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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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Altonadvocate1 said:
Whilst the latest technology at enormous cost can help, it is nothing without creativity, imagination, originality, immersion, emotion, mystery, wonder, magic, etc.

Sometimes a lot can be achieved on a smaller budget. If it's done right, it can live with or beat the big boys.

I'm confident in AT's 3 projects at this time.
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The Haunted House was living proof of this.
 
Please could we keep discussion on the topic of Duel please? For my sanity's sake I won't go back and remove posts, however for off-topic chat please make a new thread or post in an existing one in the correct place. Thanks!
 
John Jr as you called him was very vocal about how good Jumanji is. After watching the POV I can think of many words Id use and I don't think any have 'good' as a pre-requisite.

After the initial marketing I was optimistic about the Duel refurb. Now, much less so.
 
Ben said:
John Jr as you called him was very vocal about how good Jumanji is. After watching the POV I can think of many words Id use and I don't think any have 'good' as a pre-requisite.

After the initial marketing I was optimistic about the Duel refurb. Now, much less so.
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Other POV's show that it's not completely in the light like that POV posted on the last page, it's just the camera's low light settings. The feedback I have heard from people who've ridden it themselves have been very positive about.

I have every confidence in John Burton after speaking to him a number of times a few years back. He is a very well travelled enthusiast who has ridden some of the best dark rides in the world. I'd blame any lack of quality on a lack of budget, because I know for a fact that John is a very ambitious creative with great ideas. And with John Wardley's involved in the creative process, there is also no reason for this re-imagining of the Haunted House to skimp out on quality, and he was very positive in the interview posted on here earlier.
 
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I have ridden Jumanji. The ride system is impressively dynamic and the quality of the visuals is decent, but their integration is poor, and the depth of the video ironically shows up the bare nature of the segments in between. I am afraid that the video does give a fairly accurate representation of the experience, including the "Is that it...?" feeling come the offload. The ride's walls are indeed screamingly obvious throughout and then regularly lit with bizarrely placed strobes. The placement of the otherwise impressive skeleton animatronics reminded me of that screaming 'split face' thing at the end of what used to be the Trommel on Duel, funnily enough.

Nonetheless, I still think The Haunted House 3.0 will be decent.
 
I'd boil that down to bad lighting design then. I don't think that can be blamed completely on John Burton or the lighting designer though. A lot of Merlin dark rides tend to end up the same way, minus Gangsta Granny, due to high ambitions but a lack of budget to realize those ambition adequately.

Anyway, yes, John Wardley says in the interview that this will require a number of re-rides to absorb all the fine details, so I'm confident that we'll end up with something on a level that we're hoping for.
 
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I am not blaming John Burton, or anyone, for anything. Merlin is obviously not wanting for creative individuals. I expect they are just hamstrung in the case of a project like Jumanji, expected to deliver a ride synonymous with the large budget of the associated IP, but without the support needed to do it. They are then also contractually obliged to talk it up.
 
I think Jumanji looks really good myself! The screens look decent, and there appear to be some decent animatronics in there too!

Although with that being said, I generally have a higher tolerance for screens on dark rides than most in this thread. I don’t really have an issue with screens in most cases, and when done well, I thoroughly believe that they can enhance an attraction rather than detract from it.
 
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I have a different opinion on screens based on the ride I’m experiencing/the ride I’m expecting to experience.

I’ll use Gangsta Granny as an example. I was expecting lots of screens in there and actually think they are suitable and work well enough for the ride that it is.

However, with this re theme, screens are not something I’d want to see. I wouldn’t be expecting loads, and I’m not they’d fit the experience very well. Screen overuse may make this a damp squib, whereas with Gangsta Granny they’re fine. I’m not expecting screens in this ride, I’ll be surprised if even 1 makes it into here.

EDIT: to clarify, I don’t mean Peppers ghosts. I mean a standard, conventional screen a la Gangsta Granny that you just move around a track, stop in front of, watch and then move on.
 
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