Mark9

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..

To anyone that thinks Samurai is run badly, look at this piece of crap.

Well firstly, before Slammer there was only one ever skyswat in the world and look how that turned out. The thing is, with a Jump2 is that they are massive rides with huge power consumptions and Thorpe isn't exactly gifted with space either. A moderately thrilling Jump2 isnt enough.I am so bored of this Thorpe top spin thing. The thing is, all over the continent there are parks with top spins, and guess what. They all NEVER HAVE QUEUES, they all HAVE POOR PROGRAMMES, they are all UNPOPULAR. Talocan, Rameses and Ripsaw are about the only exceptions. If you really want a top spin just go to Chessington. Why do people want cloned rides all over the placeThe thing with the Gyroswing is we have Vortex, Regardless of how much better a gyroswing may be, what is the point of replacing something to add exactly the same ride. And the topple tower is a ride that Thorpe really don't need. They are beginning to throw away the unreliable curse, adding something that Dollywood are actually sueing Huss for is a ridiculous ride for Thorpe to go for. it's not even going to be for their target audience for a start.People seem insistent on flat rides but no one comes up with anything that the park doesn't already own that is either unique or different enough. Honestly, they'd be better off adding a breakdance with the constant Jump2/topspin/topple tower suggestions.

Past the photo point, near Stealths exit stairs.

We do not have a topic for Merlin's second best opening hours theme park?! How is this possible. I;ll start us off.If you know me, you know I hate Legoland. With its branding getting in the way of interesting and original themes, it was never my favourite park to visit. On my first visit, queueing 40 minutes for a Rocky Express clone seemed ludicrous, an hour for a wildmouse that dies after its first drop? Seriously?So we wind round to 2012. Since my last visit to Legoland, I've got a bit older, that bit wiser and was willing to give Legoland another chance. One because its had a few new rides and two, the boyfriend forced me to go.So we rolled up about 11:20.I give em one thing, they've got the best entrance area of the parks. I adore the view over Windsor and the castle. So onto the first ride, the Viking Rapids ride. Like the majority of UK rapids its the little things on the side that get you wet, nothing to do with the actual ride. A shame and Chris wasn't exactly pleased with his level of wetness.Next was the Spinning Spider, not bad! Had some good moment and the staff member was incredibly jolly despite there only being five guests on the ride. Onto the Jolly Rocker, a ride which takes the adult on each side of the boat to the absolute exteme. Who introduced this ridiculous rule? Was it Helath and Safety or the parks own stupidity which has meant what is supposed to be a high throughput flat, has become a five minute nightmate. I despair for the staff who have to use the whole area PA system to beg any adults within a five mile radius to have a ride. Must be an absolute nightmare in school weeks.Next! The Dragon. I love the Dragon and think it is the very best family rollercoaster in the country. Forget Thirteen and its attempts at thrilling you by banking very oddly on a straight bit of track, it's all about The Dragon. That castle theming is exemplary, it's station is gloriously gloomy and its pre lift hill section is inspired. The air time and speed through the rides relatively short coaster section is punchy and perfectly pitched. They were running two trains and it was just great. Legos star attraction.Had a go on the Rocky Express ride (it's name escapes me) and Dragons Apprentice which is very good for a junior coaster. We then headed off to Pirate Falls which consists of that parrot just telling you which way to go, getting you to your destination and then telling you to go back. Just bugger off. The ride is severely lacking in a proper storyline and with only one drop, it feels a bit half hearted. It's a very wet flume though which gives it cred points.Next, after narrowly avoiding a camera disaster it was Laser Raiders. Now apparently this ride is hated with a passion met only by my hate for Saw the Ride. I really liked Laser Raiders. sure, it's just a rip off of Tomb Blaster (with less detail) but at least it had pace and shooting things caused amusing movements in the props around the ride. I found it slightly bizarre that the railway line goes through it's queueline. Must admit that I've never seen that before at a theme park. The final ride of real note at Legoland is that Atlantis Submarine Voyage that is actually just a disguised Sea Life centre. Lets be honest here, the joy of the Sea Life centre is taking your time by looking at the creatues. Legolands doesn't bother with this and encases you in a yellow submarine which literally goes round one corner and thats it. It's a huge waste of time because of how short the ride is. The noises in the submarine also distract you from the fish anyway. Just stupid. Much prefer Chessington's and Alton Towers's sea life centres.So has my thoughts on Legoland changed much? Yes actually but it really is a park you need to go to on a quiet day. Visting on a day with 14,000 other people is an absolute nightmare as the place just doesn't have the rides or throughputs to cope with such a huge weight of people.

Not all disabled people are unable to walk.

The best opinion so far has got to be "Ok just got off NST. Urm… Urm..urm.. I now like Charley and the Chocolate factory."