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[2023] The Curse at Alton Manor

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My final predictions for the ride are that the experience will be riding through the abandoned manor which is now haunted by the angry, neglected spirit of Emily. I think the scenery will depict what was once an opulent manor which has now fallen into disrespair over time, and that Emily (or more aptly, the spirit of Emily), left alone in both her lifetime, and as a ghost for many many years, is both excited at the prospect of finally seeing people, under the guise of an open house, and bitter and vengeful at having been neglected all those years. I think she will follow you throughout the journey throughout the house, and that set pieces of furniture will move with her. I think maybe perhaps she may grow angry throughout the experience that we the guests (her new potential friends) don't want to play with her?

Somewhat controversially, I really, really don't think the ride will have us physically inside her dollhouse at any point. I think dolls as a theme will feature heavily, i.e. haunted dolls moving and even perhaps walking around, but I truly don't think being inside the dollhouse would be scary, interesting, or even really make sense.

That's just my two cents though- really excited for what we see on opening day!
 
I suspect (but do not know) that Wardley's relationship with the Duel and Nemesis refurbishment is different to what it has been with Merlin in the past.
Seeing him pictured with John Burton this feels much more like a handover than his previous involvements. It's a clearer message than The Smiler (where his input seemed to be expected as part of the process) and Wickerman (where his involvement felt like an afterthought).
He's there to give confirmation that the project can be handled by others. Like a proper retired consultant it feels like he's being asked for approval on designs but he's not really part of the process.

I see this as a good thing. It shows respect to what's come before but also that there are people moving forward who are taking over the role.
 
WickerwomanH said:
I'm banking on a narrative based around Emily Alton and her haunting the house and maybe chasing you throughout it, knocking things over, etc. Hopefully a good use of the pepper's ghost effect for this, and no screens and LEDs!!
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WickerwomanH said:
My final predictions for the ride are that the experience will be riding through the abandoned manor which is now haunted by the angry, neglected spirit of Emily. I think the scenery will depict what was once an opulent manor which has now fallen into disrespair over time, and that Emily (or more aptly, the spirit of Emily), left alone in both her lifetime, and as a ghost for many many years, is both excited at the prospect of finally seeing people, under the guise of an open house, and bitter and vengeful at having been neglected all those years. I think she will follow you throughout the journey throughout the house, and that set pieces of furniture will move with her. I think maybe perhaps she may grow angry throughout the experience that we the guests (her new potential friends) don't want to play with her?

Somewhat controversially, I really, really don't think the ride will have us physically inside her dollhouse at any point. I think dolls as a theme will feature heavily, i.e. haunted dolls moving and even perhaps walking around, but I truly don't think being inside the dollhouse would be scary, interesting, or even really make sense.

That's just my two cents though- really excited for what we see on opening day!
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Was looking through my old posts and found it quite funny that unknowingly my predictions have been pretty identical since September last year lol. What can I say consistency is key, and I've been a 'Emily is focal to the storyline' believer since day 1!
 
Tim said:
I see this as a good thing. It shows respect to what's come before but also that there are people moving forward who are taking over the role.
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His media role being handed over, although his actual role hasn't existed since he left Tussauds. Its important to remember a creative lead isn't the equivalent of what John did back in the day (he did a lot more).

But now that he's just a consultant, John Burton will have a bigger say on this current project than John W.

I imagine moving away from his media role was also the intention of his second retirement after the Smiler, to send the message he wasn't a big player in these projects anymore. But Merlin actually continue to use him (and with this and Nemesis 2, he's back to promoting projects, I guess he likes these ones).
 
Islander said:
I've said it before, I'll say it again: Wardley is not the only good designer out there. Why this constant, unending idolatry of him, and yearning for him to be involved in every Merlin project there is? Madness.
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I keep hearing this being said, and I’d love to believe that the doors of Merlin Studios are bursting with the next theme park design wunderkinds - but I’d like to see some actual examples of this being the case. With perhaps the exception of Wicker Man, has there been a single Merlin attraction in the past 10 years comparable with a Wardley Original?
 
In fairness, could Wardley himself create anything comparable to his best work in the current climate? A lot of things came together to allow him the freedom to create what he did, when he did.

I don't want to take anything away from the man, he's clearly extremely creative, talented and was a visionary leader at a key time in the industry.
Today, times have moved on, the industry has changed, the company, the competition, the technology, the audience have all changed and those things may not be conducive to allowing the creative risk taking that was afforded to Wardley.

All that to say, I wouldn't rule out new talent being there and active within the company, and who knows, with the right project at the right time it could be allowed to flourish and birth a new masterpiece.
 
ChristmasPud said:
His media role being handed over, although his actual role hasn't existed since he left Tussauds. Its important to remember a creative lead isn't the equivalent of what John did back in the day (he did a lot more).

But now that he's just a consultant, John Burton will have a bigger say on this current project than John W.

I imagine moving away from his media role was also the intention of his second retirement after the Smiler, to send the message he wasn't a big player in these projects anymore. But Merlin actually continue to use him (and with this and Nemesis 2, he's back to promoting projects, I guess he likes these ones).
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A creative lead is not the same as what John used to be, but it's the closest equivalent at this current time.
Like it or not that's the way things are now. It's true for Imagineering as well as MackNeXT and whatever other creative studio you can think of. One person doesn't do a bit of everything anymore because there's so many additional tasks involved in turning a project into reality that didn't exist before the 2000s.
Merlin definitely for a long time went down the route of "too many cooks" working on projects. Which is why so many projects lack the single vision that is still needed. But there is a middle option with a creative incharge whose job is solely to keep everyone else following that vision. That's what a creative lead should be. And I get the sense (although could be wrong) that Wickerman followed that structure.
 
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Tim said:
One person doesn't do a bit of everything anymore because there's so many additional tasks involved in turning a project into reality that didn'texist before the 2000s.
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Not really true, the same project functions exist and is still the way many big parks do projects outside the UK. Just Merlin now do way more projects and chose to do things differently when they set up MMM. It was more of a marketing industry creative process than a construction one, I can see why they chose to go that way.

But I believe they are now trying to going back more towards the way things were done before, with a high experienced creative/design director like JW was, as well as the creative leads for the ideas side.
 
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ChristmasPud said:
On the Wickerman article on his website and in the Q&A last year he distanced himself and said he didn't like the theme at all.

He's made clear he had no significant design on the Smiler, he was a consultant like all Merlin projects. His comments seem to suggest the advice was nearly all ignored, or that's how I interpret it.
He hasnt led a project since he retired / resigned from Tussauds in 2002

For this revamp maybe he's been listened to a bit more?
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Interesting, will have to have a read.
 
I love that when someone who works for MMM posts about how things are, fans are more than happy to respond and tell them that they are wrong.

Project delivery methodology is night and day now vs. during the delivery of something like the Haunted House.
 
On a side note, it might interest you to know that according to John Burton’s LinkedIn page, this project has been in planning since February 2022: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/john-burton-23bbb262

With that being the case, it would appear that we may soon be seeing the opening of our first Merlin project that was wholly conceived post-buyout… maybe The Curse at Alton Manor will be indicative of the type of thing we can expect from the company going forward?

I must admit that I’m also somewhat surprised at how short that timeframe is, but I guess this is only a retheme rather than a brand new major ride being built from the ground up.
 
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