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Squiggs
TS Team
Yeah, the woodland which The Flume ran through is technically classified as ancient woodland, so it is unlikely the park will choose to try and put any significant development back into the area, not least because they pretty much said as much in Wicker Man's planning permission.
If in doubt, all the woodland around Alton Towers it is pretty likely to be ancient woodland, so the park are quite limited in what they can do in those areas. It's not that they can't put things in those areas (e.g. Thirteen) but it likely to be tricky for them to get permission and will usually involve very limited removal of trees. Thirteen for example basically followed an old roadway through the woods, so there was already a clearing in that area.
If in doubt, all the woodland around Alton Towers it is pretty likely to be ancient woodland, so the park are quite limited in what they can do in those areas. It's not that they can't put things in those areas (e.g. Thirteen) but it likely to be tricky for them to get permission and will usually involve very limited removal of trees. Thirteen for example basically followed an old roadway through the woods, so there was already a clearing in that area.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
British Theme Park Archive has outdone himself again with his editing, especially when it was made under a week!!!!
Just seeing the sheer amount of love, and appreciation The Haunted House is getting lately by everyone just puts a smile on my face!!
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Matt.GC
TS Member
Riding it yesterday, it seems that the lighting, the trommel and pretty much everything thrown in during the Duel "upgrade" is the problem. I can still see a good dark ride in there somewhere. Every time it slowed down as you where left staring at either a blank space or something small glued to a wall, it reminded me of how it was originally designed much differently to what it is now used for.
It was the blank areas, lighting showing mechanisms, cheap zombies on sticks or repeatedly popping out of things like dust bins that made it crap. Also the awful bits with the zombies above your head, which is a bit of a dark ride rule breaker as you shouldn't really be drawing riders attention away from from things to look at the ceiling! Even if you look around in Disney dark rides, there's always a ceiling and walls there, they just design the rides so they don't draw your attention to them rather than Duel which makes you look up and then basks the ceiling and walls of the warehouse in bright strobes.
There's still some good theming and set design in there. There's also nothing wrong with the facade or station that a bit of love wouldn't fix. It's' just sadly not really worth the investment as it wouldn't really be marketable. Maybe a half ripout, new name (I'd call it Alton Manor personally) and refit accompanied by a decent flat ride to the left of the facade where the gates to the yard area are to draw some interest and attention to a new generation of the ride would work?
That's all I can think of other than ripping it out entirely. I just fear that what we'd get instead wouldn't be desirable either.
It was the blank areas, lighting showing mechanisms, cheap zombies on sticks or repeatedly popping out of things like dust bins that made it crap. Also the awful bits with the zombies above your head, which is a bit of a dark ride rule breaker as you shouldn't really be drawing riders attention away from from things to look at the ceiling! Even if you look around in Disney dark rides, there's always a ceiling and walls there, they just design the rides so they don't draw your attention to them rather than Duel which makes you look up and then basks the ceiling and walls of the warehouse in bright strobes.
There's still some good theming and set design in there. There's also nothing wrong with the facade or station that a bit of love wouldn't fix. It's' just sadly not really worth the investment as it wouldn't really be marketable. Maybe a half ripout, new name (I'd call it Alton Manor personally) and refit accompanied by a decent flat ride to the left of the facade where the gates to the yard area are to draw some interest and attention to a new generation of the ride would work?
That's all I can think of other than ripping it out entirely. I just fear that what we'd get instead wouldn't be desirable either.
WickerwomanH
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Wicker Man
What an incredible video! Makes me wish I could have ridden the original HH more than ever
Doddy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
I would love to see a new updated version of the haunted house but at the end of the day I’m not sure how well you could market that these days. Would people get excited over the prospect of a ghost train even if its new? Truth be told I only really associate they with tacky funfairs.
I love the facade and the queue line (I haven't been since it was updated) there could be so much potential with this ride but it would require too much money without getting enough in return. I think the only way forward is a complete strip out and replacement unfortinitly.
I love the facade and the queue line (I haven't been since it was updated) there could be so much potential with this ride but it would require too much money without getting enough in return. I think the only way forward is a complete strip out and replacement unfortinitly.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
Well, people over at Six Flags over Texas got excited for the Return of Speelunker Cave, now called 'Pirates of Speelunker Cave', though still under construction. If the revival of a cheesy dark ride from the 60s can drag a good amount of attention, I can't see how a high Quality ride from the early 90s can fail, marketing wise.
John
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Speaking of the queue line, rant incoming:
On my most recent visit to Towers, I skipped Duel as it had a queue to the entrance (going round what's left of the extended queue lines) and I wasn't sure how many cars were in use. As we walked past a staff member made a PA announcement attempting (badly) to explain that the RAP queue merges with the main queue at the entrance to the building, I suspect as a result of people complaining about "queue jumping" on the ramp.
Firstly, I doubt anyone not already familiar with RAP would have understood what the announcement actually meant, secondly the actual solution should be to have a staff member stationed there as currently there's nothing to stop anyone using the RAP entrance to skip the queue. I really don't see what the new entrance has achieved - it seems poorly suited for wheelchair users given that the indoor queue is still dark, confined and with an uneven floor, they've created an awkward stand-off between RAP and the main queue at the unstaffed merge point and they've trashed the indoor queue to do it. Absolute madness.
On my most recent visit to Towers, I skipped Duel as it had a queue to the entrance (going round what's left of the extended queue lines) and I wasn't sure how many cars were in use. As we walked past a staff member made a PA announcement attempting (badly) to explain that the RAP queue merges with the main queue at the entrance to the building, I suspect as a result of people complaining about "queue jumping" on the ramp.
Firstly, I doubt anyone not already familiar with RAP would have understood what the announcement actually meant, secondly the actual solution should be to have a staff member stationed there as currently there's nothing to stop anyone using the RAP entrance to skip the queue. I really don't see what the new entrance has achieved - it seems poorly suited for wheelchair users given that the indoor queue is still dark, confined and with an uneven floor, they've created an awkward stand-off between RAP and the main queue at the unstaffed merge point and they've trashed the indoor queue to do it. Absolute madness.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
Sorry to sound like a nuisance, but what does RAP mean exactly?
Ride Access Pass. It’s for guests with additional needs that mean they can’t queue for lengthy periods , be it for physical or mental needs. Unfortunately a minority of the general public abuse this though, to the detriment of both genuine RAP queue users snd standard queue users.
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Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I second this, and said exactly that when I used the RAP ramp last October during Scarefest. The main queue was very long, partly dueue to it being a Scarefest half term day, and partly due to technical issues reducing the capacity of the ride. As well as non-RAP guests being able to skip the outdoor queue, it was very difficult to merge onto the porch as the main queue was constantly moving. There really does need to be a merge host there ASAP for busy days.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
Oh!!! So, Wheelchair access.Ride Access Pass. It’s for guests with additional needs that mean they can’t queue for lengthy periods , be it for physical or mental needs. Unfortunately a minority of the general public abuse this though, to the detriment of both genuine RAP queue users snd standard queue users.
Yeah, it's really irritating how often People use RAP to their advantage to jump the main queue. They should've just made the gift shop smaller to make space for the already existing RAP, since it's put of sight, so people will assume that you can't Queue jump it, but since the installation of the Ramp outside, I've seen a couple of the wrong people using it.
It's sad that some people can't wait for an extra 10 minutes and decide to ruin the rest of everyone's else's experience.
jon81uk
TS Member
The shop isn’t the issue, it’s the photo area and the corridor from there to the old access door. That corridor was never designed for two-way traffic.
Making the main entrance accessible is the better option (as it also gives the same experience for everyone) but yes it needs a merge host on any day where the queue is long enough to need to use the graveyard section.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
At an accessibility standpoint, definitely yes!!!
For Immersion/Guest Satisfaction point.... ehhhhhhh...
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jon81uk
TS Member
It’s poorly executed but it gives all guests the same experience, the immersion is the same for wheelchair users and ambulant guests, rather than some guests having to go round the back.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
But now instead of only the minority missing out on the Queue, now everyone is from how the New Queue ruined the illusion of 'The Tilting room.'
I'm full on with you that everyone should get Experience the same Experience as anyone else, but when it has to sacrifice and mess up that Experience, and ruining it for everyone, not just people who use Wheelchairs, I don't think it's worth it and shouldn't be done.
They should've just modified the already existing Wheelchair access by the Exit.
Squiggs
TS Team
I do agree with the sentiment that one of the big losses if the park were to completely move away from the Haunted House theme would be the loss of the ride's facade, which is basically still one of the best in the park, even 30 years later. Personally, I'd like to see them tell a different story that still fits within the Gloomy Wood vibe.
If I were redoing the ride, I'd go with a witch-based theme, which isn't really a theme the park have previously included (the odd Scarefest attraction aside). If you'll indulge me for a moment....
Needless to say, the guns and LEDs are long gone. The ride itself retains some of its original scenes and mechanics, but significant portions are reworked to implement a new storyline and new spooky surprises throughout.
The new story is reasonably lightweight and leans on a traditional witchlike story - you are exploring the witches' cottage and merry mayhem is unleashed when you are discovered and are hunted down by the occupants.
In keeping with the new story, much of the mansion aesthetic of the current ride is updated to more of a 'medieval cottage' feel. For example, in the grand hall towards the start of the ride, the marble columns and floor give way to wooden rafters and straw strewn across the floor, barely disguising the pentagram hidden below as the car passes over. At the far end of the hall a cauldron bubbles ominously, drawing the riders' attention, before the first witch swings out (using the existing mechanics for the current first flying demon). The second demon is removed, replaced instead by a cackling second witch flying overhead, swinging over the track.
The car takes you into a new scene: "the witches' kitchen", which you are pursued into by the witches, who are preparing to have you for dinner. This is the old crash columns' area, leading up to the trommel, but the room is now much more spacious with the wall to the right of the track replaced by a long kitchen table, where various implements and knives are busy chopping and doing their work completely on their own with no one in sight, as if my magic.
Directly in front of you is the hearth with a roaring fire, it seems like you are going to end up in the fire, but the car turns at the last moment, rounding the end of the kitchen table. At this point there is a jump scare caused by a startled black cat which was concealed behind the table. You make your escape into the trommel that simulates your descending into the basement.
At the far end of the tunnel, a door opens at the top of a new spiral staircase (where the opening face currently is), revealing the shadow of a witch as she pursues you downstairs. You flee through the basement and in the scene where the Giant's face once resided, one of the witches now burst through that window. She asks if "you like her itsy bitsy friends?" and dangling from her fingers are spiders handing from webs which seem to be getting larger as they drop towards the ground.
You turn away from her into the dark and you hear her call after you "Or are you afraid of spiders?" mirroring the classic line from the ride. A spell is being chanted in the background as you then go into the hall of spiders, which is retained in more or less its current form.
A little further on in a homage to the past, the original Ghost Corridor from 1992 is back... kind of. Instead of a phantom flying overhead, now one of the witches swoop down the corridor on her broomstick (obviously on a more reliable modern mechanism). And at the end, she overshoots the car and crashes through a window in the new greenhouse style scene, where the riders instead swing right and through a set of glass door into the Ghoulish Garden.
The Ghoulish Garden retains many of it current inhabitants, but the lunatic is replaced by one of the witches. The hearse and undertaker is moved to the very end of the garden, where once there was a cheap zombie lab, but now you are pursued into a dense forest. A cackle echoes through the trees, "welcome to the gloomy wood, where the wild things are..."
The feel of the forest is similar to a modern version of the woods in the original Snow White's scary adventure, and perhaps some old friends might appear in the section (perhaps a relocated Tigger, for example). The woods are very ominous and foreboding, but in the final scene we discover the witch has come a cropper from one of her own spell and is entangled in a tree that has come to life and seized her.
I think something like that would be a good use of the ride, with a mix of immersive new scenes, retaining some classic scares as well as paying homage to the past. And as a mix of the new and old, it also means that more budget can be invested into impressive new set pieces and animatronics that really bring the ride back to life.
If I were redoing the ride, I'd go with a witch-based theme, which isn't really a theme the park have previously included (the odd Scarefest attraction aside). If you'll indulge me for a moment....
Needless to say, the guns and LEDs are long gone. The ride itself retains some of its original scenes and mechanics, but significant portions are reworked to implement a new storyline and new spooky surprises throughout.
The new story is reasonably lightweight and leans on a traditional witchlike story - you are exploring the witches' cottage and merry mayhem is unleashed when you are discovered and are hunted down by the occupants.
In keeping with the new story, much of the mansion aesthetic of the current ride is updated to more of a 'medieval cottage' feel. For example, in the grand hall towards the start of the ride, the marble columns and floor give way to wooden rafters and straw strewn across the floor, barely disguising the pentagram hidden below as the car passes over. At the far end of the hall a cauldron bubbles ominously, drawing the riders' attention, before the first witch swings out (using the existing mechanics for the current first flying demon). The second demon is removed, replaced instead by a cackling second witch flying overhead, swinging over the track.
The car takes you into a new scene: "the witches' kitchen", which you are pursued into by the witches, who are preparing to have you for dinner. This is the old crash columns' area, leading up to the trommel, but the room is now much more spacious with the wall to the right of the track replaced by a long kitchen table, where various implements and knives are busy chopping and doing their work completely on their own with no one in sight, as if my magic.
Directly in front of you is the hearth with a roaring fire, it seems like you are going to end up in the fire, but the car turns at the last moment, rounding the end of the kitchen table. At this point there is a jump scare caused by a startled black cat which was concealed behind the table. You make your escape into the trommel that simulates your descending into the basement.
At the far end of the tunnel, a door opens at the top of a new spiral staircase (where the opening face currently is), revealing the shadow of a witch as she pursues you downstairs. You flee through the basement and in the scene where the Giant's face once resided, one of the witches now burst through that window. She asks if "you like her itsy bitsy friends?" and dangling from her fingers are spiders handing from webs which seem to be getting larger as they drop towards the ground.
You turn away from her into the dark and you hear her call after you "Or are you afraid of spiders?" mirroring the classic line from the ride. A spell is being chanted in the background as you then go into the hall of spiders, which is retained in more or less its current form.
A little further on in a homage to the past, the original Ghost Corridor from 1992 is back... kind of. Instead of a phantom flying overhead, now one of the witches swoop down the corridor on her broomstick (obviously on a more reliable modern mechanism). And at the end, she overshoots the car and crashes through a window in the new greenhouse style scene, where the riders instead swing right and through a set of glass door into the Ghoulish Garden.
The Ghoulish Garden retains many of it current inhabitants, but the lunatic is replaced by one of the witches. The hearse and undertaker is moved to the very end of the garden, where once there was a cheap zombie lab, but now you are pursued into a dense forest. A cackle echoes through the trees, "welcome to the gloomy wood, where the wild things are..."
The feel of the forest is similar to a modern version of the woods in the original Snow White's scary adventure, and perhaps some old friends might appear in the section (perhaps a relocated Tigger, for example). The woods are very ominous and foreboding, but in the final scene we discover the witch has come a cropper from one of her own spell and is entangled in a tree that has come to life and seized her.
I think something like that would be a good use of the ride, with a mix of immersive new scenes, retaining some classic scares as well as paying homage to the past. And as a mix of the new and old, it also means that more budget can be invested into impressive new set pieces and animatronics that really bring the ride back to life.
Pretty sure it's not in warranty anyway
the laser stuff is less complicated than you might imagine, I think the only part of the ride system which was hacked in any way was the shells of the cars and the addition of a small additional power draw on each car. It could be undone, but I doubt it'd do much to improve reliability.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
Yeah, the ride system didn't seem to be altered at all when the blasters and targets were installed. Only an extra piece of hardware bring implemened, that being separate from the ride system itself. Their only trouble is replacing the fake wood on the front of the cars and the bookshelf.
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