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2013: General Discussion

They certainly wanted at least 18 people yesterday. They wouldn't send the train with the back two rows empty and called two more people through. I'm sure the trims are still off though, I've not noticed them at all this season. I found that it was also running relatively quickly yesterday, really flew over the final 's' hill which is quite rare for Thirteen.

:)
 
I would love it if the trims were... Anything to stop that painfully slow feeling on the first drop!
 
If they need a minimum number of guess to run the train, and there are not enough people in the queue, then that is exactly the situation where they should allow people to stay on and reride. I bet they didn't. ::)
 
Good news! Annual pass holders can now enter the park using the normal turnstiles. No more pointless queueing up to go through a gate to have you pass manually scanned.

:)
 
Rob said:
Good news! Annual pass holders can now enter the park using the normal turnstiles. No more pointless queueing up to go through a gate to have you pass manually scanned.

:)
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Going back to old methods, i like there way of thinking :)
 
I *think* this goes in general discussion, I don't know? But... I just started following AT on instagram and I noticed while looking through their 'liked' pictures that it includes photos people have taken with their phones ON rides (like going up the blivvy lifthill etc). So does this mean that you could 'get away' with taking photos on certain rides if it is on a lifthill or at a slow point... which doesn't seem correct, or are AT being a bit naughty by liking those pictures? Or am I over thinking this? (probably that).
 
I don't think AT even have an Instagram account. I've searched Instagram and didnt find an "Official" AT account. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure i couldn't find any official accounts.
 
gosling said:
Ahh that may explain it! *duh* It's called altontowersthemepark, but it very likely isn't official. My bad.
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Yeah, that sounds convincingly official..... :p
 
I forgot to put this anywhere (other than the Shoutbox at the time :p ) so I'll post hear about when I popped in for a few hours last Saturday. It's only about Duel though, nothing else.


Upon entering Gloomy Wood we could hear the Duel theme music booming out from the entrance room and inside it was pretty deafening. Moving into the main indoor room for the queue and the music was still loud and it nearly drowned the Doll's House audio out completely.

On the ride and the spinning tunnel still doesn't work (been like that for the whole season, as far as I know) and the audio in the ride is (or was a week ago at least) now very loud too. A positive point I can make though is that there seems to be more dry ice being used throughout the attraction and you can now smell it pretty much everywhere.

As we left Gloomy Wood I noticed how grotty the outdoor queue now is which is a shame as I used to love walking through it. There's litter, way too many dead leaves, what looked like a broken fence panel and gravestones that you can no longer read because they're too grimy.

One final thing I'll say about Duel is that I only recently saw the lights on POV taken at TTF@10 and noticed so many details I'd forgotten about due to so many areas being too dark. Yep, it's a dark ride, I get it, but then there are some part of the ride where the lighting is too bright and you can see the warehouse structure, animatronic mechanisms and whatnot. I know the lighting has been an issue for a while but noticing the smaller details in that video makes it a greater issue (to me at least :p ).

Basically, when will Duel get some attention? The Haunted House lasted 11 seasons before being changed to Duel. Duel is now in its 11th season as well, so isn't it about time this attraction / area of the park had some changes and improvements made?
 
At the monorail station for the car park they look to be constructing a pink cake, there was just the first "tier" and a gold sparkly base.

Any ideas what for?
 
BigAl said:
Moving into the main indoor room for the queue and the music was still loud and it nearly drowned the Doll's House audio out completely.
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Doll house audio? You mean the singing sound effect has been restored, or do you mean the Drawing Room music?

Just wondering because I heard Alton Towers had been 'given back' most of the Haunted House's original sound effects, so there was a possibility of the ghost girl's singing also being restored. Would be great if it was true, those old sounds are so characteristic.

The audio all around that area is very annoying really, there is no reason why they should have the TV audio playing in the foyer room. To be honest I wish they would just jell Richard O Connor to shut up, nobody cares about what he is saying anymore and that "Doctor Roudyn" chappy doesn't even appear in the ride. Such silliness...!
 
I did Duel on Thursday and more of the effects were working, including the tromel (spinning tunnel), which had been broke all season. The photo bit at the end is now also working. The only effect in the whole ride I could spot that was broken is the big thaing with the rat in his hand that pops out near the start of the ride. It was broken pretty much all of last season, but then started working this season, however it seems to have broke again!
 
The Rat Demon has always been a bit hit and miss, which is bizarre considering its a static prop. The only part of the effect that can go wrong is the spot that illuminates it as you come round the corner, so god knows why its so temperamental half the time, I think there was a point in round about 07' where it fell down from its mounting completely and you could see it just lying on the floor as you rounded the corner. In fact...

S73F1253.jpg

(Thanks to Ant on TTF about 5 years ago for the pic)

When you say the music in the entrance hall is audible outside, is that the main Duel theme from the ride, the Ambient Gloomy Wood area theme or the Haunted House entrance hall theme?

Finally, the TV Screen at the end of the ride is working again? Last time I saw that functioning was 2004!
 
Dave said:
I think things have got more complex since last season, not sure why though other than a train vally'ed during the John Lewis day.
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'Vally'ed'? What does this mean?
 
NF2 said:
The Rat Demon has always been a bit hit and miss, which is bizarre considering its a static prop. The only part of the effect that can go wrong is the spot that illuminates it as you come round the corner, so god knows why its so temperamental half the time
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No the demon is not static, he has an air pressure mechanism that moves him forward into the path of the car, only to swing away at the last second.

I just love that prop. I love all the original characters, there are only about 6 left.
 
Really? I knew the first demon obviously moves, but the second one just seems to hide in the corner and light up.

Obviously they've done a good job hiding the mechanism then. When it works that is :p
 
electricBlll said:
BigAl said:
Moving into the main indoor room for the queue and the music was still loud and it nearly drowned the Doll's House audio out completely.
Click to expand...
Doll house audio? You mean the singing sound effect has been restored, or do you mean the Drawing Room music?

Just wondering because I heard Alton Towers had been 'given back' most of the Haunted House's original sound effects, so there was a possibility of the ghost girl's singing also being restored. Would be great if it was true, those old sounds are so characteristic.
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Sorry I don't remember the proper name of the tune, but it's whatever the audio used in this video is called:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5nEDn89WQ#

(that's all I could find :p )


electricBlll said:
The audio all around that area is very annoying really, there is no reason why they should have the TV audio playing in the foyer room. To be honest I wish they would just jell Richard O Connor to shut up, nobody cares about what he is saying anymore and that "Doctor Roudyn" chappy doesn't even appear in the ride. Such silliness...!
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That was actually another point that I'd forgotten about! :p The TV audio was also ridiculously loud so all three tracks became merged into a horrible mess which ruined the atmosphere completely whilst queuing (for all of 20 seconds :( )
 
Ok, thanks, that is indeed the "Drawing Room" track from Graham Smart's score, one of the only original tracks that still play in the ride today. Excellent Victorian horror, they brought it back partially in 2008 I think, such a shame it doesn't fill the room anymore.
 
The demon with the rat was broken all of last season (or most of it) and i did briefly work at the start of this season, but didnt swing much and made lots of air noise (which wouldnt explain if its powered by air), now its just static again, but he light does come on when you go past.
 
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