Benin Posted November 7, 2019 Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 Ringo, Kerfuffle, JoshC. and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted November 7, 2019 Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 *sigh* pluk, Cornflakes, Kerfuffle and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 Thorpe fans be like. jessica2 and Matt A 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 ONE Thorpe fan says the comment on the right! Everyone else has given up on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Wicker Matt said: Thorpe fans be like. That meme has been completely destroyed. It was a sleeper hit for months and then boom, now its even a Loggers Leap meme. Kerfuffle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ. Posted November 13, 2019 Report Share Posted November 13, 2019 I think it is such a shame more isn’t made of looking at the suspended carriage. I don’t understand why they got Derren to pose from this angle when we never get to see if from there. Would be awesome to start off looking up and then going up the stairs. Sent from my iRon using Tapatalk Pro CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hethetheth Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 I always feel you are rushed past it, which is a shame as it's the best part of the whole attraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 It's so weird, as a really great idea could've been to have you queue under it (though trying that without breaking the illusion would be difficult)... Another box checked off the badly designed ride checklist though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1729 Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 The reality is that photo is photo shopped, since from that angle you would in real life be able to see the illusion techniques (mirrors) and the ride mechanism from there PJ. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ. Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 The reality is that photo is photo shopped, since from that angle you would in real life be able to see the illusion techniques (mirrors) and the ride mechanism from thereJust zoomed in on his face and some of it is missing the shop is so bad Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 The big giveaway in that photo is the curved window. 12 hours ago, Benin said: It's so weird, as a really great idea could've been to have you queue under it (though trying that without breaking the illusion would be difficult)... Another box checked off the badly designed ride checklist though... From very early on, it was never planned to be viewed or accessible from beneath the ride. Whether that was just a "we don't want people entering from ground-level" idea or "we consulted the illusionist and they said entering from ground-level is impossible" I don't know. But having seen how the illusion was designed, and how it looks from ground level, I'd be very surprised if it could ever have been designed to be viewed from beneath the train carriage in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted November 15, 2019 Report Share Posted November 15, 2019 How it is today, rushing past the train in a blocky room where you only see the floor beneath you for a few seconds (if you bother to look over the side while you get the chance), is really not the best way the illusion could have been designed. It may not be possible to stand directly underneath, but they designed themselves into a corner with the whole thing really. There's always other techniques when it comes to illusion to give the impression there's more than there really is. With DBGT its the other way round, things are so badly thought through that you actually miss the best bits. For all that effort and an amazing concept, how it turned out is almost pointless in my opinion. Much like the whole ride. 2542464 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 I don't even bother with this ride/experience anymore, last time I tried it was year 2 with the new ‘shop’. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlesberg Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 I always try it out at least once a year. Though every time I try it out I always question why I bothered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hethetheth Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 The shop ending used to be cool until it was replaced with a man in a shirt. Coaster, 2542464, Han30 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Hethetheth said: The shop ending used to be cool until it was replaced with a man in a shirt. Budget cuts - visualised!! Han30 and Ringo 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJ Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 I still think "It will completely change what theme parks can do" with that smug face is one of the all time classic theme park moments in this country Coaster and MattyMoo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08newmanb Posted November 16, 2019 Report Share Posted November 16, 2019 (edited) 29 minutes ago, SteveJ said: I still think "It will completely change what theme parks can do" with that smug face is one of the all time classic theme park moments in this country Ratigan: "Oh! I can just see that insufferable grin on his smug face!" (The Great Mouse Detective) Well, at least both the film, and the Ghost Train, are literally Victorian. Pun intended. Edited November 16, 2019 by 08newmanb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPGG Posted November 20, 2019 Report Share Posted November 20, 2019 On 11/16/2019 at 12:31 PM, Hethetheth said: The shop ending used to be cool until it was replaced with a man in a shirt. Yeah I noticed that - why did that happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted November 20, 2019 Report Share Posted November 20, 2019 32 minutes ago, TPGG said: Yeah I noticed that - why did that happen? Demon costume broke and couldn't be repaired by all accounts, but it should make a splash back soon. 2542464, Kerfuffle, Ringo and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ. Posted November 20, 2019 Report Share Posted November 20, 2019 Some of the things that have gone wrong with this attraction I have sympathy for Thorpe Park. Not like they can get a new demon costume on Amazon Prime and get it next day as it must be a bespoke outfit. The middle bit going wrong all the time so having to replace it. Shame they couldn’t think of a different way of doing it rather than a strobe maze. But having such rubbish VR scenes, rushing people into the carriage when seeing the carriage is one of the best set pieces is just asking for bad reviews. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hethetheth Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 I have limited sympathies though as it still relates to the design of the ride in the first place. When a pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean breaks the ride is still pretty much a good experience. The experience does not lean heavily on one animatronic. If the demon suit breaks or VR doesn't work (or the train crash scene fails and is replaced by metal fences) then the entire DBGT experience is ruined instantly. At the end the day the attraction is essentially a projection of Derren Brown, a hanging train set piece, 2 videos, a bunch of metal fences and a man jumping out at you. 2542464 and pluk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarsLlama Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 Always been disappointed with this ride even though the projection at the end has always worked when I've gone on it. It feels like a huge waste of space where a great dark ride could go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted January 22, 2020 Report Share Posted January 22, 2020 There's really nowhere else to place this, so let's pop it here: British Theme Park Archive are reporting that a dark ride had been planned for many years at Thorpe (stretching back as far as 2008), with a ride similar to Spiderman at IOA being something considered. John Wardley, amongst others, was part of the team designing it too apparently. Many ideas were considered, and apparently Derren was bought on board in 2010. After many more ideas and iterations, eventually DBGT was decided upon and VR was one of the last elements to be added. In the comments its confirmed this info comes from someone they interviewed, who said it was close but "didn't quite happen". How close in unknown. I've heard a very different story behind the saga of how Thorpe eventually ended up with a dark ride (something that many had craved for years): -The park had considered the idea of a dark ride / indoor experience many times (the acknowledgement of the need for this was one reason for Saw's indoor section) -A decision was made for the park to focus on coasters and thrill support rides up until then (plus maybe a 4D show or Vengeance from the old London Dungeons coming over), but they got cold feet after Swarm's failures -Derren was bought on board sometime in 2013 / early 2014, with the plan for a dark ride being decided upon in early 2014 -With the VR trend becoming a thing by the end of 2014, it was decided to incorporate VR then, again quite late in the process Obviously there's no way to know for certain what version of events is correct, if either are. Maybe at one point or another someone somewhere within the Thorpe/Merlin hierarchy decided to look into a Spiderman style. Maybe it was just an idea that never got far beyond the drawing board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted January 23, 2020 Report Share Posted January 23, 2020 If one thing is for certain you can tell the VR was added incredibly late on, even if it's the main part of it. The whole thing sounds like it was designed in a day. TPJames 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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