I originally found it difficult to describe the ride experience of the Ghost Train after riding. It's a radically unique experience in the UK and something Merlin have invested a great deal of time and money into. It's only over the past few days however that I realise the ride is only a radically unique experience in the UK, and not worldwide. In short, Derren Brown's Ghost Train is the lovechild of Universal Orlando's Hogwarts Express, and the dearly departed Disaster.
Two equally well themed rides that offer similar experiences, however with one claiming the crown for visuals and the other for the on-ride set pieces.
DBGT seems to take these concepts and merge the two, with a sprinkle of authentic and real tension that is enough to arouse the curiosity of any hardened thrill/scare seeker.
The moment you enter the building and stand as a group over three steps, observing a lonesome chair centred in a spotlight, the theatrical aspect to the attraction becomes all too obvious. The following couple of minutes will become all too familiar to any theatregoer who has seen Derren's shows, with a torrent of mind-teasing wordplay and invoked self-assessment from the man himself (a superb usage of projection). Like his shows, he asks that guests keep the secret of the ride to surprise others, I can only hope the spoiler tags suffice).
Onwards and upwards to the next room where the group is gathered, before the pinnacle of the attraction awaits next door: the Victorian train carriage.
Without a doubt, the single best piece of theming Merlin have ever attempted. The sheer size of the carriage suspended several feet off the ground invites your jaw on a romantic date with the floor, whilst the eerie silence within the room drives the atmosphere. Even the rowdier bunch at the back of the group hushed at the sight of it.
It's here that Derren begins his mind tricks for first time guests, whilst repeat riders will begin deciphering the technology behind the multi-million pound attraction. The doors open and whilst dated and splendid on the outside, a very different environment is on the inside. Pleasant greetings are issued by modern London Underground staff before guests are ushered into the interior of a modern Underground train. Everything from the heat to the smell is painstakingly replicated, and windows hidden and suspended Vive headsets aside, you can easily believe that you're deep underneath the streets of the capital on a cramped and not-so-desirable commute.
Merlin's second attraction of the year to utilise Virtual Reality makes much better use of it than Galactica, with the headsets superior in every aspect. Those who embrace life behind a pair of glasses like myself are invited to keep them on. The headsets are sturdily supported from behind and gleefully fit snugly to your face rather than trying to slide off it in the style of an avalanche.
During headset calibration, there's less awkwardness unlike Galactica where riders learn more about the ride experience, particularly about the fictional fracking company SubCore, who deliver a usual political statement about being better for humanity and the long term future.
As the video on the headset begins, you find yourself on an empty tube carriage. Whilst the train on the video sets off into motion, so does the real train you're sat on, despite being suspended several feet above the vast and empty floor space. The tension creeps higher and higher as the lights flicker, and the occasional total darkness envelopes you in its grasp. A jump scare feels inevitable, but the ride refuses to give you the smugness of being correct. Instead, the whole train (on the video and in reality) is brought to a stop at a station. The doors open, with the authentic beeping and sliding door sounds London commuters know all too well. A dog boards, along with one of five different passengers who of course, sit directly opposite you on this creepy, empty carriage.
As the train continues on its journey, the person opposite you (I had an old lady the first time, a younger gentleman the second) remind you of how brave you are venturing underground with all the fracking. The gasses that have escaped from the activities are causing individuals to become infected, and it becomes fairly obvious exactly what has happened to the person opposite you. Before they can do anything however, the train screeches to a halt and they mysteriously disappear, with a possessed individual taking their place. They beg for help, grabbing your knees before the train rapidly accelerates into the next station and the whole train is evacuated.
Upon leaving the train, the suspended Victorian train carriage has been left behind, and the exterior of the London Underground train is visible for all to see. There is very little time to wonder how you got there or where the carriage is however, as you're escorted into the tunnels where the fracking is taking place. A couple of tube trains are peeking through the tunnels into a central room, where a drill and a member of SubCore staff are drilling into the cracks all around you. As the staff inform you of a plan to leave through one of the tunnels, a very predictable but yet equally impressive tube train comes screeching around the corner straight towards you, before crashing at the mouth of the tunnel. Here is where I found my first negative point of the whole experience, as the tube is not so subtly reset and pulled backwards for the next group. A projection of an unearthly creature is played in its place, and everyone is hurried back onto the train.
The second half of the VR experience is where the issue with virtual reality lies. The graphics which have all been built from the ground up compared to the recorded actor segments on the first half, are god awful. The scene where the train is left on the tracks over a London street as the sewers explode and gas escapes to the surface is painstakingly bad to watch, and the demons themselves, no matter how close they get to your face, simply can't be scary when you can count the number of pixels on their head. More touching of your kneecap continues, before the ride draws to its conclusion, back in the safety of the Victorian train carriage.
The transit system behind the ride is apparently relatively simple, yet is staggering to believe. With each headset reportedly costing £600 a piece, and the monumental effort required to shift each carriage around the warehouse complete with the mid-course set piece, it's easy to see how the costs for the ride have racked so high. The first half of the experience lures you into a false sense of security. Yes, Derren Brown has been involved and has had a huge say in the project, but how have Thorpe Park and Merlin who only last year delivered a shamble of an IP based maze, pulled an attraction of this scale off?
Sadly, the second half is where the helium leaks out of the balloon, and the reality of operations and your exact presence at Thorpe Park catches up with you, and sadly leaves the ride on a hollow note. The graphics and what feels like a rush to get you back to the finish line is what shatters the grand illusion and the tension that has been crafted so beautifully up to this point. What had the potential to be the best dark ride in the UK and potentially one of the best in the world has been let down by the crescendo of reality, and I couldn't be left feeling slight disappointed with the ride despite its amazing introduction and first half. There's no doubting it is a phenomenal attraction for the most part, and I ultimately did experience the ride before it began technical rehearsals. I will of course return to see if the ride's second half can win my heart over so I can fall in love with the whole experience in the inevitable future, but as it stands, Derren Brown's Ghost Train isn't quite on the right tracks to claim my thorough and full approval.
