Project 2018: Battle for Eire (VR Attraction)

[Nicole]

I don’t think that is what I said?

I opened my post by saying that a lot of people would like it. I think many people have had similar impressions.

 

[Bring Back Questor 87]

Can we get a post on the main page with a full _ out of 10 review? I think that will help, and since I haven't ridden it, I am curious of the mindset I should have when I do, still excited.

 

[Thomas]

Yes, let us instruct you how to think and feel.

 

[Lord Robert]

Can we get a post on the main page with a full _ out of 10 review? I think that will help, and since I haven't ridden it, I am curious of the mindset I should have when I do, still excited.

This Instagram review sounds like an overwhelmingly positive review to me. Some other reviews online from those who rode the ride during the soft openings have been very positive as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhXIDwXFC1Y/?tagged=battleforeire

 

[Zachary]

Can we get a post on the main page with a full _ out of 10 review? I think that will help, and since I haven't ridden it, I am curious of the mindset I should have when I do, still excited.

I'm not saying we won't publish a review (especially of we have some novel approch or new content to introduce), but I'll share our rational for why there isn't one yet.

At the media event we were expressly told by people actively working on the VR portions of the ride (read: not marketing folks) that what we experienced was not a finished product. We believe it to be unfair to the park and, far more importantly, those who have poured their hearts and souls into this product, to review their unfinished work.

In fact, speaking as myself here for a moment, I have a serious problem with the way the park handled the media event for this attraction. I understand that they were backed into a corner due to delays, but in my honest opinion, the correct course of action would have been to delay the media day—not open an unfinished product to critique. The negative impact wasn't solely on the shoulders of the ride's creators though—it also fell on the shoulders of the media.

Nicole and I had heated debates over what we should and shouldn't say following media day. On one hand, to stay competitive, we felt a great deal of pressure to honestly assess our experience; however, knowing that the attraction wasn't done, it felt blatently unfair to the ride's creative team to do so. In the end, we tried to keep our public statements on the ride to a minimum. We have both dialed some of that restraint back over the last couple days as similar criticisms have come out of those at the soft openings.

Anyway, looking through the various articles that came out of that media event, many outlets reviewed the ride after their experience—which, for the vast majority of the outlets in question consisted of an incomplete first preshow, no second preshow, and a single ride with VR. We believe baseing an assessment of a ride on such an incomplete experience is reckless and, truthfully, disingenuous. Furthermore, we firmly believe that rides with and without VR are essential to gaging a crucial part of this attraction specifically: accessibility.

Based on these judgements, we decided that even if we did put aside our reservations regarding reviewing the incomplete VR portion, our incomplete overall experience precluded us from even giving fair big picture assessment of the attraction.

So why won't we commit to a review when the ride is actually completed? We typically avoid reviewing widely accessable experiences because, frankly, the majority of our readers are the same park guests that will be there on opening weekend anyway. This has always been reinforced whenever we do go out on a limb and publish this type of content. Historically, traffic to articles like the ones described previously are considerably lower than if we were writing something more... uh... uniquely BGWFans.

Again, with enough demand—especially if we can provide a unique viewpoint—we are not opposed. It just isn't something we would typically automatically do.

PS: I know I just sorta went open season on anyone who reviewed this attraction from their experience on media day, but, with the context that Theme Park Insider did not receive the full, complete ride experience, this Battle for Eire review stands out as a great piece of theme park journalism and is well worth a read.

 

[Lord Robert]

I find it funny that it's opening on Friday the 13th. Is Addie gonna have to go up against Jason AND Balor?

Just kidding! ;-P

 

[warfelg]

Zachary - I'll say I appreciate that you didn't do a full review. I know people who do media stuff for two other enthusiast based sites, and neither of them take that attitude to reviewing attractions. Even in their construction tours, they aren't afraid to make remarks.

I appreciate your and Nicole's attempts to be fair, and when the park tells you something isn't 100% done, you try to report facts, not opinion. Hard to find that these days when speed matters more than accuracy.

 

[WDWRLD]

I have given my thoughts on the attraction but thought I would share the exact words that my 18 year old son said as soon as the ride ended.....”that sucked”. He does not read this or other Busch forums so really other than the official Busch Gardens marketing posted to twitter and facebook he had no idea of what to expect. He is also very much into video games and had never experienced VR before. Just thought I would share another opinion from someone that didn’t have expectations based on what others had said about the ride.

 

[Zachary]

Any idea as to his specific criticisms? Considering the marks on his face, I'm pretty sure I'd be pretty disappointed with my experience too!

 

[Peej1212]

So another dud for BGW's efforts to do a non-coaster ride? Shame from what I'm reading, but what do the kids think, who are not hardcore forum people like us? That's what I wanna know. I have 3 nephews and 1 niece, aged 10-15. Are they gonna hate me for taking them on this? You guys seem to think this was a money waster thus far :-(

Welp, here's back to hoping for Project Madrid to impress us some year ahead.

Firstly i don't think its a complete dud. Its going to have some growing pains everything does. I give them credit for trying. I mean if you don't try you wont know right? Plus from what i understand alot can be done during and after soft openings. Depending on what needs to be addressed. When it comes to kids from what i have read some kids do seem to really like it, but like the mini adults they are it varies kid to kid lol. I think when it comes to kids having something that may really peak their interest is good in its own right because they will be the next hardcore people when we are not around to be. I only hope my daughter can love BGW like her father and i do. I don't really think it was a money waster just a really ambitious attempt and that there was a high degree of difficulty that BGW was unfortunately not able to completely deliver(at least not yet, who knows what they may be able to fix and improve upon). I will have to give it a more personal rating when i ride it myself. This is just what i was able to glean from reading the comments and reviews here.

 

[WDWRLD]

He didn’t get the storyline at all, and he loves tall and fast coasters so I don’t think the limited movements gave enough thrill. He likes Star Tours in Disney but I think that’s because there is more action in that. I think he considered the characters to be too childish and not something a teen/young adult is interested in. He also is too young to understand the nods to previous attractions in the preshow, he asked on the second ride what does that have to do with fairies referring to the jar with lights. I think for him playing video games with highly detailed graphics at home has left him expecting more from theme park rides. He also is used to rides at Disney and Universal which again it’s hard to compare BGW attractions to.

 

[WDWRLD]

So another dud for BGW's efforts to do a non-coaster ride? Shame from what I'm reading, but what do the kids think, who are not hardcore forum people like us? That's what I wanna know. I have 3 nephews and 1 niece, aged 10-15. Are they gonna hate me for taking them on this? You guys seem to think this was a money waster thus far :-(

Welp, here's back to hoping for Project Madrid to impress us some year ahead.

Firstly i don't think its a complete dud. Its going to have some growing pains everything does. I give them credit for trying. I mean if you don't try you wont know right? Plus from what i understand alot can be done during and after soft openings. Depending on what needs to be addressed. When it comes to kids from what i have read some kids do seem to really like it, but like the mini adults they are it varies kid to kid lol. I think when it comes to kids having something that may really peak their interest is good in its own right because they will be the next hardcore people when we are not around to be. I only hope my daughter can love BGW like her father and i do. I don't really think it was a money waster just a really ambitious attempt and that there was a high degree of difficulty that unfortunately were not able to completely deliver(at least not yet, who knows what they may be able to fix and improve upon). I will have to give it a more personal rating when i ride it myself. This is just what i was able to glean from reading the comments and reviews here.

The ride is running, during soft opening all of the elements in the queue were running and there were no issues with the VR. It’s not like they are adding more elements to the movie as time goes because they just didn’t get them built in time. What we have is what we are getting. Other than faster loading that will come with a few days of operation there really isn’t anything that will change.

 

[Nicole]

I think that several of the complaints can be addressed, actually. For example, they can replace the masks and address the technical issues with the VR (we did hear about continued issues, during the soft opening).

Although they intentionally made the flight simulator’s motions mild, because of people with motion sickness, as we have seen in the past, they can change those, if they choose.

We also know they can change the story, if they want.

I’m not saying that any of these things will happen, but I don’t think a flat statement that nothing will change is valid either.

 

[warfelg]

I think that several of the complaints can be addressed, actually.  For example, they can replace the masks and address the technical issues with the VR (we did hear about continued issues, during the soft opening).

Although they intentionally made the flight simulator’s motions mild, because of people with motion sickness, as we have seen in the past, they can change those, if they choose.

We also know they can change the story, if they want.

I’m not saying that any of these things will happen, but I don’t think a flat statement that nothing will change is valid either.

Sounds like all 3 should or could happen.

The masks - I think those get replaced next year, and about 1/3 into the season I think they relax needing to put it on before getting onto the simulator. Just that change alone sounds like it will change things.

Simulators motions - I've read quite a bit about needing less movement to be effective. As I feel this is a ride meant to be very family friendly and interesting for kids, I think that the smaller movements are better. That was always my EitA issue; the harsh movements got to me. I think the subtle movement will help out.

The story - The animation (and how animation has changed since the day's of Corkscrew Hill) is something that's easily changed. These days, rather than programming the movements, they build the character and a wire frame, and they can easily change the movements based off of that. I think (and hope) that it would make changing the ride a bit, changing small details, and adding to the story would be easier than it could have been in the past.

All in all I agree that the 3 'biggest complaints' are all things that can be easily changed.

EDIT:
Something I want to add and the masks, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that the back was only the ratchet tightening and it was quite open to accommodate people with various hair styles. Which I applaud them for trying. But that means that the forces for holding it up goes on your cheeks, nose, and the part around the back of your head.

Again I like what they tried, but there needs to be something over the top of the head which should help with the pressure on the face by redistributing the forces. Expanding the part on the forehead up onto the head was well intentioned, but doesn't sound like it was enough. Putting something in from that part to the back ratchet part should help.

Then again I only did 3 semesters of engineering school. Haha.

 

[Zimmy]

I think one of the things that made Questor work well, as compared to the rides since, (and this could just be me saying "back in my day") was that the motions were not sudden but the shifts in roll, pitch, and yaw were dramatic. The exception being the escape sequence. But even then, I do not recall being shaken to death.

 

[WDWRLD]

I think that several of the complaints can be addressed, actually.  For example, they can replace the masks and address the technical issues with the VR (we did hear about continued issues, during the soft opening).

Although they intentionally made the flight simulator’s motions mild, because of people with motion sickness, as we have seen in the past, they can change those, if they choose.

We also know they can change the story, if they want.

I’m not saying that any of these things will happen, but I don’t think a flat statement that nothing will change is valid either.

I honestly do not see BGW replacing the headgear this season or until it is worn out and needs replacing. While there are complaints of discomfort there are no real safety issues and the cost to re engineer and manufacture new masks would be high. The complaints are varied and just about everyone I have heard complaints from were different in nature and not just one specific issue. Im not sure at this point that even if they did change masks that a newer version would not correct all the problems or could possibly create new ones. Again personally my mask fit great and I did not have one ride with any technical issues with the VR and neither did anyone else that I talked to who rode on Sunday. Could they change the movements or the video, sure they could, is it likely no. I think given the headsets if the movements were like they were for any other previous version of the attraction the increased movement would exacerbate discomfort with the mask. If the ride was more intense as it was in previous versions people couldn't hold on to the mask and hold on to the armrests themselves at the same time, the reason for the milder ride. As for the movie, again they could change that as well, do I see it happening....no. It would be costly to change it in both production of the graphics as well as time to reload each of those computers and program movements to match. I personally think this will be a case of its working so dont mess with it for the park.

 

[Peej1212]

The masks - I think those get replaced next year, and about 1/3 into the season I think they relax needing to put it on before getting onto the simulator.  Just that change alone sounds like it will change things.

Also IMO i think we may see changes in the mask and headgear probably due to wear and tear right? I'm not familiar with VR masks or hardware of anykind with them. But i would think you get enough people through it will break down the gear. And the rules may bend a bit if they hear enough complaints concerning the uncomfortable nature of the gear.

 

[WDWRLD]

The masks - I think those get replaced next year, and about 1/3 into the season I think they relax needing to put it on before getting onto the simulator.  Just that change alone sounds like it will change things.

Also IMO i think we may see changes in the mask and headgear probably due to wear and tear right? I'm not familiar with VR masks or hardware of anykind with them. But i would think you get enough people through it will break down the gear. And the rules may bend a bit if they hear enough complaints concerning the uncomfortable nature of the gear.

I think they would last a considerable time. They from what I have heard have enough that even on the busiest and longest operating days of the season only expect each mask to be used 2-3 times a day. They are also built pretty good. They use a ratchet system that you would find in something like a hard hat that is a hard plastic. Then there is a pivot point where the softer rubber part attaches. The front rubber material I would say is about like the same material that a pair of Crocs shoes are made out of.

 

[warfelg]

Also IMO i think we may see changes in the mask and headgear probably due to wear and tear right? I'm not familiar with VR masks or hardware of anykind with them. But i would think you get enough people through it will break down the gear. And the rules may bend a bit if they hear enough complaints concerning the uncomfortable nature of the gear.

It will take really long to get to the point of wear and tear to replace them IMO. I think the change that they make will have to be modifications to the current mask as opposed to a whole new one.

 

[Peej1212]

The masks - I think those get replaced next year, and about 1/3 into the season I think they relax needing to put it on before getting onto the simulator.  Just that change alone sounds like it will change things.

Also IMO i think we may see changes in the mask and headgear probably due to wear and tear right? I'm not familiar with VR masks or hardware of anykind with them. But i would think you get enough people through it will break down the gear. And the rules may bend a bit if they hear enough complaints concerning the uncomfortable nature of the gear.

I think they would last a considerable time. They from what I have heard have enough that even on the busiest and longest operating days of the season only expect each mask to be used 2-3 times a day. They are also built pretty good. They use a ratchet system that you would find in something like a hard hat that is a hard plastic. Then there is a pivot point where the softer rubber part attaches. The front rubber material I would say is about like the same material that a pair of Crocs shoes are made out of.

You know i didnt think about how many they may have on site to replace any damaged ones... thats a good point.