Duel: The Haunted House Actually Strikes Back - Refurb Incoming

[WickerWonder18]

Christ must be a slow news month.

I am not saying he isn’t right but this is scraping the barrel a bit to get views.

I’m gonna put it out there. In 30 years time Oblivion will be gone as it’s now starting to rot.

Jesus…….

IF something is happening, and logically it’s likely to be up for review soon anyway. I see the ride system staying and just a refurb of what is there, maybe with a replaced scene or two

Haha he is very much so mate, always been like that. Should of been a 5 minute video but he went into detail on it's history, which everyone who's watching the video would know anyway.

I see what you mean but Youtubers always do this, they love speculation, a few other channels have done the same idea with Duel, like Lift Hills and Thrills.

Yeah I see where your coming from with Oblivion, we now know that Nemmy is staying so I see that the next one to go, but, don't know what they'd put there.

Just some big TLC is needed with Duel, that's all we want anyway.

 

[jon81uk]

I think you'll be surprised how many people love The Haunted House Back when it was open. It definitely doesn't make up the majority of the attendance, but maybe 10-15% percent perhaps? 0.1% seems pretty low.

The 0.1% is the number of Towers Street forum members compared to Alton Towers guests, in reference to trying to gauge anything by reading forum posts on here.

There are 3500ish members on here (many not active) and Alton Towers gets around 2million guests, so around 0.175% of AT guests are TS forums members, think about those who post on this thread and its even smaller.

The discussion on this forum cannot be used to gauge mass opinions on the park.

 

[Alsty]

Parts of the old extended queue line have now been cleared. I can't imagine they would do that unless there are going to be some changes in the near future.

 

[rob666]

Or could it just be the start of clearance preparations for a scarefest attraction?

 

[Sambiasso]

Playing devils advocate...Would it be the worse thing to totally get rid of Duel and revitalise the whole area?
I'm sure everyone was disappointed when Flume, Black Hole and Corkscrew were all removed but it was for the best in the long run.

Gloomy wood area is the one that needs a complete refresh. I know its easy to be sentimental and folk enjoy Member Berries but for the 1 attraction a lot more could be done to overhaul the whole area.

Don't shoot me down, just a discussion.

 

[WickerWonder18]

Think we are pulling at loose straws here, it's just a bit of path that's be cleared to keep it nice and tidy rather than looking awful with leaves etc.

With the idea of completely scrapping it like @Sambiasso mentioned, what would they put there? Scrapping a large scale dark ride would leave a whole in the park imo, and you'd struggle to put a coaster in with a lot of trees there.

 

[Matt N]

With the idea of completely scrapping it like @Sambiasso mentioned, what would they put there? Scrapping a large scale dark ride would leave a whole in the park imo, and you'd struggle to put a coaster in with a lot of trees there.

They could put a like for like replacement in there. For clarity, I'm not talking about a ground-up rebuild of Duel, but rather a large-scale dark ride of equal magnitude.

 

[Danny]

I think you'll be surprised how many people love The Haunted House Back when it was open. It definitely doesn't make up the majority of the attendance, but maybe 10-15% percent perhaps? 0.1% seems pretty low.

Were you even born then the Haunted House was open?

 

[Matt N]

Were you even born then the Haunted House was open?

Their profile states that they were born in 2005, which would suggest not.

Although in fairness, I'm one to talk... I wasn't born when the Haunted House was open either, being born in 2003 myself.

Anything I say about the ride's popularity when it was open or any inference about the days of the HH comes from the internet and hearsay from other forum members.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Their profile states that they were born in 2005, which would suggest not.

Although in fairness, I'm one to talk... I wasn't born when the Haunted House was open either, being born in 2003 myself.

Anything I say about the ride's popularity when it was open or any inference about the days of the HH comes from the internet and hearsay from other forum members.

Yep, and without the Internet, I wouldn’t even know about most of Alton Towers past.

 

[Benjsh]

Obviously a Ghostbusters IP is still literally screaming out here. They already own the rights and have a Ghostbusters shooting ride in their portfolio. It makes a lot of sense and I for one wouldn't be unhappy as I'm a big fan of the first two films. Some of my all time favourites.

However just to play devils advocate......I wouldn't mind a Stranger Things IP either.. They have gone for a popular modern TV show in the Walking Dead in previous years so it's not exactly unheard of. They'd have to change the area into Hawkins Lab though and get rid of the classic HH facade which would be a real shame. However I would definitely still be hyped for the ride as I adore Stranger Things being an 80's kid and am bit of a nerd too.

 

[Skyscraper]

Obviously a Ghostbusters IP is still literally screaming out here. They already own the rights and have a Ghostbusters shooting ride in their portfolio. It makes a lot of sense and I for one wouldn't be unhappy as I'm a big fan of the first two films. Some of my all time favourites.

However just to play devils advocate......I wouldn't mind a Stranger Things IP either.. They have gone for a popular modern TV show in the Walking Dead in previous years so it's not exactly unheard of. They'd have to change the area into Hawkins Lab though and get rid of the classic HH facade which would be a real shame. However I would definitely still be hyped for the ride as I adore Stranger Things being an 80's kid and am bit of a nerd too.

That's why Ghostbusters or Jumanji would be good IPs- they would allow the iconic facade to be kept as it is.
Scooby-Doo would also allow that, and would be a good theme.

 

[Jb85]

It’s going to be Ghostbusters if anything

Jumanji doesn’t fit - I can see that going in Katanga or to replace the Dungeons

 

[LLCorkscrew]

I loved the Haunted House, but I loved Duel too (I was the first person through its doors on 5th April 2003).

It's something a bit different and me and my mates would team up, 2 v 2, and the losing team would have to do a dare. More recently, that's sitting on the Battle Galleons whilst the winners play from the side, or going in last on a maze (we generally agree that the back is worse than the front). My bro had to walk around Katanga Canyon clucking like a chicken for losing, once. Big kids!

It's looking very tired now though, to the point that it's fair to say it's a shambles.

I'd prefer if they modernised it and retained the laser gun concept - new animatronics, special effects, blasters - and kept some of the better stuff (the facade, the soundtrack, a couple of the scenes). It's a relatively small investment compared with placing an entirely new ride there - and I am a bit cautious with modern tech / VR - just look at how Galactica and DB's Ghost Train turned out.

Edit: if it has to be an IP, please Scooby Doo! Ghostbusters is alright too but I'd worry that Stranger Things doesn't have the longevity and despite its popularity, everyone has watched Scooby Doo!

 

[James]

They could keep the facade with a Stranger Things overlay, just have it as a 'portal' to the upside down. There's the Creel House (picture below) in the newest series so they could even theme it to that. I love the idea of a Stranger Things dark ride. Don't think I want a Merlin interpretation of the theme though.



Ghostbusters seems like a logical theme if they were to go down the IP route, as Merlin already own the rights. They could quite easily keep the current ride system and blaster guns.

Regarding The Haunted House, I highly doubt anyone really remembers it apart from enthusiasts (that have actually experienced the ride in the flesh). The ride in its current form is so distant from what it once was, the 'haunted house' concept is lost. I would rather look to the future and see something fresh happen to the ride.

As for the path clearing. I don't see how a path being tidied/cleaned in May 2022 = new ride in March 2023 (it would be a mess by then). It could be for something Scarefest related, it could simply be someone in Towers thought 'that looks a mess, we can give it a clean'. That's not to say there's nothing planned, however there is no evidence to suggest a retheme or new ride at the moment.

 

[Bert2theSpark]

However just to play devils advocate......I wouldn't mind a Stranger Things IP either.. They have gone for a popular modern TV show in the Walking Dead in previous years so it's not exactly unheard of. They'd have to change the area into Hawkins Lab though and get rid of the classic HH facade which would be a real shame. However I would definitely still be hyped for the ride as I adore Stranger Things being an 80's kid and am bit of a nerd too.

There's a haunted house in the latest season of Stranger Things that they could redevelop the façade into, although they would be more likely to redecorate the existing the façade by adding vines and whatnot from the The Upside Down similar to what they did with Jumanji façade at Gardaland.

I'd definitely argue that Stranger Things would definitely be a good fit for the Duel building as it the series borrows from classic family films such as the Goonies but also classic horror films like Nightmare On Elm Street in the later seasons, meaning that the ride would have a wide appeal across demographics similar to the original Haunted House. Meanwhile Ghostbusters, although a classic, arguably has been marketed more towards families so wouldn't attract the same amount of attention teen/adult groups, although I'd argue an IP like Stranger Things would mean that there'd be an e-ticket attraction that serves to bridge the gap between Walliams and the Big Seven, complimenting rides such as Wicker Man and Th13teen.

Look at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, which has both Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses, yet Stranger Things has been the headline attraction for the event for a few years despite the Ghostbusters house being more recent.

 

[Jb85]

Yeh but Stranger Things is ace and I cannot see Merlin doing it justice

 

[Squiggs]

Look at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, which has both Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses, yet Stranger Things has been the headline attraction for the event for a few years despite the Ghostbusters house being more recent.

This does highlight one of the issues around Ghostbusters (and indeed Jumanji). It's a bit off-topic as it doesn't really relate to Duel, but neither of those IPs are particularly strong commodities.

There is definitely a reason why Jumanji has been left on the shelf for the best part of 30 years until Merlin started rummaging around the bargain IP bin. And with Ghostbusters, whilst the original films are fairly beloved, pretty much everything since the 80s has been a commercial flop.

 

[WickerWonder18]

And with Ghostbusters, whilst the original films are fairly beloved, pretty much everything since the 80s has been a commercial flop.

Ghostbusters Afterlife? Was pretty successful and they are planning a 2nd one.

 

[Squiggs]

It made less than the one before it... it was only pretty successful because it cost less to make and had very little in the way of marketing, so it was able to turn a profit

It actually made less than the dollar value the original movies made back in the 80s, which taking into account inflation is somewhat wild (according to Wikipedia, Ghostbusters II took $215,394,738 in 1989, whilst Afterlife took $197,360,575in 2021)