The Alton Towers Dungeon

[siralgenon]

I know I was saying this is a part left from toyland tours

Christ just look at the downgrade between those two photos. In any other place bottom would be the original and then it'd have been improved to the above, not at Towers!

 

[Skyscraper]

And with that, The Alton Towers Dungeon is closed ready for it's transformation.


From: https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/posts/pfbid0q5X2ih2mfHiKPCKVJgdpFKhCG51QgF73agW93ssK7D1Nf7nRAiHf64TuWFXTTQpCl

 

[DiogoJ42]

And not a single tear was shed.

 

[James]

With the talk of a trackless ride at Towers in other threads, I wonder if this would be feasible in the Dungeon building if they gutted it entirely. Saying that I have a soft spot for the boat ride aspect and would like to see that repurposed into a properly themed ride again.

 

[QTXAdsy]

And not a single tear was shed.

Good riddance to bad rubbish...then again this can be aimed at the majority of Merlin created attractions which says a lot about them.

 

[DiogoJ42]

I think by this point, the boat ride has been rethemed, chopped up, rebuilt, re-imagined, retconed, reheated, eaten, digested and sharted back out so many times that it needs to go. Gut the whole building and start from scratch with a blank slate.

 

[James]

I think by this point, the boat ride has been rethemed, chopped up, rebuilt, re-imagined, retconed, reheated, eaten, digested and sharted back out so many times that it needs to go. Gut the whole building and start from scratch with a blank slate.

It would make more sense given the space you have to work with in that building. The design limits what you can do unless the channel is extended, but then you may have the most boring boat ride in existence.

 

[RIPCorky]

With the talk of a trackless ride at Towers in other threads, I wonder if this would be feasible in the Dungeon building if they gutted it entirely. Saying that I have a soft spot for the boat ride aspect and would like to see that repurposed into a properly themed ride again.

What's the point? If they do that it'll be done on a budget, be full of painted walls and projections and be boring as hell. I'll never forget when I first went on CATCF and compared to Toyland Tours it was completely lifeless.

 

[jibbsie]

What's the point? If they do that it'll be done on a budget, be full of painted walls and projections and be boring as hell. I'll never forget when I first went on CATCF and compared to Toyland Tours it was completely lifeless.

yeah, i feel like without a disney/univeral budget they would end up like mickeys and minnies railway, just projetions on a wall.

I do wonder how much the ride system is built into the building, and if it were to be removed how difficult it would be,

I do quite like slow boat rides and I think it would be a shame to get rid of it, I never got to experience toyland tours, but from the videos I have seen it looked good, I wonder if they were swapping the ride system they could go for a system similar to the omnimovers disney use (if anyone other than disney make them) They can have a large capacity, and can turn/tilt to show only certain scenes, the system disney used was fully mechanical but it would probably currently it would be electricaly controlled.

 

[Ash]

Seeing the recent ETPA pictures of TT, it was gutting seeing how far backwards the quality of theming and implementation (lighting/music/smells/sfx/animatronics) has gone at Merlin.

There’s no reason this couldn’t and shouldn’t be returned to a classic family boat ride, hopefully using the full trough. It’s missing out the line up. And if they can use the extra CATCF lift space even better.

I do wonder though. Is this current closure just to allow the solar installation and a small overlay for scarefest?

 

[QTXAdsy]

Wee question, how much of the original boat ride layout is still in place and is it a ride system that requires more work compared to others?

 

[Poisson]

Wee question, how much of the original boat ride layout is still in place and is it a ride system that requires more work compared to others?

All the trough is there I think bar maybe a couple of very slight adjustments? Guests just don't use all of it anymore.

 

[AT86]

The layout was amended when it was converted from Toyland Tours to Charlie to accommodate the seperate off load around 2/3rds into the original layout.

This pic from TS shows the offload marked as number 6, you can see the previous corner just above that was ‘cut off’.



For those that remember Toyland Tours the number 6 marker was the room with the giraffe and toy train, just before entering the final scene (labelled number 10 above).

The layout is the same now as it was for Charlie.

Should they ever bring the boat ride back as part of another attraction I guess they have various options:

1. Keep it as it is now, with separate on and off load as part of a wider attraction
2. Return to a circular attraction with on and off load back in the same place but keep the amended layout - with the current offload becoming a straight section of trough
3. Return the original layout by digging back out the previous corner that was cut off
4. Amend the layout completely in some other way to suit a new ride.

 

[Islander]

3. Return the original layout by digging back out the previous corner that was cut off

Most of that corner still exists amusingly - they literally just 'dammed' it off

 

[Bert2theSpark]

I quite like the concept of a multi-modal attraction like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Dungeons were. It provided an exploration rather than just being yet another ride. Usually when attractions are multi-modal, the ride is usually the climax but both CatCF and Dungeons had their climaxes later on with the Great Glass Elevator and the Molly Leigh scene. It was certainly unique and intriguing from concept perspective.

However, the boat ride in both iterations has been overwhelmingly disappointing and certainly act as both clichés of DIC-era Tussuads and public-era Merlin. They both reek of "budget" and never really do the concepts of which they originate as justice. What they did to the CatCF IP, turning such an iconic part of both the ride and films into an underwhelming experience, was terrible. With many aspects being recycled into the Black River, albeit with the very limited budget of the retheme being used fairly cleverly, but still stops 100 miles short of the attraction's potential.

Whatever replaces it, I'd like the attraction to keep its multi-modal aspect to it, but whatever replaces it needs ambition and the budget to match it. There's certainly e-ticket and world-class potential in it!!

 

[Poisson]

Curse is a standard they have set, so I would hope it would be lived up to

 

[Melon3009]

I know jazz land plans were fake but could there be potential to convert this into a log flume with a major indoor section with maybe the drop venturing outside?

Have it in similar theme to what ever project horizon turns out to be?

 

[WillPS]

I know jazz land plans were fake but could there be potential to convert this into a log flume with a major indoor section with maybe the drop venturing outside?

Have it in similar theme to what ever project horizon turns out to be?

Not really, in my view. You'd be looking at a different ride system, boats, chlorination system... essentially all that could be reused is the concrete trough, if you can find a boat system sufficiently compatible with it.

This is before you factor in the difficulties with noise over that side of the park.

 

[Dan12345]

Saw some building vehicles today when I popped around. Definitely looks like they’re doing a bit more than giving it a makeover?

 

[Islander]

Saw some building vehicles today when I popped around. Definitely looks like they’re doing a bit more than giving it a makeover?

That's just a telehandler, used regularly for moving stuff. Think of it just like a beefed up forklift.

Most likely moving props or something.