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The Swarm


JoshC.

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Where do I begin with this?! You want them to set up tents as buildings?! You were just against tents full stop!The reason hogsmeade exists is because it is a shopping venue! The reason the expedition Everest village exists is because in a 500 acre theme park there is room for that kind of thing! The reason towers street exists is because it is also a shopping venue.Tell me, have you suddenly decided that aliens like the swarm are gonna leave the blooming village bakery standing because they want to " be able to get a fresh loaf in the morning"?!I was open to you voicing your opinion but Jesus, youre story has more holes than one of your dodgy tents!

If you're going to try and rip me to shreads without even trying to understand the concept of what I am saying, don't expect me not to retaliate.1. Tents as buildings, are just fine. Just as you get a wide range of buildings, you get a wide range of tents. Some campfire style white tents that look, trashed around a campfire attacked by the swarm, work a lot better, than a corporate gazebo with well kept lawn. Notice the difference? Are you really that nieve to think I suggested having a ride themed to corporate marquees?2. That's totally irrelevent. Buildings can serve multiple purposes, of themeing and shops, and would work A LOT better than shipping containers. Besides which, I'm not suggesting anything of that scale, I'm suggesting a few 2 story buildings, which line the edge of the island to detract from the open-ness of the space. Cheap, effective, and with little need for space.3. I have no idea what you're on about, I never said to 'leave a village bakery', please don't go off on a tangent.4. I see, now you notice, that my tents idea should not be intact corporate marquees? I see someone is just twisting my words to emphasise their point. Genius.Furthermore, more comments on themeing and ride quality are echoed beyond the Thorpe Park community, in the wider coaster community. I'll leave it there, lets just see where The Swarm ranks, in what is considered the official coaster ranking poll, the Mitch Hawker poll.
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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.

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^ Love it Benin. Despite the fact that, internationally, parks actually use the ranks of their coasters in the poll to promote them, it 'ain't worth anything'....And to share some of the wider coaster communities comments:"So B&M have produced another impressive looking, boring ride?""I'm perhaps in the minority - but I liked Swarm.""it's likely because it's forceless. ""its NOT amazing as in you wont come off saying WOW that was the best ride ever etc""The thing seems like it has started off on the right foot but then just lost its inspiration.""I'd give it 3 stars, 3 1/2 at a push."Looks like I'm certainly not alone.Mark9, and those comments echo exactly what I said! I gave it 6/10, not terrible, not great. So, yes, exactly like that!

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Sure you don't mean the Golden Ticket Awards rather than Mitch Hawker? I don't care much for the Golden Tickets due to the overally American bias it gains, but the Hawker ones are even worse for it...Meh, whatever... The one opinion that matters to me is my own, and since I found Raptor to be fab, I reckon Swarm will be too... Not every ride is designed to be intense grey out inducing machines that require a 10 minute rest period... I ADORE re-rideable rides more than intense ones at times, because often enough, fun trumps intensity quite a lot...As an aside, one of your negative points is something OUTSIDE the ride's area and that does reek of being picky against it let's be honest... If we gave rides negative marks for being able to see things from other parts of the park then that would count for near enough every single ride in the world...

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^ To the best of my memory, I'm sure I've seen parks making claims based on Mitch Hawker, but you may well be right, in fairness, I can't think of any specific examples.And I totally agree. My opinion is as outlined, the only reason I have continued is due to the general agressive nature of replies. With regard to fun factor, quite right again, Th13teen has it, Rush has it, but neither are amazing. They're good, fun, rides, this is what The Swarm is (just, minus the gimmicks and mis-advertising of Th13teen, I'm talking purely of ride experience).I accept where you're coming from there, but to me, if the actors and signs extend to that area, then, it's part of the area. Literally outside the tent was a soldier/actor, so to me, that's immediately making it part of the area. Again, I'm only talking from the perspective of walking around the area. I don't expect Thorpe to make a ride where I can't see around, I'm talking a few buildings at eye level to make the area feel more complete, rather than a scrap yard. In that sense, many parks do achieve breaking up areas that are, infact, rather close together, quite well, PortAventura being a perfect example of this. Until you are on the rides, you could forget the rest of the park existed. It's immersive, it's atmospheric, and it's more what I was expecting.Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Swarm is bad, but also, it's not good, and certainly could be better, just like air, fun, re-rideable, but not insane, amazing, or incredibe.

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There were actors on the entrance bridge. Is that part of the area too? You'd have thought people would be happy there was extra stuff not just around the immediate area of the ride, but instead just more criticism. Thorpe could be forgiven for wondering why they bother.

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I find it odd that the coaster community seems adamant that the next coaster instalment is going to be most intense yet. Sure 13 had misleading advertising but the plans weren't anything crazy. The Wingrider design means by its nature we weren't going to get the next Nemesis.I can see The Swarm fitting in with Inferno as a staple, reliable ride. Meanwhile, Stealth struggles to open and Saw and Colossus can have unpleasantly rough rides.

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Adam, seriously, actually consider what I am saying. This area, next to the Swarm, has actors in it, who are trying to build atmopshere and start the storyline. They are not bridge actors, they're effectively mascots, and work very well in their own right. They create a sense of excitement at the start of the day, and are only there briefly. The actors in the area, and near the area, are serving a very different purpose; to start the story and make you part of the attraction. By extending this to an area that is not part of the attraction, and also adding signs about the ride (which again, extends the ride area, and makes you feel it is part of the attraction), effectively makes this part of the ride. I wouldn't even complain if it was even slightly themed, but it isn't, it's a complete stark contrast to destruction, soldiers, choas, surrounding you, and then, with no real boundary at all, you find perfectly kept lawn and tent. See what I'm getting at?I don't knock Thorpe for trying, and for comparison with smaller UK theme parks, it's very good indeed. But with comparison on an internatioanl scale, and infact, the parks Merlin want to compete with (Disney/Busch/Universal), it is not even close to them. My review is comparing as such, and this is why it is generally negative, because, it simply is not in the same league as these other parks.

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Sorry that I was so pessimistic about The Swarm! I went today and it far exceeded my expectations! Weather: RainingTemperature: 9-12 degreesArrival: 9:50 (gates opened much earlier though)Swarm queue time (10 AM) 90 Minutes (No fastrack for 1 hour), this was the total queue in operation, no more and no less. It included the section over the other side of the station.Opinion of queue; The queue is actually rather enjoyable, yes it is rather chaotic and zigzag everywhere in a few square meters, but the constant TV news playing builds great tension, as well as the queue constantly within the action of the swarm. The queue moves beautifully at the moment because they had either no or very few fastrack, it’s a great feeling to know you are getting somewhere, however I did notice the difference at about 11, when fastrack was put into operation, I worry that it will become worse! The queue line is entertaining for theme and is nice and open so you do not feel like a sardine!Station: looks good, however the Front queue ticket holders cause great confusion and headaches for staff and guests, the front seat queue was really short and I was only a few cars behind my original position.Area: looked great and reminded me of the Saw area when that first opened.Thoughts and criticism;I don’t really have any, the ride is great (not top 10 great, but none the less) I worry that themes such as the News TV will eventually break and never be fixed, I did wonder why Thorpe don’t have real adverts in between parts of the ‘News coverage’...makes money and fits in unlike a random monitor in queue! I thought it was expected but disgraceful to sell fastrack for the swarm on the opening weekend, I don’t see why. Everyone should get a fair share, on the main opening weekend, and then sell fastrack!After The Swarm, it was about 12 and I left to go to Chessington AP which was very quite in comparison, but a great day all around!
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How were bridge actors not there to 'start the story' when they were in the same costumes as the ones on the island, and were surrounded by supplies boxes and other such appropriate detailing?But meh, I can see you're determined not to see anything positively so don't think there's much point continuing this.

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I have now been on the Swarm and I was VERY impressed!Completley fantastic, forceful in places yet smooth!I WILL BE WRITING A FULL REVIEW OF THE SWARM HOPEFULLY LATER TODAY.RIDECOUNT:The Swarm x3Colossus x1Nemesis inferno x1Rumba rapids x1(I only went for half a day (second half))

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Adam, because they're there to build excitement, just in the same way you'll see Buzz Lightyear and various other disney characters around disney parks. They're there with props, but not to tell a story, they're independant from the ride itself; where the small details very much do exist to tell the story....despite saying it's a good ride from the start, just not amazing, yep, I see no positives here at all. Quite right, there isn't much point continuing this any further.

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1. Tents as buildings, are just fine. Just as you get a wide range of buildings, you get a wide range of tents. Some campfire style white tents that look, trashed around a campfire attacked by the swarm, work a lot better, than a corporate gazebo with well kept lawn. Notice the difference? Are you really that nieve to think I suggested having a ride themed to corporate marquees?

This is a quaint village that has been attacked by an alien race, not a camping site. If your talking about the Corporate Gazebo being out of place then wouldn't camping tents be too? (I know the gazebo is a different kettle of fish, but you know what I mean.) Thorpe were hardly going to move their Conference/Meeting Gazebo just for The Swarm were they? They are restricted for space as it is, and changing its location would be costly and kind of stupid because its current location is quite out of the way (well it was before The Swarm came along) and fairly picturesque in comparison to the rest of the park.

2. That's totally irrelevent. Buildings can serve multiple purposes, of themeing and shops, and would work A LOT better than shipping containers. Besides which, I'm not suggesting anything of that scale, I'm suggesting a few 2 story buildings, which line the edge of the island to detract from the open-ness of the space. Cheap, effective, and with little need for space.

Once again, The Swarm's theme is based around a small village in which the military arrived at to help people out, hence the actors dressed as soldiers. In my opinion, the idea of the shipping container shop is that it has been quickly set up by the army so that survivors can get supplies they urgently need in this time of distress. You wouldn't see a normal shop named 'emergency supplies' would you? The island is fairly tight for space, or it seems to be judging from pictures (I will make my own judgement tomorrow) and the far end of the island is an opening for Island A, the proposed area for the 2015 area. Thorpe will not invest in some buildings that will need to be moved/taken down by 2015. As for the other borders of the island, It looks like there is no room for two story buildings and they would be quite expensive to construct. Unless you are talking about cardboard cut outs which would just look tacky.I will make my judgement on the island tomorrow and might put up a review, to join the several others on here already :wub:
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The buildings are idealistic, ie: the remains of the destroyed vilage, however, to quite nicely fit the theme, tents would be emergency accomodation, as the homes have been destroyed. Both could work well.Again, if land was used differently there is suitable space, but simply filling in a little more lake (and not vast amounts), would work. As for moving buildings, all you do is build them with a walkway underneath/through the first floor, kind like a courtyard entrance. I can see people considering this expensive, but, as I have said a few times now, it's commonly done in Diney/Universal/Busch, and they are the parks Thorpe competes with.

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After going again today, I really don't see the grumble with the tent. Yes, it's there. However, it's on your right as you enter the island, whereas practically everything else is on the left. I don't know how many people are really going to think 'look at this random, bland, stupid tent' when there's a 127ft monster in front of them, along with copious theming elements. Personally, I think if people grumble about the tent taking away from the atmosphere, they may as well grumble about Depth Charge being there, as that if anything distracts you more, and the destroyed fire engine has been placed adjacent to it. With all respect Rob, the grumble about the tent sounds more like trying to find a problem with the addition, as opposed to a genuine problem that there is. Also with regards to the comment about Thorpe competing with Disney, Universal, etc., I wouldn't agree with that. Merlin are competing with these companies, in the sense that they are trying to become the biggest theme park company in the world. Thorpe are currently more competing to become the best place for teenagers and for thrill rides, so in a way, Thorpe themselves are competing more with the likes of Six Flags, and I say Thore are doing VERY well..Anyways, as said, I went again today. I was able to ride Swarm twice, and a near enough full queue with practically no Fastrack users took 70 minutes. A queue 2/3 full with Fastrack also took about 70 minutes. I'd say that the queue is more than worth queueing in for a couple of hours, though I can see why people might take a disliking to it. Also got to try the back left, and I agree that it is very intense. I still stand by my original ranking of 10/10 and that it is the best ride I've ever been on!(Also, I think I may have seen SamCham on park today! :wub:)

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I think people are being quite unfair to rob now. He's toned down his criticism to be easier on people's ears, but yet people refuse to accept that this is his opinion!Different people have different expectations and tolerances... For example, I find nimferno incredibly dull and force less, while others love it.Rob makes valid points, some stronger that what others may feel. But there's no need to be so stubborn in refusing his opinion... That is hypocritical!

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