Today, we are at Thorpe Park Resort taking a look at their new for 2018 addition - The Walking Dead: The Ride.
So, The Walking Dead: The Ride is an expansion to the Fright Nights of last year, in which most of it was Walking Dead themed.
Previously 'X', the ride behind me has completely been rebranded, rethemed and given a whole new storyline.
So 'X' used to be a family coaster and that is entirely being scrapped and it's now for
thrill-seekers only, so the ride system has remained the exact same, so inside The Walking
Dead: The Ride, you'll find the exact same ride, but a much deeper and darker storyline.
So what is The Walking Dead: The Ride all about? Let's go and find out.
So, we've just come off the ride, and our first overall impressions are...
incomplete. The thing is, The Walking Dead: The Ride, it isn't a full experience and there's parts
about it they're just severely lacking. For example, the whole first half is
not entirely there compared to the second half but, we'll discuss those in more detail when
we come to it. So initially you walk through the ride's entrance sign,
join the queue line and you wait to be batched to go into a preshow.
For me, the preshow doesn't do anything - it's there, it gets the job done but it's really what you'd expect.
Once you've been through the pre-show you then walk down a severely long corridor,
and this is it. This is what 'X' used to be, all the queue used to be inside,
but now it's all outside, so all the old corridors that guests would queue down, they're now
just corridors that you walk down. So you get to the ride station,
you're put into several different bays and you board the ride and at this point, you're basically boarding 'X' again, so you know,
up the lift hill, you get a good 20 seconds of just pure rollercoaster you don't really see much, but then halfway through the ride
you stop on a break run and, allegedly, your vehicle has stopped and the guy
trying to help you out, he's trying to restart the vehicle and you're jutting forwards as
zombies are attacking you through windows on the left hand side. And this is where the experience actually really starts to shine.
You know, once you pass this bit, that in itself is a good detailed part of the storyline,
once you get past that, you know, there's more effects,
there's more zombies and the second half of the rollercoaster
feels much more like an experience compared to the first.
Immediately after you exit the ride you get a nice set, you know, there's a few different themed elements everywhere
and that set would be perfect for actors. Unfortunately, off-peak days, you're unlikely to get any actors.
So, it kind of, there it's missing something, but the theming in this section is much better than theming in the start sections.
So you go through this themed area, down more corridors, where, you know,
sirens, lights. Then you get to a different section of corridor and at
this point, again, it starts to become a bit more interesting. So you go through rubber curtains,
the ones that you generically find a theme parks and it is pitch black and
hanging from the ceilings are little pieces of rubber, again, little strings that, you know,
tickle you and give you the sensation that you're being touched it gives the final ending part
some sensation, you know, something to actually think about. But once you've traversed
through this final corridor, you're met with essentially the end of the ride
and that is the end of the experience then. You exit the ride, you reclaim your baggage and
that's it - you've experienced The Walking Dead: The Ride.
There's nothing to say that you've ended the experience - it just kind of ends, there's the storyline, you know, it starts off, you're trapped,
but, did you escape? That's the thing, I don't know, it's a bit unfinished and the whole ride is unpolished and
ultimately unfinished. The real question to me is why they would turn,
you know, a tame family coaster like 'X' into a
thrilling (ish) ride that we have behind me?
It just doesn't make sense, especially with Thorpe's recent, you know, attack towards the family market, it's a questionable decision,
It's an okay ride, it does the job, but it doesn't do the job very well.
So ultimately, The Walking Dead: The Ride, IS worth the visit to Thorpe Park to actually, you know,
go and ride an experience, especially if you're fans of The Walking Dead, but ultimately it's nothing special.
You aren't gonna be like, "wow, this is something extraordinary!" You're just going to come, off and you're gonna be like, "yeah, it made sense..."
But that's it - it just makes sense.
So thank you for watching this review of The Walking Dead: The Ride.
We hope to do some more reviews of other theme park attractions in the future, let us know what you liked
about this and what we should change in the future as well. Thank you for watching and I'll see you all next time.
captions by Elliot - twitter.com/inFusion__