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The Alton Towers Dungeon

Matt N said:
Oh my; that really is quite graphic! I'm surprised by that; I was under the impression that the Dungeons attractions were becoming less gory and more family-friendly?
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Quite, as @ihaveaspergers said, some of the sets used in the river portion were bordering on the extreme and were pretty jarring against the typical vibe of a dungeon attraction. The one directly above your head as your leave the station was particularly shocking to me.

Matt N said:
Also, could you please elaborate on what you said about the Black River being very black, if you wouldn't mind? Do you mean black as in dark in tone, or black as in there's no theming?
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The sets are quite well well dispersed so there are portions of nothing, with black walls. I had wondered if they would use running water or mist as projection surfaces, to save the need to build elaborate sets, but they opted not to do either. It's quite atmospheric, don't get me wrong - but it's atmospheric due to its relative emptiness to the rides that it has replaced.

When I say it's black, it's nowhere near as black as the empty black walled corridors that you use to navigate between scenes. Presumably those spaces aren't big enough for mock property frontages/street scenes that you would find in the midway attractions.


TakeYourMedicine said:
Sounds like you were royally entertained Rick!
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Haha, indeed... I say that in that I wasn't expecting it to be Valhalla or Na'vi and it wasn't. The boat ride was probably my least favourite part of the ride, yet I thought it would be the opposite.
 
Rick said:
Quite, as @ihaveaspergers said, some of the sets used in the river portion were bordering on the extreme and were pretty jarring against the typical vibe of a dungeon attraction. The one directly above your head as your leave the station was particularly shocking to me.


The sets are quite well well dispersed so there are portions of nothing, with black walls. I had wondered if they would use running water or mist as projection surfaces, to save the need to build elaborate sets, but they opted not to do either. It's quite atmospheric, don't get me wrong - but it's atmospheric due to its relative emptiness to the rides that it has replaced.

When I say it's black, it's nowhere near as black as the empty black walled corridors that you use to navigate between scenes. Presumably those spaces aren't big enough for mock property frontages/street scenes that you would find in the midway attractions.



Haha, indeed... I say that in that I wasn't expecting it to be Valhalla or Na'vi and it wasn't. The boat ride was probably my least favourite part of the ride, yet I thought it would be the opposite.
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Ah right. Thanks @Rick!
 
Went in today. Would give it 3/5 . Will write up a trip report at some point. While it was enjoyable, I felt that other dungeons offered a more comprehensive and fluid experience. The actors were great, but movement between the sets I found to be dull, and soundproofing was a problem between the set you are in, and the set you are either going to, or just come from (e.g. people screaming)

Boat trip was good and surprisingly very graphic, however, I didn't feel the urge to go in again after seeing it once.

I think if I had to sum it up in one word, ..... 'Enjoyable'
 
Did anyone else feel like at times they forced the word Alton and Stafford in to the script in not the cleanest way?

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How were the group sizes, were they overcrowding scenes like in York and Blackpool?

Also, how did they manage boat capacity without splitting up the group?
 
Group sizes were ok. Filled the rooms nicely. Yes the boat split us up and when we arrived as the last boat the actor was already doing her bit. However she incorporated us into what she had already said and it worked quite well.
 
"Work in progress" because eventually they'll get round to demolishing the Alton Towers Dungeon and putting a proper dark ride in its place

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So I did the Dungeons on Saturday (complementary ticket) and here are my thoughts.

I had no real expectation and can't say I was overly looking forward to it. I've previously done the old London Dungeon, the Blackpool Dungeon and the Warwick Castle Dungeon but these were all over 5 or 6 years ago.

The Alton Towers Dungeon looks better from the outside than I thought it might do. It's quite set back so doesn't stick out at all and they have made a pretty good effort to theme the entrance. Sure some of the old Charlie facade has simply been covered up/painted black but it's not too offensive.

The experience itself is pretty much what you would expect from a Dungeons attraction. There are some laughs for all and frights for those who are slightly more jumpy or not sure of what to expect. The scences themselves are well themed on the whole, however in some cases the back of a room will not be themed. The walkways between scenes are also just black corridors at the moment.

The Black River boat ride starts out very black indeed and you do wonder if it is simply a way to reduce costs in a "nothing to see here" fashion. However you do eventually reach some theming and projection effects which work quite nicely. They've retained the mirrors from the Nut Room of Charlie and these work really well at the end of the boat ride. Most people seemed to think that the boat ride was the weak point of the Dungeons however I thought it worked well and added to the overally story of the attraction.

The best thing about the Dungeons however was the actors! Considering it was day one they were all brilliant and really made the whole thing very enjoyable. The final scene, which is very similar to the witches of Warwick, also works very well (unless you are sitting by the door like I was and hear the actors go in and out).

So overall the Alton Towers Dungeon is fine. As an attraction it was never going to be bad becuause the Dungeons are possibly Merlin's best Midway offering. I just don't feel that it is right for the park, and with it lasting 45 minutes it takes a lot out of an already short theme park day.

Still, only around 1,500 people will go through each day and I am sure that the majority of these will enjoy it.
 
I did the Dungeons today and actually thought they were better than expected. It was fun and well executed, although I'm not sure it's what the park actually needs. I can't really add much to Rob's post above which covers the various scenes.

I won't do them again but it was worth doing once for the experience :).
 
Is the door in the witch scene visible (when the lights are on)?

I wanted to try and avoid sitting near them as I sat near the door in yorks old dick turpin scene and it is shocking how much it permanently ruined the scene for me.

Anyway, can you give any advice on how to get a good seat for molly leigh?

Sorry if this is unreadable my phone is acting out
 
The doors are visible, or at least I didn't see any obvious fake doors. Just make sure you sit in the middle of the bench to be sure.
 
I did the Dungeons yesterday.

The photos of the outside do not do it any justice. The exterior certainly looks loads better in person. I loved the Black River ride, best part of the Dungeons and could have been a stand alone free attraction in itself without the rest of the dungeons.

As for the rest of the attraction, great acting and I was very impressed with it. However, it was pretty much a copy and paste of other Dungeon attractions and I still feel that it something that the park don't really need. Like I said above, a free family dark boat ride would have been all that the park really need at the moment.

Roy :)

ps...why me :(, got pulled out twice, found guilty in the court dock and I had to sit behind that shower curtain :eek:
 
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