2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

[Benzin]

Duel had better music.


..... That is all.

I miss the guitar screech that played at the Haunted Hollow statues.

 

[Mick]

Curse better in my opinion, but both Curse and Duel were very much ‘go on once per visit’ rides, mainly due to the throughput, more rides of its ilk required.

 

[rob666]

Yes, a nice sit down and rest in the dark ride.

 

[Ripsaw97]

Went on Sunday and sadly alot of the effects were not working , trommel not spinning, the spider was fully blacked out and not showing, not even lights in the eyes were on. The projection where Emily turns into the spider finished with a big error message in the middle of the screen. The final scare was fully lit up before you even saw it and alot of the props on arms didn't move. Its such a shame because we always go on it , partly for the sit down but because when the effects work its quite a fun attraction, Just such a shame to see it falling into Merlin disrepair

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Went on Sunday and sadly alot of the effects were not working , trommel not spinning, the spider was fully blacked out and not showing, not even lights in the eyes were on. The projection where Emily turns into the spider finished with a big error message in the middle of the screen. The final scare was fully lit up before you even saw it and alot of the props on arms didn't move. Its such a shame because we always go on it , partly for the sit down but because when the effects work its quite a fun attraction, Just such a shame to see it falling into Merlin disrepair

All of the effects you've mentioned were working, without fault, on Friday.

You can have a bad run without it "falling into Merlin disrepair".

 

[Matt N]

On the contrary, I rode it on Saturday and most things seemingly worked. The only thing I noticed that didn’t was the smoke blast going into the Trommel.

 

[Ripsaw97]

All of the effects you've mentioned were working, without fault, on Friday.

You can have a bad run without it "falling into Merlin disrepair".

Maybe I was a bit harsh with that comment, consider it retracted

 

[JakeDLP]

The biggest problem is that the triggers for the scenes are a little sensitive and don't always trigger which gives the impression that things aren't working, one trigger often sets off about 10-15 seconds of show scene, so if one doesn't trigger it leaves the impression of an entire scene being faulty but if you were to go ride again it's likely the scene will trigger the next time

 

[Secret Weapon]

Pete Cliff (former Entertainments Creative at Towers) has done an interview with a business podcast talking about his time at Merlin and the challenges of being a startup working on the Curse at Alton Manor. Would be a pretty interesting listen for many on here.

I just listened to this; a few quick points:-

1) One of the founders of conductr (Peter Cliff) had previously worked for Alton Towers for around 10 years in a creative role, and so - as with B&M - conductr was more of a spin-off of sorts than a true startup

2) As with B&M, conductr didn't necessarily start with the intention of working with theme parks!

3) The founder incorrectly said that The Haunted House had existed as Duel "for a small period", when - as of this writing (2026) - it actually spent more of its life as Duel (19 years) than a Haunted House (13 years)

4) He incorrectly stated that the Haunted House began in the 1980s, before correcting himself and stating that it may have been the 1990s

5) Their small office building struggled to fit many of the props etc that were required for The Curse at Alton Manor

6) conductr has grown remarkably quickly (and so has Peter Cliff, as he is 6'6 tall)

P.S. As well as Spotify, the interview is also available on YouTube (with video and random on-screen text) at the link below


From: https://youtu.be/jXOcgNcS8wk

 

[Dave]

6) conductr has grown remarkably quickly (and so has Peter Cliff, as he is 6'6 tall)


From: https://youtu.be/jXOcgNcS8wk

I don’t think Pete has grown that quickly, he’s been 6’6 for quite a while.