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Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon


Marc

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Rode for the first time yesterday and I was sightly disappointed. At times I wasn't even sure if my headset was working but it was just part of the ride, the evacuation scene was done really well as actors made it seem like we were actually being evacuated but that weird tunnel scene made no sense as no one (Including me) really understand what the hell was happening and was just running around. The 2nd part seemed pretty blank to be honest with no much happening, the only thing that got me was how the train actually moved location making me think how the hell they do that. For me though all the hype didn't live up to what I thought it would be.

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1 hour ago, Ryan said:

Ghost Train was crap yesterday, first time I've had a dodgy headset and the middle action scene just wasn't working. They really really need to sort all this out in closed season as when it's working it is a fun ride (bar the 2nd VR section).

 

What did they do in the middle scene if the train wasnt working, do you just get rushed onto the second train straight away?

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42 minutes ago, StevenVig said:

 

What did they do in the middle scene if the train wasnt working, do you just get rushed onto the second train straight away?

from what I remember (was a bit of a rushed crazy mess), we went to the chamber, the actor said that we need to be evacuated or something along the train tracks, then two of the actors had some sort of fake argument/fight pushing each other supposedly disagreeing about what we should do next, then the lights went out and there was a lot of shouting to get to the next train and to hurry so we don't get infected.

 

There was a lot of running and chaos which I thought is against Thorpe's rules but there you go!

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DBGT was running dreadfully yesterday. For some reason the baggage hold has now been closed off and you have to bring your bags with you around the ride. 

First VR section was really quiet and only worked in one ear. The train tunnel sound effects had started before we even went in, and the train didn't even come round the corner. Second VR was disastrous with my headset glitching throughout and the audio very quiet again!

During the live action sequence, whilst the train was moving from one side of the station to the other, the doors to the station don't open. The staff were 'panicking' and telling everyone that we were trapped. Me and my friend both said out of earshot of any other riders that it was just the train moving from one side to the other.

A staff member heard us, came out of character and whispered "I know but we can't shout it out loud", then carried on like nothing ever happened! It was pretty funny at the time, and it definitely the best part of the diabolical ride we had on it!

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The industry knows the entire ride is an embarassment and the muffled reviews from joe public, while still positive on the ride overall, is very telling considering this was supposedly meant to 'change the game' for theme parks worldwide and be an utter sensation. Except anyone whose ever been to a real theme park outside the UK or seen real entertainment, or been abroad, or even been to the same parks 20 years ago, will know it had no chance of doing that with the approach Merlin took.

The whole ride needs reworking to stay operational and relevant without costing hundreds of thousands to regularly maintain and keep it contractually open. Except they won't be able to justify it to the budgeteers because there's little short term return, and theyve already lost millions from what they wanted due to poor budgeting and management.

However its nothing cheeky or new to tweak dark rides, even significantly, and then advertise it as new and improved. In fact its not new to do that to whole shows, films or musicals. So there's nothing wrong in advertising this change, all we should hope it that they really go to town with it, and that it doesn't end up being a 'different' plug in VR show. Because that's so easy to do, it needs much more than that, or the VR element will be so outdated within a couple of months when everyone gets the real capabilities of VR in their homes (ie. not just sitting down looking at Play Station graphics). It could be fantastic. It could be a brilliantly fun ride. Come on Merlin, let's see what you can really do - if you just learn from your mistakes.

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On 07/10/2016 at 11:19 AM, Coaster Jamie said:

It shouldn't need extensive modification given how much it cost, but at least they're improving it rather than leaving it as it is - though I hate how they're basically advertising "Ghost Train will open in the standard it should have been at this year, next year!"

 

It probably won't change my personal opinion of the ride, but it would be good to see improvements; could we have some ghosts on the Ghost Train?

 

 

Rember when they said the ride will have multiple endings, well here it is branded for 2017!

My only worry is that this is our "new" ride for 2017, remember the years when we got a ride every year and a coaster every three, those were the years.

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When you think how how Universal have essentially changed the dark ride game pretty much 3 times (Spidey and the two Potter rides) since 1999 for many, many times over the budget of this, you have to wonder how Merlin thought this would make a difference?

 

Beyond being the world's first dark ride partially dedicated to VR of course... Was that the game changer? Cos Sub Terra did the hokey (but kinda amusing) acting part, and the live action scene isn't particularly new either... Is it the transit system that's meant to be the game changer? So many questions, yet not many answers...

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9 hours ago, planenut said:

I met someone today who loved the new Ghost Train, hurrah.

 

Friends of mine who are not enthusiasts who ive been with love it aswell - think its really cleverly done.

 

Hopefully once they've had the closed season it can return even better with its little niggles ironed out.

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Hearing the news about the new destination for Derren Brown's Ghost Train, I'm hoping that they change it to include many more things that relate to the Victorian era. I'm not a fan of the storyline, as it doesn't feel very Derren Brown to me, and it goes against all the advertising it was going up for. I'm hoping they include some new features such as a steam locomotive which was featured in one of the development videos, and also on one of the posters for the ride in the background. If they do, hopefully something like this is done. 
 

 

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7 hours ago, Marc said:

 

Friends of mine who are not enthusiasts who ive been with love it aswell - think its really cleverly done.

 

Hopefully once they've had the closed season it can return even better with its little niggles ironed out.

 

Do we really think that it will be THAT much better next year just because of CS?

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2 minutes ago, Benin said:

It was also (apparently) under development for 3 years, we expect it to be completely changed in 5 months?

 

I don't think it really needs to be completely changed, when it all works it's a good ride. If they tweak a few bits to hopefully make it more reliable, and completely change the shocking 2nd VR section, it'll be a great ride. I guess we'll wait and see!

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I went on for the second time yesterday and to be honest it's an okay ride - it only becomes disappointing when you realise how much money they've poured into it.

The live action section is still broken but kudos to Thorpe for actually trying (albeit dreadfully) to make the section work. There seems to be some sort of scuffle between the actors before another 'infected' actor breaks out of the station behind you and starts running about. We're all then ushered away back onto the train.

I really want to like the ride - the tech driving it all both mechanically and the VR is all really exciting (I'm one of the few who prefer Galactica to Air) but the storyline is fundamentally poor, disjointed and doesn't play on the strengths of the attraction. For example we're physically moved from one place to another with no explanation as to how it's happened. So many people will overlook that.

This is all fixable though, maybe next year's 'new destination' will solve the current flaws in the storyline?

One question, I'm guessing I've sat on the same side both times but in that final lava section I assume one half of the train's headsets will fall backwards into the lava and the others will fall forwards to match the motion of the train?

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Why does the ride need to have a 'storyline' at all? Why can't it be a fun show? The disjointedness comes from the bad post-hoc attempts to create a 'story', instead of any proper substance to the scenes or theatricality, when Derren Brown intended it to be just a fun, surreal experience.

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