furie said:
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.
Dammit, I was wrong. I was really surprised by the ride, and it takes a
lot to impress me.
I'll break it down like everyone has.
Theme
I think it's a bit of a funny one. It's always hard to produce a theme that contains a valid reason for (or can hide) a 127' inversion. It's a coaster, and it's a tall coaster. It's in a theme park full of other rides in a very small space. You can't do "exclusive" ride areas. The best you can do is to work within your bounds.
I think that the theme doesn't quite go far enough, but as this isn't Disney, it's a very harsh criticism. It falls short of being totally immersing a visitor, but... It's still very good. I think that the ride (going off the theme conversation for two seconds) is generally all round like this. Not as great as it could be, but consistently "very good".
I liked that the brick path for the main plaza area was curved up as it hit the ride "destruction" area, like it had been impacted by the plane crash. Lots of little things like that.
I guess I could best summarise it as the best balance between immersion and practicality that Thorpe could achieve. With maybe an extra few million pounds they could have "done a Disney", but what they have done is very good, and when you're on the ride, it works exceptionally well.
Comfort
I found the seats perfectly comfortable. After my 8th go, I was getting a bit of pain across my shoulders from the restraints, but that's natural. Generally I found the ride smooth and the restraints absolutely fine. Outside seats shake, and detracted from the ride quality a little for me, but it's no game breaker in any way. Nemesis on the left side always eats my ear, and I don't let that ruin the ride either
Re-rideability
I'll cover things in more details in a moment, but I don't think I've ever been on a coaster that varies so drastically from seat to seat. I think everyone will get something out of one area of the ride that suits them. I hate the Baco "you have to be in the right seat to enjoy it" argument, but this is different. On Baco if you aren't "on the right seat", then it kills you (I also rode it on the right seat and it killed me, I was told I was riding at the wrong time of day :roll: ). On The Swarm, the ride is is still a good ride anyway. It may not be "amazing", but it's still a solid ride. Nemesis in the mediocre middle is bland, but still kind of fun. This is like that, get ona seat that doesn't agree with you and it's just "okay", but it's not bad.
First Drop
I loved it from every seat. It's not got blood rushing high g-forces like the Nemesis Helix, but it's got a superb kind of constant force. It picks up a terrific speed (you can't tell how fast it goes off-ride) and it's a really great drop. I was expecting a nasty hang-time and lame, slow fall but it's not.
I found that the left side was best for this, particularly the front. I loved the odd dropping feeling you got as it twisted and the world fell away underneath you. In the front, it was a mild thrill and a great feeling. Loved it from the front left.
On the right, I found it a bit too hang-heavy for my preference, so the twist was a let down for me there. The actual drop though at the front was excellent (both sides) as you suddenly accelerate towards the wing as the train follows round. The middle has some decent high-g's and the back pulls round nicely, but you lose a little force as the train is slowing as it enters the zero-g at the front. It's STILL fast though.
Zero G
Adorable. Probably takes away the "my favourite inversion" prize off Shockwave's Zero-G. It's definitely the equal of Kahn's, maybe better because it's "fun". You head up into the element and it's so smooth and methodical, then "bam" you're into airtime heaven. Brilliant element.... On the left. On the right, it's lacking the fun and forces for some reason. The same "dropping away" you get on the first drop on the left just isn't here on the right at this point. It's just not as good. On the left though, it's gorgeous.
First "water-dip" turn (left hand)
Nothing to write home about. It's mildly forceful and fine. It's great fun on the left though as you skim the water and the water effect spouts up. It's very effective, I loved the interacting. On the right it's okay, nothing like the stall turn on Nemesis which is a bit - this is kind of "middling".
Wingover/Zero-GWFT is this element? It's too tight for a Wingover and it feels like a zero-G, so I'm going for Zero-G. It's not as good as the first one, but there's still the airtime on the left and the "meh" on the right. Yeah, just like the first one on 25% less-so.
Second "water-dip" turn (right hand)
Like the first one, it's a turn, only the right hand side of the train gets the water effect this time. It's alright :lol:
Inline Twist over the station
Hated this. I hate hang time and this was dreadful. On my first ride it ruined the experience for me. On subsequent rides I braced and it was "suffer-able". From the station, it looks brilliant as the train swoops over with the noise. On-ride, it's nasty hang-time. If you like hang-time though then you'll be fine
I have to say, the restrains here are utterly brilliant. They allowed me to properly brace myself and keep my shoulders from being destroyed. So great use of restraints, nasty element.
The ride peters out after that point. Brake run and turn back to the station dullness.
Overall
There's so little to the ride, but it fills it all up with "something". My first ride I was shocked by how much I liked it (apart from the the inline). It was just a really nice, fun ride with some shocking bits of force here and there (I was on the right on my first run).
ERT obviously gave me the opportunity to try out lots of different seats and experiences. I constantly found the ride "fun", but the front left seat ride is one of the best ride experiences I've had outside of America. It was really, really superb. Anyone who saw my face afterwards will tell you how unadulterated my joy was.
Now for the serious bit. It's definitely a ride that requires "the right seat for you" to get a feeling of brilliance. We had the advantage too of both ERT to try lots of seats in quick succession to get a good feel for the ride. It was also night "which adds to the ride experience" and it had been wet all day. It was also at the end of the day. Essentially, we experienced the coaster at it's absolute best and had the chance to find our favourite part - the best of the best. So our reviews here are probably not a good representation of the ride most days (though I think Jordan's is pretty fair).
Most people though came off their first early morning rides though with the thoughts "that's a very good coaster" in them. ERT heightened that, but it can't destroy that overall feeling. I love Nemesis no matter where, but back right in the dark and wet for me is a sublime experience. So you have to have two different views on a coaster. Your best ride and an average ride.
An average ride on The Swarm is "good". It's a solid coaster, it's great fun and it's got lots of little bits that make it so. The theme as you whiz around isn't in your face, but it's there adding to it. The ride is paced oddly. It's slow, heavy, light, slow, fun, slow, ARRRRGHHHHH, end. Unlike the B&M Inverts which are fast, fast, faster, faster, fast, end (or Baco which is WOWFAST, light, PLEASE GET ME OFF NOW).
A good ride on it though, best of the best? It's brilliant. I personally think, even on an average ride, it's the best coaster addition to the UK since 1994. When you're in the right seat and it's running right, it doesn't quite give Nemesis a run for it's money, but at that point it's
clearly the best UK coaster addition since Nemesis.
I'm with Jordan that most of the time, it's a 4/5 (8/10) coaster. Those special rides though easily push it to a 4.5/5 (9/10), maybe 4.75(9.5/10) (sorry just showing that 4/5 scales don't always work
).
Just realised, this has the be the gooniest, most dreadful post I've ever made... I suspect I had bad influences around me on Saturday
)
