MouseAT
Hyper Poster
Did the ride live up to all the marketing hype? No is the short version. They're trying to sell a family coaster as the next big thing and it really isn't.
That said, I went in expecting a family coaster, similar to Mine Train Ulven at Bakken, complete with a creepy theme and some decent effects. In that vein, did it succeed? In my opinion, yes, but not as well as it could have.
The ride itself has some nice moments of floater airtime and is nice and smooth. The drop was a let down on the morning of the 20th as the second drop didn't seem to free-fall very far before it slowed down and gently settled in to place. By the time the afternoon rolled around the drop seemed to be more intense, making for a much improved ride experience.
The trim on the first drop really spoils the ride, though. The whole drop just feels weird, as the train doesn't gain speed as quickly as you'd expect. They'd have been better off with a slightly smaller hill and drop without the trim.
Theme wise, everything looks pretty good, although once again Merlin haven't bothered to theme the building from all angles. Take a look back at the station as you're going up the lift hill and you'll see tin shed.
As for the effects inside the building, there's not a lot to them. A real wasted opportunity, in my mind. It wouldn't take much to make the scene effective either - just hold the train for about 10 seconds or so and mess with people's minds a little bit. Kill the lights, have a few creepy whispering sounds or hisses from the wraiths, preferably from multiple directions to distract and/or confuse people, maybe blast the train with air or something. Just enough to have people wondering what's happening, and then catch them off guard with the drop. The Hex octagon room is a good example of what they should have been aiming for.
So, in short, a nice attempt by Merlin, but not quite good enough. They could quite easily raise the coaster from OK to good by making a few improvements, but they've certainly missed the opportunity to make the ride great, at least without spending considerably more on an already expensive attraction.
One to re-ride if it has a small queue I think. Oh well, at least it should help keep the queues down for Rita.
That said, I went in expecting a family coaster, similar to Mine Train Ulven at Bakken, complete with a creepy theme and some decent effects. In that vein, did it succeed? In my opinion, yes, but not as well as it could have.
The ride itself has some nice moments of floater airtime and is nice and smooth. The drop was a let down on the morning of the 20th as the second drop didn't seem to free-fall very far before it slowed down and gently settled in to place. By the time the afternoon rolled around the drop seemed to be more intense, making for a much improved ride experience.
The trim on the first drop really spoils the ride, though. The whole drop just feels weird, as the train doesn't gain speed as quickly as you'd expect. They'd have been better off with a slightly smaller hill and drop without the trim.
Theme wise, everything looks pretty good, although once again Merlin haven't bothered to theme the building from all angles. Take a look back at the station as you're going up the lift hill and you'll see tin shed.
As for the effects inside the building, there's not a lot to them. A real wasted opportunity, in my mind. It wouldn't take much to make the scene effective either - just hold the train for about 10 seconds or so and mess with people's minds a little bit. Kill the lights, have a few creepy whispering sounds or hisses from the wraiths, preferably from multiple directions to distract and/or confuse people, maybe blast the train with air or something. Just enough to have people wondering what's happening, and then catch them off guard with the drop. The Hex octagon room is a good example of what they should have been aiming for.
So, in short, a nice attempt by Merlin, but not quite good enough. They could quite easily raise the coaster from OK to good by making a few improvements, but they've certainly missed the opportunity to make the ride great, at least without spending considerably more on an already expensive attraction.
One to re-ride if it has a small queue I think. Oh well, at least it should help keep the queues down for Rita.
