JoshC.

If a staff member knows something about the future of any Merlin theme park, the chances are they won't be allowed to tell people about it. So regardless of how convincing someone sounds, if they're telling you about the future, it's likely the future of some alternate universe...

Personally, I'd have found the idea of using the monster puppet in the live action sequence very cheap, and not make much sense with the story. The live action sequence is great in theory. You escape the train and try to get away from the gas-infected humans who are trying to get you (/warn you of more danger but we don't know that yet). So you try to go down the underground train tracks (though we are warned not too; "stay off the tracks") to safety, and come across the fracking piece of equipment and frantic workers. And then out of nowhere, a train comes hurtling towards you, before you're saved by one of the demons (which caused the train to crash / go further underground). It's meant to be a case of not knowing what is and what is not safe. We've been warned of the dangers of fracking and the stuff that is deep underground, but those who are warning us actually ended putting us in more danger, before we're saved by the so-called bad things. But now in a haze of panic and confusion, the safest place seems to going back the way we came, hence why we're ushered back on the train. But then, from there, everything goes wrong and it turns out the demons were bad after all.. So using the monster puppet just would have made for a much more generic "Oh look, there's a demon here, best run" moment, rather than a moment a genuine fear, panic and confusion. It's a shame they didn't use it for filming the second VR segment though. Admittedly, this idea seems to go over a few too many people's heads (in my experience). Maybe things are a little too fast paced for people to take it in? Maybe it's a bit too clever for its own good? Maybe they just haven't found the sweet spot for getting it right every time? Who knows. But either way, it's a shame that the live action portion isn't getting mixed reception, as that can be a real highlight of the attraction in my opinion.

I've only done one other SLC (Vampire at Walibi Belgium), but the restraints on Condor had much less head room. I'd imagine Condor's restraints are different-ish to most SLCs though; no doubt someone who has had the 'pleasure' of riding more can confirm though.

I hate you Adam.

Plopsa have now officially confirmed it won't open until Easter 2017. I wouldn't worry too much; I don't think it's fair to say that they're even off their feet. Obviously the park will have a bit of bad press go there way and it will be a stressful time for management, but I can't see them particularly struggling this year.

Aside from the silly 'first ever' claim, I reckon this is a good move for the resort (given that they wanted to pursue a 4th piece accommodation to their line up).

+1 Wins the award for 'Worst Restraints' for me also. Physically having to rearrange your ears so they're not folded in against the OTSR is not pleasant.

If the six month thing is true, then they might be scheduling the cable replacement for September (six months after start of sesason), when the park is closes mid-week anyway, causing even less disruption. If I was a betting man, I'd place bets on Stealth's closure being down to a different reason. It experienced many problems on Saturday, and even if this is a 'quiet' time in summer, I don't think they'd actively choose to close down their major coaster for a week now.

^That photo was taken before the food cabins opened up. They've had some signage and stuff added to them; it's not much, but they do look a bit better now.

Huge shame for the park after the big push they've put into marketing it lately. But yeah, at least getting it open with all the theming will happen, which is a big plus.

http://www.richmondshiretoday.co.uk/exclusive-man-learning-difficulties-falls-seat-85ft-lightwater-valley-ride-apparent-safety-system-failure/ A somewhat concerning story for LWV. If the article is accurate, then the staff reaction to this is particularly awful..

May as well. New ones in bold. Bare in mind I rate things for overall experience... Coasters: 1) Taron, Phantasialand. Left me laughing and smiling during and after every ride. Maybe because I haven't done many long coasters that feature plenty of airtime that it's at the top, but I don't think I've actually enjoyed any coaster more. 2) Baron 1898, Efteling. Finally decided; prefer this to Swarm. 3) Swarm, Thorpe Park 4) Nemesis, Alton Towers 5) Joris en de Draak, Efteling 6) Troy, Toverland 7) Anubis, Plopsaland de Panne 8) Black Mamba, Phantasialand 9) Goliath, Walibi Holland. Been thinking about this for a while, and whilst it lacks any sort of atmosphere, it's still a good coaster. 10) Nemesis Inferno, Thorpe Park. Near misses for the last two places include Winjas and Lost Gravity. Platform 13 at WalHol might have even made it if the coaster section was better... Non-Coasters: 1) Chiapas, Phantasialand 2) Maus au Chocolat, Phantasialand 3) Derren Brown's Ghost Train, Thorpe Park 4) Hex, Alton Towers (might be closed but it still counts right...right?) 5) River Quest, Phantasialand. To be fair, I hate this to the point where I wondered if I actually wanted to do it. But it's perhaps the only ride which genuinely terrifies me... 6) Nemesis: Sub Terra, Alton Towers (yeah still counts) 7) Jungle Mission, Bellewaerde 8) Radju River, Bellewaerde 9-10) Meh, nothing notable enough

Old Town is an area which spans from Slammer all the way to Saw (so includes Samurai, Rocky and all those pathways). The 'area under development' piece on the map is in the place of Loggers, to let people know that the Loggers site is under development, as opposed to just mysteriously disappearing. A woodie at Thorpe isn't too absurd a suggestion since there were plans for a GCI on Saw's site originally. And if Towers can get one, anything is possible. Anyways, on the topic of CCR, as has been mentioned, a lot of the track seems to have been removed lately. And if it is for Fright Nights, then that's an interesting development to say the least.

New link since the one above doesn't seem to work: https://www.altontowers.com/activities/events/scarefest Skin Snatchers sounds like an interesting story, but I'm not quite sure how it's going to work. Like story wise, it just sounds like a really complex thing to get across in a maze environment. I'm just having visions of actors rubbing bits of latex 'skin' in my face screaming "THIS WILL BE YOU NEXT" or something. But who knows, it might work. If they focus more on a generic hillbilly style then there's plenty of potential; Twisted Attractions did that style brilliantly a couple of years ago for House of Insomnia for example. Glad Sub Species is returning, since I really want to try that out. Shame that they've decided to keep TotT, but I guess they need one 'softer' maze. On a different note, interesting to see that the park and maze ticket is set at £50 when bought online. Rather steep, especially when you can buy Fright Nights tickets, included 5 mazes, from £28 (with the option of a 6th for another £10)...

'Street food corner' has opened up over the past couple of days, just in front where Crust was... The cart serves some (fancy-ish) beer and cider, and some pub snacks. The huts serve Aussie steak burgers, noodles (with a variety of sauces and flavours), and some chips, again with a variety of sauces to choose from. There's also a picnic area behind the huts. It should be said that these are premium in price - £6 for steak burger, ~£4 for noodles and £3 for a portion of chips I believe - but this is a reflection of the quality of food. A nice thing for the park to be trialing in my opinion!

He obviously poured a bit of cider into one of the oil holders.

That's more than likely a nod to the original film where...

Lol that film announcement came out of nowhere <3 Given that they've been marketing the maze as 'Blair Witch' and not 'Blair Witch Project', it makes me think that they'll try and push the link quite a lot. Whether we'll see many changes is different, but I'd be quite happy to see it return in its 2015 state to be fair.

Isn't the crux of discussion that you can't truly judge dark rides unless you've physically been on them? Dark rides, especially good ones, will never have their true justice served to them by POVs and pictures, but instead only ever by actually experiencing them.

Don't get why people are getting so worked up about this to be honest. This is clearly just a retheme of the current ride system (maybe with some minor amendments); hence the "factory doors closing" and "under new management". The 'bye bye Bubbleworks' is more just a hint that it'll be no longer Bubbleworks by name or nature. There'll no doubt be an IP; Hotel Translyvania or Gruffalo are where I'm placing my money. Nice to see it getting some work as it is needed. Let's hope they invest a suitable amount of money into it. But at the moment, colour me uninterested.

Presumably things like the dolls, clapping monkey and such are there for the Victorian vibe. I imagine the Victorian stuff is there to juxtapose the modern day underground stuff, and thus create a 'Woah' effect on people riding. Unfortunately it seems to have been lost a little.

I don't see why anything would need to be pushed back significantly, a few weeks at most. This isn't an ideal situation and could well attract unwanted publicity, but won't affect future developments. Although I'd still be incredibly surprised if the hotel opens completed at Christmas 2017, but that's a separate matter.

Worth mentioning now that Plopsa have removed all reference to Heidi on their website. A new permit will take a few weeks to sort out, so I imagine Heidi will reappear then. Long term I don't think the park have anything to worry about, but this has attracted a lot of attention in the Belgian media. Though with their big new ride not opening any time soon and some negative press going their way, it might not the best summer for the park...

The confusion could come earlier - people will no doubt not get the link between entering a Victorian warehouse with a hanging Victorian train, to the modern day story you explain. There are subtle things to hint to what will happen, but they're perhaps too subtle for some.

Wow! That was my first reaction after getting off Derren Brown's Ghost Train. So, it suffices to say I did enjoy it and, for me, it was worth the wait. However, I think this might be a bit of a Marmite attraction, and given some of the reviews on here, that does seem to be the case. Anyway, a review of sorts... Why I enjoyed DBGT: -Fab pre show featuring Derren was fab. -A good, long, continuous story. I enjoy rides that have a story, and give you a reason for why you're there and what you're doing. Ghost Train does this well, with an interesting story which just works for me. It lent itself for some scares, some laughs and a sense of believability. -Mostly great VR quality. I'm still dubious as to how big a thing virtual reality should be in theme parks, but Ghost Train utilises VR well. It's of a high quality, fits within the story - albeit loosely - and the fact it mixes in with the surroundings so well gives a sense of realism to it. And I can only see it improving over time as technology improves. -Actually questioning what I saw. One big push for Ghost Train has been about questioning your perception, and not being able to tell what is real and what is not. After riding and talking to other people, I genuinely was left questioning what I saw. Though this was on some of the smaller details from the VR film, it was still a great touch that left me going "No, it was definitely this I saw...at least, I think it was?". A great thing to keep you thinking after the ride, and adds a real sense of re-rideability to it all! -Hanging Victorian train in the warehouse is awesome in real life. And, in general, the theming inside is fantastic; it's very easy to forget you're at a theme park and not in a train! -It works. This sounds a stupid thing to say, but here me out. My biggest concern with this was that the attraction might feel disjointed, that there was too much going on, and it just wouldn't flow and wouldn't really work. But when I went through, it all flowed and just worked for me, which is fab. Now, anyone reading this review might be thinking this is the best thing since sliced bread, or I've come down with a case of new-ride fever. So I do want to bring this review down to earth a bit, especially for anyone who is reading but has yet to ride. My review of course reflects my opinions, but as I said earlier, I feel this might be a bit of a Marmite ride and not to everyone's tastes, particularly in the enthusiast community. Here's why... -A lot of VR. It takes up about half of the experience, which is certainly more than I expected. And this could be a problem for some; in particular, those who enjoy 'real' theming and those who enjoy being able to share their experiences with others in real time. Like I say, it was more than I expected, but it wasn't too much for me, since it all felt necessary. But for others, it might be too long, or just not want they want from a theme park attraction. -Second VR film isn't as good as the first. Whilst I still enjoyed the second VR section, it is the weakest part of the attraction, and the graphics aren't quite as good as in the first section. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed over time though. -A jump in story between pre show and main show. The pre show does nothing to set up the story of the attraction; it is much more akin to the introduction of a Derren Brown show than a theme park ride. That's not to say there's nothing to explain the story before hand, but it's just very subtle. So when the story in the main show starts, some may be a little lost / confused as to why what is happening, is happening. It's something that you need to go along with, much like with Derren's shows. But given in a theme park environment people seem to lose all common sense / reasonable thought, it might be lost on some people, and leave them too confused to focus on the attraction. -The story and ride hardware. Simply put, I'm not sure everyone will like the story and / or ride system. There's nothing wrong with this, as everyone has different tastes and the like, but some people, especially enthusiasts, may just dislike the ride because of what it is and it just not being what they want. The final verdict: DBGT won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's a shame this is the case, as the first major dark ride in the UK for forever needed to be an instant classic for there to be more crop up in my opinion. Hopefully, though, enthusiasts can appreciate how good an attraction this is for Thorpe, that it filled a space in their line up, and used up dead space on park. Everyone around me seemed to scream and laugh through the attraction, and leave with a smile on their face, which is great. And most importantly for me, I enjoyed it and can't wait to try it again.