• 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.

Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

Danny said:
I honestly think it's more than just waiting for parts now, ie a roof off jobby and getting the whole thing out to inspect/replace quite a significant component. That clearly isn't going to happen in the coming days or weeks...
Click to expand...
If that was the case, they could quite easily decide that it's not financially viable. Fingers crossed they are able to do the required work though, Hex is a headline attraction in my opinion. The park just wouldn't be the same without it, and I don't even want to imagine that!
 
Is Hex a headline attraction, though? For the average guest, I don't think it is. I won't deny that it does very well in the role of a filler attraction to ride between major coasters (a category that is increasingly lacking at the park), but I wouldn't personally consider it a headline attraction with enough of a pull to warrant spending millions on a hefty refurb job.

I certainly think they could do a refurb (there's not really much else they can do with the space, and it's generally well liked), but I'm not sure it would be as much of a priority to park management as a major coaster like Nemesis.

I know a lot of enthusiasts like Hex (myself included), but I think it's stock among the average guest is a lot lower; most non-enthusiasts I know find it boring, and I don't think that the majority of Alton Towers visitors would view it as anything more than a filler attraction.
 
It is a headliner, but in a different way to the likes of Nemesis.

I'm not sure I buy this line that 'enthusiasts' like different thing to the general public. Coaster enthusiasts certainly... the clue us in the title - they lean towards coasters, but there's nothing really to suggest that the general public particularly have different tastes to AT enthusiasts.

The main difference between enthusiasts and the general public is the desire to discuss the park at length, online.
 
Squiggs said:
It is a headliner, but in a different way to the likes of Nemesis.

I'm not sure I buy this line that 'enthusiasts' like different thing to the general public. Coaster enthusiasts certainly... the clue us in the title - they lean towards coasters, but there's nothing really to suggest that the general public particularly have different tastes to AT enthusiasts.

The main difference between enthusiasts and the general public is the desire to discuss the park at length, online.
Click to expand...
Nemesis and Hex are similar in that the park would not be the same without either of them. That's what makes a true headliner in my opinion.
 
Squiggs said:
I'm not sure I buy this line that 'enthusiasts' like different thing to the general public. Coaster enthusiasts certainly... the clue us in the title - they lean towards coasters, but there's nothing really to suggest that the general public particularly have different tastes to AT enthusiasts.

The main difference between enthusiasts and the general public is the desire to discuss the park at length, online.
Click to expand...
I was speaking from experience there; I wasn’t just making a sweeping generalisation. I think to a large extent, enthusiasts do like the same things (I myself don’t subscribe to the view that “the GP” are some alien race who are totally different to enthusiasts that some enthusiasts seem to have), but I do think preferences sometimes differ in minor ways. For instance, I think enthusiasts tend to think more highly of Nemesis than non-enthusiasts, on average, whereas non-enthusiasts think more highly of Smiler than enthusiasts, on average.

On the Hex front; whenever I’ve been to Alton Towers with non-enthusiasts, they’ve usually been somewhat uninspired by Hex, and they’ve often said that they found it boring. I know that may not align with some other people’s experiences, nor is it what fans of the experience probably want to hear, but I can only speak from what anecdotes I have.

My sister always waited outside when me and my parents did it because she found it incredibly dull, and even my parents have responded with “do we have to?”whenever I’ve suggested doing Hex on recent visits, and we haven’t ended up doing it since 2020 for that reason.

Admittedly, I have quite a small pool of non-enthusiasts to sample, and I may be somewhat biased as while I do enjoy Hex as a filler attraction, I don’t really consider it an essential attraction myself, but from my personal experience, the non-enthusiasts I’ve taken on Hex haven’t had an overly high opinion of it.
 
Last edited:
Danscott22 said:
Aren’t we just speculating again though? We literally don’t know what’s wrong with it - it could literally be anything
Click to expand...
That is very true; it could just be a minor part that needs replacing, for all we know!

The creaking noise allegedly heard in the vault when it briefly reopened didn't bode too well, though... that suggests something inherently wrong with the base ride system.

The fact that it spent such a short time back open before shutting again also makes you wonder...

This is of course all speculation, as you say, but there are a lot of things that do make you wonder about Hex's predicament.
 
My money is on something being up with what is circled below:

R.jpg

This is also the pivot point and main structural element for where the actual swing, swings from. Seen circled below:
8066575868_64f801a0be_b.jpg

Behind that piece of theming is the central location for the vault, and the pivot point for the swing, in some sort of dual bearing configuration.

Issues with this mean it is quite a large job to fix as both the vault and swing hang from these points. So uncoupling both would be a must to fix any issue with it. Very big job but doable.
 
Matt N said:
Is Hex a headline attraction, though? For the average guest, I don't think it is. I won't deny that it does very well in the role of a filler attraction to ride between major coasters (a category that is increasingly lacking at the park), but I wouldn't personally consider it a headline attraction with enough of a pull to warrant spending millions on a hefty refurb job.

I certainly think they could do a refurb (there's not really much else they can do with the space, and it's generally well liked), but I'm not sure it would be as much of a priority to park management as a major coaster like Nemesis.

I know a lot of enthusiasts like Hex (myself included), but I think it's stock among the average guest is a lot lower; most non-enthusiasts I know find it boring, and I don't think that the majority of Alton Towers visitors would view it as anything more than a filler attraction.
Click to expand...

As much as anything else it’s the only decent dark ride left in the park.

If they don’t replace it (and I agree with your reasoning for why they might not) it needs to be replaced with a new dark ride, and given Merlin’s track record on that score, it doesn’t exactly fill me wish optimism.
 
It’s not just the fact it’s one of very few indoor attractions, it’s also that it’s one of a very few attractions for the ‘middle ground’ family age groups (e.g. 8-12’s mainly). The park in recent years has served teens and adults, and young families fairly well, but has always forgotten about that middle age bracket. This is where I see the likes of Drayton currently positioning themselves as it’s the easiest way to attack the market/AT.

We’ve lost a fairly large number of those ‘laughs and frights’ labelled attractions which targeted that middle age bracket since around 2013. If Hex (and Enterprise to some extent) were both to get the same fate, it’d be further chipping away at their ability to offer a good experience to those age groups/middle family groups again.

I think it’s within their interests to get Hex back up and running again.
 
How many theme park attractions are actually rooted (pun intended) in the history of where they are based? The link between the attraction and the legend is something special in my view and gives Hex a level of authenticity that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

Plus it’s fun! Seeing the faces of people who are experiencing the vault for the first time shows that it still entertains people in the same way it did 22 years ago.

If the ride does need considerable work I sincerely hope Merlin put their hands in their pockets and get it fixed, as Hex has a lot of life left in it yet.
 
Josh555 said:
As much as anything else it’s the only decent dark ride left in the park.

If they don’t replace it (and I agree with your reasoning for why they might not) it needs to be replaced with a new dark ride, and given Merlin’s track record on that score, it doesn’t exactly fill me wish optimism.
Click to expand...
Even if they do try to replace it i doubt current day Merlin would be willing to build something just as good to replace it. Hex closing can only be a bad thing, and something i hope Merlin does not do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top