Calm down everyone, its early days in this project, so we need to stop all these wonderful concepts you all have of the ride! Because the way it is going you will all eventually have a ride that will never reach your expectations! I as much as the next person want it to be as good as the promos and plans etc show! But we cannot count on it, the only banker we have is that it will be a B&M wingrider with hopefully some good levels of theming! We need to stop the thoughts of this years frightnights to be involved, look at what they did with saw back when it was being constructed! Nothing! So lets keep our fingers crossed and have some patients for spring 2012! But its all looking good for a very good ride for the UK theme park Industry, It seems as though Merlin are not slowing down!

Why should people "calm down?" Nobody is really overreacting as far as I can see, just general excitement about a new project that does indeed look awesome and people are congratulating the park on doing everything absolutely on point so far. So far, they have not set a foot wrong in the build up, let's hope it continues.Nobody has wonderful concepts, merely commenting on things we have been told and have seen from the plans. The speculation thread does have some thoughts on potential effects that could be included but isn't that why this discussion forum exists? To have a discussion and to speculate? Everyone enjoy the excitement and talk as much as you like about the ride.

Does anyone know where the actual break run on 'The Swarm' is? I have been trying to work it out for ages on the plans. The thing is, the turn after the roll through the ruins is nicely banked back towards the station, suggesting it will carry some speed. My thoughts, are that there may be a trim break before the final turn back to the station, then the break run leading up to the station itself. Any thoughts? I would rather not see a trim break and hopefully the ride will take the last turn at full speed.

I would imagine the brake run will be like how it's shown in this video below.

I Agree very much so with the brake run

I really want Thorpe to do well for this ride! Saw may have not been so good reliability wise but the theming kept with the whole Saw concept. But I do really want Thorpe to do well.

Fab, if the break run is like that, it will make a nice intense ending to the ride.

Going back to that video on the previous page, I think it's pretty amazing. The fact that they seem so dedicated to this project and are building hype makes me want to talk about it with my mates...in all seriousness, they need to carry this sort of thing on throughout the summer and it will get plenty of people talking.

Going back to that video on the previous page, I think it's pretty amazing. The fact that they seem so dedicated to this project and are building hype makes me want to talk about it with my mates...in all seriousness, they need to carry this sort of thing on throughout the summer and it will get plenty of people talking.

I agree, while the larger summer crowds fill the park, they need to hit hard with the marketing for The Swarm and keep up with the actors and that brilliant air raid siren, eerie though because reminds me so much of being in The Asylum Just on the topic of the video though, Les says "The Aliens" when referring to 'The Swarm'. Is that worth believing or could anything be classed as alien really?... because from 'the swarm' in the promo image, it really does look like some kind of small flying creature/insect rather than aliens... food for thought?

I got the impression from the press release and minisite that The Swarm are the aliens as they pick us up and we ride their wings. Paraphrased from the minisite, of course.

Thorpes evolution really does show no signs of stopping. They really seem to be aiming for that Thrill Park status, and if they carry on like this, it really will be the worlds one and only concentrated thrill park, which is an exciting prospect. You can tell customer numbers and customer satisfaction is up, and because of this Merlin are willing to pump more and more money into Thorpe. Luckily their creative team is world class, and now we could finally see an investor with enough faith to fund whatever the park want to do, to the fullest extent. I hope The Swarm comes to be exactly what the creators were aiming for!

Thorpes evolution really does show no signs of stopping. They really seem to be aiming for that Thrill Park status, and if they carry on like this, it really will be the worlds one and only concentrated thrill park, which is an exciting prospect. You can tell customer numbers and customer satisfaction is up, and because of this Merlin are willing to pump more and more money into Thorpe. Luckily their creative team is world class, and now we could finally see an investor with enough faith to fund whatever the park want to do, to the fullest extent. I hope The Swarm comes to be exactly what the creators were aiming for!

Yes, and all this in a time of global financial troubles! I can't imagine how quickly Thorpe will advance once we are out of this recession!(Although saying that, I guess Merlin was never really hurt badly by the recession anyway, people are still flocking to it's parks, do the figures show otherwise?)And to bring this post back on topic, this ride looks great, bring on 2012! .

The promo video could well be a movie trailer which is very exciting, although, it tells you very little about the actual ride itself, but I guess it's aimed at fan boys who don't need the context filled in. All very exciting nonetheless! I wanna go to the park just to sit by Stealth all day and watch every second of the marketing to gain more knowledge of the new project, ahhhh!

Just to be a voice of alternative on the "Thorpe concentrating on being a Thrill Park is a great thing", it needs to be wary of not treading down a similar route that Six Flags Magic Mountain did a few years back where it completely over-compensated and was full of unreliable rides, awkward guests and very little atmosphere...I want Thorpe to actually prove me wrong with this though, but I know I will definitely not be heading to the park for opening (mainly cos of uni commitments and the well known fiasco that was Saw), so if a potentially well themed B&M can't even convince me to go to the park, what can short of adding a chav based shooting range?N.B. The chav based shooting range is and always was a joke, anyone who takes it seriously, needs to get their sense of humour checked out...

Yes, and all this in a time of global financial troubles! I can't imagine how quickly Thorpe will advance once we are out of this recession!

Probably as quickly as 2000-2006 when the park saw three rollercoasters, Tidal Wave and 7 flats added. Lets not jump the gun here, old day Thorpe had a lot of main-land to play with and many attractions which had seen better days. Modern day Thorpe is a park of technology, where the average ride age is very young. It will be a while before Thorpe throw coaster after coaster at the park again.

It will be a while before Thorpe throw coaster after coaster at the park again.

Is one every 3 years NOT coatser after coaster then?

Is one every 3 years NOT coatser after coaster then?

Nemesis Inferno a year after Colossus is coaster after coaster. Three years is a long time in the coaster world..

Nemesis Inferno a year after Colossus is coaster after coaster. Three years is a long time in the coaster world..

Hmm, I still can't agree with that... Very, very few parks build coasters year after year. I think we're very lucky with having TP so close because they build one every 3 years along with other smaller rides in between.

Hmm, I still can't agree with that... Very, very few parks build coasters year after year. I think we're very lucky with having TP so close because they build one every 3 years along with other smaller rides in between.

When you say very very parks build coasters year after year. Well Thorpe isn't. I'm not denying we are lucky to have another coaster 3 years after Saw, but what I am saying is that there will come a point when construction at Thorpe will slow.

When you say very very parks build coasters year after year. Well Thorpe isn't. I'm not denying we are lucky to have another coaster 3 years after Saw, but what I am saying is that there will come a point when construction at Thorpe will slow.

Theoretically no, the park could build a new coaster every three years for thirty years, realistically though, there will be a point where the size alone of the park will become an issue. I would also assume that Merlin would not want Thorpe to grow too far ahead of alton in terms of coasters either, but hey who knows.

Because it's not like Alton is getting a coaster 3 years after 13.Personally, I would rather have bigger installments but less often. Sadly that's not the most cost effective it seems for Merlin.EDIT: maybe we need a sarcasm detector..

A nice shiny white crane arrived on-site today, along with this a big truck with a blue container behind... Anyone want to take a guess as to what was inside the container?

Anyone want to take a guess as to what was inside the container?

Father Time?I don't get it, are you gonna tell us something you know or are we really just guessing...

A nice shiny white crane arrived on-site today, along with this a big truck with a blue container behind... Anyone want to take a guess as to what was inside the container?

TOILETS. NO WAY!? :blink:Seriously though, if that's true and there is a crane, that's a sure sign support's/track's not far from arriving? Did the blue container say anything on it? It might be the first parts of the station or even the track/supports...Given that The Swarm's is sand-filled and therefore immensely heavy (much more so than Saw's track, and that arrived late September 2008 because I'm imagining it was easier to put into place), the track may well be arriving sooner than we think, especially seeing as the lift will not be vertical and will be harder to erect; I can't see it's erection (har-dee-har-dee-har) being as swift as Saw's, which... took about five days? Anyone remember how long Inferno took? Yeah, The Swarm's will probably be longer than that; it's taller and the walkways are wider after all.Any news on the footer completion?

I'm so looking forward to seeing the construction phase, I'm unable to visit the park I'm the near future due to an illness so please post some pics on here, I guess the building blog will take place in swarms mini site.

Just been trawling through old construction photos of nemesis inferno, and track for that had arrived and the first drop out of the station commenced on 9th of august, track was not complete until october the 23rd!!! Just a tad longer than saw's track construction!!!Photos here if anyones interested Nemesis Inferno Construction Gallery

Porta-loo's! Yaaaaaaay. Construction is well under way then. I would imagine that track will arrive in 6-8 weeks and will probably take around 2-3 weeks to construct. But hey, that is just a guess based on the countless constructions I have followed over the years. I would say the land prep, landscaping and theming on this one is going to take the longest time.

Yeah for sure about the land prep, landscaping and general post construction- that takes the longest. It's amazing how many advancements have brought the whole construction industry forward that have enabled to reduce construction times. However I think B&M coasters in general take longer to construct due to their "heavy duty" nature. I'd hazard a guess and say it'll take less time to construct than Inferno though!