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Yep, spot on - from the very off with this ride after my first run through all those years ago, I have always sung the praises of the hanging carriage, the tube train & station platform. They are all incredibly, incredibly well done and immersive and I don't really think anything else quite compares - in the UK at least - in a theme park. Swarm Island is definitely up there but DBGT's interior is a step even further up.

That's a really nice summary, glad it all worked 'technically' at least, even if the experience is messy as ever. Sadly it's not reflective of a 'standard' run-through 😂 I think the number of comments and confusion about weather or not the footage cuts out, and the surprise/acknowledgement at the number of working headsets available says it all about the attraction. It's a mess. Riders shouldn't be noticing this. It shouldn't be the go-to comment in a review. An attraction like this should be somewhat seamless. Completely agree with the comments on the hanging carriage. It's easy to forget that both the actual ride vehicles and suspended carriage are incredible. I remember first riding this when it opened, and how "wow" the suspended carriage and tube train interior was. It really does feel like you're sat on the tube, and the underground station is genuinely BRILLIANT. I think that "The tube" element - train and station - is by far the most immersive and detailed theming Thorpe (maybe Merlin?) have ever acheived. It's SO well done. It all falls down though because those things simply fade in to the background because the poor technology and chaotic story come to the forefront. We only get a glimpse at those incredible set pieces as we rush past them. There's no opportunity to properly take them in. Most of the DBGT experience is spent in an unthemed, narrow corridor, or with a terrible VR headset in front of our eyes. A waste and a shame.

Cheers for that @JoshC. - re: the hanging carriage, you're completely right, bearing in mind it's a huge huge part of everything about the ride, you barely get time to even "appreciate" it to be honest!

So it's taken me a while to get round to writing this. But last Thursday I went on Ghost Train and...you know what, it was decent. One of the best rides I've had in years on it. Maybe since...2017??? Short summary of some of the good things: Timed allocations worked well so only a short wait to get on No shutdowns VR worked well A bit more of a scare in finale than just a person coughing (but no demon) But note, looking at this, basically what I'm saying is "Nothing broke and it was a short wait to get on". Which kind of sounds like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for good things to say. The thing is, I do like the premise of Ghost Train, and it has a lot of potential, but it doesn't reach it, and it has a lot of problems. Let me now go into a more detailed breakdown... Pre Show This was the usual and seems to do a good job at setting the scene. Feel like the screen needs a good clean though. Pre Show 2 Sigh. This is...a thing. I'm very conflicted by it. It goes on way too long and is way too...cheesy, I guess? The stupid code thing (more on the later) is stupid. The interactions with the group are very hit and miss. BUT. I can see what they've tried to do. The how spiel feels very "Derren Brown". It's the same sort of thing that you would hear from the man himself in one of his shows (either TV or stage). And what it tries to do is pretty cool. The trouble is, it tries to shove together all the different ideas the attraction had / has to make it work. And it really doesn't. Honestly I don't even know what the plot of the ride is any more, with this pre show conflicting pretty much everything else, despite smushing everything into one. I'd be interested to know if Derren had any input into the script here (I very much doubt it). If he did, it shows he's trying to have an influence. If he didn't, it shows that whoever wrote is trying to add the Derren-feel which the attraction needs more of. But it just doesn't work. Hanging Carriage You know the Victorian train carriage? The one which was a huge part of marketing? The one which you step onto, despite it HANGING IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE ROOM BY SOME FLIMSY CHAINS. That thing? Yeah, that's a big part of the ride. You wouldn't know it though. There's a blink and you miss it reference in the script in Pre Show 2. But there's no build, no anticipation and, as a result, no reveal about how there's this huge, and really cool, illusion that plays a part in the ride. What a damn shame, Scene 1 The VR and audio worked fine during this scene for me. Was surprised to see that the train had most headsets available too. There was no "buttkicker" effect (when the train shudders when the infected person smashes onto the train). Can't remember if it worked on my ride last year. Scene 2 Well damn, this is bloody awful. You get off the train with the usual panic. Train staff urge you through the tunnels, with the threat of infected staff. I don't know how many actors were in the scene (I think 4?), but 3 of them were train staff, and one was "infected", but all they really do is wave their arms around. I know it's hard to keep up scare acting levels of intensity, and I'm not expecting that per se. But dear me, there's just nothing interesting or exciting here. Nothing really happens. Then you recite the silly code. And that's a really kicker for me. I just don't like the idea. I appreciated the effort of Pre Show 2 for having the Derren-vibe to it. Derren's shows have these sort of spiels, telling you either what to expect and/or telling you the 'moral of the story', if you will. But these spiels, whilst part of the performance, don't interact with the core of the show. This silly code memory/recital bit is likely an attempt at interacting with riders, and trying to mimic the idea of Derren "planting an idea in your mind at the start". But it's just stupid. And I don't like it. Okay, rant over. Scene 3 Again, no tech issues. I've seen a lot of people talk about the scene being cut short. I think I can clear that up a bit. When this new VR was made, the creative team knew of the issues the ride was experiencing, and the dreaded "green smoke" holding sequence. As such, they decided to design a holding sequence which could continue the story, but also cut out at any moment and not effect the story either. Really clever. Now my memory of how this VR plays out is hazy, but I think the way it goes is something like whilst the train is stationery: -People told not to worry, blah blah -Train roof ripped off -Girl on left side of screen gets leg grabbed, bashes head on window -Demon walks through carriage, screams in your face -Girl on right side of screen stands up, wants to get off, gets kidnapped by demon -Remaining people on screen get picked off one by one -When there's only a couple left, SubCore logo appears I believe that holding sequence (which would only be trigged if the train in front is taking too long to load) starts shortly after the demon screams in your face. In the past, it would regularly go into the holding sequence. These days, the ride only operates with 2 out 3 trains, which means that there rarely is a delay in train taking too long to load, meaning that this VR sequence doesn't reach it's holding sequence. As such, people think the VR has been cut. (Disclaimer: I could be wrong here / might have gotten the flow of the VR wrong. But at the very least, I think the scene plays out exactly as it used to, and cuts at the right point) Anyway, that explanation aside, the rest of the scene goes on. The motion base didn't activate to rock the carriage. I'm guessing they've given up the ghost with that. Scene 4 With no photo op, this whole thing is a bit awkward, but I don't think people pay attention to the screens anyway. The actor in there asks if anyone left some sunglasses on the train. How he got them so quickly, whilst people are still entering the "shop" is anyone's guess. And where are these sunglasses, because he's not holding them? But again, people don't seem to notice those details, so oh well. The shop then goes a bit crazy, and out pops an infected actor on the Ouija board, trying to grab you and being a bit crazy. It's a nice effort, but nowhere near as effective as the demon. Speaking of the demon costume, I hear that - in short - it's buggered. Hence why it hasn't made an appearance. I think it's in some way telling that it's been buggered for so long and they haven't repaired or replaced it. It makes a huge difference to the experience and reviews. So have they not replaced because they're not given the funds? Or because they want to prove a point? Or because the attraction is on its last legs? Who knows. On the topic of the demon, it also makes the very concept of the demon pointless. We have this idea of gas infecting people. Then all of a sudden, there's demons. Are these infected turning into demons? Have the demons just been released from drilling too deep? It's always been an unclear problem with the ride's storytelling. But it didn't matter as much in the past, because the infected people would disappear and not be a part of the story once you reboard the train. But now they reappear at the end, with no sight of the demon. Again, it's just this huge inconsistency, and is again indicative of this whole "chucking loads of ideas together and seeing what happens" approach. So that's that. I came off Ghost Train pretty content with my experience, in the sense that everything worked. There were a couple of good reactions from others on the train (mostly at the jump scare bits in the VR) too, which is nice to see I guess. But the whole experience really is a cocktail of things thrown together, with different ideas from the past 7-8 years chucked about, in the hope of making an attraction. And that's a crying shame. I think what Thorpe tried to do is admirable, and as I say, there's the ingredients of a good experience there. But really, it's beyond saving. It's time for Thorpe/Merlin to hold up their hands, say "We tried, but it didn't work", and replace it. But that's surely an expensive proposition....

Its in the middle of the park and got an awful throughput. I guess its also fairly popular with it being a ride a family/group can all ride together too.

I really, really hope (probably somewhat naievely) that Merlin don't cut their losses with DBGT and actually invest a bit more of a significant amount of money into it. I know it already cost an absolute arm and a leg to get the product we receive today, but surely with the lessons learned after opening the attraction and taking feedback on board of guests riding the attraction, they couldn't make the same mistakes twice... or technically thrice because of Rise of the Demon. Personally, I'd like to see them get rid of the entire VR section as it currently stands and completely re-do it. For longevity, this could even be updated every season but obviously know this is very, very expensive to do and nobody could ever convince Merlin that it's worth it, but would really make people WANT to ride the attraction to see the new story. It's been essentially the same attraction with little to no re-rideability since 2016 and that's so disappointing for an attraction with fantastic potential. The theming, the ride system... it's all fantastic. It's the storyline and lack of consistency that lets it down every. single. time. The cheaper option would be to remove VR entirely, imo. Add screens in where the windows would be in a real tube train, perhaps add co2 cannisters (rather than smoke machines for quick dispersal.. or have industry grade extractor fans to remove all the smoke once guests deboard the train so there's no remnance left for the next train of people), strobes and actors running a frenzy inside the train. Probably a health and safety hazard because of the lack of restraints... so add some restraints too. Having video screens instead of VR would also make switching up the story occasionally a hell of a lot cheaper to do too, as can just be done with one camera and no special 360 degree cameras would need to be used. Oh, and bring back the demon costume. I don't care how much it costs to do, but do it. The coughing person at the end does not, and never will, have the same effect as the demon once had. It either needs to make a return, or all references to 'the demon' need to be removed. It's an absolute shambles. Now I think about it, surely these changes wouldn't even be that expensive to implement. But I guess Thorpe/Merlin's attitude to not even replacing the big finale demon costume probably says a lot more about the future of this attraction with an amazing potential than anything else. I really don't think this attraction has much time left, and it's so so sad to see. I mean, just look at the state of the Ghost Train Shop. It's bloody baron.

I haven't counted rides for a good few years now but I'd say these are the top 3 I've done in a day. Nemesis: Back when it had single rider and it was right next to the exit. It never had a queue and most of the time you got on the same train you came off if you were quick enough. Used to love lapping this. Inferno: On a very empty annual pass day a good few years ago we stayed on this for an afternoon. No idea on a number but easily 20+ Stealth: Quite a few times last year on offpeak weekdays they just left the gate in the station open so you could re-ride, most of the time getting on the train in front. Unsure on ride counts but easily 20+ a couple of times. I've also rode Slammer for pretty much a whole day before but wouldn't have been a high ridecount due to how long it took to load. Used to do Detonator quite a bit in a day too. They do yes. I find Thorpe are definitely the most lenient with re-rides out of the merlin parks. Alton isn't even worth asking.

Many thanks to everyone answering the question! The suggestion to start with Nemesis / Stealth worked really well, as we got in essentially without queueing. In the end we managed 19 rides (we didn't do dodgems, high striker, the 4D cinema, storm surge and depth charge), including all the major rides. A bit sad we didn't manage to get into storm surge, but 30 minutes of queueing seemed a bit unreasonable for what it offered...!