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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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From my experience, HM doesn’t really draw long queues either; remarkably, queues were only about 5-10 minutes for it the whole time I was in Magic Kingdom!

I know that doesn’t sound walk on like Duel was at its maximum capability, but when Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had a 105 minute queue in the same park on the same day, it certainly is short by comparison!
 
No, but I think we should wait before saying that it won't get queues, or that it might not draw a queue. It's also almost guaranteed to not look and feel like a thirty year old dark ride come next March, and if it's an attraction which is not called "Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back", as guests have known that ride for 19 years, and is being branded as something new, then most of the GP will probably see it as "new" and therefore queue for it. It therefore could get a decent length queue next year throughout the busiest periods.
 
Trooper Looper said:
I doubt it, why would they send all the cars to mack at different times with days apart from the others? Multiple voyages at different times is stupidly expensive. Why not just wait and send them all at once? I bet they're working on the rides hardware first, and I don't see any major changes to them outside of removing the blasters, the books where the blaster hardware is stored, and touching the cars theming up, like additional licks of paint.
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You can probably only fit 3 or 4 of those cars on a lorry at a time. So it would make absolutely no difference sending them in batches of 3 or 4 at different times. Would cost no more. It is not like you can find a lorry that could fit every car, that does not exist.

Thus sending them all at once vs a few at a time would cost the same amount. If (a big if) they went to Germany it would be by truck. You pay on ferries by the Lorry. It would cost the same if you put 5 lorrys on 1 ferry or 5 lorrys on 5 ferries.

I still think these could be going to Mack. There is quite alot of proprietary technology in those vehicles, something other companies may struggle with.
 
I don't think it will be getting hour long queues all season, but with a good marketing campaign, word of mouth and most importantly a decent upgrade, I can see it getting more traction. It's never going to be rivalling Wickerman or Smiler in terms of queue times but an increased wait time is most certainly on the cards
 
rob666 said:
90% of Alton's visitors are repeat visitors you know...
I give in, it will get queues briefly, a thousand vlogger geeks desperate to get the first dodgy footage.
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Man of my own heart you are.

When there is something to be enthusiastic about I get it. But I feel this is nothing more that a spruce up. Hence no queues

I'm happy to be wrong though
 
Jb85 said:
Man of my own heart you are.

When there is something to be enthusiastic about I get it. But I feel this is nothing more that a spruce up. Hence no queues

I'm happy to be wrong though
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For me, If it isn't as Drastic as something like Piraten In Batavia or something as minimal like its 2018 TLC, I'll be thrilled!!!
 
Trooper Looper said:
For me, If it isn't as Drastic as something like Piraten In Batavia or something as minimal like its 2018 TLC, I'll be thrilled!!!
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If you’re dreading something as drastic as Piraten in Batavia, then I’d say you’re probably in luck. Piraten in Batavia was only as drastic as it was out of necessity; the previous ride burned down, so for all intents and purposes, the current form of Piraten in Batavia was a brand new ride rather than a refurb…

I would love a Piraten in Batavia type overhaul, though. Not in terms of building a whole new ride like EP did, of course, but if they did something similar in terms of modernising the ride and doing a different take on the original ride rather than doing a “revival” in the form of a carbon copy of the original ride.

Not to mention that I personally thought Piraten in Batavia was a spectacular ride!

At the same time, though, I would also be very surprised if we got something as minimal as the 2018 TLC job. The ride has closed prior to the end of the season, which would suggest it’s a pretty big project, and I think they might do a surprising amount in terms of modernisation and changing the scenes/props. I obviously don’t know, of course, but I’m not sure that too much of the original HH, in terms of moving props at least, will remain into 2023.
 
I can't imagine the budget for this spruce up / overhaul is going to be more than £3-4million so I wouldn't get my hopes up for anything extraordinary. However that should still be plenty enough budget to vastly improve the experience of Duel.

We will still have a lot of the same effects as previously I imagined only hopefully they will be fixed. At best I can see 2/3 new scenes.

Still excited though as it was a personal favourite of mine prior to the guns being added.
 
Matt N said:
If you’re dreading something as drastic as Piraten in Batavia, then I’d say you’re probably in luck. Piraten in Batavia was only as drastic as it was out of necessity; the previous ride burned down, so for all intents and purposes, the current form of Piraten in Batavia was a brand new ride rather than a refurb…

I would love a Piraten in Batavia type overhaul, though. Not in terms of building a whole new ride like EP did, of course, but if they did something similar in terms of modernising the ride and doing a different take on the original ride rather than doing a “revival” in the form of a carbon copy of the original ride.

Not to mention that I personally thought Piraten in Batavia was a spectacular ride!

At the same time, though, I would also be very surprised if we got something as minimal as the 2018 TLC job. The ride has closed prior to the end of the season, which would suggest it’s a pretty big project, and I think they might do a surprising amount in terms of modernisation and changing the scenes/props. I obviously don’t know, of course, but I’m not sure that too much of the original HH, in terms of moving props at least, will remain into 2023.
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Well its very clear they're branding it as the return of the HH in some manner, so why remove those very elements on what made it the Haunted House? That's like Pirate Adventure Being rethemed to a carbon copy of Disneylands original Pirates of the Caribbean, with only the branding actually being relevant to Pirate Adventure as fans remember it as. Yes, they're both themed to the same genre, but they're both totally different experience as well with false advertising. Yeah, one is better than the other, but it isn't Pirate Adventure anymore, it's a completely different ride for the sake of it. Piraten in Batavias was valid as those original scenes no longer existed after the fire, while on Duel, many bits of the Haunted House does still to this day in pretty decent condition. So again, why remove them when this overhaul is obviously Haunted House related?

If they were retheming it to a completely different attraction, the removal of the HH scenes would be valid as it wouldn't fit in with the new theme. But I this case, that obviously isn't happening with evidence from John Burtons Social Media, and the teasers around the facade of the Building. If they're going to bring back the Haunted House in some way, why remove the Haunted House scenes at the same time with something completely different for the sake of it while pointlessly spending more money? Then it wouldn't be THE Haunted House anymore, it'll be just A Haunted House.

I agree with @Benjsh here, I imagine most of the budget is going to be put into refurbishing the ride system, refitting the ride vehicles hardware, which are incredibly expensive already, and the couple of new scenes. Apart from that, all I can see is some spruce up and major TLC in the surviving scenes, along with new or old sound effects fitted in, and different music.
 
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Trooper Looper said:
Well its very clear they're branding it as the return of the HH in some manner, so why remove those very elements on what made it the Haunted House? That's like Pirate Adventure Being rethemed to a carbon copy of Disneylands original Pirates of the Caribbean, with only the branding actually being relevant to Pirate Adventure as fans remember it as. Yes, they're both themed to the same genre, but they're both totally different experience as well with false advertising. Yeah, one is better than the other, but it isn't Pirate Adventure anymore, it's a completely different ride for the sake of it. Piraten of Batavias was valid as those original scenes no longer existed after the fire, while on Duel, many bits of the Haunted House does still to this day in pretty decent condition. So again, why remove them when this overhaul is obviously Haunted House related?

If they were retheming it to a completely different attraction, the removal of the HH scenes would be valid as it wouldn't fit in with the new theme. But I this case, that obviously isn't happening with evidence from John Burtons Social Media, and the teasers around the facade of the Building. If they're going to bring back the Haunted House in some way, why remove the Haunted House scenes at the same time with something completely different for the sake of it while pointlessly spending more money? Then it wouldn't be THE Haunted House anymore, it'll be just A Haunted House.

I agree with @Benjsh here, I imagine most of the budget is going to be put into refurbishing the ride system, refitting the ride vehicles hardware, which are incredibly expensive already, and the couple of new scenes. Apart from that, all I can see is some spruce up and major TLC in the surviving scenes, along with new or old sound effects fitted in, and different music.
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Has it necessarily been confirmed that it will be branded as a “revival” of the HH? I know that John Burton could have been construed as hinting towards this, but at the same time, he could simply have been hinting towards the return of an attraction of a similar style to the original HH.

Ditto with the whole “repossessed” thing; that could simply be hinting towards a “new owner” of the house rather than the old ride “returning”.

In terms of why remove the current props; I’d remove them because they’re 30 years old, and a newer prop could likely provide a more convincing effect, and newer scenes could be better tailored to fit modern lighting technologies (Isn’t the scenes not fitting the current lighting one of the commonly perceived issues with the current ride? You can’t really light things like they would have been lit in 1992 anymore, so the scenes would have to change in some form).

Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d personally far prefer a new, original take on the concept to something that leans super heavily upon the original ride and its ideas. While the original HH undeniably worked well in 1992, it’s a very different era now, and whatever you do to it won’t “bring back” the original ride exactly as it was and pretend that Duel never happened.

Even if the ride is called “The Haunted House” once again; “Haunted House” is a very broad concept that wouldn’t necessarily require you to stick by the letter to the original 1992 ride… I’d wager that very few outside of enthusiast circles have heard of or still strongly remember the original HH, so I don’t think there would be a huge amount of clamouring from the average guest for specific scenes or props to stay; as long as it did the same sort of thing and did it well, what difference would it really make?
 
Matt N said:
Has it necessarily been confirmed that it will be branded as a “revival” of the HH? I know that John Burton could have been construed as hinting towards this, but at the same time, he could simply have been hinting towards the return of an attraction of a similar style to the original HH.

Ditto with the whole “repossessed” thing; that could simply be hinting towards a “new owner” of the house rather than the old ride “returning”.

In terms of why remove the current props; I’d remove them because they’re 30 years old, and a newer prop could likely provide a more convincing effect, and newer scenes could be better tailored to fit modern lighting technologies (Isn’t the scenes not fitting the current lighting one of the commonly perceived issues with the current ride? You can’t really light things like they would have been lit in 1992 anymore, so the scenes would have to change in some form).

Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d personally far prefer a new, original take on the concept to something that leans super heavily upon the original ride and its ideas. While the original HH undeniably worked well in 1992, it’s a very different era now, and whatever you do to it won’t “bring back” the original ride exactly as it was and pretend that Duel never happened.

Even if the ride is called “The Haunted House” once again; “Haunted House” is a very broad concept that wouldn’t necessarily require you to stick by the letter to the original 1992 ride… I’d wager that very few outside of enthusiast circles have heard of or still strongly remember the original HH, so I don’t think there would be a huge amount of clamouring from the average guest for specific scenes or props to stay; as long as it did the same sort of thing and did it well, what difference would it really make?
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The retheme almost certainly won't be a carbon copy of the original HH, more so inspired by it.
 
Skyscraper said:
The retheme almost certainly won't be a carbon copy of the original HH, more so inspired by it.
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If it is inspired by it, that wouldn’t necessarily mean that they’d have to keep the current HH scenes, though, would it?

“Inspired” could just mean that they keep the same basic concept and rebuild it for the modern era, couldn’t it?
 
Matt N said:
Has it necessarily been confirmed that it will be branded as a “revival” of the HH? I know that John Burton could have been construed as hinting towards this, but at the same time, he could simply have been hinting towards the return of an attraction of a similar style to the original HH.

Ditto with the whole “repossessed” thing; that could simply be hinting towards a “new owner” of the house rather than the old ride “returning”.

In terms of why remove the current props; I’d remove them because they’re 30 years old, and a newer prop could likely provide a more convincing effect, and newer scenes could be better tailored to fit modern lighting technologies (Isn’t the scenes not fitting the current lighting one of the commonly perceived issues with the current ride? You can’t really light things like they would have been lit in 1992 anymore, so the scenes would have to change in some form).

Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d personally far prefer a new, original take on the concept to something that leans super heavily upon the original ride and its ideas. While the original HH undeniably worked well in 1992, it’s a very different era now, and whatever you do to it won’t “bring back” the original ride exactly as it was and pretend that Duel never happened.

Even if the ride is called “The Haunted House” once again; “Haunted House” is a very broad concept that wouldn’t necessarily require you to stick by the letter to the original 1992 ride… I’d wager that very few outside of enthusiast circles have heard of or still strongly remember the original HH, so I don’t think there would be a huge amount of clamouring from the average guest for specific scenes or props to stay; as long as it did the same sort of thing and did it well, what difference would it really make?
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I think this is a pretty big conformation that the HH will be returning on some form, John Burton sent this tweet a while ago, it was released on the same day the Board showing the rides closing date was uploaded to Social Media.


The original version of the ride (opening day variant) IMO has aged really well and isn't too outdated, but like I've mentioned in previous posts in the past, it was turned into an outdated attraction. I'm not saying they should relight it the way it exactly was back in 92, but with JW on board, I'm sure he'll want to reutilise very similar lighting styles to make the ride more theatrical and dark again instead of average spooky lighting.

On your whole 'we can't pretend that Duel never happened section.' Tust me, I wouldn't be surprised if the park will do just that outside of its teaser probably, they've never been proud of The HHs Transformation to Duel and have known since day 1 that its a straight up downgrade. They've never, ever been proud of Duel...

It won't be a complete carbon copy, but I'm sure there will be aspects that will be carbon copies, like repaints, certain sound effects, props, etc, but there will also be a lot of new as well, preferably where the Duel scenes are now (After the Trommel, what's left of the Giants Lair and the Lab Finale, that's 3 scenes you've got) I wouldn't be surprised if they'll use unused concepts in place of the Duel scenes. I can see a lot of inspiration for the scenes that didn't last long like the Ghost Corridor and the Troll Bridge scare. I feel pretty confident that they'll come back but with a twist, or using more reliable and more effective technology.
 
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Sambiasso said:
Was at the park today, walked up to Duel and so many many people were walking up expecting to ride it.
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Is the queue line entrance (the entrance into the garden queue, not the entrance into the house itself) not closed, then?

I’m surprised if not; I’d have thought that Alton Towers definitely wouldn’t want guests lurking around the queue line when the ride isn’t open.
 
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