Photo TR: Drayton Manor (Page 19)

[Six Flags EnthuseastDoesn't know how to spell "Enthusiast."]

Nice report, Jer! When I visited SFGAm in 2005, I never realized how special it was in the SF chain. Now, though, I know more its good variety of rides and how it seems to value its older rides more than other SF parks. I think it's awesome that they're celebrating Batman's 20th anniversary; I don't see many other parks do that. It's good that SFGAm has good operations and many open rides in bad weather, because I know some parks shut down with a single drop of rain. X-Flight looks excellent, even better than I was first expecting! I really liked Raptor when I rode it in August last year, and I'm sure X-Flight be just as good as it looks once I get the chance to ride it.

Once again, great report! I hope I can get to SFGAm again to check out X-Flight, as well as the other improvements the park has made over the last 7 years.

[sfgam#1Beware of the Magic Donkey at Lotte World!]

Very nice TR Jer. I wish I could of made it there this weekend, but now that I think about it ....I'll be there all summer Lol

[mcjacoBeer Man]

Nice pics Jer. I can't wait to get over there nice and early Thursday for Media Day. The cameras are all charged up and ready to go.

Standing on the ground, the layout didn't do much for me. But after watching the test video on the Tribune, I'm a bit more excited to ride this one.

[Jerrykoala2112Jo My Oh!]

Wow, I know what everyone is thinking... Why have I not been updating this thread more often? Well today is your lucky day because I have a few trip reports I can post onto this thread! Not like anyone cares about this... but let's continue!

Over the summer, a couple of my friends and I headed around England hitting up a few theme parks (Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Chessington, Drayton, and Legoland) and I had a great time. The parks are similar, yet very different than the typical American parks. The rides were great and instead of every park having a boomerang, a powered coaster was the ride to have! Let's start off with Thorpe Park.

So flashback to August 9th, what were you doing that day? I was enjoying my day at Thorpe Park. I never knew I'd visit the park this early in my life, especially the year The Swarm opened, and I was impressed! The park was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but I guess it's because I'm used to American parks. There are mostly thrill rides in this park, as Chessington is more of the family park, but it still didn't disappoint. The biggest problem with the park are the Fast Track passes. I waited over an hour for Nemesis Inferno, even when the line was not that long. They are probably on par with Fast Lane in terms of customer satisfaction. But let's just go into quick detail on some of the coasters...

The Swarm: Oh. My. God. Even though I got one ride on this, it's still the best wing-rider that opened this year. It is better than X-Flight, and loads better than Wild Eagle (which is my least favorite). Swarm has the same drop as X-Flight, but I rode in the back row, and wow!!! My favorite part of the the ride was the inclined loop into the low to the ground turn. The plane at the bottom of the drop was cool, but even the barrel roll over the station was really good. And like I said, the best wing-rider that I rode, but I haven't been on Raptor at Gardaland yet, but maybe someone else can chime in on which they like better?

Saw: The Ride: Overall, shaky, rough, good airtime, and one of the better Euro-Fighters. You could say it's on par with Mystery Mine with a bigger outdoor section. I prefer Mystery Mine but this isn't too bad. The theming is really good, and I love the Saw movies.

Colossus: I heard the countless complaints that this ride is rough, breaks your neck, and overall isn't an enjoyable ride. I rode in the 5th row and like Swarm, I was surprised. The ride doesn't slow down until the barrel rolls, and I *LOVED* the diving in and out of plants and the ground, the play with the terrain is so good! It's weird to say, but it's my favorite ride at the park. I'm not promising you'll enjoy your ride either, but I really enjoyed mine.

Stealth: The best seat is definitely in the front row. Fast acceleration, and airtime on the top hat and the airtime hill. I wish the ride was longer, in the sense it did a turn or had another turn etc. I prefer it over Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka!

I will also add that the park has a lot of greenery. So many tree, bushes, and plants, although there are some funky smells around the park. Whether is was a trash can or the park guests that don't like deodorant, it didn't ruin my day! And onto the pictures.

[-Edge of Beast-My brain is often hibernating.]

Those Swarm and Stealth pictures are awesome! I liked the Photo TR Jeremie, and I can't wait to see the next one from England!

[SharkTumsSite Admin]

I've always said Swarm looks by far to be the best of the Wing Riders...at some point I'll actually get on it and be able to confirm!

It sounds like you got Colossus on a good day. I've mostly had really good rides on it but there are times when maybe they haven't been taking that good of care of it or it's not a full train that it can rattle a lot similar to the Eurofighter rattle. It's a great ride for sure!

[StealthFan"Excuse me, miss, may I pound my large rooster into your donkey?"]

Seems you caught Thorpe on a good day. It is nice to see someone say mostly positive about a park that most people slag off. (Not going to lie I do that as well a good amount of the time).

And like I said, the best wing-rider that I rode, but I haven't been on Raptor at Gardaland yet, but maybe someone else can chime in on which they like better?

I think for anyone who knows me I do not like Wing Riders at all and slated Swarm and Raptor a lot. That being said if I was to pick a favourite I would say it would be Raptor. I would say that a lot more definitively if the vests didn't tighten throughout the ride on Raptor. That was an issue I don't remember experiencing on Swarm.

I find the weird thing about Saw is it depends on what train you ride as to how smooth of a ride you get. I believe they have a rolling rehab schedule on that ride so there is always one car being worked at any one time. If you are lucky enough to get one of the trains that have just come out of rehab you can actually have a fairly smooth ride.

I am glad you enjoyed your day at Thorpe and look forward to see what you thought of the other UK parks you visited.

-Craig

[_IntaMAN_This B&M donkey is so smooth!]

What a GREAT Photo TR! I've always wanted to go to England, especially to visit Thorpe Park and hopefully one day I will... This is a good Photo TR due to the fact that it goes in depth, makes me somewhat feel like I'm there Swarm looks incredible, the POV's of the ride leave me with my jaw dropping. Again, great Photo TR and I hope to see coverage of the other parks!

[B.A.BDonkeys are my way of life!]

Wow, nice photos. My favorite pictures are the ones of Colossus and Stealth, but anyway I am glad you had a good time on your trip to the UK.

[VoxelmaticI annoy the Title Fairy every other week!]

Swarm looks like an awesome ride, along with Colossus. Awesome trip report!