Derren Brown’s Ghost Train combines live action, VR and show scenes at Thorpe Park Resort – and marks a leap for theme park technology with extensive. Following a busy summer season, VDC Trading was called in at the end of 2016 to support an upgrade to the service and further enhance the guest experience for the 2017 season.

The Ghost Train is set on a replica London Underground train; each guest wears a VR headset which in turn is connected to a PC: ‘Derren Brown’s Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon takes guests through a multi-sensory experience and is a technological feat in terms of theme park technology,’ says Jonny Burns, Thorpe Park Show Services Technical Manager. ‘Following guest feedback for more scares, we decided to bring a more realistic technology experience to life within the 20-tonne suspended carriage, so we revisited sections of the ride to make it fully immersive. VDC supported us in our journey to accomplish this.

‘The VDC team were instrumental – they had the knowledge and know-how to work with us to give guests an even better rider experience.’

VDC ensured the headsets were fully functioning to fully immerse guests in the experience. Central to achieving these results was revisiting the cabling. ‘After meeting with the engineers at Thorpe Park and discussing their plans for the 2017 season we were able to make a couple of prototypes and, after a few tweaks and upgrades, we came up with a custom solution that fulfilled the brief,’ says Adam Jafrabadi, VDC Trading Export & Technical Consultant.

‘Guests have been thrilled with the changes,’ Burns reports. ‘Working with VDC has allowed us to deliver the scares and the immersive experience that our guests crave.’

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