitors - with Lez saying how he has told us that this would happen and the Swarm would come, and his followers just generally worshipping the ground he walked on.. They all had 'The Swarm symbol', as it is marketed, on them, which is a triangle with what looks likes wings through it - would be interesting to know what the idea behind the design is. (Also, on a bit of tangent, does anyone know if the LC in LC12 stands for anything?) I did record a short video, but won't be able to upload until my laptop decides to start working again. Anyways, a couple of photos:Lez Cougan.Cougan and his followers.Just wow.Me with the crew! Love how you can make the symbol with your hands..We decided that we may as well just progress straight to Swarm, and try it out once, even though we knew we'd probably be doing it later as well. Some photos from on the way:Some bands were performing during the day, which is something nice I guess. (Sorry about it being sidewards )Much love for that fire truck!The area was not as packed as I was expecting, though there was some competition on the stage where the bands were performing relating to The Hunger Games, which made the entrance area quite congested. The queue board advertsied 90 minutes, but we knew that it would probably advertise above an hour pretty much all day. Some queue line pictures:A bad photo from underneath the tower, where it comes really quite close! Also, the 'Swarm noise' really did make people queueing jump!Wet looking plaza..More or less the whole queue past the tower. There are TV screens here as well.After 70 minutes of queueing, we were on. The particular queue batcher we had wasn't telling us which side to go on, and we decided to go down the left - and after arriving at the station, we walked straight on. As per, the ride was amazing.The ORP (sorry abou the quality, I have no scanner at the moment )The Roast and Relish food outlet - review of that to come shortly!I then went to the shop and had a bit of a spending spree...a pin badge, lenticular pass, shot glass, pen and model set me back a mere £12.60 with AP discount, which I thought was pretty good. On my next visit, I won't be splashing out on things like the grenade mug alarm clock or hat... ;)Anyways, after Swarm was said and done, we had a go onthe ever dependably Flying Fish, and had an amazing operator. He did some great interactivty, even though some annoying little brats at the back tried ruining it.*Unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave it here. I did finish the review, but then it was lost thanks to dodgy net connection, and this was all I could retrieve. So, until tomorrow, I'll have to leave it here.*EDIT: In light of my visit today, which was more than just going on Swarm and a couple of other filler rides, I will finally abruptly finish this TR now. My review of R&R is in my next PTR; look out for it. XD After Flying Fish, a ride on Rumba Rapids followed, which was of course thoroughly wet, with the pre waterfall tunnel and an in-tunnel water squirter drenching us. After drying off and warming up in the dome, lunch followed along with another 70 minute wait in the Swarm queue (the queue was slightly shorter than before, but Fastrack happens!). It goes back to the point of this TR - SWARM IS EPIC!The day ended on a ride on X:NWO. I'm disappointed by the fact that they've got rid of the strobes - they added so much to the ride. However, I'm glad that they've fixed the robot mannequin lights in the queue, and the ride seems a fair bit faster.. Strange. As said, an abrupt end to the PTR, but time to focus on the next one!

Were you one of the 'doctors' dressed all in white lab coats and covered in blood?

After going again today, I really don't see the grumble with the tent. Yes, it's there. However, it's on your right as you enter the island, whereas practically everything else is on the left. I don't know how many people are really going to think 'look at this random, bland, stupid tent' when there's a 127ft monster in front of them, along with copious theming elements. Personally, I think if people grumble about the tent taking away from the atmosphere, they may as well grumble about Depth Charge being there, as that if anything distracts you more, and the destroyed fire engine has been placed adjacent to it. With all respect Rob, the grumble about the tent sounds more like trying to find a problem with the addition, as opposed to a genuine problem that there is. Also with regards to the comment about Thorpe competing with Disney, Universal, etc., I wouldn't agree with that. Merlin are competing with these companies, in the sense that they are trying to become the biggest theme park company in the world. Thorpe are currently more competing to become the best place for teenagers and for thrill rides, so in a way, Thorpe themselves are competing more with the likes of Six Flags, and I say Thore are doing VERY well..Anyways, as said, I went again today. I was able to ride Swarm twice, and a near enough full queue with practically no Fastrack users took 70 minutes. A queue 2/3 full with Fastrack also took about 70 minutes. I'd say that the queue is more than worth queueing in for a couple of hours, though I can see why people might take a disliking to it. Also got to try the back left, and I agree that it is very intense. I still stand by my original ranking of 10/10 and that it is the best ride I've ever been on!(Also, I think I may have seen SamCham on park today! )

Darnit, didn't sneak into any of the backgrounds. ;)Still don't know who half of those celebrities are tbh. But still, THAT vicar..

Darnit, I thought the station had been moved to CCR's station. Ah well, as you were people..

Meh, may as well do one of these...2012-Swarm opens! -New May half term event to replace Head Rush.-Some show(s) over August (Barry and Stuart would be great, but so would something in the arena).2013-New flat ride opens in MHFS spot. Not sure what, but I'd like to see something from Huss, as they're flats are pretty decent. A dark ride would be nice as well, but again, not sure what that could be.-Saw Alive closes. The area used by the queue line becomes a walkway with plenty of benches for picnics. The area can be well used for firework events.-New summer event, to refresh Sun Scream.-New FN attraction, perhaps another shot at a scare zone as well.-Feasible fix up of effects which haven't already been sorted.2014-No new rides / attractions.-Entrance refurb. Permanent queue for ticket offices (all of which have been done up, of course) and more interactivity. TVs, perhaps a statue or something as well?-Construction of a roller coaster on Island E (next to the bridge), explained below.2015-New coaster on Island E. Going against the plan of opening up Island A, which means 3 more years of Swarm congestion, as well as congestion for the new coaster. Though unfortunate, there is method in the madness. The new coaster reaches a maximum height of 45m (quite a steep lift hill, in effect), creeping ahead slightly of Swarm. Manufactured by Mack, and at a length of 850m (the maximum for the 2015 coaster as outlined by the MTDP) the ride is designed to be a bit of an airtime monster, does not invert and only has lap bars. The theming isn't extensive, but the ride interacts well with itself and with the queue line and any thematic elements, though the actual theme is relatively upbeat. -Slight rebrand of Fright Nights. Nothing major, just enough to make it seem refreshed and stepped up a gear'. -The hotel opens, and the marquee leaves in its place.2016-2017Can't be bothered to explain these 2 years in much detail. New flat ride(s), Saw IP dropped, Saw generically rethemed. The standard stuff..2018-The method in the madness explained.. A new coaster opens up on Island A, meaning that Swarm's island finally has 2 entrances. The new coaster is a GCI woodie (hears many a fans cheer ), that extends onto what was once Treasure Island as well. The reason for this was so that the woodie could be a lengthy one, the longest in the park, and gives a really good experience. The ride will be themed quite darkly, meaning that the change in Swarm island to new island works subtly be still very well. The theme is a little bit tongue in cheek, and plays on the idea that wood isn't safe, hence the coaster isn't safe. The ride station and associated buildings can all be made to look like rotting / delapidated wood and such, to add onto it.Annnnd, that's as much as I can be bothered to do...

Don't know if this has been brought up anywhere, but just to confirm, there'll be no choice of your side, especially on busy days..As for what I prefer, it is a difficult one. The left hand side has 2 stand out moments for me - going under the plane wing, and the near miss with the tower. The right side only has 1 stand out moment - the turn around with the near miss of the helicopter, though that is a much bigger piece than the left hand sides stand out moments. The first drop / inversion is pretty sweet, either side, and the rest of the ride is more or less equal in terms of ride experience, in my eyes. I guess it just depends on what you're looking for in the ride. However, I must say, I really want to try the left hand side back now, after hearing these rave reviews about being intense. On the issue of front and back, I think it is one of those rides where both front and back offer equally good experiences. The front left me feeling really exposed and gives even better interaction I'd say (plus, the first drop at the front is amazing), but the back does offer some intense moments.Basically, what I'm trying to say is, it's great wherever you sit!

I wasn't simply asking 'How busy will it be?', more asking if people knew the predicted number, which tends to be quite accurate, an what I'd base whether I'd go or not. We all know the whole no one has a crystal ball, and say how busy it will be exactly, etc etc, and people haven't actually been asking that...

Ah right, thanks for that.

What is the actual character meant to portray? Is it a vicar that's gone crazy because his beloved church has been ruined, or is he a communicant with The Swarm? I loved the guy who portrayed the vicar Thursday evening!

Bumping this post as I'd like to know as well.. :PAnyone from the inside who knows predicted numbers? Currently debating whether it's worth popping down during my 4 hours free from college, knowing that I'll only get a couple of hours on park to take into account travel.. XD