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2023: The Curse at Alton Manor

havaska said:
Efteling manage it without insane budgets. Look at Symbolica, probably one of the best dark rides in the world.
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Symbolica had a budget of €35 million.

Would like to know what you'd classify as an 'insane budget' if that isn't one.
 
zeock said:
The idea that they would leave an area of the ride to effectively be an audio experience seems a bit cheap really. I think that they should incorporate a new scene in that area, hopefully with some moving physical props.
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It most likely was a cost-saving decision, although personally, I don't think it's a bad idea. It could do with better execution, the speakers are currently placed above the riders, for an audio experience it would have been better to have a multitude of speakers in different places so riders can hear Emily 'around' them, mixed in with some physical effects such as air cannons.

It seems like they placed a row of speakers above the track pointing down and left it at that.

I'm not a huge lover of audio experiences, but in the context of Alty Mans, it fits within the narrative and offers a different experience/sensation within the ride. There's still physical theming in that area from Duel so they can either enhance the current experience or more than likely dress up the existing space and get some lighting in place.

Ethan said:
Tbf it's always felt like a cheap attraction. Even after the retheme there's no effects in there that are amazing. If it's the best we've got in this country then it shows the standards. The best dark rides in the world are 10 time better than Alton manor so we need to up our game in the UK
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There are some great effects in there. The majority of the British public will not be travelling to theme parks around the world aside from Disneyland/Disney World/Universal, they will not be comparing Alty Mans to those parks. Alton Towers have done this on a fairly limited budget, they've replaced entire scenes, created a completely new soundtrack and package, added loads of new physical sets and theming, and added newer technology such as screens, projections, and projection mapping.

I don't really understand what people were expecting. This was always going to be a fairly cheap refurbishment, it's amazing how different they've made the ride. It was never going to be Disney/Universal quality and it didn't have the budget to pull off anything game-changing.
 
All the hide n seek bit needs is the audio adjusting slightly to hear it better (which they'll probably do) and maybe some more of the finger UV writing on the black walls/curtains as something to see, related to how she'll find you etc
 
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⚠️ Spoiler tags no longer required​

With the ride having now been open for over a week, we're now removing the need for spoiler tags for everything related to the ride experience in here. If you've not ridden yet and want to avoid spoilers, then it'd be wise to now avoid this topic. As much as they have helped, over time they become a bit of a hinderance to easy discussion.

Please continue to use spoiler tags elsewhere where necessary on the forum. Thanks for everyone's co-operation to let people enjoy the ride spoiler free as much as possible :)
 
Thank you all very much for the effort for us late arrivals...off I go...but please keep any detail out of the general discussions!
Cheers again, this topic over time...addictive because of thoosie blood, but jeez, what a painful marathon.
Ride on.
 
Now the shackles are off......I missed the mirror thing the first time round then on my second go it was knackered. Heard it doesn't run in sync now. Hopefully not another flying ghost that I've missed forever.
 
Ethan said:
Tbf it's always felt like a cheap attraction. Even after the retheme there's no effects in there that are amazing. If it's the best we've got in this country then it shows the standards. The best dark rides in the world are 10 time better than Alton manor so we need to up our game in the UK
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The ride system for HH was very expensive when purchased and it still operates smarter than a lot of more modern dark ride transit systems.

I disagree on the lack of effects, the finale has some pretty effective projection mapping. They also have the lighting spot on.

I agree with the earlier comments, from the perspective of ghost trains I can’t think of anything in Europe other than Phantom Manor that is better, there are better dark rides though i to am not a fan of symbolica.
 
Unfortunately too young/scared as a kid to ride the haunted house so I’m only comparing this to duel.

But wow, I think we’ve got a new best dark ride in the country.

Biggest credit I can give it is, it’s so re-rideable.

I think some fine tweaking with lighting in certain areas is needed, such as with the flying heads you can’t really see them, but still, a really really good ride.
 
Danscott22 said:
it does sound very re rideable, I’m riding for the first time in May. It does sound like the mirrors effect is either unreliable or people are missing it easily.
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Could the audio and lighting be tweaked so attention is drawn to the mirrors? Emily could say “Look into the mirror” or something? I haven’t ridden this yet so not sure if that would work, but knowing that tweaks and additions are planned, maybe drawing riders attention to the mirrors would be a good tweak to make.
 
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Talking of comparable European dark rides I'm hoping Mack are watching this renovation and taking notes for Geisterschloss.
that ride is in desperate need of a running narrative like what's been added here because currently it lacks any pacing.
If I was Mack I'd actually be looking into reintroducing this ride system as it is perfect for atmospheric dark rides; still high capacity but allows for individual scenes and speed control. Seat rotation would be nice but arguably not having it is a benefit for maintenance and reliability.
 
RIPCorky said:
Original HH was a world class attraction. Now it seems we have some sort of mash up between old and new.
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I wouldn’t say it’s a mash-up. It keeps the best bits of HH, has a similar ambition (thought obviously with the benefit of not having to pay for the ride hardware and some of the core set) and executes it well. The main differences are HH didn’t have the dark section but also had no overall narrative (it was a series of gags).

Having had a week to ponder it I still really think what is in the ride is really very good, the issue is that long dark section does not work and the screaming heads scene although better lighted is a bit sparse.
 
The audio section is more than likely just a nice way to fill an empty space for now. It flows nicely as a placeholder, it doesnt lose the momentum as much as it might otherwise. It will surely be expanded!

The Curse isnt trying to be one the best dark rides in the world, which works to its benefit I think, it's just good fun. The budget shows in places but it doesn't let it down I think.
It's still one the most interesting dark rides in the UK and a really good addition to the park.

It's nowhere near the quality of an Efteling or Disney dark ride but was never going to.
 
First visit of the season for us today, and thus our first rides on Alton Manor (twice today).

I thought it worth stating, due to the conjecture on young riders opinions, Myself, my Wife and my five (5! Six in August) year old daughter all loved it. My daughter had done Duel loads of times, Phantom Manor at DLP and Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom multiple times so has an ingrained threshold perhaps!

Massive, massive improvement on Duel of course and the majority of scenes were really impressive in my opinion. Particular favourites for me being the trommel with the clock which really did provide a good effect, the shadow behind Emily when she’s stood staring forwards, the mirror scene (worked both times and I think is FABULOUS) and the giant Emily grasping at you at the end. The only effect I thought fell flat was the image of Emily’s hand on a screen near the end - it didn’t show very well on either run through for us and perhaps needs to be lit darker to make it pop more.

We also had some treats from Coach House Confectionary - word of warning, the black ice cream made my daughter look like she’d done a decent shift down’t pit. The cake slice was fantastic.

In short - loved it. One of the best rides in the UK.
 
Only been on once, which was last week. My favourite part from what I remember was probably the 'pre-show', followed by the trommel and then the last part when you're in the dolls house (or whatever's going on). The mirror thing passed my by so not sure what was going on there. Will defo be doung some re-rides to see what I missed on the first ride.
 
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