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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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ChristmasPud said:
Yes I hope they either keep the wacky factor if reusing all scenes, or redesign everything needed to make the new theme work.
Or you'd end up with a Tomb Blaster 2020 where they've tried (poorly) to tie scenes together that werent meant to be. Im sure they wont be doing that.
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Yeah, it'd be nice to see if any humor is integrated back in to the old or new scenes since JWs involved, and we all know his opinion on scaring guests.

I don't really mind Tomb Blasters 2020 refurbishment, but it was way too serious with the props in there. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't suit with the theming inside there.
 
RIPCorky said:
Back when it was the original HH and it had a queue, the dolls house and the fire place always got peoples attention
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I remember it getting lots attention in Duel too, anyone else remember when Duel regularly got a 15 min queue? The preshow was still pretty dark in there at that time too.
I still think seems like an odd proposition to base the whole theme on such a tiny aspect of the original ride, but I assume theyve found an ingenius way of making it work as a new experience for new and old guests.
 
Also the track seems to be standard railway track. Not what I imagine the ride will be running on, think the building is out of gauge for that.
 
Squiggs said:
Once again, I think we need to step back from this bizarre notion that "average guests" experience theme parks in a totally different way to enthusiasts.

Broadly, the only difference between an "average guest" and an Alton Towers enthusiast is that the average guest does not want to sign up to a forum and discuss hex codes of paint at length. It is a bizarre notion that just because you're not a self-declared enthusiast, you choose to have an entire day out and basically ignore everything around you.

It doesn't really come down to levels of enthusiasm in Alton Tower at all, it comes down to how interested and observant people are. As demonstrated regularly around the forum, there are plenty of 'enthusiasts', who are not very observant when it comes to things around the park and certainly the levels of interest vary dramatically too from topic to topic.

Ultimately, I suspect there is no difference between the percentage of enthusiasts that recognise the name Emily Alton vs. the rest of the park's guests.
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OK, my idea to talk about this through the standpoint of “the average guest” was wrong and I apologise. I completely get where you’re coming from, I 100% agree with you, and I admit that I was completely wrong when talking about things through the standpoint of “the average guest”.

My point was more, however, that the sort of stuff where Emily Alton was referenced is very easy to miss, whether you’re a self-professed enthusiast or not. I would wager that many people probably did not notice the minor references to the character and the name “Emily Alton” within the previous two iterations, so for those people, Emily Alton may as well be a totally new character.

However observant you are, few would deny that her role within the previous two iterations was very minor, and I’d call her use within the new attraction more of an Easter egg for those who recognise her from the past than a sure fire sign of a strong connection with the previous iterations.

With that being said, I concede that it’s impossible to tell how much of the old ride will have been reused based on that alone. My suspicion could be totally and utterly wrong.
 
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Now that the ride is opening imminently, we know a few people have already asked about splitting topics for The Curse at Alton Manor to have non spoiler and spoiler discussion. The problem with splitting discussion is that everyone has a different view of what constitutes a spoiler. With the ride system itself thought to be remaining the same, discussing any other changes could easily be considered a spoiler by some.

With that in mind, we've decided to stick with one dedicated topic. This topic will be locked a day or two before opening day and a new one will be started with the following guidance:

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Thanks for the additional clarity on spoilers in this thread @Craig; that’s useful to know in the coming days and weeks!

Going back to the previous conversation, one thing I would say is that The Curse at Alton Manor looks to be going for a very different vibe to either of the previous two iterations based on the marketing materials.

I’m not sure if anyone else agrees, but through my eyes, Duel had an almost comical edge to it and didn’t take itself too seriously. I would extend that to The Haunted House, based on what I’ve seen of it; while I wouldn’t say it looked quite as comical in tone as Duel, it still didn’t look to take itself too seriously.

Conversely, The Curse at Alton Manor looks like it’s trying to strike a tone that’s not particularly comical and a bit more serious than that of its predecessors. The current marketing material does not hint towards a jovial, comical vibe like the previous two iterations both had to varying extents, in my opinion.

With that in mind, I do wonder whether the cartoony props from the previous iterations would really fit within a ride with a more “serious” tone, and that’s part of what leads me to believe that there may be less reused from the previous iterations than some are expecting.
 
Great idea @Craig! This means that I will be able to see opinions about the attraction, but not get spoiled about the attraction until I have experienced it for myself!
 
Matt N said:
Thanks for the additional clarity on spoilers in this thread @Craig; that’s useful to know in the coming days and weeks!

Going back to the previous conversation, one thing I would say is that The Curse at Alton Manor looks to be going for a very different vibe to either of the previous two iterations based on the marketing materials.

I’m not sure if anyone else agrees, but through my eyes, Duel had an almost comical edge to it and didn’t take itself too seriously. I would extend that to The Haunted House, based on what I’ve seen of it; while I wouldn’t say it looked quite as comical in tone as Duel, it still didn’t look to take itself too seriously.

Conversely, The Curse at Alton Manor looks like it’s trying to strike a tone that’s not particularly comical and a bit more serious than that of its predecessors. The current marketing material does not hint towards a jovial, comical vibe like the previous two iterations both had to varying extents, in my opinion.

With that in mind, I do wonder whether the cartoony props from the previous iterations would really fit within a ride with a more “serious” tone, and that’s part of what leads me to believe that there may be less reused from the previous iterations than some are expecting.
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It just needs to entertain guests that's all. Don't be expecting realistic or to scale scenes. The new ride should be ridden as the two previous ones were, for enjoyment, that's it.
 
RIPCorky said:
It just needs to entertain guests that's all. Don't be expecting realistic or to scale scenes. The new ride should be ridden as the two previous ones were, for enjoyment, that's it.
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I'm not sure that's what he is saying. A ride can have a fun or a more serious tone and still be entertaining. I totally get and agree with Matt on this. The overall tone of the marketing does seem a little more sinister.
 
Matt N said:
Thanks for the additional clarity on spoilers in this thread @Craig; that’s useful to know in the coming days and weeks!

Going back to the previous conversation, one thing I would say is that The Curse at Alton Manor looks to be going for a very different vibe to either of the previous two iterations based on the marketing materials.

I’m not sure if anyone else agrees, but through my eyes, Duel had an almost comical edge to it and didn’t take itself too seriously. I would extend that to The Haunted House, based on what I’ve seen of it; while I wouldn’t say it looked quite as comical in tone as Duel, it still didn’t look to take itself too seriously.

Conversely, The Curse at Alton Manor looks like it’s trying to strike a tone that’s not particularly comical and a bit more serious than that of its predecessors. The current marketing material does not hint towards a jovial, comical vibe like the previous two iterations both had to varying extents, in my opinion.

With that in mind, I do wonder whether the cartoony props from the previous iterations would really fit within a ride with a more “serious” tone, and that’s part of what leads me to believe that there may be less reused from the previous iterations than some are expecting.
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Lordy Matt, in my humble opinion...you are overthinking things again.
Don't believe the marketing hype, because that is all it is.
Remember thirteen.
It is the parks big dark ride, going into its third version.
Most punters, probably 99.9%, neither know, or care, who Emily Alton is.
It is simply a new version of the old ghost train.
The Haunted House didn't take itself seriously, it was a fun ghost train, neither did Duel, and I can't see them turning this into "deep horror" at all.
It is another makeover, there has been little national advertising, no major hype by the park of a stunning big new attraction, even with a week to go, just social media, and high thoosie vapours.
Please don't believe the marketing, wait for the ride, as the marketers often tell fibs to build up the anticipation...
 
RIPCorky said:
It just needs to entertain guests that's all. Don't be expecting realistic or to scale scenes. The new ride should be ridden as the two previous ones were, for enjoyment, that's it.
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As @DistortAMG infers, I never said that I was expecting realistic or to-scale scenes or that its purpose was anything other than to entertain.

I more meant that the marketing looks to strike a more sinister tone and take itself a bit more seriously than that of the earlier iterations, so I wondered whether that might correlate with possible changes to the ride to fit that.

rob666 said:
Lordy Matt, in my humble opinion...you are overthinking things again.
Don't believe the marketing hype, because that is all it is.
Remember thirteen.
It is the parks big dark ride, going into its third version.
Most punters, probably 99.9%, neither know, or care, who Emily Alton is.
It is simply a new version of the old ghost train.
The Haunted House didn't take itself seriously, it was a fun ghost train, neither did Duel, and I can't see them turning this into "deep horror" at all.
It is another makeover, there has been little national advertising, no major hype by the park of a stunning big new attraction, even with a week to go, just social media, and high thoosie vapours.
Please don't believe the marketing, wait for the ride, as the marketers often tell fibs to build up the anticipation...
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By “serious”, I didn’t mean “deep horror”. The fact it’s in “Laughs & Frights” infers that it will remain a family ride, and I never expected anything otherwise.

I more meant that it doesn’t look quite as cartoony and comical in tone as the HH and Duel, and it looks to have a far greater focus on narrative. Overall, it does look a bit more “serious” to me. The marketing materials I’ve seen for both the HH and Duel did hint at the more jovial tone of those two rides, so I feel that it would be fair to anticipate something slightly more serious in tone from this ride based on the marketing materials we currently have.

With that being said, I’m clearly not getting my point across very well and nobody likes me continuing to push it, so I’ll shut up… sorry to waste your time.
 
Horror/Scary attractions are a very different breed now to the 90s/00s.

Different expectations from the last decade or so of scare events becoming prevalent and extremely popular.

The marketing is in line with this change in tastes. Much like the latest horror films they have to be marketed as the ScArIeSt EvEr! even if many seasoned viewers come out bored as hell. And it's now a SERIOUS story attraction over the original lack of or incredibly basic story.

After all, Haunted House was just a high budget classic ghost train. But that suited the 90s, now there's a different level of expectation from those involved in theme parks.
 
rob666 said:
This is not being targeted at those involved in theme parks.
Lower your expectations.
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I’m aware of that, but surely it is likely to be at least somewhat indicative of the type of attraction this new experience will be?
 
Benzin said:
Horror/Scary attractions are a very different breed now to the 90s/00s.
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Benzin said:
Much like the latest horror films they have to be marketed as the ScArIeSt EvEr!
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This is like saying a Scooby Doo movie would be a hardcore now movie now, it's two different appeals for different markets. The old ride was more of a family one, the new ride seems to be more for older kids and young adults with a darker vibe and more of a story.
 
Thirteen's problem was a classic example of the design and marketing teams not working together and causing a bit of a calamity when the ride was finally revealed...not helped that the ride's outdoor section wasn't all that good to begin with so even without the marketing making it something it wasn't it likely wouldn't have gone down well with the GP.
 
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