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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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I reckon that even if Duel did take on a more serious theme with this retheme, it wouldn’t really combat with Hex, nor would it limit the ride’s target audience.

Hex is a very different type of experience to what this ride will likely be. Hex relies a lot more on its pre-ride build up and the singular illusion in the ride portion at the end, while Duel is a proper tracked dark ride with multiple scenes.

Also, I wouldn’t say that a slightly more serious spooky theme would necessarily limit its family appeal. Tower of Terror, arguably the epitome of the serious spooky theme, has been operating since 1994 with a mere 1m height restriction and very wide appeal!
 
Matt N said:
Also, I wouldn’t say that a slightly more serious spooky theme would necessarily limit its family appeal. Tower of Terror, arguably the epitome of the serious spooky theme, has been operating since 1994 with a mere 1m height restriction and very wide appeal!
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Would be interesting how many kids end up chickening out on ToT though.

Plus Disney did have Alien Encounter. Which was pure terror and that's been binned. Dinosaur just about exists for now.

Where the park sits atm it would be better for them to maybe step on the edge of pure scares for what is one of the few attractions that is more universal for the attraction list. Similar vein to the original Haunted House basically.
 
Benjsh said:
Screw that. I'm hoping it's really creepy and sinister. The kids and families have had a lot of investment of late at the park. It's time for something for us big kids.
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Agreed. There’s currently nothing on park which offers proper dark ride scares so I hope this refurb fills that gap.
 
Niet Roken said:
The park needs a family dark ride bigger than Gangsta Granny. The original ride was suspenseful and spooky but also eccentric and fun. The park really doesnt need more horror or dark themes
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With the language they are using and type of marketing....I think it's moving away from families tbh.

RePOSSESSED doesn't scream family. That short clip with the creepy doll doesn't either.
 
A bit off tangent here but speaking at a family gathering for my parent's anniversary, we were talking about Alton Towers and the topic of Duel came up...

Apparently my two twin seven year old nieces were, despite how bad we say the ride is, were left utterly terrified about it so much so that they cried afterwards and probably won't go back to Towers for at least a few years, just imagine their reaction when I told them that it's going to be even more scary! :p
 
I wouldn't necessarily call the Original Haunted House a family dark ride, but it was a dark Ride for everyone!

Like @QTXAdsy said, It was already scary for Kids and young teens like me when I tried it as Duel, now with a hint of that Original theatrical magic it had and laff in the dark tone, it'll be the perfect ride for everyone, just like the original.

The only reason I can think of that the peepholes seek to have a more darker tone Than the original HH is because its scarefest. Scarefest brings in a lot of older teens and young adults into the park, so I'm Guessing ATs Marketing team doesnt want to advertise the HH as a Laff in the dark style it was yet.
 
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jon81uk said:
What family investment has there been? The park definitely needs something for all ages again like the original Haunted House.
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Families had TWODW just last year, which I'd definitely say was a whole family investment. I'd certainly argue at very least that GG satisfies the brief of an all round family ride; the park puts Gangsta Granny within Laughs & Frights rather than Young Fun & Imagination, so I think you could consider it an all-round family attraction rather than a kids' ride. But even notwithstanding Alton Towers' categorisation, I would happily consider it an all round family ride rather than a ride that only appeals to kids.

And if you put CBeebies into the umbrella of "family", then that area had new investments in both 2019 and 2022.

By comparison, the last thrill investment was Dungeons in 2019, and if you exclude the Dungeons (as it's not exactly "thrill" per se and it isn't included in park entry), then the last thrill investment was Wicker Man in 2018. Before that, you've only had Galactica in 2016, and before that was Smiler back in 2013.

My suspicion is that this retheme will be a whole family investment rather than a thrill investment, however. Given the ride's history, I'd be very surprised if Merlin made this ride an out and out thrill attraction.

I do think it could be a little more serious/a little bit darker in tone than the previous iterations of the ride, but I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing at all, and I also don't think that it would harm the ride's credentials as an all round family attraction.
 
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Matt N said:
Families had TWODW just last year, which I'd definitely say was a whole family investment. I'd certainly argue at very least that GG satisfies the brief of an all round family ride; the park puts Gangsta Granny within Laughs & Frights rather than Young Fun & Imagination, so I think you could consider it an all-round family attraction rather than a kids' ride. But even notwithstanding Alton Towers' categorisation, I would happily consider it an all round family ride rather than a ride that only appeals to kids.

And if you put CBeebies into the umbrella of "family", then that area had new investments in both 2019 and 2022.

By comparison, the last thrill investment was Dungeons in 2019, and if you exclude the Dungeons (as it's not exactly "thrill" per se and it isn't included in park entry), then the last thrill investment was Wicker Man in 2018. Before that, you've only had Galactica in 2016, and before that was Smiler back in 2013.

My suspicion is that this retheme will be a whole family investment rather than a thrill investment, however. Given the ride's history, I'd be very surprised if Merlin made this ride an out and out thrill attraction.
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But Gangsta Granny isn’t really an all-ages attraction and CBeebies definitely isn’t. For adults who don’t want rollercoasters, there is only really Hex and the Rapids. Duel and The Haunted House filled that gap of something suitable for almost all ages over about 7-8. Whereas Gangsra Granny is only really for those already familiar with the booms of David Walliams.
Also the area as a whole isn’t really an investment, just a repaint. Even Ug Land was probably a bigger actually investment and that didn’t add new rides either.
 
You can say what you like about TWODW, but it's still more than thrillseekers have had since 2018, and the young family market in particular has been relatively spoiled in the last 10 years compared to the thrill market.

I still maintain that you could at very least call GG a "family" ride, and that it has fairly wide appeal; when I last rode it, it seemed to have a fair few older families in the queue for it, which you likely couldn't say about any of the CBeebies rides.
 
Matt N said:
You can say what you like about TWODW, but it's still more than thrillseekers have had since 2018, and the young family market in particular has been relatively spoiled in the last 10 years compared to the thrill market.
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The Retro Squad say hi.

And if for some reason we're not counting the Retro Squad, then the only market that has actually had investment since 2018 would be the kids market.
 
Squiggs said:
The Retro Squad say hi.

And if for some reason we're not counting the Retro Squad, then the only market that has actually had investment since 2018 would be the kids market.
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Ah, sorry... I had a complete mind blank and forgot the Retrosquad...

In my defence, it could be argued that they're not permanent additions, so could be seen in a different light, but I do see your point...

Perhaps a better way to put TWODW would be an "older children's market" investment rather than an "all ages" investment, but I still maintain that GG could be argued as an all ages family investment rather than a kids' investment.
 
Yes the park is lacking in new thrill attractions, particularly with all the flat rides being removed, but the rollercoaster line up is still strong.
However removing an all-ages attraction and replacing it with something not suitable for as wide-range of guests wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

Also I’m not disputing that Gangsta Granny is a family attraction, but it isn’t an all-ages attraction in the same way as the Haunted House. I doubt many 50 year olds without kids would care about it, but could still enjoy Haunted House and Duel. That’s the difference between all-ages and family, adults are still interested in riding without kids and the park is seriously lacking in “adult” rides that aren’t rollercoasters.
 
Dark rides like this make for great all-rounder / family rides, they don't work great for "thrills" unless its Sub Terra or something.

Star Wars — a "family" movie, it still has suspense and peril, but it still has broad appeal and eccentric character. Making it dark and sucking any eccentricity out of it would just lose some of its major appeal.

Haunted themes can go one way or another but on a big dark ride, I think a balance of whimsical and suspense is most "Alton Towers"
 
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You could argue the mummy ride at universal is scary but accommodates for all ages. Also the wicker man pre show “burning and setting fire to you souls” sounds, theme and lighting is scary for kids! But it’s aimed still at that demographic. Let’s not forget thirteen advert is actually terrifying. That advert would be banned back in the day, but it was marketed as a family ride. Where I’m going with this is times have changed, I think alien encounter would work today in any non-Disney park because we don’t get as scared as we used to back in the 90s, you only have to look at film ratings (rated 18 pretty much none existent now) so the original haunted house at it scariest would completely work today. Easily accessed streaming services have allowed kids to see darker themes more normalised. I’m not sharing torment them, but a few more jump scares and maturing themes will have a better effect all round for guest satisfaction! I definitely feel more sensory effects would be a bonus for this.


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