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"Swarm: D-Day" - Trip Reports

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I'll do a "proper report" (and you know I will) once I've worked out how to get the pictures off this crappy Apple product :p

Until then, I shall just say a massive thanks to Thorpe Park for the opportunity to ride The Swarm. For me, it's the best coaster in the UK since 1994. Having the chance to ride it on ERT was fantastic.

Thanks also to Ian obviously for organising and everyone else who helped keep me sane... Wait, no, you failed you bastards! Dagnabbit!
 

nadroJ

CF Legend
So, like Fraser I was mainly coming to the Live to see people as I'd already been on The Swarm, but wanted to see everybody else's reactions. SO gutted I had to miss ERT, sounds like it was a lot of fun =[

So my day began with a venture into Staines to retrieve AJ and Ed, because I'm nice like that. Big mistake. Vile traffic all the way into and out of the stupid place, and I kept going the wrong way <///3

Finally made it into Thorpe at about 10.25am, was a bit disappointed that they didn't have all the soldiers on the bridge like they did on Thursday, I was really impressed by that and figured it would happen again seeing as Saturday would be a lot busier.

I hate it when it rains like it did on Saturday, for some reason it makes me feel like I can't be bothered to be fun and it really puts a dampener on my day =[.

Anyway, I had fun for the short time I was on park, here are some highlights for me:

- The two hour queue going reeeeeaallllyyyy quickly!
- Recieving hilarious text from the one and only Gavin <3
- The Swarm queue antics including balancing crisps and chocolate on Nic's bag, rubbish in Bean's hood, 'accidently' hitting a certain someone in the face with a crisp packet triangle (courtesy of Ian), "riddle me this", Emo Priest now being Emo Reporter, Hipster Priest knowing my name (how???) and following me around.
- The Swarm continuing to be a good solid ride.
- KeFAB
- Going on the rapids as a time killer and Sam ending up getting drenched
- Pom Bears courtesy of Phil <3
- Crowd surge of certain death for Stealth, thwarted by linking arms and generally being loud
- Stealth and Scarlet yelling obscenities <3
- Richard's hernia
- The rain spiting everyone on Slammer whilst I sat and INDULGED in chocolate covered noms
- Chilling outside Saw and promoting GAY with AJ, floor recommendation and Phil's Pleasure Beach Map

Then I had to go home and I was annoyed. The end.
 

furie

SBOPD
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
I have images, so I can post a proper trip report - hurrah! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the actual rides or anything else so you'll just have to use some imagination ;)

We arrived very early and spotted Beans and the Mark/cs in the queue for the AP. I was waiting for Karen as one of her rabble was coming in with us as a carer for SSIL_Furie (turns out it was the rabbliest rabbler, Phil ;) ).

So we hung back a little as the AP queue grew. This was very poor. The staff were coming round the queue scanning the APs with a hand scanner. We kept back while we waited but eventually just got in the line in case Phil arrived. There was a mass of people just got off a bus and it was looking like we'd have a three hour AP queue.

So they came round and got to us to scan the passes. I said we were waiting for a helper and they said it was okay. At that very moment, the gate opened and while we were caught "getting scanned", everyone behind us just legged it into a massive push to get in. So we ended up at the back of the AP queue anyway :roll: Just why on earth do this? Just scan at the gate as the park opens surely? Stupid Thorpe.

Anyway, it was about a ten minute queue and we got in fine, though Karen was in quicker on a standard ticket (including queueing to buy it) than we were :roll:

We headed to The Swarm first, and SSIL_Furie used here spacker band to get Phil on the ride.

I stood around being unexcited and catching up with people. Also spent some time looking at the theming and being almost impressed.

theswarm.jpg

Thorpe have put a lot of effort into the ride area to make it look particularly broken, desolate and rough

SSIL_Furie returned and could already take on somebody else. She took Ian. Hurrah! While she was abusing using the disabled band, Mark decided to have a conversation about how it had to change because people were taking the piss. I did say "yes, we certainly have" and in the interest of friendship and decorum, he said "NO NO NO! I didn't mean you!" It was very kind Mark, but as I said "No, we've definitely abused it and taken the piss" ;)

SSIL_Furie and Ian returned and it was meet up time! So I went to the themed bogs in preparation for the multi-hour queue. They're quite themed:

theswarmtheme.jpg

Thorpe have done an excellent job, producing a themed area you really want to go to the toilet in

The queue was spiteful, but it went quickly enough. Catching up, abusing Tina, being goony - typical CF type stuff and before I knew it, two hours had got behind me and I was ready to run.

First ride on The Swarm I've detailed elsewhere, but I was shocked. I'd only come to be with CF, not to do any riding really, but the ride was so fantastic it made me eager to ride more. Hurray for reigniting enthusiasm.

It was clearly lunch-time after The Swarm, and SSIL_Furie wanted to abuse the pass some more. So I ended up taking her and REBEL over to Saw (I was enthused, not out of my mind) where they managed a quick battering with plenty of time left for lunch (PICNIC for the furie's, Rebel had sweet and sour noodly appendage things).

Heading to Stealth for the post-lunch meet-up I found a collection of bedraggled Joey's, Scarlet, Peep and others. They were playing the "wait outside the toilet though we don't know who is in there" game. I'm very good at this because I rarely have much of a clue who is where.

Stealth then and...

stealth.jpg

I am broken

Closed up with some fin testing going on (that's brake fins, not people from Finland or fish). They did some shoddy display thing advertising "the hunger games" while I shared out bits of picnic (and issued Jordan with her complimentary Pom Bears) and people smoked in the undesignated smoking area. I also very kindly helped Nic up onto a high bit of ground so she could watch the juggling titty show.

Stealth, like a well trained whore, opened to the salivating teens (and the drooling CFers) and we managed to get in pretty close to the front, though with a few breaks of normals between us.

It was the first time I've been on Stealth since opening year (I think) and it's still okay. It's got quite a fun launch and then bugger all else, but it's a buzz.

Stealth over and done with, Inferno next. The queue was exceptionally under opened and spilled out onto the midway. We also upset the FastTrack people by wanting all 50 of us through in one go. He couldn't (because of H&S) so four people (Will and who else?) ended up spited... Then he let them through anyway??? WHY???

Inferno then?
slammer.jpg

A raging melting pot of vim, venom and extreme action

Pretty standard. I like the ride. It's not "exceptional", but it's by the numbers, solid entertainment. It's fast and frenetic. Stone Cold did the favour of ridding the world of Fraser's umbrella on the ride by launching it at the unsuspecting public. It was all Fraser's fault!!!

Off then to "over there". No real plan, but just heading away. We stopped outside of Slammer and Ian stood back to wait for everyone to go on the ride. Instead, everyone just stood with him looking to let the people past who were ehading on the ride... Which was nobody... Then Neal piped up he wanted to do it and took a few pathetic stragglers with him ;)

I wasn't going to do the Slammer thing so stood by to take photos:
inferno.jpg

Unloved by many due to headache inducing qualities

It rained. A lot. I even felt sorry for Stone Cold and told him where to purchase decent coffee, that's how bad it was.

We all crammed under some shelter:
shelter.jpg

Some good cover, but smelled faintly of wee

It was right by the toilets and not the best, but at least it was dry. Apparently a coffee cup lid makes for a poor umbrella alternative.

Everyone headed to Saw then, where the group semi-split between "lovers" and "loathers"... Hmmm, it's funny when you put it like that and look at the people who didn't go on it just how ironic that is.... ;)

I read my park map, but couldn't see the Big One anywhere. We faffed and farted and waited.

People came off Saw though claiming it was good:
saw.jpg

Cold, rough and unreliable, but people seem to love it anyway.

We spited Colossus by having a dinner break before the ERT. Not that i'ts a great loss, but it's a very photogenic coaster:
colossus.jpg

Loopy, yet undeniably unpleasant and hateful, though great to photograph.

And that's pretty much your lot. ERT went on a lot (I've described the ride in excruciatingly goony detail elsewhere) and was generally an absolute highlight not just of the day, but one of the best ERT sessions ever. The coaster was superb in the dark, the staff were excellent, operations (all day) were very good.

Everything was just right for the live. Despite myself, I actually had a superb day at Thorpe. Things ran pretty well, CF was fabulous and the new ride outstanding. Amazing really considering how poor my opinion of Thorpe was previously.

So a huge thanks to Ian and Thorpe and also a really well done to Thorpe and their staff for generally being really on top of their game. Plus, they've made a great choice on their new coaster.

Superb, roll on Yaaaaaaaaarmouth! Thanks for reading ;)
 

Beans

Hyper Poster
I just love Furie reports, always entertaining, and hey I just couldn't be bothered to infuriate peeps with my camera, (New camera was not worthy of getting it wet)....it was bad enough the day being rainy but made up with great company and yes I do seem to be subjected to batter and old person day, done with the best possible taste!!
 

Will

Strata Poster
Forget everything you thought you knew about Thorpe Park. The Swarm has landed…

Not gonna lie – once again, my expectations coming into the Live were low, even for me. A combination of factors had me expecting something on a par with the ill-fated Th13teen Live, albeit with a better (thus busier) coaster and ultimately **** weather. Which, as a great wizard once said, goes to show that even the best of us(!!!) must sometimes eat our words – not only was March 17th perhaps my best day at Thorpe in a good few years, but bad news – this warrants a trip report. It’s the first time I’ve metaphorically put pen to paper in the aftermath of a CF trip since Chessington last April (*sentimental sigh*) but also, after I put so much effort into bitching and moaning about the park this time three years ago, I feel that judging from the beginning of the 2012 season, the newfound strengths of Thorpe Park deserve the highest praise – and we ALL know how much I loathe saying nice things!

So, according to my hand-scribbled notes from Saturday night, I’m currently sitting amidst the cat hairs on Neal’s sofa. The others are watching Titanic II which looks like ****, with all the production values of something Tommy Wiseaux would wash his hands of, whereas the memories of a fab day are still making me laugh considerably more than this woeful cinematic effort.

Yet, to refer to the start of the day as a bleak March morning would certainly go some distance towards being classed as an understatement. Thorpe’s typically uninspiring cloak of nimbostratus was in attendance long before even the earlybirds of the CF world, and what was now drizzle but appeared unlikely to remain as inoffensive had set in around the time Neal had awoken us for Formula 1. Not the most inspiring of starts, but for one thing – after 6 rides the previous day, I was already a huge fan of the awesome new steel structure that loomed at us from all angles as myself, Neal, Fraser and Richard made our way through the new island, and there could be no denying that these stunning visuals were enough to enliven even the dullest of Surrey mornings. The formalities of being reunited with and greeting friends who’d been absent from my life since October or even longer ago were thus interspersed with goony moments of staring open-mouthed at track – surely an unfamiliar sight at Thorpe Park.

At length, it was 10:40 (give or take) and the announcement of the day’s first ride brought joy, for it was indeed to be the aforementioned B&M delights! Entrance signs threatened us with 100 minutes or so ahead, which could have been much worse, and I strategically positioned myself around Neal, Sue, Karen, Katie and Phil in order to pass the time, with Joey, Scarlet and co. ahead in case of emergencies, and this appeared to pay off – each time I checked my watch, another 10 or 15 minutes seemed to have gone by, and all was well with the world until we neared the station – or at least, thought we have done. See, as most of you readers found out the hard way – there’s another rather sizeable cattlepen to negotiate on the other side of the track, and at this point, the ride proceeded to break down. This wasn’t exactly a fun time and patience was clearly running out in a few quarters of the line, but as Scarlet’s mentioned, we managed to keep each other sane, I had a nice catch-up with Joey. Also, Tarin remembered she’d brought me liquorice allsorts (which is to say, a relative had passed them on after Christmas, asking if she knew anyone who liked the marmite of the confectionery world. Turns out she knew just the man.) which Neal proceeded to commandeer. Anyway, this bit of the queue line WAS perhaps a bit dull, so reading/writing about it will probably be likewise – annoying as it might be, there was much joy when the ‘The Swarm is WORKING again, boys and girls’ announcement launched its assault on our eardrums and our movement towards the station could resume and 20 minutes later, me and Joey were in the second bay on the magical, magical right hand side of the station. There appeared to be some confusion with the pair in the front of us, leading to a staff member asking if we wanted front seats – needless to say, I nearly took the guy’s hand off – ‘Is the Pope a Catholic?!’. I’d hazard a guess that it was nearly 4 years since Joey had seen me enthuse so emphatically about a coaster, he certainly seemed confused – I was just glad that 145 minutes of queue line hadn’t dampened the enthusiasm, and the ride proceeded to proof precisely why – it was worth even the most frustrating of those minutes, and so my love affair with the wingwalker continued. I still like how I’m noticing new things each time I ride, and every ride seems to be that little bit different – it took me a few rides to appreciate the extent to which the track interacts with the unexpectedly great theming, and while I know the diehards will disagree with me, I think there’s a lot to be said for my not watching POVs and other spoilers before my first ride – first drop aside, I had no idea what to expect on Friday, and I’m told that made my reactions all the more entertaining – perhaps the fact that I really wasn’t expecting miracles has made it all the better! So anyway, I think you’ve gathered that I’m a huge fan of The Swarm, but there’ll be more on that later!

With Neal’s metaphorical swearbox of clichéd Swarm praise already filled to the point of overflowing, we left the graceful B&M in all its majesty to find surprisingly few CFers, despite being the last off. Apparently, it was lunch time. During The Swarm queue, I’d heard rumours that the coaster wasn’t the only exciting addition to the area, and indeed, whilst talk of pig-in-a-bun (that’s pork, not GAMMON, but I got one on Monday, so all is good) turned out to be an exaggeration, epic carvery sandwiches really WERE available, and since 4 of us were available, Sue managed to make them a meagre £3 each (that’s less than a 12 inch Subway, kids)! ‘Woah, woah, woah – let me get this straight,’ I proclaimed, as only I can, ‘We’ve got Swarm’s first drop, Swarm’s main helix, Swarm’s second inversion, affordable carvery sandwiches with chilli jam – WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH Thorpe Park!?!?’ To compound the amusement, Tina, who was telling us her life story in coaster format at the time, pointed out a member of Thorpe’s management standing behind me as this rare positive rant happened, so I hope he took the praise as it was intended! After the sandwich based joys, me and Neal had to take a trip to the car (which was tricky, as it turns out a LOT of people with pretty blue Clios come to Thorpe) and Sue and Ginger Matt came along for the ride for some reason. Only Neal really seemed to understand why – something to do with drink bottles and warmer clothes. It wasn’t very exciting, and neither was the toilet visit that followed, though I believe Sue has some fantasy-shattering photographic evidence to the contrary! There was still some time to kill before the meet and Matt hadn’t been to Thorpe in years, so we went for a wander to show him the sights before making our way to Stealth.

I really hate to say it, but Stealth was shut when we arrived. I guess you can’t win ‘em all. Some promotional event to do with the Hunger Games was apparently taking place outside the entrance involving shouty people in military costume and a silent circle pit – I wasn’t paying much attention, but I’m sure somebody here understood it? Igniting a cigarette I wasn’t really anywhere near stressed enough to need, I grabbed some people I like and occupied a wall while we waited for Stealth to sort its life out, which didn’t take long at all. As a result, we were… somewhere near pole position when it did, only waiting 10 or 15 minutes for the launch. Before the queue, Mark, Karen, Phil, Tarin and a few others had been engaged in musical debate (and by the way, Supernatural just appeared on shuffle – kept myself sane doing a rather camp rendition of it in a LONG queue on the M42 yesterday! …and you still need to give Imaginaerum a go, it’s PURE GhosterForce) and thus the time was passed continuing in this vein by way of nicotine addictions, the Daily Mail (‘I don’t NEED any more bloody RAGE in my life, I’ve got YOU, Neal and Richard!!) and, perhaps more disturbingly, the pros and cons of the post-coital cuddle.

In the station, I was cruelly spited by Furie :)P) and thus ended up riding with Tarin, who, it transpires, doesn’t like Stealth very much either, and if coasters had human emotions, then I reckon Stealth would have been in a rather petulant mood on Saturday, with everyone’s attention focused squarely on the superior, smooth, imaginative new kid on the block. Either way, it was definitely kicking and even riding near the front, a few of us left the ride with headaches or similar.

Next on the agenda was another coaster which was seriously suffering beneath the shadow of its B&M teammate, and Nemesis Inferno was not in possession of the most amusing queue of the day – at least until myself, Sue, John and… anyone else who was there, were separated from the main group by a member of staff, claiming they were meant to put the chain across ages ago! I hadn’t actually noticed until Richard & Neal began a formidable combined vocal onslaught, giving me an opportunity to banter with the man with the chain – advising him to keep pictures of various CF members at the park entrance, ensuring they weren’t let into the park in future. Sensing that I had a point and that defeat was now a certainy, Mr. Manwithachain (who’s real name I intended to make a note of, but alas he’s now destined to join the ranks of Thorpe’s unsung heroes – Jenny from Swarm is clearly the true star of the few days!) allowed us through to join the rest of the group. Heh-heh-heh. ANYWAY, on Friday, Inferno had given me one of its few dull rides, feeling really lacklustre and oddly confined compared with SWARM, but despite our mid-train location, those 24 hours had clearly proved all important in giving the ride chance to wake up, and as whoever I was with agreed (despite our mock arguments in the station, I forget who that was), and it was good. Also notable was the fact that Detonator appeared to have packed up – that’s another ride that, reliability aside, is having a brilliant start to the 2012 season, affording far better views this year, airtime by the **** bucket load and causing hilarity by refusing to let Nic out of the restraint afterwards!

And so, the group reunited and wandered in the direction of Slammer (I spent the day calling all the rides, especially those beginning with S by the wrong names, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one) and alas, it was at this point that the weather would once again make its presence felt. Not many of us seemed to want to ride Slammer for reasons that would become apparent even more quickly than usual, indeed the ambiguous toilets proved more popular. The wait wasn’t a bad one though – Sue, who it transpired had, unbeknownst to her, ended up with a sizeable rock in her bag (coincidentally, after the ride, I’d find an empty packet of smoky bacon crisps in mine(?) and this wasn’t the only salty snack packaging that would make an unscheduled appearance at some point during the day) was up to her usual tricks – being overly friendly and talking to new people. But this pair, one named Dan and the other, whose hoodie, helpfully for those of us with next to no short term memory, identified him as Jordan, were amusing – turned out they’d signed up after being stuck behind us in a queue amidst the brilliance that was last October, and one phrase stood out particularly vividly in their memories: ‘SHE’S A WITCH!’ And so, the queue progressed, steered left by me in order to avoid a group of careless girls equipped with overly full… drinks bottles, the weather took another turn for the worse, causing the girl on the announcer to warn us ‘The weather is getting more rainier which might make your ride on Slammer more uncomfortable than usual *pause* but also more funner!’ This was more than I could handle, and she was duly reprimanded, but appeared suitably apologetic.

Seemingly at great length, our harnesses were locked and, you guessed it, at this point, the heavens opened in a BIG way, continuing for the duration of a ‘fray with Slammer’ that I classed as my most uncomfortable experience since spending a few days in the Arctic circle at the beginning of the year – anyone who remembers bloody Vertigo at Tivoli Gardens can get the general idea (‘I need a new hobby! I’m thinking… scuba diving might be warmer and drier than this!’) Having said that though, besides swearing and dripping (both of which we did a LOT of!), once locked in and subjected to repeated rotation, there was very little to do but laugh, and see the funny side the hardy nine of us most certainly did, even if one newcomer was sincerely regretting his vow to always wear summery shorts to Thorpe Park, while for my part, I was wishing I’d remembered to change out of my plimsolls in the car!

All the same, the argument that Slammer and CF-Lives are simply never to be mixed had only gained further weight and upon exiting the ride an additional two layers of clothing needed to be added to my person. Rapidly. The rain was perhaps my fault for commenting on how brilliant Swarm looked beneath menacing black clouds (there’s a silver lining if ever there was one!), and of course, the instant we left the ride, it would duly become lots less bad. Saw or Colossus was the decision that now faced us, and based on a horrific back row experience of the latter on Friday afternoon, I feel we sided correctly, though again, owing no doubt to the weather, our numbers were noticeably depleted, but those who DID ride could provide more than enough volume to make up for them during our drizzle-soaked 45 minute wait. Annoyingly, the cold I’d been battling with since Wednesday decided to re-emerge, thanks largely to Slammer, I suspect, but I’ll take this moment to thank Neal’s Mum for offering me Benylin in the morning, as well as the miracles of red bull and cherry lucozade, which kept me from crashing until we’d reached the safety of the Toby Carvery in the evening. Much of the queue was again devoted to winding up the newcomers, who’d yet to face Richard – Stone in turn seemed torn between horror and delight upon finding their origins lay in Cherry Hinton (Cambridgeshire) and the consequent mocking spawned a debate that provided the few non-umbrella based memorable moments of the line. Once again, the station was eventually reached, sparking the strange quote ‘There was a car! I wanted that car, but now it is gone and I am sad :( ’ from Richard. We sat at the front, and whilst Saw (for various complicated reasons, my first coaster of 2012, and a ride I consequently REALLY enjoyed) was undeniably brutal, but also bizarrely enjoyable, particularly the indoor drop and latter sections, continuing Thorpe’s trend of making basically NO sense in March of 2012.

Once again, there was nobody waiting for us upon exiting the ride, so, in a strange turn of events, I insisted that Sue walked to the toilets and back with me just to make sure I didn’t get left on my own – sure enough, everyone we’d left at Saw had also buggered off when we returned, but happily Tarin and brother with equally silly name appeared and knew the plan for meeting up ahead of the anxiously anticipated ERT even if we didn’t! So, taking the route past the fulltime scare maze which makes as little sense as it ever did, we walked towards Swarm, stopping when I spotted a group at the sandwich shop, including Mark who was exulting the delights of the meat and the eye-wateringly good mustard much as I’d done earlier. Mounting excitement, faff and a few trips to the souvenier shop from which I just had to get something (though I’m still baffled by my fancy new lighter, if AJ or others had any more success?) Just when I thought it couldn’t get much better, I realised what time it was and clicked that we’d be experiencing Swarm IN THE DARK – as everyone slowly congregated in the area, they were clearly in agreement that this was going to be something VERY special!

What followed did not disappoint – around 6:35, the crowd of us, plus some strangers who I’m told were SouthParks members (as Furie agreed, it’s always amusing to note how other forums have their equivalents of our members, and I spent a few daft minutes deciding who would have been whom) barrelled into the queue line. Making up for his early desertion at Stealth, Phil’s first ride was with me whether he liked it or not – we softened the blow by taking the back row on the left, and it was clear that his enthusiasm was equal to mine – I just can’t stress enough what a spectacular goal Thorpe Park have scored for themselves, Merlin and enthusiasts everywhere with this addition, and if this is the shape of things to come it’s a REAL turning point for the park. Next, I moved over to my preferred right hand side (it’s ever so slightly smoother, and I much prefer the experience of entering the first element from the far side) – in fact, perhaps the only downside of my second favourite seat was the interactions with the water features. I’m quite lazy, and as I said, ‘why have cotton when you can have silk?’ so as it turned out nobody else wanted it, I stayed in this seat for 4 consecutive laps, much to the amusement of ride staff – I was joined by Tarin for 2 or 3 of these, giving a non-enthusiast perspective on the joy that was occurring. “This is how it works – if I LIKE something, I like it a lot. If I DON’T like it, then it’s probably better off emigrating!” “Shut up, Will…” – perhaps a roundabout way of explaining that I’m not really given to praise, but when it’s offered, you KNOW something’s gone well! Anyway, rapidly running out of superlatives, I remained bewildered by the fact that the ride just seemed to get better every time despite the potential handicap of its location! Smooth, exciting and not excessively intense, it’s perhaps the perfect coaster for an ERT session as it took a good few consecutive rides before my stomach and head started to say ‘enough!’

Last Ride of the Day is a Nightwish song, and due to a bit of a maths fail on my part, mine ended up being alone on the 2nd row on the left (seriously, why do I even know that – I swear I’m never normally THIS goony!) but still grinning from ear to ear looking at my new 2nd favourite UK coaster in a way that I’d not looked at any ride that wasn’t Nemesis since 2009 – since which time I’ve not had a maiden ride on anything with an element coming close to rivalling Katun – but Swarm’s first drop severely complicates that issue!

Amidst the scattered but nevertheless noisy applause of a group of VERY satisfied coaster enthusiasts, an ERT session that had come close to perfection drew to a close – undeniably my favourite since the Denmark holiday, if not before! Unrecognisably happy, still rhapsodising (clearly the word of the day!) over the first drop, and still a little shocked and stunned by just how good the day had actually been, that same group of enthusiasts left the park in high spirits around 7:15.

541400_10150769791110864_503140863_11675374_1583058972_n.jpg


I think I speak for the whole bloody lot of us when I say ‘SWARM <3’; and thus ends my tale, and even though I’ve just bored you all senseless, I genuinely hope this isn’t the last of these rave reviews I feel the urge to throw together in what’s now seeming like an altogether more promising 2012 season than I’d thought prior to the weekend!

So it just leaves me to say a huge thank you to everyone and anyone at Thorpe Park who’s been involved in however small a way not only in creating the UK’s second best coaster, but in turning Thorpe into the park we experienced on Saturday, rather than the hassle many of us remember from seasons gone by (If you needed proof – I’ve already visited as much in 2012 as I did in 2011), and of course, a huge, huge thank you for the ERT – it may well have made my year! And it wasn’t just Thorpe, I haven’t got enough time or paper to say a full thank you to a lot of the people I spent the day with, but Mr. Bell stands out in particular for organising the day, the ERT and for brilliantly continuing the often thankless task of looking after his CFers, some, like myself, occasionally inclined to be ungrateful twats. But on March 17th, 2012, there was a brilliant coaster and awesome company - what more can a Will ask for, really?

Marvellous.
 

ATTACKHAMMER

Strata Poster
Sue, who it transpired had, unbeknownst to her, ended up with a sizeable rock in her bag (coincidentally, after the ride, I’d find an empty packet of smoky bacon crisps in mine(?) and this wasn’t the only salty snack packaging that would make an unscheduled appearance at some point during the day) was up to her usual tricks – being overly friendly and talking to new people. But this pair, one named Dan and the other, whose hoodie, helpfully for those of us with next to no short term memory, identified him as Jordan, were amusing – turned out they’d signed up after being stuck behind us in a queue amidst the brilliance that was last October, and one phrase stood out particularly vividly in their memories: ‘SHE’S A WITCH!’ And so, the queue progressed, steered left by me in order to avoid a group of careless girls equipped with overly full… drinks bottles, the weather took another turn for the worse, causing the girl on the announcer to warn us ‘The weather is getting more rainier which might make your ride on Slammer more uncomfortable than usual *pause* but also more funner!’ This was more than I could handle, and she was duly reprimanded, but appeared suitably apologetic.

Seemingly at great length, our harnesses were locked and, you guessed it, at this point, the heavens opened in a BIG way, continuing for the duration of a ‘fray with Slammer’ that I classed as my most uncomfortable experience since spending a few days in the Arctic circle at the beginning of the year – anyone who remembers bloody Vertigo at Tivoli Gardens can get the general idea (‘I need a new hobby! I’m thinking… scuba diving might be warmer and drier than this!’) Having said that though, besides swearing and dripping (both of which we did a LOT of!), once locked in and subjected to repeated rotation, there was very little to do but laugh, and see the funny side the hardy nine of us most certainly did, even if one newcomer was sincerely regretting his vow to always wear summery shorts to Thorpe Park, while for my part, I was wishing I’d remembered to change out of my plimsolls in the car!

Had the best and worst ride I've ever had on slammer! That was very amusing :lol:

Much of the queue was again devoted to winding up the newcomers, who’d yet to face Richard – Stone in turn seemed torn between horror and delight upon finding their origins lay in Cherry Hinton (Cambridgeshire) and the consequent mocking spawned a debate that provided the few non-umbrella based memorable moments of the line. Once again, the station was eventually reached, sparking the strange quote ‘There was a car! I wanted that car, but now it is gone and I am sad :( ’ from Richard. We sat at the front, and whilst Saw (for various complicated reasons, my first coaster of 2012, and a ride I consequently REALLY enjoyed) was undeniably brutal, but also bizarrely enjoyable, particularly the indoor drop and latter sections, continuing Thorpe’s trend of making basically NO sense in March of 2012.

Cherry Hinton and Cambridge are great places althought there are way to many supermarkets! :--D
 

kimahri

CF Legend
No, you're a festering carcass. I ment the dude who was walking round with a Grandad hat. Took a couple of groupshots next to Tina.
 

Jordanovichy

Credit Whore 2016
I would like to pass on a massive thank you to everyone involved with, what I can honestly say was my favourite day at Thorpe Park on Saturday. You CFlivers are a 100% cracking bunch and you are all truly amazing. It goes without saying the ERT was 110% brilliant, 7 times on The Swarm...in the dark, not many people can say they have done that already!

So thank you once again.
Jordan (the one with the name on his back! :D)

(And yes, the man with the grandpa's hat was ATTACKHAMMER'S dad)
 

tks

Strata Poster
Thank you to everyone who made my first trip to Thorpe in 3 years a good one.

Some highlights:
-Alex for letting me know you'd be at Thorpe the evening before <3
-Chino watch at Staines station
-Jordan for giving us a lift there. THANK YOU.
-Getting held up behind 4 black women in KFC
-"i'm on the edge of glory"
-pocketing g-a-y flyers.
-starting to feel like a dungeon dragon
-sitting out of slammer because it's an awful ride and knowing that people are getting drenched on it.
-Saw being the best ride at Thorpe.
-Scarlet for giving us a lift back to Staines in her sweet ride and mincing to Countess Luan.

-ERT - THANKS IAN. It turns out Swarm wasn't as mediocre as I thought it was.. It's not as good as Stealth or Saw.. But it ranks above Inferno and Colossus, so that counts for something right? It was good being able to ride it in different parts of the train as it makes quite a bit of difference. I think I preferred the front left in the end.. The first drop is pretty scary, although the restraints are so secure there's no fear you'll fall out..

And I LOVE the bit where it turns into the inline twist over the station, you get whipped on the left and pushed up into the harness. And The Swarm noise playing is ace!! Oh and being at the front on either side is good because you can quite a few foot choppers with the supports.. Tbh I didn't really notice the ones near the station because it disorientates you a bit too quickly to realise what is going on.

So yeh.. a good time! :D The less said about the encounter with the gypsies as Staines station the better. But let's just say they deserve all the bad press they get and are an awful people.
 

Beans

Hyper Poster
My god have just finished reading Wills post and I am exhausted, and Will that was Mike Vallis, Thorpe Park Manager who was standing behind us, and I think he did hear you, but hearing Swarm praise makes him happy....and much Swarm praise was heard that day....
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Well a bit of a bump incase you hadn't seen it already... but the documentary is now online...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsfR8y5zsF4&feature=relmfu[/youtube]
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Does it really matter though??

I think has done an awesome job putting it all together (especially when the footage was from three different days) and was defo one of my favourite documentaries to film, we had a lot of fun plus lots of rides of Swarm :)
 
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