Ghost Train - NEW for 2023

[Marc]

10 hours ago, StevenVig said:

 

Those aren't leg ticklers. Leg ticklers require the gap to be open and free to move in a 180 degree fashion. Those are just cables hanging out of the ventilation plates for the PCs. Sorry to burst your bubble. 

They were leg ticklers - they would randomly go off at the end of the ride when the train I assume reset, they were removed not long after though.

[JoshC.]

Very very brief thoughts from me as I am exhausted

 

It's good fun. It's an actor led, story driven, Dungeons-esque experience. It's an improvement on DBGT and more rideable, but it doesn't have strong rerideability. It's on the higher end of what they could have done with the ride system in place.

 

I have concerns about how it will run with full groups of paying guests. But that will be seen in time.

 

Theming is good for the most part. Story is clear and straightforward. There's some cool, simple effects. 

 

It's up there as one of the better incarnations of the ride (probably joint with the 2017 version when all effects worked for me). It's not perfect, but it's a good, well rounded addition to the park's line up. 

 

Fuller review with spoilers to follow.

[Benin]

9 hours ago, JoshC. said:

 It's an improvement on DBGT

 

DBGT being closed was an improvement no?

 

Actor driven experience again still has those same issues as seen in similar attractions. Limited by a poorly thought out attraction designed around a technological fad.

 

Will this or Sub Terra close again first?

[MattyMoo]

My sentiments exactly. We all know that actors = ££££ and first to be cut when trying to save money and/or after the opening fanfare has faded. I've never once had actors on TWDTR, for example...

 

Going to be interesting to see queue times and also feedback from people who aren't on a jolly for the evening  I shall stalk the MAP group religiously this weekend, ha!

 

[ML27]

Haven’t experienced yet obviously, however….

 

I’m someone who thinks these kinda attractions shouldn’t be in Theme Parks.  At least with the VR made it some sort of ride. 
 

I’ve heard what happens on the train and its budget at best. It’s gone from a ride which on paper was world class ( I know in reality it wasn’t) to the same old actor led experience which only last a matter of time.

 

Because it’s actor led, I think it’s a massive waste of space to essentially have this theatre which Thorpe clientele will not care for. They need ride hardware.

 

Ive contemplated if I’ve been too harsh before I’ve been on it but this is just how I feel. 

 

[coasterverse]

I’ll be riding it today, hopefully at least a couple of times. I’ve always seen DBGT through rose-tinted glasses (regardless of how bad it rode the majority of the time), so this attraction is already off to a bad start in my head. I’ll have a spoiler-free and spoiler-full review at some point today or tomorrow posted here - I promise not to sugar coat anything and my review will be nothing short of totally honest. That being said, as a big fan of Dungeons attractions (yes, even the Towers dungeons!), I am super excited to give it a whirl.

[MattyMoo]

Interested to hear everyone's views once they've ridden experienced.... think I said elsewhere - and I know it's not as grand in comparison - but doing Black Mirror this year, it already feels tired and ready to go, despite being much lauded by those who attended the VIP opening. Will be intriguing to see how GST TRN fares. 

 

I do genuinely want it to be good, I guess it'd be unheard of for Thorpe to have ripped out DBGTROTD without at least trying a retheme, but how long it will last in it's new incarnation remains to be seen. It's a huge section of redevelopment real estate, and considering it backs onto the pyramid housing Black Mirror & TWDTR (which lets be honest, was on borrowed time anyway before the retheme - not to say it's not a good IP overlay, because all things considered, it works) - one has to wonder if "the next big thing" would replace all these attractions in one fail swoop? Come to think of it, you've of course got Slammer there too taking up space (Overheard comments in the BM queue when we visited questioning why it was there just rotting away, as it goes!)

[MattyMoo]

It's not open yet it seems...  Not quite sure how this happens when you have all morning to try and sort out whatever issues there may be... 👀

 

Oh dear - delayed until 1.30/2pm with queue evacuated...

 

 

[Mark9]

Awkward. At least it's true to its predecessor in barely working. 

[Matt 236]

Things are going well then? 
 

Can’t say I’m surprised. 

[coasterverse]

Quite the queue with just under half an hour to go (hopefully 😂)

[ML27]

I’ve ridden it, 

It’s good, however it’s not a ride anymore and a lot of the GP will expect a ride or the VR. None which is clear from the outside of the attraction.

Great actors, story and effects and sets. 
 

It’s good for a couple of years at a push but a waste of space for such a prominent ride. They obviously didn’t design the ride for this, hence why I don’t think it can work for a long time. It’s shoe horned in, long term use the building with modifications to the size. But build ride hardware inside, minimising the physical building being wasted, but unlimited space to build a massive dark ride.

[coasterverse]

Alright, here we go. My written review of Ghost Train, as it was opening day 2023.

 

Spoiler-free review:

Wow, okay. I'm going to throw it out there and say: it's incredible. Honestly, it's incredible. From the outset I was extremely dubious (as you can see from my earlier posts) that enough would have been changed inside the attraction to warrant this rebrand. To be perfectly honest, I thought it was going to just be a reskinned version of Derren Brown's Ghost Train - but that's exactly what it isn't.

 

Ghost Train manages to fuse eeriness, a little bit of comedy to get you to let your guard down, and then slaps you with more eeriness. What it does, it does very bloody well - especially given the fact that this attraction was not designed to be what it is now.

 

Ghost Train now has a cohesive story from start to finish (something that DBGT was always heavily lacking, and the park trying to shoehorn plothole solutions always just make the storyline even more confusing), and the set design is immense.

 

It's a shame that I live so far away from the park these days as I definitely already want to go back to give it another few more rides before I give a final review, but after already queuing for about 2-2 and a half hours for Ghost Train today... I think I'm alright until the hype dies down a little 😂

 

Alright, here comes the spoilers. DO NOT READ PAST THIS SECTION IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE STORYLINE. I have also included my criticisms in this section as I didn't want to spoil the story:

 

Spoiler

The pepper's ghost effect remains in place in the preshow, and although is not as impressive as the Derren Brown's preshow (with the fake train on the table illusion), it works well. This new iteration is very actor led - even more so than its previous form - so anything to take the pressure off the park needing individual pre-show actors too, I'm all for it. The character from the preshow also appears at the very end too, which is nice. Wonder if that's a callback to Derren Brown's era? At the end of the preshow, the character gives you the option to continue or turn back, at which point the new windows in the preshow building have their shutters slam shut, plunging the room into total darkness. Your fate is sealed.

 

You're then transported to where the second preshow section was, which still remains in place. Although we didn't get a second preshow, I don't think there's any actual plan for it. I think it's just there so that the person batching groups into the preshow can ramble on if the train isn't ready yet - but as soon as we got there, we had someone burst through the door and tell us the train was ready to depart.

 

The floating carriage is gone. We knew that for the most part anyway, but still painful to see. That's a massive space and I was always curious as to what they were planning on doing with it. They've turned it into Platform 13, although it does look a little strange as the floor is still very deep - I don't think they're drawing too much attention down there anyway, and just want you to focus on the station decor. At the very back of the room they've got a fake covered staircase (you know the type that runs up and over train tracks at train stations?), which really adds to the immersion... it even says "This way for Platform 15"... nice 😎

 

You're then sat on a grim, dimly lit tube train. They've weathered the train interior brilliantly. The windows are painted black... which is my biggest gripe. They're also not utilising the small TV screens either which is a shame. There was probably either budget constraints or technical limitations which meant they couldn't utilise screens in the windows, but I'd love for this to happen at some point in the future - even if it's just a night sky with some fog whizzing past! You're also told to keep your feet behind the line once you're sat down, but the space you're given isn't very big - so if you're tall, you might struggle. But that's just a limitation of the train size, can't complain about that.

 

Once the doors are closed, one of the actors (acting innocently and politely) walks through the train asking people for their tickets - after a while, the second actor screams something like "YOU DON'T NEED NO TICKETS!". The actors then get possessed by something and start convulsing whilst creepy whispers fill the train saying "Freedom!". You're then given a talk about Chapel Station and how it's closed. You're then given another talk like in the preshow about how a group called 'The Believers' went to Chapel Station and held a seancé in the crypt and all of them died, which is why Chapel Station closed down.

 

The train stops, and you're at Chapel Station. You're begged to not get off the train by one of the actors, to which the other screams "ALL CHANGE!", and the doors open. The platform is pretty much exactly as it was in DBGT as far as I recall, just with the station name on the walls rather than the Derren Brown easter eggs. I forgot to check the departure time sign on the ceiling actually - will have to remember to do that next time!

 

You're then taken down through the doors as normal, but there's no longer a scare maze. It's instead a fully modelled crypt graveyard type scene, with eerie statues, skulls etc. I was super impressed with the scenery - I didn't think something like that could've been done with what they had available to them!

 

You're then given more of a backstory to the crypt and what The Believers were doing. You're told what they were chanting, and just as you're told - chanting voices are heard all around the room. As this happens, various skulls being held by the statues begin lighting up. You're told that not only did they summon the spirits, but they also summoned... death. It's at this point the actor telling the story becomes possessed and starts speaking in a demonic voice. He slides the crypt open, and a bright orange light shines out of it (I really love this effect!) You're then told that the angel of death (who has possessed the train conductor actor) has come for your souls... or something to that effect. It's at this point that a ghost comes sliding down a pole overhead - there needs to be some lighting improvements on this though, because if you don't see it coming out... it quickly goes into darkness. A strobe shining on it would be great, and I'm pretty certain this will happen in the coming weeks.

 

You're then ushered back onto the train again, to which I'm pretty sure you're asked why you went into the crypt - because the ghosts are there (or something of that nature, I've explained it terribly). One of the conductors then asks where we're going, to which the other responds "The end of the line!". The first person responds with "What does the station master want?" to which the other responds "What they always want... their souls!". The angel of death then commands the spirits to rise up. The train is plunged into complete darkness, and a heavy breathing sound effect is played for a few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, two nuns appear out of thin air! (They actually come through the doors at either end of the train, but you get what I mean...) There is also a smoke machine in the train, which is an addition I'm glad to see! It needs thicker fog fluid though as it doesn't really do much...

 

As these nuns appear, UV lights on the train light up to reveal runes and various pieces of text scrawled all over the train interior. I always thought this was going to look tacky, but it really works! Think about how it looks in The Curse's preshow... that's exactly the same effect but in the train. I love it!

 

A few more jumpscares happen on the train, before being plunged into darkness again and the ghost creature things have disapeared... and the only remnance of their existence is a pile of their clothes on the floor in place of where they stood! If it wasn't for someone pointing this out to me, I would've totally missed it. It's a great effect!

 

The train is then returned to complete normality in a split second. The lights come back on as if nothing happened, no more UV paint... it's as if nothing happened at all. Then, Thorpe Rail issue an announcement over the intercom on the train enthusiastically saying...

 

"If you see something that doesn't feel right, report it immediately to one of our staff. See it, say it, sorted."

 

😂😂😂 It's absolutely brilliant, it had everybody on the train laughing and applauding - that's how good of an attraction it was. Upbeat music is then played in the train - it's a great way to lift your spirits after a thoroughly eerie attraction.

 

You then disembark, and head through to the fake shop. THE FAKE SHOP RETURNS! 🥳🥳

 

You're given the usual schpiel about there being a spillage in the café and to wait there until it gets cleaned up, at which point (as you know) things start going bonkers. After a little while, you're plunged into darkness UNTILLLLLL... the Thorpe Park retail worker bursts out of the door in exactly the same manor as the previous demon. *groan*

 

I really hope this is just an interim thing whilst they're getting a new costume sorted, because the guy was literally in his full Thorpe Park uniform - bright blue fleece, lanyard and all.

 

On one hand I'm glad that the fake shop remains (because that was definitely the best part of DBGT), but on the other hand it seems they still haven't acted on what most people complained about when it was DBGT and that was the lack of a demon costume... hell I'd have even taken 'generic coughing man in white shirt' over 'Thorpe Park employee in his bright blue fleece' 😂

 

Overall, it's an incredible attraction and they've finally nailed what they were trying to do all along. Hopefully it sees some longevity, but it really is even more actor-heavy than Derren Brown ever was which is worrying. It seems we were fully staffed today, but will it have the same impact on an off-peak Tuesday? Only time will tell.

 

As I said the other day, do not compare it with The Curse. They are two very different attractions - but as far as this attraction is concerned as it's own standalone thing... it's fantastic.

[Vinlarr89]

Not ridden this yet, but from the reviews I’ve read or watched I’m impressed with the work that’s gone into this. 
 

Honestly thought it would be undercooked, but everyone seems positive. Can’t wait to give it a go tbh. 
 

given the limitations of the ride system, it sounds as if Merlin have nailed it. Which is 3 attractions nailed this year. Think they’ve definitely raised the bar. Which makes me excited for the future 

[JoshC.]

Spoiler thoughts from me:

 

Spoiler

Pre Show

The pre show is a strong segment. I really enjoy the setting and vibe they've created - I really enjoy the train time board which clicks over. The character of Angelus Mortis (Latin for 'Angel of Death' btw) works well. The story of a ritual to do with death is a common one, so easy to understand, but doesn't feel cliché or overly unoriginal.

 

Load Room

You can be held here for a little bit. But as there's a story to build on, it's easier to work, and doesn't involve stupid numbers. This is where Ghost Train excels over DBGT - a story is introduced right from the start. That's not necessarily a knock on DBGT (the pre show for that served a purpose, and had the story been clearer on the train, would have been fine). Again, the theming is good.

 

Platform 13

The floating carriage is transformed into Platform 13. In its own right, it looks good. For me personally, it's a shame to lose the floating carriage illusion, even if it wasn't drawn attention to. It also feels a bit awkward that Platform 13 isn't really a platform, and can only be accessed by the walkways which go over a set of train tracks. But this is a minor detail.

 

Train - Scene 1

This is more story building. It's cool, but on reflection, it feels like it could have used a bit more oompf. 

 

Scene 2

Scene 2 is set in a graveyard, which looks pretty cool. It's a bit of an awkward transition, you are at Chapel station, walk pass black walls, then are at the graveyard. Feels like there could / should have been a better transition here.

 

This is where the attraction feels its most "Dungeons" like, but it is pretty cool. It features cool effects (audio, lighting changes, flying wraiths, moving statues, actors appearing from darkness). It's the real catalyst for the experience.

 

Train - Scene 3

This build upon the fear nicely, and features two surprise actors, dressed as nuns. The costumes are a bit confusing within the context of the story, but they're good generic spooky. There's UV scrawling on the train, which looks cool too.

 

The "See it, Say it, Sort it" line at the end is pure comedy though, and nicely executed.

 

Fake Shop / Post Show

Now this is the part that feels most disjointed from the rest of the experience. It's the same idea: you're held for some silly reason, things start happening, and an actor appears, featuring loads of effects. Then Angelus reappears on a screen, spits at you, and some statues move. It's got a level of theatrics to it, and will get first-timers.

 

Two things, however. Firstly, it looks exactly the same. Yes, okay, they've put new merch in there, and they've moved the photo op screens. But it looks like the old Ghost Train shop. It doesn't feel like it's part of this Ghost Train. It doesn't feel connected to the experience. Maybe that's part of what they're hoping for (so first-timers are lulled into a false sense of security). But it just doesn't quite work for me.

 

The second is the one actor. The actor appearing, in Thorpe clothing no less, has a vague relevance to the story (people becoming possessed in a way), but it falls a bit flat. A second actor, perhaps dressed as the grim reaper, would be a better fit here. Or just something in a costume. Having an actor you've already seen just doesn't work.

 

Overall, it is a positive change. The experience is much more a show / Dungeons experience than a ride. It doesn't have that much re-rideability. And of course, questions will always remain about an actor heavy experience, which still seems to have reliability issues. But nonetheless, a positive, much-needed change.

 

Some non-spoiler bits, found out during the Press Night:

-Kieron Smith, Global Artistic Director for The Dungeons, was described as the "writer and director" of Ghost Train. What they means exactly I'm not sure, but in any case, it means that this has had significant input from someone who is in charge The Dungeons, which are very successful, and what this attraction should aim to be like.

 

-The park acknowledge this will take some time to perfect. As with things like this, there will be a need to be responsive to guest and actor feedback, and things like timings, scripts, etc may need to be tweaked. The park will do this.

 

-Not having the restriction of an IP means it is easier to change / update the story too.

 

-A general consensus from everyone I spoke to who rode it was that it was perhaps the best they could have done given the constraints they had. There's a "ride system" in place, but it is minimal and restrictive, and was designed for a very specific purpose. The building was designed for that ride system. Replacing the ride system is pipe dream worthy at this stage. But what they've with it, and what they've turned Ghost Train into, is (as I've already said), on the higher end of what they could have done. They could have done more, but they've done a good job.

[ML27]

Apparently, people have been on the ride today and apparently it’s been a really bad experience with multiple effects already not working 😂

[coasterverse]

7 minutes ago, ML27 said:

Apparently, people have been on the ride today and apparently it’s been a really bad experience with multiple effects already not working 😂

 

I’m not surprised to be honest, but think most of the technical problems will be ironed out very very quickly. The main issue is always having actors on hand, because there’s lots of them.

 

If I remember correctly there should be about 7 actors throughout the experience - I think Ghost Train operates two trains (?) so double that. Having those sort of numbers consistently throughout the season may be difficult, especially with TWD:TR next door also needing some actors, too.

 

Ive got a feeling that actors from TWD will be frequently pulled in to help out with Ghost Train.

 

All they need to do is maintain the high level and consistency of acting in there and this could be great for many years to come.

[JoshC.]

18 minutes ago, coasterverse said:

If I remember correctly there should be about 7 actors throughout the experience - I think Ghost Train operates two trains (?) so double that. Having those sort of numbers consistently throughout the season may be difficult, especially with TWD:TR next door also needing some actors, too.

 

 

It won't be a straight out doubling for the number of actors, as not all are linked to the trains.

 

Though, in saying that, the attraction can probably run with about 14-15 actors ( ) (including actors to cover breaks, to ensure the same number are in the attraction at any given time) as a bare minimum at the moment. On top of that, they would require 6-7 ride hosts too (again, as a minimum, but also including people to cover breaks). There's currently also a couple of roaming actors outside the entrance, but I imagine these are more 'new ride hype' actors, which usually disappear, as is the case for many attractions.

 

Last year, DBGT was running with 6-7 actors and 10-11 ride hosts. So the number of total staff isn't significantly greater than how it was last year. And it's currently less than when DBGT originally opened. 

 

Equally, the park is a lot more Entertainments-focused now, with a much larger Ents department and budget. With events most of the year, the Thrillmakers show outside of events, the park clearly have a greater scope to ensure actor levels remain high. The issue will come, somewhat ironically, around Fright Nights time, when (as with most large horror events in the country), they'll struggle to suitably staff the FN attractions, and start to pull actors from the permanent rides.

 

TWD:TR hasn't had actors in any of my goes this year...whether that's bad luck or because the focus is away from that now, I'm not sure.

[coasterverse]

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

 

It won't be a straight out doubling for the number of actors, as not all are linked to the trains.

 

Though, in saying that, the attraction can probably run with about 14-15 actors ( ) (including actors to cover breaks, to ensure the same number are in the attraction at any given time) as a bare minimum at the moment. On top of that, they would require 6-7 ride hosts too (again, as a minimum, but also including people to cover breaks). There's currently also a couple of roaming actors outside the entrance, but I imagine these are more 'new ride hype' actors, which usually disappear, as is the case for many attractions.

 

Last year, DBGT was running with 6-7 actors and 10-11 ride hosts. So the number of total staff isn't significantly greater than how it was last year. And it's currently less than when DBGT originally opened. 

 

Equally, the park is a lot more Entertainments-focused now, with a much larger Ents department and budget. With events most of the year, the Thrillmakers show outside of events, the park clearly have a greater scope to ensure actor levels remain high. The issue will come, somewhat ironically, around Fright Nights time, when (as with most large horror events in the country), they'll struggle to suitably staff the FN attractions, and start to pull actors from the permanent rides.

 

TWD:TR hasn't had actors in any of my goes this year...whether that's bad luck or because the focus is away from that now, I'm not sure.

 

I wonder if having this being an independent project now that it will allow them to adjust the storyline and allow them to turn it into a different scare attraction for Fright Nights.

[ML27]

It could definitely allow them to advertise it as a FN attraction. Especially as they lost creak freak.

 

I know there are some very minor story based things on the outside on posters and timetables. However, the outside isn’t really themed to the specific story. Could change the stop in the middle once in a while and therefore the story 
 

 

[Hethetheth]

I just went on it. I have no idea how anyone has given this a good review. It was so bad.

 

I'll do a proper spoiler review later, but in short it felt like a lot of overacting whilst basically nothing happened.  The new theming was bare at best. Terrible.

 

I would love to know what people who enjoyed it saw in this attraction, but I am legitimately baffled as to how it could be considered by anyone to be anything above 'dire'.

[iEddiez]

Some minor spoilers

 

I don't even know where to start. Granted, the removal of VR now makes the story far more palatable. The preshows were done very well and set up what could have been an excellent experience. But it didn't deliver...

I kept expecting this big scare moment and it never arrived. 

I am very suprised the fakeout shop remains but I guess that was a pricey addition to the last round of fixes?

 

My only positive from it was the retheme of the loading platform was well done. Oh and I was out of the sun for an hour.

 

[coasterverse]

3 hours ago, Hethetheth said:

I just went on it. I have no idea how anyone has given this a good review. It was so bad.

 

I'll do a proper spoiler review later, but in short it felt like a lot of overacting whilst basically nothing happened.  The new theming was bare at best. Terrible.

 

I would love to know what people who enjoyed it saw in this attraction, but I am legitimately baffled as to how it could be considered by anyone to be anything above 'dire'.

 

I think when the benchmark was Derren Brown's Ghost Train and a lot of people who had ridden it previously going in with a pretty low bar as a way to manage their expectations, it's a stellar attraction. It's by no means world class, and certainly by no means the best dark ride in the country for that matter. However, what they've managed to transform the space into (given the fact that the building was built for one set purpose, and that is a virtual reality ghost train) is very, very good.

 

The ride at this point has been open for 3 days, there's going to be teething issues aplenty... but from what I've personally witnessed on opening day (this could have significantly changed since and I'm hearing reports of lots of effects not working for riders over the past two days) it was a thoroughly enjoyable, genuinely eerie theatrical experience, that once given the time to bed in that it clearly needs, has the potential to be immense.

 

Notice that I intentionally call it a theatrical experience and not a ride, because if you go into the attraction thinking it's going to be a thrilling ride, you'll end up bitterly disappointed. To be honest it should be advertised more as a show or a scaremaze rather than a 'Ghost Train', but I suppose it's really just a double entendre - it's a ghost taking over a train.

 

But I also have to agree with @iEddiez - the entire experience was building up to, what I also thought, was going to be one big scare. STORYLINE SPOILER AHEAD:

Spoiler

I feel like obviously the scene on the train with the two nuns were supposed to be the big scary finale, but I think the audio levels on the train are what lets it down. This is all something that can be fixed however - the jumpscare audio just needs to be much, much louder and less predictable. Maybe after the breathing sound effect having the entire train go dead quiet for a few seconds? Having the jumpscare straight after the breathing makes it super predictable and allows you to brace yourself for the scare.

 

I like the addition of the smoke machines in the train, but like I mentioned above the fluid isn't strong enough so has literally no effect. What they really needed were CO2 cannons instead - that creates thick, dense fog that clears within a few seconds... perfect for the effect they're going for here.

 

[ML27]

No matter how good it is for what it is and the situation they had to retheme this attraction.

 

I think the conversation will now change from looking forward to riding ghost train to when are they replacing the ride.  It’s a massive space and a heavily themed building which is already cursed. Some people won’t ride it because they think it’s DBGT or has VR
 

 

[Benin]

18 hours ago, Hethetheth said:

I just went on it. I have no idea how anyone has given this a good review. It was so bad.

 

I'll do a proper spoiler review later, but in short it felt like a lot of overacting whilst basically nothing happened.  The new theming was bare at best. Terrible.

 

I would love to know what people who enjoyed it saw in this attraction, but I am legitimately baffled as to how it could be considered by anyone to be anything above 'dire'.

 

Is it a surprise that most positive reviews came from the VIP Preview night?

 

Though when DBGT was an apparent mess anything would seem better.