I'll hopefully get round to finishing up my Gardaland report in the coming weeks, but had the chance to experience Jumanji (just about, given that they closed the queue forty minutes early with no warning...)
It shares something in common with Duel in that it wisely employs an excellent, dynamic system for a dark ride. Unfortunately, that system is almost entirely wasted on the ride itself, which feels like a cross between Gangsta Granny and Tomb Blaster, but shorter and less convincing. I rode Challenge of Tutankahmun at Walibi Belgium the following week, which is outstanding in comparison, despite being twenty-years older and not operating under the contractual obligations of an IP.
No idea what's coming with Duel, but Merlin's dark ride design impulses can be terrible, designed with the philosophy of their major investments. A few memorable moments or USP-equivalent mixed with a whole load of unconvincing nonsense. The moment in Jumanji in which the headlights on your vehicle scan an unpainted black wall and an emergency exit is baffling. I think there's a little too much nostalgia, borrowed and otherwise, for the original Haunted House on here, but when you're bouncing around in front of a video screen for the two of the three minutes you spend on Jumanji, you realise just how much depth and charm it possessed.
As such, hopefully the foundations of Duel/HH are still strong enough that hopefully they can't screw it up unless they really overthink it...
