coasterverse

A reveal of some sort will be made at 10am today… what’s everyone’s predictions?

The theme is definitely going to be Platform 15 isn’t it…

To be fair it could've been renamed that a long time ago...

Without a doubt - but if they've managed to pull off a total retheme in March without any prior announcement or teasing from the park (other than now) I will be majorly impressed. I suppose everybody had their sights fixed on Exodus that they didn't give a second thought to DBGTROTD. Exciting!

Yoooooo...

Forgot about this! Really, really interesting stuff. I really do wonder what they're planning to do with that place, because it really does seem pretty linear to me unless you're gutting the entire place out (but I highly doubt they have the budget for something like that!), so whatever they chose to theme it around has to: Explain why you're getting into a victorian train and then entering a tube train Utilise a tube station when getting off/back on the train again Follow the same linear on-foot routing So, again, if they're not planning on gutting the entire building out it's just going to be DBGT 3.0, without Derren Brown in it.

I think there's been a few rumours circulating that silkstone & co have something to do with refurbing it. Sounds like complete utter bogus to me, but then again this is Thorpe Park we're talking about... 👀 In all seriousness though, Thorpe did reveal in the Passholder group that they had been intentionally messing about with everybody by changing the imagery and toggling it on/off on the app, but they also (probably a freudian slip if anything) said "So, c’mon what are everyone's predictions for our spooky dark ride?! 🤔" so pretty much all but explicitly confirm that something is happening to it.

Alright let's not get ahead of ourselves... let's remember when you was adament that Rocky Express would definitely be returning elsewhere in the park (and even possibly moved to another park!) 😂

Interestingly, just before it was removed from the app, it looked like they had renamed it back to just 'Ghost Train' again. Does make me wonder if the park thought that legal negotiations were finished before they actually were, so they added it back to the app, but it turns out that they're actually not and so have removed it again. Maybe that or Derren's party have decided to pull out of renewing the IP. Who knows. One thing is for sure - the 2023 season is for sure going to be an interesting one.

I've got to second this, I'd absolutely love to have a nosey around the full building outside of show mode. I've been working on a history of Derren Brown's Ghost Train documentary-style video for about a year now, but not actually gotten around to producing it yet. I'd love to go in and film it all before its inevitable demise in the future. Maybe it's worth an email to the park, idk. Still in two minds about it 😂

This too I suppose 😂

Interestingly enough it's been updated on the app to have the full name 'Derren Brown's Ghost Train', when I know for certain last season (and probably the seasons before then) it was just labelled as 'Ghost Train' on the app, because I remember questioning why they didn't use its full name on the app - so, unless they're leaving it until after an announcement to update the name on the app to remove all traces of Derren, I think it's safe to say that DBGT is remaining (for now).

I should’ve timed my last reply a little better…

I've gotta disagree with the whole 'family friendly' approach you mention in your post, @Matt N. Mainly because most parks in the UK are already primarily focused on this, especially in the south. Legoland, Chessington, Paultons, hell even Adventure Island are all primarily family focused parks first and foremost. Having a theme park down south whos main focus is purely on thrills is much more likely to benefit them in the long run as it's a good niche for down south. Hell, even the parks up north for the most part are becoming more and more family focused - Lightwater Valley, Drayton Manor seems to be heading that way too, and even Alton Towers have got an extremely large predominantly family friendly section of the park that seems to only grow larger as the seasons progress, meaning more thrillseekers will be more likely to travel down south to Thorpe to get their adrenaline fix (or to BPB I guess). But I have to agree on Thorpe needing a good dark ride, just not on the 'make DBGT tamer' thing. A good, high quality, actually scary ghost train would be a perfect fit for Thorpe Park. As Thorpe Park is a thrilling theme park, a thrilling dark ride such as a ghost train is the perfect fit. They would be seriously missing a trick if they just decided to get rid of the ghost train altogether - it just needs improvements such as replacing the windows on the train with television screens, making the movement scenes to and from the underground platform longer and have the actors that currently stand around and brush your knees actually, you know, act. Perhaps like they're infected or something? idk. Bring back the train crash sequence in the tunnel (but make it look much better and increase reliability) and then back on the train for much of the same. Either that, or just rip out everything inside the building (the exterior can stay, I actually really like the exterior theming) and start again with a trackless darkride ghost train instead. Thorpe also really do need a good quality water ride now that Loggers is in the Thorpe archives. Due to good ol' British weather, I think it'd benefit from being inside. Maybe build it on the island behind The Swarm, or if you wanted to save that space for a new coaster, demolish Slammer and Black Mirror (and probably even TWD:TR) and that frees up a decent amount of space for either an indoor water coaster or an indoor log flume type beat. Swap out the majority of Thorpe's flat rides, too. Rush, Zodiac and Samurai are all well past their sell-by dates. Just look in the Zamperla catalog and blindly pick one - I'm sure whatever you choose will still be a fantastic fit for the park.

One of my biggest regrets of not getting into theme parks any earlier in my life is the fact that I never got the chance to ride this beast. Other than the roughness, The Ultimate's length and speed looked incredible! It's a shame that no other park will want it, because I really do feel it's a massive loss to the theme park industry.

I just think the current flat ride lineup needs a refresh. Samurai, Rush and especially Zodiac are all looking (and to be fair, feeling) rather tired these days. I'm not entirely sure what they should be replaced with (as I'm not much of a flat ride fanatic myself, although my friends that I go to the park with are), but a Zamperla Nebulaz certainly wouldn't look out of place in the park's lineup. In regards to dark rides however, whether Derren Brown stays or goes, a ghost train of some sort is needed. I think for a park like Thorpe, a ghost train is the perfect dark ride fit. Thorpe Park is a thrill park, and a ghost train adds to the thrills and adrenaline whilst still offering a bit of a breather to the park's immense and intense coaster lineup. I suppose The Walking Dead: The Ride somewhat offers this too as I personally feel it's much more like a dark ride than it is a coaster, but a bog standard ghost train with a twist and/or incredible theming really is a missed opportunity within the park. Perhaps adding some sort of indoor water attraction at some point would be nice too - sure we've got Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids (and that other multicoloured horrendous trenchfoot-inducing monstrocity), but again a well-themed indoor water attraction (perhaps an indoor log flume or water coaster) would be great, not forgetting it could run year-round too and still maintain decent footfall as it would be considerably warmer if indoors.

According to the top secret (?) Thorpe Park Passholder Facebook group it's on the cards for a bit of lovin' soon... exactly what that entails is anyone's guess but blimey does it need it. I don't think I've ever gotten even a single drop of water on me on that ride and the theming (or lack thereof) is abysmal.

You must be having a laugh! The water jets by the helicopter barely worked as it was - let alone the fire effect!

Yeah I have to somewhat agree to be honest. Although I never really saw Loggers Leap as an overly impressive log flume (theming wise), you have to give credit where credit is due - it was an incredibly iconic attraction at the very least. It's a shame really, log flumes are quickly becoming a rarity in the UK now (in fact, water rides in general are!) and whilst I'm ecstatic for Project Exodus, yet another rollercoaster in a park that's already got rollercoasters taking up the majority of the space there is a little disappointing. Slightly off topic, but those calling for a new rollercoaster in place of DBGT (firstly, hold your horses there folks - it's not even fully confirmed to have left the resort yet!) are making a mistake imo. Thorpe Park have an incredible rollercoaster lineup - even more so with the imminent arrival of Project Exodus - I really think they need to start focusing on high quality flat and dark rides next. That is where the park is seriously lacking.

I'd probably even argue that Russ Gaines' departure from his role probably set that back too.

Definitely think that's on the cards, at least just until they figure out what to do with the place and work out a budget for said plan.

I dunno, the fact that he even mentioned something along the lines of "Now that I work closely alongside Thorpe Park I'm unable to speculate" kind of alludes to me that he knows exactly what's going on with it, but doesn't want to miss out on a video enabling a place for people to debate and discuss. I just really, really want to know Thorpe's plans!

If DBGT doesn't reopen this season, it'll be converted into a fright nights scare maze at the very least - calling it ahead of time.

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