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The Alton Towers Dungeon

Benzin said:
Would we be surprised if Merlin said "You either build this, or you get no investment next season?"
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I would imagine that’s exactly what has happened - Wickerman was a big investment for a park still recovering from past failures. To pump another £4-5m in without knowing (at the point of planning) if a £16m investment is going to be a success isn’t good business. Putting one of your own well known brands in makes sense to a certain extent, whether we like it or not.
 
So despite this project hasn’t been confirmed, or if it does happen whether it will be an up charge or part of the ticket admission and little to now work has been done on it, people have decided it is a fail? You might be right but how about stepping foot in it and experience it for yourself, if indeed it does happen before making up your mind?


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Walking Dead at Thorpe seemed to surprise everyone, so I hope everyone likes this! It's not my sort of thing at all, so I likely won't go in even if it's free, but I hope people who do like this sort of thing enjoy it!
 
pj said:
So despite this project hasn’t been confirmed, or if it does happen whether it will be an up charge or part of the ticket admission and little to now work has been done on it, people have decided it is a fail? You might be right but how about stepping foot in it and experience it for yourself, if indeed it does happen before making up your mind?


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It's the wrong type of attraction for a park with a combination of low throughput (Midway attractions do not a large throughput have), a low number of hours open (imagine if this take 45-60 minutes out of your day? Even 30 minutes is a long time to devote to one attraction on a 10-4 day), and potential for an upcharge...

See, I can give negatives from hard evidence before the ride has even opened based on similar attractions of the ilk... Magical...


Given the actual NEEDS of the park right now (higher capacity rides or just supporting rides in general), the addition of a mini-Dungeons is a strange one to say the least... If we are not allowed to be critical of such a decision based on the current climate/situation at the park then there's no point having the forums...
 
A dungeon themed dark ride, with no actors or upcharge, that rethemes the current ride system in a rethemed CCL family area that matches it could be good. This isn't out of the realms of possibility, is perfectly sensible and the new attraction simply just uses the Dungeons branding/IP.

An actor heavy, copy and paste Dungeon up charge would be a car crash - period.
 
Matt.GC said:
A dungeon themed dark ride, with no actors or upcharge, that rethemes the current ride system in a rethemed CCL family area that matches it could be good. This isn't out of the realms of possibility, is perfectly sensible and the new attraction simply just uses the Dungeons branding/IP.

An actor heavy, copy and paste Dungeon up charge would be a car crash - period.
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When I first heard about this, I thought it would just be a CATCF but with a dungeons theme. This would be my option. I can see it working well, themed scenes, effects and music.
 
Matt N said:
I guess so for some; but I was under the impression that TWD:TR reviews had been mostly positive?
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I wasn’t impressed, I expected the worlds scariest ride as per what they said it was. Turned out Night Garden at CBeebies land was more scary.

Walking dead and the year of has apparently alienated some who haven’t even visited the park because they aren’t interested in it.

But back to the Dungeons, it’s a gamble with a very slim glimmer of hope because if the Towers dungeon is rubbish they risk damaging a cash cow brand and that’s not something Merlin would want.
 
ringo said:
I wasn’t impressed, I expected the worlds scariest ride as per what they said it was. Turned out Night Garden at CBeebies land was more scary.

Walking dead and the year of has apparently alienated some who haven’t even visited the park because they aren’t interested in it.

But back to the Dungeons, it’s a gamble with a very slim glimmer of hope because if the Towers dungeon is rubbish they risk damaging a cash cow brand and that’s not something Merlin would want.
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Ah right, thanks @ringo!

I'm not personally interested in the Dungeons because I don't particularly like attractions that have scare actors in them, which is why I will never do a scare maze or DBGT. However, I'm sure this will be good for those who like this sort of thing!
 
I think my biggest issues are the lack of originality (they are just cookie cutters), lack of any creativity or originality and the absolute bare effort it will require.

Its a shame that WickerMan has proved that actually Towers / Merlin can do something original. But then follow it up with a whole CBA attitude.
 
Matt N said:
I'm not personally interested in the Dungeons because I don't particularly like attractions that have scare actors in them, which is why I will never do a scare maze or DBGT.
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Oh you needn't worry about that. DBGT had no actors in it AT ALL the other week and all TWD coaster thingy could muster was 1 bird at the end in a boiler suit making zombie noises. So feel free to enjoy these rides noting there's very little chance of any actors.

This will be the future of an AT Dungeon after 2 seasons. Will probably turn into a dark walk through with no actors at all except some bloke at the end saying "oogie boogie" on the way out.
 
Matt.GC said:
Oh you needn't worry about that. DBGT had no actors in it AT ALL the other week and all TWD coaster thingy could muster was 1 bird at the end in a boiler suit making zombie noises. So feel free to enjoy these rides noting there's very little chance of any actors.

This will be the future of an AT Dungeon after 2 seasons. Will probably turn into a dark walk through with no actors at all except some bloke at the end saying "oogie boogie" on the way out.
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Ah OK. Thanks @Matt.GC! I'm not particularly into that kind of attraction anyway, though, so I think I'll personally stick to rides like Nemesis, Wicker Man, Hex and the other, non-actor-based attractions at the park!
 
Matt N said:
Ah OK. Thanks @Matt.GC! I'm not particularly into that kind of attraction anyway, though, so I think I'll personally stick to rides like Nemesis, Wicker Man, Hex and the other, non-actor-based attractions at the park!
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How many of them have you done to know you're not into them? I struggle with horror and walkthrough attractions too, but I think you should just bite the bullet and get DBGT over with next time you're at Thorpe.. It's not particularly frightening when you know what's coming. Haunted attractions are often some of the most creative and beautifully themed in the industry, and they're becoming ever more prevalent, so as a young enthusiast, it'd be easier at this stage to adjust to them. Of course, it'll probably help your cause in a few years when you're old enough to sink a few pints before heading in. Remember... They're not real!
 
Plastic Person said:
How many of them have you done to know you're not into them? I struggle with horror and walkthrough attractions too, but I think you should just bite the bullet and get the (not particularly frightening) DBGT over with next time you're at Thorpe. Haunted attractions are often some of the most creative and beautifully themed in the industry, and they're becoming ever more prevalent, so as a young enthusiast, it'd be easier at this stage to adjust to them. Of course, it'll probably help your cause in a few years when you're old enough to sink a few pints before heading in. Remember... They're not real!
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I've definitely done something similar somewhere, but I can't remember where.

Also, I kind of don't really like the idea of actors getting all up close and touching me and all that kind of thing. I know it sounds very touchy, but I don't really like the idea of someone jumping all over me and in my face and whatnot; that kind of thing isn't my personal idea of fun, and fun is a big part of the reason we go to theme parks, isn't it?

For example, in the Scarefest topics, I've read about some of what happens in some of Alton's scaremazes, and I don't like the sound of that at all, personally!

On a random note, I just remembered where I've experienced actors in the past, and it wasn't in an attraction per se. Basically, we were in London once, and our hotel was in County Hall. To get to our hotel, we had to walk by what you guys probably know as the end of London with all the Merlin attractions (e.g. London Eye, Aquarium) in it. At the time we were walking, there was an attraction in this area called Fright Club that had scare actors roaming outside it that came up to us and jumped at us for a bit, kind of like what happens in a scare zone. I was not a fan of that at all, so that is part of what's put me off attractions with actors.

I know it sounds stupid because enthusiasts are supposed to be impervious to everything in theme parks fear-wise, but that's why these sorts of attractions don't really appeal to me.
P.S. Sorry for the long, off-topic post.
 
Fair enough, I just think you're missing out in some cases. I also don't like the extreme touching, shoving and so on, and tend to avoid the likes of Sub-Species for that reason.

I don't wish to sound patronising or come off a a theme park psycotherapist, but you're still young, and the incident outside County Hall is just a traumatic experience from your childhood. I was very sensitive into my teens. I didn't even like walking past Pasaje Del Terror at BPB, for example! Quite an issue when it's at the main entrance. But with time, I was able to contextualise situations differently, and grow into the extreme bad-ass I am today.
 
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Thanks guys! Maybe it's one of those things that will come to me as I get older; when I was a younger coaster enthusiast (like 11 or 12), I wouldn't go in Saw: The Ride because I was worried about the scary theming. But I rode it when I went to Thorpe Park in May! I wasn't a fan of the ride itself because it was rough, in my opinion, but that's besides the point! The theming was absolutely fine; in fact, it was very good!

For now, though, I think I'm going to stay away from actor-based attractions.
 
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