Mark9

A big happy tenth birthday to Colossus.

That is what they've been doing since it moved to Thorpe from Chessington. It's been refurbished 3 times since its move I believe. It's got to be bared in mind that a funfair version is taken apart at the end of every stint. They aren't supposed to be active for 7 months of the year, constantly.

Clearly taKen inspiration from Disney then.

I share a birthday with Alan carr and Paul O'Grady. The 14th June is now gay birthday day.

The advert that got me into theme parks. Wow.

Samuai just seems to have become a common name for Mondial Top-scans. Our one looked nothing like that, it looked like this:-Chessington's was also a brand new model, not second hand purchased.

Makes us even more fortunate that we have one and it's only bloody open!

I think it will be quiet to be honest, it's prooven to be for every weekday so far. No fire as of yesterday

Quite unlike any inverter so far. The speed it travels that first half of the circuit

Great advert. No "from the makers of Colossus" rubbish, no overblown hype such as the worlds biggest helix or such nonsense. Just a few choice shots of the story, the ride and a deep imposing voice at the end. Up there with Inferno, Oblivion and Air IMO.

On ride photo with the tent.After extensive research into the known tent, the only ride that doesn't feel the full force of the Marquee is Colossus. And even that is ruined by Thorpe Waterski.

What a fantastic, detailed theme. I just want to see those wheel covers.

True. Gotta love a breakdance

Ah the Mondial Capriola. It;s a great ride but the throughput would be diabolical at any theme park. Even at funfairs you have to queue a good 10 minutes for it..

You mean like"The Swarm might not be the sort of coaster that makes you go "WOW" when coming off and its quite short but its a quality addition to the park and far better then some of the gimmicky rides Merlin have put in over the last few years. The Swarm is easily the most smooth and most quietest B&M I've been on, its night and day if you compare it to the Furius Baco trains"from Theme Park Reviewor"My view on the ride is that its a grower. First ride was front right side (over the bridge) and although a few nice feelings through the elements it was a bit of a let down. During the day I rode in various positions and now favour front left (not going over the bridge). This is no Nemesis by any stretch of the imagination for me. It doesnt even compare. In my rankings its Number 11 in the UK and 42 in the World.The ride is pleasant, but not intense. Its a good solid ride, but thats all it is."from TTFor"Swarm was nice. Not brilliant, not crap. Nice. To be honest it is a good addition to the park and looks amazing. I would say however it needed to be taller, longer and faster."from Coasterforce.Hardly spell-binding reviews but hardly the torrent of negativity you for some reason are predicting.

My top Ten B&M's1. Superman de Acero - WB Madrid. Pure brilliance. For it to remain my favourite B&M for five years is testament to the rides quality. It has something for everyone to enjoy, even if it is a floorless in a field.2. Katun - Miribilandia. Everything I would want in an inverter is on Katun. From air time on the first drop to the snappy cobra roll and the excellent helix finale. It's first class B&M3. Nemesis - Alton Towers. As if it needs to be said why this is there. Despite being 18 years old it doesn't look old.4. Manta - Seaworld Orlando. I think this does flying coasters real justice. People don't like pretzel loops but I adored watching the train drop in front of me. That queueline to :wub:5. Oblivion - Alton Towers. It's a real testament to Alton that it has two of my top five B&M's. Whilst Oblivion doesn't have the elements of other Beemers, its such an original and dramatic ride it deserves its place.6. Black Mamba - Phantasialand. Aww man, It's probably the B&M I most wish to go on again, been six years somehow. Loved it.7. The Swarm - Thorpe Park. The newest one. Excellent ride and really uses the wing rider arrangement well.8. Hungarian Hungtail - Islands of Adventure. Choosing your dragon is like choosing between Milka happy cow and Milka Daim. Both so good but a choice must be made. I prefer HH as it's a bit more snappy and the elements are a bit different. CF was a little bit to show offy.9. Raptor - Gardaland. Slightly biased, I think Swarm is only ahead because it's half an hour drive whereas Raptor is a plane and several hours drive away. I love Raptor and it's gorgeous theming.10. Kraken - Seaworld Orlando. Silky smooth but looses so many points because of its lack of pathway interaction. And plus it's not half as impressive as De acero.Bubbling Under - Silver Star, The Incredible Hulk, Nemesis Inferno, Chinese Fireball, Air, Batman LA Fuga.

Silly question Benin ;)So the Swarm has broken it's hour queue time cherry. If you break down and close for the rest of the day, Marc will forever remind me of this for years to come.

So damn good.

Genuine question here, why do people even jump down the flat ride route every single time. Make a list of all the Thorpe flat rides.. or I will for you.Samurai - Tame, doesn't do half the things a top-scan should do because it wasn't designed for a theme park.Slammer - Half the time closed and broken, the other half majorly unpopular due to the look of the ride and the appauling loading procedure.Vortex - Has gone from the big daddy to useless. Now does one proper top swing, and has a terrible throughput.Zodiac - Short ride compared to the funfair and the loading procedure takes an age.Quantum - Does nothing a magic carpet should and ever since it lost the ends of the carpet, has been dire.Detonator - Isn't really a flat ride but it does it jobs well.Rush - Decent flat ride, one of Thorpes best.Back when Thorpe was trying to establish itself, flat rides made sense as quick throw away fillers. But the park is established now and really, there isn't many flat rides that will be that different to what they already have.

Why?

Smooth, re-rideable and a different experience. And you think thats a negative thing. Seriously? gee, I bet Thorpe are kicking themselves for a ride that people may want to go on again and again. But... Nemesis has the same problems. It's just a fancy station with bits of scrap and old rusty, buses surrounding it. Swarm and Nemesis use these to their advantages in similar ways. I was looking at the 125 foot rollercoaster personally. So when the park gave you the opportunity to follow the story and create a bit of atmosphere, you chose to ignore but will still criticise them for not making the story more obvious. Yawn. Majority on here take every ride on face value. We don't just decide its by a certain manufacturer and that makes it crap.

Maximum length was about 10 minutes.

Dunno who you are ranting at. No one is complaining about 5 minute stops on this forum.

That paritcular shutdown lasted 5 minutes. It went down again about half an hour later for a little bit longer. I must admit I didn't see the apparent hour long shut down.