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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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Craig

Craig

TS Administrator
Now that it's closed, we've decided to start a new topic for Duel's refurbishment. The previous topic covers a lot of previous discussion about the state that Duel was in, and lots of speculation about what could be coming.

You are welcome to continue speculating in this topic, as well as share any updates on the progress of the refurbishment in here.

But first an important reminder...​

As you know we now have media uploading enabled on the forum. As a result, we have the following in our member expectations:
You should ensure that any images that you upload to TowersStreet are either your own, or you have full permission to do so. If this doesn’t apply, please link to the image/website with credit. Any image uploads should also be suitable for all (including uploads within the Courtyard Tavern). The team reserves the right to remove any image uploads hosted on the TowersStreet server.

Media embedding, which allows videos from sites such as YouTube to be added to posts is also available on TowersStreet. Videos should only be posted if they add to discussion, and should also be accompanied by opinions or viewpoints of your own. Posting videos without your own views or opinions is considered spamming, and the team will remove posts if found.
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There have been a number of occasions where uncredited photos have been uploaded. If they are your own, that's obviously not a problem, however if they are sourced from elsewhere then they should be either linked to or credited.

There will clearly be a lot going on at the Duel site in the coming months, some of it will be visible, some of it not much. So it's natural there will be lots of people taking images/video and uploading them. If those people take time out of their day to share updates on social media or on their websites, then it's only right that they are properly credited for their work. That goes for individuals and for fan sites alike.

So if you're sharing updates in the coming weeks and months, then please properly credit the source. We have requested this to be done multiple times in recent months, yet this has seemingly been ignored on multiple occasions. Moving forward, we will start to consider removing image upload and embedding privileges for repeat offenders.

Finally, this is likely to be a very busy topic so please ensure your post contributes constructively and sensibly to discussion. Please also refer to the previous topic to ensure the points you've raised haven't already been discussed.

Thanks in advance!
 
If they were to change it quite a bit, I'd like at least the Grand Hall, Trommel, Screaming Heads, and The Garden scene to be intact. If the new version of the already beloved ride was going to be so rapidly different to its current form, surely they would've had a similar event like what they did to Bubbleworks, although a bit smaller. You wouldn't just change a ride like that without publicly announcing its closure on a widespread basis.

I'd love to see them use proper UV lighting, not LED UV.
 
I hope we have a ride that is a true sequel to HH and completely ignores Duel. I would like the queueline to have some sort of Preshow to further build up the experience for guests, maybe it can tell the whole story of the history of the house for they already sort of did the same for X-Sector regarding how the MOJ was behind the area so something could be done for HH. What the story is I'm honestly not sure about, anyone on here has a better idea for it.

And yes, the evil duck has a cameo somewhere on the ride!
 
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, but what I’m personally hoping for is a ride that takes the original concept of the Haunted House, but does something brand new and original with it instead of leaning too heavily upon nostalgia and old ideas.

As I have said in the past, I am personally sceptical of the success prospects of a flat out “revival” of the 1992 Haunted House. I think the average guest either wouldn’t know what the HH was (it closed 20 years ago, so people much below the age of 30 likely won’t have any significant memories of it), or even if they did, they wouldn’t get why the park was “bringing back” an old attraction that closed in 2002. And I fear that the enthusiasts and die-hard nostalgics whom such a move would be aimed at would be critical of the fact that a “revival” wouldn’t be exactly like the 1992 version of the ride; let’s face it, it would have to differ in some way from the original simply due to advances in technology (and partially due to the original finale scene having been bulldozed in 2003), which would make it a wholly new ride experience that simply shares a name with the original. My fear is that it would ultimately end up pleasing very few due to the average guest not understanding it and the enthusiasts criticising it for being too far from the 1992 original. I’m open to being proven wrong if this is what happens, but that’s my personal view.

I apologise in advance if this is controversial, but in my view, there was only one true Haunted House, and it closed in 2002. Trying to “revive” it in 2023 won’t turn back time and write the Duel revamp out of the Alton Towers canon, regardless of how good the intentions of the creative team are.

However, I do think that the concept of the original Haunted House is very strong, and a lot could be done with it using modern technology. I would personally replace a lot of the old props and scenes with newer animatronics, and I also hope that they employ some modern techniques such as pepper’s ghost and projection mapping; I feel like these could really enhance it.

I do have a lot of faith that this project will be something really good; I think we could be in for a treat here!
 
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I’m also to see whether it will become the strongest dark ride of the three that there will be. Hex is the best in my opinion (when it actually works) but I’m intrigued to see if this will be the dark ride setting the standard for the park!
 
One thing's for sure; I think with Gangsta Granny in 2021, this retheme for 2023 and the new indoor attraction on Coaster Corner coming in the not-too-distant future, it's certainly a very exciting time to be a dark ride fan if Alton Towers is near and dear to you!
 
I'm interested to see what Gloomy Wood is like from tomorrow until the end of the season... will Simon Allen's soundtrack still play in the area? Or will it just be completely soundless and soulless until 2023?

Will it even be open? The teaser posted would suggest that Gloomy Wood will stay open, but I wouldn't like to be too certain.
 
Matt N said:
I'm interested to see what Gloomy Wood is like from tomorrow until the end of the season... will Simon Allen's soundtrack still play in the area? Or will it just be completely soundless and soulless until 2023?

Will it even be open? The teaser posted would suggest that Gloomy Wood will stay open, but I wouldn't like to be too certain.
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I think the area will still be open, but I’d expect it to be quiet. Hopefully as well we see something in the Nitrogenie building
 
It'll all be internal work until the end of the season. Likely the area will just function as a through route with just the repossessed sign as a hint that something will be there. Likely the Duel sign will be covered or removed.
 
Craig said:
Finally, this is likely to be a very busy topic so please ensure your post contributes constructively and sensibly to discussion. Please also refer to the previous topic to ensure the points you've raised haven't already been discussed.

Thanks in advance!
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Oh dear, I don't think I've ever posted anything constructive or sensible anywhere on this forum. Guess this thread isn't for me...
 
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