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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

Walk to wall action is overrated. A gap to relax and lull you into a false sense of security can make the thrills all the more dramatic when they come.

Alfred Hitchcock knew this. I suspect, so does John Wardley!
 
Dave said:
When has the ride been targeted at children? It’s a haunted house.

It’s basically an old school PG or 12A ride, some children will cry, other won’t care.
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That's the thing, when it was advertised, it was branded as a family attraction with laughs and Thrills, but where are those laughs? It has Thrills, definitely, but for me anyway, I see no laughs. It may be a little TOO intense and dark for young kids (who are part of the family demograph by the way) if there's nothing for them. If this was a ride that was for older kids and teens, I think this is perfect, but alton towers wants it as a family attraction, so for young kids and old kids alike with their parents, and I think it kinds fails at that to an extent. That's just me anyway.
 
Trooper Looper said:
That's the thing, when it was advertised, it was branded as a family attraction with laughs and Thrills, but where are those laughs? It has Thrills, definitely, but for me anyway, I see no laughs. It may be a little TOO intense and dark for young kids (who are part of the family demograph by the way) if there's nothing for them. If this was a ride that was for older kids and teens, I think this is perfect, but alton towers wants it as a family attraction, so for young kids and old kids alike with their parents, and I think it kinds fails at that to an extent. That's just me anyway.
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I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the marketing so it’s one of those things where I’m really happy to be wrong. But basic litmus test, what’s the ages of the riders portrayed on the advert?
 
Trooper Looper said:
That's the thing, when it was advertised, it was branded as a family attraction with laughs and Thrills, but where are those laughs?
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Was it ever branded that way? I feel all of the marketing has been quite dark and creepy, even looking back at the teasers last Scarefest, nothing has come across as a fun family ride. The marketing poster gives a scary/creepy vibe, the trailer gives a creepy vibe, and even when in the park the area music will give away it's not a ride designed for little children.

I don't really feel it's an issue. This is not The Haunted House, it's not Duel, it's a new ride/experience and has been branded very differently from its predecessors.
 
"Family" does not have to equal little cbeebies aged kids. "Family" is also adults with 10+ year olds.

My kids wouldn't dare go in Duel and won't ride Hex, does that stop them being family rides?
 
James said:
Was it ever branded that way? I feel all of the marketing has been quite dark and creepy, even looking back at the teasers last Scarefest, nothing has come across as a fun family ride. The marketing poster gives a scary/creepy vibe, the trailer gives a creepy vibe, and even when in the park the area music will give away it's not a ride designed for little children.

I don't really feel it's an issue. This is not The Haunted House, it's not Duel, it's a new ride/experience and has been branded very differently from its predecessors.
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I'm sure it was advertised around the rides name announcement and little before then of it giving Thrills and laughs, but that's as far as it went I think.

Sure, every now and then there will be some kids who will find it scarier than other kids of the same age, that's pretty normal, but again, I'm just a little concerned of how this ride will be recieved by families of more variety over the upcoming months. I'm not going straight ahead and going "This is too scary for kids 100% and is a failure to families!". I apologise if I do so, it is not my intention to. I'm just saying I think there's a decent chance of it to potentially receive a bigger amount of backlash from families as we expect. We don't fully know how families will react to it yet as its still early into the season, and many kids only had the chance of this weekend to experience it, with Sunday it was pretty much walk on, and with most children back at school now. I was there on opening day, and there weren't many young kids there, but mostly 12 and over by the looks of things then. Time will tell anyway on what the Family GP thinks about the parks new ghost train. This is just my opinion.

Oh, and to answer your question @Dave, if I had to guess the ages of the riders on the TV Advert, I'd say the youngest is probably around 7-8, and the oldest child looks around 11-12ish.
 
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Altonadvocate1 said:
Walk to wall action is overrated. A gap to relax and lull you into a false sense of security can make the thrills all the more dramatic when they come.

Alfred Hitchcock knew this. I suspect, so does John Wardley!
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I’ve said this for years.

Think of the scariest movie that you can and there’s a high chance that it involves lots of scenes where there’s a suggestion that something might happen but little actually does (I’m referring to ghost stories not zombie movies etc which is a coincidentally apt comparison for this subject).
 
James said:
Was it ever branded that way? I feel all of the marketing has been quite dark and creepy, even looking back at the teasers last Scarefest, nothing has come across as a fun family ride. The marketing poster gives a scary/creepy vibe, the trailer gives a creepy vibe, and even when in the park the area music will give away it's not a ride designed for little children.

I don't really feel it's an issue. This is not The Haunted House, it's not Duel, it's a new ride/experience and has been branded very differently from its predecessors.
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If you listen to interviews from the creators of the original ride they intentionally made it so that kids wouldn't come off and have "nightmares" about it. For every jump scare there was humour and something to laugh about. I went on the original ride as a kid and it was just the right amount of scary.

I haven't ridden this yet, but I'm looking forward to. I just hope I don't wish they'd waited and done it "properly" with a bigger budget.
 
Has anyone seen the roaming actors in the area since opening day? I thought that was a nice touch, and they seem to have gone to some effort with the costumes and effects. Really added some life to the area. Do we expect to see them again?
 
Having ridden it yesterday I think it's as good as we could've hoped for given the budget and timescale.

I loved the pre-show and the overall story, really adds an extra element to the theme that was non-existent before.

Lots of things that could be improved but it's certainly Merlin's best effort at a dark ride to date IMO.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Has anyone seen the roaming actors in the area since opening day? I thought that was a nice touch, and they seem to have gone to some effort with the costumes and effects. Really added some life to the area. Do we expect to see them again?
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Plenty about yesterday on park.

Actually quite a funny thing happened when we were waiting for it to open..one of the guys climbed inside the bushes and 'got stuck'. Had people laughing. He then bent over to the ground and washed his face with dirty water on the floor. Not something I'd do personally but top marks for playing his role so well.

I'm glad they didn't go the obvious and not so subtle route too and have somebody dressed as Emily. Would have spoiled it a bit.
 
Benjsh said:
Plenty about yesterday on park.

Actually quite a funny thing happened when we were waiting for it to open..one of the guys climbed inside the bushes and 'got stuck'. Had people laughing. He then bent over to the ground and washed his face with dirty water on the floor. Not something I'd do personally but top marks for playing his role so well.

I'm glad they didn't go the obvious and not so subtle route too and have somebody dressed as Emily. Would have spoiled it a bit.
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Love the characters in the area. My favourite has to be the guy with his neck broken and walking backwards XD. It's dark, but absolutely hilarious at the same time!
 
The best part of the ride is the end where you go through the dolls house she screams YOU'RE MINEEEE and then a jumpscare of her reaching out to you. Pretty cool idea to shrink you down into her doll house
Edit: someone put SPOILER on that thought I'd done it but didn't work
 
Think parents should be more responsible and make sure first if their kid can handle it.

Parents tried to get me on ExtraTerrorestial many moons ago. I refused point blank and they admitted afterwards I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Sometimes kids know their limits and need to be listened to.

10 year old me wouldn't have liked this (didn't like many dark rides, including original Haunted House) but wife would've. Her eldest niece would love this as well but younger one wouldn't. Can't suit everyone.
 
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