Thorpe Park | Derren Brown's Ghost Train | VR Attraction

[silenthillXD]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

Ha I love Silent Hill, as anyone who can see my username will know, but there is no hope in hell that this is Silent Hill based. The marketing doesn't evoke it, and it's not really a major IP (unfortunately). Konami as a company seem to be self destructing at the moment, so they wouldn't be looking to use an IP for a series which won't see any future instalments. I would literally love this to be Silent Hill based, but there's no chance it is. At this point I am genuinely stuck trying to think what IP it could be. I am sure we'll find out soon.

 

[Ben]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

This IS the park that did Saw years after that was relevant.

I'm not saying it will be at all but we have no idea.

 

[silenthillXD]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

This IS the park that did Saw years after that was relevant.

I'm not saying it will be at all but we have no idea.

Ha yes, very true! I just don't think Silent Hill has ever been that much of a major IP. It should've been as it's arguably one of the best horror franchises ever, but unfortunately it was relatively niche. But yeah you're totally right, there's no clue as to what it could be. I am just sour they're likely ignoring my suggestion of a Ru Pauls Drag Race experience... :lol:

 

[Chris Brown]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

Spoken to a few gaming mates and they've confirmed metal gear solid is based around the idea of mind control. If the teasers so far are reliable im going to place my bets on a metal gear solid IP

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

I actually think MGS is a viable IP option. After all, MGS 5 just came out, and it's getting 10/10 reviews. I'd be surprised if they don't go with MGS, with the positive publicity it's getting.

 

[silenthillXD]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

I must admit I would be extremely surprised if it were Metal Gear... To be honest from what we've seen the theme and marketing doesn't really fit in with MGS. Mind control isn't exactly a main theme in MGS, it's more government manipulation. Again, I think it's too niche to be put in a theme park, sure it's popular, but half the people playing it (me included) have no idea what the hell the plot is on about, so a dark ride wouldn't work. As I say, don't look too much into the Konami code at the moment, as a company they're seeing massive changes at the moment. They're pretty much tearing themselves apart so I really can't see them being involved in any way.

I just think they'd want to avoid the negative publicity from working with a company that's self destructing and firing it's well known employee's.

That's not to say it's not a gaming IP, as it very well could be! Call of Duty Black Ops could be a potential IP? Assassins Creed could also work. Ha I hate knocking down peoples ideas, but yeah it's not going to be anything Konami related.

If I had to place my bets, I am almost considering an Assassins Creed theme. It would work what with Syndicate coming out this year and the movie out soon. It also fits in with the theming and marketing and WC16. Also the brand is slowly running out of steam so would match Thorpe's late to the party attitude! :lol:

 

[SilverArrow]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

When are they going to announce this? Seems like nothing has happened for ages.

 

[elephant58]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

The theme will be something family friendly, as that's pretty much the whole reason for this ride.

 

[Ian]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

The theme will be something family friendly, as that's pretty much the whole reason for this ride.

I'm confused by this comment. Since when has it been classed as a family friendly attraction? Unless we're talking family friendly as in young teenage children, and not Paultons Park family friendly.

"Mind control" doesn't scream family friendly to me.

 

[JoshC.]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

It's been long thought that the ride won't be an out and out thrill ride since Thorpe are lacking a major family attraction. I guess it could be similar to Th13teen, in that it would be a family ride with a dark-ish theme. Nothing has been confirmed either way though.

Also worth saying that the type of "family" Thorpe are trying to target are "up for it families" with children at least 8 years old.

 

[elephant58]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

Yeah, something like Thirteen is what I'm thinking. I've heard that the main reason for a dark ride, instead of a big scary coaster, is that the park are changing their target audience from teenagers and adults to families. Although I don't think it will be, a Doctor Who theme would work perfectly, because although it's 'scary', it's also suitable for most children.

 

[Ben]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

I'm worried it'll be like Th13teen - family ride horribly marketed as a thrill coaster.

The ride might be just what the park needs but they need to market it properly.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

It's some skilled bullpoop when Merlin manage to convince enthusiasts that "family" means anything other than an attraction both marketed at and enjoyed by families. That means it's got to appeal to a wide age group, it means kids and it means their parents, less so teens-young adults or lone adults, but if it hits them as a by product, great bonus.

Thirteen is not a family ride, because it wasn't marketed as such. They failed to communicate to the target audience through literal advertisement, and actual packaging in the terms of theming at the park. That's the main reason why Thirteen is crap. And to top it all off, the drop is questionably intense for a family ride anyway. I always judge family rides on whether my mum would enjoy it, she would LOVE Thriteen until the drop. We could argue that Thirteen's childish start and splash of intensity and confusion ending is the point - it's a crazy, it's a psychocoaster or whatever, it's weird and creepy, but it doesn't work and I bet that wasn't the intention anyway.

Thorpe's new "family" direction is little more than fart sounds. They released an advert last summer that just showed shots of Tidal Wave over and over and over again that implied the resort had tonnes for families, but we all know it **** doesn't. And instead of rectify that issue, they continued fobbing off guests with Angry Birds land. Retheming your most intense, scary, 1.3m min height restriction drop tower to Angry Birds does not add family-friendly content to your park, it's like putting a Cola wrapper on Vodka. It's contributing to the problem, to the obvious backlash when families DO visit and find NOTHING FOR THEM TO DO.

Sorry this is a tad off topic but, Jesus Christ... Family means kids and their parents. That's literally what it means. If this thing isn't aimed at those people, or if the ride experience isn't ideal for those people, then it's not a family ride. I agree with Ian, the "Minds Wanted" thing is as far from "family" as it gets. It implies it's got some experimental, creepy, psychology vibe. Things families are definitely not interested in.

 

[silenthillXD]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

It's some skilled bullpoop when Merlin manage to convince enthusiasts that "family" means anything other than an attraction both marketed at and enjoyed by families. That means it's got to appeal to a wide age group, it means kids and it means their parents, less so teens-young adults or lone adults, but if it hits them as a by product, great bonus.

Thirteen is not a family ride, because it wasn't marketed as such. They failed to communicate to the target audience through literal advertisement, and actual packaging in the terms of theming at the park. That's the main reason why Thirteen is crap. And to top it all off, the drop is questionably intense for a family ride anyway. I always judge family rides on whether my mum would enjoy it, she would LOVE Thriteen until the drop. We could argue that Thirteen's childish start and splash of intensity and confusion ending is the point - it's a crazy, it's a psychocoaster or whatever, it's weird and creepy, but it doesn't work and I bet that wasn't the intention anyway.

Thorpe's new "family" direction is little more than fart sounds. They released an advert last summer that just showed shots of Tidal Wave over and over and over again that implied the resort had tonnes for families, but we all know it **** doesn't. And instead of rectify that issue, they continued fobbing off guests with Angry Birds land. Retheming your most intense, scary, 1.3m min height restriction drop tower to Angry Birds does not add family-friendly content to your park, it's like putting a Cola wrapper on Vodka. It's contributing to the problem, to the obvious backlash when families DO visit and find NOTHING FOR THEM TO DO.

Sorry this is a tad off topic but, Jesus Christ... Family means kids and their parents. That's literally what it means. If this thing isn't aimed at those people, or if the ride experience isn't ideal for those people, then it's not a family ride. I agree with Ian, the "Minds Wanted" thing is as far from "family" as it gets. It implies it's got some experimental, creepy, psychology vibe. Things families are definitely not interested in.

Yeah entirely agree with everything you've said. I just can't see this attraction being anything other than a flop. The family market won't want an attraction which has a creepy mind manipulation theme, and the adult market won't want a dark ride unless it's universal standard (which it clearly won't be). Why they aren't just building another coaster I don't know. Just saying, something like revenge of the mummy would've been perfect.

 

[JoshC.]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

It's some skilled bullpoop when Merlin manage to convince enthusiasts that "family" means anything other than an attraction both marketed at and enjoyed by families. That means it's got to appeal to a wide age group, it means kids and it means their parents, less so teens-young adults or lone adults, but if it hits them as a by product, great bonus.

Thirteen is not a family ride, because it wasn't marketed as such. They failed to communicate to the target audience through literal advertisement, and actual packaging in the terms of theming at the park. That's the main reason why Thirteen is crap. And to top it all off, the drop is questionably intense for a family ride anyway. I always judge family rides on whether my mum would enjoy it, she would LOVE Thriteen until the drop. We could argue that Thirteen's childish start and splash of intensity and confusion ending is the point - it's a crazy, it's a psychocoaster or whatever, it's weird and creepy, but it doesn't work and I bet that wasn't the intention anyway.
...
Sorry this is a tad off topic but, Jesus Christ... Family means kids and their parents. That's literally what it means. If this thing isn't aimed at those people, or if the ride experience isn't ideal for those people, then it's not a family ride. I agree with Ian, the "Minds Wanted" thing is as far from "family" as it gets. It implies it's got some experimental, creepy, psychology vibe. Things families are definitely not interested in.

I see what you're saying here. But with 13, every time I've been on it, I've seen plenty of families go on there (with children who are just above the height restriction) and everyone seems to enjoy it. Of course, it's hard to take anything like that in much context, since you don't know what they know about the ride and what to expect and whatnot. But from those experiences, I don't struggle to call it a family coaster (even if it's more of a thrilling family ride, it's still a family ride in some respect). Now that the pre-opening marketing campaign is probably long forgotten by most people, I think it is seen just as an attraction for most people with a creepy theme.

I agree that this won't be a family ride, in the sense of a ride that your average family with kids, parents and maybe even grandparents would rush to and enjoy. But then again, I don't think that's the type of audience Thorpe want anyway. It'll probably be a "Thorpe family" ride, in that it's going to be aimed at the teenager / young adult market, but also be enjoyable to a family of older children and their parents. Wouldn't be surprised if we see some 'You should be aged 10 or over to ride this' marketing rubbish.

So yeah, won't be a family ride, but will probably be a ride that attracts the sort of families Thorpe are after. Which is why I doubt it will be a gaming IP of any kind, since there's very few games which attract that sort of family and would fit in with the current marketing's look.

 

[cjbrandy]

Re: Thorpe Park construction?

I just can't see this attraction being anything other than a flop. The family market won't want an attraction which has a creepy mind manipulation theme, and the adult market won't want a dark ride unless it's universal standard (which it clearly won't be). Why they aren't just building another coaster I don't know. Just saying, something like revenge of the mummy would've been perfect.

=D> =D>

A big budget dark ride for teens/adults has to be Universal standard, they need to go hard or go home if they want to make it a worthwhile investment. This ride needs to kick ass because the budget is B&M giga coaster size. I agree with the Revenge of the Mummy esque indoor coaster idea, it wouldn't be the tallest or most forceful but it would be a great ride if it had some good special effects like fire.

If this ride is both average and not successful in pulling visitors in, it will be less a disappointment and more an enormous waste of time and money.

 

[Lofty]

Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Virtual Reality Motion Simulator themed to Derren Brown. Calling it.

 

[Jamesss]

Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

I really hope it is a good quality family-esque attraction as there's so little to do at Thorpe if you don't want to go on thrill rides. On a recent visit with a friend I wasn't feeling particularly well and after 4 hours of solid thrills we were looking for some decent gentle attractions to go on. There's literally nothing and as a result we ended up going home early. A good dark ride (which hopefully this will be) could've kept us in the park for that little bit longer and not put a dampener on the end of our day.

As for the theme, I'm most convinced by the Derren Brown suggestions so far. He's reasonably popular and I think he has a pretty broad audience so it could work from a marketing perspective. A game theme wouldn't work too well in my opinion, as a lot of people such as myself aren't gamers. I've never even heard of any of the games that have been brought up in this thread.

 

[elephant58]

Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

"Why do we love to be scared? Why do we pay to go to the cinema then spend half the movie hiding our eyes? Why do we feel fear? And why is it often so closely related to laughter and enjoyment?"

From a new code (left, left, down, down, right, right) on the mini-site. If this turns out to be family-friendly, I'd be surprised now.

 

[cjbrandy]

Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

"Why do we love to be scared? Why do we pay to go to the cinema then spend half the movie hiding our eyes? Why do we feel fear? And why is it often so closely related to laughter and enjoyment?"

From a new code (left, left, down, down, right, right) on the mini-site. If this turns out to be family-friendly, I'd be surprised now.

This is starting to sound very likely to be Derren Brown, anyone who's seen him will know that asking lots of intriguing questions like the ones above is exactly what he does. I saw him at the Derngate a couple months ago and it was a fun and entertaining show but using him for a big budget dark ride? It has potential and as long as he keeps doing shows and stuff which I'm sure he will, he sounds like a fairly solid and relevant choice! I hope the ride has consistent quality all the way through and that they don't blow the budget on some one trick pony gimmick.