AdamY

The Swarm is currently a UK Trending Topic on Twitter! Helped doubtless by YMAS as well as the ride itself, but it's there! I've been seeing a lot of positive reaction on there all day, save #TheSwarm as a search to keep up with the latest goings on.

Errr Treasure Island? No. Everyone knows that's reserved for the station of the Hyper going along beside Monk's Walk behind Inferno and down to Canada Creek

I smell a petition! :DThis is slightly OT really, but anyone else wondering why they've bothered to ask for a 50m maximum height limit over islands A and C on the MTPD when apparently the 2015 coaster as well as the 2012 one has a max length of 850m? In different money that's 164' of speed shoe-horned into a layout the length of Colossus'. Or they aren't using the height they've asked for. Any ideas?

2015 - B&M Flyer opens on Island A.We can always dream

Um... Very.Feeling sad that the plebs are unleashed on it as of tomorrow. I want it to stay shiny and amazing for ever, not get chewing gummed and have drawings etched in the queue fences

For the benefit of those not in chat earlier, I only linked today that I have a production last night and afterparty on the 24th so am currently unsure what'll happen on Sunday. Should still be able to come I hope, but might not be around early / at the initial meet time. Will keep you posted :)Edit - thanks to some metal turmoil working out logistics combined with a kind offer of liftage, I shall be attending as planned

You queue by the bag room (first batch point), are given a front row 'access pass' and then go to whichever side. You then queue a little bit more by the final batch point for whichever side, then give your pass in and go to row 1. There is no physical barrier between front row and 2-7 (not that I'm advocating playing the system ) and also one person batching nearly forgot to take my pass off me after checking it, although I imagine they'll be hot on this come opening.

Back left or front right imo. There aren't any bad seats though... Which is just as well because you won't get a choice.

Agree with a lot of that Sarah! The first drop just has the perfect 'pause' with the hang time - just long enough without going on a fraction too long. Just gives you a chance to look at the ground and go "Woah!" then you're gone And I agree on the restraints - while I could feel the collar bone issue some people mentioned with Raptor on occasion, it was by no means painful and I probably wouldn't have been aware of it at all had I not known about it in advance. Not like Saw when you hit the brakes with the restraint right in... Um... yeah.Yay for Swarm

Right. New year, new list. Again, this is purely coasters: 1) Montu - Busch Gardens Tampa 2) Manta - SeaWorld Orlando 3) Nemesis - Alton Towers 4) Kumba - Busch Gardens Tampa 5) Cheetah Hunt - Busch Gardens Tampa 6) The Swarm - Thorpe Park 7) Duelling Dragons (Fire) - Universal's Islands of Adventure 8) Air - Alton Towers 9) Revenge of the Mummy - Universal Studios Florida 10) Expedition Everest - Disney's Animal Kingdom B&M x7, Intamin x1, Premier x1 & Vekoma x1 Guessing some of that will be a bit controversial to some people, but I stick by it! Montu is just amazing, is really intense and fast, and has pretty good theming so it retains the top spot. Manta and Nemesis stay in their positions making up the rest of the top 3. The meteoric rise of Kumba is really due to a number of factors, including the downgrade of DD because of lack of duelling and my own failure to remember how good it was until thinking about it again recently. Cheetah Hunt also moves up and scrapes into the top 5. The Swarm is the only new entry, and comes in at 6 simply because I prefer it in a one-on-one to any of 7-10. It's more intense than I expected and the overall experience is very good. DD remains but is downgraded to 7; as someone on another forum put it, "Duelling Dragons - Dragons - Duelling = ?". Air slips down the ranks into a fairer position, but I still love it ROTM and EE stay at the rear of the pack, both are excellent rides and I'm fully expecting stick for their lowly positions but it's personal choice I guess! Something had to suffer for Swarm's success, and The Incredible Hulk has taken the hit, falling off the bottom. So there we have it, top 10 as at 13 March 2012. Don't think I'll be hitting anything new this year other than having done Swarm so should stay like this for a while.

From my experience those ones by the helicopter were out, yes. Don't remember getting wet once on that side. The ones for the left by the fire engine are excellent though and deliver some very decent spray, particularly rows 4/5 and back.

Got overtaken while writing, @ Rob:How can you say "only enthusiasts" when their Facebook is bursting with enraged customers? I personally saw one woman saying how she was on the point of booking a short break, then saw all this furore and decided to scrap the whole thing. If there's one thing people are hot on it's value for money, and this is most certainly not it.

I think it's only less intense than Nemesis in so much as Nemesis is completely relentless due to the constantly increasing speed. Swarm has some certain moments which are just as powerful but you get short lapses between them unlike Nemesis. I think it's actually a bit unfair to compare every new ride to Nemesis on the intensity scale, it's a very unusually designed ride and thus will probably never be beaten for relentless, constantly-hammering-you increasing forces.

Last bit of Swarm - related spam for a while I promise, but had to be done.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it at all. I guess one of the most intense bits is the second half of the Zero G from the apex to the bottom of the pullout, so if you're on the left and at the back you're still being pulled around the rotation while the train accelerates (very rapidly!) away down to the bottom so it really ups the Gs. Must be because on the left you're being pulled up from the bottom and you're still upside down, whereas on the right at the same point you're being pulled down from the top so you're already the right way up. It's hard to explain

True, just meant I hadn't thought before Alton have suffered hours cuts but didn't close the rides they planned to, while we've taken hours cuts eg Fright Nights as well as attraction closures.On balance though, you're right. Think I'm happy ;)Edit - just been looking at the Towers Facebook page!Angry GP is very angry!

Difficult to say; I was pleased at how good they both are though because I'll never be disappointed as such if instructed to go one side over the other. As far as I could tell, Left is more intense, gets wet on the splash by the fire engine and is closer to the building on the tower fly-through, whereas right gets the insanely close call with the ground by the helicopter. I found the drop to be equally good on either side as well, just in different ways.So overall, my thoughts that right would be clearly better seem to have been proven wrong

Liking a bit of Lights at the moment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Usa4EyR0U

Obviously a difficult situation this year with no easy solution, but I can't help feeling this is one of the worse options Alton could have gone for. Although having said that, they are at least +2 attractions and losing an hour on some days, Thorpe are actually minus CCR and Time Voyagers, and sometimes Saw Alive, so overall -1 or -2 and losing some hours.

You certainly did a great job! Massive shout out to all the actors today actually, they really made it special. Strength in numbers too, there were more just on Swarm's island than you see on most FN days Much love for awesome actors

Missing it already </3Swarm swarm swarm

Noticed that too Fever, the trims were constantly changing strength. It's a very fun little pop at the end when taken at speed.

Right, now home and must echo Dan's comment that Thorpe really deserve applause for what they've accomplished with The Swarm. Starting with the ride itself, I must say it's the biggest example ever of the 'video gives you no idea' rule. I hit it 8 times today so managed to try front, back, left, right, inside and outside seats on various occasions. I must say the front is eye-watering, and the back has an intensity that's completely unimaginable from just looking at it. Also, I didn't feel like it was short at all.On the theming and queue / area front, it's even more impressive. The plane has wonderful bits of wreckage littered around it, and with the mist in there as well it looks excellent. The general looks of the area is exceptional - it has a wonderful atmosphere, is very detailed and feels much more spacious than it looks in pictures. Audio and video really complete it - the ambient and instrumental tracks fit the feel of the area perfectly and the news reports on the screen really add a depth and believability to the situation. It isn't cheesy or contrived like Saw's radio voiceovers, but rather makes you feel like a part of the action. And as has been said, the Swarm noises at various locations really add.Station and queue themselves are also great. The station has a nice feel inside and the queue isn't as overbearing as all the metal might suggest; it actually feels quite open with the wood used on the interior of it. Interaction is good too, with the inline over the station providing a very exciting distraction.Finally on the 'Premiere Screaming' side of things, I was very impressed by the actors and props around the place. Now a few pics I snapped for your viewing pleasure (quite a few, actually) All I can say to Thorpe is wow. Thank you so, so much

They were actually giving out flyers at opening saying they would be doing them during the day as well, to test the procedures or whatever. Things are not always as they seem!