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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

Got to try at Alton Manor today, cracking little ride. Seems a little unfair to say it’s better than Duel because a smouldering crater would’ve been an improvement, but yes, it is in fact better than Duel.

I know some aren’t fans of the darker direction but I’m really glad they went for it. Every child should have the formative experience of being given nightmares by a ghost train, so I’m glad Towers can provide this vital service.
 
Max said:
I know some aren’t fans of the darker direction but I’m really glad they went for it. Every child should have the formative experience of being given nightmares by a ghost train, so I’m glad Towers can provide this vital service.
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Interestingly, I was listening to the radio interview with Wardley earlier, and he mentions what constitutes as family-friendly has arguably shifted to be darker, with the rise of social media, what scares a 10-year-old now is very different, had Haunted House opened identical to as it was in 1992, it would be very differently received to what it was back then. Rides aren't immune to the modern-day context in which other forms of media and art are consumed.

Nowadays, there are a lot of kids consuming content relating to video games such as Five Nights At Freddy's, the various creepypastas and scare stories pushed to extremities because social media meant a wider audience, whereas kids in the past just shared whatever they heard from word-of-mouth. It takes more to scare kids now as the Haunted House did back then...
 
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Bert2theSpark said:
Interestingly, I was listening to the radio interview with Wardley earlier, and he mentions what constitutes as family-friendly has arguably shifted to be darker, with the rise of social media, what scares a 10-year-old now is very different, had Haunted House opened identical to as it was in 1992, it would be very differently to what it was back then. Rides aren't immune to the modern-day context in which other forms of media and art are consumed.

Nowadays, there are a lot of kids consuming content relating to video games such as Five Nights At Freddy's, the various creepypastas and scare stories pushed to extremities because social media meant a wider audience, whereas kids in the past just shared whatever they heard from word-of-mouth. It takes more to scare kids now as the Haunted House did back then...
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The original ride wasn't really about scaring kids or people to death. I can see why they've gone down the route they have but I think they should have waited to do it on a larger budget. For me it's a bit of a mish mash.
 
Great, now I getting Five Nights at Freddys PTSD, especially on the fanbase when I was only 10...
walter-white.gif
Thanks for that memory jig (Jk)

I remember when I used to really be in Five Nights at Freddys, but I still found Duel from online POVs to be scarier, I don't know why. Maybe because the ride was just a lot more eerie with the ghouls and creatures in it rather than the actual jumpscares themselves. Actually, the only thing that made the game scary for me were the jumpscares.

Funny story, the game never really gave me nightmares, but the stuff in Duel sometimes, especially the spiders and the one in my Profile Picture kept me up for hours XD. I don't know, maybe I was a crybaby and kids aren't nowadays, heck, I wouldn't be surprised if a 10 year old could watch Alien or Halloween without flinching nowadays. I'm only a older teen and I still hate Alien in certain parts, especially when that Guy is in the Vents and the creature just jumps out from nowhere.
 
RIPCorky said:
The original ride wasn't really about scaring kids or people to death. I can see why they've gone down the route they have but I think they should have waited to do it on a larger budget. For me it's a bit of a mish mash.
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Out of interest, in what ways do you feel that Curse is a “mish mash”?

Personally, I actually feel that it’s got a more consistent vision, and feels less random, than Duel did, but this stuff is very subjective after all.
 
Trooper Looper said:
Funny story, the game never really gave me nightmares, but the stuff in Duel sometimes, especially the spiders and the one in my Profile Picture kept me up for hours XD. I don't know, maybe I was a crybaby and kids aren't nowadays, heck, I wouldn't be surprised if a 10 year old could watch Alien or Halloween without flinching nowadays. I'm only a older teen and I still hate Alien in certain parts, especially when that Guy is in the Vents and the creature just jumps out from nowhere.
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I started enjoying horror films long before I started to enjoy Duel, as I found Duel weirdly scary. I was terrified when I rode it in both 2016 and 2020, and it was only in 2021 when I actually started enjoying it.
 
Matt N said:
Personally, I actually feel that it’s got a more consistent vision, and feels less random, than Duel did, but this stuff is very subjective after all.
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When it comes to Duel is it really that subjective? People can like what they want, but it was a gutted Haunted House where the gaps were filled by cheap Spirit Halloween props. The entire experience was born from an absence of vision.
 
Matt N said:
Out of interest, in what ways do you feel that Curse is a “mish mash”?

Personally, I actually feel that it’s got a more consistent vision, and feels less random, than Duel did, but this stuff is very subjective after all.
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I just feel that the remaining scenes from the previous ride are probably not as good as they were originally and of course it's obviously running the original ride system and program which was tailor made for the original ride.
I believe it would have got more favourable reviews if the HH or Duel never existed.
 
The ride only seems like a mish mash to us because we know what's gone before. I only experienced it as Duel, Duel Live! And now this, with others also having experienced the Haunted House. If you went in fresh, you'd not see the blending of old and new.
 
Poisson said:
The ride only seems like a mish mash to us because we know what's gone before. I only experienced it as Duel, Duel Live! And now this, with others also having experienced the Haunted House. If you went in fresh, you'd not see the blending of old and new.
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I think this is definitely true and even then, I think enthusiasts often over estimate how much of the minutiae the average park goer consumes.
 
It's like I have no idea what the original Piraten in Batavia was like to compare to the new ride, I have only ridden the new one. Someone could sit in the boat and point out what is the same and what has changed, but I'd still have no reference in my mind short of watching an old POV whilst riding to compare and contrast
 
Too true. I've been an AT geek, a member of various forums, for 23 years now, but usually only visiting once a year (so probably the same frequency as a general visitor). My time on rides is spent enjoying what's there, not thinking about what was there or should be there. I guess this is how most visitors see rides.

Yet to ride Manor, but when I do its a new ride to me, and I'll judge it as a new ride rather than a refurb.
 
RIPCorky said:
The original ride wasn't really about scaring kids or people to death. I can see why they've gone down the route they have but I think they should have waited to do it on a larger budget. For me it's a bit of a mish mash.
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All haunted houses are a mish mash. Haunted Mansion is probably the most famous of them all and it’s basically just one diorama after another (phantom manor less so).

If you take off the rose tinted glasses of an incredibly old and incredibly flawed ride that came before then it actually runs fairly coherently.
 
The Curse is really not that darker than the previous versions when you look at it, so isn't this point a bit redundant. Unless you're remembering the ride in its very first year when it the humour and coherent theme, which nobody on here is, and even then it was a suspenseful and scary family ride.

I still heard young teenagers come off the ride saying "that was rubbish, it wasn't scary" etc. It will always be too scary for some and not scary enough for others. I think they've just tried to pitch it right for a broad family appeal and done successfully.
 
Perhaps controversially, I actually prefer quite a number of the reused scenes in the ride to how they were in Duel. I can’t fairly reference the Haunted House, as I never did it, but I can reference Duel, and for me, many of the reused scenes from Duel are improved compared to how they were previously.

In my view:
  • The initial room with the moving walls is considerably enhanced compared to before, with the projection mapping, the additional thematic details and the additional voiceovers definitely adding something to it, in my view.
  • The Grand Hall has been enhanced; I think the lighting is much better, and I really like the new skeleton props they’ve put in there.
  • The Trommel Tunnel has been enhanced. The fact that it actually moves is a definite bonus, I like the big fireplace entrance more than the face with the disco balls, I think that the audio and timing of this section is improved compared to before, and I also think that having the spinning clock at the end rather than that opening face that was on Duel enhances this section.
  • The Hall of Spiders has been enhanced considerably. I think the new physical sets here are quite possibly some of the most impressive in the ride; I like the Attic sets considerably more than the sets that were in this scene before.
  • I’m a little unsure on the Screaming Heads scene. I do think it looks better with the darker lighting and no visible mechanisms, but it does feel like it’s missing something for me. As much as I think the scene looks better than it did in Duel, I do think that the noise gave it some degree of impact that’s perhaps missing in the Curse’s version of the scene. Although I may be biased seeing as I was never massively keen on this scene in Duel, either… in general, this is probably one of the scenes in the ride I’ve always been least keen on.
  • I like the Sinister Garden, but I always liked that scene on Duel as well. I’d say that the lighting is improved compared to before, and I also like some of the new additions and details they’ve added in, such as the Emily on the swing (which I genuinely didn’t know was a mirror/projection on my first ride!). I also liked the new soundtrack. However, I’d struggle to say that there was necessarily a profound improvement here compared to Duel. Although given that it was one of my favourite scenes in Duel, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
On balance, I do think I like Curse a fair amount more than I liked Duel. I’m still not sure that that type of ride with loads of jumpscares and loud noise is necessarily my favourite type of dark ride, but that’s simply my personal preference. From an objective standpoint, I think the production value is a fair bit higher than it was when the ride was Duel and the overall finish is notably improved. I really like what they’ve done with the story, I think that some of the new additions such as the mirror scene and the final scare with the giant Emily head are excellent, I think that the projection mapping really enhances it, I like the improvements made to some of the reused scenes… objectively speaking, there’s very little I can really complain about!

I think Merlin have done a brilliant job with The Curse at Alton Manor overall, and it does give me a high degree of faith that they could pull off more really good dark rides in the future!
 
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