Mark9

It really doesn't help that Merlin policy means the ride seems to do nothing for 10 minutes whilst staff amble about getting the second train on. At Miribilandia the second Katun train appeared out of nowhere and with only two staff on the ride it was amazing the speed they went at to do it.

The fact it still exists and look like that isn't funny, it's just sad..

I'm never surprised by this. Inbetween the asking about fastrack and what rides are they building next year, all the people who post on there just repeatedly moan about the price and how crap the rides are.. All the time..

As I said on TTF, this could ride like an absolute dog but it would still be loved on the quirkiness of its theming alone. :wub:May can't come soon enough

Very much agreed with you James. Phantasialand is one of the best parks in the world. It would be the best park in Germany if it wasn't for Europa Park but I digress.Just a few thoughts. I'm not really a fan of this constant comparisons with Merlin, they're kind of unwarranted because whilst Merlin aren't the masters, they are far from the worst (hey Drayton!).I digress, 100% agreed with Black Mamba. It's probably the most thought out B&M inverter out there with an attention to detail that very few rides compete with. What it lacks in an original lay-out, it makes up for in sheer grandeur. Glad you appreciated it! Same with Mystery Castle which is one of the scarier drop towers out there for its force and intensity. Theming also second to none. The thing I found with the Winjas is that Fear is brilliant but Force is just forceless and a bit rubbish. And I didn't really think much of the little tricks as I felt they broke up the pacing of the ride, something which I've never found on Fury, Tarantula or Spinball despite the trims. No doubt that they are really fun rides and are very original in what they do. Surprise Immelman included!I can only remember finding Colorado Adventure really bumpy. Not sure why that is my over-riding memory but I did ride it when I was 12, so maybe my younger memories gave it something that 18 year old Mark couldn't live up to.Wonderful park though, thanks for the report.

Thats probably it then. What theming there is in the Bubbleworks these days is mostly bastardized versions from the original ride.One of my favourite reviews of the Bubbleworks is http://www.s10463835...works_plain.htm on here. Particularly favourite line is"EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION IS NOW COMPLETELY IDIOTIC. ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.Whoever authorised the revamp – they’re an idiot. Whoever came up with the new theming – an idiot. The whole ride is now designed with the idiot in mind. Chessington – you are idiots."

That would make RobD very happy indeed...

As per usual, this post contains spoilers.The first ride is the most important thing. When you go on something, it is the first ride that will forever shape your memories when you re-ride. Harry potter, will be that shed, Oblivion will be the fear, Storm Surge will be the free massage. My lasting memories of Sub Terra will be everyones fear around me, being rushed out of the second elevator and the 39 other guests running for their lives towards the bag room. Sure enthusiasts hate it with a passion because its overhyped/too short/not good enough but the public on my ride loved it.So to the ride. Well the queueline was advertised at 50 minutes. We had avoided it until near the end in the hope that the queue would drop but it didn't really so we took the plunge. I really like the video and I like how it tries to educate guests on the Nemesis legend without going into too much detail. Just enough to explain that Nemesis eats people and its deadly. I liked the woman in the video, holding a veil of Nemesis wee and being quite intrigued by it. I'm also quite geeky in that I like all the code names such as Nemesis_94 and so forth. So you get batched into two elevators, 20 in each and the guards shout things at you. They're pretty effective and give quite a bit of tension. The doors close and the lights simulate going down. You get put into your tower very quickly. I've never ridden Extremis so wasn't sure how it dropped. I must admit it did get me. I liked the almost Jurassic Park element of a scientific experiment going horribly wrong.You drop into the bottom cavern and I must admit my mind goes a bit blurry because everything is very rushed. It reminds me slightly of that bit in the film 'Signs' where the alien walks past the window. It was all a bit woah. So the lights turn off and you are raised back to the main area. The staff shout for you to escape as fast as possible into the lifts, everyone follows obediently, in fact the majority were running for their lives. The doors close and as if the Nemesis creature is attacking, the lift shakes and shudders and vibrates all around you. I found it extremely effective and the ride ends very quickly, with people running in fear.Now I must admit, a big part of the experience was everyone elses reaction, I knew it was a small drop tower in a big green shed but part of that didn't matter because actually, Alton haven't just gone for an easy flat ride, they've really gone for something that is to be experienced. It has faults such as the ride time which just isn't long enough (especially with Nemesis and its 25 minute queue, 90 second ride time next door) and there is a lot of confusion with just what is going on in the cavern. But for its brevity I found it very effective and hope Alton continue to add to it to make it a good all-rounder. It's certainly not like Charlie (that ride looks like they gave up before it started) but I have to take my hat off to Alton. We both enjoyed it.Nemesis Sub-Terra - 7/10

Now thats not very nice now. Trust me jack, I'd rather enjoy my rides on Saw, then cringe as it tackles its first drop and final inversion. I hate not being able to enjoy it the way other do.

So now that the majority of TPM members have had their chance to ride The Swarm, please vote here on what you think of Thorpe Park's newest rollercoaster. Was it worth the wait, does the rides theming blow you away or does the shortness of the layout make you feel unsatisfied.Vote now

Winner of pointing out the obvious award goes to Astwodan ;)Looks wonderful, but what did people expect from the best park in the world?

Sounds really great actually, good idea for an event Thorpe. Bravo.

Seriously.. after five days of operation you've decided it's beyond hope..

Looks like it could be three for three for the B&M wing-rider. Been reading Theme Park Review, and all the reports for Wild Eagle echo a lot of the reports for Swarm and Raptor. Here's one I took note of"Regarding Wild Eagle, in my honest opinion, B&M, Dollywood and Herschend have knocked one out of the park with the whole package-the ride, the theming, the operations, the details-adding what I feel is a stellar addition to what was already a fantastic park. I thought the coaster itself was flawless, provided a ride with just enough intensity to be satisfying to thrillseekers yet still remain accessible to a wide demographic and extremely re-rideable, and the location just adds to what was an extremely well engineered concept."Considering how good X-Flight is looking, I'm starting to think we could see rather a lot of Wing-riders in the next few years.TPR again. =) Speaking of which

Gorgeous pictures. Alton and Chessington are parks that just shine when its sunny. They look amazing.

It exists?

Doesn't mean that much, small little things like weather can effect that. Considering how good the weather was afterall.

Much prefer Detonator's old music which somehow, despite being made for Black Hole, suited Detonator far more. I feel the same with the Samurai music which returned. Gives the rides far more drama actually.

Seems a bit pointless putting that there as the fastrack shop is less then a minute walk away.

About the closest example I could find. Go Merlin's isn't concept art as you can clearly see the new Colossus restraints on it whereas Colossus's concept art looked like this:-(Thanks TPG)

As I said in chat on Saturday, it is an 18 year old ride starting it's 19th season. It's bound to get a little coarser round the edges from time to time. Bloody brilliant ride though.

Far superior to Swarm. I'd go as far to say it's better then Nemesis

It's the UK's third best rollercoaster

I'm not I am afraid. Can't really justify another trip to Thorpe.

I think the idea is, if enough rides are ready to go then open the park because you stop the bottleneck of guests at the entrance and instead of creating an influx of people travelling across the bridge at once, you have a steady flow. Excellent idea in my opinion. The only issue being, if like last week they start the day with Swarm, Colossus and Inferno on one train, you end up having to close the ride for quite a hefty time whilst the second train gets put on.People may moan, but they'd have no grounds to because the park are giving you more time. If you decide to get there at 10 you aren't really missing out..