After months of speculation, it would seem that the Duel is almost over, with all signs suggesting that Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back will close in the next few weeks for a major overhaul.
For many years, a chalkboard in the ride’s exit corridor has displayed random messages, purportedly written by Emily Alton, the little ghost who inhabits a dolls house in the ride’s queue. But images taken last week by Michael of the Hauntedone, show this chalkboard with the message 6+9 = The Duel is over, followed by ‘This is my house‘, written in a ghostly scrawl.
For those who prefer slightly less cryptic messages, this weekend another message has appeared on the ride’s queue line LED display stating ” 06.09.2022…. Since 1992, Welcome to the Haunted Housee”
It is therefore expected that Duel will close on 6th of September, at the end of the busy summer period, and will be unavailable for the rest of the season. The park has yet to announce if it will reopen in time for the start of the 2023 season, or any details about what the ride will include when it reopens.
Speculation about the future of Duel has been growing recently, fuelled by activity seen in the area, where a Merlin Magic Making Van appeared earlier in the season. In recent years, the arrival of this van, used as a mobile operation base for the companies internal design team, has heralded several significant developments, such as the arrival of the Alton Towers Dungeons and Gangsta Granny. John Wardley, despite officially being retired, has also reportedly been seen in the area, though this is hardly surprising given the news that two of his much-loved rides are due to close this year.
As suggested by the signs that have appeared this week, it is widely expected that during the ride’s renovation, Duel’s blasters and targets will be consigned to history and the ride will be returned to a more traditional style dark ride. Equally, it is likely that the various ‘off-the-shelf’ style zombies, which were added during the ride’s conversion into Duel will also be removed. But whilst the current interactive features may be a thing of the past, it seems increasingly likely that the Haunted House theme will remain.
And if the park are intending to focus on invoking the spirit of the original Haunted House as part of the overhaul, could we expect the return of some of the ride’s classic effects, such as the Trommel Tunnel, which has not spun for several years now? Many fans of the ride would be thrilled to see these dormant features brought back to life, combined with new scenes and perhaps even a nod or two to the ride’s past (or even unused effects considered for the original attraction).
With upcoming changes to the headline attraction, could we also see upgrades elsewhere in Gloomy Wood? It is likely that any change to the ride will also involve a refurb of Spooks R Us, the neighbouring shop. And Nitrogenie, the area’s ice cream parlour, closed in 2019, and will surely become prime real estate next season. One area we do know will be receiving attention is Duel’s graveyard queue line – the overgrowth in the Graveyard has recently been cut back in preparation to bring it back to life, so to speak.
Duel is not the first park staple to be up for redevelopment in the near future, after it was revealed in January that the park also plan to retrack Nemesis. Today’s news suggests there is a very real chance that there will be a period when both these crowd pleasers will be closed at the same time, dramatically reducing the park’s overall ride capacity.
Duel will also not be the first classic attraction to see downtime this season, with Hex having been closed for much of 2022, despite opening sporadically. Enterprise has also not operated yet this season and has largely remained in pieces, after seemingly running into issues during its regular closed season maintenance. It would seem that Duel is therefore just the latest of the park’s classic attractions requiring attention.
As ever, stick with TowersStreet to hear all the latest news as we get it. Or head over to our forums, where debate is already raging over what we could expect to happen to Duel/The Haunted House ahead of the 2023 season.
