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Popped on park for the last hour today, got some food and took a lap on El Grande Uno.
The park was dead - so much so, Big One was running four cars on a single train and if no one was waiting for your row you could re-ride (or hop into an empty row from the exit side) - it was absolutely flying.
The park obviously had no intention of running Valhalla today, but it was testing and there was the sound of several fire blasts for each boat. Also, the air/water canon on the final curve when you emerge from the facade is now working. It's weird how they have built a little box for it to operate in, sort of (but not really) hiding the mechanism from onlookers, but riders get a full view of the air tank, blast chamber and plumbing.
Whilst it makes perfect sense to take the Dipper teardrop off to paint, it spoils the image I’ve always had since being a kid of people going up and painting it in situ!
Great to see it being given some centenary love, a week ago they had painted most of the handrails red, with just part of the dive bend to finish
In an example of poor judgement, I completed 7 rounds of Valhalla this afternoon.
Things are definitely changing for the better, in terms of the effects and the operations. Didn't see a single estop.
A few things have changed since my last comments on the ride
There's plenty of mist now, which works very well
Nearly every effect was working today, nothing significant was switched off. Rolling log, hammer, water vortex... everything working
The ride is now darker in the correct places. You can't see the 'behind the scenes' bits now. Only exception I noticed, you can see the main drop from the 2nd lift hill, albeit a lot darker than previously
First lift hill is incredibly well done, you can't see anything other than the things you're supposed to. Those red eyes are perfect
The timing of the lighting in particular is now pretty much perfect
There are new lighting effects on the turntable - the 'turn around' audio is now far louder, and there's a strobe light in time with the drumming, as the boat turns
The main & final drop are no longer visible before you get there, which is fantastic
One negative - a lot of darkness after the hammer, all the way round to the final drop. Not sure if nothing there, or lights broken? I could hear something clicking repeatedly on the right, but couldn't see what it was. Broken effect?
As a final point, that water vac in the station is absolutely useless. I'm assuming it probably wasn't built with quite so much water in mind
As a veggie, I was somewhat unmoved by the lunch but it did look great.
Re: Valhalla 2.0
This morning was media day (thanks very much to the person who fixed an invite for me). If the ride was ever going to be at its best – today was going to be the day and it was, quite frankly – sensational.
In some ways I wish I had seen it for the first time today, that said – it’s amazing to have seen the transformation from the first day of technical rehearsals to today – it was absolutely night and day.
There were a few murmurs from the usual suspects that the technical rehearsals shouldn’t have been a thing and that they should have just opened the ride as it was today, but they obviously played an important role in the development of the ride and gave the teams the feedback and operating time required to get it right and they really have done, it’s still an incredible ride, start to finish.
If this is the ‘whole experience’ – here is an exhaustive list of the changes between v1/v1.5 vs. v2.0.
Mist has been added to trick waterfall on the skull
New audio has been added on the stretch from the skull, past the maintenance dock
The ‘V’ logo appears above your head with some cool lighting and sound effects
The ravens on the first turn have been replaced by a new static scene with lanterns – one of the ravens is now upstairs, the puppy from the wolfhound scene has been placed here.
The wolfhounds remain unchanged, but relit (no audio today)
The cauldron fires have been replaced by mist – seems a bit hit and miss
The creature above your head remains at the bottom of the lift, but has been relit
The trommel has been replaced with glowing skulls
Odin has been replaced by a shield with glowing read eyes and smoke shoots out of its mouth
The bounce / lights at the top of lift 1 have been removed
The dragon heads and ‘eyes’ on the left hand side of the trough have been replaced by a lantern scene, followed by a new jump scare
The river of fire remains largely unchanged – I don’t know if this has multiple lighting modes – today it was on constantly, as it used to be, but in rehearsals was lighting up as you went past it – very cool. Either, or for me. There is new audio in this sections – talks about embers, not sure exactly what it says.
The waterfall corridor has been replaced with a new lighting effect and audio.
Turn 1 has been replaced, the opening has been boarded up, there is new audio ordering you to ‘turn around’ – this area is shrouded in mist, has a new UV lighting effect and some audio effects.
The backwards drop is now taken forwards, turn 2 has been removed. Your photo is taken on this drop.
There is a new figure here which blasts water at the first couple of rows of the boat - this is the only thing that I think looks a bit daft / cheap
Turn 2 has been removed, as has the fan/wind effect.
There is a long stretch of darkness as your sail towards the ice room, with new audio.
The (Hot) Ice room has several new figures in it, new lighting effects and a chemical snow machine – it’s more ‘christmas film’ rather than ‘blizzard’ now – but it is effective.
Drop 2 has a new mist and lighting effect – very cool, similar to the laser floor
The vortex itself is unchanged, but now only lights up as you approach – very effective
The corner between and lift 2 is unchanged, but everything has been fixed – both water explosions are working and the waterfall is working great – it’s just a shame that it isn’t lit, I meant to look if the lighting is still there, but forgot.
Lift 2 is largely unchanged, bar some audio.
The skull chandelier, Valhalla emblem etc at the top of lift 2 is the same – with a couple of new static props, or maybe they are just lit better – I am not sure.
The hammers are unchanged and provide an absolute soaking
All the fire arrows are back, obviously given some TLC as they operate rapidly and the compressed air is blasted at you with a lot of force and there is lots of fire !
The rolling log is unchanged.
The raven from downstairs is now here and lit more sympathetically than it was during rehearsals
Where the mini sparks were back in the day, there are now lots of bells that toll above your head
Tesla Coil Corner … this was the bit that I was most sceptical about – there are now wraiths with glowing eyes that lunge at the boat on a track mechanism – during rehearsals, I thought this looked really lame and it didn’t time correctly – but today it worked perfectly and is a really sweet modern take on a laff in the dark style effect, taking inspiration from the Ghost Train, really. Four of the wraiths lunge forward at you and another moves parallel to you as the boats traverses the kickers before drop 3.
The camelback drop is the same - At the top of the camelback drop (above the trough), there is a new figure that lunges forward at you as you begin descending. It's quite cleverly positioned because it makes the ring of fire / trough fire more of a surprise because you don't see it until you're coming down the drop.
The ring of fire and flaming trough … WOW ! What an incredible effect – it amazes me just as much now as it did in 2000 … you’re hurtling at 40mph, in a boat, without a restraint towards actual fire – that’s the insanity of the original Valhalla and it’s still there – a great decision. I was certain that was for the chop but it’s been rebuilt and was working flawlessly.
On the drop 3 run out, the first fire burst is there – the second was not – but the mechanism is, so I am not sure if that’s ‘gone’ or not – but there is no taming what is there.
The new mist / lighting on the following corner is very cool – it’s essentially an improved version of what was there originally.
The bonkers final scene/corner is unchanged – longboat explosion impossibly close to your face on the left, huge fire explosion on the right and one more water explosion on the left.
Out into the Blackpool (liquid) sunshine and one more water explosion for good measure.
The audio is much improved in a lot of places, I do miss the old soundtrack, but they have really tried to put some narrative in there. The new soundtrack does work very well in the station, but it is largely absent in the ride.
On the fire … the only fire effects that were missing today were the second blast on the run out (that may, or may not come back) and the cauldrons/torches which as I mentioned above, have been replaced. I would wager that there is more fire in the ride today than there was on most days in the five years before its closure – I think that’s a big win and certainly does not really allow the narrative that it has been neutered to hold much water, unlike the boats ...
Interestingly, Amanda suggested that this would be likely be the beginning of lots of work on the park’s dark rides … (paraphrasing) – “Now we have finished Valhalla, we can start on Alice, the River Caves and the Ghost Train” – I’d certainly welcome some fettling on the River Caves. I am not convinced the others need a ton of work, but let’s see !
We played a little game of saying provocative / outrageous / untrue things in front of the LancsLive reporter, in the hope that it might trigger an article – time will tell.
As a veggie, I was somewhat unmoved by the lunch but it did look great.
Re: Valhalla 2.0
This morning was media day (thanks very much to the person who fixed an invite for me). If the ride was ever going to be at its best – today was going to be the day and it was, quite frankly – sensational.
In some ways I wish I had seen it for the first time today, that said – it’s amazing to have seen the transformation from the first day of technical rehearsals to today – it was absolutely night and day.
There were a few murmurs from the usual suspects that the technical rehearsals shouldn’t have been a thing and that they should have just opened the ride as it was today, but they obviously played an important role in the development of the ride and gave the teams the feedback and operating time required to get it right and they really have done, it’s still an incredible ride, start to finish.
If this is the ‘whole experience’ – here is an exhaustive list of the changes between v1/v1.5 vs. v2.0.
Mist has been added to trick waterfall on the skull
New audio has been added on the stretch from the skull, past the maintenance dock
The ‘V’ logo appears above your head with some cool lighting and sound effects
The ravens on the first turn have been replaced by a new static scene with lanterns – one of the ravens is now upstairs, the puppy from the wolfhound scene has been placed here.
The wolfhounds remain unchanged, but relit (no audio today)
The cauldron fires have been replaced by mist – seems a bit hit and miss
The creature above your head remains at the bottom of the lift, but has been relit
The trommel has been replaced with glowing skulls
Odin has been replaced by a shield with glowing read eyes and smoke shoots out of its mouth
The bounce / lights at the top of lift 1 have been removed
The dragon heads and ‘eyes’ on the left hand side of the trough have been replaced by a lantern scene, followed by a new jump scare
The river of fire remains largely unchanged – I don’t know if this has multiple lighting modes – today it was on constantly, as it used to be, but in rehearsals was lighting up as you went past it – very cool. Either, or for me. There is new audio in this sections – talks about embers, not sure exactly what it says.
The waterfall corridor has been replaced with a new lighting effect and audio.
Turn 1 has been replaced, the opening has been boarded up, there is new audio ordering you to ‘turn around’ – this area is shrouded in mist, has a new UV lighting effect and some audio effects.
The backwards drop is now taken forwards, turn 2 has been removed. Your photo is taken on this drop.
There is a new figure here which blasts water at the first couple of rows of the boat - this is the only thing that I think looks a bit daft / cheap
Turn 2 has been removed, as has the fan/wind effect.
There is a long stretch of darkness as your sail towards the ice room, with new audio.
The (Hot) Ice room has several new figures in it, new lighting effects and a chemical snow machine – it’s more ‘christmas film’ rather than ‘blizzard’ now – but it is effective.
Drop 2 has a new mist and lighting effect – very cool, similar to the laser floor
The vortex itself is unchanged, but now only lights up as you approach – very effective
The corner between and lift 2 is unchanged, but everything has been fixed – both water explosions are working and the waterfall is working great – it’s just a shame that it isn’t lit, I meant to look if the lighting is still there, but forgot.
Lift 2 is largely unchanged, bar some audio.
The skull chandelier, Valhalla emblem etc at the top of lift 2 is the same – with a couple of new static props, or maybe they are just lit better – I am not sure.
The hammers are unchanged and provide an absolute soaking
All the fire arrows are back, obviously given some TLC as they operate rapidly and the compressed air is blasted at you with a lot of force and there is lots of fire !
The rolling log is unchanged.
The raven from downstairs is now here and lit more sympathetically than it was during rehearsals
Where the mini sparks were back in the day, there are now lots of bells that toll above your head
Tesla Coil Corner … this was the bit that I was most sceptical about – there are now wraiths with glowing eyes that lunge at the boat on a track mechanism – during rehearsals, I thought this looked really lame and it didn’t time correctly – but today it worked perfectly and is a really sweet modern take on a laff in the dark style effect, taking inspiration from the Ghost Train, really. Four of the wraiths lunge forward at you and another moves parallel to you as the boats traverses the kickers before drop 3.
The camelback drop is the same
The ring of fire and flaming trough … WOW ! What an incredible effect – it amazes me just as much now as it did in 2000 … you’re hurtling at 40mph, in a boat, without a restraint towards actual fire – that’s the insanity of the original Valhalla and it’s still there – a great decision. I was certain that was for the chop but it’s been rebuilt and was working flawlessly.
On the drop 3 run out, the first fire burst is there – the second was not – but the mechanism is, so I am not sure if that’s ‘gone’ or not – but there is no taming what is there.
The new mist / lighting on the following corner is very cool – it’s essentially an improved version of what was there originally.
The bonkers final scene/corner is unchanged – longboat explosion impossibly close to your face on the left, huge fire explosion on the right and one more water explosion on the left.
Out into the Blackpool (liquid) sunshine and one more water explosion for good measure.
The audio is much improved in a lot of places, I do miss the old soundtrack, but they have really tried to put some narrative in there. The new soundtrack does work very well in the station, but it is largely absent in the ride.
On the fire … the only fire effects that were missing today were the second blast on the run out (that may, or may not come back) and the cauldrons/torches which as I mentioned above, have been replaced. I would wager that there is more fire in the ride today than there was on most days in the five years before its closure – I think that’s a big win and certainly does not really allow the narrative that it has been neutered to hold much water, unlike the boats ...
Interestingly, Amanda suggested that this would be likely be the beginning of lots of work on the park’s dark rides … (paraphrasing) – “Now we have finished Valhalla, we can start on Alice, the River Caves and the Ghost Train” – I’d certainly welcome some fettling on the River Caves. I am not convinced the others need a ton of work, but let’s see !
We played a little game of saying provocative / outrageous / untrue things in front of the LancsLive reporter, in the hope that it might trigger an article – time will tell.
The ring of fire had broken by around late lunchtime and a couple of spouts on the water vortex are now back to landing in the middle of the trough. As Rick says, when it was working more reliably earlier in the day the ring of fire effect is absolutely superb - perhaps the most dramatic element on any dark ride I’ve experienced.
The audio is still a big miss for me. I like the narration but in parts it’s really difficult to make out and there is very little in the way of an audible soundtrack either, which leaves certain scenes very flat. The aesthetic is now even more muddled than the original due to shoehorning the new scenes in.
I’d say on balance, it’s pretty decent. I don’t really care for many of the new scenes - they’re all mostly reasonale but feel quite random and probably not much better than what they replaced. The biggest positive is that the original effects have been fixed and when they’re working they are mighty impressive. Unfortunately none of the new scenes are as good as any of the big original effects - stuff like the rolling log, the hammers and arrows, the brilliant finale explosions and statues, the water vortex etc. are all more impressive in their scale and operation than what’s been added (which are mainly static lighting and smoke effects). That’s testament to both the crackers original design and also the limp ambition/budget of this refurbishment.
I can’t help get the feeling that if the finished product was the result of a closed season’s upgrade, it would be received more positively. After three years, it’s perhaps inevitably a bit of a letdown.
Visited for the first time today. Thought the park was OK, it’s not local to me (Alton is).
Valhalla I thought was exceptional, unfortunately I have no idea what it was like before. It’s a soaker, maybe not as much as storm force is. All effects working as I believe it was a media day for it (saw all the usual vloggers out in force).
Icon was fun, but nothing more for me. It hasn’t dethroned Nemesis as my favourite UK coaster.
I didn’t find Infusion that rough, maybe I got lucky? Enjoyed the park on the whole but yeah… it seems run down in places.
Good to hear that Valhalla seems better than what it was a few weeks ago...even though my only gripe from what I'm seeing from what Valhalla is the loss of the original soundtrack which to me as a masterpiece in terms of UK theme park soundtracks which it along with Hex's music are the best you can get in this country.
But yeah, will be interesting to try it out soon and I wonder how it'll compare to Alton Manor in which if Valhalla can finally challenge for being the dark ride of the year.
Good to hear that Valhalla seems better than what it was a few weeks ago...even though my only gripe from what I'm seeing from what Valhalla is the loss of the original soundtrack which to me as a masterpiece in terms of UK theme park soundtracks which it along with Hex's music are the best you can get in this country.
But yeah, will be interesting to try it out soon and I wonder how it'll compare to Alton Manor in which if Valhalla can finally challenge for being the dark ride of the year.
I think that sort of ride is within the description of Technical Rehearsals. I think it would be harder to defend today.
There's another new effect that I forgot to put in my original post. Will add in red, also below.
At the top of the camelback drop (above the trough), there is a new figure that lunges forward at you as you begin descending. It's quite cleverly positioned because it makes the ring of fire / trough fire more of a surprise because you don't see it until you're coming down the drop.
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