Duel
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==Construction== | ==Construction== | ||
| − | It was decided that something should be built on the pathway from Katanga Canyon to Forbidden Valley (then known as Thunder Valley), ready to open in 1992. [[John_Wardley|John Wardley]] was called in to design a new dark ride for the area, resulting in the concept for an extremely clever and unique experience. The area now known as 'Gloomy Wood' was originally intended to be theme around a haunted swamp, but this was quickly changed after it was realised that the idea was not gimmicky enough. | + | It was decided that something should be built on the pathway from Katanga Canyon to Forbidden Valley (then known as Thunder Valley), ready to open in 1992. [[John_Wardley|John Wardley]] was called in to design a new dark ride for the area, resulting in the concept for an extremely clever and unique experience. The area now known as '[[Gloomy_Wood|Gloomy Wood]]' was originally intended to be theme around a haunted swamp, but this was quickly changed after it was realised that the idea was not gimmicky enough. |
On completion of the finished ride, [[John_Wardley|John Wardley]] stated: | On completion of the finished ride, [[John_Wardley|John Wardley]] stated: | ||
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==Famous Figures== | ==Famous Figures== | ||
| − | The [[Electric Bill]] animatronic became | + | The [[Electric Bill]] animatronic became a popular internet meme after appearing on the image board "4chan". The act of disguising a link leading to a video of the animatronic is known as "Bill Rolling". Its popularity then accelerated after it appeared as a contestant on Mastermind, anserwing questions on the subject of [[pneumatic elephants]]. After several demands from Duel fans that Bill should be canonized (estimated to be six people, five of whom were the same person wearing different disguises), it was decided that the animatronic would become one of the first modern saints of the Wardley Church. |
| + | |||
| + | At the [[Thirteen|Thirteen]] Evening event held at [[Alton_Towers|Alton Towers]], [[John_Wardley|John Wardley]] was spotted wearing a shirt with the words: "I'm with Bill". It was later reported that the marketing team would be handing out free "Bill shot first" shirts, "...for people who's clothes had melted under the extreme forces of NEW white-knuckle, gut-churning, vomit enducing scare ride, [[Th13teen|TH13TEEN]]". However, the latter statment has since been slated by the ''Official TowersTimes Decisions Society'' (OTTDS) for being just another pointless markting stunt. Like they would lie to us? | ||
Other famous figures include: | Other famous figures include: | ||
| − | *The Not-That-Big Spider | + | *The Not-That-Big Spider: A moderately-sized house spider that can sometimes be seen making a few webs in the corner and annoying the cleaners. Mirrors and other special effects are used to make the spider appear bigger from the perspective of riders. |
| − | *The Lunatic | + | *The Lunatic: An escapee from Broadmore mental asylum, who somehow found his way into Duel. It is commonly thought that the Lunatic has flatuence problems, but this is in fact just a misplaced 'creaking door' sound effect. |
| − | *The Undertaker | + | *The Undertaker: A plastic man, famous for his arm which occasionally moves or falls off. |
| + | *Plastic, Legless Midgets: A distant race of Oompa Loompa that can be seen throughout the ride. Since they suffer from an absense of legs, the Midgets move around on pneumatic arm mechanisms instead. The infestation was first spotted in around 2003, but no action has been taken as of yet to exterminate them. It is thought that they thrive on the excessive strobe lights found in some scenes. | ||
[[Category: Ride]] | [[Category: Ride]] | ||
Revision as of 09:49, 24 July 2010
Duel (also known as Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back, Dual, Dool or Nazi Zombies: The Ride) is a shooting dark ride operating at Alton Towers. It originally opened in 1992 as The Haunted House, but was rethemed to include laser guns in 2003, as part of "The Great Dark Ride Laser Reformation of the 21st Century". To this day, the ride remains a mysterious and relatively unknown ride, mostly because of the fact that Alton Towers forgot it existed for several years. It is, however, a suprisingly high-tech and world class dark ride, rivalling such rides as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Islands of Adventure and The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Also, the ride features extremely detailed theming and convincing ghosts, most of which are Halloween decorations from Tesco.
Construction
It was decided that something should be built on the pathway from Katanga Canyon to Forbidden Valley (then known as Thunder Valley), ready to open in 1992. John Wardley was called in to design a new dark ride for the area, resulting in the concept for an extremely clever and unique experience. The area now known as 'Gloomy Wood' was originally intended to be theme around a haunted swamp, but this was quickly changed after it was realised that the idea was not gimmicky enough.
On completion of the finished ride, John Wardley stated: "This is my dream ride. I have taken into account every aspect of what may happen to it in the future, and am certain that the Haunted House will not be botched up in about ten years."
Ten years later, the Haunted House was botched up. Once again it was decided that the general public were not intelligent enough to understand "Theatrical Brilliance", so the ride became based around "Tacky Gimmickiness" instead. The retheme included the addition of zombies, laser guns and a Michael Jackson Thriller-style queueline video, just to really rub it in the enthusiasts' faces.
Ride Experience
Famous Figures
The Electric Bill animatronic became a popular internet meme after appearing on the image board "4chan". The act of disguising a link leading to a video of the animatronic is known as "Bill Rolling". Its popularity then accelerated after it appeared as a contestant on Mastermind, anserwing questions on the subject of pneumatic elephants. After several demands from Duel fans that Bill should be canonized (estimated to be six people, five of whom were the same person wearing different disguises), it was decided that the animatronic would become one of the first modern saints of the Wardley Church.
At the Thirteen Evening event held at Alton Towers, John Wardley was spotted wearing a shirt with the words: "I'm with Bill". It was later reported that the marketing team would be handing out free "Bill shot first" shirts, "...for people who's clothes had melted under the extreme forces of NEW white-knuckle, gut-churning, vomit enducing scare ride, TH13TEEN". However, the latter statment has since been slated by the Official TowersTimes Decisions Society (OTTDS) for being just another pointless markting stunt. Like they would lie to us?
Other famous figures include:
- The Not-That-Big Spider: A moderately-sized house spider that can sometimes be seen making a few webs in the corner and annoying the cleaners. Mirrors and other special effects are used to make the spider appear bigger from the perspective of riders.
- The Lunatic: An escapee from Broadmore mental asylum, who somehow found his way into Duel. It is commonly thought that the Lunatic has flatuence problems, but this is in fact just a misplaced 'creaking door' sound effect.
- The Undertaker: A plastic man, famous for his arm which occasionally moves or falls off.
- Plastic, Legless Midgets: A distant race of Oompa Loompa that can be seen throughout the ride. Since they suffer from an absense of legs, the Midgets move around on pneumatic arm mechanisms instead. The infestation was first spotted in around 2003, but no action has been taken as of yet to exterminate them. It is thought that they thrive on the excessive strobe lights found in some scenes.
