Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

[Poisson]

No rain effects. It's one of the few dry places during rain and it also makes everything rot.

 

[James]

A water effect in a historic building with no drainage system was never a good idea anyway. There would have been no way for it to dry between shows (I doubt it would even dry enough overnight), so it’s no wonder it’s an effect that never lasted.

Some projection mapping could work well in the Octagon. The vault needs the speakers sorted, and if they want to enhance it, maybe add some additional lighting effects.

 

[Mattie boy]

Yes for the love of God fix those vault speakers!

 

[John]

Audio has by far been the biggest issue with the ride experience for ages. I'm no expert but something is way off with the audio in the cinema room and half the speakers don't work during the ride itself. Aside from that, they could reopen it exactly as it was and I'd be happy

 

[Deleted member 18184]

Audio has by far been the biggest issue with the ride experience for ages. I'm no expert but something is way off with the audio in the cinema room and half the speakers don't work during the ride itself. Aside from that, they could reopen it exactly as it was and I'd be happy

I wonder if they were still using the same speakers throughout the ride since opening in 2000

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I wonder if they were still using the same speakers throughout the ride since opening in 2000

They ripped out the original Bose system, and installed OHM speakers throughout, in the TLC refresh because... Well just because, really. Their post at the time said as much.

The Return of Hex - The Legend of the Towers

We are extremely excited to confirm that following our TLC refurbishment project, Hex will reopen as part of our 2017 ride line

www.altontowers.com

 

[Dave]

I wonder if they were still using the same speakers throughout the ride since opening in 2000

Pre-shows speakers were changed a few years back. Replaced with Ohm which caused much concern on here even though Bose are a bit average.

I don’t think they changed the vault speakers but I may be wrong. The speakers closest to the entrance side of the vault haven’t worked for years.

 

[ScottishChris]

Pre-shows speakers were changed a few years back. Replaced with Ohm which caused much concern on here even though Bose are a bit average.

I don’t think they changed the vault speakers but I may be wrong. The speakers closest to the entrance side of the vault haven’t worked for years.

I don't think the brand is the issue. It's how/ where they are installed and how they are set up. Even cheapness generic speakers can be made to sound acceptable if set-up well (and maintained).

 

[jmc]

I am by no means an audio expert, but I definitely think they have messed up the audio channels (or whatever the terminology is), as in my experience the announcements in the vault before the ride starts sound significantly louder and have more bass. Once the ride audio starts, it sounds very tinny and as if its coming from one speaker.

 

[Dave]

I am by no means an audio expert, but I definitely think they have messed up the audio channels (or whatever the terminology is), as in my experience the announcements in the vault before the ride starts sound significantly louder and have more bass. Once the ride audio starts, it sounds very tinny and as if its coming from one speaker.

The vault is coming from one speaker, the one nearest the exit.

The balance is off around the rest of the ride.

 

[jibbsie]

The speaker system sounds amazing in nemesis, hopefully they get the same team to set up the speakers of hex,

I was at the park over the weekend and noticed the queue for fast track, rap and main queue all merge before going through the main double doors (outside) I don't recall this, dose this mean the indoors queue will be gone?

 

[John]

I spotted this at the weekend. On busy days it appears that the bulk of the queue time will be in an outdoor, unthemed cattle pen. Seems AT's mission to make queuing as miserable as possible for those using main queue is ongoing

 

[jibbsie]

although the switch backs don't look like they can hold many people, I wonder how long the line can get, to me it looks like a 10-20 min line not too long of a line.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

although the switch backs don't look like they can hold many people, I wonder how long the line can get, to me it looks like a 10-20 min line not too long of a line.

I've only been in that section of queue twice, as a gosling in 2000. It felt like a long time, but I couldn't put an accurate number on it.

I do hope that those of us without ailments, or money to burn, won't miss out on the incredibly well themed indoor queue experience.

 

[Plastic Person]

I love(d?) the indoor Hex queue, the ambience sets the tone for what's to come perfectly, even if you're just breezing quickly through to the first batching area.

I think the outdoor section is 20-30 minutes, from very distant memory. I wonder if part of the motivation for this change is that the ride will possibly get better attendance with a visible queue outside?

 

[John]

It will just be because of RAP volumes causing congestion at the side door, particularly when the ride exits that way due to scarefest/fireworks.

From what I saw, the left-hand section of the outdoor queue is now main queue, with the section nearer the door repurposed for ambulant RAP and FT. The section of main queue they've left themselves with isn't very big, probably no more than could fit inside the building before, so at peak times it might not be enough. If anything it'll make the ride less popular as with an outdoor queue people might think the wait is longer than it is.

 

[Skyscraper]

It will just be because of RAP volumes causing congestion at the side door, particularly when the ride exits that way due to scarefest/fireworks.

From what I saw, the left-hand section of the outdoor queue is now main queue, with the section nearer the door repurposed for ambulant RAP and FT. The section of main queue they've left themselves with isn't very big, probably no more than could fit inside the building before, so at peak times it might not be enough. If anything it'll make the ride less popular as with an outdoor queue people might think the wait is longer than it is.

That's a very good point, I would hope a new sign with an LED queue time indicator would be installed outside to counteract that.

 

[jibbsie]

I love(d?) the indoor Hex queue, the ambience sets the tone for what's to come perfectly, even if you're just breezing quickly through to the first batching area.

I think the outdoor section is 20-30 minutes, from very distant memory. I wonder if part of the motivation for this change is that the ride will possibly get better attendance with a visible queue outside?

it looks as though the queue was split in half (the other half going to rap and fasttrack so arround 15-20 mins,

I've only been in that section of queue twice, as a gosling in 2000. It felt like a long time, but I couldn't put an accurate number on it.

I do hope that those of us without ailments, or money to burn, won't miss out on the incredibly well themed indoor queue experience.

everyone merges just before the doors so apart from non ambultant RAP everyone gets the same indoor experience.

I think it makes sence, as they could be trying to use the indoor queue as a stanging area to gather the correct amount of people rarther than the turnstile that would mean you could have the group of people ready for the first video rarther than gather and count the people speeding up ops. (similar to nemesis sub terras bag hold)

 

[John]

The turnstile was perfectly effective at ensuring the ride ran at maximum efficiency, ample time to fill the first preshow area before the ride was ready to start. There's absolutely loads of space in the indoor queue and it's totally wasted if you walk straight through the turnstile - Hex was one of the few rides that benefitted significantly from there being a bit of a wait before being batched. Hopefully merge hosts will go rogue and just let everyone wait in the building, especially if main queue is only 10 minutes anyway.

I also don't buy the "everyone gets the same experience" argument. It's a queue line - if you're not queueing then of course you don't see it. By that logic every queue line should be made as depressing as possible lest those paying for FT/using RAP feel they're missing out.

 

[Ryan]

Seems odd that that the only update we've had about Hex from the park is showing off new lighting in the, apparently, unused indoor queue. There's more to this methinks...