Matt 236 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 It's no Baron 1898 by any means but for Merlin, the facade looks pretty decent and better than Saws at least. Sort of like Swarm buildings but more detailing from the looks in style so far. David B 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 It's no Baron 1898 by any means but for Merlin, the facade looks pretty decent and better than Saws at least. Sort of like Swarm buildings but more detailing from the looks in style so far. Is your job to give things faint praise or are you just very good at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Is your job to give things faint praise or are you just very good at it. I see reviewing like layers of a sandwich. Negative- criticise whatever Positive- compliment what's good Negative- negatives of the positives Conclusion- a state of the overall thing. 400400 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
400400 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Tips from mc himself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 It looks better than Saw's warehouse. And Colossus's maintenence shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Hutson Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 I am a bit sad they're going to age it up - it'd look lovely if they kept it all looking brand new! Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxbennxx Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 I think once it is aged, it is going to look at least half decent, if not spectacular. I am excited that they are attempting to give us what they set out to give us in way of the look. I was really looking forward to The Smiler's station and theming, on paper it looked fantastic, ....... then we got ...... that. you will get a sense of whitechapel and Vaudeville Theatre in the upcoming new series of Celebrity Big Brother (interesting choice of theme) If the Big Brother House can look good as a victorian theatre, then I am sure this can look even better, this is actually giving me some faith in this ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 A bit unrelated but I asked my (non-enthusiast) best friend who loves Thorpe what he thinks the new ride will be. "Disappointing ". It's depressing but he knows Merlin well. Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieN Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "that's so sh*t!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Hutson Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 ... who hasn't heard of Derren Brown...? Chaz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L7123456 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "That's so sh*t!"This is what I don't understand. just because it isn't a coaster doesn't mean that a ride is going to be shît, but some people think this and I have no idea why. Any ride, whether a coaster, flat, or dark ride has the ability to be thrilling if the manufacturer decides to make it thrilling.I have high hopes that this ride will be a very good attraction and a great addition to the park. I just hope that the building doesn't stay that horrible light brown plastic stuff and they do age it and make the entire building a more darker dirty colour. Also, even if you don't really know who he is, surely you at least know the name Derren Brown. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
400400 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 When I told my non enthusiast friends they all say it look awesome and one of then is hooked to the website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Hopefully it will stick to the golden rule of having a good time... Never give people what they ask for, surprise people with what they'd really enjoy without knowing they wanted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieN Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I may point out my friend is half-German, half-Danish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "That's so sh*t!"Sadly almost all of the non enthusiast people I told said they were disappointed and wished it was a rollercoaster. Thats all the majority of people seem interested in these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "That's so sh*t!"Sadly almost all of the non enthusiast people I told said they were disappointed and wished it was a rollercoaster. Thats all the majority of people seem interested in these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
400400 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I just want to wait till they experience it. I have full faith Thorpe park will pull it off well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxbennxx Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Look, people who say they are just interested in Coaster's have likely never experienced a decent story driven dark ride in their lives. Dark rides are not a coaster, and really can not be compared to a coaster, but when done right, Dark rides can be bloody spectacular. A perfect blend of storytelling, effects, excitement and thrill is what makes a dark ride decent, if they pull this off it will be something special. What they need to avoid are shooters, simply because Merlin can not do shooter's well, and they also need to avoid something that moves extremely slow. Dark rides need that something special in order to work, Valhalla is the only dark ride in the U.K that I consider to be decent, and decent it is! I hope it isn't a jazzed up immersive tunnel, I know I have gone on about it a lot, but the shape of the ride area concerns me a lot. "please Merlin, prove me wrong and make this something I want to ride again and again." Coaster, pluk and alexander 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Generally, people want roller-coasters from theme parks because that is the expectation... Fun fairs have the flat rides, so theme parks have the roller-coasters... It's a bit patronising to say that people who only want coasters have never been on a good dark ride, it's just an opinion at the end of the day, especially say for example that someone could HATE drop towers, hence hate one of the best dark rides in the world... Dark Rides are hard to market, hence why we've got an IP attached because there's zero confidence in not being able to market without one... SteveJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 It's a bit patronising to say that people who only want coasters have never been on a good dark ride, But, for the general public, probably true. Name me a current UK dark ride that is actually good? Valhalla is about as good as it gets, and will have been riden by a tiny amount of people in the scheme of things, especially from the south. People hear they're not getting a coaster, they then naturally expect a Charlie, a Blaster variant, a IACGMOOH-a-like even, because that is what they have been given previously. It's a public perception problem largely of Merlins own doing; instead of being actually good to get people to visit they rely on heavy marketing of sub-standard attractions to 'trick' them there, disappoint them with averageness, and have to spend more on the marketing again next time. It's that never ending cycle again... sometime soon hopefully they'll break that cycle. Maybe this will be the one to do so, maybe not, but some peoples lack of faith in this project, regardless what the park or anyone claiming to be in the know say, is understandable when you look at the past, TraX, 400400, xxbennxx and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxbennxx Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 When Universal announced Kong, it made me want to get my Family on a plane and go to Orlando. I also want to experience Gringott's and the newest offerings over at Disney. Dark Rides can be absolutely revolutionary, look at what Spider-Man did, to this day, in my opinion the best ride on the planet. I totally agree in that me saying most people in the GP have not experienced a decent dark ride is in no way patronising at all. Going to Orlando, or to Disneyland Paris is, in reality, really bloody expensive. The Idea that we are going to get a Dark Ride that is not a blinking light shoot fest is actually exciting, it makes me want to go to Thorpe this year, more than a few times if the ride is something special. This could be the one that moves Merlin into what I would call a world class contender, this is clearly the ride that they are hoping can move them away from just developing coasters, and who knows, maybe SW8 will be a dark ride, Charlie is rumoured to be closing it's doors for good, an SW just has to be a world class ride, not just a coaster. If Paramount is not just a land scam, and actually materialises, Merlin are going to have to wake up and start offering world class variety experiences, or they will find that all of their South of London parks, see a large (and permanent) loss in business, to the £2Billion resort proposed just up the road. I am sure that this is on their minds right now, and part of the reason we are seeing a dark ride pushed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 A bit unrelated but I asked my (non-enthusiast) best friend who loves Thorpe what he thinks the new ride will be. "Disappointing ". It's depressing but he knows Merlin well. Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk If he thinks it'll be disappointing, then I hope this means that there'll be one less person in the queue in front of me? My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "that's so sh*t!" I'm always surprised how people have never heard of Derren. Sure, he was probably at the peak of his popularity a few years ago now, but he's still pretty much selling out stage shows on a daily basis and gets good views whenever he's on TV. The coaster thing is always a weird one. In all fairness, theme parks and coasters are associated with one another, so when there's a massive investment, people will want it to be a coaster. That's what people expect. But if Thorpe create a good, solid and - most importantly - enjoyable attraction, the public probably won't mind. However, I must admit I'm worried about the marketing strategy. Sure, it's great and even novel for us enthusiasts to have absolutely no clue what is going on, but how do you sell it to the public? Will Derren be enough? I remember being asked what it was going to be by a non-enthusiast (before the Derren announcement), and I had no clue how to answer it. I eventually came out with "Well, it's going to be a ride...I think". Personally, I'm beginning to think that the sooner Thorpe announce what the attraction actually is, the better. Let the masses know roughly what to expect, so that they don't expect some super awesome coaster or something, to make sure expectations are met. I may point out my friend is half-German, half-Danish. This is also something that has made me think a lot. I'm guessing Derren is pretty much just a big name in the UK and has never really (tried to?) hit the international stage. I'm always curious of how the parks have never even really tried to bring in more guests from further afield. It would surely be a great way to earn more for little more effort. I did think it might be something they would want to try for in the long-term, but it just seems like they're content with playing the UK-game with investments like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L7123456 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Moving away from the stuff about coasters and Derren, does anyone else think that clue 6 could be given to us at midnight tonight for New Years Day? Minds Wanted just says early new year, but how early are they suggesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 My (non-enthusiast) best friend has never heard of Derren Brown and all he wants is a coaster. When he found out it wasn't a coaster he said: "that's so sh*t!"All of my friends just want a coaster too. It's so disappointing in situations when your friend (not the guy before, he's not a chav like the ones I'm talking about) who only goes to Thorpe goes to Towers for a day. "Did you like Hex?" "No it was sh*t. But Rita was good cause it's fast"Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieN Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I agree. Having said that, my Danish/German friend loved hex. He thought the effects were amazing. So I believe the GP can be surprised by dark rides. 400400 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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