On 8/6/2022 at 7:34 PM, Mattgwise said:

Disgusting and the park should be ashamed letting a ride get in this condition! But hey they can hold things in place with chewing gum so it's all good I guess! Saves on the glue! 

 

It really is grim and needs some TLC.  The graffiti aswell is disgusting - I saw one a couple a months ago with a phone number and to call for sex?!  It was there on my following visit a few weeks later.  I haven’t been to Thorpe since May and I’ve developed a strong disliking of the place - the word skanky seems too nice to describe it 

I have a new found appreciation for this ride since our hot weekend visit. The intensity almost made me grey out which I've never experienced on a ride before. I was drinking plenty of water but I guess the heat still affected me. That and we had to wait for a "Colossus Clone" cleanup in the direct sun before riding. It's just a shame the area is so grimy & disgusting.

1 hour ago, Stuntman707 said:

I have a new found appreciation for this ride since our hot weekend visit. The intensity almost made me grey out which I've never experienced on a ride before. I was drinking plenty of water but I guess the heat still affected me. That and we had to wait for a "Colossus Clone" cleanup in the direct sun before riding. It's just a shame the area is so grimy & disgusting.

Are you talking about the low turn by the helicopter? I quite consistently greyed out there last year.

 

Is the ride getting more intense with age, I wonder?

23 minutes ago, Matt N said:

Are you talking about the low turn by the helicopter? I quite consistently greyed out there last year.

 

Is the ride getting more intense with age, I wonder?

I think it was just after that turn where it does the corkscrew.

Just to say - the park looks absolutely brilliant at night, the lighting etc is fab BUT the Swarm seems to be the odd one out. So much bright white flood lighting. And same for the station, no ambience at all. Is this because the ride was designed with permanent lighting from the start, unlike the others so it’s just sort of stuck how it is? 

Completely agree with this. 

 

No ambiance in the station at all, lack of audio and bright lights.

 

Operations were dreadful on the Swarm yesterday evening, never seen it operated so badly. Stacking every train, some for 4/5 minutes.

Station organ audio is back and some audio added to the lifthill too. 

 

The most welcome change however is that the Swarm vests no longer lock at dispatch, making for a far more comfortable ride. This brings it in line with more modern B&M Wing Riders.

Haven’t ridden any other B&M Wing coasters so don’t know what you mean when you say the vests don’t lock on dispatch. Could someone explain what that means and how it makes it more comfortable?

6 hours ago, Mattgwise said:

The most welcome change however is that the Swarm vests no longer lock at dispatch, making for a far more comfortable ride. This brings it in line with more modern B&M Wing Riders.

 

That is great to hear! The Swarm isn't normally a ride I re-ride a lot due to this reason, so I'm looking forward to getting back on that! 

 

43 minutes ago, tactic said:

Haven’t ridden any other B&M Wing coasters so don’t know what you mean when you say the vests don’t lock on dispatch. Could someone explain what that means and how it makes it more comfortable?

 

The Swarms vest restraints have locked into place when the ride dispatches, and throughout the ride gets tighter and tighter. By the time I'm on the breakrun, its so tight on the chest its incredibly uncomfortable and I can't wait to get off. Have found this got worse in recent years too.

 

Now, only the restraint will lock into place and the vests will allow you to move more, a bit like a car seat-belt.

2 hours ago, Cal said:

Now, only the restraint will lock into place and the vests will allow you to move more, a bit like a car seat-belt.

Oh nice, that’s definitely a better change, don’t see why they didn’t do that in the first place.

Swarm is running on one train it would appear, judging by ride availability.

It was definitely on one train Sunday, not through choice. Hopefully whatever the issue is gets resolved soon 

B&M coasters are certainly not the reliable rides their reputation makes them out to be.

16 hours ago, Coaster_Contrarian said:

B&M coasters are certainly not the reliable rides their reputation makes them out to be.

 

Username checks out.

18 hours ago, Coaster_Contrarian said:

B&M coasters are certainly not the reliable rides their reputation makes them out to be.

 

Yikes. 

Two trains yesterday, Saturday.

Indeed. Went down quite often though, and the operations weren't the best.

Maybe this is a hot take - but is anyone else finding the Swarm to be really dreary lately?

The actual coaster itself is still fab - but the area and theme just feels more dull and lifeless than ever.

 

The main offender to me is the gentle organ / guitar chord music in the station - I find it so boring and depressing, and just doesn’t seem to set the tone for the ride at all.  I didn’t particularly care for the ‘alien sounds’ that were in there when it opened either, but it was a lot better than this.

 

The whole area is also looking very tired and run down. Since it’s supposed to be an unfolding alien invasion, there’s no reason that everything should look so old. The faded pink fire engine in particular looks terrible.

Also not one of the TVs in the queue work at all, and haven’t really for years, making the news audio feel a bit weird.

In fact, not one of the effects actually work….

 

The dispatch audio is dreary and misses the mark for me too. The aliens have supposedly ripped the roof off the church and are taking people away, and the dispatch is a very calm well spoken person saying “this is it. There is no escaping the swarm. Sit back and pray”… come on. Where’s the drama?

 

I think we could either do with the original YMA6-based track back, blasting across the area, or if not that, something else. The music and audio for the Swarm just doesn’t work in my opinion since it was messed about with.
 

I think the Swarm is a great ride, but it’s suffering from neglect out there away from the rest of the park. It feels forgotten about!  I think it really does suffer from lack of footfall because of where it is.

Hopefully this is on the list for some TLC this winter.  The coaster is still standing, but the theme is dead in the water.

The queueline TVs have actually all been replaced/fixed earlier this season as I've seen a few photos of them working, hence why the news audio has also returned playing in the queue. 

However for some reason, they're never on? I've never seen them on since. Strange.

 

I agree the area could do with some TLC, would be great to see all the effects return as it definitely makes a difference. Personally quite like the area music how it is, however it would great for the sound effects to return. There used to be loud sound effects as the train passed certain areas, such as the tower at the last inversion. 

 

Agree the station music is very dull and boring though, could definitely do with a change there.

When I was there yesterday, I walked around the area and thought to myself "This is very dirty for a 'recent' airplane crash"...in that, the plane was covered by grime and muck and all that. The fire engine, as Inferno says, feels discoloured.

 

We all know Thorpe loved the abandoned/destroyed vibe which leads to the joke of them not having to upkeep things. But in this case, it certainly doesn't help. It's a minor gripe, but a gripe.

 

Swarm was - toilets aside - one of the only parts of the park to not see any Sparkle investment, and it does show.

 

 

I don't mind the dispatch audio, but it certainly could be more dramatic. The lack of effects is a real shame - even something as relatively simple as the Swarm screech going through the tower before the final inversion is sorely missed. In fact, I can't remember the last time I heard that Swarm screech?

 

The chopper had its blades spinning, but no smoke/lights (it did earlier in the year). The fire effect long gone. And the same with the water effects...it makes you question why they bothered installing them on Hyperia.

 

If we see another new coaster introduced to the park soon, it will almost definitely be behind Swarm, so it certainly needs some love. I just hope they do that love sooner rather than waiting until the new coaster comes.

16 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

If we see another new coaster introduced to the park soon, it will almost definitely be behind Swarm, so it certainly needs some love.

I had a similar thought - perhaps if there are plans afoot for a new coaster 3 years from now, a Swarm retheme (or “sort out”) might be coming just before, as it will finally get the passing traffic it needs!

First run yesterday..........the only coaster to have run this year.

12 years ago today, the Swarm photo shoot meet. Good times.

Got dragged/forced to the last You Me At Six gig tonight and they played The Swarm song.

 

It amused me.

 

Carry on.

Has anyone seen any of the queueline TVs on this year? 

 

Very strange decision to invest time and money getting them working again last year for them to be switched off a month later? 

 

I have a lot to praise about Thorpe in recent years, but their upkeep of any kind of effects has always been shocking. Not a single effect working on Swarm Island. The water by the fire engine is currently green and they haven't even bothered to fill up the area by the helicopter with water this year.

 

No Inferno mist effects or Stealth smoke effects on Sunday too. How hard is it to keep a smoke machine going 🤣