Mitchada04

Today I went to Thorpe for the afternoon mainly to get my new pass for my trip to Towers on Sunday but also to explore what the park has to offer for kids as they try to shift their target market to include families.

New pass, check. Drinks capsule, check. And away we go!

Flying Fish is always a good start for your family adventure.

Storm Surge is always good for families, and well liked. Why I don't know but the customer is always right.

Look! Another family coaster and it seems popular today.

And of course there is the good old teacups, even with Tetley sponsorship for all you tea drinking adults.

Then you can continue spinning on the waves of Calypso (but not today as it was closed)

Mr Monkey welcomes you to his banana boat. Yep, not just a pirate ship, a banana boat!
There's also a Carousel behind me but forgot to get a picture of it, thought it might be to extreme for families.

Children can then go on a great fun log flume, but with a double drop!

Next up you can ride a wild train to some awesome music. Provides a great thrill for people of all ages.

Speaking of trains, hopefully these will once again go down allowing families to go on a bear hunt.

Now for the more thrill seeking youngsters Zodiac is a suitable option with only a 0.9 restriction!

And the wild ride that is Quantum which even makes my stomach churn.
Children between over 1.3 but not quite tall enough for the large coasters can also enjoy Rush and Detonator which both offer great thrills for their height restriction.

To end your family adventure you can take a slide down Depth Charge and relax on the beach which is brilliant in nice weather!
Overall, it isn't going to be impossible to shift the target market with lots of it going to be down to marketing as they have a handful of suitable family attractions. I'm sure in a couple of years with the proper hotel and a few years of investment in the park a change will have successfully occurred, and all for the best! As long as they don't lose sight and go too soft with their additions. I am very excited to see how this change turns out!
Note, my day did not consist of riding these rides

Today I went to Thorpe for the afternoon mainly to get my new pass for my trip to Towers on Sunday but also to explore what the park has to offer for kids as they try to shift their target market to include families.

New pass, check. Drinks capsule, check. And away we go!

Flying Fish is always a good start for your family adventure.

Storm Surge is always good for families, and well liked. Why I don't know but the customer is always right.

Look! Another family coaster and it seems popular today.

And of course there is the good old teacups, even with Tetley sponsorship for all you tea drinking adults.

Then you can continue spinning on the waves of Calypso (but not today as it was closed)

Mr Monkey welcomes you to his banana boat. Yep, not just a pirate ship, a banana boat!
There's also a Carousel behind me but forgot to get a picture of it, thought it might be to extreme for families.

Children can then go on a great fun log flume, but with a double drop!

Next up you can ride a wild train to some awesome music. Provides a great thrill for people of all ages.

Speaking of trains, hopefully these will once again go down allowing families to go on a bear hunt.

Now for the more thrill seeking youngsters Zodiac is a suitable option with only a 0.9 restriction!

And the wild ride that is Quantum which even makes my stomach churn.
Children between over 1.3 but not quite tall enough for the large coasters can also enjoy Rush and Detonator which both offer great thrills for their height restriction.

To end your family adventure you can take a slide down Depth Charge and relax on the beach which is brilliant in nice weather!
Overall, it isn't going to be impossible to shift the target market with lots of it going to be down to marketing as they have a handful of suitable family attractions. I'm sure in a couple of years with the proper hotel and a few years of investment in the park a change will have successfully occurred, and all for the best! As long as they don't lose sight and go too soft with their additions. I am very excited to see how this change turns out!
Note, my day did not consist of riding these rides

Today I went to Thorpe for the afternoon mainly to get my new pass for my trip to Towers on Sunday but also to explore what the park has to offer for kids as they try to shift their target market to include families.

New pass, check. Drinks capsule, check. And away we go!

Flying Fish is always a good start for your family adventure.

Storm Surge is always good for families, and well liked. Why I don't know but the customer is always right.

Look! Another family coaster and it seems popular today.

And of course there is the good old teacups, even with Tetley sponsorship for all you tea drinking adults.

Then you can continue spinning on the waves of Calypso (but not today as it was closed)

Mr Monkey welcomes you to his banana boat. Yep, not just a pirate ship, a banana boat!
There's also a Carousel behind me but forgot to get a picture of it, thought it might be to extreme for families.

Children can then go on a great fun log flume, but with a double drop!

Next up you can ride a wild train to some awesome music. Provides a great thrill for people of all ages.

Speaking of trains, hopefully these will once again go down allowing families to go on a bear hunt.

Now for the more thrill seeking youngsters Zodiac is a suitable option with only a 0.9 restriction!

And the wild ride that is Quantum which even makes my stomach churn.
Children between over 1.3 but not quite tall enough for the large coasters can also enjoy Rush and Detonator which both offer great thrills for their height restriction.

To end your family adventure you can take a slide down Depth Charge and relax on the beach which is brilliant in nice weather!
Overall, it isn't going to be impossible to shift the target market with lots of it going to be down to marketing as they have a handful of suitable family attractions. I'm sure in a couple of years with the proper hotel and a few years of investment in the park a change will have successfully occurred, and all for the best! As long as they don't lose sight and go too soft with their additions. I am very excited to see how this change turns out!
Note, my day did not consist of riding these rides

Today I went to Thorpe for the afternoon mainly to get my new pass for my trip to Towers on Sunday but also to explore what the park has to offer for kids as they try to shift their target market to include families.

New pass, check. Drinks capsule, check. And away we go!

Flying Fish is always a good start for your family adventure.

Storm Surge is always good for families, and well liked. Why I don't know but the customer is always right.

Look! Another family coaster and it seems popular today.

And of course there is the good old teacups, even with Tetley sponsorship for all you tea drinking adults.

Then you can continue spinning on the waves of Calypso (but not today as it was closed)

Mr Monkey welcomes you to his banana boat. Yep, not just a pirate ship, a banana boat!
There's also a Carousel behind me but forgot to get a picture of it, thought it might be to extreme for families.

Children can then go on a great fun log flume, but with a double drop!

Next up you can ride a wild train to some awesome music. Provides a great thrill for people of all ages.

Speaking of trains, hopefully these will once again go down allowing families to go on a bear hunt.

Now for the more thrill seeking youngsters Zodiac is a suitable option with only a 0.9 restriction!

And the wild ride that is Quantum which even makes my stomach churn.
Children between over 1.3 but not quite tall enough for the large coasters can also enjoy Rush and Detonator which both offer great thrills for their height restriction.

To end your family adventure you can take a slide down Depth Charge and relax on the beach which is brilliant in nice weather!
Overall, it isn't going to be impossible to shift the target market with lots of it going to be down to marketing as they have a handful of suitable family attractions. I'm sure in a couple of years with the proper hotel and a few years of investment in the park a change will have successfully occurred, and all for the best! As long as they don't lose sight and go too soft with their additions. I am very excited to see how this change turns out!
Note, my day did not consist of riding these rides

Before we start the fun, the boring stuff must be dealt with. Firstly, I don't own any of these photos, they are all from other people who attended. Secondly, this report is an account of my day so the photos are of me, therefore, if you don't like looking at my lovely face stop reading now
It was a sunny morning as a day of fun at Thorpe was to be had!

The day started with a lovely climb up Volcano Inferno.

But at the top I was shocked to hear that this may be better than Nemesis!

So we went again and after a lot of thought...

I decided it was good, but not that good.

With this dilemma out of the way, I started plotting something!

However, the mighty Merlin drinks capsule put a stop to my mischief.

Jack didn't like the news I delivered to him on Rush though...

That the influence of all the Chavs made me act cool

And gave me the power of magic!

Luckily, the rapids of Calypso Quay returned me to normality.

Simple caption, don't ask.

I tried telling everyone that I would get an extra ride on X, they didn't believe me!

But an extra ride on X was had for me (and James) before the shadows amazed me!

But not wanting to disappoint the hard work Stealth had put in to be at the top of this photo, I looked at the camera.

And the day was over, but not before The Swarm tried to attack us
Fortunately, we all survived to live another day!
Thank you for reading, I know its late but finally had some spare time and needed to get it done before my next trip this Friday

Before we start the fun, the boring stuff must be dealt with. Firstly, I don't own any of these photos, they are all from other people who attended. Secondly, this report is an account of my day so the photos are of me, therefore, if you don't like looking at my lovely face stop reading now
It was a sunny morning as a day of fun at Thorpe was to be had!

The day started with a lovely climb up Volcano Inferno.

But at the top I was shocked to hear that this may be better than Nemesis!

So we went again and after a lot of thought...

I decided it was good, but not that good.

With this dilemma out of the way, I started plotting something!

However, the mighty Merlin drinks capsule put a stop to my mischief.

Jack didn't like the news I delivered to him on Rush though...

That the influence of all the Chavs made me act cool

And gave me the power of magic!

Luckily, the rapids of Calypso Quay returned me to normality.

Simple caption, don't ask.

I tried telling everyone that I would get an extra ride on X, they didn't believe me!

But an extra ride on X was had for me (and James) before the shadows amazed me!

But not wanting to disappoint the hard work Stealth had put in to be at the top of this photo, I looked at the camera.

And the day was over, but not before The Swarm tried to attack us
Fortunately, we all survived to live another day!
Thank you for reading, I know its late but finally had some spare time and needed to get it done before my next trip this Friday

Some more photos of my visit to Europa Park!

MMMM DUFF BEER <3

Just chilling in the Colosseum

Wodan and I

We made some friends...

This drop was incredible

Wait a minute.... am I at Universal?!?!?

What a way to end an absolutely fantastic day

Disclaimer: New ride spoilers and large amounts of hype-generation ahead.

On Wednesday myself, Tommy and Turtle ventured to Alton Towers attempting to experience Marmalisation for ourselves. After sadly missing the Moo-norail, we got the Splash monorail to the entrance where there was no major knowledge as to whether The Smiler would be open. For context, on the previous day it had stalled during testing and been closed all day along with the rest of X-Sector due to crane needs... SMILE ALWAYS. There were a few small signs suggesting it would closed, probably brought on by the words "THE SMILER WILL BE UNAVAILABLE", but we still had some optimism. Once in, we remembered our keeno-persona's and ran towards THE SINISTER INTAMIN WOODLAND AREA!!1!, before realising that Alton Towers is pretty big and no one has such energy at 9am. So Rita wasn't doing anything, and Th13teen was 'broken', oh you pesky Intamins you.

So our gardens visit occurred a lot earlier than expected as we hiked for three whole days to Nemesis. I think Mark9 nailed it when he called this 'rollercoaster crack' sometime ago. One ride simply isn't enough. There must be two. Or five, as it happened to go on the day. It just seems to get constantly better with every ride, I could have kept going but there was more to be seen and done so we left it at that. Air was unfortunately not ready at 10am and as a result we wouldn't get on it at all. We waited 5 minutes for Sub-Terra to open instead, which is still such a good attraction. There was a new smell I'd never smelt on it before too, highly unpleasant! Back at Intamin forest INTAMIN'S WERE RUNNING so we went on some Intamin's. I'm actually quite fond of Rita despite it being a bit of a shaker/neck-basher. Whilst as an attraction I can acknowledge it's fundamental flaws, the whip you get going over the first hill and the following turnaround is pretty damn fun so I always like to give it a go each visit. Then, Thirteen, oh Thirteen. I'll probably be doing another blog on this ride sometime since there's always so much to talk about, but anyway, it was good on the day, aided by the rag-dolling and the confused stranger with Tommy. Blah blah, Hex was next, blah blah, then we finally went to check out X-Sector where at around 11:45am, The Smiler appeared to be waking up. We managed to walk past the queue at just the right moment, and despite the horrifying amount of people in the extension queue we, it only took 75 minutes to queue for our first ride. Turns out they were batching pretty heavily at the ride entrance. This brings us onto the part of the report where I talk about
THE SMILER
: )
The first thing you notice about it is well, how much you... notice it. It was great moment to see it whizzing around it's track for the first time, accompanied by cheers of relieved guests who'd be queuing for hours already! It is a fabulous spectator ride, and I was absorbed watching it for the first time when we reached the queue by the main fence. The music here plays very loudly, but it's a very decent soundtrack indeed. It sets the tone for the ride well and whilst I love the main theme, it perhaps could have more variations. It remains very samey (or just short) when it had the potential for a lot of development. I might try and remix it a bit to show what I mean, but fundamentally it's still a great theme and I didn't get sick of it at all for the many hours I heard it throughout the day.

Through the main entrance and down the steps, the view of the whole ride and the Marmaliser is majestic. The outside queue starts of fine, going under the Marmaliser and many of the rides elements offering a great view, however the second half does get very tiring in the hideous cattlepen. Shoutout to the Smiler staff member 'Tim' who happily provided the 'smiles', constantly, harassingly, and quite unsettlingly to whomever he took a special interest in. The specially dressed Smiler staff in general did an excellent job all day, dealing with immense crowds and interacting with those in the queue. Had fun looking at the flying butterflies created by scanning the eye's with The Smiler app, and then we made it inside. I'd thought this would be the end of the cattlepen torture but alas... it's a shame really, the projection mapping does look very cool but it was overridden by feelings of UHCATTLEPEN COULD YOU NOT. PLEASE?! I feel that something more immersive could have been done here, but I guess it's not a major thing. Anyway, queue done, baggage done, and we're up the stairs into the station. Whilst it is fairly simple and bare, I liked the lights in here, which were very reminiscent of The Sanctuary so I was happy to see that continuation. Enough ramblings, the ride...

The first drop is just excellent. I knew it was coming but I wasn't prepared for the sheer suddenness of it. Sitting in the back row first time definitely helped, and the smoke effects as you leave the station make it hard to see what the rest of the train is doing so their was definitely a lot of surprise in that drop. No smoke effects inside for us unfortunately, but the barrel roll with strobes was made no less dramatic. Already I'm loving this, and we haven't even gone up the first lift hill. The first small drop off the lift looked like pure RCT awkwardness, but it was also surprisingly satisfying. I could keep dissecting every element from here on, but I fear my ability to talk for ages about this ride will make reading it a bit of a drag, so I'll skip to the point: Alton Towers are onto a winner. It's just excellent fun. The first half is smooth and quite disorientating, and everyone seemed relieved to have a break in the middle! The double dive loops were definitely a highlight of this half. The first airtime hill was unfortunately too trimmed to have any, however the second one was much better, aided by the hilarity of the Inoculator sending everyone into frenzy. Before that, the sea-serpent is another excellent manoeuvre, falling out of one inversion and soaring straight into another. The cobra roll part of the Staffordshire knot definitely has a major 'janky' moment, however I didn't find this to be anything as *painful* as Saw's and I thought it actually benefitted the forcefulness of that section. However, not all in my party agreed so I guess it's an individual thing. The first of the final two inversions is very forceful whereas the second is more 'graceful'. The ride's final sections are as satisfying as it's early ones, and the bits in the middle weren't exactly bad either...

Late season opening, unclear opening date, further weeks of delays... so was it all worth the wait? Unquestionably, convincingly, categorically; yes. It's an excellent addition to an already excellent line-up of rollercoasters. The reaction we saw of other people returning from their rides was always just as joyous. The exit corridor is fabulous too, but I'll let you all discover that for yourselves. Once it opened, there were no breakdowns during the day however this hasn't always been the case. Hopefully it beds itself in quicker than Saw did, and downtime remains minimal. Of course, this is early days. Saw wasn't great when it opened anyway but it has aged even less gracefully. I pray that this ride does not follow the same path as at the moment I simply yearn to ride it again and again. I'm not claiming it's perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but if you take away the 'OMG 14 INVERSIONS OMG REVOLUTIONARY WORLD FIRSTS' mindset, it's an enormous amount of fun.

I won't ramble about the next part of our day since I've covered the main headline, but we then ate at FCC by the window with an excellent view of The Smiler, whilst discussing it for a fair while. Then came Oblivion (still bloody excellent), The Flume (which was my first ever ride interestingly enough. I now understand why no one was really that keen to get me on it on my previous visits...), Runaway Mine Train and Duel. We checked Air's queue which was beyond an hour, so we had the choice of that or jumping in the 150 minute queue for The Smiler again. The Smiler it was... it's testament to the attraction's quality that I was happy to queue such an amount of time after my first go when other options were available. I'd probably do it on my next visit too. Watching the really cute trains whizzing around the circuit, interacting with one another, is merriment for any enthusiast.

Dan9 - Smiling advocate, for the moment.

8.5/10

So, you may or may not know, but I went to Europa Park recently. If you get a chance to go here then by all means DO IT, such an amazing park. The whole surrounding town area is just so nice also, really feels welcoming! Here's just a few pictures from my trip there:
Milka factory

SELFIE (in random German woman's car edition)

Part of our room, we paid 150 Euros each for 2 nights here, with our own bathroom/kitchen/balcony, just a 10 minute walk to the park, absolutely amazing value!

One of the beautiful hotels at Europa Park


Entering the park has that magical Disney feel about it

Amazing ride with an entrance to match!

The roughest ride I've ever been on, fun, but very rough (Euro-Sat)

Even Europa has scaffolding rides


Food Loop is such an amazing experience for a restaurant

Food Loop menu screen

Got my souvenir

Nice little panorama




Bench ride win

Bench ride selfie

My new favourite ride at any park ever



REAL LIFE DUFF BEER

Lots of Milka

Hotel Colosseo


What a wonderful, wonderful park.
I'll do another blog post when my friend who I went with uploads his pictures

After reading a few posts about posting trip reports as blogs I have decided all of my 2013 Thorpe trips will be in this blog thread. Each one will have the date of visit in the title making it nice and easy for those of you who want to view certain ones etc.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning when we set of for Thorpe. We were spited by intermittent rain throughout the morning but it ended out being a lovely day. For a Saturday with nice weather the queues weren't too bad with the longest we queued being 30 minutes for Swarm backwards. It was a thrill packed day from 10-6:30 and a great way to end the life on my MAP (as I'm unlikely to use it again before it runs out due to exams). I love the way the park is being run this year with operations on top notch that I saw yesterday. Everything was running full capacity (except Stealth) and the only 'breakdowns' I witnessed were twice on X due to 'essential cleaning.' Even on 1 car though Stealth was running brilliantly and the staff were very efficient as the second car was obviously broken as they did bring it out but it went straight back in after 1 test run. But the main reason for visiting was to use the brand new queue line signs which I have to say are great and only have a few downsides which I'll get to later.

We started and ended the day on Stealth which reminded me where I was. Without this I would have been lost. When the time is shown it says (I think) 'Stealth launching in T-minus ## minutes.'

We then went to feel the heat on Inferno (don't know why this picture is so small)

Followed by riding on a wave of sound and light on X (not sure there are enough X's in this picture)
This was followed by Colossus and Saw both with these lovely scrolling signs. Colossus' is related to the power of 10 and Saw's is about making your choice of life or death in ## minutes.

At this time the sun had come out so we went on our wild, wet adventure on Loggers Leap

Then Thorpe Mega Store. I wasn't going to queue 50 minutes for a soakin'

With lunch settled it was time for the flat rides. Simple signs work well.

Quantum doesn't get enough attention but I'm sure with its brand new sign it will receive all the attention.

And then all of a sudden it was the end of the day and rides were close d
The new signs are great and seem to update more often (or have the chance to if the time changes). The only 2 negatives are the fact that closed can't fit properly on the flat ride signs and Nemesis Inferno is referred to as Nemesis on the big boards because it wouldn't fit otherwise. May seem a bit picky but it will just add to the 'never knew Thorpe had the same ride as Alton' discussion. To make up for this though Swarm forwards and backwards times are on the large boards.

After reading a few posts about posting trip reports as blogs I have decided all of my 2013 Thorpe trips will be in this blog thread. Each one will have the date of visit in the title making it nice and easy for those of you who want to view certain ones etc.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning when we set of for Thorpe. We were spited by intermittent rain throughout the morning but it ended out being a lovely day. For a Saturday with nice weather the queues weren't too bad with the longest we queued being 30 minutes for Swarm backwards. It was a thrill packed day from 10-6:30 and a great way to end the life on my MAP (as I'm unlikely to use it again before it runs out due to exams). I love the way the park is being run this year with operations on top notch that I saw yesterday. Everything was running full capacity (except Stealth) and the only 'breakdowns' I witnessed were twice on X due to 'essential cleaning.' Even on 1 car though Stealth was running brilliantly and the staff were very efficient as the second car was obviously broken as they did bring it out but it went straight back in after 1 test run. But the main reason for visiting was to use the brand new queue line signs which I have to say are great and only have a few downsides which I'll get to later.

We started and ended the day on Stealth which reminded me where I was. Without this I would have been lost. When the time is shown it says (I think) 'Stealth launching in T-minus ## minutes.'

We then went to feel the heat on Inferno (don't know why this picture is so small)

Followed by riding on a wave of sound and light on X (not sure there are enough X's in this picture)
This was followed by Colossus and Saw both with these lovely scrolling signs. Colossus' is related to the power of 10 and Saw's is about making your choice of life or death in ## minutes.

At this time the sun had come out so we went on our wild, wet adventure on Loggers Leap

Then Thorpe Mega Store. I wasn't going to queue 50 minutes for a soakin'

With lunch settled it was time for the flat rides. Simple signs work well.

Quantum doesn't get enough attention but I'm sure with its brand new sign it will receive all the attention.

And then all of a sudden it was the end of the day and rides were close d
The new signs are great and seem to update more often (or have the chance to if the time changes). The only 2 negatives are the fact that closed can't fit properly on the flat ride signs and Nemesis Inferno is referred to as Nemesis on the big boards because it wouldn't fit otherwise. May seem a bit picky but it will just add to the 'never knew Thorpe had the same ride as Alton' discussion. To make up for this though Swarm forwards and backwards times are on the large boards.

After reading a few posts about posting trip reports as blogs I have decided all of my 2013 Thorpe trips will be in this blog thread. Each one will have the date of visit in the title making it nice and easy for those of you who want to view certain ones etc.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning when we set of for Thorpe. We were spited by intermittent rain throughout the morning but it ended out being a lovely day. For a Saturday with nice weather the queues weren't too bad with the longest we queued being 30 minutes for Swarm backwards. It was a thrill packed day from 10-6:30 and a great way to end the life on my MAP (as I'm unlikely to use it again before it runs out due to exams). I love the way the park is being run this year with operations on top notch that I saw yesterday. Everything was running full capacity (except Stealth) and the only 'breakdowns' I witnessed were twice on X due to 'essential cleaning.' Even on 1 car though Stealth was running brilliantly and the staff were very efficient as the second car was obviously broken as they did bring it out but it went straight back in after 1 test run. But the main reason for visiting was to use the brand new queue line signs which I have to say are great and only have a few downsides which I'll get to later.

We started and ended the day on Stealth which reminded me where I was. Without this I would have been lost. When the time is shown it says (I think) 'Stealth launching in T-minus ## minutes.'

We then went to feel the heat on Inferno (don't know why this picture is so small)

Followed by riding on a wave of sound and light on X (not sure there are enough X's in this picture)
This was followed by Colossus and Saw both with these lovely scrolling signs. Colossus' is related to the power of 10 and Saw's is about making your choice of life or death in ## minutes.

At this time the sun had come out so we went on our wild, wet adventure on Loggers Leap

Then Thorpe Mega Store. I wasn't going to queue 50 minutes for a soakin'

With lunch settled it was time for the flat rides. Simple signs work well.

Quantum doesn't get enough attention but I'm sure with its brand new sign it will receive all the attention.

And then all of a sudden it was the end of the day and rides were close d
The new signs are great and seem to update more often (or have the chance to if the time changes). The only 2 negatives are the fact that closed can't fit properly on the flat ride signs and Nemesis Inferno is referred to as Nemesis on the big boards because it wouldn't fit otherwise. May seem a bit picky but it will just add to the 'never knew Thorpe had the same ride as Alton' discussion. To make up for this though Swarm forwards and backwards times are on the large boards.

After reading a few posts about posting trip reports as blogs I have decided all of my 2013 Thorpe trips will be in this blog thread. Each one will have the date of visit in the title making it nice and easy for those of you who want to view certain ones etc.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning when we set of for Thorpe. We were spited by intermittent rain throughout the morning but it ended out being a lovely day. For a Saturday with nice weather the queues weren't too bad with the longest we queued being 30 minutes for Swarm backwards. It was a thrill packed day from 10-6:30 and a great way to end the life on my MAP (as I'm unlikely to use it again before it runs out due to exams). I love the way the park is being run this year with operations on top notch that I saw yesterday. Everything was running full capacity (except Stealth) and the only 'breakdowns' I witnessed were twice on X due to 'essential cleaning.' Even on 1 car though Stealth was running brilliantly and the staff were very efficient as the second car was obviously broken as they did bring it out but it went straight back in after 1 test run. But the main reason for visiting was to use the brand new queue line signs which I have to say are great and only have a few downsides which I'll get to later.

We started and ended the day on Stealth which reminded me where I was. Without this I would have been lost. When the time is shown it says (I think) 'Stealth launching in T-minus ## minutes.'

We then went to feel the heat on Inferno (don't know why this picture is so small)

Followed by riding on a wave of sound and light on X (not sure there are enough X's in this picture)
This was followed by Colossus and Saw both with these lovely scrolling signs. Colossus' is related to the power of 10 and Saw's is about making your choice of life or death in ## minutes.

At this time the sun had come out so we went on our wild, wet adventure on Loggers Leap

Then Thorpe Mega Store. I wasn't going to queue 50 minutes for a soakin'

With lunch settled it was time for the flat rides. Simple signs work well.

Quantum doesn't get enough attention but I'm sure with its brand new sign it will receive all the attention.

And then all of a sudden it was the end of the day and rides were close d
The new signs are great and seem to update more often (or have the chance to if the time changes). The only 2 negatives are the fact that closed can't fit properly on the flat ride signs and Nemesis Inferno is referred to as Nemesis on the big boards because it wouldn't fit otherwise. May seem a bit picky but it will just add to the 'never knew Thorpe had the same ride as Alton' discussion. To make up for this though Swarm forwards and backwards times are on the large boards.

Trip report time!
After being picked up from East Croydon by Peaj, along with Jaymiee and Ben (TopsyTurvy), we set off to Chessie. But not without picking up from Han from Wimbledon station; she got the train there by herself! Well done Han!
Once arriving at the park, Peaj received a text from Mr Fish saying that “the car park is closed” – he’d gone to the wrong entrance, bless him While Peaj went to collect him, JamesC, Phill and Matt arrived! It was easy to tell that Matt was a TPM member with his annual pass and lanyard! However, Jaymiee had never met Phill before, so as he was arriving said “Who’s that man walking towards us?” Once Peaj returned with Fish, the entrance had opened and in we went, bumping into Adam (scarycoasterboy) on the way in! After initially losing James (his new MAP didn’t let him through the turnstiles at first!) we headed over to Hocus Pocus Hall and met up with Alex (ThrillseekerAlex), Jonny and Chris *I think* (TP1214). We did Hocus Pocus as we were right next to it and it was a good laugh, been ages since I’d done it! Han jumped a few times though bless her!
After this we had a bundle of laughs on Rattlesnake! I shared a car with Peaj, James and Matt and made sure we screamed the loudest! As the years have gone on I love this ride even more; not that I ever disliked it but every time I ride, I find it more and more fun! I also adore the queueline as it just reminds me of my first ever visit to the park, and Rattlesnake was my first ride (this was back when it had its original height restriction of 1m 17)!
While waiting for Jack and Ethan (EC!) to arrive, we had a ride on Safari Skyway. Nice way to chill and enjoy the views of the zoo. As you can see I was super excited to see the animals!

We then met Jack (and his mum) at the entrance and headed over toward Land of the Dragons to meet Ethan. Peaj got a nice photo of us 3 plus James in the sun here!

We then headed over to Tomb Blaster where Peaj explained the rules of the game “Empire” and where we had one of our group photos. Then it was off to Tomb Blaster for some fun! Really enjoyed the ride, and also while walking through the queueline, I was reminded of how good it all is! Good fun ride, sat with Ethan, James, Han and Fish and I beat all of them with a score of 13900! Not sure what my highest score on this is but I tend to score higher on Duel. Overall, out of the whole group, I came fourth with my score, not bad at all!
Don’t we look good

The time then came to try out the new ride…ZUFARI! The queue wasn’t too bad and at this point the sun really came out, so off came the layers! There is a photo point in the queue where some of us were given hats and snakes to hold for the shot. It’s a bit of a shame to have something like that in the middle of a queue as in some ways it just screams out money making, plus causes some delays. Then again it did provide extra amusement and any income to the park is positive I guess.
Now, onto the ride itself. Let’s start with the preshow…errrm It’s great for interaction and the children seemed to enjoy it, but it was also quite cringey, especially Ghozi the lemur (who is apparently male but has a female voice?!). And the animation of its mouth is rather terrible! We did have a laugh though, even if it was for the wrong reasons! So then it was time for our adventure to begin! I must say it was nice to have a different experience to the usual rides by being in a vehicle driven by someone, something about it is good fun! Ethan thought so too!

We were lucky that we had nice weather too as it meant the animals were all out; flamingos, giraffes, zebras and white rhino. There’s not really much else I can say about those parts of the ride, other than that you can get nice photos of the animals if they’re out. And they seemed pretty happy too which is nice to see. But we soon arrived at the Danger Cave! Having heard about this from others (well the whole ride in general to be precise) I lowered my expectations. And I found it to be better than I expected! As others have said, for something in the UK it really isn’t bad at all. The water effects were good and the children were all screaming The waterfall as you exit provided a good laugh too! Everyone in the group came off smiling and saying it was good and better than they’d heard! Hurrah!
My happy mood after the ride quickly left me as I had a mini heart attack at the exit; my phone was missing! It had been in my jeans pocket but I checked my bag thoroughly incase I had put it in there and not remembered (yes, I do that). But it wasn’t there so I figured it had fallen out of my pocket into the vehicle. Now at this point the rest of the group were slowly disappearing from the exit. I did call after them but they didn’t hear, yet there was too much of a crowd to go after them, explain and then return to the ride; I didn’t want to risk someone finding my phone and taking it! As Sheepie would put it – I was flapping! I asked the staff members if they could look for my phone and luckily, they found it! Phew! But the bad news? The guy who found it then dropped it! I’ve only had it 6 months and up until now was in pristine condition, but it now has some lovely scuff marks on But I was flippin’ relieved that it wasn’t lost, and I guess if I’d had a cover on it, it would have helped
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, checked it still worked after its dramatic turn of events, and thought that by now, the group would realise they were missing one person and one or two might have come back to see where I was. But NO! Never fear, I did eventually catch up with them by Rameses and of course, I could’ve contacted Peaj or someone if I couldn’t find them. But it’s a bit disheartening when nobody realises you’ve disappeared I know I’m small but I’m not THAT small am I?
But never mind, it was time to ride an old, creaky top spin! The queue wasn’t too bad and I chose to sit on the edge as I just wasn’t in the mood for a face full of water. I’ve not ridden Rameses (or Ripsaw) for a few years as I just don’t find top spins that fun, plus the restraints try to knock the wind out of you! But this meant that I did enjoy it, and I’ll always remember my first trip to Chessie when I was too short to ride it, watching it and thinking how big and scary it looked!
We then went towards Mystic East as we had seen Dragon Falls running earlier on in the day. However we were greeted with a sign informing us that the area was closed off while they updated the theming, and the ride was empty of water. Mystic East is one of, if not the best, themed areas of the park and it was rather saddening to see its main ride in such a state
But as Peaj would say, “Hey ho!” And off to Wild Asia we went. We did Monkey Swinger first, taking advantage of its short queue. Speaking of Peaj, it was time for my traditional “Peaj Hug!”

Love how I’m being used as a head rest! It was going nicely until Ethan decided to start his evil kidney jabbing! Had a fun ride as always but the water jets weren’t on which was a shame, but it was fun waving at Han every time we whizzed past her. While we were in the mood for spinning we headed over to Kobra, which had quite a queue but as always when you’re with such a great bunch of people, it doesn’t matter. Had a lot of laughs in the queue – to the point where I ended up collapsing onto the floor! - with conversations ranging from saggy melons to soggy biscuits (!), to whacking one out Don’t worry – it was just my mind being dirty! And I was appropriately named a “Dirty minded individual.”
We had a good ride on Kobra, and after finding it uncomfortable previously (not the back rests, but the fact they pushed me into the front part, crushing my stomach) I was determined to not suffer again, however I think I made my leaning back a bit too obvious and the staff member asked me to lean forwards. As you can see, I was not impressed...

I did try to lean back as much as I could though, and I think I know why I have an issue but no one else does; my height! The bottom of my rib cage – so roughly where the diaphragm is – gets pushed into the front part of the seats. Whereas for others who are taller, the front part would push against their belly instead, thus causing less or no discomfort. But this leaves me wondering what it’s like for children. It’s not awful, I mean if I brace myself I can push myself back and be fine, but I would like to be able to put my arms and legs up without feeling suffocated!
After our ride, MarkC had finally arrived and was waiting with Han! And what better ride to do for our first one as a full group than Tuk Tuk Turmoil! I really do love this as a group ride, it is so fun and I could easily do it more than once purely for that reason!
Group photo time by the talking elephant tree thing (forgotten its name)! Won’t post it as you’ve already seen it in Peaj’s trip report.
Our bellies were rumbling so it was time to eat. It went well considering people went off separately, no faff or disagreements or standing around for a thousand years debating where to eat I went with some of the others to Creaky Café, which is a lovely little place and not bad for money. I literally walked in and exclaimed to James “OOOH this is nice!” We sat outside to eat, where the others who had gone elsewhere joined us. It was at this point that I felt even more happy and excited about the whole day and how awesome it had already been!
We paid a visit to Bubbleworks while our food went down and experienced the new music. I have to say, it was quite jolly and some of us were dancing/bobbing around to it! Me and Peaj got right into it, so much so that I ended up marmalised!


Joining me in my tub were Han, Jaymiee and Alex. Ooh cosy! I know this is so repetitive to say but I miss the original ride so much, it hurts to see how different it all is when all I can think of is how good it was! Particularly the fountain finale, gaah I miss those strobes! It made me so mad I turned rather demonic!


Jaymiee decided we should scream as loud as possible when going down the drop and see if Peaj’s boat did the same in competition – and sure enough, they did! God knows what the operator thought!
Vampire was up next Again, it’s such a shame to see it like it is when remembering how great it used to look. The queue was quite long but as usual we all made it good fun, and got some funny photos!

And our game of Empire finished with Adam winning the flag! It was also funny when MarkC asked if my name was Meryl I nearly collapsed onto the floor again! Was a fun ride as usual, and I’ll always love that lift hill noise and the roar of the trains
Time was running out so we decided to go on Black Buccaneer and make Dragon’s Fury our last ride of the day. Whilst chatting in the Buccaneer queueline, I discovered that Alex is from Horley. Horley! Somebody on TPM is from where I am from It might not seem much of a deal to some, but hardly anyone I know has heard of the place! Small world, eh? We soon got on the ride, where we could smell weed, which led to me and James trying to guess who it was I still say the lady on the opposite side wearing the pearls looked pretty out of it Got some good interaction on the ride too; the operator asked how we all knew each other due to our large group size, and we explained. The ride start announcement turned out to be “No standing up, no throwing up, no touching the cross bars if you are sat in the back rows, and if you plan on writing about this on the internet later, please say good things!” We certainly have!
So it was time for our last ride of the day (or so we thought…) on Dragon’s Fury. The queue was long-ish, made worse by Mark’s sugar addiction I hate to moan (and contradict my statement about positive feedback), but the operation of the ride was pretty dire, with cars stacking up outside the station – there were four stacked at one point! This man certainly wasn’t impressed:

Han, Fish and Chris look on in disgust:

Ooh er! We planned our seating arrangements strategically, and I shared with Peaj and Ethan. This resulted in some epic spinning on the first half of the ride! Not so much after the second lift hill, but then again I’ve noticed that cars never seem to spin as much on that part. But yeah, it was brilliant fun and probably the best ride I’ve ever had on Fury!
At this point, we had to say goodbye to Jack and Adam, and had found out that Zufari’s queue was still open! So there was only one option…LEG IT! Han wasn’t up for the mad sprint so decided to go for a mad spin on Rameses instead! We made it to Zufari in one piece, albeit breathless, and had another good ride on it. Some of us sat in the front for the preshow and JamesC was cheeky to Ghozi and got to do a monkey impression! We didn’t see as many animals this time around but it was still good.
We then made our way out of the area and said our goodbyes to those who weren’t coming to the meal. It really had been a fantastic meet and I was glad it still wasn’t yet over. Mark clearly didn’t want it to be over either; while walking back to Peaj’s car, he came after me for more hugs, bless him! This frightened Han so much she pooped bricks:

We had to sit outside at the Monkey Puzzle as there were no tables inside, and it was getting a tad chilly. Nevertheless, it was a nice meal, a nice way to relax after the day and to have a chat. I had paprika chicken and spicy chips which was yummy, although part of my breast was overdone

James and Ethan soon had to leave, and the rest of us headed inside to the warmth where we found some tables, and Peaj, Alex and Mr Fish found themselves eating an enormous sundae between them! We chilled for while then decided it was time to leave and end our day
And wow, what a day it was! Firstly, I’d like to say that it was a fantastic group of people that attended, as Peaj said. It was different, as there were quite a few newbies/new-ish to meets members, but it was great to see so many new faces and that everyone joined in and felt comfortable
Mark isn’t as bad as he is online (I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that as I said it to him in person and he admitted it ), he is adorable! Meryl indeed! Apologies to Matt, Adam, Jonny and Chris who I didn’t get round to speaking to that much, but as I said it was nice to meet you guys! The same goes to Alex although we did speak a bit at the meal, and also thank you for offering me a lift home I would have taken it but as you know, I had to stay in Peaj’s car and be a good friend James and Ethan are as lovely as they are online – James, you’re a total geek for walking around with your drinks capsule and Ethan, despite being an evil kidney jabbing gremlin, you did make me laugh when you said “For some reason I thought Mer would be taller.”
It was lovely as always to see everyone else again and that the whole group in general got on well and stuck together. So thank you all for being so awesome! This was definitely one of the best meets
Finally, as always, thank you to Peaj for organising this meet and running it so well. Empire was a great game to play throughout the day and really helped everyone get to know each other. The meets actually feel like meets again, which is how it should be I can’t thank you enough!
Thanks for reading! x

As we know, following a poor response to marketing of Swarm last year, Thorpe decided to "revisit" Swarm's image and increase the "'thrill factor' for visitors". This was despite very positive reviews for Swarm as it stood last year. So, along with the new billboard theming elements, the back two rows have been turned backwards.
Now, in a way, it's very hard to do a comparison between the two. They are, essentially, the same ride - they follow the same layout, you more or less experience the same things, the off-ride experiences (queuing, ride interaction, etc.) are basically the same and so forth. More or less the only difference is the way you're facing. So, a comparison between the two is highly subjective - it boils down to what you're looking for when you ride Swarm.
So, the best way I can think to compare the two experiences is to focus on individual aspects of the ride's layout and how they ride when going forwards and backwards. Then, any other things can just be dealt with afterwards...
Inverted Drop
One of the defining features of Swarm is the 'head first inverted drop'. When going forwards, you are either in the front row, so are left looking at the track ahead of you, unaware of how much of a spectacle the 180 degree turn really is. In any other row, you see the train twist slowly upside, which is one amazing sight. It shocks you, makes you realise what you're about to experience, and before you know it - there you are, spinning around yourself. It is truly great. Going backwards has little difference to the front row in my opinion, except you just don't know exactly when it will happen. It's still a great feeling, but it neither adds nor takes away from the experience. So, basically, either way, it's great!
The Plane Wing
The first of the near misses really does little for me when going forwards. It's there, but it is a generic 'close, but not too close' near miss. It's certainly there more for the spectacle of it all as opposed to being something that's genuinely too close for comfort. That said, when on the left hand side of the train, it can catch first-timers off guard. When going backwards, it's as you would expect - you don't see it. I personally don't really even realise it's there when going backwards - may as well be a mist box there as the plane wing adds absolutely nothing. So the plane wing is nice and all going forwards, and superfluous when going backwards. So, forwards > backwards.
Zero-G Roll
Now, I absolutely LOVE this when going forwards. It's an inversion you really, really feel - something which I think is lost on more modern inverting coasters. When you are nearer the back of the train, it's great being able to see the train twist through the inversion as well. Going backwards is good as well; again, you really feel the inversion. But I'm not as big a fan of it going backwards; I still enjoy it, but just not as much as going forwards. A part of me thinks that, because when you were at the back of the train (I.e. row 7) and going forwards, it added to the idea of seeing the train twist through even more, I'm thinking that 'well, the backwards rows lose this effect'. Thus, as a straight out comparison between the forwards and backwards rows, I think the forwards rows JUST edge it out over the backwards rows, but comparing the Swarm we have now to the Swarm we had last year, the Swarm we had last year was better. So, forwards > backwards.
It is here I'd also compare the ways facing when the fire goes off from the fire engine, but as I've only been fortunate enough to experience it going forwards, it would be unfair of me to compare.
The Billboard
The all new near miss for 2013 is certainly a great addition. Many people's favourite near miss of the ride, it is certainly effective. Off ride, it is great to look at, and has a nice bit of quirkiness to it. On ride, when going forwards, just WOW. The way the train twists out of the zero-G roll means is it is genuinely an exciting feature and one where it seems like you may not 'twist enough in time'. The left hand side also provides a secondary near miss after the corkscrew, which is nice. Backwards though, you of course don't get the effect. You simply twist out of the zero-G roll and dive on through. Yeah sure, you see it afterwards (which is a nice advantage of the billboard compared to the other near misses, as it feels designed for backwards as well as forwards viewing, probably due to the fact it was built with the backwards rows in mind), but it's nothing special really. So, again, forwards > backwards.

The back of the billboard.
The inclined loop follows. It's nothing special either way - just a solid element that is paced well. Nothing more to say here other than forwards and backwards are equally solid.
Turnaround / The Helicopter
The turnaround is probably by favourite section of the ride when going forwards. It is surprisingly fast and forceful, and lasts a decent length of time. When on the right hand side of the train, it is just phenomenal, with the addition of the water spray and the subtle near miss of the spinning helicopter blades which can catch the unsuspecting off guard. One of the reasons why last season the back-right seat became my favourite was because of this part of the ride - you'd get a splash of water, force, speed and a near miss - what more could you want?! Backwards through this section is great as well; being able to see the water effect 'chase' you feels nice, and is something missed a bit when going forwards. But the subtle near miss from the helicopter is missed, which is a shame, as it is my favourite near miss of the ride.
When it boils down to it, riding forwards or backwards through this section of the ride is equally good. However, I did prefer back-right going forwards to going backwards there.
Corkscrew
The entrance into this element is great, continuing the forcefulness of the turnaround. Going forwards, the corkscrew is another solid element, and I think it has been designed with the visual spectacle in mind - going through the inclined loop looks great off ride. However, going backwards, it is a real highlight. I can't explain it really, but I just love it. Maybe it's the novelty of doing a common inversion on coasters backwards, but it's just a great feeling and the one thing I think 'WOW' about the most after riding backwards. So, backwards > forwards.

The corkscrew, beautifully cutting through the inclined loop!
The Tower, Church and Inline Twist
Near miss wise, I don't rate the tower or church highly. They're a very generic 'close, but not too close' near miss, and whilst nice, it doesn't impress me much. This doesn't mean they're bad in any way, and off ride it is simply stunning. The inline twist is, as with all the inversions, one you feel, and even if you don't get the near miss effect too much from the theming, it's still great being twisted upside down over it! Backwards you miss the near misses (same old story there then...), but the inline twist is fun, and as with going forwards, it's great seeing the station when you're hurled upside down. So, backwards and forwards are both equally good.

The tower, where the brilliant 'Swarm noise' plays.
And that basically ends the ride. The rest that follows is the worst part of the ride as it stands, going forwards or backwards.
Other Bits and Bobs
Just one final thing I want to say. I'm going to ignore the fact that I hate the way the queue system works and not use that in my judgement of which 'way' is better. However, the fact that the old Fastrack queue is now the backwards queue means there's less chance to see the ride in action, and it's harder to see the queue line TVs (and they are less frequent). I'm a big fan of having the experience of a ride start when you enter the queue, and finish when you're out of exit - a ride should never just be about the hardware. The backwards queue suffers from the fact that you can't get a decent 'feel' of the back story unless you've already seen it, which is a shame. It's only a little niggle, but it's a niggle nonetheless.
And so, there we have it. So, if you haven't been counting, here's how each of the individual on-ride elements 'score up', if you will:
Forwards 'wins' - 3
Backwards 'wins' - 1
Ties - 4
The fact that there are equally many ties and 'wins' should tell one thing - The Swarm is an amazing ride. Whether you have the seats facing forwards, backwards, inwards, whatever-way-wards, you won't take that away. However, facing forwards is the way forward (if you'll pardon the pun...); as, simply put, it allows you to experience the theming and the near misses that Swarm has been designed to take advantage of. If you take them out the equation, the experience is lacking something. Now, me knocking the backwards rows all sounds very negative, but honestly, it is my third favourite coaster experience - only beaten by Swarm going forwards and Nemesis at Alton Towers. So, time for the final verdict:
The Swarm (Forwards): 10/10 (In a way, I don't want to give it a perfect score, but I just can't justify not doing so).
The Swarm (Backwards): 8.5/10
(And comments and criticisms are welcome! )

Regularly with new projects in the UK, and even some internationally, are compared to Nemesis; Alton Towers' map-defining roller coaster. It's natural really when you consider that Nemesis is pretty much in every enthusiasts' top 10 coasters / rides, and usually near the top as well, and that it's been ranked even as a top 10 roller coaster in the world at one point/ So, with new projects, there's always talk of 'Will it be better than Nemesis?', 'Will it do a Nemesis?' and so forth. But what exactly is 'doing a Nemesis', and we will ever see 'The Next Nemesis'?
Now, for one reason or another, SW7 has avoided the 'Next Nemesis' hype. Maybe because of it being a Gerstlauer, some are being 'snobbish' towards it, in that they feel a Gerstlauer could never be as good as the mighty B&M that is Nemesis. Maybe it's because people have been more focused on the elements, specifically any world first / world beating elements it may or may not contain. Maybe it's because people are more concerned if the ride will open on time before they start thinking what it'll be like. Or whatever. I'll talk about this a bit a later.
So, to try and explain a bit better what on earth I'm on about, let's look at Swarm. Big, shiny new B&M hits the UK for the first time in nine years. We get the slightly unoriginal end-of-the-world, alien theme. Already, when we compare Swarm to Nemesis, their stories are of a similar style. Unknown alien, fear for our lives, we must ride it; to but it simplistically. Both are well styled to show this. Nemesis has its pit, and whilst this isn't particularly theming, it is well landscaped and well styled. Couple it along with the theming, and we have a brilliant style and tone created. The same with Swarm - the amount of theming makes you feel like you are in a disaster area, a crash scene, and that you're under attack.
During construction, and possibly even after the ride opened, I am pretty certain that members on this forum have said that The Swarm is 'Thorpe's Nemesis'. However, very few have gone as far to say they prefer Swarm to Nemesis (me being one of those few), and next no one, after Swarm opened, has said that it is the 'Next Nemesis'.
Now seems like a good time to say what exactly 'doing a Nemesis' is:
- The first thing which 'the Nemesis' is is unexpected. With most major rides, they scream themselves at you saying 'LOOK AT ME I'M SCARY!!'. Nemesis does not do this. It hides away in its pit, and it's not until you are right up close that you appreciate what exactly goes on during the ride. Even then, you have to do some exploration, usually in the queue line, just to get the full picture. Something which I think Nemesis does perfectly is be unassuming. So, for a ride to 'do a Nemesis', it must be unassuming in some way. Now, what that way is something up for question. As said, Nemesis is unassuming due to how well it is hidden and the way in which it conceals itself from the public. It's been clear with some other rides that they've tried to be unassuming as well to some way as well. Saw's layout is done in such a way that it's hidden from the plaza, and it's only when you're in the queue line that you realise what the outside section consists of. Then it's got the inside section as well. Th13teen is done in a similar respect, except the outdoor section is MUCH more concealed, and then of course there's the secret indoor section. We again can assume that SW7 has a concealed indoor section, which will in some way be unassuming. So there are indeed many ways in which UK coasters have tried to copy from Nemesis, in that it is unassuming, but they have all failed to one degree or another.
Coasters with indoor sections, though unassuming to a degree, more have the thought of trying to shock / surprise you. Th13teen was designed in a way to 'shock' riders; so that anyone expecting a coaster where you leave a station, go round a track and return would be in for a surprise. Saw's indoor section was designed to frighten you, but really, with a coaster that is themed to a horror film, you don't expect any less than to be frightened, so it isn't exactly unassuming when you put it like that, is it? Without knowing the full details of SW7's indoor section (if there is one, we don't have a clue what will happen etc.), there's no way to comment. With Saw's outdoor section, it is a little unassuming, yes, but once you're in the queue, you almost begin to know the gist of what happens so much that it loses in unassuming appeal. Whilst the same could possibly be said about Nemesis, I think Saw is affected by this more. Most other UK coasters are a 'what you see is what you get job' in a way, so even if they have little surprises (Colossus' final inline for example), they're not 'unassuming'.
Of course, being unassuming isn't the only thing which makes Nemesis. Another thing that Nemesis has is a brilliant layout which is paced in such a way that it never gives up. Now then, really layout and pacing is a personal taste. What one person may find as a boring layout or a poorly paced ride, another may think as inspiring. Then, of course, some may prefer certain layouts, certain ride pacing and so forth. However, Nemesis is something that everyone seems to be able to 'agree on'. The ride doesn't lose pace at all; if anything, it just picks the pace up. The layout isn't repetitive, is interest and all the elements gel well together. There really is nothing that goes wrong with it. Even if what Nemesis does isn't your view of a 'great coaster', you still enjoy it. This is something which is very difficult to achieve. So difficult, in fact, that I'd argue no other coaster in the UK has done this. Some people find that coasters are poorly paced in such a way that some of their elements are boring, lacklustre or uncomfortable. There is no coaster that springs to mind where, in the case of enthusiasts I must point out, the general consensus is that there's nothing 'wrong' with the layout, or how the layout is experienced.
I could carry on with other brilliant features of Nemesis, but I won't. Rather, I'll begin to bring this to a close as to why I think we'll never see the 'Next Nemesis'. Nemesis is something that is truly special. Not many rides have a HUGE pit dug out for them specially and are constructed in the same way that Nemesis was. You can quite easily say that Nemesis in pretty unique. In this way, it pretty much helps it to be unassuming in its appearance. The fact that this is the case, and that it provides an excellent appearance really helps. After all, if you expect excellence and get excellence, you're happy - if you don't know what to expect, and get excellence, you're blown away. A universally accepted 'great layout' is something which is very difficult to achieve as well.
I'm rather abruptly bringing this to an end now if I'm being honest. This has been a lot more difficult than I thought - really and truly, I don't think there is a way of describing the excellence of what Nemesis is. It just is, and this is the beauty of it. You cannot explain it, which means it will be near-on impossible to recreate it. This is such a shame when you consider Nemesis Inferno, as the 'Next Nemesis' hype must have been so heavily pressed on it, which in hindsight is unfair pressure. So, I don't think that any other ride in the UK, perhaps even the world, will be able to 'do a Nemesis'. For a ride to even be compared to Nemesis positively, or to be labelled as 'That park's Nemesis' should be seen as an achievement in itself. To be near Nemesis is a prize almost, seeinghow nothing can be the 'Next Nemesis'. So, no other rides can ever be a Nemesis or the Next Nemesis - there is only the Nemesis.

This Halloween! Spixworth Fields Theme Park has been celebrating "Spixworth Horror Fields" running from 13th-31st October, hosting an event of horror attractions, fun family games and fantastic theming!
Here is Spixworth Fields Mania review of 2012 SHF:
The Park
The park themed top to bottom with Halloween objects, right at the end of Farm Lane is the mighty haunted windmill, below it is objects of the previous visitors of SHF...




When reaching the end of Field lane, you reach the first Horror Maze Attraction
The Pavilion

The Pavilion is set in 1943, in a unused pavilion previously used for all the guest seeing the beautiful gardens & house but after a freak unknown accident its been left to rot until recently the theme park open and they re-discovered the pavilion, now its your choice to become detectives and find out what really happened!
The Pavilion maze is stupidly placed but as this was the only major available land, I guess they had no choice... The Pavilion is right at the start of the park, the entrance is directly across from Farm Lane so the queues get very big

The queue line is set in the plaza to the pavilion the maze is set on you start your journey in a cobwebbed room before travelling deeper and deeper into the Pavilions past, beware as you get deeper as you may uncover something horrible!
The Pavilion 6/10
Forbidden Factory
Forbidden Factory is the second horror maze attraction this year, and by far the best...
Set in abandoned factory, the disaster that closed this factory happened in the boiler room yet the rest tools inside the factory have gone, the boiler room remains the same!

There is no blank bits in this horror maze, each room has a story to tell and scares alike, the maze also runs alot faster than The Pavilion and lets shorter queues as it is furthest away in the park! This is one of the highlights of the events

Forbidden Factory 8/10
Finally the 2013 construction site!


Here is an video of the event and a picture of the overview of the park took by the Spixworth Mania Helicopter!


And more photos at:
http://s1270.beta.photobucket.com/user/Liam_New_Tolson/library/RCT3/Spixworth%20Horror%20Fields

Thank you for viewing this blog! See you in 2013!