October 29, 201311 yr comment_171392 Where did you find that?! Nice to see Merlin being nice and creative if this is the case. Don't get me wrong, it's a great design, but basically copying Swarm's train is just silly...
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171394 Where did you find that?! Nice to see Merlin being nice and creative if this is the case. Don't get me wrong, it's a great design, but basically copying Swarm's train is just silly... I forgot to say, on www.coasterfriends.de forum on their topic http://www.coasterfriends.de/forum/4108-2014-neuheit-b-m-wing-coaster-heide-park-131.html
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171397 That's disappointing tbh... At least Raptor has a completely different face and mandibles... But wait! The fangs are a darker brown! Sigh...
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171400 I really like the look of this shell very reminiscent of The Swarm only changes are the fangs. The swarm only has small fangs and no large ones on the outside of it. (Look it making the Swarm sound like a real alien creature)
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171406 That centrepiece looks too similar to Swarm which as great as it looks, it's a shame that they couldn't create an original design as the only difference on this one is the fangs used.
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171413 For comparison, here's Swarm: Literally the same bar a different colour on the fangs, and fangs replacing LEDs. How lazy. Unless they're going for a continuation of Swarm, building on the story of how this alien race is spreading (which I would actually LOVE, but no doubt), it will be disappointing to see Merlin reusing things like this - even though I feel really bad about complaining; after all, it is a fab design <3
October 29, 201311 yr comment_171415 That is far too similar to The Swarm's train! It isn't similar it IS the swarm train with a fancy paintjob!
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171419 For comparison, here's Swarm: Literally the same bar a different colour on the fangs, and fangs replacing LEDs. How lazy. Unless they're going for a continuation of Swarm, building on the story of how this alien race is spreading (which I would actually LOVE, but no doubt), it will be disappointing to see Merlin reusing things like this - even though I feel really bad about complaining; after all, it is a fab design <3 Lets be realistic here, the only people who are ever going to cotton on to them being the same design are enthusiasts and people who may have ridden The Swarm. Compared to the brand new ground hugging, unique designed roller coaster, having the same train facade doesn't really bother me that much.
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171420 Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate it's only going to be noticed by the minority, but still, it would be nice to see a whole new train design, right? We want the Merlin parks to be the best, but I think pretty much duplicating theming elements of other rides they've used feels like they've cut a couple of corners (though probably saying it's lazy is a bit of a step too far...) It does feel almost perverse to be complaining about something like this. Not even a few years ago, any theming detail of this calibre on a coaster train would be instantly loved. For all we know, this wing coaster may even have a slight link with Swarm story-wise (which would be amazing). This is, in my view, the best design of a wing coaster yet as well, so it's not even a bad choice But if this coaster ends up with a separate identity to Swarm (which it probably will won't, I guess?), then of course I'd like to have seen a completely new design; would just be great to see. Okay, it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but every little detail counts. Edited October 30, 201311 yr by JoshC.
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171421 Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciate it's only going to be noticed by the minority, but still, it would be nice to see a whole new train design, right? We want the Merlin parks to be the best, but I think pretty much duplicating theming elements of other rides they've used feels like they've cut a couple of corners (though probably saying it's lazy is a bit of a step too far...) It does feel almost perverse to be complaining about something like this. Not even a few years ago, any theming detail of this calibre on a coaster train would be instantly loved. For all we know, this wing coaster may even have a slight link with Swarm story-wise (which would be amazing). This is, in my view, the best design of a wing coaster yet as well, so it's not even a bad choice But if this coaster ends up with a separate identity to Swarm (which it probably will, I guess?), then of course I'd like to have seen a completely new design; would just be great to see. Okay, it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but every little detail counts. It doesn't link into the Swarm at all... It's just a shame really that it is so similar, but as Mark said, who's going to notice/care?
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171425 Oops, did mean to say it probably won't. Vague idea is some monster attacking a town and locals sacrificing people or something? Probably could have a slight link to Swarm in a back story if they wanted, surely? Mutated aliens and what-not. Though Merlin don't do back stories, so that's why I doubt it. Just something I thought I'd throw out there really
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171428 Merlin don't do backstories? What about Swarm and Smiler's ones then?
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171430 Are we really complaining that the train looks the same? Disney clones many whole rides and no-one seems to complain!
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171431 Are we really complaining that the train looks the same? Disney clones many whole rides and no-one seems to complain! The issue here I would say lies with the fact that these two rides are completely different, yet in an attempt to probably save money not needing to manufacture a new chassis cover, they've cloned the Swarm trains... It's not a clone, whereas with Disney, even their clones usually have completely different features or layouts (Raging Spirits vs Indiana Jones, the MMV Indiana Jones rides, Matterhorn/Space Mountain)... Most of the time the obvious clones are the flat rides or indeed, the Paris/Cali versions of Tower of Terror... So really the majority of Disney clones are because you can't do much with the theme of a flat ride... Although of course the issue of having 3 clones of the same ride in one park is a different arguement all together...
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171432 Gawd, really not with it this morning! Basically what I was trying to say was I guess there's a chance they could try and link it with Swarm's story, but to do to that depth to link two rides together would require a story which requires knowledge of a back story. Swarm and Smiler have back stories, but you can understand them fine and dandy without knowing their back stories. I was thinking that there would probably be a need to have a bit of knowledge of the back story to 'get' it fully. So, err yeah, probably just better to ignore me now; not even sure what I'm trying to say now... XD
October 30, 201311 yr comment_171438 ...yet in an attempt to probably save money not needing to manufacture a new chassis cover, they've cloned the Swarm trains... My guess is that this is exactly right. The original train designs for The Swarm were completely different to the trains that made it on to the actual ride (possible ideas included a "terminator-esque" machine alien). In the end they went with a design far closer to the Gardaland Raptor trains, to save money on redesigning every element of the train shells from-scratch again. (More on this here: http://www.totalthorpepark.co.uk/features/btsswarm.shtml) Looks like this time they're not even "tweaking" the existing Swarm shell - just completely reusing it. Can't see that 99.9% of guests riding would know any different though - and would far rather they economised on this to free up budget for themeing/near misses etc!
November 4, 201311 yr comment_171666 Cute baby trains. Why do both foreign merlin parks get lower throughput attractions? Those parks are surely busy enough to warrant the same size trains as their UK counterparts?! Down to money I suppose. They never treat their foreign parks as well as they do the UK ones (that's saying something).
November 4, 201311 yr comment_171680 but this is how much better than the swarm? it's just the trains...
November 4, 201311 yr comment_171681 but this is how much better than the swarm? it's just the trains... Nobody knows until people ride it.
November 4, 201311 yr comment_171687 One reason for the 6 row trains could possibly be the tighter elements, especially when compared to other wingriders. Always surprises me how European parks get their coasters testing a lot sooner than ones in the UK as well..
November 5, 201311 yr comment_171694 One reason for the 6 row trains could possibly be the tighter elements, especially when compared to other wingriders. Always surprises me how European parks get their coasters testing a lot sooner than ones in the UK as well.. Probably because they hire decent construction teams and also have less H&S red tape to get through... And like to have plenty of time to build theming...
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