Thorpe Park - Derren Brown's Ghost Train

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Owen
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Thorpe Park have confirmed there will no longer be a preview day for Ghost Train.

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phildenholm
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Seems odd

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Luce
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Indeed, it does seem a little strange to not be having the preview day after all - I assume there must be a reason but what that is, is a mystery :D
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phildenholm
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You would think they would like a soft launch, check everything works finalise staff training etc, makes me think they plan to be down to the wire for getting it open on time

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Justin
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Lots of work going on yesterday by various parties. The "carrage" was still covered up outside but most of the doors were open, and there were quite a few staff around the building. Bush BBQ was still closed as the attraction is so close by!

I'm really hoping they do some kind of launch night actitvities on the Friday.
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Justin
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Derren Brown's Ghost Train has been given a 1.4m minimum height restriction.
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Owen
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Yes, this was confirmed on the previous page. The map also confirmed a 13 age restriction, reading "The experience is suitable for ages 13 and up".

I have a large update for later, with a few interesting developments included!
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Owen
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As promised here is a construction update from 20/03/16.

'Plaza' - The Sign

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Notice that the gates are wide open.


'Plaza' - Site Panorama

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Apparently people are unable to understand the attraction will not be opening until May 6th, and so it is necessary to have two staff members standing outside for the entirety of the day, a temporary sign stating its opening date, the date hanging from the ride sign as well as the various marketing materials around the park. This also shows the true scale of the building thanks to the two members of staff standing outside of the building.


The Building

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Why hello Mr.Construction Man!


The Queue and Interior Work

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Doors are now open for workers to enter in and out of the building. There were also 5 large speakers just on the outside of the building, so we can expect a good atmosphere from this attraction!

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A nice view of the guest entrance and baggage hold (I think).

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A view into the shop. In reality you could see into here, and inside there wasn't too much exciting stuff - workers were installing lighting and thematic elements, although work was taking place through the entirety of the day. There were (from what I could see) approximately 5 workers in the front section of the shop near the doors.

There was also construction inside the queue line shop, which was nice to see.


Possibly the Ride Vehicles

The train is still covered up but something I saw has me question if this is just one train, or rather three...

This is the view from the front -

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From this image it seems they are getting ready to put the vehicles into the building.

But from the side these look much longer.

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This makes me think that the ride will feature 3 ride vehicles, and 4 groups of 60 in the attraction at one time. This would equate to an approximate throughput of 940-1000 people per hour, and a group of 60 being batched every 3-4 minutes. Either way it seems Derren is already messing with our heads with the length of the trains seeming extremely different from different perspectives! :lol
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COASTERGUY246
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its gonna be really interesting how this all works... did you spot anything significant from a higher perspetive (i.e. from nemesis inferno, colossus or detonator) or did you not really look in that direction
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Owen
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COASTERGUY246 wrote:its gonna be really interesting how this all works... did you spot anything significant from a higher perspetive (i.e. from nemesis inferno, colossus or detonator) or did you not really look in that direction
No, unfortunately there wasn't much that sparked my interest when on Nemesis Inferno. Unless you count being gobsmacked at just how huge the building is! However, access ladders have been installed to the back of the buildings to allow staff to reach the roof of the attraction if that is interesting to you or anyone else :)
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COASTERGUY246
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thats a shame... while i think about it the age restriction is definitely due to the HTC vive's they will be using on the ride. most vr devices that have been announced for public release have been given a 13+ age limit due to the device apparently causing some issues with eye development
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Justin
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Owen wrote:
COASTERGUY246 wrote:its gonna be really interesting how this all works... did you spot anything significant from a higher perspetive (i.e. from nemesis inferno, colossus or detonator) or did you not really look in that direction
No, unfortunately there wasn't much that sparked my interest when on Nemesis Inferno. Unless you count being gobsmacked at just how huge the building is! However, access ladders have been installed to the back of the buildings to allow staff to reach the roof of the attraction if that is interesting to you or anyone else :)
I must agree. Going yesterday and seeing developments over the winter, compared to Fright Nights was great. It is massive and a hive of activity at the moment. I think this is going to be a very special attraction!
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Luce
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I agree too, when I went for the celebration day last week, it was great to see what's happened in person and I was impressed with the detail that's gone into theming the outside. One thing that has kept me curious, is how the wearing of the VR headsets will be explained when you enter the attraction - I'm certainly looking forward to finding out :)
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abigsmurf
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Owen wrote: This makes me think that the ride will feature 3 ride vehicles, and 4 groups of 60 in the attraction at one time. This would equate to an approximate throughput of 940-1000 people per hour, and a group of 60 being batched every 3-4 minutes. Either way it seems Derren is already messing with our heads with the length of the trains seeming extremely different from different perspectives! :lol
3 ride vehicles is what I've suspected given the plans. Allows you to have a train in the boarding point, offloading point and main ride (tunnel section in the smaller part of the building) at the same time.

The interesting thing is how the trains will leave the warehouse without destroying the illusion of it being suspending in mid air in a normal warehouse. I've said before that I think the train will get lowered with the mechanisms and doors hidden out of view (hydraulic machinery would go in the pit shown in the plans), still seems the most likely view (the tanks mentioned before could be oil wells or compressors needed for something large scale like that).
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Owen
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Here are some images from Total Thorpe Park showing the shop and open door in better view. There are also some brightened images here which you may not want to see if you are keeping spoiler free -

The Vehicles

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Above image lighted up (thanks to Theme Park Collective Facebook) -

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We can see some sort of track or wiring.

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These things are huge!


Inside the Ride Building

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Above image lighted up (thanks to Theme Park Collective Facebook) -

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Rumoured to be some kind of lift to move the trains to different heights.


The Shop

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Last edited by Owen on Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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lewis97
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I think that first image is interesting. It appears to show some of rail that the train carriage could move sideways along from where it starts in the suspended carriage.
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NeoXIII
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Is anyone actually going to the opening day? Really tempted to book the Friday off work and head down to Thorpe! :)
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Dan
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NeoXIII wrote:Is anyone actually going to the opening day? Really tempted to book the Friday off work and head down to Thorpe! :)
I'm there :)

There's a SouthParks event on the Saturday so I suspect there'll be a fair few people around for the opening.
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Speedy_no1
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I was on park yesterday and when I was leaving was chatting to some staff about renewing our passes. He mentioned the DBG and said that as pass holders we would be getting a email to be invited to try the ride before the general public.
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Owen
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Speedy_no1 wrote:I was on park yesterday and when I was leaving was chatting to some staff about renewing our passes. He mentioned the DBG and said that as pass holders we would be getting a email to be invited to try the ride before the general public.
I'm unsure if this information is true, as you can see the THORPE PARK Resort have said there will no longer be an annual pass preview day and so possibly this information is yet to reach all members of staff?
I hope that the media team are wrong on this one...

This preview day is very unorganised indeed, which isn't useful for us pass holders who need to book time off work!


UPDATE:

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If this is how this is being organised right now I dread to think how it will be on the day! Fingers crossed they sort this out and put tickets online ASAP.
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