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Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

I did Hex for the first time this year, today. I enjoyed it, but it's still not at its best:

+ the lighting is good throughout
+ Octagon effects were working as well as I ever remember - and the narrative is very clear and loud in this room, better than any of the other scenes
+ queueline looked in good shape

- curtain still broken in the Octagon, it dilutes the experience when staff are more involved than they ought to be.
- related to the above, the ride staff say too much in the vault. I never remember there being any safety or efficiency issues in the 20 years prior to this babble so I wish they'd drop it or tone it down.
- speakers on one side of the vault are not working - I think this is the one that really stood out as the soundtrack is crucial to the vault experience.
 
I’ll be going on it for the first time this year tomorrow - perhaps a few times looking at the weather!
 
LLCorkscrew said:
I did Hex for the first time this year, today. I enjoyed it, but it's still not at its best:

+ the lighting is good throughout
+ Octagon effects were working as well as I ever remember - and the narrative is very clear and loud in this room, better than any of the other scenes
+ queueline looked in good shape

- curtain still broken in the Octagon, it dilutes the experience when staff are more involved than they ought to be.
- related to the above, the ride staff say too much in the vault. I never remember there being any safety or efficiency issues in the 20 years prior to this babble so I wish they'd drop it or tone it down.
- speakers on one side of the vault are not working - I think this is the one that really stood out as the soundtrack is crucial to the vault experience.
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So the speakers on one side are STILL out...Jesus, I was on the ride the day they packed, pre covid !!! It should just be a broken wire im sure and really needs fixing!!!!
 
There’s a few broken things and it’s a shame they haven’t been fixed in the many many many months it’s been shut.

- The lights in the cinema all just turn off bluntly, they used to fade out. I’m sure the quality of the projector is also naff.

- No smoke in the octagon as you enter, however the generator is best it’s been for years. Also broken curtain and the very annoying staff.

- Audio is really loud on the announcements in the vault but the actual ride audio is still fairly quiet. But it’s been like that forever.

- The tree doesn’t light up at the end with its fibreoptics.
 
djtruefitt said:
There’s a few broken things and it’s a shame they haven’t been fixed in the many many many months it’s been shut.

- The lights in the cinema all just turn off bluntly, they used to fade out. I’m sure the quality of the projector is also naff.

- No smoke in the octagon as you enter, however the generator is best it’s been for years. Also broken curtain and the very annoying staff.

- Audio is really loud on the announcements in the vault but the actual ride audio is still fairly quiet. But it’s been like that forever.

- The tree doesn’t light up at the end with its fibreoptics.
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The tree lighting up was the differential to me compared to all the other mad houses out there - surely it can't be that difficult to fix
 
Mattie boy said:
Stupid slightly off topic question yet is hex same size as legolands one ?
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Aren't all the inside actual vaults the same size? Just the queue lines are different. There are some rubbish ones out there. The worst is the one at Phantasialand - some awful Japanese (?) fighting thing - that I've been on and Volta Villa is pretty awful - it's the pre shows etc that make Hex stand out by miles
 
Meister71 said:
Aren't all the inside actual vaults the same size? Just the queue lines are different. There are some rubbish ones out there. The worst is the one at Phantasialand - some awful Japanese (?) fighting thing - that I've been on and Volta Villa is pretty awful - it's the pre shows etc that make Hex stand out by miles
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There is the smaller version like the Haunting, but all the other madhouses I’ve done have been the same size as hex: Efteling, Phantasialand, Walibi Holland and Belgium, Parque Warner, etc. Hex still one of the best out there though, due to its surroundings.
 
Meister71 said:
Aren't all the inside actual vaults the same size? Just the queue lines are different. There are some rubbish ones out there. The worst is the one at Phantasialand - some awful Japanese (?) fighting thing - that I've been on and Volta Villa is pretty awful - it's the pre shows etc that make Hex stand out by miles
Click to expand...
I think they are mostly same yes.
 
Mattie boy said:
I think they are mostly same yes.
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They are not. Vekoma sell a 40 and a 78 seat model. The 40 seat model only has a swing of 15 degrees each way, while the larger model had a swing of 30 degrees each way.

We have both sizes in this country.

That said, apart from the size difference, they look very similar inside. Door placements, general layout. Just half the size that's all.
 
It was great to get back on this today for the first time this season. Effect wise all good apart from fibre optics in the branch and the whirring fan effect in the octagon. The new wood above the doors looks cheap and tacky though.
 
djtruefitt said:
- The lights in the cinema all just turn off bluntly, they used to fade out. I’m sure the quality of the projector is also naff.
Click to expand...

The projector is relatively modern, sadly it’s the video itself that was shot 20 years ago in SD and is running off a 20 year old playback system. It’d be lovely to organise a like-for-like reshoot but I can’t see that happening.
 
tech said:
The projector is relatively modern, sadly it’s the video itself that was shot 20 years ago in SD and is running off a 20 year old playback system. It’d be lovely to organise a like-for-like reshoot but I can’t see that happening.
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If they shot the video in film rather than video. There should be a high quality version nocking about somewhere, in some warehouse or something. I think it was shot in video though. A shame.
 
I rode Hex today and most of the above negative points were still there. In fact, the whole ride was a bit of a disappointment for me this time as I haven’t ridden it since before covid and all the extended downtime it’s had, so I had my hopes up. I just hope Merlin don’t let another theatrical dark ride slowly go to rack and ruin at the park.

- Cinema: I don’t mind the grainy video, it adds to the ambience. But when did the subwoofers get removed or switched off? I also didn’t notice the usual smell pods.

- Octagon: Audio seemed quieter than usual however it was nice and bassy. I assume the tacky UV lighting was added during the extended downtime? Needs removing. Has no place in Hex. Also, the lighting cues seemed a bit out of sync with the music. I personally didn’t mind the 2 hosts stood at the top of the stairs. They didn’t say anything like others on here have reported, and their hand held lanterns were a nice touch. There was also no smoke effects. Again, no smellpods either.

- Vault: Audio was awful. The auto-announcements were loud, punchy and were clearly coming from both sides of the vault, but as soon as the ride sequence started, the music only came from the far end and was very quiet, so quiet in fact that you could hear the ride mechanism at some points. Also, the amount of smoke was laughable and was comparable to someone taking a vape.

As I said above, a bit disappointing really especially as I always had a soft spot for Hex. The above issues don’t seem like an expensive fix - we’re talking some upgraded smoke and haze machines and some audio work. Come on Towers!
 
I didn’t notice the audio issue in the vault, but maybe that’s because I was sat on the far side. I also forgot to say I’m not even sure there were any hosts at the top of the stairs Friday, I looked for them based on what everyone was saying but couldn’t see any. One appeared after we’d done in the octagon and that was only to lead people to the vault
 
s_g_k said:
I rode Hex today and most of the above negative points were still there. In fact, the whole ride was a bit of a disappointment for me this time as I haven’t ridden it since before covid and all the extended downtime it’s had, so I had my hopes up. I just hope Merlin don’t let another theatrical dark ride slowly go to rack and ruin at the park.

- Cinema: I don’t mind the grainy video, it adds to the ambience. But when did the subwoofers get removed or switched off? I also didn’t notice the usual smell pods.

- Octagon: Audio seemed quieter than usual however it was nice and bassy. I assume the tacky UV lighting was added during the extended downtime? Needs removing. Has no place in Hex. Also, the lighting cues seemed a bit out of sync with the music. I personally didn’t mind the 2 hosts stood at the top of the stairs. They didn’t say anything like others on here have reported, and their hand held lanterns were a nice touch. There was also no smoke effects. Again, no smellpods either.

- Vault: Audio was awful. The auto-announcements were loud, punchy and were clearly coming from both sides of the vault, but as soon as the ride sequence started, the music only came from the far end and was very quiet, so quiet in fact that you could hear the ride mechanism at some points. Also, the amount of smoke was laughable and was comparable to someone taking a vape.

As I said above, a bit disappointing really especially as I always had a soft spot for Hex. The above issues don’t seem like an expensive fix - we’re talking some upgraded smoke and haze machines and some audio work. Come on Towers!
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The ride has always had UV lighting in the octagon but it used to be just a old style UV tube light, I imagine most guests wouldn’t even notice it as it was so minimal, now it a a modern style UV spot light which does make the UV paint stand out a lot more. Not sure when they changed them, I’m guessing it was this season as I don’t remember it last year.
 
Did Hex yesterday for my first ride on it since last May, it was great to get back on it (missed it terribly last Scarefest when it was closed)! Interestingly there were no staff at the curtain for me, it was a normal cycle from start to finish. The app said 15 minutes when we did it but it was walk-on.
 
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