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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

Trooper Looper said:
A change I do think is worth looking into is making it a bit more family friendly. Altons Towers was packed when I visited, but Alton Manors queue was dead, and a good chunk of the people riding it were young teens and adults, sometimes the queue would be empty for nearly 10 minutes with no one entering it. For a family attraction for everyone to enjoy, I think they failed pretty badly personally, so just make it a little more family friendly during the closed season for wider appeal, OR why not have it open during the closed season for Christmas events and do it up with a more family friendly theme every year, it could work. I hang around Gloomy Woods for quite a bit mind you when I visit, and I've seen quite a few kids just outright refusing to ride it again after their first go on it.
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I’d argue that it’s hard to tell whether a ride has “failed” based purely on its queue length. As discussed before, Alton Manor has a huge throughput of somewhere in the realm of 1,800pph, and seeing as it’s not a major coaster, I’d argue that demand is likely to be intrinsically lower anyway compared to, say, Smiler or Wicker Man.

Duel rarely got huge queues during its lifespan. I gather that even in 2003, the queues were not really any bigger than Alton Manor’s queues are today.

Also, I’d argue that kids refusing to ride it again does not necessarily indicate that the ride has “failed” for a whole-family audience. Plenty of kids were scared witless by the Haunted House, and plenty of kids were scared witless by Duel. I don’t see why Alton Manor would be any different.
 
Trooper Looper said:
I went on it this Monday, and there's lots of space for improvement, and not only physical mind you personally. I'd definitely start with the Hide N Seek and flying heads. The stuff from Duel are still present in there, just replace the zombies and add new and better lighting, for the heads, from my recent rides, the new heads are way too slow, and I think it's because of the weight of the new heads as they're much bigger than the older ones. Either make smaller head props or bring the old ones back (if possible) and dl them up for the new theme. Sound effects would hugely improve that scene with screams coming from the heads like the old ones.

A change I do think is worth looking into is making it a bit more family friendly. Altons Towers was packed when I visited, but Alton Manors queue was dead, and a good chunk of the people riding it were young teens and adults, sometimes the queue would be empty for nearly 10 minutes with no one entering it. For a family attraction for everyone to enjoy, I think they failed pretty badly personally, so just make it a little more family friendly during the closed season for wider appeal, OR why not have it open during the closed season for Christmas events and do it up with a more family friendly theme every year, it could work. I hang around Gloomy Woods for quite a bit mind you when I visit, and I've seen quite a few kids just outright refusing to ride it again after their first go on it.

As for it being overhyped, I do agree to a certain extent. I've seen many Enthusiast vloggers calling it Europe's Best Dark ride, which I don't agree with sorry.
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I agree what the 2 scenes you mentioned, but I don’t agree with it being toned down. It’s already fairly tame from its original “HH” most ghost trains/haunted manor are far scarier for kids.

Let’s be honest It has a ridiculously high throughput, it’s the only ride in that area. With quite a walk ill add, I don’t think that judgment reflects it’s popularity!

I also agree if we get rid of “nostalgia that blinds many clear judgment” The original haunted house would not be sufficient. I mean it didn’t even have a story really?

The designers did a fantastic job incorporating the bits enthusiasts admire with the new, whilst keeping some of the old feel (you can’t please everyone)

Most of wanted the guns removed
Mechanics reused and refurbished
New effects added
A ride that’s not dominated by screens
A good story with the themed music throughout
A good take on the old fashioned haunted house/ghost train
Non ip based rude
Care and passion (countless Easter eggs)

The ride was made for the general public of course but they clearly put so much time and thought to please us enthusiasts. I honestly feel sometimes if they ever read their forums, the poor designers will be so deflated. Probably feel next time why bother? They didn’t need to, but they did actually accommodate to all of our needs vastly! You only have to look at the countless Easter eggs and what they tried to keep or bring back.

Not everyone will be happy with every part, of course not. But surely we can all appreciate the passion and effort that’s gone into the ride, to please us fans on such a budget. That alone wins my vote and I guarantee when they shut it down in 15 years time for a IP overall, we’re all be moaning with nostalgia that we want it back!
 
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Are people honestly whinging about Alty Mans being "too similar" to The Haunted House? It's a haunted house, you trundle along in the dark and things happen to you. This was confirmed by John Wardley in interviews long before it opened 🙄 not too long ago people were desperate for it to drop the blasters and focus more on its haunted house format.
 
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Think the reason of its lack of a queue is that its both remote from other areas of the park and there is no big major coaster for it to support for example I have no doubt that had they built Thirteen in Gloomy Wood or even if that fake Broomstick coaster plan was real, then the area would have been very different in which Alton Manor or whatever it might have been now given if Thirteen had been built there would have no doubt have been the best support ride for any coaster you could have in which its massive throughput would have eased pressure on the coaster and you would have seen Alton Manor have a fairly decent yet fast moving queue to this day. Still, it is a curious thought had this happened back in the day if we'd gotten just a straight up return of the Haunted House in 2010 or if Alton Manor still would have happened regardless.
 
Nosferatu said:
Are people honestly whinging about Alty Mans being "too similar" to The Haunted House? It's a haunted house, you trundle along in the dark and things happen to you. This was confirmed by John Wardley in interviews long before it opened 🙄 not too long ago people were desperate for it to drop the blasters and focus more on its haunted house format.
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Everyone was on their knees praying that it would revert exactly to how it was in 1992 but now it's "too similar". Give me strength.
 
Can we please stop this no queue narrative? It's a high capacity ride. Outside of utter mayhem days it shouldn't really have a queue.

Reusing props is fine if done well. It doesn't matter it was in a previous rendition, if it's good, it's good. It'd be like saying that Nemesis shouldn't keep the same layout because it's not new. There's no need for change for change's sake, use the budget where it is needed.

Compared to Euro parks? It's not even the best dark ride at Towers and some things eat it alive like say Mystery Castle. Still doesn't mean it's not good, just means they're better.
 
I didn't really have an issue with the reused sets, personally. Even though I was a keen advocate for more drastic change during the ride's construction, and I was endorsing the prospect of there being very little left from Duel, I think most of the sets and props they've reused work well within the context of the ride and complement the new additions very nicely, for the most part. I'll hold my hands up and say that I was proven wrong there; parts of the existing ride worked better than I gave them credit for and were definitely worth keeping, in my view.

Personally, I thought it was a really solid effort by the park and a definite improvement on Duel. I'll admit that I wasn't exactly "blown away" by it when I rode it for the first time as many of the more enthusiastic early reviews were, and based on some of those very superlative early reviews, I was perhaps slightly underwhelmed, but I think that could be caused in part by the fact that I'm not the greatest lover of that style of jumpscare-led horror ride, and by the fact that I did find the ride difficult to process after only one ride. Now I've managed to watch some POVs to process the ride and put aside my prior expectations, I do think it's a very nicely executed ride for what it is. The projection mapping and multimedia add a cool new element to the experience, the new scenes are mostly great, the reused scenes mostly work really well, and overall, I would declare it a resoundingly successful revamp with a well put together end result. It's nothing particularly earth-shattering on the world stage, but I wasn't really expecting it to be; for the job it aims to accomplish in the park it's in, I think Curse does really well overall!
 
deathproof69 said:
I only realised the scene just before the ‘hide and seek’ section of the ride, the projection mapping is Emily turning into a demon but the same demon as the cloaked ones throughout the ride!

How has it taken me this long to realise lol!?
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It's all supposed to be the same demon/spirit, From what the story implies being locked away in the attic ,angry, sad and alone over time caused her to attract the evil spirit ending up with her being possessed on new year's eve
 
zeock said:
It's not a big deal, but that definitely looks much worse than the original signs.
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Trooper Looper said:
Ooh, forgot to mention this earlier. The signs that were by the main doors reminding you not to have your phones and cameras out have both been covered up by cheap looking signs.
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I noticed that... they also changed the sign after the station telling you to remain seated for some reason
 
Benzin said:
Why is the assumption that its been removed by the park rather than its been damaged and taken away for repair?
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Come to think of it, can't remember the last time it was removed for any repair work, then again after 30 years it likely was needing some work done...

Good grief, can't believe we're all talking about a bloody door handle rather than the upkeep of effects in the ride, only on TS...
 
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