andybarnes84

Just saw the full advert premiere for SWARM tonight on TV and was very impressed. I'm sure it won't be long until it pops up online but it has to be one of the best ads for a ride ever, really blown away by the depth of marketing for this attraction.

You're right Alex, we shouldn't be moaning when we can just hop over to Europe to ride some decent coasters for a change with little effort. A bit harder to do the same thing down under

I think for many of us who have ridden SWARM so far, we're dealing with some let downs. We all knew it would be a short ride but one that should have packed a punch. After a fun first drop, it just sorta bounces along. After being impressed with X2 a few months ago, it makes me increasingly frustrated that the UK doesn't seem to strive for world class coasters anymore (I know alot of it has to do with our ridiculous planning restrictions). I'm sure after a return visit it'll probably start to grow on me a bit. Last week was also the first time I've got round to riding SAW. Now THAT'S a ride. Great indoor section, airtime, fast transitions, a well rounded ride experience if a little bumpy I actually really like thirteen but as a fun family coaster experience, nothing more. I'm UBER excited to be trying out Verbolten in June (see what I did there?) but I'm sure once I return, my love for thirteen will plummet significantly Fingers crossed that Wild Eagle lives up to it's name!

A few observations from my visit today: The fire effect on the fire engine wasn't working yet, and I didn't notice the Manta like water spray working yet either. The water effect you see in one of the pictures is just a spray coming from the fire engine. The TV's in the queue line showed news reports which were quite authentic, thought it was a little controversial when they mentioned the area being near heathrow (regarding the plane crash theming) but cool. Actors were great and hope they stay, at least for the opening weeks. The ride is a bit slow. I don't know if it's standard with this design, but I did notice the ride dragging a little. For example the zero-g roll has very little zero-g. Break-in period or intentional? The drop is great fun, and would agree the front (right) is quite something, very intimidating being slowly turned upside down at 127ft with nothing below or in front of you. Don't get me wrong, I really loved the ride, but it's graceful nature caught me out a little as well as it feeling quite low to the ground for most of the ride. I feel a little jealous of Raptor in regards to near miss elements. The aircraft wing is great but it's passed under so fast you barely notice it, and I wasn't too thrilled by the church near miss. I would have liked something along the lines of Raptor's 3 (or 4?) consecutive misses towards the end. A fully enclosed (church) station would have been nice to increase the tension but it does look great. A seperate front row queue in the station doesn't exist so as previously mentioned you get a ticket for the front and have to effectively push through the regular line and wait to the side at the gate load position. The coaster is near silent but the area was audibly rich, from the news reports to sounds effects to that great Swarm sound triggered at the bottom of the first drop, the area was buzzing! All I can say is that if you're off to Dollywood for Wild Eagle, you're in for a very graceful, and very comfortable ride. And I'm a little jealous as I think the height and location will make it a great experience.

Nothing like a bit of new B&M in the morning. Not the best photographer but here are some pics I took with my phone:

I composed those 2 tracks as a fan project. It would be nice if Thorpe gave me a call but as andyuk200523 says, the band "You Me at Six" will be releasing a single for the ride via iTunes, which is possibly the first time this has ever been done in the World?

I haven't checked this topic in ages and just came across David H's post, many thanks for your extensive advice! The final itinerary I've settled for is as follows (hotels are already reserved too), I think it's manageable compared to the original idea: Sat 9th June - Arrive & NYC S - NYC M - SFGadv T - Morey's Piers W - Washington DC T - BGW F - KD S - Knoebels (afternoon-evening) S - Hershey M - Dorney T - Quassy & Lake Compounce W - SFNE Thursday 21st - NYC & fly back Once again thanks for all the advice has been hugely helpful.

You might want to check out the Santa Clarita Motel which is 6 miles or so south east of the park. Alternatively if you are struggling with availability at that time of year and don't mind a little drive either side, look into hotels along your route from LAX off the 405, for example the Valley Inn and Best Value Inn in Granada Hills are around the $75 mark and are good for the price according to reviews. Also the area around Van Nuys airport has some options for your budget. That way you've cut 25 minutes off your sunday drive but are still (what you'd consider in LA) "close" to SFMM.

Once again muchos graci-donkey for the advice, I think we'll definitely look into a q-bot for Six Flags Great Adventure and possibly quick queue at Busch Gardens. I just hope Knoebels won't be too mobbed by the time we finally arrive and I just know Hershey is going to require ALOT of patience on the Sunday given what i've read about their ride efficiency

Hi everyone, Once again many thanks to those who helped me plan a trip to the North East corner of the U S of A, now that things have fallen into place I wanted to quiz your knowledge of queues/crowd levels. We leave on the 9th of June 2012 and hit the parks on the following days: Six Flags Great Adventure - Monday (11th June) Morey's Piers - Tuesday Busch Gardens - Thursday Kings Dominion - Friday Knoebels - Saturday (arriving around 1pm) Hershey - Sunday Dorney Park - Monday Quassy + Lake Compounce - Tuesday Six Flags New England - Wednesday (20th June) Now, I've tried looking for myself into when school holidays are but because it varies from state to state I've gotten all confused and beg for your help. The itinerary is fixed so I've done the best I can to move the big parks to weekdays apart from Hershey park. After looking at the above, how do you think we'll do at the parks at this time of year? As always, your collective wisdom is eternally appreciated.

Pretty much every time I ride the wild mouse at Blackpool

In typical UK fashion the ride will be very short but well themed, Wild Eagle this ain't! But that first drop should be interesting if taken fast enough. Strange to have another church themed station after thirteen but hopefully this one will look a little more impressive

Oh jeese now i'm starting to get a bit nervous about all this traffic talk. I think it would be wise for us to fly into Newark rather than JFK to save some stress, probably stay in Jersey City and get the train into Manhattan. Got the TomTom so hopefully that'll help with the traffic but I suppose it's just cross the fingers and pray Thanks guys and gals really appreciate all your advice has helped a lot!

A very good point about traffic around DC and elsewhere as park opening times obviously match well with rush hour. I have read a lot about the notorious traffic around DC my plan is to park at the airport and take the metro in. I suppose where possible I should do the driving in the evenings although we'll be shattered. We did pretty well in LA earlier this year but I have a feeling this could be much worse. I drive through city traffic for a living so the more I can avoid this on holiday the better! Looks like those education days are on at the start of our stay so probably better to do the north east part last. Am I wrong in thinking it's best to save SFGAdv until last as it appears to have the best selection of coasters?

Awesome I might just do that, If we go to SFA it'll probably just be for a couple hours when it opens to do the main coasters but Philly would be interesting, as long as I can figure out where to park etc

This is how the plan is now looking thanks to your mighty wisdom and reality based common sense: Day 1 NYC Day 2 NYC & Coney Island Day 3 SFNE Day 4 Lake Compounce & Quassy Day 5 Dorney Day 6 Knoebels Day 7 Hershey Day 8 Washington DC (culture day woot!) Day 9 Busch Day 10 KD Day 11 SFA (worth doing?) Day 12 SFGAdv Day 13 NYC and home I realize there's still quite some driving involved but it should be much more balanced, just have to come to terms that Millenium Force, Maverick and TTD are for another time. I'm sure some of the coasters we'll do will more than make up for this. Again, your recommendations and changes are always most welcome dudes and dudettes!

You're probably right folks, cedar point is too much of an inconvenience to get to. Question is what parks should fill the 3 days now vacant? I'm thinking sfne, sfa and possibly lake compounce or another day at Busch Gardens?

Thanks for your input guys, that section between KD and Cedar Point via Kennywood is a pain in the donkey but I have no idea how to get around it, I can't go over without visiting CP can I? I thought of ending the trip at Cleveland but then I have to pay extra for flights and car hire drop off fee. I'll keep thinking..... What kind of queue times can I expect at these parks in mid June during the week and at weekends?

Hi fellow TPR crew! Looking for your wisdom and insider info/experience regarding my plan for a 13 day coaster tour leaving the UK on 9th June 2012 with my very understanding girlfriend. Seems after our recent trip to LA & Las Vegas she's gradually catching the coaster bug I was hoping to be able to take 3 weeks off work but alas they weren't too happy about that so somehow I'm having to cram in the "best of" parks. I'm looking for advice about what to miss and what to see along the way if any of you know the locations well. Here goes: Day 1 - Arrive NYC Day 2 - NYC Day 3 - Dorney Park and Atlantic City Day 4 - Washington DC Day 5 - Busch VA Day 6 - Kings Dominion Day 7 - Kennywood Day 8 & 9 - Cedar Point Day 10 - Knoebels Day 11 - Hershey Park Day 12 - Six Flags Great Adventure Day 13 - NYC and fly back to UK Obviously it's quite a drive from Kings Dominion to Kennywood and from Cedar Point to Knoebels but there really doesn't seem to be any other way. Also do you feel 2 days at Cedar Point are necessary given that it'll be the summer break and mega busy no doubt? Any suggestions for improvement would be great and I'd love to hear opinions regarding places/areas to stay and any significant cultural sights or landmarks we could take in along the way to make the trip a little more balanced.

Thanks for the advice, I think I have been swayed to join I just hope I'll save more than booking online as a lot of the parks do good advance purchase and print at home deals.

Hi all, For those who are members of Club TPR I wanted to ask if I would save a decent amount on entry tickets while touring the NE USA for 3 weeks? I'm a member of another coaster club here in the UK so I wasn't sure about joining this one too but after reading about the discounts i'm very interested although there isn't specific details on here of how much you save and where. Many thanks everyone. Andy