AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
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ℹ️ Heads up...
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Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Personally, I think the best (and most likely) scenario is:
September 6th 2022: Duel closes
Fireworks 2022 (November): Original Nemesis operates for the last time, then closes.
Opening day 2023: Duel reopens under its new theme and name.
2O24: Retracked Nemesis reopens in time for its 30th birthday.
September 6th 2022: Duel closes
Fireworks 2022 (November): Original Nemesis operates for the last time, then closes.
Opening day 2023: Duel reopens under its new theme and name.
2O24: Retracked Nemesis reopens in time for its 30th birthday.
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Anyone else really excited about the next few years at Alton Towers? It almost feels as exciting as it did back in the 90s, and even John Wardley said that the Magic Making team and the “feel” of how things are certainly remind him of the glory years and that it’s taking a long time to get where we are today.
Don’t get me wrong, Merlin certainly have massive things to improve on but at the end of the day, they have chosen to spend millions on future proofing Nemesis and are also refurbishing Duel and leaning on some of the ride’s original designers for guidance.
Don’t get me wrong, Merlin certainly have massive things to improve on but at the end of the day, they have chosen to spend millions on future proofing Nemesis and are also refurbishing Duel and leaning on some of the ride’s original designers for guidance.
Craig
TS Administrator
I've said before that as much as Covid has really hurt the park in the short term with staffing issues etc, in the longer term it's actually helped them and made them think like a theme park again.
Of course, there's still a shed load of faults there (hi, hotels), so I'm not saying they've simply flicked a switch and everything is right again. But, be that through Duel's impending refurbishment, Nemesis re-track or through the push with events, there's some hints of some real efforts being made to focus on an overall experience rather than just play a numbers game and get as many people as possible through the door.
Looking forward to seeing what they come up with!
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Trooper Looper
TS Member
I just hope they keep the original effects and props. don't want them gone, but for the post 2002 ones, yeah, sod em.
Craig
TS Administrator
Times and technology have changed in terms of the construction of effects and props, hell what's left barely works anyway! If you're looking at harking back to the Haunted House, you'll have things that perhaps look similar, but would almost certainly built from scratch.
Plastic Person
TS Member
What is the other? I've gone blank.
QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
The flat ride situation is badly needed to get sorted out sooner than later so that we can see the back of the RS.
One thing I wonder if it true that they intend to bring back HH, how far will Towers/Merlin attempt to milk the nostalgia market? I know there are those on here saying that hardly anyone remembers HH during it's heyday but then again many in media seemed to be playing up the nostalgic factor a lot and if it were to work here for Towers, who knows what else they'd try to exploit? Return of Ripsaw, TT etc anyone?
Certainly the return of Ripsaw (albeit a modern floorless version) could work as one idea of bringing back old favourites, then again I don't think the same would work for the return of Submission.
Imagination
TS Member
Can’t help operational issues, this was never planned with the intention of the other two being down and it is pressing on ahead regardless of the issues on the operational sides of things down to another department (and other factors).
The Duel is over implies Duel as we know it is over, some form of different incarnation for Scarefest.
Just an opinion, you don't have to be negative towards it
Absolutely not.
Dr Roodyn is no more. Say goodbye to blasters and a loosely slapped on storyline. As I said before, this isn’t simply just an old “TLC project” again.
The guys involved in this and teams from MMM are all too aware of the Bubbleworks debacle..and besides, there simply was no passion left (and a hefty big IP deal signed) which meant a return to some form of former bubbleworks glory was not possible there.
If all that is planned goes ahead…it should be good.
siralgenon
TS Member
I've just watched the old Duel pre-show video and it's made me realise they need to bring back the old Gloomy Wood music instead of the mish mash that plays now.
Which is the other ride that uses it? Mack seemed to come up with a couple of good ride systems that were under used. Tomb Blaster's also comes to mind. Aside from Journey into the Imagination, was that used on anything else?
In a way the Haunted House's ride system seemed to lay the grounds for rides like Forbidden Journey, which has the same concept of the cars slowing down to load and then peeling away.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
There was a space themed dark ride somewhere.
No idea where
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Trooper Looper
TS Member
Do you guys think the Grand Hall and its effects will still be around after the refurb, but cleaned and given some proper TLC? Like repainted Demon Ghouls, different sfx, and lighting?
I think the answer to that is we simply have no idea.
The teaser sign does point to HH references (The Emily Alton thing and the maths she used to write in the dolls house) but as I said in my previous post, 6+9=15 and it’s scarefests 15 year anniversary this year.
Lots and lots of speculation going around at the moment, which the teaser was obviously designed to ignite.
jmc
TS Member
Noone knows.
Personally I cant see them ripping out everything and starting from scratch when there are perfectly good opportunities to spend the money on improving what is already there as well as adding in fresh new ideas with todays technology.
I do wonder if they will replace the transit system with perhaps a trackless one. I am not overly familiar with how they work but would they be cheaper than the classic style given less working parts? If the blasters are indeed getting removed I would be surprised if they further modify the already Frankensteined ride vehicles.
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Craig
TS Administrator
Echo everyone's comments that no one really knows, however just a point since you mentioned lighting. Obviously part of the reason things are looking so awful at the moment is down to the move to LED lighting, which behave very differently to the old incandescent bulbs. That's another reason why I think we're unlikely to see a simple rebuild/repair of existing features. There will have to be consideration given to the size, location and design of theming features based on today's lighting technology, rather than what was around in the early 90s.
I hope they get rid of literally everything internally and start again, personally. Maybe a couple of bits reused, but fundamentally within new scenes.
Fundamentally everything in there is knackered at this point, and however well set up the scenes were at first the effects were broken more and more each time the props were repainted or the light reset. So much is possible without the constraints of working with 30 year old props installed by a genius who's sadly no longer with us.
Great news, anyway, and 6-7 months is a really decent window to get a lot done.
Trooper Looper
TS Member
Fair call, but I think that it's 90s and imperfect feel gives the ride a lot of character, and a lot of its Inhabitants and scenes are pretty iconic in the UK Theme Park industry because of that, especially our 'YYEEAAAAAAHHHHH!' Guys. We know they're on walls and sticks, but who cares? They're fun and filled charm.
If I had to guess what they're planning to do, I'd say that all of the scenes will be given a proper clean, probably a couple new textures, a complete relight, maybe a fixed trommel with a new wall interior, perhaps based on the more reddish look they planed? I'd love to see a couple of the short lived effects brought back but with more reliable technology, especially the Ghost corridor and the Bridge Troll.
The only radical chang I see coming is the finale, that will either be a modernised Version of the swamp finale, new props based on the older monsters with some new ones, or something completely new.
My take is, if there's an auction, and none of the HH props are here, it's pretty much confirmed that they're staying, and I firmly believe that. It's pretty evident that what they're doing it's either going to be The Haunted House, or be linked to it, and ripping the very scenes and props that made it special is just a stupid idea.
I'm just expecting this project to be quite a league above Tomb Blasters 2020 TLC, in regards to the existing scenery there.
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