The Swarm or Mandrill Mayhem; which of the UK’s B&M Wing Coasters do you prefer?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. After the recent opening of the World of Jumanji at Chessington, the UK now has two B&M Wing Coasters; The Swarm at Thorpe Park and Mandrill Mayhem at Chessington World of Adventures. These two rides are quite different, and are aimed at different markets; Swarm is an extreme thrill ride, while Mandrill Mayhem is aimed more at families and intended as a starter thrill ride. Indeed, I can imagine that many of you think I’ve lost my marbles by even comparing the two; I can hear you all saying “Swarm is the extreme thrill ride, so that’s obviously going to win with enthusiasts!” from here. With that being said, I have heard a fair few people saying that they prefer Mandrill Mayhem to The Swarm, so I’d be interested to know; do you prefer The Swarm or Mandrill Mayhem out of the UK’s two B&M Wing Coasters?

Personally, I haven’t ridden Mandrill Mayhem yet, so can’t vote on this poll.

However, The Swarm is a ride I used to absolutely love, but have grown to not like as much over time, with the tight vest restraints and rattle increasingly bothering me. With that said, that wing over drop and final inversion are sublime, and the sense of speed it has is just amazing! I’ll be very interested to see how Mandrill Mayhem stacks up by comparison.

But I’d be keen to know; which of the UK’s B&M Wing Coasters do you prefer? Are you a Swarm fan, or is Mandrill Mayhem more your style?

 

[Zeock]

The Swarm without a doubt for me. It's more intense, and it's smoother.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

The Swarm easily for me. Don’t get me wrong, Mandril Mayhem is an excellent family coaster and lots of fun but it’s quite a simple design and I think it doesn’t utilise the spike as well as it could, if you are in the front couple of rows you feel like you hardly go up it at all.

Swarm on the other hand is a very solid coaster indeed. I’ve said it before but it’s got a graceful dive drop, two excellent headchopper and keyhole moments with the plane wing and billboard, and a greyout inducing helix. The theming is excellent and it feels like such a great package. I like Mandrill Mayhem but when I rode it I just felt that there were a few little things that could have been done better but it’s still a great ride, easily one of the best family thrill coasters in the country. But I just prefer a Swarm though which I’d think is one of top tier coasters in this country.

I’ve been thinking something though about MM, when you ride it in the back row is there an argument for it having an additional inversion compared to the forwards facing rows? Given how the top of the spike is beyond vertical and curves in on itself and you are on your back I think that means that it should count as an inversion?

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

I would think the majority on here are thrill seekers so Swarm should win this at a canter.

Mandrill is a fun ride and I prefer the theming of it. Saying that, I prefer lift hills to launches as it builds suspense The Mandrill train is the best themed train in the country.

I agree, front row is a total let down on Mandrill as the spike (best part of the ride for me) is wasted. Swarm is excellent on the front row. Row 6 is the best on the left side. Facing backwards is pretty fun on the spike but it ruins the helix.

I’m not a massive fan of wing coasters, I prefer the classic B&M invert and Swarm and Mandrill are not my favourites at each of Chessington and Thorpe.

Swarm…. but reluctantly.

 

[Alix]

I’ve voted for Swarm as I love the initial dive drop. But having ridden MM yesterday I’d say it’s not to be missed - yes it’s no where near as thrilling/intense as Swarm, but it is very good for what it is and a lot of fun to ride. Row 7 was a bit meh in my opinion though, Row 1 was good for the speed of rushing though the station, but you do miss out on the hang time. We got a little bit of that on row 2, but I reckon row 6 would probably be the best row - unfortunately we didn’t get that one yesterday, fingers crossed for our return visit.