Re: Ghost trains and dark rides.
I'll quickly go through them for you, giving them a kind of rating.
Essentially for me they seem to come in four flavours.
1. Professional and well designed (like Duel et al)
2. Professional but trying too hard (and not hard enough) -like Spooky 3D.
3. Standard Ghost Train affair (off-the-shelf travelling model with bland interior)
4. Custom park. Built in house and of varying (usually low) quality.
There's one exception
ADVENTURE ISLAND Over the Hill
Rode this when it was Beelzebob's and it was a cracking ride. Over the Hill is supposed to be really good too. I'll be riding it late August.
ALTON TOWERS
Charlie & Chocolate Factory
I sometimes think Charlie gets a raw deal. It's a really entertaining ride for the kids. However, with just the tiniest bit more effort it could have been a great ride for everyone. It's a ride I hate taking the kids on because they love it and I hate it. Definitely a number 2.
Duel
Duel would be fantastic without the stock models. It's still a solid ride though.
Hex
Hex I adore, one of my favourite dark rides. I love the ride build up and the way the story flows through to the finale. The music is also exellent.
BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH
Alice in Wonderland
Actually a good dark ride. It's quite captivating and "quaint". It used to smell of sherbet and was lovely. It succeeds where Charlie fails in being at least mildly interesting to adults.
Ghost Train
Absolutely classic ride. It's cheesy, it's stupid, it's from a bygone era it's great fun.
Gold Mine
Replaced by Wallace and Gromit - opening next year.
Impossible
Old and dull. The mirror maze is too easy these days since "health and safety" took over and the haunted swing element is hot, cramped and not as effective as Hex
Magic Mountain
Gone, but was sanity-threatening when it was there.
River Caves
My second favourite River Caves ever, but Southport's have now gone (I do have a POV of Southport's somewhere). Old, cranky and oddly brilliant. Like the Ghost Train, it's that kind of magical portal into 50 years ago.
Valhalla
Wet, but pretty good when enough effects are working.
BOTTON'S PLEASURE BEACH Ghost Train
So good I paid to go on it twice
Actually I was forced onto it twice by Maxi-Minor_Furie and it's the epitome of Number 4.
BREAN LEISURE PARK Terror Castle
Ahhh, the exception. It's a standard travelling model filled with the most horrendous and terrifying scenes they could order in. Tries really hard and is all the better for it. Possibly the "best" horror dark ride in the country.
BRIGHTON PIER Horror Hotel
Eugh. Number 3.
CAMELOT Dungeon's of Doom
A number 4 and complete and utter drivel. However, it manages that "so bad it's fantastic" level. I think I rode it four times on the trot to prove that it really was that awful.
CHESSINGTON Tomb Blaster
I actually find Tomb Blaster really dull, but I don't like shooting dark rides - I'd prefer them to be the original "story" version. I never rode Tomb Blaster as was but would have liked to. Still, it's a number 1.
CONEY BEACH, Porthcawl Ghost Train
Did it, can't remember a thing about it.
DRAYTON MANOR
The Haunting
Solid number 2. It almost is so bad it's good, and almost so good it's good. :lol:
Pirate Adventure
Absolute Number 2 as well. Due to be removed this year though. I'll miss it as it was a good place to get your head down for ten minutes
FLAMINGOLAND Little Monsters
Is this new? I remember doing a dark ride at Flamingoland but not exactly what it was.
GT. YARMOUTH PLEASURE BEACH Haunted Hotel
I'm looking forward to this one as I used to love to hate the one at Southport.
GULLIVER'S WARRINGTON
Tomb Raider
Stupid little shooting ride, but it does squirt water and stuff when you hit the targets. Over in about 30 seconds.
The Haunted Mansion
Brilliant. Incredibly tame dark walkthrough for young kids - I did a guide for it
http://www.coasterforce.com/world-park- ... ed-mansion
JOYLAND Neptune's Kingdom
Hurray for CF Lives
OAKWOOD
Brer Rabbit's Burrow
Awful in a fantastic way. There are attempts to mix adult humour that will go over the heads of the kids, only they fail. The whole thing is fail and all the better for it
Spooky 3-D
It was dreadful as Voodoo Thingy and slightly worse as Spooky 3-D. It's actually one of those rides you giggle in but have no desire to rush back on to.
PLEASURE ISLAND
Shrieksville
Don't remember this one.
Tommy Tinkaboo's Sweet Adventure
I remember this one. It's utterly, utterly dreadful. Saccharine nausea inducing kids bollocks. That's boloocks for kids, not, you know...
PLEASUREWOOD HILLS Fantasy Fairytale ride
[/CF-Live]
WEST MIDLAND SAFARI PARK
Dr Umboto's Catacombe's
8 times in a row I was forced to go on this. It's awful, but quite good in some parts too, mildly gruesome. Solid number 4.
Twinlakes is missing and they have two - I've no idea what they were called so will make up the names.
Dreadful shedful
It's a dark maze, in a large shed, with cardboard cut-out spiders and ghosts on a few walls. Complete and utter pants.
Pirate tube boat thing malarky in a tin barn
It doesn't get any more interesting than the description
Rach had photos of this... Hang on...
I may have some Twinlakes photos at home too, I'll have to hunt them down.
Also, Clarence Pier has this beauty:
Which is a horror walkthrough and I think Telford Town Park plays host to a travelling Ghost Train too - I'll bet Dave Morton would check that out if you asked him really
really nicely.
Hope that helped a little?
Now, that's just the UK, ready to start on the rest of the world?
