• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Haunted House or Toyland Tours; which of the 1990s classic Wardley dark rides did you prefer?

Haunted House or Toyland Tours?


  • Total voters
    38
the Haunted Mansion has had significant refurbishments and new modern effects added, its now as much a product of 2021 as it is 1969.
Completely not true, other than a few short scenes it's the same gags, ideas, visual style, sound and setpieces as 50 years ago. The changes only built on what was there before too. It's timeless.

People talk about technology for theme parks a lot of the time without really knowing what they're meaning. Technology shouldn't be about adding obvious new effects for the sake of it, it should be to better realise the original concept without changing the style and intention. You shouldnt even notice new technology or it just takes you out the experience.

If anything two of the changes to the original Haunted Mansion are completely unnecessary and break this, the "please notice Im new" CG hitchiking ghosts head juggling gimmick, and the off-tone bride 'story' that now seems more dated than the original simpler bride. Neither added much to the overall attraction. It's not like the ride wouldve shut without these changes.

Either way Alton Towers' Haunted House was very different to Haunted Mansion so the comparison doesnt mean much. There'd have been plenty ways to keep the Alton ride relevant and entertaining without changing the concept, which just wasnt done.
 
If anything two of the changes to the original Haunted Mansion are completely unnecessary and break this, the "please notice Im new" CG hitchiking ghosts head juggling gimmick, and the off-tone bride 'story' that now seems more dated than the original simpler bride. Neither added much to the overall attraction. It's not like the ride wouldve shut without these changes.

You seem to have managed to argue for and against your own point.

But the highlighted quote supports what I said, the current version of the ride is as much a product of 2021 as it is 1969. The 2021 refurbishment added many new ways of doing things. I agree the ride wouldn't have shut without them, but you are stating that ride is not the same as it was even 30 years ago, they have added new things that in your opinion aren't as good as the older effects.
 
A majority of the original set pieces, audio, and props are still in use in the HM to this day. Have a look qt this old footage of it in the early 70s, just a few years after it first opened. The only thing that's changed are some tweaks to the props, additional effects and spooks, a couple of new scenes, and relights. That's it. I don't see why they could treat Duel/HH the same when a majority of the sets and props are still in the ride but are in need of maintenance and TLC.


From: https://youtu.be/oa-2JaoxJsM


Can we just go back to Talking about Both The HH and Toyland tours now please?
 
Last edited:
But the highlighted quote supports what I said, the current version of the ride is as much a product of 2021 as it is 1969. The 2021 refurbishment added many new ways of doing things.
It made some completely minor enhancements based on the original 50 year old concepts, I don't see how this makes it "a product of 2021" at all. The changes I mentioned were from 2006-2011 and to me look more dated than the other effects already.

The ride is 90% the original and maintained very well. The big changes that did happen were add-on and not necessary to keeping the ride relevant if that's the point being made.

I just dont' think it's comparable to Haunted House either way. Haunted House both wasn't well maintained and wasn't as timeless as the Disney ride, although it was good.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So whatever people think about Haunted Mansion, it's not really comparable to Haunted House either way. Haunted House both wasn't well maintained and wasn't as timeless as the Disney ride, although it was good.
I must say, I (perhaps controversially) agree that the HH, in the way it was originally designed, wouldn’t have been as timeless as the Haunted Mansion.

A principle focus of the HH is/was jumpscares, caused by various ghosts and ghouls coming out of the crevices of the house. By very virtue of how jumpscares are, I feel that this would have limited the ride’s reride appeal; when you know where the jumpscares are, the ride loses one of its key edges.

Another reason I feel that it was not as timeless as Haunted Mansion is because it didn’t really make any attempt at all at narrative, which most modern dark rides employ to some degree. The HM does make some subtle attempt at a narrative, so it fulfils this particular criterion. The HH at Alton Towers, however, made absolutely no attempt at a narrative whatsoever, instead being a ghost train-style ride with no unifying story as such to unite the scares and add a cohesive sense of immersion into a given narrative. That is one thing that I hope the 2023 retheme adds to some degree.
 
It made some completely minor enhancements based on the original 50 year old concepts, I don't see how this makes it "a product of 2021" at all. The changes I mentioned were from 2006-2011 and to me look more dated than the other effects already.

The ride is 90% the original and maintained very well. The big changes that did happen were add-on and not necessary to keeping the ride relevant if that's the point being made.

So whatever people think about Haunted Mansion, it's not really comparable to Haunted House either way. Haunted House both wasn't well maintained and wasn't as timeless as the Disney ride, although it was good.
Okay yep got that date a bit wrong, I googled the dates of changes and the most recent were 2021 but they were smaller, the ones you referenced were earlier. But again you stated those changes may look dated sooner, which is exactly what is meant by it being a product of 2006/2011/2021 not 1969.
The originally point was about it being an old ride, but Disney have actually constantly changed it. Whereas Haunted House didn't have any changed in 30 years except for the addition of the guns/zombies for Duel. Duel is a product of 2002 for sure, but the ride was still 80% the original too.
 
Last edited:
Fun fact, The original 1992 Haunted House did actually have some narrative in the ride section. The Demon Ghost who'd jump out at you would later offer you a cuppa tea to comfort you (The one holding the rat now) and would say "I didn't mean to frighten you..."

The Giant smashing through the windows would also say "I'm coming to get you! Hehe hehe!" As he tries to grab you.

And last but not least, the "Are you scared of spiders" quote in the Hall of spiders. Very appropriate.

I believe the should go with a very minor near nonexistent narrative, as John Wanted the riders to feel alone and isolated at all times, and i think adding a narrative would remove that aspect.

Even Duel had a narrative and Preshow before it's 2018 refurb, and it really didn't suit the kind of ride it was.

For the HH, they should preferably aim for a more visual narrative like the original and use the 'Show, not tell' saying.
 
Whereas Haunted House didn't have any changed in 30 years
It had loads of (bad) changes even before Duel and a lot that wasn't maintained. The original style was lost years ago and became more of a mish mash over time.
Haunted Mansion remains a timeless appeal that has been well maintained, regardless of changes.

However Alton's Haunted House wouldve needed a tasteful redesign by now, had it been maintained in the first place. Completely back to front situation to HM
They had the chance in 2003 and blew it, making something worse than before— that somehow lasted nearly 20 years!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Haunted House had lots of stuff swapped around and whipped out in the early years.
My favourite jumping jellyfish, that were meant to be ghosts, moved then got pulled in the early years.
 
I was 12 when I 1st went on HH in 1993 and the queue was outside the main queue area ( We went in August ) OMG there was quite a lot of jump scenes. I felt it fitted my age group perfectly.
TT after queuing over 3 hrs for Nemesis in 1994 we decided to have a bite to eat in the restaurant which is now the burger kitchen. We joined the queue in the extended area round the side of the ride and it had a it’s a small world feel to it with the same soundtrack playing. After queuing for roughly a hour we felt like they done a great job with the theming and having Sonic In there really made it for myself and my friend but HH easily wins hands down when it 1st opened but by the end of they run TT was so much better than HH.
 
I feel like the HH suited a slightly larger age demographic than TT. Sure there were jumpscares, but they weren't the complete focus of the attraction. This is seen in most of the Sinister Garden, of which most of it was an area to soak in the ambiance. I don't think that TT would have appealed to the 10-25 year olds much at all because of its childish theme, despite being very well executed.
 
I feel like the HH suited a slightly larger age demographic than TT. Sure there were jumpscares, but they weren't the complete focus of the attraction. This is seen in most of the Sinister Garden, of which most of it was an area to soak in the ambiance. I don't think that TT would have appealed to the 10-25 year olds much at all because of its childish theme, despite being very well executed.
I do agree with that sentiment.

Even when I rode the ride as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I’d argue that it felt more like a family attraction with greater appeal to children than a family attraction with wholesale appeal to everyone. And I’d argue that that was likely to have been stronger when the ride was Toyland Tours… I’d argue that even by very virtue of the name “Toyland Tours”, it wouldn’t have attracted a huge amount of adults and teenagers. I’d place Gangsta Granny in a similar category; it’s definitely a family attraction rather than a children’s attraction, but it has greater appeal to families with children than teenagers and adults.

The Haunted House/Duel, on the other hand, seems to have a slightly wider appeal across the board. While families with children can (and do) ride it, the concept isn’t inherently child-orientated like Toyland Tours was, and the theme arguably appeals more to adults and teenagers.
 
Top