UK theme parks from another point of view!

Derren Brown's Ghost Train - Rise Of The Demon

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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:20 pm

School trips generally take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and often you'll find the majority are in May and June. Whilst it's probably going to break an hour I wouldn't be too worried so long as you go just before the schools break up. Your best bet is probably Monday the 3rd or Tuesday the 4th! :)

Also keep in mind Ghost Train is fairly decent with queues and can drop down to even 30 minutes on busy days so it's an idea to use the Thorpe Park app which allows you to track the queue times!
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DanSUFC
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:37 pm

Horras64 wrote:
DanSUFC wrote:
I just wondered if anyone knew what days during July are the best/quietest days to visit the resort? I know there's likely school trips during July, but are there specific days that trips take place, or is it going to be pot luck? Any advice would be appreciated.


It is most likely going to be pot luck unfortunately. Weekends are probably your best bet since school trips don't tend to happen around then. However the park does get VERY busy during that time unfortunately, especially when there are school trips. This is just in my experience, some others may have more.

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ThemeParkCrafter wrote:
My advice is don't go in July as for last year, it appeared to be far busier during July than August. School days will certainly be packed with lots of school trips

Owen wrote:
School trips generally take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and often you'll find the majority are in May and June. Whilst it's probably going to break an hour I wouldn't be too worried so long as you go just before the schools break up. Your best bet is probably Monday the 3rd or Tuesday the 4th! :)

Also keep in mind Ghost Train is fairly decent with queues and can drop down to even 30 minutes on busy days so it's an idea to use the Thorpe Park app which allows you to track the queue times!

Did want to go sooner rather than later, but unfortunately I can't go any earlier than early July, which is annoying. I remember vaguely going last year late July (think it was the 21st?) and from memory, it was packed with school trips, and without fastrack tickets, it was destined to be a frustrating day of queuing from the start (thankfully bought them in advance as they sold out on the day!). Managed to get the 5 big coasters in (even went on a couple of them twice), but most of the day was spent queuing (spent near on 2 hours queuing for DBGT last year, thankfully the queues aren't nearly as long for that this year.... so far!).

Last year was a last minute decision trip, so I had to fit it around when I could go, I didn't put much thought into what dates were the busiest, and ended up queuing for most of the day. If early July is likely to be a tad bit quieter than nearer the end of July, then I might give that a try. Thanks everyone for your quick responses :)
Last edited by DanSUFC on Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:47 pm

Indeed, I was saying the 3rd and 4th of July. The reason I say this is because college's break up around he first week of July so fingers crossed it'd be even quieter during that first week!
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DanSUFC
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:44 pm

Owen wrote:
Indeed, I was saying the 3rd and 4th of July. The reason I say this is because college's break up around he first week of July so fingers crossed it'd be even quieter during that first week!


3rd or the 4th of July sounds like it could be a good shout - hopefully it's quiet around that sort of time! Thank you :)
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rolicoli8
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:16 pm

I rode ROTD for the first time yesterday, and I really wasn't impressed with the new VR section to be honest.

Spoiler: show
With it being filmed on a 360 camera, there's no motion tracking so if you move at all, the illusion gets ruined.
The acting in the video kinda looks a bit cheesy, as understandably, they had to pretend they were being attacked by something which wasn't there. The VR is also clearly made up of different videos and the transitions between them spoil the flow of the experience as it jumps and everyone is in a different position. The shadows in the train also feel a bit too dark so you can't really see what's happening sometimes, and at some points you're sitting waiting to see why someone is screaming because they're in the shadow. It also now feels a bit too much like Saw Alive where you're watching bad things happen to people instead of feeling directly in danger with what's happening.
I did however like the bit where the train is picked up in the tunnel, although the ending after that felt a bit weird. I also liked the addition of "EMERGENCY, EVACUATE, THIS IS NOT A DRILL" from Sub Terra, that bit does feel a bit more like something has gone wrong and there's now an emergency evacuation. Another addition I liked was the video of Derren at the train explaining to the riders that if they look back, they'll see they've been in the same place the whole time.
And I really really liked what happens after the train!! It really does take people who don't know what happens by surprise, and is actually a brilliant physical experience. :) :) :)
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ThemeCrafter264
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:18 pm

Quite minor but DBGT was in a BBC news video http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39589043
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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:58 pm

A nice little image put up by Thorpe...

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Sawboss
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:12 pm

I don't think 'RATED 10/10 FOR SCARE' can really be classed as a fact...
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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:13 pm

I suppose if anyone rates it as so it is, but I wouldn't take it too seriously. It's just a social media advertisement for average guests! :P
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alicheesy
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:37 pm

I think it has the right amount of scary. It is certainly more so than last year and it has a sense of tension which puts people on edge. It's much more immersive as well which makes it feel more real. This type of scary is good as if it was full of jump scares I don't think it would be as enjoyable and it would feel a bit forced.

For me, the ride as a whole has improved vastly from last year and it finally feels complete. The good elements have been kept and the tension is sustained throughout which wasn't apparent last year.
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Thank you to Owen for the most fabulous signature to ever exist ever
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rolicoli8
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:52 pm

I realised yesterday that with the new VR content, it's all stuff they could do with actors in costume (other than the ending), eliminating the need for VR
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NeoXIII
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:12 am

rolicoli8 wrote:
I realised yesterday that with the new VR content, it's all stuff they could do with actors in costume (other than the ending), eliminating the need for VR


I imagine having that many actors around all day long for an entire season will be quite pricey. Isn't that one of the reason why Sub-Terra in AT isn't operating anymore as well?
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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Tue Apr 18, 2017 1:38 pm

Sorry is this a stupid question, but how on earth could they do even half the VR content with live actors effectively? :-s
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rolicoli8
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:36 pm

Owen wrote:
Sorry is this a stupid question, but how on earth could they do even half the VR content with live actors effectively? :-s

It wouldn't be exactly the same, but with actors and a few special effects you could do it pretty similar.
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Owen
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Tue Apr 18, 2017 11:47 pm

Remember that the train is full of people on both sides, with there not being a great amount of space to use. You'd end up having some people having a less immersive experience than others because of this.

Spoiler: show
On top of this, the demon crawls on the ceiling and causes people harm. The ride system is also very loud (blocked out by the headphones) and you can see you are moving through the door windows which would break the illusion entirely.


Whilst I can sort of see what you mean and they could do something they definitely couldn't do something anywhere near as spooky or impressive - certainly nothing similar to the current experience. :)
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Sawboss
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed May 17, 2017 11:20 pm

Just had a question about the DBGT..
What are peoples experiences regarding nausea with the VR?
I ask because my girlfriend doesn't cope with VR all that well, and riding X when it went backwards made her bring up her lunch, as did Hex. I wouldn't want her to ride it first thing and spend the rest of the day looking green.
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Luce
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed May 17, 2017 11:36 pm

Personally, I don't find it nausea inducing at all but I don't get that feeling on rides and I reckon the VR is immersive enough that you haven't time to worry about it.

I understand everyone is different with rides and their tolerances but Ghost Train isn't one that affects people like that as the motion isn't too intense. I reckon going on it before lunch could be a solution :)
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Robert.W
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Wed May 17, 2017 11:41 pm

Personally, I don't have a problem with nausea after using VR.
Also, if you don't want your girlfriend green all day, ride DBGT at the end of the day, just a tip! :lol
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Michelle
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Thu May 18, 2017 7:34 am

Sawboss wrote:
Just had a question about the DBGT..
What are peoples experiences regarding nausea with the VR?
I ask because my girlfriend doesn't cope with VR all that well, and riding X when it went backwards made her bring up her lunch, as did Hex. I wouldn't want her to ride it first thing and spend the rest of the day looking green.


I'm finding motion and VR are making me feel much worse these days which isn't brilliant with the amount of time I spend in theme parks :lol
Personally I find DBGT fine for nausea, I do suffer on Galactica, Star Tours at Disney was horrific and increasingly on inverting coasters. Absolute worst case scenario your girlfriend can just close her eyes during the VR bit, because the movement itself is largely no worse than being on a real train - hope that helps!
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Sawboss
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Re: Derren Brown's Ghost Train

Thu May 18, 2017 6:22 pm

Thanks for the help, chaps.
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