Mark9

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.

Unlike Raptor, you get no choice where you are put. You don't even get a choice of which side of the train you can be put in. In this respect, Raptor is superior. I don't think it will challenge Nemesis to be honest. It's good but it isn't that good.

I see the comment about Universal and always think of this:-Love the shed.I couldn't really compare with Baco (only Raptor) but I understand where you're coming from with Swarm. I personally think its brilliant. Yeah so it failed to take on my absolute favourite rides, but it's a strong ride for Thorpe.

Cannot believe the prices for Legoland. £43 for an adult?! £38 if you buy online?!

Many a time I heard on Rattlesnake "Can you make the cars go faster."Trust me, the answer "I'll turn it onto it's highest setting" was believed by way to many people.

I'm not that fussed consdering in ten years they've thrown Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Stealth, Saw and The Swarm at us. Not many parks have that level of investment..

Okay look, this is essentially Rock and Rollercoasters layoutWhereas (thanks to TTF) this is Rita's. So completely different rides then.

Hmm. Sounds like the speaker got their wires crossed. Chessington is Ap's only this weekend. Thorpe starts its full season tomorrow.

Apart from the inversions. And the theming. And the layouts. And the manufacturer.

Those are genius. It really makes you wonder what Stealth, Rita, Saw and Dragons Fury could have been like if they had really gone for it with their adverts, theming and teasers.Swarm

Bloody hell..

Well yeah, we like theme parks so if time is cut short by an hour, it does make an impact on the day so to speak. What used to be 7 hours is now 6. Thing is though.. I'm a bit confused why you're taking an unbiased viewpoint. You like having a shorter day in the park? You prefer rushing around and not appreciating the park, instead trying to fit in x y and z in a shorter amount of time? Guests want value for money and the park this year on 65 days (thanks Astro) is offering less for more.I mean the ERT, It's a brilliant benefit but due to how to they've done it, you have to revisit all the areas anyway to get on Thirteen and Air (depending on which rides you go for during the ERT hour). So with that extra hour, you spend a good 30 minutes of it strolling around the park.

If I haven't said it once, I'll say it now, I love Thorpe for getting a wing rider. Definitly B&M's most re-ridable product type as Raptor was exactly the same.

Mmmm. Yes if you outline your day you probably could get on the majority. But you shouldn't have to plan your day to absolute military precision. I struggle to do all the major rollercoasters in a day even when using ERT and I bet the majority do to. I really don't think there is a way of doing the five major coasters, every single flat ride, water ride and dark ride in one day, as well as seeing the sea life centre and the shows and using the skyride across the gardens. With the 4pm close there's just no way you can do that especially with only a five hour window to get on rapids and unplugged.Comparisons to Thorpe are silly really, Thorpe is ridiculously easy to do on a quiet day and really isn't on the same scale.

I didn't really ride it enough to get a proper grasp on what is better (considering how re-rideable the thing is as well ) so I'd say both sides are pretty evenly matched.

I'd go anyway Josh. I wouldn't let gate figures and hour queues get in the way of enjoying a brilliant rollercoaster.

The SwarmI can't remember the last time that Europe has got its hands on two new type of rollercoasters before any other continent has been able to get one open. Back in September I rode Raptor at Gardaland and my exact words were"It also doesn't help that Gardaland have hit every target with a bullseye when building Raptor. It looks the part, it sounds the part and more importantly, It rides the part. It will be interesting to see whether Swarm, Wild Eagle and X-Flight will be able to deliver as satisfying an experience as Raptor has proven to do."Six months on, just how well has Thorpe done in their version. Well time to find out. Despite hundreds of people in front of us, ready to be taken, the walk over to the Swarm was just like a little stroll over to a brand new ride. No rushing around and stampedes, just calm and tranquility.The Brand new PlazaSwarm takes its cue from Saw and Stealth in that has a very large viewing area. Whilst Saw tries to hide the ride best away that it can and Stealth is just a flat empty area, Swarm is full of little things, little bits of theming and touches hidden around for you to spot. I particularly liked the signs warning you away from entering areas.The Ride entrance is bizarrely next to the rides break run you can see the hapless riders who have survived. The queue is quite a stoll as it double backs and takes you round a very small area very sedately. Televisions are dotted around describing the carnage of a fireball and attacks in central London. Despite the entrance queue board saying 25 minutes, we queued 5 minutes for the first ride and about ten for the second. First go was on the right. I have to say I adored being pulled over the top on the first inversion. That feeling of slowly being dragged under was only beaten by being pulled under when seating on the left. The first drop is gorgeous and the drop under the plane wing is a stroke of genius. It could be a bit of a non event on the right but on the left it is a whole different ball game. I was on the inner side, and even I felt a bit nervous. So the train heads into the second inversion an inline. Bit of a non event compared to Raptor with no leg chopper moments.When the train travels through relatively straight or banked parts of track it picks up speed very quickly like Raptor. The final helix and corkscrew are excellent. If you stretch far enough on the right you can touch the water and the forces are strong on both sides. The corkscrew is delightful and surprisingly forceful. And the final inversion is taken a lot faster then Raptor and somehow loses Raptors great finale. It doesn't work that well on Swarm although the near miss of the top of church is better. And thats your lot.For those expecting this to be the next Nemesis or Kumba they are going to be dissappointed. Whilst Swarm has moments of speed and dizziness, it isn't a ride that will pull your skin from your face. It's designed to be as enjoyable and smooth as possible and you know what, that isn't a bad thing. Thorpe already has two rollercoasters that are forceful (the other two try to kill you) and in a park full to the brim of thrill rides, having a rollercoaster that is just enjoyable is right up my street. I really think, like Raptor, that I could sit on Swarm all day and enjoy every minute. Because it's fun and despite its short ride time, feels satisfying. So now that Raptor and Swarm have shown their stuff, it's time to see what Wild Eagle and XFlight can bring to the table. Your move, Northern America.The Swarm - 8/10

Now thats what I call an over-reaction.

1. In what ways is it an understandable and needed decision. Chessington, Thorpe Park and Legoland aren't closing at 4pm. The park has very healthy attendence mid-week, especially compared to Chessington.2. When would Alton Towers ever be in a position where they wouldn't be able to open the park at all? It's been continous opening from March - October for donkeys years.3. Economic and Theme Park industry returns to normal. Again, no other park in the country is closing so early. No park in Europe decides to close after only 6 hours of operation.What they've done is increased prices whilst reducing the hours. So the price per hour has risen far more then usual and people are getting far less for their hard earned cash. I'd have preferred losing Submission and Enterprise for a season or losing ERT rather then losing an entire hour in the afternoon.