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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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ML27 said:
I am going to say it now and I do not believe this ride will be anyway similar to duel so I cannot see how they can reuse scenes. They may reuse unnoticeable duel set pieces, but it’s clear they really want to get away from duel and the quality of it. So I can’t see anyone going on the ride and saying “oh look that’s from duel” ect ect
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The dining hall and some of the other more general “rooms” from the original Haunted House could be reused. But the ghouls/demons, yes wouldn’t fit the new theme.
 
Matt N said:
I’m loving the look of this! That promo image is brilliant, and I also really like the name!

Though I must admit that if I’m being pedantic, the use of “at” rather than “of” within the name isn’t the most satisfying to my ear, but that’s a tiny nitpick; I’ll get used to it, and it’s totally unimportant if the ride is good!

There are numerous things that I find interesting from the announcement, and there are numerous thoughts that I had. These include:
  • Based on the promotional image and the gifts sent to journalists yesterday, it would appear that dolls will be quite a prominent motif within the ride. With that in mind, I reckon that the theory about riders going into Emily Alton’s doll’s house from a couple of months back could well end up being correct.
  • I've heard others suggest that hide and seek could play some role in the ride, and given some of the evidence we have, I think that that sounds very plausible. The girl in the promotional image has her hands covering her eyes as though she could be counting, and the park's use of phrases like "Coming, ready or not!" and "the countdown has begun" could certainly allude to something to do with hide and seek, in my view. Some of the earlier teaser materials, such as the Gloomy Wood announcements having the letters "POSSESSED, WANT TO PLAY" spelled out on them in blood, would also line up with this, in my view.
  • Interestingly, Alton Towers have referred to the ride (in the press release) as "the park's most immersive dark ride to date", placing particular emphasis on "state-of-the-art special effects never seen before in a UK theme park". I wonder what these could be?
  • It does sound as though the ride could have a rather in-depth backstory seeing as though the park have apparently said that they will "announce more about the history of the Manor" in February.
  • Also, I think that the lack of "The Haunted House" within the name could be rather telling. Given that even Duel technically had "The Haunted House Strikes Back" as a suffix, could the park going with a name not containing "The Haunted House" imply that the ride experience will be more greatly divorced from either of its predecessors?
Overall, though; this looks brilliant, and I can't wait to ride it!
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I did wonder if they have named The Curse At Alton Manor rather than “of” because it could then give them scope to introduce another The Curse ride at a different park in the Merlin estate somewhere down the line? Unlikely perhaps though.
 
If I was to guess the logic behind the use of 'At' rather than 'Of' I'd suggest it was more down to the existence of 'Terror OF the Towers' and not wanting to confuse or link the two than anything else. Yes the latter is only open for a matter of weeks a season and in need of an overhaul, but it's a well established brand for the park at this point.
 
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Probably going to see Emily Alton “following” us through the ride. Perhaps a game of hide and seek?

I don’t really want to know much more before I can ride it.
 
jon81uk said:
The dining hall and some of the other more general “rooms” from the original Haunted House could be reused. But the ghouls/demons, yes wouldn’t fit the new theme.
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I think otherwise since JW is involved and he really wants this ride to have the feel and style of the Original whilst having new things, so I don't see why they wouldn't want the flying Demons kept, though a repaint is definitely advised as they looked really goofy when it was Duel, but when it was the HH, they truly looked creepy and sinister.
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They definitely need a repaint and a technical repair if they want these props to stay. If JW wasn't in this project, I can assure you they'd definitely 100% be scrapped since I think MMM would want to do a completely different ethos and style compared to the original ride if JW wasn't involved. I think they'll probably be keeping the still good scenes (Dining Hall, Spiders, etc) of the HH and removing the bad scenes (Electric Bill) that have aged really badly, like the bats on sticks! These are just my thoughts and are just speculation.
 
The new artwork looks fantastic, as do those dolls issued to journalists. I hope this is on the more extreme end of the 'laughs and frights' scale and not too kiddified, but there's nothing to suggest it will be excessively tame based on the imagery/words released today.

Duel was a hideous butchering of a great ride, and this could be the spiritual restoration that was badly needed. The name is a little odd/long from a marketing perspective. I wonder if it will be branded The Curse in reality as per Duel and not 'Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back!'

Now just get rid of that damn eyesore shelter (the coffin itself is fine I guess) in front of the house and it will likely be mission accomplished for a restored Gloomy Wood.

It comes across that there has been more free reign given to both the experienced and emerging creative talents on this one, with no bizarre IP or world-first specifications insisted upon.
 
Trooper Looper said:
If JW wasn't in this project, I can assure you they'd definitely 100% be scrapped since I think MMM would want to do a completely different ethos and style compared to the original ride if JW wasn't involved.
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But THEY hired John didn't they.

As great as it was, the old ride is 20 years gone. This looks like it will be a new version to stand on its own two legs. It may still happen to keep or improve ideas from the original but that's not really the point. I think it's done the right thing of staying as a haunted house but a new take on it.
 
NoSmoking said:
But THEY hired John didn't they.

As great as it was, the old ride is 20 years gone. This looks like it will be a new version to stand on its own two legs. It may still happen to keep or improve ideas from the original but that's not really the point. I think it's done the right thing of staying as a haunted house but a new take on it.
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Yes, that's my point, but what I was trying to say if they didn't hire him, they obviously would want something completely new that distances itself from the original ride in most aspects. This obviously isn't true since they have hired him.
 
Feel like some people are really overstating JW’s role in the project, as far as I’m aware he didn’t have much of A role in the creative process for this attraction, just some consultation and advice for the team at MMM here and there, as he has done for many recent Towers projects. Please don’t forget that the guy is retired!
 
Matt N said:
On a side note; where did all of the talk about it being Emily Alton come from? I know that that doll's house rumour centred around Emily Alton, and it could well be right given that the promotional material seems to give that rumour quite a bit of weight, but have the park ever confirmed any link with Emily Alton?
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I don't think it was ever a rumour, just speculation, albeit speculation based on tidbits of information trickled out by the marketing machine.
They certainly made references to the character we know as Emily Alton during the initial stages, but the park themselves have not used that name in relation to this project, nor confirmed that the character from the queue line is the same that we are seeing in the current marketing material.
 
Trooper Looper said:
I think otherwise since JW is involved and he really wants this ride to have the feel and style of the Original whilst having new things, so I don't see why they wouldn't want the flying Demons kept, though a repaint is definitely advised as they looked really goofy when it was Duel, but when it was the HH, they truly looked creepy and sinister.
20230102_092812.jpg
They definitely need a repaint and a technical repair if they want these props to stay. If JW wasn't in this project, I can assure you they'd definitely 100% be scrapped since I think MMM would want to do a completely different ethos and style compared to the original ride if JW wasn't involved. I think they'll probably be keeping the still good scenes (Dining Hall, Spiders, etc) of the HH and removing the bad scenes (Electric Bill) that have aged really badly, like the bats on sticks! These are just my thoughts and are just speculation.
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Dude, seriously, for your own sanity if not that of the rest of us.....
 
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