The Swarm

The Swarm is located at Thorpe Park in Surrey. The £20m Thrill Ride is the UK’s first and only Roller Coaster of this type, referred to as a Wing Coaster. The Swarm tells the story of an alien attack on London, featuring excellent ride theming and interaction with the ride elements.

The Swarm at Thorpe Park

The Swarm is a steel Wing Coaster at Thorpe Park. As with all Wing Coasters, the seats of the ride are located on either side of the track meaning that riders are completely suspended in mid-air with nothing above or below them. Thorpe Park announced that the last two rows of The Swarm would be turned backwards for the 2013 season, this was a first for a Wing Coaster.

The Swarm Statistics

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Top Speed – 92km/h 57mph
Cost – £20m
Est Cost Today – £25m
Length – 2543ft 775m
Height – 127ft 38m
Manufacturer – Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M)
Type – Steel Wing Coaster
Lift/Launch – Chain Lift
Inversions – 4
G-Force – 4.5g
Trains – 2
Passengers per Train – 28
Ride Duration – 1m 15s
Theme Park – Thorpe Park
Year Opened – 2012

Attractions Near Me – Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park Official Website

The Swarm Ride Theming

When the Swarm initially opened in 2012, Thorpe Park used the slogan “War is Here” to promote the ride. The roller coaster ride’s backstory is that a swarm of aliens have attacked London. In addition to destroying large swathes of the city, the aliens also have a nasty habit of plucking humans off the ground and carrying them into the skies. The coaster’s trains represent the aliens themselves and riders are set to be “abducted”.

The ride area resembles the site of the alien attack and is strewn with wreckage. The ride recreates the experience of being abducted by the aliens and carried into the sky, whilst swooping down to interact with the disaster scene on the ground. The ride’s station is very impressive, with the alien-themed trains gliding into the church in a suitably menacing fashion. The ride operators are housed in an overturned police vehicle.

The ride interacts with a number of themed elements, including a crashed aeroplane, a half-submerged fire engine and a damaged helicopter. One of the main interactive elements is a billboard advertising Paradise Airlines and Headeze painkillers (“Don’t lose your head”), which the train passes through providing a keyhole effect.

The Swarm Roller Coaster Train

The Swarm features two 28-seat Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) Wing Coaster trains. Each train is made up of seven rows with four seats per row, the seats are located on either side and slightly lower than the ride’s track, as with all Wing Coasters. The trains are themed to resemble alien-like drones (the ride’s eponymous “Swarm”), with a number of red LED lights placed across the train.

Top 10 Listings

The Swarm is featured in a number of our Top 10 listings.

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Thorpe Park Rides and Attractions

Experience over 30 thrill rides, family attractions and unique events on a day trip or short break at Thorpe Park, one of the UK’s best theme parks.

UK Roller Coaster Rides

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Thorpe Park Roller Coasters

Thorpe Park offers a number of roller coasters, ranging from the family-friendly Flying Fish to the 205ft tall Stealth which features the fastest acceleration of any roller coaster in Europe.

Colossus

Colossus was the World’s first ten looping roller coaster and was the park’s first major attraction. The record held by Colossus has now been beaten by The Smiler at Alton Towers with 14 inversions.

The Walking Dead

An indoor junior roller coaster named X once held the record for the World’s first, theatre roller coaster in the dark. This ride has now been rethemed as The Walking Dead, a horror-themed roller coaster that mixes the theatrics of a Halloween style scare attraction with the practical effects of a traditional ghost train.

Nemesis Inferno

Nemesis Inferno is themed around the eruption of a volcano and is the sequel ride to Nemesis at sister park Alton Towers.

Stealth

Stealth is an Intamin launch coaster themed around 1950s drag racing. The ride accelerates from 0 – 80 mph in 1.8 seconds, sending its riders 205ft into the air. Stealth has the fastest acceleration of any roller coaster in Europe and is the tallest launched coaster in the UK.

SAW – The Ride

Themed around the SAW horror movie franchise, SAW – The Ride is dubbed as the world’s scariest ride. It features a drop of 100 degrees and set pieces, including rotating saw blades, to accentuate the theme.

The Swarm

Featuring an inverted drop, the final roller coaster in the park at the time of writing is The Swarm. This ride is the UK’s first winged roller coaster, meaning that the seats are positioned beyond the width of the roller coaster track. It has a total of 5 inversions and is 127 feet tall.

Thorpe Park Offers

Thorpe Park Resort frequently offers discounted short breaks and some great deals on Theme Park Tickets. View our webpage listing of all Thorpe Park Offers.

Website Links

Attractions Near Me – Thorpe Park Resort
Thorpe Park Resort Official Website
Thorpe Park Resort Park Map
Thorpe Park Resort Ride Height Restrictions

Food and Drink

Whatever your tastes, there is something to suit every palette from simple pizza and pasta to oriental and Mexican dishes at Thorpe Park Resort.

Thorpe Park Resort Hotel

The Shark Hotel is situated within the Thorpe Park site, a short stroll away from the roller coasters. It makes an ideal base for thrill-seekers keen to get exclusive, early morning access to the rides. The hotel sits on the banks of a serene lake and it is surprisingly easy to forget that you are just metres from some of the UK’s largest roller coasters. The hotel is close enough to the park to instil excitement, yet also offers a tranquil and secluded escape.

The on-site hotel often has some great package offers available including tickets to Thorpe Park, visit Thorpe Breaks for details.

Travelling to Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is located 20 miles from Central London, with plenty of transport links between Junctions 11 and 13 of the M25. There are a number of ways you can get to the attraction. There is also lots of accommodation available nearby.

Travelling by Train

Regular South West Trains run from Waterloo direct to Staines, which is the recommended railway station for travelling to Thorpe Park Resort.
Approximately 5 trains run per hour to and from London Waterloo, with a journey time of between 30 to 50 minutes. Staines can also be reached directly via other mainline stations. Search for your train tickets using Raileasy.

Nearby Accommodation

There are lots of places to stay in the vicinity of Thorpe Park. The on-site hotel often has some great package offers available including tickets to Thorpe Park, visit Thorpe Breaks for details.

If you only planning on visiting the park for one day and would like to explore some of the other attractions in the area then take a look at the self-catering cottages near Thorpe Park available from Snaptrip.

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