Nemesismad said:
You couldn't be anymore wrong, ok in comparison to other dark rides around the world it may not be the best, but technology does move on, allowing new and upcoming software to make more realistic up to date dark rides, which ok the attractions in "Europe & Florida" do have!. The theming for Duel ( i think ) is brilliant, baring in the mind the ride was conceived in 1992 and revamped in 2003, the technology used back then was state of the art stuff and very high tech.
There's a huge difference between the dark rides in Florida and Duel.
Some of them (Mansion, Pirates) are much, much older, and although they probably were state-of-the-art when they were built, I'm sure they were no-where near as good at opening as Duel was at opening. But the difference is that the Florida parks have invested hugely in keeping them up to date. Either of those rides could have opened yesterday, as they always keep them on the cutting edge.
We're not just talking a few lighting re-arrangements. We're talking extensive upgrades and refurbishments, year-after-year. Compared to that, the 'improvements' we're discussing on Duel are minuscule. They're so minor, they're barely worth mentioning. I'd bet that Alton spend money on improving Duel each year less than 1% of what WDW do on the Haunted Mansion.
It leaves Duel being little more than a carnival ghost train with a facelift. The theming for Duel isn't "brilliant", it's cheap throwaway rubbish. If it was at many other European parks, often smaller than Towers, it'd be a joke, a figure of fun.