2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

[coasterverse]

Incredible! I'll definitely keep an eye out on my next visit.

 

[Danscott22]

Incredible! I'll definitely keep an eye out on my next visit.

Yeah it’s easy to see how it’s done but as others are saying you have to make sure you turn around after you’ve gone past it. One of the best effects on the ride in my opinion! Contrary to a lot of other people, I also actually think the hide and seek section works pretty well. Trommel was incredibly disorientating for me

 

[coasterverse]

Contrary to a lot of other people, I also actually think the hide and seek section works pretty well. Trommel was incredibly disorientating for me

I think the hide and seek portion could work much better if the speakers were placed more strategically (in an ideal world having speakers in the ride vehicle itself would be better, then it could sound like she's moving about the inside of the carriage!) as I feel like the current speaker setup doesn't really give off the effect of Emily moving around - doesn't really work for me personally.

The trommel is super disorientating for me too. I suffer with motion sickness suuuuuuper easy and the second I entered the tunnel on my first runthrough I had to look away because it brought on the motion sickness instantly. I suppose i'd much rather that than the trommel not working at all!

 

[Danscott22]

Another thing actually, I don’t think the screaming heads are lit well enough. The ones they have look much better than the ones in Duel, but they need to be lit a little better. The one with smoke coming out of its mouth is cool. I also think the ride vehicle moves way too fast through the dolls house section, I wonder if it would be at all possible to slow it down. I also feel like the peppers ghost effect in the coffin doesn’t work that well, but that really is minor as it’s a fantastic ride.
The best effects for me are definitely the mirror corridor (which I thought was just a screen but is it actually a ride vehicle moving at the same time as yours? I thought I saw it starting to reverse when I looked backwards but not sure) and the swing effect. The dolls house section is the hardest to keep up with for me, it feels very overwhelming as there’s just so much to look at. I give it a 9.5/10 overall, as there are just one or two things that I think could be tweaked or changed

 

[Dave]

Another thing actually, I don’t think the screaming heads are lit well enough. The ones they have look much better than the ones in Duel, but they need to be lit a little better. The one with smoke coming out of its mouth is cool. I also think the ride vehicle moves way too fast through the dolls house section, I wonder if it would be at all possible to slow it down. I also feel like the peppers ghost effect in the coffin doesn’t work that well, but that really is minor as it’s a fantastic ride.
The best effects for me are definitely the mirror corridor (which I thought was just a screen but is it actually a ride vehicle moving at the same time as yours? I thought I saw it starting to reverse when I looked backwards but not sure) and the swing effect. The dolls house section is the hardest to keep up with for me, it feels very overwhelming as there’s just so much to look at. I give it a 9.5/10 overall, as there are just one or two things that I think could be tweaked or changed

As the ride runs at the exact speed profile it did in duel I suspect they can’t change the speed.

 

[Danny]

Two goes today and all effects seem to be working and working well, including the mirror scene. Only issue is they've left the service lights on under the trommel tunnel and they're glaringly obvious at the end of it.

 

[JakeDLP]

Two goes today and all effects seem to be working and working well, including the mirror scene. Only issue is they've left the service lights on under the trommel tunnel and they're glaringly obvious at the end of it.

Stuff like that can happen at any park it's just unfortunate. I've seen it often at Disney where a panel or light will be left on on accident

 

[emmerse2891]

So rode it twice on Thurs I'll say I'm very impressed. I watched spoilers early on and have to say I'm kind of glad I did because ...hot take - I KNEW WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR, and might very well have missed stuff if I didn't know what direction to look it/what to focus on!
i.e. I purposely looked out for the long mirror effect scene (which was well synchronised both times)...but I think if I didn't know about it I might not have noticed it - as it's quite an intense scene with noises all over the place! My friend who knew nothing about the ride didn't notice it first time - and i had to point it out to him second time (with which he was really impressed). The jump scare to the right on this scene seems to come too early - and your attention is pulled away from looking at the left. Brilliant effect though.... just a directional thing.

Similar to the swing gazebo scene - you've got to keep your eyes fixed on it to make it work - and there's so much going on your looking all over! However this might help with the 'notice something different each time' aspect!

Trommel scene works so much better than if ever did on the haunted house (yes I remember it). I think the clock helps as the fire exit sign used to be too distracting before!

I love the spider scene too for some reason as it's just so quirky now - going forward I'd like to see maybe descending spiders coming down on guests like the ones on the new Gardaland Jumanji ride - they have the vertical space ....just before the giant spider.

The animatronic's of the large toys etc feel a bit basic - and are simply the old pop out, single motion arms from the old ride. With the dynamic motion you can now have with horror animatronics (see distortion props or scare factory animatronics) - Psycho hotel at Weiner prater is populated with such figures - I'd just like to have seen a couple more complex motions on some of the pop outs.

Also the 'my perfect family' puppet show could do with some movement - like the puppets coming out toward guests - as it's a nice looking scene!

The screaming head room needs more noise - and more heads lunging towards you really.

I feel like there is good scope for new additions to be inserted over time which is exciting as its got a series of quality scenes and effects!

But overall a great theatrical British dark ride and perhaps one of the best 'Haunted/gothic' houses/ghost trains in Europe.

It was also nice to see the onride photos of guests afterwards looking genuinely scared/people covering there eyes/kids (even older kids) burying their heads in their parents shoulders etc..... a sign the ride is doing its job - and not simple bord expressions!

 

[DistortAMG]

As the ride runs at the exact speed profile it did in duel I suspect they can’t change the speed.

I am sure it was mentioned somewhere, years ago. That the speed profile was governed by the physical bus bars (power bars) that are visible next to the track, that also pick up power. They are covered in green insulators and are easy to spot.

Meaning that if they wanted to change the speed, they would have to physically re wire quite a bit of electrical wiring. This would sort of match up with technical limitations for the early 90's. Which effectively means, they cannot just change the speed. As quite a bit of work would be involved. Almost impossible to just 'tweak' to get it right. As for each tweak, lots of work would be involved.

Nowadays you could do it all digitally on a modern transit system hooked up to a laptop, within minutes. That is not a knock to this transit system, she's an old girl, but she runs well.

 

[GaryH]

I thought the ride cars can control their own speed depending how close/distance they are to the car infront?

 

[Danscott22]

I don’t just think it’s the dolls house it moves too quickly in - the grand hall is also a noticeable one, am I supposed to be looking at the skeletons or Emily at the bottom of the corridor? If you’re looking at the skeletons there’s a chance you’ll miss her at the end. The spiders scene doesn’t work that well either on second thought (in my opinion anyway)

 

[emmerse2891]

Another couple of observations

In the grand hall I noticed the first Demons mechanism is still there!.... Whilst i don't think the monster should return, what would work is having a dinning room table come flying at you... as there is a split second after the big flash that it would work.....coming flying at guests with a shattering sound.... and would be in-keeping with the narrative i.e. Emilys rage/poltergeist activity!

I wish they'd kept the old ghosts flying out the coffin instead of Emily.... as it would still have worked well in the scene! and there was something more 3 dimensional about the peppers ghost being an actual reflected prop that a digital projection! They could have themed the little ghost figures slightly to look like dolls or something!

 

[ChristmasPud]

Surely it would be a question of reworking the scene to be better paced instead of rebuilding/reprogramming the whole ride system.
Although I dont think the scenes were badly paced anyway, the finale works better being fast.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Another couple of observations

In the grand hall I noticed the first Demons mechanism is still there!.... Whilst i don't think the monster should return, what would work is having a dinning room table come flying at you... as there is a split second after the big flash that it would work.....coming flying at guests with a shattering sound.... and would be in-keeping with the narrative i.e. Emilys rage/poltergeist activity!

I wish they'd kept the old ghosts flying out the coffin instead of Emily.... as it would still have worked well in the scene! and there was something more 3 dimensional about the peppers ghost being an actual reflected prop that a digital projection! They could have themed the little ghost figures slightly to look like dolls or something!

It good to know the mechanism is stil there but SBNO. I dont think it's even physically possible for the Demon to return, since most if not all of the original Hautned House and Duel props were taken to the skips and presumably scrapped (sadly).

I always thought a Demonised or mutilated form of Emily would work really well to replace it, or simply repainting it.

I actually used this discussion to try and get myself back sketching more for ideas. This was done a while back, but it seems appropriate to upload it here now regarding of the discussion. Hope you all like it.

 

[JSG093]

I always thought a Demonised or mutilated form of Emily would work really well to replace it, or simply repainting it.

That's a really cool drawing! But I wouldn't agree with this, there's the big demonised Emily at the end of the ride that works really well and would be strange having a similar effect at the start of the ride. Repainting it would still be jarring given its cartoony style and would be at odds with the new demon they've put in around the corner from it.

 

[JakeDLP]

I like the ballroom as it is. I like how the ride builds up in intensity as it proceeds keeping the beginning subtle as everything builds up to the final scare at the end. having something fly out at you would be a bit much I think. Plus the flash of light is supposed to represent you leaving the physical world and entering Emily's alternate dimension meaning that there can't really be many effects after the flash

I like the ballroom as it is. I like how the ride builds up in intensity as it proceeds keeping the beginning subtle as everything builds up to the final scare at the end. having something fly out at you would be a bit much I think. Plus the flash of light is supposed to represent you leaving the physical world and entering Emily's alternate dimension meaning that there can't really be many effects after the flash

Also I forgot to mention that there's only one demon in this storyline and it's cloaked with skeletal features

 

[DistortAMG]

I thought the ride cars can control their own speed depending how close/distance they are to the car infront?

I'm referring to the general pace they should be going. It is hard wired to the bus bar I am led to believe. But the cars can temporarily over ride that to slow the car down if it is to close. But once the override governor stops, it returns back to the hardwired and set speed as set out in the bus bar.

 

[Ethan]

Few effects out of sync today but I still really enjoy the ride. Even though I've done it many times now I still think it's pretty scary. Makes duel look very friendly. Seen some kids on it today scared out their mind which was funny but understandable as its a dark theme

 

[Danscott22]

It was out of sync last week as well. It does kind of ruin it in my opinion. I'm not sure where I would rank it in terms of the park's 3 operational dark rides currently, whether I'd rank it as Number 1 I'm not sure.

 

[tayspru]

For me, #1 will vary between Curse and Hex, depending on how many effects are out of sync broken on either ride on a given day !