May 16, 20178 yr comment_249895 Ghost Train is announced te be closed yesterday and today, according to https://queue-times.com/parks/2/queue_times On the official park website, the rolling message above doesn't display 'Ghost Train now open' as it did last weekend. Seems to be a nice week in TP while Stealth under maintenance ... not! Coincidentally? Or is DBGT only open during weekends and holidays?
May 16, 20178 yr Author comment_249897 Its experiencing technical issues - no conspiracy - its unrelated to Stealths maintenance.
May 16, 20178 yr comment_249906 DBGTROTD opened after a couple of days of unplanned downtime this afternoon.
May 17, 20178 yr comment_249925 DBGT has become as unreliable as last year all of a sudden, no idea what's caused this, maybe the new ending has had technical issues? I've heard rumors that the new ending wasn't installed properly
May 20, 20178 yr comment_249941 How is a couple days of downtime similar to breaking for hours almost every day and having 2 weeks of downtime a month after opening?
May 21, 20178 yr comment_249946 Well, it's been more reliable that Stealth currently (although that isn't saying much!). When I was there about 2 weeks ago everything seemed to be going perfectly, every headset and set piece worked. Throughput seemed pretty good too which surprised me for a 14 minute dark ride! I never got the chance to ride last year but I'm super impressed with it. The new ending is very clever, looks to be 100% animatronic as far as I could tell. What bit was rumoured not to be installed properly? Hopefully it isn't like Expedition Everest and their animatronic which was shaking the structure/foundation to pieces!
May 21, 20178 yr comment_249950 Lots of first time riders when I went on it today who absolutely sh@t themselves at the end which was pretty funny. The live section part where you have to get back on the train I almost got trampled which was nice - but the other riders were genuinely scared and the actors were really good - still love it First attempt at riding we got stuck on the first VR (the train didn't actually move anywhere) so were taken off and given fast track - not sure what happened but jeez it was so hot and sweaty in the train - just like being on the tube - authentic
May 21, 20178 yr comment_249951 I was told it is a mixture of an actor and animatronic [emoji4]It's an actor in a costume [emoji4]
May 21, 20178 yr comment_249954 I heard they hired a real demon. His salary is the affection felt for SBNO rides, such as Slammer.
May 28, 20178 yr comment_250022 Today in the first VR section I was on top of the train and was looking down on the scene as it was broken, it was pretty cool but ruined the experience. Anybody else ever have this?
June 1, 20178 yr comment_250074 Funny PR idea and great masks but... why do they have to be so dull and corporate even when making a joke? "Brilliant initiative, get young people involved", uhhh I am so bored of Merlin taking themselves so seriously. Please, it's a theme park, show some fun and personality. Every video they try hard to make a "viral hit" is like this. So corporate.
June 1, 20178 yr comment_250075 Funny PR idea and great masks but... why do they have to be so dull and corporate even when making a joke? "Brilliant initiative, get young people involved" Regardless of whether it was dull and corporate, or as I see it, just sarcasm, it did make it that bit funnier! Hats off to Thorpe for this little stunt!
June 1, 20178 yr comment_250076 Yeah it's a fun idea as a PR excuse to whoever put it together (they do something every election), but imagine if the video was done in an actually funny way, ie. without po faced business people talking to camera and fake vox pops. It's not just this video but the tone is dull and corporate in all of theirs now. No big deal obviously, just my opinion. As ever they seem too afraid not to be taken seriously or to show some imaginaiton.
June 1, 20178 yr comment_250077 You mean something like what Slagharen did (or, at least was a part of) about Trump?
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250100 Thorpe Park is reported to have had a 0% increase attendance in 2016 by the TEA. When you spend over £30million on a ride that still requires staff to tap knees to provoke reactions, and ham-fistedly explain a 'backstory' to you through a loudhailer, you know you've lost the plot. I can't help but see DBGT as a huge Heath Robinson contraption, so much complex stuff going on, so much money thrown at it, motion simulation, virtual reality, special effects, IP - all to produce the same basic '20-somethings screaming mindlessly in the dark*' reactions as something like Saw Alive could do on a sinking boat. The new ending should have been there all along, considering it had no kind of satisfying ending before. Like Sub Terra, why are essential parts of an attraction only being added later after bad response? The attraction is much better than last year, but there are still so many fundamental disappointments with it on the whole I feel. Yet we are being told all the time to believe otherwise. A waste of some brilliant ideas and a great format, that was not planned imaginatively and then poorly managed. No doubt Merlin will refuse to admit they could have done anything differently, carry on blaming their subcontractors and blame 'dark rides' for being unpopular, and continue to build corporate bland fodder. This is a critical post obviously, so I ought to say, if you enjoy DBGT, like really genuinely enjoy it, then that is great and carry on enjoying. Personally, I think there are far better possibilities with a more wholesome format and that it was a bland, self-indulgent ride, but that's my opinion. However for those others, Merlin and many enthusiasts (btw I'm not meaning on Mania Hub, more like everywhere over this past year!), who constantly tell people how impressed they should be and how it is "something we are really lucky to have in the UK", to "appreciate" the supposed work of art that it is, you ought to take a step back and let people think for themselves and see through the hype. The wider public can be a fickle bunch and I agree something more commercial and innovative was needed to break the ground, but putting it in the middle of Thorpe was never going to work really, and the messy final outcome has rightly proved a mixed response. I am glad that it hasn't proven a commercial success because, to be honest, Merlin need a kick up the bum to bring them back in touch with reality. *I am also a 20-something screaming mindlessly in the dark but you get my point! ;p
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250102 A point for everyone to remember though: the TEA reports should be taken with a huge tablespoon of salt. The numbers they give aren't necessarily accurate and some places (especially Merlin parks) don't like giving out attendance figures at all.
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250103 Can't imagine it made a big difference though, since it was a lottery about it being open most people either postponed trips or just didn't bother going at all...
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250104 If the report is accurate then it's awful that a £30 million pound investment didn't increase gate figures - but with the delays & reliability issues last year is this really a surprise? The other issue, IMO, is that the ride isn't even enjoyable. Dark rides can be hugely successful, but I don't see the appeal of spending 20 minutes with a glorified TV on your face. And using the ride staff to create "scares?" Yawn.
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250105 If the budget for this ride was less than £10M altogether and isn't costly to run, maybe this can be signed as a one-off for Merlin and wouldn't have too much of an effect on their record. But whether it's £30M, £40M or whatever amount it's being labelled this week, that accompanying an over-reliance of actors to get the thing working resulting in higher costs in the long-term was a huge gamble they took, and if these figures are to be accurate, that's really poor performance for a ride that is branded as the 'future for theme parks across the world'. Now I really do like and enjoy it in the current state, but that's irrelevant. Whether it's loved, hated, forgotten or popular, it's clear the expectation, interest and hopes Merlin & Thorpe had for this thing didn't deliver the way they wanted and lessons hopefully will be learnt from this. This, my friends, is a white elephant.
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250106 Think the main issue with the attraction was / is the over use of VR. If I recall in the very early promo days it was supposed to only have a small segment of VR. Sadly I still hate this ride even with the update. What could have of become with a budget of that level. One thing I really hope Merlin would learn from this is to actual deliver something fantastic if they are going to over hype it. So did this bring in less for the park than The Swarm ?
June 2, 20178 yr comment_250107 rise of the demon is so so good, I loved the original but rise is just such an improvement, the politicians were a laugh as well, even if they killed the mood a little..
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