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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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Matt N said:
Whenever he’s been interviewed, he seems like a very pragmatic person who’s open to change rather than someone who sees his early rides as untouchable works of perfection that must be protected at all costs.

I’m sure that if you’d have given John Wardley unlimited money and full creative control and asked him to do something with 2022 Duel, he’d happily have bought the bulldozers in and devised something considerably superior and more bespokely designed for the 21st century market.
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Hmm...not sure about JW doing a George Lucas in which he ends up tinkering it to hell much like the Star Wars Special Edition. We all know what happened there.

What I'd like with this version of the HH is a good storyline in which I think the original didn't really have that other than just being some Haunted House in the woods, even Duel had at least had a backstory when it first came about. This is just a personal preference for me as I always do like a backstory with each ride.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Actually, is there any UK dark ride outside of Merlin that had a good overhaul?
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Tinkaboos Sweet Adventure overhaul in the early 2000s. Was entirely done By Rex Studios and looked great!

Tomb Blasters refurb was great as well, and was easily my 2nd favourite ride when I went to Chessington earlier this year, just behind The Vampire.

@Matt you're right, John is a very open person and change, but I think when it comes to his attractions, it's a bit more personal for him. Remember when Bubbleworks was 'refurbed' with the Imperial Sponsor, fans directly told him NOT to go on it because it'd just make him cry. Guess what, he didn't ride it since, heck, he was so distasted about the change that he didn't even attend to Bubbleworks last day.


I'm sure as well he stated his opinions on Duel as well. I think he said something along the line of it being a mess and ruined the experience now that everyone was too busy focusing on shooting Targets and getting the highest score instead of taking in the scenery and ambience. He clearly wasn't happy with what they did with his Haunted House.

And what @QTXAdsy has mentioned in his Alternate Timeline of the park, especially with Duel, I have a feeling it could be a reality I some places, especially with John Wardleys involvement. I think he'll be 2nd in charge of the project while John Burton will be the team leader.

Tbf, I'm not all sure that the target demograph has changed that much since the late 90s either. The Haunted House was not in good shape in it's last few seasons thanks to Tussauds Butchering it ever since its opening year. I've said this one, and I'll say it again. If The Haunted House sticked with its 5 annual additions and kept it's 1992 stuff, the ride would most likely still be operating to this day. But year, after its first few seasons, it was molded into an outdated attraction. I agree that the later version of the Haunted House is very outdated, but the original 1992 variant and when everything was working would still hold up to today's standards.

Oh, forgot to mention something when I was at the park, when I told the Spooks R Us staff about the door being open, the staff did say something on the line like "Wait, they're working in there today!?"

Maybe the Merlin Magic Making team arent working on Duel every single day. If this is the case, can the change be so drastic as many are suggesting if they're not rushing it?
 
Trooper Looper said:
it doesn't help with seeing the Original 1992 props being gutted out and used for The Invitations Queue. All I'm hoping is they keep a good 70-80% of the Original theming and enhance it in some places while restoring them to their former glory in some manner
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You've changed your tune again haven't you? If you're still clinging on to this then I've got a feeling you're setting yourself up for a massive disappointment next season. For your own sanity, let it go son, let it go.
 
Matt.GC said:
You've changed your tune again haven't you? If you're still clinging on to this then I've got a feeling you're setting yourself up for a massive disappointment next season. For your own sanity, let it go son, let it go.
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I'm sure it won't happen, but I'm sure I said this earlier on the Forum, as long as it isn't heavily reliant on screens and there isn't an IP, it'll be a good ride in my book. The Return of the HH is just something I wish for, which you're right, most likely won't Happen, but there's no harm to discussing about it if it could or couldn't work.
 
I think it's hard to judge with everything clouded by nostalgia. Personally, I preferred the Gold Mine over W&G, which feels pretty 'cold' and barren considering it's based on a show that is warm and charming.

I didn't really have a problem with Duel. I am sure what they are planning will be fun.
 
Rick said:
I think it's hard to judge with everything clouded by nostalgia. Personally, I preferred the Gold Mine over W&G, which feels pretty 'cold' and barren considering it's based on a show that is warm and charming.

I didn't really have a problem with Duel. I am sure what they are planning will be fun.
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I'm personally not a huge fan by The Look of Gold Mine, but it's interaction with the River caves and the cafe looked great!

With Duel, I heard that the team is very passionate about the Ride, so I'm sure it'll be decent at worst and fantastic at best :)
 
They really have to get this right as it’s like people around my age to the 30 years old age group who remember the original version of the Haunted house vs the Teenagers and less who really only enjoyed duel to try to get the highest score.
For the older generation we could go in there and think 😮 now that was the real version that JW wanted to install in the Haunted house and we want to go on it again to see if we missed anything.
Now the younger generation will walk thought the queue line and paying no attention to the new theming as they on there phones then get to the ride and moan that the blasters are missing. They get off the ride and say yeah it was alright and can’t understand why us older generation want to ride it again.
 
Trooper Looper said:
The only thing that makes me less skeptical is John Wardleys involvement, but it doesn't help with seeing the Original 1992 props being gutted out and used for The Invitations Queue. All I'm hoping is they keep a good 70-80% of the Original theming and enhance it in some places while restoring them to their former glory in some manner, or just regular TLC.
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You've got to remember that this is going to be a new ride, so any theming that does not fit the new theme is going to be removed. I think we'd all end up being pretty disappointed if when we first ride it next year it turns out to be Duel minus blasters, targets and zombies. I want it to feel fresh, different and new. Of course some of the theming will remain the same, the budget is not big enough to rip it all out and start again. But if there is new theming and new scenes, that is a good thing.
 
Rob said:
You've got to remember that this is going to be a new ride, so any theming that does not fit the new theme is going to be removed. I think we'd all end up being pretty disappointed if when we first ride it next year it turns out to be Duel minus blasters, targets and zombies. I want it to feel fresh, different and new. Of course some of the theming will remain the same, the budget is not big enough to rip it all out and start again. But if there is new theming and new scenes, that is a good thing.
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Yeah, that's what I want as well, even I'd find it slight underwhelmingwith just the HH back identically. I'd like to see a good amount of the scenes rethemed or replaced, especially ones like the remains of the Giants Lair and the Skelton corridor for example.

I'm just very sure that Wardley and the Team are very aware how much the original Haunted House means to many, so I'm sure they'll redo some scenes to be very faithful to the original, either if that's a new scene with a similar style of execution, or one of the Original scenes being refurbed back to their original state.

It won't be identical completely, but it could be a mix of old and new for all we know, which I'm hoping for as it'll make everyone happy.
 
Niet Roken said:
I dont think the Haunted House particularly means a lot to many people (it does to me but), I think what makes the original worth keeping the concept and theme faithful is because it could still be really entertaining and unique to the park, with a big update. Unless they have a much better idea that suits that ride system, but that opens up a whole bunch of questions.

Whatever it is, I hope it's firmly in one camp or the other, not a compromise of both.
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Before it's closing day, I'd agree with you, but since then, I've seen loads of people saddened that the ride is shut, especially from people who rode it back in the 90s. I'm still quite surprised by how many people still know about the Haunted House. It's definitely not a majority of Alton Towers Guests, but I think it's still a huge amount of people.

I agree that the original Ride was really unique and entertaining by the looks of it, and it'd be a shame if they didn't take an approach to try and recreate that style again.
 
I maintain that I think this overhaul could be more comprehensive than some expect. As much as some say that they couldn’t get entirely new theming in there for the budget; they spent far, far less on Duel in 2003, and they got quite a bit for their money; they demolished and replaced a not insignificant portion of the ride, they refurbished the old HH scenes, and they added a brand new interactive blaster system.

When you take into account how much Tussauds got out of Duel’s limited budget in 2003 (from what I’ve heard, Duel’s budget would have been little more than £1m even in today’s money, and was comfortably under £1m back in 2003), I think the budget allegedly being allocated towards this project (£3-5m seems to be being mooted by those in the know) could go a lot further than some expect, particularly given that Merlin are unlikely to be shelling out for an IP in this instance.

My sincere hope is that the basic concept of the Haunted House is retained, but the ride is completely different in execution to both the 1992 HH and Duel. I hope it’s a totally new experience that stands on its own two feet rather than being heavily reliant on the old HH stuff. I hope that it’s bought into the 21st century and bespokely designed for the modern market while retaining some of what made the original great.
 
Off topic here but since it was mentioned about Tussauds track record with refurbs, correct me if I'm wrong but was Toyland Tours actually suppose to get an actually big refurb which meant that not only was it going to change much of the scenes but also it was to include a preshow and post show before it was soon changed into Charlie?

Granted the preshow element was kept for Charlie but I do wonder if there was any truth to this plus considering how the HH was supposed to have its own overhaul before budget cuts happened and we got Duel instead.

Does seem that for all the grief we give the refurbs that Tussauds did, I can't help but think that those on the park who wanted to do this instead of changing an attraction for something like Terror Tomb to Tomb Blaster were pretty much screwed over by Tussauds management and who knows how different things might've been had they gone down those original plans?
 
QTXAdsy said:
Off topic here but since it was mentioned about Tussauds track record with refurbs, correct me if I'm wrong but was Toyland Tours actually suppose to get an actually big refurb which meant that not only was it going to change much of the scenes but also it was to include a preshow and post show before it was soon changed into Charlie?
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Literally never heard this. The only pre-Charlie plans I know of which involved changing Toyland Tours in any way were the fake Jazzland ones.
 
This is just my opinion and I could be wrong

But for the marketing Alton Towers seem to be putting into the project, for them to reopen it and it be just a few scenes changed doesn't really sound plausible. Surely if it was a small change and the removal of zombies they would have just done it in off season and maybe announced it early next year. This feels like a bigger change than people are expecting.

I think we will be surprised at the amount that has actually changed
 
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