Marhelorpe

Is anyone really surprised it's in this state. Nearly every issue it has is standard Merlin problems. Failing to maintain and overlooking details in planning. Their obsession for it being easy to advertise always hinders them. The need for new technology and worlds firsts never seems to pay off. It always plagues their attractions with problems and the only people to blame are themselves. If the marketing team stopped spurting out utter nonsense and understood what they are trying to sell then maybe Merlin would consider a decent ride rather than a stupid gimmick. Sw8 will have some stupid gimmick strapline and so will thorpes next project. 
The fact people are surprised and have hope that the ride will become perfect next year need to wake up. The problems are with the initial design and ones that can't be fixed easily.

Not even something as basic as the pre-show was working and you just walked straight through?.........

No comment. 

After riding DBGT several time this year, our experience on Saturday was an absolute and utter joke, no, incredulous. Pre show was "broken" so simply walked though. VR1, out of focus in parts but finally had a different character. Evacuated by staff before the VR had even finished which I thought was rather hilarious considering this is the best sequence of the ride. As we all know, 2nd segment is still broken, completely and utterly pointless/boring. VR2 the usual atrocious PS2 graphics and the majority of it was green smoke, the most I have ever experienced. It was as if we had a minute or so of footage, smoke, minute or so of footage, smoke. 
 
3 members of our party had never ridden it before, and only 1 of the 4 segments worked correctly. Why even have the ride open, it's a disgrace. Needles to say all of my party though it was a joke and can't even be bothered to try it next year with new scenes.
 
Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however if I were you I would not get my hopes up for next year. They can say what they want, all they will do is attempt to fix broken headsets/lights on a stick, and provide a second ending which should have been in play already. After Saturday all hope is now gone, I'm out DBGT.... gutted, as I would love to love this ride. 

So many people here know for over a year I've attempted a huge amount to avoid anything to do with this ride. Not read the forums, unliked anything on Facebook that was theme park related - asked people to love if they were talking about it around me. All this because I am a humongous fan of dark ride/ attractions and didn't want any marketing or reviews/ perceptions to put judgement in me before I went on.
 
So after 4 previous attempts to ride it on previous trips where it ended up being shut and then after 2 goes on it Saturday to where I was evacuated off it both times so after over a year of avoiding all this and still not riding it 100% and I will admit after everything I feel genrally upset/ let down - which is a shame as this is my type of thing. I have 3 words to say on my experience/ opinion/ review.
 
A Total Embarassment
 
Thank you everyone for putting up with me in the last year and being respectful at being careful what was said around me nevertheless

The biggest problem with Ghost Train in my opinion is not the reliability issues it experiences on a daily basis, but the fact it has been overhyped and under-delivered on such a huge scale I have not seen before.
 
Think about this and let's go back to 2009/10 to Alton Towers when Thirteen was being constructed. Who here remembers some of the ridiculous claims and marketing that was used for this attraction? Here are some I can remember to name a few:
 
- World's ultimate roller coaster.
- World's first "Psycoaster".
- Only 16-55's are allowed to ride due to it being so intense.
 
When it finally opened, public feedback was mixed. Why? Because I distinctly remember there were many who followed this marketing and had expectations that this was going to be the next version of Nemesis and the most intense ride in the park. Instead, they got a family coaster with a lacklustre outdoor section and an indoor vertical drop. As a result, the marketing was very misleading for the public and that is why Thirteen still continues to have mixed feedback to this day, although not as noticeable as it was in 2010. I like Thirteen for what it is, bar the marketing.
 
With Ghost Train, we have seen the exact same thing happen and it just shows you that Merlin's marketing team have not learnt a single lesson since 2010. We have had so many promising claims about this ride before it opened that naturally, people are going to have high expectations when they eventually ride it. Like before, here are some of them which Thorpe Park are still using today, quoted from marketing material and their own website:
 
- The world's only fully immersive psychological attraction designed to manipulate the human mind.
- The next generation of theme park experience.
- The future for theme parks across the world.
- Completely re-writes the rules for what theme parks can do.
- Over 1000 specialists collaborated to create this experience.
- This attraction is not suitable for guests with psychological or neurological disorders.
 
Naturally, people (including myself) were expecting something truly extraordinary here that will make it a phenomenal experience for riders, but come July 8th 2016 when the ride finally opened, we were treated with something that did not deliver what was promised and the fault is entirely down to the marketing team behind this experience. Where are the 12 experiences? Where is the other ending? What "manipulates" the human mind? So many questions that have not been answered. To tell people before they go on it the first time to have low expectations when this has all been spoon-fed to them over the last 12 months is silly.
 
I must admit that when I first rode this on July 1st during the rehearsal weekend, I did praise the ride a lot saying how well it all worked. Now I look back at the review I made which is still viewable on this forum, I realise how naive I was at the time as I refused to believe the experience was not what is lived up to be. Over time, I now see this attraction as Thirteen V2.0 in terms of marketing, and Nemesis Sub Terra V2.0 in terms of execution (nice idea, poorly executed) primarily because over time when the hype died down, reality sets in.
 
It's clearly obvious something during the construction and implementation stages of this project has gone wrong and it has yet to be resolved. If you saw a 10 minute documentary from the BBC back in May showing the behind the scenes making of the ride, you will notice there are various elements, actors and speeches which have not made any appearance in the attraction, including a quick clip of what I am certain will be the "new destination" next year with these flying creatures with fire. Why have these not been used on the ride? What went wrong? Why was there a 2 month delay? Could this be the reason? So many unanswered questions.
 
Lastly, what irritates me the most is the fact the park seems to be in denial that their latest investment has become a white elephant project. If you look at people's reviews and opinions on the ride from the public (not forum members), you will see the majority of them are far from impressed, whether it's people on Twitter (especially), Facebook or Google Reviews. So what has the park done in response? Instead of taking on their feedback and fixing effects such as the broken tube train which is still present today, they are deleting people's negative opinions on the ride and silencing them for voicing an opinion that does not match what they want to hear. I can't confirm if this is happening or not, but considering I have seen people's posts on their Facebook media page criticising the ride or on Twitter have been occasionally disappearing, it must be happening.
 
Granted, I'm not saying everyone who has ridden Ghost Train hates it as there are some good reviews for it out there, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact this has become the most overhyped product Merlin has made to date, even more so than Thirteen.
 
I want to believe this ride can get better by next year, believe me, I really want to love this attraction. But considering we are seeing so many issues with it at present with feedback, reliability, broken effects and missing elements, I doubt it very much and therefore, I have given up on it.
 
This is the last time I will ever listen to or follow Merlin's marketing again. Ever.
 
(Rant over)

The biggest problem with Ghost Train in my opinion is not the reliability issues it experiences on a daily basis, but the fact it has been overhyped and under-delivered on such a huge scale I have not seen before.
 
Think about this and let's go back to 2009/10 to Alton Towers when Thirteen was being constructed. Who here remembers some of the ridiculous claims and marketing that was used for this attraction? Here are some I can remember to name a few:
 
- World's ultimate roller coaster.
- World's first "Psycoaster".
- Only 16-55's are allowed to ride due to it being so intense.
 
When it finally opened, public feedback was mixed. Why? Because I distinctly remember there were many who followed this marketing and had expectations that this was going to be the next version of Nemesis and the most intense ride in the park. Instead, they got a family coaster with a lacklustre outdoor section and an indoor vertical drop. As a result, the marketing was very misleading for the public and that is why Thirteen still continues to have mixed feedback to this day, although not as noticeable as it was in 2010. I like Thirteen for what it is, bar the marketing.
 
With Ghost Train, we have seen the exact same thing happen and it just shows you that Merlin's marketing team have not learnt a single lesson since 2010. We have had so many promising claims about this ride before it opened that naturally, people are going to have high expectations when they eventually ride it. Like before, here are some of them which Thorpe Park are still using today, quoted from marketing material and their own website:
 
- The world's only fully immersive psychological attraction designed to manipulate the human mind.
- The next generation of theme park experience.
- The future for theme parks across the world.
- Completely re-writes the rules for what theme parks can do.
- Over 1000 specialists collaborated to create this experience.
- This attraction is not suitable for guests with psychological or neurological disorders.
 
Naturally, people (including myself) were expecting something truly extraordinary here that will make it a phenomenal experience for riders, but come July 8th 2016 when the ride finally opened, we were treated with something that did not deliver what was promised and the fault is entirely down to the marketing team behind this experience. Where are the 12 experiences? Where is the other ending? What "manipulates" the human mind? So many questions that have not been answered. To tell people before they go on it the first time to have low expectations when this has all been spoon-fed to them over the last 12 months is silly.
 
I must admit that when I first rode this on July 1st during the rehearsal weekend, I did praise the ride a lot saying how well it all worked. Now I look back at the review I made which is still viewable on this forum, I realise how naive I was at the time as I refused to believe the experience was not what is lived up to be. Over time, I now see this attraction as Thirteen V2.0 in terms of marketing, and Nemesis Sub Terra V2.0 in terms of execution (nice idea, poorly executed) primarily because over time when the hype died down, reality sets in.
 
It's clearly obvious something during the construction and implementation stages of this project has gone wrong and it has yet to be resolved. If you saw a 10 minute documentary from the BBC back in May showing the behind the scenes making of the ride, you will notice there are various elements, actors and speeches which have not made any appearance in the attraction, including a quick clip of what I am certain will be the "new destination" next year with these flying creatures with fire. Why have these not been used on the ride? What went wrong? Why was there a 2 month delay? Could this be the reason? So many unanswered questions.
 
Lastly, what irritates me the most is the fact the park seems to be in denial that their latest investment has become a white elephant project. If you look at people's reviews and opinions on the ride from the public (not forum members), you will see the majority of them are far from impressed, whether it's people on Twitter (especially), Facebook or Google Reviews. So what has the park done in response? Instead of taking on their feedback and fixing effects such as the broken tube train which is still present today, they are deleting people's negative opinions on the ride and silencing them for voicing an opinion that does not match what they want to hear. I can't confirm if this is happening or not, but considering I have seen people's posts on their Facebook media page criticising the ride or on Twitter have been occasionally disappearing, it must be happening.
 
Granted, I'm not saying everyone who has ridden Ghost Train hates it as there are some good reviews for it out there, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact this has become the most overhyped product Merlin has made to date, even more so than Thirteen.
 
I want to believe this ride can get better by next year, believe me, I really want to love this attraction. But considering we are seeing so many issues with it at present with feedback, reliability, broken effects and missing elements, I doubt it very much and therefore, I have given up on it.
 
This is the last time I will ever listen to or follow Merlin's marketing again. Ever.
 
(Rant over)

The biggest problem with Ghost Train in my opinion is not the reliability issues it experiences on a daily basis, but the fact it has been overhyped and under-delivered on such a huge scale I have not seen before.
 
Think about this and let's go back to 2009/10 to Alton Towers when Thirteen was being constructed. Who here remembers some of the ridiculous claims and marketing that was used for this attraction? Here are some I can remember to name a few:
 
- World's ultimate roller coaster.
- World's first "Psycoaster".
- Only 16-55's are allowed to ride due to it being so intense.
 
When it finally opened, public feedback was mixed. Why? Because I distinctly remember there were many who followed this marketing and had expectations that this was going to be the next version of Nemesis and the most intense ride in the park. Instead, they got a family coaster with a lacklustre outdoor section and an indoor vertical drop. As a result, the marketing was very misleading for the public and that is why Thirteen still continues to have mixed feedback to this day, although not as noticeable as it was in 2010. I like Thirteen for what it is, bar the marketing.
 
With Ghost Train, we have seen the exact same thing happen and it just shows you that Merlin's marketing team have not learnt a single lesson since 2010. We have had so many promising claims about this ride before it opened that naturally, people are going to have high expectations when they eventually ride it. Like before, here are some of them which Thorpe Park are still using today, quoted from marketing material and their own website:
 
- The world's only fully immersive psychological attraction designed to manipulate the human mind.
- The next generation of theme park experience.
- The future for theme parks across the world.
- Completely re-writes the rules for what theme parks can do.
- Over 1000 specialists collaborated to create this experience.
- This attraction is not suitable for guests with psychological or neurological disorders.
 
Naturally, people (including myself) were expecting something truly extraordinary here that will make it a phenomenal experience for riders, but come July 8th 2016 when the ride finally opened, we were treated with something that did not deliver what was promised and the fault is entirely down to the marketing team behind this experience. Where are the 12 experiences? Where is the other ending? What "manipulates" the human mind? So many questions that have not been answered. To tell people before they go on it the first time to have low expectations when this has all been spoon-fed to them over the last 12 months is silly.
 
I must admit that when I first rode this on July 1st during the rehearsal weekend, I did praise the ride a lot saying how well it all worked. Now I look back at the review I made which is still viewable on this forum, I realise how naive I was at the time as I refused to believe the experience was not what is lived up to be. Over time, I now see this attraction as Thirteen V2.0 in terms of marketing, and Nemesis Sub Terra V2.0 in terms of execution (nice idea, poorly executed) primarily because over time when the hype died down, reality sets in.
 
It's clearly obvious something during the construction and implementation stages of this project has gone wrong and it has yet to be resolved. If you saw a 10 minute documentary from the BBC back in May showing the behind the scenes making of the ride, you will notice there are various elements, actors and speeches which have not made any appearance in the attraction, including a quick clip of what I am certain will be the "new destination" next year with these flying creatures with fire. Why have these not been used on the ride? What went wrong? Why was there a 2 month delay? Could this be the reason? So many unanswered questions.
 
Lastly, what irritates me the most is the fact the park seems to be in denial that their latest investment has become a white elephant project. If you look at people's reviews and opinions on the ride from the public (not forum members), you will see the majority of them are far from impressed, whether it's people on Twitter (especially), Facebook or Google Reviews. So what has the park done in response? Instead of taking on their feedback and fixing effects such as the broken tube train which is still present today, they are deleting people's negative opinions on the ride and silencing them for voicing an opinion that does not match what they want to hear. I can't confirm if this is happening or not, but considering I have seen people's posts on their Facebook media page criticising the ride or on Twitter have been occasionally disappearing, it must be happening.
 
Granted, I'm not saying everyone who has ridden Ghost Train hates it as there are some good reviews for it out there, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact this has become the most overhyped product Merlin has made to date, even more so than Thirteen.
 
I want to believe this ride can get better by next year, believe me, I really want to love this attraction. But considering we are seeing so many issues with it at present with feedback, reliability, broken effects and missing elements, I doubt it very much and therefore, I have given up on it.
 
This is the last time I will ever listen to or follow Merlin's marketing again. Ever.
 
(Rant over)

The biggest problem with Ghost Train in my opinion is not the reliability issues it experiences on a daily basis, but the fact it has been overhyped and under-delivered on such a huge scale I have not seen before.
 
Think about this and let's go back to 2009/10 to Alton Towers when Thirteen was being constructed. Who here remembers some of the ridiculous claims and marketing that was used for this attraction? Here are some I can remember to name a few:
 
- World's ultimate roller coaster.
- World's first "Psycoaster".
- Only 16-55's are allowed to ride due to it being so intense.
 
When it finally opened, public feedback was mixed. Why? Because I distinctly remember there were many who followed this marketing and had expectations that this was going to be the next version of Nemesis and the most intense ride in the park. Instead, they got a family coaster with a lacklustre outdoor section and an indoor vertical drop. As a result, the marketing was very misleading for the public and that is why Thirteen still continues to have mixed feedback to this day, although not as noticeable as it was in 2010. I like Thirteen for what it is, bar the marketing.
 
With Ghost Train, we have seen the exact same thing happen and it just shows you that Merlin's marketing team have not learnt a single lesson since 2010. We have had so many promising claims about this ride before it opened that naturally, people are going to have high expectations when they eventually ride it. Like before, here are some of them which Thorpe Park are still using today, quoted from marketing material and their own website:
 
- The world's only fully immersive psychological attraction designed to manipulate the human mind.
- The next generation of theme park experience.
- The future for theme parks across the world.
- Completely re-writes the rules for what theme parks can do.
- Over 1000 specialists collaborated to create this experience.
- This attraction is not suitable for guests with psychological or neurological disorders.
 
Naturally, people (including myself) were expecting something truly extraordinary here that will make it a phenomenal experience for riders, but come July 8th 2016 when the ride finally opened, we were treated with something that did not deliver what was promised and the fault is entirely down to the marketing team behind this experience. Where are the 12 experiences? Where is the other ending? What "manipulates" the human mind? So many questions that have not been answered. To tell people before they go on it the first time to have low expectations when this has all been spoon-fed to them over the last 12 months is silly.
 
I must admit that when I first rode this on July 1st during the rehearsal weekend, I did praise the ride a lot saying how well it all worked. Now I look back at the review I made which is still viewable on this forum, I realise how naive I was at the time as I refused to believe the experience was not what is lived up to be. Over time, I now see this attraction as Thirteen V2.0 in terms of marketing, and Nemesis Sub Terra V2.0 in terms of execution (nice idea, poorly executed) primarily because over time when the hype died down, reality sets in.
 
It's clearly obvious something during the construction and implementation stages of this project has gone wrong and it has yet to be resolved. If you saw a 10 minute documentary from the BBC back in May showing the behind the scenes making of the ride, you will notice there are various elements, actors and speeches which have not made any appearance in the attraction, including a quick clip of what I am certain will be the "new destination" next year with these flying creatures with fire. Why have these not been used on the ride? What went wrong? Why was there a 2 month delay? Could this be the reason? So many unanswered questions.
 
Lastly, what irritates me the most is the fact the park seems to be in denial that their latest investment has become a white elephant project. If you look at people's reviews and opinions on the ride from the public (not forum members), you will see the majority of them are far from impressed, whether it's people on Twitter (especially), Facebook or Google Reviews. So what has the park done in response? Instead of taking on their feedback and fixing effects such as the broken tube train which is still present today, they are deleting people's negative opinions on the ride and silencing them for voicing an opinion that does not match what they want to hear. I can't confirm if this is happening or not, but considering I have seen people's posts on their Facebook media page criticising the ride or on Twitter have been occasionally disappearing, it must be happening.
 
Granted, I'm not saying everyone who has ridden Ghost Train hates it as there are some good reviews for it out there, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact this has become the most overhyped product Merlin has made to date, even more so than Thirteen.
 
I want to believe this ride can get better by next year, believe me, I really want to love this attraction. But considering we are seeing so many issues with it at present with feedback, reliability, broken effects and missing elements, I doubt it very much and therefore, I have given up on it.
 
This is the last time I will ever listen to or follow Merlin's marketing again. Ever.
 
(Rant over)

You have just described a dark ride or themed attraction, which need not be 'rides' the whole way through, and Derren Brown's Ghost Train is nothing new. It is very bespoke, which is a good thing creatively, but just underused and poorly executed for what it is.
 
It's fantastic you think it is a great experience and that you enjoy it, that's great. But then if you or others were to have ridden the kinds of dark rides or themed attractions that have been achieved in other parks (or even on a smaller scale right here in the UK 10-20 years ago), you'd perhaps see DBGT is a rather superficial attempt to do the same as those parks have been doing for years - dressed up with promotion as being cutting edge and world-leading.
 
Themed entertainment is something Merlin apparenrlty just can't get their head around, despite it being in their company name. They say things like "highly immersive" and "psychological", and some of them in MMM do have a background in theatre design (which is what themed entertainment is rooted in). But then they come up with poor practical solutions to achieve those ideas like 'sit down VR', a pole with headlights on it for a train crash, shouting 'actors' to create panic without much real show FX and stingy scenic design. You don't need enormous budgets to make a great show that's really fun for guests, but a company as loaded as Merlin shouldnt have a problem if they really wanted to deliver the best show.
 
Practices, ethos and achievements that have been used in the industry for decades to great results are abandoned under Merlin , they contradict themselves so often by running their parks as a big bunch of amusement rides with little understanding of 'themed' entertainment and show, only to attempt making really ambitious 100% show-based, immersive attractions like DBGT or Sub Terra without the experience or ability to pull it off.
 
Perhaps the best example of this kind of attraction done so well was Kongfrontation at Universal, which DBGT is very close to in its format (except Kong used all-practical effects rather than A/V effects). And that was a whole 26 years ago they achieved that.

The biggest problem with Ghost Train in my opinion is not the reliability issues it experiences on a daily basis, but the fact it has been overhyped and under-delivered on such a huge scale I have not seen before.
 
Think about this and let's go back to 2009/10 to Alton Towers when Thirteen was being constructed. Who here remembers some of the ridiculous claims and marketing that was used for this attraction? Here are some I can remember to name a few:
 
- World's ultimate roller coaster.
- World's first "Psycoaster".
- Only 16-55's are allowed to ride due to it being so intense.
 
When it finally opened, public feedback was mixed. Why? Because I distinctly remember there were many who followed this marketing and had expectations that this was going to be the next version of Nemesis and the most intense ride in the park. Instead, they got a family coaster with a lacklustre outdoor section and an indoor vertical drop. As a result, the marketing was very misleading for the public and that is why Thirteen still continues to have mixed feedback to this day, although not as noticeable as it was in 2010. I like Thirteen for what it is, bar the marketing.
 
With Ghost Train, we have seen the exact same thing happen and it just shows you that Merlin's marketing team have not learnt a single lesson since 2010. We have had so many promising claims about this ride before it opened that naturally, people are going to have high expectations when they eventually ride it. Like before, here are some of them which Thorpe Park are still using today, quoted from marketing material and their own website:
 
- The world's only fully immersive psychological attraction designed to manipulate the human mind.
- The next generation of theme park experience.
- The future for theme parks across the world.
- Completely re-writes the rules for what theme parks can do.
- Over 1000 specialists collaborated to create this experience.
- This attraction is not suitable for guests with psychological or neurological disorders.
 
Naturally, people (including myself) were expecting something truly extraordinary here that will make it a phenomenal experience for riders, but come July 8th 2016 when the ride finally opened, we were treated with something that did not deliver what was promised and the fault is entirely down to the marketing team behind this experience. Where are the 12 experiences? Where is the other ending? What "manipulates" the human mind? So many questions that have not been answered. To tell people before they go on it the first time to have low expectations when this has all been spoon-fed to them over the last 12 months is silly.
 
I must admit that when I first rode this on July 1st during the rehearsal weekend, I did praise the ride a lot saying how well it all worked. Now I look back at the review I made which is still viewable on this forum, I realise how naive I was at the time as I refused to believe the experience was not what is lived up to be. Over time, I now see this attraction as Thirteen V2.0 in terms of marketing, and Nemesis Sub Terra V2.0 in terms of execution (nice idea, poorly executed) primarily because over time when the hype died down, reality sets in.
 
It's clearly obvious something during the construction and implementation stages of this project has gone wrong and it has yet to be resolved. If you saw a 10 minute documentary from the BBC back in May showing the behind the scenes making of the ride, you will notice there are various elements, actors and speeches which have not made any appearance in the attraction, including a quick clip of what I am certain will be the "new destination" next year with these flying creatures with fire. Why have these not been used on the ride? What went wrong? Why was there a 2 month delay? Could this be the reason? So many unanswered questions.
 
Lastly, what irritates me the most is the fact the park seems to be in denial that their latest investment has become a white elephant project. If you look at people's reviews and opinions on the ride from the public (not forum members), you will see the majority of them are far from impressed, whether it's people on Twitter (especially), Facebook or Google Reviews. So what has the park done in response? Instead of taking on their feedback and fixing effects such as the broken tube train which is still present today, they are deleting people's negative opinions on the ride and silencing them for voicing an opinion that does not match what they want to hear. I can't confirm if this is happening or not, but considering I have seen people's posts on their Facebook media page criticising the ride or on Twitter have been occasionally disappearing, it must be happening.
 
Granted, I'm not saying everyone who has ridden Ghost Train hates it as there are some good reviews for it out there, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact this has become the most overhyped product Merlin has made to date, even more so than Thirteen.
 
I want to believe this ride can get better by next year, believe me, I really want to love this attraction. But considering we are seeing so many issues with it at present with feedback, reliability, broken effects and missing elements, I doubt it very much and therefore, I have given up on it.
 
This is the last time I will ever listen to or follow Merlin's marketing again. Ever.
 
(Rant over)

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Let's be honest here. This advertisement for a "new destination" I'm very sure is the alternative ending that was originally going to debut on the ride this year, only this time Thorpe have decided to hold off implementing it until 2017 for unknown reasons.
 
My theory is that there were either severe issues with the VR footage for the other ending which might partly explain the 2 month opening delay, or Merlin/Thorpe decided to hold off using it until 2017 deliberately in order to keep interest high for the attraction the following year. Considering guest feedback has been very mixed for this attraction over the last 3 months of it being open, Thorpe know they need to make some major changes to it in order to increase satisfaction levels from guests.

If you ask me, the ride needs a lot more work than just simply adding more VR footage to make it worth queueing more than 30 minutes for at the moment!

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. I mean, just... wow. Today was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Ghost Train. So many elements are not working the way they should that I wouldn't even wait 10 minutes for it right now.

(Problem 1)

The audio exterior wise keeps cutting out again, just like during the rehearsal week. Wasn't present last week.

(Problem 2)

The headset I used had the left headphone dead, so I was unable to get a surround sound experience. And to top it off, the left and right speakers were the other way round, so when I look to the right, the person's voice kept coming from the window, not the seat opposite me. Quality control obviously wasn't done here.

(Problem 3)

The visuals during the 1st half kept glitching out, so when I raised my hand to ask for assistance mid-ride, instead of moving to an available seat just 4 seats down, the staff member radioed to the control booth "reset headset 55" and then my screen became blank. No audio or video, just a black screen, so instead of moving to a working headset, I was told to sit there with the headset on seeing and hearing nothing, so I missed the 1st half altogether.

(Problem 4 - the worst one)

The walk through section was not working properly either. The part where the train comes racing towards you around the corner did not move at all, so all that happened was some lights lit up the tunnel, nothing else. To top it off, the shadow of the demon creatures that appears in the tunnel wasn't present or lit up in the smoke, so there was nothing to see except a pitch black tunnel. More broken or disused effects.

(Problem 5)

During the 2nd half of the VR, my headset lost tracking of where I was so when it began the video, I was positioned 4 feet further in front, so I was essentially sitting in the middle of the carriage, not the seat. So when the demon creatures looked around in the carriage, my position got in the way, so just like in video games, I just saw bizarre outlines and shapes of the creature in front of me when it looked straight at me.

Amazingly, the green smoke section only lasted for 30 seconds, so that wasn't so bad.

At the end, I wasn't the only one who had identical issues. After informing the staff my headset didn't work properly, I was told with about 7 others to go to the Fastrack entrance and explain the issues I had and they let me go round again without queueing the second time through the Fastrack queue. Granted, the VR second time round wasn't as bad this time, but the moving tube train was still stationary and my headset's audio still wasn't giving me stereo sound.

It's not often I would say this, but I genuinely want the ride right now to stop running at present until all these issues are resolved. It's just absolutely shambolic and appalling that a ride that has been running for only 13 weeks is in a state as bad as this right now.

My advice to anyone who is going to Fright Nights this weekend or today is do not even bother with Ghost Train. It's not even worth trying.

So much for "completely re-writing the rules for what theme parks can do" when none of it works properly...

Sorry for this long rant. As you can probably tell, it has annoyed me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

New terrifying destination next year?
 
I thought that was the Gruffleworks.

Yeah but... Derren Brown... cost £95 million.... 890,000 people worked on this ride... 15 different manufacturers....

Haven ridden it 2 times today, I am far from impressed from both experiences. How can an attraction that has only been running for just 9 weeks (excluding the 2 week downtime in August) be in such a dismal state already?

Some of the differences I've noticed and problems I experienced are listed below:

- Outdoor queue-line audio was silent with absolutely nothing coming through the speakers. Every few minutes, someone was tapping against a microphone which could be heard and that was about it.

- Besides the outdoor audio not working, the interior audio was muted too, both the corridor up the stairs between the pre-show room and the warehouse as well as the sound effects used inside the warehouse too.

- I had to change to a different headset 3 times in the first section of the VR experience on the first ride as the audio through the headphones was either not working or only one side was working.

- The half-way walk through section was a lot quieter than before with the audio levels turned down, plus, there was almost no smoke coming from the tunnel with the moving tube train.

- Worst part for me was when I boarded the carriage for the 2nd half of the VR experience, we all sat here motionless with nothing happening for approximately 3 minutes on both rides. It appears that Thorpe have decided in order to fix the green smoke scene where you were waiting for a few minutes, you instead wait here before the train begins to move and VR footage begins inside the carriage with no audio or visuals. As much as the green smoke scene kept you waiting, this new method is even worse as it kills the pace from the evacuation scene half-way through the attraction from earlier.

Back when I rode this during the rehearsal periods in early July, I rated this attraction very highly as it worked quite well, the VR worked perfectly and the pace never dropped at any point. But now however, none of this is the case. It's half-finished whereby I've yet to experience more than 3 out of the supposed 12 different experiences and the other ending, the VR headsets were broken... every time, and the atmosphere for the ride is virtually non- existent any more.

There might be a lot of new technology and mechanisms in this attraction, but that is not a good excuse for a ride that is technically only 9 weeks old. Is this "the future for theme parks across the world" now, where half the stuff stops working after a few weeks of use?

Haven ridden it 2 times today, I am far from impressed from both experiences. How can an attraction that has only been running for just 9 weeks (excluding the 2 week downtime in August) be in such a dismal state already?

Some of the differences I've noticed and problems I experienced are listed below:

- Outdoor queue-line audio was silent with absolutely nothing coming through the speakers. Every few minutes, someone was tapping against a microphone which could be heard and that was about it.

- Besides the outdoor audio not working, the interior audio was muted too, both the corridor up the stairs between the pre-show room and the warehouse as well as the sound effects used inside the warehouse too.

- I had to change to a different headset 3 times in the first section of the VR experience on the first ride as the audio through the headphones was either not working or only one side was working.

- The half-way walk through section was a lot quieter than before with the audio levels turned down, plus, there was almost no smoke coming from the tunnel with the moving tube train.

- Worst part for me was when I boarded the carriage for the 2nd half of the VR experience, we all sat here motionless with nothing happening for approximately 3 minutes on both rides. It appears that Thorpe have decided in order to fix the green smoke scene where you were waiting for a few minutes, you instead wait here before the train begins to move and VR footage begins inside the carriage with no audio or visuals. As much as the green smoke scene kept you waiting, this new method is even worse as it kills the pace from the evacuation scene half-way through the attraction from earlier.

Back when I rode this during the rehearsal periods in early July, I rated this attraction very highly as it worked quite well, the VR worked perfectly and the pace never dropped at any point. But now however, none of this is the case. It's half-finished whereby I've yet to experience more than 3 out of the supposed 12 different experiences and the other ending, the VR headsets were broken... every time, and the atmosphere for the ride is virtually non- existent any more.

There might be a lot of new technology and mechanisms in this attraction, but that is not a good excuse for a ride that is technically only 9 weeks old. Is this "the future for theme parks across the world" now, where half the stuff stops working after a few weeks of use?

@Martin.C I also visited today and couldn't agree more with all your comments. Rode twice today and it a far superior experience when I rode during technical rehearsals. They really need to sort the waiting in the smoke, it completely kills the pace, everyone just gets confused and ruins the end of the ride. And there's no excuse for not playing the music outside, without it the atmosphere is just dull.

Haven ridden it 2 times today, I am far from impressed from both experiences. How can an attraction that has only been running for just 9 weeks (excluding the 2 week downtime in August) be in such a dismal state already?

Some of the differences I've noticed and problems I experienced are listed below:

- Outdoor queue-line audio was silent with absolutely nothing coming through the speakers. Every few minutes, someone was tapping against a microphone which could be heard and that was about it.

- Besides the outdoor audio not working, the interior audio was muted too, both the corridor up the stairs between the pre-show room and the warehouse as well as the sound effects used inside the warehouse too.

- I had to change to a different headset 3 times in the first section of the VR experience on the first ride as the audio through the headphones was either not working or only one side was working.

- The half-way walk through section was a lot quieter than before with the audio levels turned down, plus, there was almost no smoke coming from the tunnel with the moving tube train.

- Worst part for me was when I boarded the carriage for the 2nd half of the VR experience, we all sat here motionless with nothing happening for approximately 3 minutes on both rides. It appears that Thorpe have decided in order to fix the green smoke scene where you were waiting for a few minutes, you instead wait here before the train begins to move and VR footage begins inside the carriage with no audio or visuals. As much as the green smoke scene kept you waiting, this new method is even worse as it kills the pace from the evacuation scene half-way through the attraction from earlier.

Back when I rode this during the rehearsal periods in early July, I rated this attraction very highly as it worked quite well, the VR worked perfectly and the pace never dropped at any point. But now however, none of this is the case. It's half-finished whereby I've yet to experience more than 3 out of the supposed 12 different experiences and the other ending, the VR headsets were broken... every time, and the atmosphere for the ride is virtually non- existent any more.

There might be a lot of new technology and mechanisms in this attraction, but that is not a good excuse for a ride that is technically only 9 weeks old. Is this "the future for theme parks across the world" now, where half the stuff stops working after a few weeks of use?

Some may see this as a positive and others may see this as a negative, but both times I've ridden it today, it appears that Chessington have changed the pacing of the ride whereby at the two scenes where the train usually stops still for 30 seconds before proceeding (namely the mummy and snake scenes) they have both been reduced to just 3-5 seconds now.
 
This is the first time I've ever experienced this on Tomb Blaster and it really threw me off as I was wondering if something wrong was happening.
 
So now when you pass both of these scenes you stop stationary for about 5 seconds now instead of the usual 30 seconds and as a result, all of the music, effects and scenery ahead after you leave these scenes is massively out of sync with the movement of the train. If you're at the front of the train you are about 15 seconds ahead of the effects so you pass through silent and lifeless sets with no audio.
 
I thought it might be they were speeding up the circuit as they were running low on a train as the queue has reached 60 minutes today, but on the brake run another train ahead was still offloading guests in addition to the third one in the station loading guests. So all trains seemed to be operational.
 
Has this happens with anyone else before?

Some may see this as a positive and others may see this as a negative, but both times I've ridden it today, it appears that Chessington have changed the pacing of the ride whereby at the two scenes where the train usually stops still for 30 seconds before proceeding (namely the mummy and snake scenes) they have both been reduced to just 3-5 seconds now.
 
This is the first time I've ever experienced this on Tomb Blaster and it really threw me off as I was wondering if something wrong was happening.
 
So now when you pass both of these scenes you stop stationary for about 5 seconds now instead of the usual 30 seconds and as a result, all of the music, effects and scenery ahead after you leave these scenes is massively out of sync with the movement of the train. If you're at the front of the train you are about 15 seconds ahead of the effects so you pass through silent and lifeless sets with no audio.
 
I thought it might be they were speeding up the circuit as they were running low on a train as the queue has reached 60 minutes today, but on the brake run another train ahead was still offloading guests in addition to the third one in the station loading guests. So all trains seemed to be operational.
 
Has this happens with anyone else before?