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

Haunted House or Toyland Tours?

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Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi guys. During the 1990s, John Wardley spearheaded two dark rides for Alton Towers, both of which are commonly seen as two of the most missed defunct attractions in the park’s history; The Haunted House and Toyland Tours. One was a bespoke dark ride opened in 1992, while the other was a rethemed boat ride opened in 1994. The legacy of one still (sort of) lives on today in the form of Duel, while the other got replaced with Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and then The Alton Towers Dungeon. But my question to you today is; which did you prefer, if you got to ride both? Haunted House, or Toyland Tours?

I obviously got to ride neither, so I’m not voting here, but which one did you prefer, if you rode both?
 
Both are good in their own ways but by the time each of them closed/revamp/ruined or whatever, both were starting to look a little tired and dated, especially Toyland Tours which let's be honest even if it hadn't closed, it would have looked even more dated by the time it closed so if it was going to last it would have need a major revamp much more than what HH needed which in turn didn't need much done though they made an utter bodge job on that with Duel.

Northing wrong with the blaster ride concept, just wish they had used it on a original dark ride rather than adding to them to an existing ride.
 
Like Rick said I was under the impression Toyland Tours didn't have much, if any input from John Wardley. Don't think I've ever heard him talk about it in interviews.

It would be interesting to know a bit more about Toyland Tours development. We know alot about the rides history but not much about its development.
 
I was a proper mummy’s boy when a young child and I cried when I rode the original Haunted House. I don’t really remember it much but I do remember Toyland Tours and it was just pure magic. If both were operational today in all their glory I’d consider neither to be outdated, purely because with every year that passes, another age group experiences both for the first time.

I can’t decide!
 
HH by a long shot. Toyland definitely looked great, but The Haunted House had the whole package of great atmosphere, theming, lighting, and has aged quite decently if it weren't for Duel replacing it that is.
 
It occurred to me the other day that most of John Wardley's dark rides have been gone for so long that an entire generation of guests have only been able to experience 1; Hex.
The Barry Island rides closed back in the 80s.
Alton re-themed the Haunted House in 2003.
Chessington re-themed Bubbleworks in 2006, and even if you count the Imperial Leather version it was a shadow of the original ride by the time it closed.
The others all closed before then, and If Toyland Tours was a Wardley design it also closed when the Bubbleworks did.
Only Hex remains true to its original design over 20 years later.

Even though I consider myself a long time enthusiast my first visit to the Tussauds parks was in the early 2000's. I rode the original Bubbleworks although it was long past its peak condition. The rest had already closed.

I'd be interested to know how many members can actually claim they've ridden the Wardley classics?
 
I tried to ride Hex this Scarefest but it was unfortunately closed sadly :(.

I still really appreciate the HH remnants in Duel, when the lighting is actually good.

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.

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.
 
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Tim said:
It occurred to me the other day that most of John Wardley's dark rides have been gone for so long that an entire generation of guests have only been able to experience 1; Hex.
The Barry Island rides closed back in the 80s.
Alton re-themed the Haunted House in 2003.
Chessington re-themed Bubbleworks in 2006, and even if you count the Imperial Leather version it was a shadow of the original ride by the time it closed.
The others all closed before then, and If Toyland Tours was a Wardley design it also closed when the Bubbleworks did.
Only Hex remains true to its original design over 20 years later.

Even though I consider myself a long time enthusiast my first visit to the Tussauds parks was in the early 2000's. I rode the original Bubbleworks although it was long past its peak condition. The rest had already closed.

I'd be interested to know how many members can actually claim they've ridden the Wardley classics?
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That does bring up an interesting question; given that an increasing amount of people have never ridden any of the Wardley classics, is it a possibility that at least some of their high reputation is based off of nostalgia?

People like me who never rode them have no way to actually remember how they were other than through POVs (and even for those, the lower camera quality at the time may make the rides seem different to how they actually were), and even for those who rode, standards 16 years ago (when TT and Bubbleworks closed; HH had closed 3 years ago) were very different to standards now, and nostalgia can sometimes make things seem different to how they actually were. Believe me, I know I’m probably guilty of that myself; I remember CATCF being absolutely brilliant, but based on reviews, I’ll admit that nostalgia probably clouds it a little for me.

Had the Wardley dark rides remained, would they still be held in the same regard now? I’m not sure; they might have been, but no non-Disney dark ride from the same era seems to have the same status now as it did back then, or as the Wardley classics are remembered as having.
 
Matt N said:
That does bring up an interesting question; given that an increasing amount of people have never ridden any of the Wardley classics, is it a possibility that at least some of their high reputation is based off of nostalgia?

People like me who never rode them have no way to actually remember how they were other than through POVs (and even for those, the lower camera quality at the time may make the rides seem different to how they actually were), and even for those who rode, standards 16 years ago (when TT and Bubbleworks closed; HH had closed 3 years ago) were very different to standards now, and nostalgia can sometimes make things seem different to how they actually were. Believe me, I know I’m probably guilty of that myself; I remember CATCF being absolutely brilliant, but based on reviews, I’ll admit that nostalgia probably clouds it a little for me.

Had the Wardley dark rides remained, would they still be held in the same regard now? I’m not sure; they might have been, but no non-Disney dark ride from the same era seems to have the same status now as it did back then, or as the Wardley classics are remembered as having.
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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.
 
Trooper Looper said:
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.
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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:
Trooper Looper said:
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.
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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.
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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.
 
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Yes, the rides were definitely dated during their last years of closure, but only because Tussauds and Merlin purposely allowed them to not keep up with maintenance and not give them minor improvements every few years. If they were, I'd say they'd be in the same situation as Disneys classic attractions. Same could be said with Professor Burps Bubbleworks, as it had minor additions every few years, such as repaints, new jokes, etc. It was still at its prime when it closed down in 2005 because of these small changes. The fact that even kids today still loved Bubbleworks says a lot that people's taste I theme parks hasn't changed all that much in the last 30 years, given the fact that they also grew up with the Gruffalo and still prefer Bubbleworks over the River Ride, what else needs to be said?

I agree that Merlin really do their best in the Lego Park, especially with Windsors new investments in the last few years, with a new Madhouse, a flying simulator ride, and so much more!!!
 
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