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Duel: The Haunted House Actually Strikes Back - Refurb Incoming

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Bert2theSpark said:
I know there refurb is going to be different to Hex's but still, They brought in people who knew what they were doing with Hex, Such as the fine tuning was done by specialised engineers.
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They were in the right vein but judging from the results only (I dont know the team at Towers personally), but the quality was still noticeably amateaur in odd places and detracted from the experience. The best parts were repaired effects, but Duel needs a whole lot more than just new bulbs and replenished props, it needs a much stronger approach and some energy back in it. :)
 
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Ummmm, let's see

Cheap celebrity endorsement - Check
Resort Branding - Check
Poor choice of IP that uses up most of the budget or alternatively the cheapest IP - Check - For god's sake, just spend the money on the ride!
Pointless expensive gimmick - Check (sorry I just can't get over Derren Browns Snoozefest (imagine what they could have done with that budget with a proper transit system and actual props). It's so boring!
No respect for what was there before
Mismatched themes
Desperately cling on to the thing that has made them the most money since the Smiler incident - Check
Godawful sponsorship that detracts from any theme. To be fair they did remove Fanta from Blivvy.

Merlin Entertainments presents Alton Towers Resort's Plan 9 from Outer Space, haunted VR experience, the ride featuring Keith Chegwin and the magic of CBeebies, sponsored by VIMTO (how the he'll did they give a soft drink a name that is an anagram of vomit?)
 
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I liked and enjoyed the original soundtrack (music) in Duel it used to be so catchy, electronic and energetic to remember. TLC's Duel music is not bad but still I preferred to the original. At least they've kept the announcements in the dual stations like "don't touch your blaster", "mind your knees", "gather your lose articles and exit to the left".
 
We went on this yesterday, As it was walk on. I did the shooting first time around but didn't bother the second. As a ghost train it would have been pretty cool (I don't know the history of the ride) my son got quite a high score but there was nothing to mark it so didn't really see the point of the points. Can't even take photos on the ride. It was nice to sit down though and be cool for a change.
 
Pretty disappoingly, Duel is no different from the start of this season, just marginally better than last year, to the point at which it doesn't really matter to the guest experience.

It's just the same Duel as it's been for 10 years but with a few steps forward and a few steps back. There is still potential to really put life back into this to make it a memorable family dark ride again, but the priorities in this TLC project seemed wrong, even if the intentions were good.

I don't really understand enthusiasts' response to the changes either to be honest. There have been whoops and cheers for stuff like putting 'The Strobe' back, instead of thinking about the bigger picture.

A flashy purple light on a static prop isn't "how the ride was supposed to be seen" or the best it can be. In fact when the ride was brand new there were only strobes on the fast-moving UV illusions, that actually had a rapid strobe effect on the movement. The rest was lit very creatively and looked really cool. That element of surprise and effect disappeared in the late 90s really.

Also, the new music is disliked by many fans, but I think (as much as I was skeptical) it's actually very creative and fantastic for the ride experience. Adds much more character to the ride, than just one constant loop that you couldn't really hear anyway and didn't change with what you were seeing.

But, the big problem is the sound system is still pretty botched and so the audio has very little presence through most the ride. Maybe this is why people were underwhelmed by the new music, I'm sure it could feel so much better if the patchy sound was fixed.
 
You've kinda summed up how I feel about this ride. When I rode it back in April, I was reasonably pleased with the changes which had been done, as visually it did at least look a bit better, even though many of the illusions and effects still weren't particularly effective.

I think a lot of enthusiasts probably understand the potential that Duel has to be a great family dark ride again, but for me at least, the hope that Merlin will ever realise that potential is so small, that even the smallest of changes are received with a "I guess it's better than nothing" kind of attitude. The soundtrack though – that was at least one thing that they got right!
 
Robert.W said:
the hope that Merlin will ever realise that potential is so small, that even the smallest of changes are received with a "I guess it's better than nothing" kind of attitude. The soundtrack though – that was at least one thing that they got right!
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Yeah I suppose that's true. It's better than nothing, because there is no chance unfortunately of the ride being restored as a good experience for the public and fans alike. Though I'm sure different priorities with the opportunity they had could have landed a much better result?
 
I do love the changes that they've made to Duel, I think it's great that they'e giving this ride some investment. I feel like what has been done has helped to improve the ride, but they aren't, or shouldn't be, nearly finished with the TLC programme. The promised Trommel fix has not materialised, neither have the constant "tweaks" to enhance the ride experience. I would like to see this addressed.

In the past season, however, I have had more unusual rides on Duel than ever before. There've been times where the whole spider scene is in darkness and none of the effects have triggered, and I've also had times where sound effects have failed to trigger. On my most recent ride the ride was continuously stopping and starting, a couple of others noticed that it was speeding up as this kept happening, not sure the validity of this one.

I think what needs to be urgently fixed are:
  • Reliability of Sound Effects, and the overall Sound System
  • Fix the Trommel
  • Flying Head and Bat Scenes (mechanics are still visible, a little less so now)
  • Cover the hole in the wall where an effect has been removed, it's right at the end of the ride (don't know what this is meant to be, can anyone explain)
  • Make the "skeleton corridor" a little bit more entertaining (including doing something with Electric Bill!)
I'd also love to see some new scenes or them re-attempt some failed effects like the flying ghost. But I'd rather them get a polished initial product before they work on this.
 
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I've always enjoyed Duel, it's a great filler attraction and further highlights the need for more of these.

I'm firmly against the new music*. Ride music should never ever be changed - even if it's something absolutely rubbish like Rumba Rapids. I like to think I'm pretty laid back for a theme park dork but changing the music we've grown up with winds me up more than it should do. The relentless bumming of IMAscore needs to stop before they do more damage!




*Admittedly the new music is actually pretty good and more fitting to Gloomy Wood;)
 
RicketyCricket said:
I'm firmly against the new music*. Ride music should never ever be changed - even if it's something absolutely rubbish like Rumba Rapids.
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Oi Rumba Rapids music aint bad for a family ride! At least it was always pretty popular (in a sort of dumb careless way) with us when we were kids local to the park.

I don't totally agree that ride music should never be changed even if it's rubbish, but I definitely get what you mean.

Like ride music, even if its old, becomes pretty engrained into the experience and character of a ride. Many parks today just swap older music about on a whim or "for a refresh" when the newer music is inevitably more generic, takes away some of the unique identity of the ride.

I really think the IMAscore-isation of Thorpe Park has been pointless, much like what started happening to Alton Towers around 2008 with all its 'refreshed' soundtracks (many quickly reverted).

However Duel's music was already a change from the original best music. The old Haunted House soundtrack was fantastic and very bespoke to the original ride. When it became just one looped track (sounding like it was written for a totally different ride we never got) it really dulled a lot of the experience. Sure its a good track, but just not working.

I think enthusiasts loved it so much because they played it online so much and got used to how it sounded at home, rather than as part of the ride. I must have rode Duel countless when I was young and I never actually heard the music clearly in the ride (mostly the corridor at the exit).

The 2003 outside track for Gloomy Wood was amazing though, I kind of miss that just because it worked so well.

So in doing this new redo of the music, I think it was an attempt to bring back something that was missing by creating a better suited, spookier score, but just returning the Haunted House music (however good it was) would have been a cop out, because Duel as it currently stands really isn't like the Haunted House.
 
What I want to know is why on the last few rides I've had has the guns stopped before we reach the finale (which is quite long to sit through) is this happening to everyone?
 
We used to go on it every visit but since the 2018 changes it’s no longer a “must do” for us and didn’t even bother with it yesterday despite being walk on.
 
The TLC for duel had its budget mostly pulled, fast paced bodge of what they had left and no time to go in and do things properly afterwards.....

Sounds like a Merlin project through and through, real shame for the folk at Towers who wanted to do something more thorough.
 
I'm not that keen on the music actually, and this is purely a personal opinion. Nothing memorable about it for me, no quirky electronic VIBES or powerful drumbeat that I think they should of gone for (certainly at the end). Listening to the old Haunted House music, sure it "sounded old" given the time and instruments/synthesizers available back then, but it did this very well, kinda like the old Eurobeats music in the 80s/90s too I guess haha. The Giant theme is awesome, brief, and menacing. The trommel music is really good and fits well with the motion of the trommel turning. Spider bit is great, purely atmospheric, but great. And the finale is just what you'd want, on the edge, action packed, and has a strong melody that sticks in your head. That being said, I definitely wouldn't call the current one awful or failing in what it's trying to do completely, it's typical haunted house music, with the slow violin standing out, but it isn't anything special or unique IMO.

When it comes to the rest of Duel, .. hmm.. I'm not a lighting expert like some on here, but even I can see that the wrong wavelengths of light have been used in the wrong places! And the levels of light are terrible too, you can see all of the mechanics behind the moving effects. Duel is simply not fit for purpose no matter which way you put it. I agree with everyone saying the likelihood that it would be properly refurbished is low, the only other outcome is stripping the whole place down and putting it out of its misery. But then, with Merlin and their godawful marketing strategies and creative guidelines, how could we be sure that its replacement would be any better? The best outcomes involve 2 options. 1: Towers actually listen to @BritishThemeParkArchive / @TakeYourMedicine and use those original notes from Sparks (?) to recreate a Haunted House very loyal to the original. 2: The whole thing is demolished, and we get lucky like with Wickerman, and the creative team aren't stifled by Merlin, and create a nice dark ride to replace it.

Sooner or later I think they'll be faced with this scenario, especially if TLC aren't around for much longer and maintenance goes to crap again.
 
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