Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
The TLC social media feeds said that Duel was scheduled to receive some TLC this closed season.
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The TLC social media feeds said that Duel was scheduled to receive some TLC this closed season.
jon81uk
TS Member
Its specifically mentioned in this interview with Wayne who is in charge of TLC.
https://www.kiphakes.com/2017/06/behind-the-scenes-at-alton-towers-resort-towers-tlc.html
When Wayne was asked about what next he said
"Where I really want to get is in to Duel, hopefully we’ll be able to get in there and give it some Towers TLC."
The theme park geek
TS Member
The information that there was going to be a refurb came from the official TLC twitter account.
As for what they will do with duel I actually think its mainly simple things that need to be fixed a lot of the physical theming is still there. The main problems with the ride are lighting and repair. They need to place more emphasis on keeping the existing effects working. If they cannot maintain the rides effect to a decent standard maybe the best approach is to change the effect to work or remove them.
Lighting mainly needs dimming so you cant see the effects mechanisms, this would be quite easy to sort out.
A new Imascore soundtrack would be really cool I don't think the current soundtrack is too bad but more atmosphere is welcome.
The shooting aspect of the ride does slightly detract from the experience of the ride but some people seem to really like them so I'm not bothered what happens.
If SW8 is in Gloomy wood (I think there will be a re-name of the area) then maybe they will add some things related to that.
Possible things for the future
Ultimately moving forward I think we might see an IP for Duel such as Ghostbusters and I would personally welcome this as a development.
jon81uk
TS Member
SW8 is not in Gloomy Wood
The theme park geek
TS Member
That’s what the map says I think this will change though.
Rick
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Crux
Did something more concrete come after that, or was that the last word on the matter? I only ask because I am sure there are a lot of things they would like to do.
Olivus Prime
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
To be honest I wouldn't mind The Haunted House's soundtrack being put back in, the reinstated tracks in the queueline have always work well and the Duel theme playing through the whole ride is just tiresome.
So, lets come up with a list of the top 5 things you would do in Duel......
1. Address the lighting in some areas where the mechanics of some of the props can easily be seen, i.e. the heads flying above you
2. Fix trommel tunnel once and for all - if it cant be fixed, thinking back to the Altonville Mine tours, maybe fill it with smoke and put a strobe light in there to disorientate people
3. Scrap the zombies scene at the end and replace it with something new, not quite sure what but the industrial setting just does not work within the haunted house. If they do keep the zombies, then maybe change the industrial theme to an outside theme, with zombies in the house gardens etc...
4.With reference to 3 above, if they do this, add smoke effects!
5. Tidy up the entrance bit, get the smells working again as you enter, face in the fireplace, lightning effects working on the windows etc.
1. Address the lighting in some areas where the mechanics of some of the props can easily be seen, i.e. the heads flying above you
2. Fix trommel tunnel once and for all - if it cant be fixed, thinking back to the Altonville Mine tours, maybe fill it with smoke and put a strobe light in there to disorientate people
3. Scrap the zombies scene at the end and replace it with something new, not quite sure what but the industrial setting just does not work within the haunted house. If they do keep the zombies, then maybe change the industrial theme to an outside theme, with zombies in the house gardens etc...
4.With reference to 3 above, if they do this, add smoke effects!
5. Tidy up the entrance bit, get the smells working again as you enter, face in the fireplace, lightning effects working on the windows etc.
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Bunny Munro
TS Member
To me duel needs ripped out and started again. I love the facade, the entrance and first hall with the dolls house (face in fire or not) and the station, but everything after is fairly awful.
The reasons for this in my opinion are;
1) the lighting is awful, and has been touched upon many times. However as well as the lights illuminating the moving parts of the animatronics, they also fail to properly light up the scenes. A lot of the time I've no idea that I'm supposed to be in someone's house.
2) the targets for guns, being bright LEDs distract you from looking at the scenes anyway. The better shooters I've been on (Buzz Light-year, and in perticular Men in Black) use targets that's are part of the scenes, this forces you to look at the scenes and appreciate them and animatronics. The ones used at towers largely distract from them. There is also far too many at some points.
Personally, I'd rip the guns out and turn it back into a decent haunted house. But I think there is no chance at all of that happening. As it stands it's a filler attraction and regardless of what they do with it it will probably stay as such. Most guest will ride it once per visit and move on.
The reasons for this in my opinion are;
1) the lighting is awful, and has been touched upon many times. However as well as the lights illuminating the moving parts of the animatronics, they also fail to properly light up the scenes. A lot of the time I've no idea that I'm supposed to be in someone's house.
2) the targets for guns, being bright LEDs distract you from looking at the scenes anyway. The better shooters I've been on (Buzz Light-year, and in perticular Men in Black) use targets that's are part of the scenes, this forces you to look at the scenes and appreciate them and animatronics. The ones used at towers largely distract from them. There is also far too many at some points.
Personally, I'd rip the guns out and turn it back into a decent haunted house. But I think there is no chance at all of that happening. As it stands it's a filler attraction and regardless of what they do with it it will probably stay as such. Most guest will ride it once per visit and move on.
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Apart from the lighting, the timing of the pneumatic animatronics needs sorting. Things have fallen waaaayyy out of sync with the cars.
I don't know if it's a sensor issue or whether the pneumatic actuators are worn out due to the hundreds of thousands of cycles they've gone through over the years. Probably the latter.
I don't know if it's a sensor issue or whether the pneumatic actuators are worn out due to the hundreds of thousands of cycles they've gone through over the years. Probably the latter.
emmerse2891
TS Member
totally agree. As you say people ride it once per-visit, when the whole point of duel is to make it re-rideable, So WHY NOT change it back to a haunted house!
Also why don't they think outside the box when it comes to interactivity, riders could be armed with torches - which activate effect - or 'paranormal investigating' equipment which interacts with the scenery and lighting etc, and they have to 'find' the ghosts.
MaxPower
TS Member
Now that is a great idea...
It would be even better if each rider had a different piece of equipment / weapon which activated different ride events or effects.
Bunny Munro
TS Member
I
That would be an incredible ride experience.
Something really interesting and you could imagine families standing in the queue organising themselves into jobs. Then re-riding and swapping roles.
That would be an incredible ride experience.
Something really interesting and you could imagine families standing in the queue organising themselves into jobs. Then re-riding and swapping roles.
Benzin
TS Member
It's been done before, the Monsters Inc ride in Japan has torches that activate animatronics... Whether Merlin could do something similar I'm not sure...
Do agree that a complete gutting would be in order, though whether I would remove the transit system or get a new one in is debatable...
Do agree that a complete gutting would be in order, though whether I would remove the transit system or get a new one in is debatable...
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
How about a brand new one with rotating cars? (would it fit?)
emmerse2891
TS Member
Rotating cars would be good, not spinning - just slowly turning every now and again - imagine thinking your safe in the back, only for the car to rotate and proceed slowly backwards into the darkness - also onboard surround sound audio, back pokers, seat vibrators and air jets/blasters (even if you close your eyes you'll not be safe).
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