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Thoughts on Swarm

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xkirstyx

Roller Poster
i went to tp today and managed swarm 7 times. i have to say the ride was really comfy and smooth. it broke down 3 times (from what i could see) in the day. it was enjoyable but lacked length.
 
Really glad you enjoyed the ride, but I do have one request. Can you use capital letters and punctuation in the appropriate places please. It makes your posts easier to read. Many thanks.
 
I'll move this to Polls and Opinions and tidy the topic title. Let us know your thoughts on the new ride CF, I'm eager to hear what you all make of it.

:D
 
One complaint I have is about the bag station they seemed to have loads of staff dressed up entertaining the guests but hardly any organising the queue which meant lots of empty seats on the ride but the queue would still be 10 minutes long. my grammar is awful.
 
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. It was not thrilling enough and after a couple of rides i had had enough and went and did Nemisis Inferno for a much more thrilling ride.
 
pebs34 said:
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. It was not thrilling enough and after a couple of rides i had had enough and went and did Nemisis Inferno for a much more thrilling ride.
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To be honest, I think that sometimes you need something which adds more substance than just intense thrill.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love a really intense, thrilling ride (Intamin mega/lite for instance) and the UK is desperate for a really "good" coaster.

However, The Swarm looks superb. It can't be over-stated how important good looking rides are to a place. Colossus rides like ****, but it's a very impressive looking coaster, the in-lines look superb. Most people visit a park once a year, so looks are as important as ride quality. As enthusiasts, we're skewed in our views.

However, The Swarm at least has a comfortable and fun ride along with it. So it's not only good looking, but it's a very ridable coaster. I think N:I is too (I don't find N:I particularly intense personally). Likewise, Stealth is a real buzz of a coaster. I think that Thorpe have a good breadth now of coasters in terms of "thrilling" and "good looking". The park is starting to hang together very nicely.

Like the new Alton coaster isn't going to be anything special as a ride (from an enthusiasts point of view), it's important for to overcome an almost UK wide coaster malaise. Both SW7 and The Swarm are deeply conceived ideas that fit well. They satisfy a lot of demographics and build excitement in the idea of roller-coasting, even better, good looking roller coasting. Looking at it holistically, both coasters are very important for both parks, and the UK industry as a whole.

If we see Merlin pushing the game on like this, then Drayton, Flamingoland et al will also have to follow suit and "up their game" too to drag people to them. We've seen a "family" revolution, let's see a "thrill" revolution now.

Sorry, it's slightly off-topic, but those are my thoughts on The Swarm so far. I doubt they'll change much after riding it.
 
it felt so comfy I could have sat on it all day. After the headache I got from saw and collossus it was nice.
 
If Nemesis inferno is more intense then Swarm then everyone must be talking a load of sh*te. Ive heard people talking about the strong g forces and speed in some places on The Swarm , plus with those near misses and that 127ft inverted drop , I can imagine this is more intense than Nemesis Inferno. Nemesis Inferno is a great coaster and it has a little intensity but I'm sure Swarm is more intense. ... P.S I know intensity isn't everything but for me I like intensity
 
Coastermaniac94 said:
If Nemesis inferno is more intense then Swarm then everyone must be talking a load of sh*te.
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No, that's very much the truth in my opinion. Inferno, in terms of height of drop:height of inversions, is quite a large difference, meaning the ride nips through all the inversions with quite a lot of aggression, The Swarm has more height to it's elements so really does slow quite alot through them, it lacks much force; my ride on Samurai was certainly more aggressive anyway.

So, my review. I rode yesterday, 3 times, front left, middle right, rear right.

Before I start, I'll just say, I posted my review of it on TPM, which was majorly ripped because I don't think it's the best rollercoaster ever made. I want to point out I am comparing this ride, in the most part, to Baco (front row, yes, I know it's pedantic but that ride does offer very different experiences throughout), Dragon Kahn, and Nemesis.

So...

Themeing
I'll start by saying an effort has been made with themeing. That's the credit I will give. Unfortunately, the atmosphere created is more reminiscent of a scrap yard with a church in the middle. From all the hype that was given about the themeing, I was expecting Nemesis mk.2, something where Merlin had really up-ed their game but it simply is not that. The themeing creates no substantial atmosphere and the actors do no add to it. To me, the ride is trying to show you a destroyed town, attacked by The Swarm that will gradually take the rest of the world. It really does not. It shows a church and a nice assortment of trashed vehicles. What’s more, a massive detraction is as you enter the area, you have a towering coaster to the left, and a tent/gazebo with a very well kept lawn to the right. It's not even subtle, it's clearly there and simple takes any feel or atmosphere away. You walk into the area and it's JUST like SAW plaza, lots of metal containers, and a building. Unfortunately, SAW has an advantage, it has 7 movies about it so the majority of guests naturally associate the area with the notions of the film, The Swarm has no movie, so the area needs to tell the tale. It doesn't, in fact, I couldn't follow any sort of story at all, I will admit I did not watch the TV's, but, that shouldn't make a huge difference. I also highly dislike the fact that there are no buildings. It's so so open, you can see across to the rest of the park and there is no feel at all to the place, lost city and SAW create a better atmosphere, unfortunately.

So, in terms of items of 'themeing', yes, they have tried, but in terms of any atmosphere or story being created thanks to this themeing; it's weak, and lacks any real consistency.

The Ride
Really, really, nothing special. Yes, it has wing rider seating, which I can imagine, that in itself must be a real novelty for anyone who has never ridden one before, but, looking at the ride itself, it really is just very very average. The drop was not very good at all, in fact, I'd have preferred a normal one with a bit of lovely floater air time at the top. The zero G was very very nice in the centre of the train, but unfortunately it rode horrifically at the front and back. This followed for the rest of the ride; the train is so heavy that elements you expect a B&M coaster to ride beautifully through, it simply feels wrong. For example, the front rows slow very very noticeably as you go through the zero G, to the extent it feels like a soft set of brakes. The rear is dragged through too forcefully and doesn't give anything like 'zero' G, the incline loop rides very similarly; it's slow and fast in all the wrong places, in a way that makes the ride un-enjoyable (in my opinion anyway). The ride itself is lack-luster, the near misses are there but not really anything special, and I just think it did very little to take my breath away. The trains also suffer very much the same issues as Furius Baco; certain rows already ride differently; the problem is as a result of wheel flats; when a wheel is not a perfect circle, and these will naturally develop. Baco amplifies the issue through speed, The Swarm is nowhere near as bad, but still suffers. It also has the same issues of forwards-backwards jerkiness, again, nowhere near as much as Baco does but still to the extent I noticed them and it detracted from the ride. It is also horribly painful, the flying vests are too tight and really cut into your shoulders, although it is fair to say the degree to which they do this will vary from person to person, based on height and how well built you are.

Overall, I'd say it's very similar to air. Nothing to write home about, but a different experience. It's just like Inferno, smooth and re-ride-able, but that's about it. It simply didn't take my breath away, it didn't achieve what Baco does so well; an amazing feeling of speed, fast pacing, and good near misses (in the through, the 'tunnel', the inline just over the ground). Baco also has more atmospheric themeing (well, of course it will, it's in a much better park :p ), it creates a story and takes you into it, a fine example of how I don't understand the words, but do understand perfectly what's going on. While people will complain 'oh but it has cattle pens', well, that really makes no difference, it's cattle pens, in a building, surrounded by storyline and actually creating quite an atmosphere, while The Swarm still has cattle pens, just ones that cut back and forth and confuse you.

I think, 'like air' is the best summary I could give. The concept has so much potential, but The Swarm really does not take advantage of it. It's enjoyable, but when the thing I enjoyed the most about it was trying to touch the water on the swoopy turns, it doesn't say much for the rest of the ride.

Sorry Fanboys and girls, and people who think 'it's UK B&M, therefore must be awesome', it isn't, thoroughly average and deserves a 6/10, maybe 6.5 at a push. It really doesn't 'do' anything special, it's average, just, with fancy seats.
 
So after 10 rides over 2 days, I finally feel ready to review this beast. I'll do it like Rob above has done, makes sense.

Theming

When I read that this was meant to be a destroyed English town, I was really excited. I love Britishness to be present in our theme parks and in my head I imagined a Co-op, a post office, double yellow lines painted on the road which itself would be lined with curbs, maybe an Indian take-away or something, with the church at the end of the street. However, as Rob has already pointed out, the ONLY thing there in the area that would belong in a town is the church. The rest does look like a scrap yard or factory car park or something. Yes, the destroyed vehicles are cool and will look even better with their fire effects, but they just seem so random, and without the buildings to complete the area, it's all very barren and open and obviously feels like a forced area in a theme park as opposed to an immersive, convincingly themed area. The fact that you can clearly see the rest of the park from where you are doesn't help this.

The actors are a beef I've always had with Thorpe Park. They just feel like bad Halloween costumes, with mediocre, unconving acting usually consisted of speaking jibberish or following people around trying to scare them. It all gets really old really quick, even on Fright Nights. Which is another thing. I just don't understand why the characters are made up in a horror style for this area? The Swarm 'believers', mental looking people wearing mismatched clothing who worship The Swarm are fab, but the (emo) Priest and soldiers are just unconvincing. It's like they themselves don't understand the storyline? The Priest was murmuring on about 'the infected' etc, and I was just confused as I thought this was an alien war, not a zombie infestation? The fake blood and bad costumes just make the whole charade worse. I like the fact that they're doing something a bit different by using actors, but using actors that actually looked professional and more than a budget fancy dress would really improve things in this department.

The Ride

The first thing I loved about this ride is when you're riding in the middle - back section of the train you see the rest of the train slowly invert and head down the drop in front of you, knowing it's your turn soon. It was a really cool effect that I really enjoyed. The first drop was really intense and the plane wing at the bottom is a really effective head chopper. Accompanied by The Swarm screech, it made for an interesting experience so far. The zero-g is pure sex, as they always are. After this I found it really nicely paced and if forceful rides are your thing then you're going to love this. I found it completely unrelenting and as someone who is not that big on forces I wasn't that impressed, but I know people who would be, so good job in that department. The way is swoops down over the two lakes is a really fun ride and acts as a slight break from the forces, and straight into the final inline which provides some more fun headchoppers (and also acts as a cool station/queue flyby).

Overall Impression

I really think I would think differently if the theming were more immersive. The thing seems like it has started off on the right foot but then just lost its inspiration. The church and the way the coaster interacts with the station/queueling is inspired but then the laziness of the rest of the area really lets it down! Just some buildings would do, ANYTHING aside from gross, cheap fencing, random vehicles and shipping containers! The potential is incredibly frustrating, the ride itself is a strong 4 star coaster in my opinion but the theming and thus overall atmosphere and feel for the ride and area let's it down.

I'd give it 3 stars, 3 1/2 at a push.
 
I think this ride is the best themed ride in Uk by far.
The noise that is played when the car travels under the plane wing is an amazing touch, and just adds to the over all Epicness of this ride. My new favorite coaster, by far.
 
Its getting many "meh" reviews around the web, I was very excited for it when it was announced, when the plans were released and as the track was going up. But when it came to the theming I thought they weren't finished when it opened, the POV made it look like it moved really slow, and the inversions looked less forceful than I imagined. That being said I can't judge it from the internet, I will hopefully ride it this summer when I visit Europe again but I don't think its worth going out of my way for.
 
I believe the best seat was at the back it felt more intense for my first ride on it we were second from the front after i rode it i felt a tad let down. we than went on it at the back and found the experience alot better.I couldnt be bothered to wait for a front seat considering we sat second from front and felt it amy have been a let down. Has anyone had a ride at the front and be able to compare experiences with a ride at the back. I agree it is definitly the best themed coaster in the uk.
 
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