Duel's future

[AltonTowersNerd]

We all know Duel's had a facial makeover from the ScareFest seasons. Now that the park's closed for its season what do you think will happen to Duel in closed season?

I'll post a poll to go with the topic.

[fredward]

Since your asking what we think is going to happen to duel... i'm guessing nothing, besides the usual maintenance and tweaking the effects which they do every year, nothing drastic will happen to Duel.

[[Archive]]

Duel: General Discussion
Duel for a spruce up?
Haunted House strikes back at Duel for 2011?
Duel
Future of Gloomy Wood

Sorry, but, back seat modding, FTW!

Anyway, I think it is clear that the Haunted House will never be restored. There is a chance that the guns will finally leave in the future at some point, but not for a fairly long time. Well, at least not until the Towers feel that the ride is ready for the massive refurbishment (that's a refurbishment, I stress, NOT a retheme) that is clearly needs.

This closed season I can see a lot of work happening, hopefully more than usual. Nothing major, but I have a feeling there will be improvments to see. They have shown that they want to improve the Haunted House's bad bits, notably the Skeleton Corridor that has seen some new props/lighting here and there. I wish they would restore the skeleton in the bed, and give it a proper skull instead of that... thing on its head...

More lighting improvments, please. And please, more of the old Haunted House coming back, that would be lovely. It is unlikely we will see anything major though. But I really wish I was wrong! [-o<

[Hauntedone]

Just to keep you up todate on the possible changes to Duel.
Money has been secured to do some work on the ride over the closed season.
Things that have been talked about include to repair and reinstate the hand and the magic book, also new figure for the finger zombies and some new lighting.
I've contacted Les Edwards about the old portraits and he has kindly said that if Alton want to use his pictures in the ride he would be willing to come to an agreement. I've tried to pass on this information but it doesn't seem to have been taken up. It would have been the perfect time to do it, however I am ever persistent in my quest. We do after all have the original haunted house music back in the entrance and dining room.
NB these improvements have been promised before.
However money has definitely been given for improvements.

[[Archive]]

Thank you ever so much for that news! I am very glad that money has been given to at least improve the Haunted House. There is so much they could do to make it better, most of them simple things like restoring an old effect or improving the lighting in a particular scene.

Very good news. I hope the get down and have a little think about where this money will be spent and how they could bring back some of the magic to the ride. Even if the changes are minimal, I, and I am sure most others, will be pleased that the Haunted House has been given at least some attention.

Also, I am so glad they are looking into doing something with the window zombies. They are without a doubt one of the worst effects in the entire ride now. I mean, one of their sleeves are stapled on to its chest! They all have the same faces (Halloween masks) and they are just... ugh. Such a cop out to stick some shirts and masks on to the old fingers effects. Personally I think that entire scene should be gutted and restructured. It sounds as if it stopped making sense as soon as the giant was removed. I am sure Merlin Studios are very cabaple of creating something that will be: 1 - a big improvment on random, left over effects that are there now, and 2 - be continuous with the genre of the Haunted House.

[PeteB]

[quote=""Hauntedone""]Just to keep you up todate on the possible changes to Duel.
Money has been secured to do some work on the ride over the closed season.

Things that have been talked about include to repair and reinstate the hand and the magic book, also new figure for the finger zombies and some new lighting. [/quote]

Thats the best news I've heard since the Fireworks were rumoured to return!

[quote=""Hauntedone""]I've contacted Les Edwards about the old portraits and he has kindly said that if Alton want to use his pictures in the ride he would be willing to come to an agreement. I've tried to pass on this information but it doesn't seem to have been taken up. It would have been the perfect time to do it, however I am ever persistent in my quest. [/quote]

I think I speak for everyone in saying you've got our full backing and support with that. Towers can be very stubborn, so keep persisting!

[quote=""Hauntedone""]We do after all have the original haunted house music back in the entrance and dining room. [/quote]

Unfortunately not, it seemed to only appear randomely in the summer. It was full on all out Duel when I rode it on the fireworks night.

I'm hoping your games room will be restored over the closed season too.

[McFlurry]

[quote=""PeteB""][quote=""Hauntedone""]Just to keep you up todate on the possible changes to Duel.
Money has been secured to do some work on the ride over the closed season.

Things that have been talked about include to repair and reinstate the hand and the magic book, also new figure for the finger zombies and some new lighting. [/quote]

Thats the best news I've heard since the Fireworks were rumoured to return! <!-- s]

It just seems like a pointless waste of money. The ride hardly attracts queues these days and the space and potential for a much better ride on it's location is huge. The actual building is massive and in good condition - I'd love to see a much better and productive use of the space.

The ride feels and looks tacky, and with it being so old it's no wonder. A few thousand pound isn't going to improve it. I'd rather they spent the money elsewere.

To be honest, Duel, is one of thoose rides that is on a 'life support team' and it won't be long tbh until they start to look at a better use for the building/area seeing as space is at a premium at Alton Towers.

[PeteB]

[quote=""McFlurry""][quote=""PeteB""][quote=""Hauntedone""]Just to keep you up todate on the possible changes to Duel.
Money has been secured to do some work on the ride over the closed season.

Things that have been talked about include to repair and reinstate the hand and the magic book, also new figure for the finger zombies and some new lighting. [/quote]

Thats the best news I've heard since the Fireworks were rumoured to return! <!-- s]

It just seems like a pointless waste of money. The ride hardly attracts queues these days and the space and potential for a much better ride on it's location is huge. The actual building is massive and in good condition - I'd love to see a much better and productive use of the space.

The ride feels and looks tacky, and with it being so old it's no wonder. A few thousand pound isn't going to improve it. I'd rather they spent the money elsewere.

To be honest, Duel, is one of thoose rides that is on a 'life support team' and it won't be long tbh until they start to look at a better use for the building/area seeing as space is at a premium at Alton Towers.[/quote]


I have to disagree. It still pulls in the numbers on busy days but the problem is the fact that it eats up queues with ease, being such a high capacity ride.

Tacky yes, but the greatness can be restored. The next major revamp wont be far away but it should always stay as a haunted house/ghost train. Disney continually reimagine their rides, updating not only the technology but the experience.

Duel wasnt exactly a major project that cost a fortune, yet it pulled in decent crowds when it opened in 2003 until everybody realised it sucked. Another ravamp making it into a GOOD ride will keep the interest - just look how strong Hex is still going after 10 years, because its remained a good ride.

Is it really necessary to spend £15m on a new dark ride? No. Just a little update and a bit of marketing to spread the word.

[McFlurry]

But every ride pulls in the numbers on a big day. The problem is though, duel is an outdate ride and concept. Alton Towers are under constant pressure to deliver new rides from guests.

The point I'm trying to make is that the ride is unpopular - which is a fact, and the ride is tacky which is a fact.

The building in which the ride sits is in perfect condition. It therefore makes it a prime target for being on the cards for a future devleopment within the park. The ride is like Corckscrew - it's served it's time within the park. Another major retheme will make it popular for a season then most people will shun it again. Already having a building means its a great location for a new attraction.

I understand the heritage it has to some people on here but to Alton Towers and to the General Public (the people to keep the park in profit and alive) don't care about any of that - They care about a new attraction which is unique.

The amount of people that just walk through the area is unreal - the area could be absorbing so much more people than what it does and making the park so much more money. It all boils down to Alton Towers being a business, and this is a prime devleopment site which as a business they can utilise.

[deadwing]

Even if only the old music and the Les Edwards pictures return it'd be a massive improvement. I've hated the new pictures since they first arrived. It's like, who would have portraits of zombies in their house? Let alone several of the same one! The old paintings were just flat out creepy and created a genuine sense of unease. I was amazed at how much the atmosphere changed when they disappeared.

However, I was happy to see that a few of them cropped up in the station of what used to be Voodoo Mansion at Oakwood.

[Nightfall]

[quote=""McFlurry""]The building in which the ride sits is in perfect condition. It therefore makes it a prime target for being on the cards for a future development within the park.[/quote] If the building remains the same what else could replace the ride? There isn't enough height for a coaster. Building some sort of flat would be a massive waste of space. The only real attraction that can fit inside the building is a Dark Ride. Duels transit system might be old but it’s not outdated. The next stage up is a Spirderman/Forbiden Journey style attraction. I can’t imagine the park budget stretching this far.

Assuming the infrastructure remains the same the only thing left to change is the theme. From the outside Duel looks great. I can't imagine another theme doing a better job. Regardless of the changes on the inside it’s the exterior that attracts guests. Placing a new ride inside an old building won’t do any better unless it’s incredibly re-ride able.

So here are the 3 most reasonable options:

• Clear the area for a new area - losing all infrastructure
• Replace the current transit system - The next model up is allot more expensive
• Making small tweaks year on year/re-theme the interior

The first two are series investments, costing at least as much as a SW and sacrificing Duel in the process.

[deadwing]

It's a tough call. Most of the UK's good dark rides have fallen from grace in one way or another. I wonder what the feasibility of making Duel Live a year round thing would be. I think it'd certainly help the half-baked zombie theme come to life a bit.

I wonder if JW will ever spearhead another UK dark ride. It'd be great if he had a hand in restoring The Haunted House.

If it were to be rethemed, rather than rebuilt, I think perhaps including it as part of Katanga Canyon would be a cool idea. A bit like how Phantom Manor fits into Frontierland at DLP. It could be the home of some rich big wig that owns the mining company, that disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps he awakened evil african spirits, by digging too deep?

Obviously there'd need to be some refitting within the ride, but it could certainly be a cool retheme to the facade and Gloomy Wood itself.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Some more realistic zombies would surely suffice for the coming season.

[crazydance]

Unless they do a Kinect-like solution the guns will possibly stay a loooong time.
They should look at how the ride looks inside, and update that. Not that it should be any scarier.
But last time i missed some backdrop theming and looked straight at that ugly ceiling.

Later on you were more focussed on finding out where all the actors were.
But still i think it could use some backdrop updating, not so much effects or ghosts, but a more cohesive theme should do the ride good.

[PeteB]

[quote=""deadwing""]It's a tough call. Most of the UK's good dark rides have fallen from grace in one way or another.

I wonder if JW will ever spearhead another UK dark ride. It'd be great if he had a hand in restoring The Haunted House.
[/quote]

Unfortunately, the bar for dark rides has been significantly risen with the new Harry Potter ride. Disney isn't king anymore.

Whilest I would say that in its glory days the Haunted House easily competed with the Haunted Mansion at least in providing a wow and amazement factor, but unless Alton Towers has around £100m to spend then any new UK dark ride is going to look poor to themepark goers who can easily hop across the water to other parks, even the European ones.

...Unless of course, said dark ride has some amazing new worlds first SW element.

[CoasterCrazyChris]

[quote=""Nightfall""]sacrificing Duel in the process.[/quote]

Nobody cares about losing Duel, just what remained of the Haunted House.

[Chris W]

I find both Duel and the Haunted House a tired theme these days. Its been so overdone.

I'd rather it was knocked down and a totally unique dark ride was built. I don't see the point in removing the LEDs just so it can be a Haunted House again.

The only decent haunted house is Phantom Manor/Haunted Mansion, everything else is poor in comparison.

Give us a brand new, unique dark ride and I'll be happy.

[Themeparksandy1981]

What about removing the LEDS and having targets like on the shooting game at Drayton Manor but Alton Towers targets work. When you hit a target a spider could come down in the spider room or ghosts pop out from anywhere.

[[Archive]]

Because that sounds even worse. Let's face it, guns trashed the ride and was a stupid 12 year old's XBox dream becoming reality.

[CoasterCrazyChris]

It probably made sense to them to make it interactive what with the rise of gaming consoles at the start of the decade, by 2003 both Xbox and PS2 were out and were hugely popular.

[Themeparksandy1981]

The haunted house would only work again if they up dated it every year. When guests know where the things are its makes it less scary. To make a haunted house look good they just need to look at the Disney parks.
Also what I never understood about the haunted house in the first place is in most parts of the ride it didnt feel like you were in a house.

---- Post Info Added ----

[quote=""CoasterCrazyChris""]It probably made sense to them to make it interactive what with the rise of gaming consoles at the start of the decade, by 2003 both Xbox and PS2 were out and were hugely popular.

[/quote]

Its the same with tomb blaster they needed to make the ride move rerideable and I think the lasers work well in this ride. Just wish they kepted the rock scene at the end.