BenC

And for those who, like me, have no idea what on earth "Snoozebox accommodation" is, it looks like this: http://www.snoozebox.com/home/index.html#welcome Looks like a very conservative "testing of the water" by Thorpe, presumably to ascertain if a permanent Hotel is viable?

I don't often post in these forums but feels compelled to having ridden OzIris last weekend. I'd heard only good things, but that rare thing happened where the ride actually lived up to the hype. If the gorgeous themeing wasn't enough, the coaster itself is world class. The first drop took my breath away like no other - rides in the back row are an absolute treat. It's an unusual layout and all the better for it; highlights include the dip under water, the perfect (genuinely floaty) zero-G rolls, and the sustained intensity (without roughness) of the whole ride. It's also a good length, which isn't something that can always be said of newer UK coasters. It easily sits in my top 5. I implore anyone who has yet to ride OzIris to get over to Parc Asterix before the season is over. The shuttle bus from the Louvre and CDG airport make it a very easy trip from the UK!

Alton had a 5.5% drop in attendance (to 2.6m) in 2011, according to the recently-released TEA attendance report (pg 46). I don't know quite how accurate these figures are though. In the same report, Thorpe Park are showing as having enjoyed a 2.7% lift (to 1.9m)...in the year that Storm Surge was installed...?! Source: http://www.teaconnect.org/pdf/2011Report.pdf

I asked the speaker at the ECC event on Saturday specifically about the reasoning behind this fence, and he claimed it was purely put up for aesthetic reasons, rather than as part of any new development. He did also acknowledge that the Park will now have an Aslyum-queueline issue come Fright Nights...!

Completely agree - I had a great time on Saturday, and the Thorpe team were both enthusiastic and informative. Re. the 2009 GCII plans, apparently Mike Vallis (Divisional Director) is a big fan of wood, but the sheer marketability of the SAW franchise meant it wasn't to be. There's a little hope for the future, though...Will aim to get a hi-res gallery of the Thrill Workshop/Swarm plans onto Total Thorpe Park at the weekend, although Xplorer Central has done a great job with coverage already!

Ah thank you! Is the "left side" the side on the left as you look at the train head on (my definition), or the side on the left as you sit in the train (your definition)? Spent a while deliberating this when I wrote the review!That full TV advert is easily as impressive as Colossus', Nemesis' and Stealth's - great stuff.

My initial reaction was the opposite - that the Park had decided that the area wasn't going to be used in the forseeable future and so decided to remove the eyesore by erecting a permanent fence around it. Surely if this was a fence for construction work it'd be a temporary one (a la Swarm, Storm Sturge etc)?Agreed with Valentez that a Zacspin would be awesome! What's the capacity like on those things?

For me, expectations were set very high for The Swarm, but it has more than met them. I just love the amount of effort and attention to detail that has gone into the ride and surrounding area. It's a real credit to Thorpe, and shows that the UK can still pull off a major attraction that rivals other new installations around the world.I can see why people are saying that the ride isn't very intense, but I think that's a selling point. It doesn't beat you up unlike some of Thorpe's other big ticket attractions - it's just a lot of fun. The standout moment for me has to be that first drop, along with the water skim around the helicopter. Very re-rideable... I'm certainly looking forward to giving it a spin during Fright Nights! Back left has to be the seat of choice.My full review, along with photos / video, is online at http://www.totalthorpepark.co.uk/guide/theswarm.shtml.

That lift hill has to be one of the ugliest I've seen! Compare Luke_A's photo of Skyrush's lift hill and first drop to JackR's photo of Leviathan's...I think Intamin have regressed with their new track design.

Thorpe have really treated enthusiasts this year; construction updates haven't let up!Great to see a video of the ride running, and no surprises for me really - yes it's slow, but those near-miss effects are going to be all the better for it, and this is its first run.EDIT: I can see a (newly painted!) plane, a fire engine, but not a lot of helicopter. . .?

This. 2012 is an incredible year for European coaster enthusiasts! I might aim to ride all 3 before the year is out...Independently of what's opening this year and judged on their own merits though, AT's plans for 2013 do look very exciting.

Look forward no further; the plans are online!http://publicaccess....PERTY&module=P3Multiple inversions, under 25m high and with a vertical lift hill...UPDATE: From the Noise Level Report: "Noise from the planned new coaster was modelled based on a similar one located at Thorpe Park. The Thorpe Park ride, “Saw” is the same type and manufacturer as the proposed ride, including a “beyond vertical” drop."Gerstlauer it is then.

You're right - according to the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), Port Aventura's gate figure stood at 3,050,000 for 2010. By comparison, Thorpe's came in at 1,850,000.Linky

Nice article Mark! It's a shame that the Sky Swatter didn't work out, but it's great that manufacturers like S&S push the boundaries and choose to innovate rather than just replicate.

Jedward in flames. N'aww.

To add to Jack's videos, my compilation of the event: I thought that this year was a marked improvement on both 2007 & 2008 - the Fireworks were on a par with previous years, but the effigy warm-up display was much better than I thought it was going to be, and the blowing up of the Fire Engine was quite a stunt. What was also better this year was that the addition of Saw Alive and associated pathways meant a much larger area from which to get a good view of the show - no problems with crowding at the maze end. The park-wide DJ was a good addition too, although general volume levels around the Park in the day were too high; it was unbearable standing next to some queue-line speakers, especially Nemesis Inferno's which had both the DJ's output and the N:I theme playing on top of each other, at full blast...10/10 for effort, though. Let's hope it was profitable enough for them to do it all again next year!

The last construction update for the 2011 Season is now up at Total Thorpe Park - so much has happened since our last update only 2 weeks ago!And the Swarm does look pretty imposing in the hazy night sky...

Looks like the something being blown up is neither Saw Alive nor X:\NWO, but is in fact "a vehicle". http://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/events.aspxHmm.

Didn't know where to put this, but I'm regretfully selling my CoasterDynamix Scorpion Roller Coaster and I'm sure a TPM member could give it a good home! I've moved house and unfortunately don't have the space for it any more. If you've not heard of CoasterDynamix before, they make working scale models of roller coasters - Scorpion is an O scale model of a B&M Inverter! All the parts are present and correct, it's in superb condition, and it comes with instructions in box.Got it imported from Germany for £130, selling it for £50 + £20 P&P (...it's a big, heavy box!).Please have a look at my eBay page if you're interested!http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250914608731

Construction continues apace on The Swarm - photos from today are now live on Total Thorpe Park! And what a day it was - photos always look better with a cloudless blue sky backdrop There seemed to be little work going on with the lift hill/first drop, but new track is going up on the other side of the site! They're certainly not slowing the rate of construction - I think they are now building the part of the ride which circles the helicopter:The lift hill is really imposing on the Thorpe skyline (it's huge), especially from the Dome - almost everyone walking across the entrance bridge pointed at it and got excited. There are also new banners promoting the ride hanging in the Dome and a mini Missing Wall has been placed next to the Swarm "security area" next to Stealth, so Thorpe are doing a great job in getting guests on Park talking about the ride.I can't wait to see this view in just over 5 months time...

I agree with what has been said about the lighting; harsh white floodlights don't quite evoke the same atmosphere as the green/blue lights of old. The Saw area in particular has so much wasted potential.That said, I went yesterday and I really enjoyed Fright Nights this year. I think Experiment 10 and The Asylum are a cut above The Curse and Se7en though; there is a noticeable divide in both intensity and quality. Having the former two not situated in marquees certainly helps! Experiment 10 is a breath of fresh air, but was clearly too much for some - I've never seen so many people bail out of a maze halfway through. From the queueline, we regularly saw distressed-looking guests being shown out of a sidedoor by an out-of-character actor! The Asylum does certainly still do it for me, and there seemed to be way more actors in there on my visit - intense stuff. Se7en and The Curse are both OK, nothing more. We were stuck in a non-moving queue for Se7en for ages, with no announcement as to why nothing was happening. Later a staff member told us the shutdown was due to a nail sticking out of the set, and a broken smoke machine...Along with Experiment 10, I also very much enjoyed the presence of the new roaming actors! There were around 5 all playing various members of a freak circus - to have them pushing around a Fright Nights 10th birthday cake was a nice touch!Full review over at Total Thorpe Park (and contains spoilers!).

My bad; I was referring to the brakes after the inline discussed a couple of pages back! I agree with what's already been said about brakes on this ride though - The Swarm will be more about the swooping feeling and near-misses and less about intensity and speed, so trims shouldn't hamper the experience. As long as they don't go overkill on them...

Just to add to the photos that have appeared on here from yesterday, I've put some high-res shots from my visit on Total Thorpe Park. It clear that being so close to the Dome, the ride is going to dominate the Thorpe skyline as you enter the Park - the second inversion is huge. The pace that the track is being erected at is quite startling too - there were at least two or three large supports/track pieces put up just yesterday. We may well have a complete circuit by the end of the season!And a close up of those (controversial?) trims...

I was on Park today and took a whole bunch of construction photos which can be seen over at Total Thorpe Park.Essentially the site still looks very rough, and with so many footers still yet to be filled I'm not sure how quickly we'll see construction go vertical. The whole project seems to be progressing rather slowly - if we compare The Swarm to Stealth, by this time in 2006 construction was at a noticeably more advanced stage. Comparisons aren't completely fair though because Stealth wasn't being built on reclaimed land, and had a track layout significantly more basic than The Swarm's!Anyway, although there were no huge developments seen during my visit today, I did manage to get a nice clear shot of The Swarm's track from the top of Storm Surge... Oh, and the tank and entrance advert get a big thumbs up from me!

I really like the name "The Swarm"; it's original and quite fitting for a wing rider where you're swooping around. I was at the Park today and was impressed with the marketing effort next to Stealth - the two police officers and Les were creating quite a scene, and really giving the new ride exposure. Some of the GP seemed a bit bemused as to whether Les was an actor or a just disruptive Park guest! The "restricted area" themeing has had a bit more decoration added to it since yesterday, now sporting the claim: "The UK's 1st Winged Roller Coaster". Can't imagine The Swarm will be a 4D now, or else Thorpe would have made more of it in their marketing.Managed to get a video of Les telling us a bit more about who/what The Swarm actually are...