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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

The weather has been awful so far. Generally too wet, too windy or too cold. I know exactly what's going to happen too. From too rubbish to TOO HOT within the space of a few days. I prefer a nice gradual change, but that's not looking likely at all this year. Sorry to go a bit off topic there :)
 
I’m looking forward to riding this on Friday! Hoping to get a couple of rides in as it sounds like it will be needed to get a fair review of it! I’ll post my thoughts of course. My gut instinct is that I’ll like it as i like the whole story line, but I’ll reserve true judgment until then
 
Danscott22 said:
I’m looking forward to riding this on Friday! Hoping to get a couple of rides in as it sounds like it will be needed to get a fair review of it! I’ll post my thoughts of course. My gut instinct is that I’ll like it as i like the whole story line, but I’ll reserve true judgment until then
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Make sure you look around as much as possible as things are happening in all directions
 
Proud of myself for avoiding this thread (and any social media spoilers) since opening and finally managed to have (three) rides on this today! I have to say I was very, very impressed. A genuinely spooky attraction and (most) of the effects work really well!

Only a very few bits that I wasn't overly impressed by:
  1. The dark 'hide and seek' portion - it's literally pitch black with nothing to look at, only the Emily audio talking to you. On my first runthrough I thought that an effect wasn't perhaps working, but I think it's intentionally like that to put you on edge. The more I went on it the more it grew on me, but I think a lot of people will have the same thought as me if they only plan on riding it once.
  2. Some of the projection mapping - I say some because I genuinely think it works in some places. Like the giant hand in the dolls house section with Emily peeking through the window (although it's not overly visible, think the lighting needs to be toned down a bit in there). The hearse scene where Emily sits up doesn't work. It just doesn't align properly and the transition of Emily going back into the coffin looks tacky.
  3. The floating heads scene - again, it's just a very dark portion of the ride and it's extremely easy to miss the heads if you're not looking for them. I found myself looking left and right to find something on my first runthrough, and it took me a good few seconds to realise you're supposed to be looking above. There's no sound effects or anything coming from that direction to make you think that's the direction you need to look.
But that's just about it! Everything else in the attraction was absolutely stellar. The Emily in mirror effect is so insanely well done and eerie - MMM absolutely nailed that! The giant hand physical prop jumpscare and the finale jumpscare got me on all three of my runthroughs, they're so well done! Even on the third run, I felt myself on edge the entire time.

Also, the flume duck?!?! I swear that used to be massive on the flume! It's actually hilarious that after the ludicrous rumour that it actually ended up being in the ride 😂

Overall, looking forward to getting back to Towers some time soon for some more rerides!
 
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coasterverse said:
Also, the flume duck?!?! I swear that used to be massive on the flume! It's actually hilarious that after the ludicrous rumour that it actually ended up being in the ride 😂
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I think the reason why it looked massive was that on the flume it was above you as if it was trying to jump into your bathtub which also added to the fear factor. It being on the ground does show its true size and it does show you that position a prop can actually make a difference to a ride experience.
 
coasterverse said:
Very true - either way i'm so glad to see it back. The smile on my face was massive once I clocked it.
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Even more funnier is that from the gravestones outside, the Flume duck's new canon name as given by the park is now Uncle Duck...can't stop laughing that they went all that effort to give it something of a backstory though given how infamous the duck was for many at the park over the years 😂 Though it is kind of satisfying in a way that the park seem to acknowledge it after all this time rather than leaving him to rot in that shed in the forest so some credit there.
 
I believe when the mirror effect doesn't work the ride changes what Emily says and the video at the first mirror is different. When it works she says "where have you gone?" When it doesn't she says something about "this house". Edit: I believe she says "everyone vanishes in this house" when the effect doesn't work
 
JakeDLP said:
I believe when the mirror effect doesn't work the ride changes what Emily says and the video at the first mirror is different. When it works she says "where have you gone?" When it doesn't she says something about "this house". Edit: I believe she says "everyone vanishes in this house" when the effect doesn't work
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That's pretty cool if true, given Merlin's track record on attraction maintenance I think it's good to have contingency plans in place 😂
On the topic of the mirror trick - anyone know how it's done?
 
coasterverse said:
That's pretty cool if true, given Merlin's track record on attraction maintenance I think it's good to have contingency plans in place 😂
On the topic of the mirror trick - anyone know how it's done?
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It's a two way mirror when lit behind it becomes transparent so when the passengers are darkened and the car on the other side with Emily is lit up. The effect works similarly to tower of terror or phantom manor
 
JakeDLP said:
It's a two way mirror when lit behind it becomes transparent so when the passengers are darkened and the car on the other side with Emily is lit up. The effect works similarly to tower of terror or phantom manor
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This was what I thought too - so have they got a replica version of the entire carriage behind the mirror then? Super intricate and powerful trick, by far the best part of the whole ride!
 
coasterverse said:
This was what I thought too - so have they got a replica version of the entire carriage behind the mirror then? Super intricate and powerful trick, by far the best part of the whole ride!
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Yes and it moves in sync with your car! Most of the problems with the scene I believe is the dummy car not getting back to its start position and resetting for the next car
 
There’s been a couple of updates since last weekend when I rode. There’s a new red laser that shines along the wall as you head in to the trommel. No sign of smoke or mist yet as you enter the trommel.

Also I had a ride yesterday where the car in front was really far ahead so actually had the trommel to ourselves which worked so much better, it also meant all the effects triggered correctly and everything lit up properly.

The finale has also had some minor changes, as well as the loud bangs and the wooden block on the right dropping, there’s now some kind of loud air cannons which go off. Certainly made me jump on my first ride through it.

Also pleased to see actors still outside, even on a 10-4 day. The woman out there was really funny.
 
Waking up with some serious FOMO this morning - all I can think about it wanting to get back on for another ride 😂
djtruefitt said:
The finale has also had some minor changes, as well as the loud bangs and the wooden block on the right dropping, there’s now some kind of loud air cannons which go off. Certainly made me jump on my first ride through it.
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Were the air cannons not a thing until recently then? That's the main thing that made me jump in the finale and made it super impactful to be honest - did they have anything else beforehand to simulate a similar effect, or was it just her face getting lit up with a sound effect? I really do think that finale scare is incredible though, the scale is super impressive too!
 
coasterverse said:
Waking up with some serious FOMO this morning - all I can think about it wanting to get back on for another ride 😂

Were the air cannons not a thing until recently then? That's the main thing that made me jump in the finale and made it super impactful to be honest - did they have anything else beforehand to simulate a similar effect, or was it just her face getting lit up with a sound effect? I really do think that finale scare is incredible though, the scale is super impressive too!
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I think the air cannons have been there since day 1
 
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