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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
- Thread starter Ted
- Start date
Don’t think anyone would blame him, Merlin touted it as the future of theme parks which was already the kiss of death before it startedIf Derren wants out then yes. Word on the street is that he isn’t happy with the product and wants nothing to do with it.
On side note though Merlin haven’t given up on VR, Gweek seal sanctuary have a new VR experience which is getting good feedback.
If Derren wants out then yes. Word on the street is that he isn’t happy with the product and wants nothing to do with it.
Where has that started from? Not that I disbelieve you. Just curious.
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ChristmasPud
TS Member
They're locked into a 5 year contract as far as I know but the name is definitely not being renewed after then.
I REALLY hope they use the opportunity to ditch the VR and turn it into the train simulator it was always meant to be, and replace the contrived 'fracking backstory' with something actually dramatic and substantial!
It's easy to see that Derren Brown was not happy with it, the way all his enthusiasm dropped off a cliff when the ride was finished (the time when he was expected to be promoting it like mad) and the flippant "it's a lot better now I think you'll agree" tweet when it had the rehash the following year. Barely associated himself with it since.
I mean he's barely in it anyway.
Just a couple of points...
-The person you see after the pre-show is not an actor; just a ride host. They're obviously encouraged to create a mood and stuff but most of them won't know (or tbh care) how.
-The contract between Thorpe/Merlin and Derren isn't due to expiry any time soon. As with any contract, if you want to leave it early, they'll be certain fees to pay. Thorpe certainly won't cough up. Derren certainly doesn't have a fondness of the experience he's had with Merlin, but I'm not under the impression he's desperate to disassociate himself with it (at least to the point of paying to back out of the remainder of the contract).
-The person you see after the pre-show is not an actor; just a ride host. They're obviously encouraged to create a mood and stuff but most of them won't know (or tbh care) how.
-The contract between Thorpe/Merlin and Derren isn't due to expiry any time soon. As with any contract, if you want to leave it early, they'll be certain fees to pay. Thorpe certainly won't cough up. Derren certainly doesn't have a fondness of the experience he's had with Merlin, but I'm not under the impression he's desperate to disassociate himself with it (at least to the point of paying to back out of the remainder of the contract).
Stuntman707
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Here's my thoughts on DBGT from TPM;
They should cut their losses & refurbish it into a real ghost train / scare maze. Get rid of the VR headsets. Fit some 4k monitors in the windows. Maybe add some dungeons effects like leg ticklers / back prodders. After doing a handful of VR attractions now, I'm not convinced it belongs in a theme park. I get more thrills and immersion from really well produced theming, artwork, lighting, effects, audio & animatronics.
Save up for a long overdue coaster. It may be the first time next year Paulton's start bringing some competition to Thorpe with Tornado Springs being more thrill focused from the predominantly family friendly park. New coasters do draw in the crowds and last longer than VR attractions like Galactica or DBGT:ROTD. (And they don't take up to 12pm to get them operational!)
They should cut their losses & refurbish it into a real ghost train / scare maze. Get rid of the VR headsets. Fit some 4k monitors in the windows. Maybe add some dungeons effects like leg ticklers / back prodders. After doing a handful of VR attractions now, I'm not convinced it belongs in a theme park. I get more thrills and immersion from really well produced theming, artwork, lighting, effects, audio & animatronics.
Save up for a long overdue coaster. It may be the first time next year Paulton's start bringing some competition to Thorpe with Tornado Springs being more thrill focused from the predominantly family friendly park. New coasters do draw in the crowds and last longer than VR attractions like Galactica or DBGT:ROTD. (And they don't take up to 12pm to get them operational!)
KolonelKlink
TS Member
Except gate figures fell the season The Swarm opened - so I can understand why Merlin haven’t busted a gut to install another coaster.
As for DBGT, it’s probably the biggest white elephant in the European theme park industry for about 20 years. The cost was *so* vast for a ride of its type Merlin have no choice but to stick with it, and you can bet your bottom dollar once Derren Brown’s involvement ends, the only change will be a new sign over the entrance, unless they can rope some other dystopian IP into the storyline and make back a few bucks.
imanautie
TS Member
Well it's got Victorian ish Theming so the Dunegons could be cramed in
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Yeah unfortunately Merlin would rather blame The Swarm (arguably the second best coaster in the Country) for their downturn in attendance than consider a few contributing factors like 2012 being the wettest Summer on record and a small competition being run down the road that focused the worlds attention on East London rather than their shiny new coaster might be the cause of low attendance rather than "the GP not liking the wing coaster concept".
It's not suprise the company has gone downhill since with that attitude in management.
Dave
TS Founding Member
I’m not one to defend Merlin but I do think Thorpe flummoxes them a bit. My understanding is the park doesn’t perform well financially and it doesn’t get the same response other parks do regarding gate figures when they do large capex year (not just Swarm).
I personally think the source of the issues Thorpe have was boxing it in to a thrill only park which is Merlins fault, but I’m not sure they are being as simplistic as suggested.
SuperMuscleMan
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Colossus
I think the 1999 to 2005 were the peak days when the park invested in a theming. It's all to depressing and thrown together now. Amity was an epic area and something like that needs to be done again!
djtruefitt
TS Team
The big issue with Thorpe is they just don’t know what they really want to do. Probably a mixture of Merlins fault, the parks various marketing managers and the park also clearly having small budgets in recent years.
We’ve gone from the end of the world with SWARM, to kids IPS (Angry Birds), then we’ve had X rethemed to let children on (lower height limit) to only have it turned into an adult ride a few years later, with the year of the walking dead, we’ve also had two kids flat rides and now we are back to a family fun year.
It’s all just such a mismatch of things, the public probably don’t really know who the park is actually aimed at!
Unfortunately with no planning applications in yet or any sign of anything happening on park, I assume next year will be another low season. Maybe Bouncezilla will return or even game FX if that was seen as a success. Not really sure how well Jungle Escape has been as I’ve yet to see anyone near it or queing for it.
We’ve gone from the end of the world with SWARM, to kids IPS (Angry Birds), then we’ve had X rethemed to let children on (lower height limit) to only have it turned into an adult ride a few years later, with the year of the walking dead, we’ve also had two kids flat rides and now we are back to a family fun year.
It’s all just such a mismatch of things, the public probably don’t really know who the park is actually aimed at!
Unfortunately with no planning applications in yet or any sign of anything happening on park, I assume next year will be another low season. Maybe Bouncezilla will return or even game FX if that was seen as a success. Not really sure how well Jungle Escape has been as I’ve yet to see anyone near it or queing for it.
ChristmasPud
TS Member
There were a lot of sensory effects originally installed in the ride (which youd never see with VR headsets on anyway), including window mist effects apparently, which were removed before it opened to the public.
Everything points towards the train originally intending to be a simulator. The VR seemed to be jammed into the design last minute, hence the Simworx effects you'd never even see and the rubbish/unreliable VR design.
Probably some marketing person saying we got to have a VR gimmick to sell the concept.
Maybe it wouldnt be massively hard then to turn it into a really excellent simulator. A bit underwhelming compared to what Universal did with a 'train' experience Earthquake a million years ago, but better than the VR?
The VR is the downfall on DBGT, for the ride to remain fresh you’ve got to update as time goes on. Different characters and scenes would of gone a long way to keep it from going stale and boring.
The same reason Galactica was rubbish, one video only. If they’d made different destinations which was suggested then it would of at least had variety.
The same reason Galactica was rubbish, one video only. If they’d made different destinations which was suggested then it would of at least had variety.
djtruefitt
TS Team
I’ve done DBGT a couple of times now without the VR (it’s probably better as people’s reactions are really funny).
But there’s a whole video that plays on the train on the outwards journey about sub core, that literally no one will ever seen (unless you take the headset off). Also the train really does tilt and move a lot at the very end of the second journey, but with the VR on you don’t partially notice this.
I would love to know original plans for it, and what the system was meant to be designed to do. I also heard rumours it had windows they would change as you moved originally and not the white material it has now.
But there’s a whole video that plays on the train on the outwards journey about sub core, that literally no one will ever seen (unless you take the headset off). Also the train really does tilt and move a lot at the very end of the second journey, but with the VR on you don’t partially notice this.
I would love to know original plans for it, and what the system was meant to be designed to do. I also heard rumours it had windows they would change as you moved originally and not the white material it has now.
Stuntman707
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Yeah, I can imagine Derren Brown would have wanted more old school tricks and illusions which would have been way better.
When it opened, I got the impression they were going to continually update the VR footage to keep it rerideable. I think using Figment was another big mistake. They should have hired a game developer to do the footage which would have been much better.
The hardware was unproven, unreliable, overheating and glitchy. It was completely overlooked that the hardware would take until lunchtime to be operational so its already a half-day available attraction out the gate.
The transit system was also unproven, unreliable and highly sensitive. The whole attraction was doomed to failure as soon as you put the stress of a 3 hour queue on it.
I'd love to know what was originally planned for the trains before VR was shoehorned in.
When it opened, I got the impression they were going to continually update the VR footage to keep it rerideable. I think using Figment was another big mistake. They should have hired a game developer to do the footage which would have been much better.
The hardware was unproven, unreliable, overheating and glitchy. It was completely overlooked that the hardware would take until lunchtime to be operational so its already a half-day available attraction out the gate.
The transit system was also unproven, unreliable and highly sensitive. The whole attraction was doomed to failure as soon as you put the stress of a 3 hour queue on it.
I'd love to know what was originally planned for the trains before VR was shoehorned in.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
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Stuntman707
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Ah cool, this is very Derren Brown!