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Derren Brown’s HTC Vive VR Ghost Train Ride Now Open

This ride can fit up to 58 VR users in a suspended railway carriage.

Magician Derren Brown has been hard at work to create a new attraction with Thorpe Park Resort that combines virtual reality, live actors and some of his trademark illusions.

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The ride experience, called Ghost Train, is now open at the UK theme park and is designed to make you question your reality, all while sitting in what appears to be a suspended 20ft Victorian Carriage.

A significant moment for HTC, the entire ride is powered and built using the HTC Vive, giving you a 13-minute experience that is filled with thrills and scares.

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Running into a few delays, Ghost Train has taken three years to plan and over a year to build. But considering these are early days for VR technology being utilized in ride attractions, especially when having up to 58 users with their own Vive headset on at a time, delays could be expected.

Once you pass through the main Ghost Train gates, you will find yourself inside a 2,000sq ft warehouse with hints as to what you can expect from the ride. After placing any bags and belongings into the baggage hold, you are led into a short pre-show area and then directed to the main attraction – the suspended Victorian railway train carriage.

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Once boarded on the train, you will find an HTC Vive headset and headphones attached to the wall over your seat. A single pair of base stations attached to the ceiling covers a smaller group of roughly 14 guests at a time on the ride. Without giving anything away, you can expect a thrilling 4D ride that includes not only the VR experience but also other elements like live actors on the carriage and train movements.

Ghost Train gives you a dozen different routes you can take in the experience and two separate endings, making this one ride that will likely be unique to just you.

The ride opened Friday June 8. Tickets start from £27.99 and are available from thorpepark.com.

Image Credit: Total Thorpe Park and Thorpe Park

About the Scout

Jonathan Nafarrete

Jonathan Nafarrete is the co-founder of VRScout.

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