Matt N

Construction is moving along nicely:
 
 

It will be far less intense than Ride to Happiness. 

Just finished off on Ghost Train.
 
I'm going to be honest, it was slightly underwhelming. I spent the whole ride waiting for something big to happen, and nothing did, it just kinda felt a bit strung out towards the end. 
 
If it was a scene in the London Dungeons and other similar attractions, I’d say it would fit very well but as a ride by itself I believe it doesn’t offer enough.
 
If someone wants to spoiler tag this feel free, I’m not sure how much info counts as a spoiler.

I think the issue that this project always faced is that once you removed the VR and got rid of Derren Brown, there was only so much you could have done to improve the ride without spending huge amounts of money completely gutting the building.
 
Unlike most dark ride systems, the ride system was very bespokely tailored to DBGT and the very specific sequence of events that happened within it. With something like Duel, for instance, the ride system itself had no particular quirks that were tailored to The Haunted House as it was per se, so Merlin were able to make The Curse at Alton Manor into a pretty different ride without performing any overly radical work.
 
With DBGT, on the other hand, the very design of the ride system meant that the same basic structure of the original attraction would always need to be followed. Riders would need to sit on a train, be rushed out of the train for a live action sequence of some sort and then sit on another train to return to the offload station. And with the design of the ride vehicle not really providing much scope for added physical theming due to the VR being the originally intended vehicle for storytelling, that made the park's options very limited in terms of what they could actually do with the train portions in particular.
 
With this in mind, I think it was complicated for Thorpe Park to make a new ride out of it because in the absence of a huge budget to demolish the whole thing and start again, the basic building blocks of the ride experience would always have needed to remain exactly the same, which would have limited the park's options massively.

Some minor spoilers
 
I don't even know where to start. Granted, the removal of VR now makes the story far more palatable. The preshows were done very well and set up what could have been an excellent experience. But it didn't deliver...
I kept expecting this big scare moment and it never arrived. 
I am very suprised the fakeout shop remains but I guess that was a pricey addition to the last round of fixes?
 
My only positive from it was the retheme of the loading platform was well done. Oh and I was out of the sun for an hour.
 

I just went on it. I have no idea how anyone has given this a good review. It was so bad.
 
I'll do a proper spoiler review later, but in short it felt like a lot of overacting whilst basically nothing happened.  The new theming was bare at best. Terrible.
 
I would love to know what people who enjoyed it saw in this attraction, but I am legitimately baffled as to how it could be considered by anyone to be anything above 'dire'.

Spoiler thoughts from me:
 
 
Some non-spoiler bits, found out during the Press Night:
-Kieron Smith, Global Artistic Director for The Dungeons, was described as the "writer and director" of Ghost Train. What they means exactly I'm not sure, but in any case, it means that this has had significant input from someone who is in charge The Dungeons, which are very successful, and what this attraction should aim to be like.
 
-The park acknowledge this will take some time to perfect. As with things like this, there will be a need to be responsive to guest and actor feedback, and things like timings, scripts, etc may need to be tweaked. The park will do this.
 
-Not having the restriction of an IP means it is easier to change / update the story too.
 
-A general consensus from everyone I spoke to who rode it was that it was perhaps the best they could have done given the constraints they had. There's a "ride system" in place, but it is minimal and restrictive, and was designed for a very specific purpose. The building was designed for that ride system. Replacing the ride system is pipe dream worthy at this stage. But what they've with it, and what they've turned Ghost Train into, is (as I've already said), on the higher end of what they could have done. They could have done more, but they've done a good job.

Alright, here we go. My written review of Ghost Train, as it was opening day 2023.
 
Spoiler-free review:
Wow, okay. I'm going to throw it out there and say: it's incredible. Honestly, it's incredible. From the outset I was extremely dubious (as you can see from my earlier posts) that enough would have been changed inside the attraction to warrant this rebrand. To be perfectly honest, I thought it was going to just be a reskinned version of Derren Brown's Ghost Train - but that's exactly what it isn't.
 
Ghost Train manages to fuse eeriness, a little bit of comedy to get you to let your guard down, and then slaps you with more eeriness. What it does, it does very bloody well - especially given the fact that this attraction was not designed to be what it is now.
 
Ghost Train now has a cohesive story from start to finish (something that DBGT was always heavily lacking, and the park trying to shoehorn plothole solutions always just make the storyline even more confusing), and the set design is immense.
 
It's a shame that I live so far away from the park these days as I definitely already want to go back to give it another few more rides before I give a final review, but after already queuing for about 2-2 and a half hours for Ghost Train today... I think I'm alright until the hype dies down a little 😂
 
Alright, here comes the spoilers. DO NOT READ PAST THIS SECTION IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE STORYLINE. I have also included my criticisms in this section as I didn't want to spoil the story:
 
 
Overall, it's an incredible attraction and they've finally nailed what they were trying to do all along. Hopefully it sees some longevity, but it really is even more actor-heavy than Derren Brown ever was which is worrying. It seems we were fully staffed today, but will it have the same impact on an off-peak Tuesday? Only time will tell.
 
As I said the other day, do not compare it with The Curse. They are two very different attractions - but as far as this attraction is concerned as it's own standalone thing... it's fantastic.

I’ve ridden it, 
It’s good, however it’s not a ride anymore and a lot of the GP will expect a ride or the VR. None which is clear from the outside of the attraction.

Great actors, story and effects and sets. 
 
It’s good for a couple of years at a push but a waste of space for such a prominent ride. They obviously didn’t design the ride for this, hence why I don’t think it can work for a long time. It’s shoe horned in, long term use the building with modifications to the size. But build ride hardware inside, minimising the physical building being wasted, but unlimited space to build a massive dark ride.

Very very brief thoughts from me as I am exhausted
 
It's good fun. It's an actor led, story driven, Dungeons-esque experience. It's an improvement on DBGT and more rideable, but it doesn't have strong rerideability. It's on the higher end of what they could have done with the ride system in place.
 
I have concerns about how it will run with full groups of paying guests. But that will be seen in time.
 
Theming is good for the most part. Story is clear and straightforward. There's some cool, simple effects. 
 
It's up there as one of the better incarnations of the ride (probably joint with the 2017 version when all effects worked for me). It's not perfect, but it's a good, well rounded addition to the park's line up. 
 
Fuller review with spoilers to follow.

Wahoo, now open. Few comments from me.
 
Park did a little opening ceremony, which was nice. Even though Jumanji is open for hotel guests (9am-10am), it was still good for something to recognise the significance of the new area. Short speech done, area opened. So to ride Mandrill Mayhem you need to join a virtual queue. This does create a massive bottle neck right off the bat but 20 minutes later there's no one waiting outside to get their QR codes scanned. Its launch day was quiet in the park with only the Jumanji rides having any significant wait times (for reference, Vampire was less than 10 minutes all day). This ran out around 3:30pm so just as a warning, on a busy day it could run out a lot earlier.
 

 
The most we waited for Mandrill was 30 minutes and the team working it were doing the best with the limited capacity. They made a point of filling every seat, deliberately holding back single riders to pair them up with groups of three or other single riders. This being an intense, geek heavy day there was a lot of single riders so I wonder if this will continue on a more traditional park day. 
 
The station is fine, the thing I like is that unlike the Swarm where you just wait on either side of the station (and one is significantly longer then the other), here you are pre batched and let pretty much straight onto the ride. But this does create a bigger problem where the train is still for several moments as you can't get onto the platform until a staff member opens a gate. There were points that the staff were only one on each side, its a lot of work for one person. Again, low capacity ride being made lower. Trains felt exactly like the other Wing-riders, it begs the question, could The Swarm be a 1.2 metre ride or is there something I'm missing?
 

 
The ride itself is surprisingly good. I had reservations about this being a proper lower tier B&M but actually its a pretty varied ride experience. The spike for example as you launch out the station is full of hang time particularly in the back part of the ride. The launches feel really nice, sitting between Mack and Intamin. The turns are full of whip. I love the turn coming out of the station heading in(or out) or the zero g roll. It's so snappy. The Zero G roll is really good. It's taken at the perfect pace and is in the perfect location over the entrance to the area. The helix around the monument is surprisingly forceful on the right hand side of the train. The backwards return journey is lovely too. We had 6 rides overall and it was pretty unanimous in that this is a perfect fit for Chessington and a good step up ride for those that want a bit more then Dragons Fury but aren't quite ready for Thorpe. I think one of its main positives is a weird one in that the earlier B&M Wing-riders were very graceful rides, The Swarm for example has a natural flow and each element works in conjunction with the next. It always feels in control. The newer ones such as Fenix at Toverland and Mandrill have jerkier elements and feel less refined weirdly. And I kinda like that. So yes, a nice surprise. It has all the strengths that you'd expect from a B&M in that it's reliable and efficient and is a strong Premier ride for the park. It perfectly fits in next to Vampire, Kobra and Dragons Fury and I'm very happy and hope it brings the park the success to take it through the next decade. 
 
Ostrich Stampede isn't great to be honest. Takes way too long to load and only one has twenty seconds of really good jumping energy. The rest is a bit meh with you just spinning around. Mamba Strike was much better and weirdly jerky and seemed to be the busier of the two rides. Both of these rides were doing the job well of support flat rides and makes the area feel more complete and rounded. 
 
So to conclude it was a successful launch for a park that really needed the investment. With Croc Drop two years ago, Blue Barnacle, Trawler Trouble and Barrel Bail Out last year and now Jumanji, the ride offering has seen significant and much needed changes and I hope to see this continue. I love Chessington and I do bring out the rose tinted glasses out for it. it has so much potential that has been locked away for what feels like two decades. This needs to be the start of something because Chessington can be a great park again.

Thank God it’s been delivered on a closed day

Saw this on Twitter thank god…

Thorpe have uploaded this to their pass-holder group! Very minor, but they’ve used B&E across the Merlin estate for Jumanji, Croc drop ect. 
 
Now they have arrived, it’s a sign from the move away from the ground preparation phase to the ride building phase! Exciting!

Hats off to the construction team. Pulling this right back on track. Piling for foundations has commenced… 
 
https://themeparkguide.co.uk/news-page/Project-Exodus-Foundations-Begin

Yeah exactly, I wouldn't expect anything too big and glamourous (other than the coaster itself! 😍) as it simply just doesn't need it. The coaster is a statement in itself, it really doesn't need much else. Not saying that I think it would be a bad thing to have a massively themed hyper, quite the opposite in fact, but having the UK's tallest coaster will be enough of a crowd pleaser. The layout still leaves quite a lot to be desired (mostly because of its length), but what we do have on the layout is going to make for an immense coaster experience regardless.

I wouldn’t expect a hugely elaborate theme for this. Very few hyper coasters are heavily themed; they’re such big rides that it’s quite hard to theme them effectively, and the expense of building the ride hardware alone is huge.
 
I’d expect something along the lines of Mako at SeaWorld, where it has a light theme and style and a couple of nice little items, but nothing overly elaborate. And to be honest, I’d be perfectly happy with that.

They have also uploaded plans for the station. 
 
I am happy we are at least getting a stylised ride. It will probably be similar to nemesis inferno. There’s no surrounding theming other than the station which is a volcano, no preshow or anything. But I think we all get the gist of the theme. It’s not as stylised as icon, it’s more themed compared to that.
 
It’s definitely an Egyptian theme, I’m so glad about because as everyone says, we have so many dark themes at thorpe and it’s different to a black track! It’s got much more interesting now

A straight airtime coaster would have just turned out to be another generic B&M hyper in my opinion. It would have had your usual long floater hills, camelbacks etc and not been any different from any of the other hypers built. I do think that B&M hypers are great coasters but then don't offer something innovative or special like thorpe wants.
 
I really like the layout of exodus (even if it is a tad short) and as you said it seems very unique, which is definitly a massive positive.

https://youtu.be/5gs58KGQZuY
 
looks like land infill has began… and as previously suspected is being bought in lorries which will obviously add cost to the project. 

Positive that the infill has commenced and should progress rapidly given the number of deliveries seen in the video. 

Merlin on the whole are poor at the theming. Thorpe in particular is very poor. Thorpe should really look to do themes that aren’t reliant on the whole area looking run down as well. 

I've not done too many rides in my life, but here's my top 10 in general speaking, and I'll explain why.
 
 
 
10) Tomb Blaster
 
If this was its pre 2020 vetsion, it wouldn't even be a top 35, but since then, I think it's a wonderful experience with a good narrative and some great lighting and scenes.
 
 
 
9) Vampire
 
Yeah, it's a bit rough, but it's interaction with the terrain and the unique swinging trains. The queue and station do a phenomenal job building up the tension to the eventual ride experience. Easily the best themed in the UK.
 
 
 
8) Hex, The Legend Of The Towers
 
Whilst I may give the actual Madhouse experience to the Huanting, Hex really makes up with it's Incredibly storytelling, lighting, sets, and the audio! It's one of the most immersive and engaging Indoor rides out there, thanks to the story being mostly true. The smell pods are fantastic as well!
 
 
 
7) Spaceship Earth 
 
If I could describe Spaceship Earth with one word, it'd be magical, it has a great concept of showing how the Human race has evolved over time and what our intellect has done to our races benefic. The narrative is really charming as well, and the ride carries some simple, but great effects. Let's not forget how long the ride is, I think it's around a good 14 minutes long. For a Dark Ride, that's Incredible. Really wish they kept more of Epcits original attractions, would've loved to have rode them.
 
 
 
6) Pirates of the Caribbean (Florida)
 
I've haven't had the chance to go do Disneyland in California Yet, but for now I'm still really grestful to have ridden the one in florida, even though its considered the inferior version. The Queue is really charming and feels quite real. The main ride section has some really great drops, lighting and set pieces for a water ride, especially the Scene where the Pirate ship is attacking the costal forts. Its a must do for me I'd I ever get to go to Magic Kingodn ever again!
 
 
 
5) Revenge of The Mummy
 
I rememberbeing absolutely terrifiedwhen queuingfor this ride for the first time. This ride is a perfect mix of pure adrenaline fun, and nightmare fuel. The Mummy animatronic at the beginning absolutely scared me when  I first saw it from it's realistic movements, thinking it was real. The launch is really good, the layout is really thrilling for an indoor Coaster, and the pyrotechnics in the fake station are a highlight as you can feel the heat coming from those flames! One of the best indoor rides period.
 
 
 
4) Oblivion 
 
While it may be a short ride, it definitely makes up for that Drop. Honestly, still one kf the best drops on any roller coaster out there. The branding and themong make up for a great queueline and really makes you nervous whenever you're queuing up for it. Let's not forget the Fantastic footage of the Lord of Darkness on the queueand station, he's definitely the cherry on the cake and can easily make first timers reconsider when queueing. It's also got one of the best Soundtracks for any coaster and really fits with the late 90s, gritty, Sci fi feel.
 
 
 
3) Duel/The Haunted House
 
If I had to pick one ride that I'd say was underrated or unappreciated, I'd pick this one. Duel or The Haunted House is easily one of the most charming, and immersive dark rides in the UK. Yeah, it's not looked great for a while, but the props and scenes are still some of the best made ever. The ride system is also a one of a kind and has a phenomenal throughput. I can only imagine how amazing the ride was when it was the Haunted House, especially in its first few years. I don't really touch the blasters, I mostly just enjoy the screen and take it in which is easily the battery experience. Statistics wise, it's not all that impressive as a ride, but it has such character snd some really unique ideas that I think it makes up for easily. It also has a great indoor queue, well at least before the 2021 change. It had abroom that was slanted to it was meant to look normal, giving off a very odd and unique sensation when in there. Let's hope this refurb keeps it's charm and uniqueness.
 
 
 
2) Apocalypse (Rest in Peace)
 
Boy, what a great Drop tower this was. This was one of the few rides left that still gave me that stomach Drop feel. The Drop was really forceful, the theeming was really good and made you feel anxious when queueing inside the main drop tower chamber, watching the cars go up and fall back down as high speeds. This was one of the few rides I was still scared to go one even though I loved it. You will be missed Apocalypse.
 
 
1) Nemesis
 
Oh, where to begin. One of the most intimidating, Intense, and Well themed coasters in the world. The soundtrack is beyond words and really makes the area around the ride feel that much better. The way the Coaster interacts with the terrain is incredible, and some of the elements on the ride are also some of the best on any Inverted Roller Coaster. The monster in the pit is one of the best themed stations on the outside and really does stick with you after many years. One of the best and unique rides ever made, when it reopens, go ride it! You won't regret it!

Rode this yesterday.
 
It's a good Ghost Train ride. Not the best one I've done, but it does have a nice story which you can sort of follow (which is less common in my experiences with these rides).
 
Without posting anything too spoilery, but also giving mild spoilers, I particularly liked the mirror scene and the final scare (the physical prop is well hidden).
 
At the same time, there's 3 scenes which are effectively just pitch black, and they don't quite work. One almost does, because it's a "hide and seek" style scene, but it needs something a bit more (lighting effects with eyes or something). The other two pitch black scenes need something.
 
Now here's something which seems to be controversial. I preferred Duel. I significantly preferred Duel. Part of this is because I'm a sucker for interactive / shooting dark rides, and Duel was just a ton of fun for me as a result. The other part of it is that Duel never felt like an attraction which took itself too seriously. It had the spooky / scary theme, but seemed to have a bit humour / light-heartedness sprinkled in a a result. Alton Manor takes itself a bit more seriously, and goes the full nine yards on the creepiness scale, but doesn't have any sort of humour or 'fun-ness' to it.
 
Now this is very much just a me thing. Is Alton Manor 'better'? Yeah, probably. It's got some cool effects and a nice story and a good creepy vibe. It's definitely on the higher end of ghost train rides I've done. But given a choice, I would rather ride Duel any day.

Just seen on the Twitters that TCAAM has had it's queue time board fitted, praise the lord.

In fairness, I doubt that Alton Towers have “decided” that The Curse at Alton Manor and Hex can’t operate together.
 
I imagine it’s more likely to be very poor luck, and a wild coincidence, that the two haven’t operated alongside each other very reliably.