Thorpe Park 2017: DBGT: Rise of The Demon

[Rob]

To me it just shows how much was wrong with the ride last year, they are having to treat it as a new attraction once again to get it right. I agree that it is best to open it only when it's all working properly, we'll just have to hope that goes better in 2017 than it did in 2016.

I still think the major flaw in the whole concept surrounding DBGT is the fact that different things scare different people, and not everyone goes to a theme park wanting to be scared. I did not find the attraction at all scary last year (although I was able to appreciate the really nice theming) and because of that I just didn't 'get it' as it were. I'm sure others would be terrified by the thing. I can't see that changing this year. For such a huge investment I feel Derren Brown is a niche market with an unpredictable impact on guests.

The best dark rides in the world don't try and scare the pants off you, they try and amaze you.

 

[Rick]

The best dark rides in the world don't try and scare the pants off you, they try and amaze you.

That's a fair point, but I would argue that Thorpe is a shrine to apathy and they're doing what they think will work. The park's biggest crowds are attracted to an event that is designed to do just that - scare the pants off you. If the scare mazes don't do it, the shoddy queue management and 2 hour fast track lines will tick that box

 

[Dave]

I'm just curious when Merlin will finally nail proper project management.

 

[Rick]

I'm just curious when Merlin will finally nail proper project management.

We seem to be less fortunate in that regard in the UK. Have there been any major screw ups or delays on the continent? The only one that immediately comes to mind is the Krake permit problem.

 

[Tim]

I've come to accept that we are no longer going to see March openings but I find it unacceptable that a ride which supposedly opened last year won't even be ready for the start of this season. The ride was clearly not ready to open in 2016 and just like with The Smiler it would have been a far better investment had it been given the extra year in development.

Of course I think a ride built around unstable VR technology was always going to be flawed but that's besides the point.

 

[Lordy]

So what's the total cost up to now then? £35m last year... XD

Pleasurewood Hills built Hobs Pit for £700,000 and whilst it's not that great, it's still better than DBGT, and just proves that with a little bit of imagination, you don't always need big bucks.

 

[AstroDan]

Whilst I would love to agree, Hobs Pit was rubbish. It felt like they tried to do something impressive... but ultimately couldn't because they didn't have the money.

Of course, pound for pound... it's clear which got better value.

 

[rob666]

Must say that I didn't do Thorpe last year because even though I had a pass, I couldn't guarantee getting on the "Big New Ride" due to reliability issues. I thought, better leave it for next year.
This year, I'm thinking down the lines of, well there is bound to be a Sun reader offer for Thorpe later in the season, but I'm not sure if I can be arsed, even on a freebie.
I really think Merlin have shot themselves completely in the foot over this ride...What sort of coaster could they have got for 35 million quid?

 

[Benzin]

Think the question is coasterS for £35 million...

That said when announced a dark ride was lauded as a good idea as it filled a huge hole... Shame it ended up being more trouble than it was worth...

 

[Rick]

I agree with @Benzin (Wow!.. let's bookmark this). I do wonder though, if the concept that they ended up using was best suited for Thorpe. It was an attempt to deliver something different, but I think the jury is still out in terms of whether it provided exactly what people wanted/expected.

I do wonder if along the same lines as the Duelling Deadstars concept would have filled the dark ride void, for the fraction of the price and hassle.

 

[ChristmasPud]

Even for the concept that it was, a kind of theatrical simulator with a moving train, they threw far more money at it that necessary to achieve what they needed. Derren Brown's Ghost Train could have been simpler, less shockingly expensive, way more reliable in the long run and far more effective an experience with the right decisions made, or if entertaining people was actually their priority over trying hard to impress shareholders and public alike.

 

[Rob]

They went with VR at a time when VR had only just kicked off in the industry. Merlin are hardly known for producing world class dark rides, screen based or traditional, yet they become the first in the industry to create a VR dark ride. It's maybe no surprise that they ran into so many problems.

They could have achieved a similar ride experience with a lot less hassle if they'd gone for a more tried and tested method. Look at Kong for example.

 

[jon81uk]

I still haven't ridden DBGT, but I get the feeling that they would have been better spending a proper amount of money on a real dark ride (similar to Spiderman at Universal, Harry Potter, the Disney classics) rather than messing about with VR.

 

[ChristmasPud]

They went with VR at a time when VR had only just kicked off in the industry. Merlin are hardly known for producing world class dark rides, screen based or traditional, yet they become the first in the industry to create a VR dark ride. It's maybe no surprise that they ran into so many problems.

If it wasn't VR, they wouldn't have built it. Merlin are only interested in their policy of USP and a reputation for pushing the envelope (whether this actually carries any substance behind the scenes or not). A significant amount of what MMM does is just look for trending technologies or IPs that they can use, that comes first, then the ride comes secondary.

So they researched Derren Brown's increasing popularity in the wider market, asked him to come on board, then researched VR and jumped to get there first in the industry (in quite a rushed fashion, and rather than spend a lot on R&D to get it perfect they went with the cheapest contractor that could do it), add them together and you get Derren Brown's Ghost Train. Whether it would be great or not, or if it would work reliably, was not their priority really! Shame but that is the method the company is strictly run by.

 

[Rob]

That sounds about right, marketing possibilities put ahead of actual ride development and experience. Derren Brown and VR both attract a large and varied range of marketing locations. The flaw in their thinking is that if your product is not up to the hype that you have given it then guests may be put off in the future. I suppose that is what happened with Thirteen to an extent, a solid coaster marketed incorrectly that brought a huge number of guests in the year it opened but far less the following year.

It's almost as bad as Thorpe paying Z-list celebrities to come to their press nights and request that they plaster it all over their Twitter accounts!

 

[Rick]

You have to the push the envelope and take a chance every so often, I fully support that approach. Some of the most iconic and best loved rides in the industry came through innovation, whether it be Matterhorn, Magnum XL200, Batman The Ride etc.

However, for every ride like the above you have a Vertigo, Valhalla or Son of Beast. I'm not sure I am quite ready to put the Disappointment Express in that category, lets see what this season brings.

 

[Benzin]

Think that since they've already had to make what appear to be substantial changes (though we all know what adding a scare maze did in previous attempts) already kinda slots it into the failure category...

Especially given that a ride apparently pushing the envelope of dark rides literally resorted to staff running up and down a train touching knees...

Innovation is fantastic, if done properly... Otherwise we'd have an Arrow Pipeline instead of Nemesis...

 

[ChristmasPud]

You have to the push the envelope and take a chance every so often, I fully support that approach. Some of the most iconic and best loved rides in the industry came through innovation, whether it be Matterhorn, Magnum XL200, Batman The Ride etc.

Of course, but is true innovation just researching the latest hot upcoming trend and getting the cheapest person to do it, to impress people that you got there first? Without even exploring its possibilities - Derren Brown just has you sitting down on a bench with a headset playing some kind of video game demo, you could do that at home.

Tussauds in its best years used to truly innovate and spend much time and learning to develop new technologies and ideas to back up their attraction concepts, Merlin just rush and underdevelop for the sake of 'worlds firsts'

 

[Rick]

Tussauds in its best years used to truly innovate and spend much time and learning to develop new technologies and ideas to back up their attraction concepts, Merlin just rush and underdevelop for the sake of 'worlds firsts'

That's the impression they tried to give, but if you look back, most Tussauds rides were a variation on a theme that had gone before elsewhere in the industry. When they introduced new hardware from a manufacturer, like with Air or Oblivion - that's exactly what Merlin did with Raptor.

 

[ChristmasPud]

That's the impression they tried to give, but if you look back, most Tussauds rides were a variation on a theme that had gone before elsewhere in the industry. When they introduced new hardware from a manufacturer, like with Air or Oblivion - that's exactly what Merlin did with Raptor.

Im talking Tussauds at their best, in the 1970s to 80s when they developed their own animation and optical effects, and innovated theme design in the UK and established their own dedicated design studio. Right through to Nemesis where they thought quite outside the box, although things started to change around then.

Not the era you're thinking of, by which time it was a lot more commercial, the company completely different and generally just giving the impression of innovation like you say - though they still commisioned the designs from the manufacturer themselves (like Ghost Train), rather than purchase an existing design, so at least that's something. All based off marketability though and not experience.