I myself have also never ridden these Attractions either, but I think just from their POVs, they seemed to be some of the best Dark Rides out there, excluding his Barry Island Creations (No offence John)
Though I do agree a small amount of their Reputation is based on Nostalgia, but even without their Nostalgia, it practically won't make a difference. For Example, Toyland Tours may have been a bit outdated since Video Games have taken as the King of children's main form of entertainment, even I'd count myself a victim of this. But the music, theming, and simplicity of Toyland Tours is what's made me love it, even if the POV quality's are seemingly poor, same goes to the Haunted House with its superior atmosphere and context. Though there are some who do love Duel for its Nostalgia also, but it's quite the minority, with most of the Guests either preferring HH, or people who don't care about the Attraction and just go on it to spend their time trying to better their friends score, which isn't a bad thing at all.
As a whole, his Attractions Reputation is a mixed bag, with 20% of it based on Nostalgia, and the 80% based on stats and preferences, or it literally being better overall.
Fair opinion, and I do get where you're coming from!
I do think that nostalgia, whether it's your own nostalgia or nostalgia that's borrowed from others, is an interesting thing to bring up in relation to these rides that have now been closed for some time; HH has not operated in the form being discussed here for nearly 20 years, and Toyland and Prof Burp's Bubbleworks have been gone for over 15. So naturally, memories of what they were actually like for those who rode will be getting more hazy, and perhaps somewhat embellished, as time progresses, and the gold standard of dark rides will have changed, which does make me wonder whether these rides would still stand up if they were operating in the exact same form today. Had the 2000s refurbishments not happened, would Toyland Tours, Haunted House and Prof Burp's Bubbleworks still be seen in the same way? Or would they fall into the same category as many European and American parks' late 80s/early 90s dark rides, and be the dated, tired attractions that everyone wanted to rip out or change?
I'm not trying to downplay the Wardley dark rides by any means, as for the time, I'm sure they were revolutionary, but rightly or wrongly, the world (and what people consider a fun ride) has changed a lot since the 1990s, and I'm doubtful that Wardley's rides from the era would be immune to that, or immune to it to the extent that some suggest, at least. I'm not saying that they
definitely wouldn't still be highly revered today by any means, as it's hard to know without them being here operating, but I don't think them
definitely still being highly revered today is as certain as some suggest, personally.
Building upon that, I'd like to reference another of your posts above, if you don't mind:
What is it with Tussauds in the early 2000s and Present day Merlin just dissing his dark rides, excluding Hex?
Professor Burps Bubbleworks was still in really good shape on its last Season in 2005, so why the retheme?
Merlin had a long time to bring back Life into Bubbleworks (preferably to its pre 2006 state) which could've made many memories for generations to come, but decided to throw it away for an IP that probably wont even last a decade.
I of course wasn't around at the time, but based on comments from some on here and elsewhere (do correct me if I'm wrong here, guys), I ascertain that the rides were generally seen as quite tired and dated by the time they closed, and in the case of at very least HH and Toyland, I've heard that they weren't particularly popular among the general visitor, with often non-existent queues. As much as I'd love it if parks operated solely on nostalgia and goodwill, they are businesses who have to weigh up the most profitable course of action, from both a monetary standpoint and a guest feedback standpoint, and continuing to plough money into rides that aren't that popular among a large majority of visitors sadly doesn't make sense from a business perspective, so in that regard, I think Tussauds' rationale behind the refurbs was to increase the rides' popularity and make them relevant to the general visitor again.
And with the latest additions of Gangsta Granny the Ride, and Derran Brown's Ghost Train, i feel safe to say that Merlin couldn't care less about Dark Rides, especially ones with actually physical props and not projections.
From my perspective, Merlin actually puts more onus on dark rides than you'd expect, particularly among the Legoland parks. For instance, Legoland Windsor has 5 dark rides, and the bulk of those were installed during Merlin's ownership; at a guess, I'd say that the bulk of major investments into Legoland parks since Merlin took over them have been dark rides. Also, it's worth me noting that all of the RTPs has had at least 1 dark ride installed (or at least, 1 fairly significant dark ride related project) since the Merlin takeover in 2007.
If you want a Merlin dark ride with lots of physical props, I'd keep an eye on the new Jumanji dark ride at Gardaland, because it looks as though Merlin are putting quite a few animatronics into that one!
I don't think the lower focus on physical props is exclusively a Merlin thing, though; most dark rides these days have at least some form of screen or projection within them.