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Black Mirror Labyrinth


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3 hours ago, Stuntman707 said:

Just how are they struggling to operate a mirror maze? How can it not be that reliable? 😂

 

I agree that it should be reliable, but for context, a non-complete list of things which could cause shut downs in Labyrinth:

 

-People in distress 

-Broken screen / projector 

-Bad Internet connectivity 

-Doors not opening/closing 

-Lighting issues

-Cleaning 

 

I don't know what its reliability has been like, or how good that is in relation to its target. But it certainly should be reliable. The thing with Thorpe mazes in particular (and likely Merlin mazes too) is that any minor problem usually requires the attraction to be shut down and cleared of guests. Then a tech crew would need to arrive, who usually aren't based at the maze. It's a process which is long (because of Merlin's H&S checks), and is felt during shutdowns.

 

Obviously a good team working would minimise the period of downtime, and good regular maintenance (plus a good, well-designed initial attraction) would reduce the number of closures in the first place.

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  • 2 months later...

I didn't get to go through this eXPeRiEncE in 2021 as we happened to visit the day of the press launch and we aren't important or orange enough to get an invite, and to be honest I can't say I feel particularly bothered. If Merlin can't maintain the projectors in the Smiler indoor queue, I don't hold out too much hope for this.

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  • 5 months later...

Another double post, sorry to my fellow members of the cOMMuNiTy.

Got to experience this today for the first time as it's now not on timed tickets, and just a standard queue.

Shout out to the guy batching the queue today who was very good in character - and another shout out also to the guy in the registration room with a fabulous moustache, who made me laugh, as when I saw my photo on the screen, I shouted "That's disgusting" and quick as a flash he said "Participants are reminded that their photograph is of their own face" 🤣

 

The experience itself was pretty good, definitely has zero re-ride (re-experience?) potential but I feel it's been executed pretty well. The mirror maze bit is good and we did get lost. All the effects seemed to be working, it just needed to be a touch darker in there I felt as the projection mapping effect is lost a little when it's brighter. All in all, it seemed to make sense to an extent, and I did enjoy it. Can't really see it lasting more than another 2 seasons though, personally - but I would assume Thorpe know that.

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On 4/27/2022 at 8:11 PM, MattyMoo said:

Another double post, sorry to my fellow members of the cOMMuNiTy.

Got to experience this today for the first time as it's now not on timed tickets, and just a standard queue.

Shout out to the guy batching the queue today who was very good in character - and another shout out also to the guy in the registration room with a fabulous moustache, who made me laugh, as when I saw my photo on the screen, I shouted "That's disgusting" and quick as a flash he said "Participants are reminded that their photograph is of their own face" 🤣

 

The experience itself was pretty good, definitely has zero re-ride (re-experience?) potential but I feel it's been executed pretty well. The mirror maze bit is good and we did get lost. All the effects seemed to be working, it just needed to be a touch darker in there I felt as the projection mapping effect is lost a little when it's brighter. All in all, it seemed to make sense to an extent, and I did enjoy it. Can't really see it lasting more than another 2 seasons though, personally - but I would assume Thorpe know that.

 

Agreed - definitely no re-experience-ability whatsoever. I've either done it twice or thrice since it opened, and the best way to describe it is a sensory overload 😂

I can't see it lasting too much longer though, which is a good thing I think because the BML show building has got a really decent sized footprint and utilizing that space for Fright Nights (or perhaps an actually good dark ride... ehem DBGTROTD... albeit if they opted for the dark ride, it would be pretty bloody short. 

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I experienced it twice this season and honestly I’m kinda just okay on it.

 

I do think it has a kind of narrative going, but honestly it’s not something I’d do again unless I was visiting with people who have not done it yet

 

honestly this won’t be an attraction that’ll have any lasting impact in 5 years I guess? Kinda like IAC..

 

also I hate the “you must escape!” Thing going on, it gets boring after TWD and DBGT. It all starts to blur together. 

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I went in BML last week - end of the day and it was just me and the people I was with.  Have done is 4-5 times now having gone with people who hadn’t experienced it before.  I guess it’s ok but my main gripe like others is that (a bit like DBGT) you only really need to do it once plus it is taking up a decent sized space which has previously house fright night mazes.

 

On a side note I love the music played in that area and also the uniforms that the staff/actors wear - I want one of the jackets 👌

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  • JoshC. unpinned this topic
  • 1 month later...

Was wondering what the future was for this attraction, going into its 3rd season.

 

Eventually they will get rid of slammer leaving a big open space. BML doesn’t take up any extra space, will they just run it until it just dies, will there be any upkeep? 
 

When I last went on it in Octobers, the staff member wasn’t even bothered to correctly frame the camera.

 

 

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A rather interesting update this one (and one that is much needed to be honest!)

Somebody on the THORPE PARK Passholder Group asked earlier this morning "Is Black Mirror to stay for the further future or is it only a near future attraction?" to which the park responded with the following (also talking about that infamous Tidal Wave fire effect too!)

 

1cfQlFE.png

 

So, to me it looks as if the IP is up for renewal next year and the park and/or House of Tomorrow/Charlie Brooker aren't certain if they're interested in renewing it.

 

Not a loss to the park whatsoever if it does close, to be honest. I'd much rather a brand new attraction (even if it's just a new retrofitted one to replace the space that Black Mirror currently occupies, although I would much rather them remove Slammer whilst they're at it to make an entirely new attraction!) than Black Mirror staying around for any longer.

 

Hopefully this will be the last year of Black Mirror. It's a very tired concept that didn't really fit the shoes it had, but optimistic for the future.

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Whilst it could be read as this is the final year of the contract (which would make sense as Thorpe/Merlin tend to favour 3 year contracts on IPs for smaller attractions), it could also be read as "we don't/can't confirm beyond this year due to the contract with the IP".

 

BML could easily remain without the Black Mirror branding too tbf, with no changes to the experience. Though if they want to repurpose Slammer's site for a ride in the future, arguably it should leave when that time comes.

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  • Mattgwise changed the title to Black Mirror Labyrinth
  • 2 months later...

Me and my mate have been bored today and have been speedrunning black mirror. Our best time is 3:40, with the timer starting as soon as the door into the first video starts and ending when you leave the last door after the glass shatters. 

 

We challenge anyone to beat out time lol (no running allowed)!

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  • 1 month later...
3 hours ago, ML27 said:

EF006413-99C0-423F-B47E-C5ABB06622C0.thumb.jpeg.01a956749e4029845e8167c334ec4a0b.jpeg

 

Quite smart that Thorpe Park are trying to cash in with the latest release of series 6

 

Wish they'd do some tidying up if they're using it for advertising - can't help but imagine anybody pulled in by this advert would go away bitterly disappointed in its current state (not that it was ever really anything to rant or rave about anyway)

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16 hours ago, ML27 said:

It would be great at a Madame Tussaud’s attraction or similar.

 

Totally hit the nail on the head there - it's an alright attraction that I'd be much more appreciative of if it was unexpectedly nestled inside of another attraction, but if I was to go out of my way to purposefully experience this at a theme park I would be super disappointed.

 

I suppose the good thing is that it never really attracts very long queues (unless Ghost Train is down and it's a super hot day and people are just looking for shelter for a few minutes), so at the end of the day it's not a massive waste of time... just a small waste of time instead.

 

I've done the attraction twice, maybe three times, in the 2 years it's been open and I must admit that I have never seen an attraction fall into disrepair in such a small timeframe before.

 

Then again, Black Mirror (the TV show)'s glory days are definitely over, and to be honest I think that's been the case since it moved to Netflix. Out of the entire series 6, I think I've only seen praise for one or two episodes. I've seen it and it's bloody awful for the most part - so maybe it does make sense not to pump too much time and effort into it.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Been open for 3 seasons, which is the standard IP contract that Merlin used to go for (especially for smaller attractions).

 

Certainly possible that the Black Mirror IP expired and the park chose to not renew, especially since Merlin seem to be erring away from IPs

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