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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

I’m still thinking the giant scene would work so well in the hide and seek section. I know there’s also too much big hands, but it would be very cool (even if 1992 towers thought it wasn’t)

On another note though, wouldn’t it be cool if in that section they had a speaker in the car so it sounded like she hopped on to your car?
 
I wouldn't say I was blown away by The Curse, it's decent, and I would hazard a guess that - if you were to do the market research - it'd probably receive similar ratings from the general public as Duel in 2003, and the Haunted House in 1992.

I give it a 6/10, my girlfriend rated it a 4 (although she's always harsh with rides and doesn't account for things like budget; this isn't Disney where they have 100 mil CAPEX), whilst other friends gave it a 5/10.

Of course, it's easier to create a better attraction with cleverer effects when you have a bigger budget, so we've got to be realistic - given the likely level of investment, I think they've done fairly well.

I'm not sure its lifespan will eclipse a decade. Few teens and adults will walk out thinking it was amazing, and it doesn't have the same re-rideability that enabled Duel to cling on for twenty years.

What I Like
  • The queue line pre-show, although they need to improve the acoustics as sometimes you can't fully hear the dialogue.
  • The soundtrack, particularly the garden scene. It'd be great to see The Curse's full soundtrack released (which I wish Alton would do for all their rides, given the size of the park, the market, and the fact that each ride is very much its own distinct brand. They (or IMA) should at least release another park CD).
  • The mirror effect on the ghost corridor is very good.
  • The preservation and enhancement of the spider scene.
  • The Emily Alton doll after the trommel is super-realistic.
  • The branding, identity, colour scheme, etc., is very good.
  • Some of the voiceover effects from Emily throughout the ride - "get outtttt".
  • The house's façade looks brilliant again.
  • The Ghost Host voiceover which is pretty similar to the original Haunted House - it suits The Manor.

What I Don't Like
  • The Dolls that spring out where the zombies once resided - although on theme - are a bit silly.
  • I think they've overdone it with references to previous rides and attractions. Some of them are tacky / poorly scripted. The Curse is its own ride with its own identity, one or two references is okay, particularly to the ride's previous incarnations, but it's way OTT, currently.
  • Some of the merch is a bit crap. If they'd had had a good mug with a clear version of the logo, I may have got it.
  • I've never been a fan of the trommel and thought it gimmicky, although for others in the group, it was probably their favourite part of the attraction.
  • I wish one or two more figures had been retained, although that's nostalgia speaking, and to be fair, they had to be ruthless to ensure a coherent theme.
  • The original, EEEEEEAAAAAAIRRRRRRRRR sound effect in the demon heads section definitely need to be brought back / is a BIG miss.
  • The dark scene after the Emily Alton figure - as most others have said - it needs something adding.

My (very) controversial preference would have actually been to refurbish Duel with new guns, targets, and props, as I think that concept has greater re-rideability and works well with a spooky theme, but I know that idea would go down like a led balloon here.
 
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LLCorkscrew said:
I wouldn't say I was blown away by The Curse, it's decent, and I would hazard a guess that - if you were to do the market research - it'd probably receive similar ratings from the general public as Duel in 2003, and the Haunted House in 1992.

I give it a 6/10, my girlfriend rated it a 4 (although she's always harsh with rides and doesn't account for things like budget; this isn't Disney where they have 100 mil CAPEX), whilst other friends gave it a 5/10.

Of course, it's easier to create a better attraction with cleverer effects when you have a bigger budget, so we've got to be realistic - given the likely level of investment, I think they've done fairly well.

I'm not sure its lifespan will eclipse a decade. Few teens and adults will walk out thinking it was amazing, and it doesn't have the same re-rideability that enabled Duel to cling on for twenty years.

What I Like
  • The queue line pre-show, although they need to improve the acoustics as sometimes you can't fully hear the dialogue.
  • The soundtrack, particularly the garden scene. It'd be great to see The Curse's full soundtrack released (which I wish Alton would do for all their rides, given the size of the park, the market, and the fact that each ride is very much its own distinct brand. They (or IMA) should at least release another park CD).
  • The mirror effect on the ghost corridor is very good.
  • The preservation and enhancement of the spider scene.
  • The Emily Alton doll after the trommel is super-realistic.
  • The branding, identity, colour scheme, etc., is very good.
  • Some of the voiceover effects from Emily throughout the ride - "get outtttt".
  • The house's façade looks brilliant again.
  • The Ghost Host voiceover which is pretty similar to the original Haunted House - it suits The Manor.

What I Don't Like
  • The Dolls that spring out where the zombies once resided - although on theme - are a bit silly.
  • I think they've overdone it with references to previous rides and attractions. Some of them are tacky / poorly scripted. The Curse is its own ride with its own identity, one or two references is okay, particularly to the ride's previous incarnations, but it's way OTT, currently.
  • Some of the merch is a bit crap. If they'd had had a good mug with a clear version of the logo, I may have got it.
  • I've never been a fan of the trommel and thought it gimmicky, although for others in the group, it was probably their favourite part of the attraction.
  • I wish one or two more figures had been retained, although that's nostalgia speaking, and to be fair, they had to be ruthless to ensure a coherent theme.
  • The original, EEEEEEAAAAAAIRRRRRRRRR sound effect in the demon heads section definitely need to be brought back / is a BIG miss.
  • The dark scene after the Emily Alton figure - as most others have said - it needs something adding.

My (very) controversial preference would have actually been to refurbish Duel with new guns, targets, and props, as I think that concept has greater re-rideability and works well with a spooky theme, but I know that idea would go down like a led balloon here.
Click to expand...
I actually agree with every point you made. Think that dark section after you see the figure of Emily is the biggest issue. Really let's the ride down imo. What I love most about the ride is the audio and ambience. The dark and intense music in the section where the spider is always gives me the shivers and I love it.
 
If they can just change/get right the 2 weaker scenes, then they probably will have the UK's best dark ride. My favourite is still Hex personally (even though it's been shut both times I've been this year I just know I prefer it), and I haven't ridden the "new" Sub-Terra yet but my favourite part of the old version has been toned down. But with changes, The Curse could definitely be my favourite of the 3.
 
See, I’d say that my personal favourite UK dark rides were Hex, Flight of the Sky Lion and Ninjago. I know a lot of people dismiss the two Legoland rides I mentioned, particularly the latter, because of “screens”, but I have nowhere near as much of a problem with screens as the majority, and I genuinely found both of them to be incredibly fun and well executed dark rides.

Personally, I prefer The Curse at Alton Manor to its predecessor, but I would not say that it’s a top 3 dark ride in the country for my own taste. It’s a really good, solid ride, and they did a lot of things well with the retheme, but I wasn’t “blown away” by it.

It was an interesting one for me in that paradoxically, it felt quite similar to Duel despite being very different… did anyone else find that?
 
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Definitely in my top 3 dark rides, but probably only just.
My rankings are:
  1. Valhalla
  2. Wallace and Gromit
  3. The Curse at Alton Manor
Now, had you have asked me this question a few weeks back The Curse would've been at the top of that list. My visit last week has definitely lowered that ranking - not sure if it was because we were too close to the train infront on both of our runthroughs but the timings were definitely (significantly) off for the majority of the effects and there was a couple of broken effects here and there too (I really didn't think the broken moving wall at the start would be too much of an issue for me, but definitely looks strange and out of place when it's not functional).

Don't get me wrong, The Curse at Alton Manor is absolutely incredible... when everything is working as it should be. The same comments can also be echoed about Valhalla too, though - especially since the refurbishment.

I really hope they can stay on top of the maintenance of the effects, improve the reliability of the synchronization of some of the effects, and improve upon the dodgy scenes (hide and seek & flying heads) over the winter season, then it could definitely return to the top spot... or at the very least claim my number two.

All things considered though, i'd take The Curse over Duel any day of the week. I'm so glad that tackiness is a thing of the past, good riddance.
 
Danscott22 said:
If they can just change/get right the 2 weaker scenes, then they probably will have the UK's best dark ride. My favourite is still Hex personally (even though it's been shut both times I've been this year I just know I prefer it), and I haven't ridden the "new" Sub-Terra yet but my favourite part of the old version has been toned down. But with changes, The Curse could definitely be my favourite of the 3.
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I prefer Hex, but Alton Manor is not far behind.
 
coasterverse said:
Definitely in my top 3 dark rides, but probably only just.
My rankings are:
  1. Valhalla
  2. Wallace and Gromit
  3. The Curse at Alton Manor
Now, had you have asked me this question a few weeks back The Curse would've been at the top of that list. My visit last week has definitely lowered that ranking - not sure if it was because we were too close to the train infront on both of our runthroughs but the timings were definitely (significantly) off for the majority of the effects and there was a couple of broken effects here and there too (I really didn't think the broken moving wall at the start would be too much of an issue for me, but definitely looks strange and out of place when it's not functional).

Don't get me wrong, The Curse at Alton Manor is absolutely incredible... when everything is working as it should be. The same comments can also be echoed about Valhalla too, though - especially since the refurbishment.

I really hope they can stay on top of the maintenance of the effects, improve the reliability of the synchronization of some of the effects, and improve upon the dodgy scenes (hide and seek & flying heads) over the winter season, then it could definitely return to the top spot... or at the very least claim my number two.

All things considered though, i'd take The Curse over Duel any day of the week. I'm so glad that tackiness is a thing of the past, good riddance.
Click to expand...
And we can all agree that Ghost Train is near the bottom! :p
 
Is Valhalla a dark ride? Complete opposite for me if basing this on immersion:

1. The Curse
2. Hex
3. W&G
4. Flight of the sky lion
5. Spirit of London ride
6. Tomb blaster
7. Gangster Granny
8. Deep sea adventure
9. Thorpe park ghost train
10. Black mirror
11. Gruffalo
12. Room of the broom
13. Valhalla


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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TroySmith1 said:
Is Valhalla a dark ride? Complete opposite for me if basing this on immersion:

1. The Curse
2. Hex
3. W&G
4. Flight of the sky lion
5. Spirit of London ride
6. Tomb blaster
7. Gangster Granny
8. Deep sea adventure
9. Thorpe park ghost train
10. Black mirror
11. Gruffalo
12. Room of the broom
13. Valhalla


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You missed Alice in Wonderland at number 1
 
TroySmith1 said:
Is Valhalla a dark ride? Complete opposite for me if basing this on immersion:

1. The Curse
2. Hex
3. W&G
4. Flight of the sky lion
5. Spirit of London ride
6. Tomb blaster
7. Gangster Granny
8. Deep sea adventure
9. Thorpe park ghost train
10. Black mirror
11. Gruffalo
12. Room of the broom
13. Valhalla


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Had Bubbleworks not been screwed about by Chessie and had mearly just been tweaked for modern standards then it would have been top of the pile hands down.

Actually, how many dark rides are there in the UK to date?
 
QTXAdsy said:
And we can all agree that Ghost Train is near the bottom! :p
Click to expand...
(I actually don't hate Ghost Train... 😂)

TroySmith1 said:
Is Valhalla a dark ride? Complete opposite for me if basing this on immersion:

1. The Curse
2. Hex
3. W&G
4. Flight of the sky lion
5. Spirit of London ride
6. Tomb blaster
7. Gangster Granny
8. Deep sea adventure
9. Thorpe park ghost train
10. Black mirror
11. Gruffalo
12. Room of the broom
13. Valhalla


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Wow... putting Black Mirror (and Gangsta Granny, but mostly Black Mirror) above Valhalla is criminal 🤯
 
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