Thorpe Park - Derren Brown's Ghost Train

[Chris]

59ft is perfect height for a nice launched coaster.

[Danny]

I said that the special element of the ride that would go in this pit could be a freefall and launch, leading me to believe an SFX coaster could be on the way.

[sw7nutter]

SFX coaster would be nice but this building is still quite small in the grand scheme of things.

[bensaund]

X is a good sized coaster and I remember Space Station Zero/Black Hole. Just because the coaster is inside it does not have to be large.

[sw7nutter]

Yes but the building it is in is smaller than X and if its fitting in a pre show, bag room and shop it doesn't leave much for a coaster.

[bensaund]

I think with a lot of imagination they will be able to fit a lot into the space. The area they are using is very large, the Arena wasn't small and in terms of the size of the site you could easily fit a good sized ride in there. It may not be a coyster, it may be a ride like Duel with special effects. It could even be a simulator ride. I am very much looking forward to what is coming. It will have to be very good to make me want to revisit Thorpe Park.

[TheBeast]

It is going to be a showstopper, Merlin wouldn't have it any other way. It is a lot of space but when you take into account that there is the maintenance closet thing it isn't all that big. I'd love to see a dark launcher, but I can't see this being one

[MerlinFan]

They've said it's going to be a first of its kind dark ride - I'm so excited about it!

[daymo74]

Actually Gutted at the patheticness of this announcement. Wasn't their a £30+ million price tag being shouted round for this new "attraction". Please don't tell me they've wasted all that money on this crock! There is just No Way that this can be anything other than Crap. They take a series that has pretty much 2 salient features (1-Making Minor Celebrities perform High adrenaline thrilling stunts & 2-Making Minor Celebrities eat insects.) Option 2 has been confirmed as not happening & I'm struggling to see how anyone can make a maze thrilling without it being a H&S nightmare (Which a company like Merlin would never risk!). So, some jelly worms, leg ticklers & a wobbly bridge then. Brilliant! Well played indeed Merlin. At least you can put yourselves a Nice Big Fat Tick in the "Worlds 1st" column, that we know is SOOOOO Important to NO-ONE except yourselves! Enough now! The reason it's a Worlds 1st is that No-One else would be Stupid enough to scrape this far down the Ideas Barrel. Seriously! Just stop it now.

How did we Ever get to the point where Merlin misguidedly believe that this is what We the people want? I believe it was down as a suggested possible future IP on the Customer Satisfaction Survey a while back, so the only conclusion that can be drawn here, is that they had a large number of surveys back that thought that an IACGMOOH attraction sounded like a good idea. So if you were one of the people that ticked that box, Well done you! you've only got yourselves to blame. The next time one of them comes your way, be sure NOT to Humour or Sarcasm of any description, it's evidently fallen on deaf ears.

The 1 positive we can take away from this? At least it'll draw the crowds away from the attractions there that are worth the trip!

[paige]

Has the dark ride officially been dubbed as a 'world's first' of sorts? Oh dear. USPs aren't always the way, people aren't that arrogant as to only be drawn into something when it has a 'UNIQUE WORLD'S FIRST' element or is the 'FIRST RIDE OF IT'S KIND'. Look at Ninferno, that's doing pretty well for itself despite being Nemesis' little sister and that hasn't got any sort of gimmick- asides from the fact it's a Nemesis sequel if you wish- and it is always moderately busy whenever I go ('of course it would be Paige it's one of Thorpe's 5 big coasters'). IPs and USPs are not the way forward in my opinion, the general public aren't as keen as us no, but that doesn't mean they don't appreciate any sort of real depth.

[lewis97]

Daymo74, The I'm a Celebrity attraction is opening this year and is not the 2016 dark ride...

[daymo74]

Oh thank God for that!

I stand corrected & shall get back in my box Forthwith!

[abigsmurf]

One thing worth noting is that the ride's footprint is less than half that of Transformers or Spider-man so if it is that ride type, it's going to be much smaller and compact, less physical scenery and more time spent static in front of screens.

Not sure how it compares to Ratatouille which is like that (and feels disappointingly short).

[definedancing]

It could purely just be wording but I spotted this comment on facebook...
THORPE PARK Official Hi Luin,
This year our new attracting is the I'm A Celeb Maze!
So keep your eyes peeled for a new coaster in 2016

Coaster, huh?

[TheBeast]

Did it actually say he was a TP official? If so why did he spell 'attraction' wrong?

[definedancing]

It was a reply on the facebook page, so I would've thought so. Again, probably just reading into it too much.

[Georgie]

Did you screenshot it? Can't find it myself and I'd like a bit of proof beyond a typo-filled text post on a forum.

[Ryan.B]

Not sure if it's the right place to put it, but the 2016 dark ride was meant to be the removal of the carousel, was it running at February half term because it's still on the website, or is it when the building goes up the carousel gets removed

[Chris]

It was still there but not open.

I believe it is just the exterior bits which cover this area - so it may be demolished towards the end of the building construction.

[Ryan.B]

I find it's a shame if they're not going to attempt to open it until it has to go, one of the classics they have, but the new ride looks possibly one of the top 5 in the uk, maybe the best theming wise until paramount comes!