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Duel: The Haunted House Actually Strikes Back - Refurb Incoming

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These days it's possible to do great sets with projection enhancements, which is a different kind of ride experience to having screens everywhere. It would also make it more unique with nearly every new attraction being AV based recently, which is great on its own but I don't think would suit the Haunted House. The ride's best trait was and probably still is its big phsycial appeal!
 
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BritishThemeParkArchive said:
These days it's possible to do great sets with projection enhancements, which is a different kind of ride experience to having screens everywhere. It would also make it more unique with nearly every new attraction being AV based recently, which is great on its own but I don't think would suit the Haunted House. The ride's best trait was and probably still is its big phsycial appeal!
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Latest POV of Duel as of speaking. Blimey, just a month apart when I went, but the change is dire! Though its good to hear the 'Are you scared of Spiders' sfx working again. And Electric Bill is once working again ad well!!!


Looks like they are keeping maintenance up with only the Haunted House animatronics and effects, but are letting the 2003 additions and current lighting go now.
 
Is it controversial to say I would like to see a completely new haunted house.

Instead of just reverting it back to what it once was tear it down and start again I'm sure with modern tech on there side they could create a great new experience.
 
Doddy said:
Is it controversial to say I would like to see a completely new haunted house.

Instead of just reverting it back to what it once was tear it down and start again I'm sure with modern tech on there side they could create a great new experience.
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I think we all know what Merlin would do if they did that though... Stationed props and plenty of screens and projections...

The detail of theming already in The Haunted House is impeccable, the props are giant and great, and the scenery is unique, but its been underutilised and unkempt so badly that people seemed to forget that it was once the pinnacle of Dark rides outside of America.

A new Merlin one would just be a standard trackless dark ride with some Gothic theming, and giant projections. Sad, but true.
 
Doddy said:
Is it controversial to say I would like to see a completely new haunted house.

Instead of just reverting it back to what it once was tear it down and start again I'm sure with modern tech on there side they could create a great new experience.
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Not controversial, there are some who are happy for it to revert back to how it was in 1992. In reality it needs a total overhaul inside I expect better from an attraction which is basically a seaside ghost train with guns.

Going back 25-30yrs is a mistake and needs bringing forward into a modern era alongside the other fist class rides in the park.

Also children are a lot more desensitised than what they were in the 90s so I cant see reverting it back and using props from the 1992 edition a great move.

You see the same people to emotionally attached to nostalgia and the past, Its the same people who want Bubbleworks, Pirate Adventure etc bringing back, Like Duel/HH they were all great rides for the time but its time to move on in my opinion.
 
Would anyone be up for a more buzz lightyear approach to a haunted house redo, that can keep
the atmosphere and class of a traditional haunted house but also feature target activated sets ?
 
Rob F said:
Would anyone be up for a more buzz lightyear approach to a haunted house redo, that can keep
the atmosphere and class of a traditional haunted house but also feature target activated sets ?
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TBH I could see one fitting in Sub Terras building if they expand it a little. Imagine, one based on Shooting the Nemesis creature when it hatched while trying to escape the facility. That'd be wicked!
 
I noticed a few weeks ago. The original Haunted House vestibule music was being played (be it very quietly) from the area where the moving book is in the tilted room.

It did not seem to be coming from anywhere else except there. It was almost being drowned out by the other audio in there, but it was absolutely there.
 
DistortAMG said:
I noticed a few weeks ago. The original Haunted House vestibule music was being played (be it very quietly) from the area where the moving book is in the tilted room.

It did not seem to be coming from anywhere else except there. It was almost being drowned out by the other audio on there, but it was absolutely there.
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It's been there since the start of the season. I think it's being played to hint the rides past as it is 30 years old this year. So it's like a little Easter egg in its celebration.
 
Trooper Looper said:
It's bene there since the start of the season. I think it's being played to hint the rides past as it is 30 years old this year. So it's like a little Easter egg pf a celebration.
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Lovely to hear it again in the ride. But I do miss waling through that main entrance to be greeted by that music grandly roaring out. Welcoming you into the house.
 
DistortAMG said:
Lovely to hear it again in the ride. But I do miss waling through that main entrance to be greeted by that music grandly roaring out. Welcoming you into the house.
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Never heard it on full blast in person, but gotta fully agree. Graham Smarts score for the ride is easily one of the Best of any ghost train ever made. I still really Like Simon Allen's score, but it doesn't fit in the queue unlike the Vestibules score. His is better for the rides Exterior.
 
Sambiasso said:
Not controversial, there are some who are happy for it to revert back to how it was in 1992. In reality it needs a total overhaul inside I expect better from an attraction which is basically a seaside ghost train with guns.

Going back 25-30yrs is a mistake and needs bringing forward into a modern era alongside the other fist class rides in the park.

Also children are a lot more desensitised than what they were in the 90s so I cant see reverting it back and using props from the 1992 edition a great move.

You see the same people to emotionally attached to nostalgia and the past, Its the same people who want Bubbleworks, Pirate Adventure etc bringing back, Like Duel/HH they were all great rides for the time but its time to move on in my opinion.
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I do wholeheartedly agree with most of your post but I don't agree, even in the dire state it's in, that Duel is basically a seaside ghost train with guns. HH was designed as a humourous and well set designed modern take on a ghost train. It was a very British thing to do and I'm glad they went in the direction they did with it. They could have taken the ghost train concept and just poshed it up for a theme park or they could've just gone with a cookie cutter people mover system like other parks were doing at the time inspired by Haunted Mansion.

But they decided on more of a dark ride concept with different sets and a ride system that sped up, slowed down and wound round tight corners into different sets like a ghost train. So more of a hybrid between the 2. Instantly recognisable as a ghost train, whilst being a fully fleshed out dark ride. It still mostly exists as this, albeit in a terrible state and with guns.

I think there's still a place for this kind of idea as I think it's still a fairly unique concept and is still very Alton Towers. I would like to see a new ride with new name, new effects, new characters, new tech and a new experience based on the same sort concept as a ghost train on steroids. But I fear we'll simply just get a lazy, unimaginative TV screen laden IP ride like other Merlin parks have.
 
Trooper Looper said:
TBH I could see one fitting in Sub Terras building if they expand it a little. Imagine, one based on Shooting the Nemesis creature when it hatched while trying to escape the facility. That'd be wicked!
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Didn't I mentioned this before of having NST being built from the start as a shooter dark ride? I know I'm going off topic from Duel but I have said that had NST being a dark ride as opposed to a drop tower ride then it would have been not been far better received but it would have made the shooter system on Duel redundant and this would have possibly seen some of its shooter system cascaded over to FV but this would mean that this would be the chance to see Duel have an overhaul back to HH.

Not really a bad idea had Merlin thought more about it, ah well.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Didn't I mentioned this before of having NST being built from the start as a shooter dark ride? I know I'm going off topic from Duel but I have said that had NST being a dark ride as opposed to a drop tower ride then it would have been not been far better received but it would have made the shooter system on Duel redundant and this would have possibly seen some of its shooter system cascaded over to FV but this would mean that this would be the chance to see Duel have an overhaul back to HH.

Not really a bad idea had Merlin thought more about it, ah well.
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Well, unfortunately life doesn't give everything to you on a silver platter unfortunately :(
 
Okay, i think we can all agree now that Alton Towers are now messing with us intentionally XD. From Theme Park Worldwides latest vlog at the park, when they had their ride on Duel, they stated that there's a big, cheap, fibreglass lizard prop in the lab finale now.
 
Trooper Looper said:
Okay, i think we can all agree now that Alton Towers are now messing with us intentionally XD. From Theme Park Worldwides latest vlog at the park, when they had their ride on Duel, they stated that there's a big, cheap, fibreglass lizard prop in the lab finale now.
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It’s not even that - apparently it’s literally just a big cuddly toy lizard - the type you can win from a HB game stall
 
I do like the idea of stripping it back to before DUEL and updating scenes, fixing the trommel and using projection mapping and other effects to bring the props and sets to life. If it was gutted i would think we would end with a screen-based ride that's beyond dull.
 
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