Duel: The Haunted House Actually Strikes Back - Refurb Incoming

[Danny]

This topic has become genuinely painful to read over recent days.

 

[Matt N]

This topic has become genuinely painful to read over recent days.

Why, out of interest? I guess the closure news has simply driven everyone into an excited frenzy of speculation!

 

[Benzin]

What about the dungeons if they decide to drop it as a dungeons attraction?

World's first blaster system on a water ride anyone?

...actually, even Merlin wouldn't want to do that even with all their USP demands for rides.

Plus it's been done. Little dark ride at Tivoli comes to mind.

 

[TroySmith1]

Preferably this. Also found a pretty cool photo online of the station with the regular lights on!

This definitely needs a complete overhaul I argue the whole queen line does. Also please AT update the screens pictures in the Que or make them more realistic)

This may be Controversial to some of the old fans and I’m all for nostalgia, to remember certain things to keep in a stored memory. But regarding this dark ride I would prefer them to take longer on it, bigger budget and replace entirely keeping a similar spooky house/ghost concept. A lot of props including the tacky, fake, brick walls looks so dated and cheap. In fact it just looks like obviously painted polystyrene to be honest, You can’t save that! It doesn’t fool the pubic anymore we expect more to be truly immersed in 2023 i believe. The Garden scene for example needs completely replacing not keeping (would look better as more a dark forest or garden with lots of trees, fog and quality lit up backdrops) I like the sound of projection mapping onto fog curtains mentioned earlier. There actually so many simple and effective tricks you can do with projection mapping now onto moving or stationary props to bring it to live cheaply, Mystic manor is a very very good example of this.

As much as I’m excited about this news, I do worry 7 months isn’t actually a long enough time for the size of this project. Out of interest does anyone know how long did the Jumanji dark ride take to complete? Which some would argue it’s actually a lot shorter ride in comparison and still has many dead spots and cheap lighting. But with a much bigger budget and I assume longer time frame to complete?

 

[Cryptocoaster]

Has it been confirmed the HH will be reopening in March? They might go for a slightly later opening to gain more time for all the work.

 

[ChristmasPud]

A lot of props including the tacky, fake, brick walls looks so dated and cheap. In fact it just looks like obviously painted polystyrene to be honest,, You can’t save that! It doesn’t fool the pubic anymore we expect more to be truly immersed in 2023 i believe.

It's exactly the same vacform wall scenery from the same supplier used in the Alton Towers Dungeons and themed attractions / TV all around the world. The garden is also still one of the best detailed sets in the country. Of all the things in the ride Im not sure these are the main problems, Id suggest it's more the lighting, paintwork and that half the scenery has been removed over time from most areas. And the ride needs some fresh new ideas that match the fun of the original

 

[Skyscraper]

Has it been confirmed the HH will be reopening in March? They might go for a slightly later opening to gain more time for all the work.

I would've thought that they would want it open from the start of the season if Nemesis is closed for it's re-track.

Edit: Another sign has appeared....



(Source: Theme Park Nation)

 

[Trooper Looper]

I would've thought that they would want it open from the start of the season if Nemesis is closed for it's re-track.

Edit: Another sign has appeared....

Are you sure this is new? I'm very certain the board said that when I went in May.

 

[Jb85]

I would've thought that they would want it open from the start of the season if Nemesis is closed for it's re-track.

Edit: Another sign has appeared....

We hope to see you soon....

Interesting.... doesn't really indicate the blasters are going does it ..... quite the opposite in fact

 

[Skyscraper]

Are you sure this is new? I'm very certain the board said that when I went in May.

That's interesting, I've never noticed it.

 

[Trooper Looper]

That's interesting, I've never noticed it.

Maybe they've got a extra board somewhere, and have out the old one back up since the Date has now been revealed and people are very aware of how long the blaster version is open till 6th of September.

 

[emmerse2891]

 

[Danny]

That board isn't new and has been there for a while.

 

[Trooper Looper]

That board isn't new and has been there for a while.

I know, what I'm meaning is that it's the old one, and the one with the date text must be new. That's my thoughts anyway.

 

[Rob]

And confusion like this is why you should please post the source of any images that are not your own.

Thanks!

 

[Skyscraper]

And confusion like this is why you should please post the source of any images that are not your own.

Thanks!

Sorry, it's from Theme Park Nation

 

[Trooper Looper]

Wasn't a huge chunk of the ride given a coat of LED paint for the 2018 refurb? Maybe that could explain the reason they're closing it early this season, to get rid of that coat of paint?

 

[Islander]

Wasn't a huge chunk of the ride given a coat of LED paint for the 2018 refurb? Maybe that could explain the reason they're closing it early this season, to get rid of that coat of paint?

What on earth is LED paint?

 

[s_g_k]

What on earth is LED paint?

I assume @Trooper Looper means UV paint, lit by LED purple lighting which just looks naff.

Didn’t they get rid of their genuine UV lighting during the catastrophe of the 2018 lighting redesign? I refuse to call it a refurb.

 

[ChristmasPud]

Didn’t they get rid of their genuine UV lighting during the catastrophe of the 2018 lighting redesign?

No, the first change to LED was in 2017, but done incorrectly just putting LED lamps into the existing circuits. It was at this point you could see the mechanisms on the flying heads. The paintwork had also faded long before this making the heads hard to see, so really the effect hasn't worked properly since the 90s.

Also in 2017 UV flourescent bars were put back in some scenes for the first time since the early 90s, and actually looked good although the paintwork was still faded.

2018 TLC the flourescent UV bars were removed and changed to LED UV. Seemingly very cheap LED UV fixtures and so it looked flat with visible light cast everywhere. The UV paintwork was touched up in some areas.

LED is amazing lighting technology and can replicate incandescent light if high enough quality. But Ive never seen LED manage that genuine blacklight UV effect anywhere yet, even Disneyland Paris's UV Barbossa on Pirates of the Caribbean looks a bit off.