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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Omg at Thorpe today for the first time since I was young and I love this place. Great VIBES, great atmosphere and some brilliant rides. Not been for a long time so it's been like getting new credits. Stealth was awesome, obviously bit short tho which is a shame. Swarm and inferno were good but was a bit underwhelmed in a way. Have to say my favourite is Saw it was so fun. Quite a rough ride but I just love the theme, the indoor part is great and it's a lot faster than I remember too
 
Ethan said:
Omg at Thorpe today for the first time since I was young and I love this place. Great VIBES, great atmosphere and some brilliant rides. Not been for a long time so it's been like getting new credits. Stealth was awesome, obviously bit short tho which is a shame. Swarm and inferno were good but was a bit underwhelmed in a way. Have to say my favourite is Saw it was so fun. Quite a rough ride but I just love the theme, the indoor part is great and it's a lot faster than I remember too
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I love SAW too. It is very fun, I don't find it that rough, and the forces and airtime are strong. My favourite part is the indoor section.
 
Ethan said:
Omg at Thorpe today for the first time since I was young and I love this place. Great VIBES, great atmosphere and some brilliant rides. Not been for a long time so it's been like getting new credits. Stealth was awesome, obviously bit short tho which is a shame. Swarm and inferno were good but was a bit underwhelmed in a way. Have to say my favourite is Saw it was so fun. Quite a rough ride but I just love the theme, the indoor part is great and it's a lot faster than I remember too
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Sorry mate, you are still young!
Didn't do Thorpe until I was fifty.
Never had a bad day there, always midweek low season...two freebies with family and mates on Sun reader tickets.
Will probably be returning next year.
 
You really do have to take Thorpe as it comes, it has a very different demographic to the other UK merlin parks therefore leading to a complete different vibe on park. They have a good selection of coasters and some of the flats are fun (despite now showing their age). Food and Beverage is obviously a Merlin wide issue so I do find it harder to criticise them for that! But the park has been slowly improving in my opinion over the last few seasons and with exodus in the pipeline I can only see them getting better.
 
Another fan of Saw here. Yeah a bit rough but just really good fun.
Edging towards preferring Thorpe over Towers this year. Especially on a sunny day, just has a lovely fun atmosphere and doesn’t feel as “hard work” as Towers.
 
I’ve only ever been on 3 rides here because on the only time I went, all the queues were pretty much 2 hours long and/or kept breaking down (this was in July 2016). They were Nemesis Inferno, which I just thought was ok, The Swarm, which I thought was incredibly dull, and Samurai, which I actually really enjoyed. The whole experience I had made me never want to return, so I haven’t 😂
 
Just curious, what exactly is it about Swarm that people find dull or feel that it’s lacking?

For me it’s second only in the UK to Nemesis. It’s got great theming (including a real helicopter), a beautifully taken dive drop, the best near miss and keyhole elements in the country with the plane wing and the billboard, an incredibly forceful helix and a nice zero-g roll over the station to wrap things up.

I think it’s quite a misunderstood coaster in that elements such the first drop are designed to be taken slowly to give a sensation of swooping like a graceful bird of prey hunting. It’s not meant to go screaming round the track like Nemesis does and I wonder if it’s that gliding feel that makes people think that it’s dull?
 
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I've never found any of Thorpe's rides anything stand out, but that's likely because I'm always inebriated within an hour of being in the park (the joys of having cheap chain hotels a short taxi ride away). This does mean though I've always had a brilliant time there.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Just curious, what exactly is it about Swarm that people find dull or feel that it’s lacking?
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I find a close correlation between those that rate Swarm poorly and those that haven't ridden it since the first couple of years ot was open. It has improved with age more than any other coaster in the UK I can think of. When it opened it was lumbering and had weird pacing, now it is completely different.
 
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