coasterverse

Quite the queue with just under half an hour to go (hopefully 😂)

I’ll be riding it today, hopefully at least a couple of times. I’ve always seen DBGT through rose-tinted glasses (regardless of how bad it rode the majority of the time), so this attraction is already off to a bad start in my head. I’ll have a spoiler-free and spoiler-full review at some point today or tomorrow posted here - I promise not to sugar coat anything and my review will be nothing short of totally honest. That being said, as a big fan of Dungeons attractions (yes, even the Towers dungeons!), I am super excited to give it a whirl.

Guilty! I was (and still am) a massive fan of Derren, so it was inevitable that I would’ve spoiled it for myself. But the good thing about the virtual reality was that no matter what was shown or explained to you, it doesn’t even come close to experiencing it firsthand - so some of those jumpscares definitely got me a couple of times even though I knew what to expect! I managed to avoid spoilers for The Curse and I’m so glad that I did - going into it totally blind was the best decision I’d ever made… regardless of how bloody hard it was to do 😂 I booked my trip for opening day because I just KNEW I would spoil it for myself so I couldn’t take any chances hahaha What I’m hearing from most people is very, very positive though so I can’t bloody wait to experience it first hand!

I agree, but anybody describing an attraction as 'amazing' is very, very promising. Trying my hardest to avoid spoilers so I can go into it completely spoiler free tomorrow, but it's gonna be hard!

A very, very good sounding first review from Theme Park Guide!

Replacement for Derren Brown - Guy In The Black Coat's Ghost Train new for 2023

Thats my prediction of the second pre-show podium no longer being a thing confirmed - that's definitely the podium they used to use. I guarantee none of my other predictions are correct though 💀

Yeah definitely not gonna happen - but it needs to happen at some point. Hopefully they don't go down the route of demolishing Ghost Train at some point in the future just to chuck another coaster in its place. I'd like the next iteration of Ghost Train (feels weird talking about this whilst the ACTUAL next iteration of Ghost Train hasn't even opened yet 😂) to be a tracked dark ride. The space inside that building is bloody massive - it could be insane. But unfortunately I don't think there's any way of ripping out the current ride system without taking the roof off.

Cables for what though? The second cable on the right just ends with nothing attached to it. Not saying you're wrong by any means, but I for one certainly can't imagine what else they would be for... especially not for a professional photo showcasing SimWorx's construction skills!

Never I doubt - I reckon it'll have to run with actors until it can't, at which point it'll close to make way for another attraction imo. I love the use of live actors in scare attractions, but by no means is it cost effective therefore its days were always numbered from the outset.

Would certainly portray the narrative of a 'GHOST' train, for sure...

I wouldn't go that far - I really don't think they're even in with a slight chance of it being better than Curse, but in my opinion that's okay because they're both very different attractions. You have to remember that this entire attraction experience was originally designed with VR in mind, therefore on a base level they'll be extremely limited in what they can actually achieve with the actual ride system. I'm super interested to see how they'll navigate that hurdle.

Here are my predictions: I think the pepper's ghost effect will remain in some capacity - perhaps the preshow is primarily actor led, some kind of ghost or demon appears via peppers ghost and things go tits up and you're ushered out of the preshow room. Probably the use of UV paint revealing runes and scary messages on the walls too. I imagine they'll bypass where the second pre-show podium was - instead you'll have a flustered train conductor hurrying you all through into the next room. Much like you, @ML27, I've got absolutely no clue what they're going to do with the massive space that once contained the hanging carriage. The only thing I can imagine it being is an old train station - maybe themed as if it's outside? Could have some air conditioning or something in there to seriously cool the entire place down to give the illusion that it's actually outside (I very much doubt this will be the case unless the air conditioning has always been in place). This will be the Thorpe Junction platform - would be really cool if they were able to make it so you have to wait on the platform for the train to pull up, but probably won't be able to do that for health and safety reasons. You board the train (that I really do think they have installed screens in the windows, I stand by my comments that I really don't think it will be immersive enough without them). In an ideal world I'd love there to be CO2 cannons installed on the train, gives a smoke effect with quick dispersal which could be cool - but I think we're probably more likely to see more UV style paint, perhaps flickering lights, maybe even compressed air getting blasted on your neck or something? Either way, the train inevitably ends up pulling up (probably 'breaking down') at Chapel Station - it's again an outside train station, totally abandoned as it's been closed for years. This is where I'm confused. Maybe we're led out to explore the station, or that we have to get out whilst somebody tries to fix the broken down train? A ghost figure - maybe the grim reaper style ghost we saw on the first promotional poster - appears on the station, maybe taking a member of staff away - and we're all led through a fairly large scare maze section. Led into a room kind of like the train scare room in DBGT where we're told we're safe, for everything to go dark - massive loud jumpscare happens, ghost demon thing appears - UV text and runes appear on the walls. Person fixing the train bursts through the doors saying that the train's finally been fixed, and everybody is quickly ushered back onto the train. Train leaves the platform, but the ghost demon thing is still attacking through the windows etc. Probably an ampted up version of the first train scene, with some sort of resolution that leaves the ghost 'defeated'. Exit the train back at Thorpe Junction, taken through to what used to be the old fake shop, but is now themed to the 'box office' of the train station (is that what it's called? the place where you collect your train tickets). It's totally abandoned and derelict. Something happens again causing you to stay stood in the room - maybe they'll do the whole "There's been a spillage just infront, give us a sec whilst we clean it up" spiel like from DBGT for the ghost to re-appear in one final scare, much like the demon scare in the previous iteration. You then run through the doors and into the Ghost Train shop, end of the experience. A total gamble - there's literally nothing for us to rely on here, and I'm super excited about that. I like that we're all going into this completely in the dark with no idea what to expect. That show building is absolutely bloody massive, so the potential for a total retheme is huge. I think they're going to stick with a fairly familiar linear storyline as they were trying to portray with DBGT, but rely more on physical scares rather than virtual ones. I'll be there on opening day on Friday, so can't wait to report back with how I found it.

As Friday approaches, I'm still super excited at the potential of this attraction. I've booked a solo trip down on Friday just to experience it - what are we all anticipating? Predictions please!

Yeah this is my exact sentiment - with all the forces imposed on a coaster of that size, I feel like adding spinning to that would be way too intense. Good for the enthusiasts, but definitely think it'd be too intense and off putting for the general public. I certainly feel it would be the case if it was free-spinning, maybe if it was controlled it wouldn't be quite so bad? But like you say Josh, I really don't think spinning seats are needed. The gimmick of the coaster is being the UK's tallest - it doesn't need to cheapen itself with silly gimmicks like spinning seats.

I think we very well could see a brand new flat or water ride in '25/26, depending on how successful Exodus is. I think compred to The Swarm's only marketing tactic being "The UK's first wing coaster" (I mean, what member of the general public would really care about that?), Exodus being the UK's tallest rollercoaster will be a big crowd pleaser. I think the next few years for Thorpe Park could be super exciting.

Unless I'm being naive I don't think so? The Exodus layout is fairly unique amongst itself, probably the closest to it is Hyper Coaster at Land of Legends (which as far as I'm aware doesn't have the spinning seats) but even that is worlds apart from what we're getting with Exodus.

I could be wrong, but surely spinning seats on a layout as big and intense as Exodus might be... too much? 😂 Like I'm not sure if it would even be physically possible due to the horrendous gforces you'd experience into some of those inversions - especially when you consider the speed it'll be travelling!

The Voice: The Ride confirmed

Double post - apologies! I had to do some digging, but I wans't imagining things! Here's a pic from the SimWorx website, which definitely seems to show leg ticklers installed: Maybe they removed them because of reliability or maybe it turned out to be a bit of a trip hazard in such an enclosed space considering the staff used to have to run up and down, who knows! Would love to see them return though.

I'm pretty sure leg ticklers and the like were planned to be installed for the original Ghost Train (unless that was just a rumour, but I'm pretty sure from construction photos there were definitely leg ticklers installed, but obviously never utilised) so would be nice to have them return now that they're obviously not going to be able to run up and down stroking people's legs 😂 Would really be nice having extra effects installed - I'd really love for some sort of smoke/co2 cannons inside the trains but I'd imagine something like that would have to be on the sensory guidance sheet, so who knows!

Yeah I would imagine that by seat vibrations they're talking about just generic motion on the motion platform. Like the jumpscare in DBGT when the train honks and speeds past when the homeless guy asks you about his eye, that was a slight vibration and rocking backwards and forwards if I recall correctly. I guess it's hard to sum up a generic 'motion platform' trigger warning 😂

I don't agree with a lot of what you say, but my word you know things are bad when visiting a BEEFEATER is cheaper than eating on park. Now that's saying something.

Unlike the other piece of promotional art I really don't think we have much to go by here, so I wouldn't read too much into it. I am super hyped for this attraction though, so much so that I've booked tickets for a solo trip for opening day. I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

I really do think Merlin, or at the very least Thorpe's very own creative team, finally 'get it' now. There has been massive improvements company-wide on not only the rides and attractions but the events and general tidiness of all the parks, it's really nice to see. I mean, if you were to tell me a couple of years ago that Duel at Alton Towers would be turned into a world-class dark ride I would've thought you were insane. Just a shame that the main thing that lets them all down now is the ridiculous food, but that's more on Aramark than Merlin I suppose. I can't imagine Aramark having their contracts renewed once this period is up - there's no chance that any Merlin exec is seeing all of the negative press surrounding them and not making an internal note. Yeah I get that at the end of the day it all comes down to financials, but when people stop going to the parks or eating at the parks entirely, even paying Aramark for their services will become not financially viable.