Duel: Retheme, Replace or Remove?

[stealthsmiler]

Thorpe is changing it's audience to a family park though. As long as it isn't too scary, younger audiences could still use it they just wouldn't have seen the film, it would just be a scary ride to them.

[Coasterfellow]

I agree with definedancing. If they are going to replace duel they will probably go with an original storyline rather than making it a horror movie ip.

[Danny]

Thorpe is changing it's audience to a family park though. As long as it isn't too scary, younger audiences could still use it they just wouldn't have seen the film, it would just be a scary ride to them.

Duel is at Alton not Thorpe

[stealthsmiler]

Yeah I know but define dancing said

I can hardly see a family park taking an IP for a relatively obscure and adult rated horror film and putting it into an attraction that appeals to a large demograph. Okay, Thorpe Park has SAW, but the ride and park itself is geared towards a much older audience

So when I said Thorpe is changing its audience, i meant that Thorpe is a family park which has an IP for a relatively obscure and adult rated horror film, therefore Alton Towers could do the same. Plus they could age restrict it like N:ST, but as i doubt they'd want to do that they could just leave it and say 'enter at your own risk'

[definedancing]

I knew what stealthsmiler was getting at, and s/he (sorry, not sure!) is right in a way; Thorpe Park does seem to be actively trying to draw in more of an audience, particularly families, with Angry Birds Land and Shark Bait Hotel or whatever it is. That being said I feel I should elaborate on the difference between SAW and Duel. SAW has some really nice theming that is very well placed, and some of it is actually quite immersive and creepy. However, if the person riding had no idea what SAW even was, they'd still probably enjoy the ride as just another Euro-Fighter, because the theming isn't massively in your face once you leave the dark ride section that, if I remember correctly, lasts all of about 20 seconds (if you don't get caught up talking to Jigsaw). With Duel, the ride almost relies on theming. People will go on Duel repeatedly because of how well designed it is, and also because it's a lot of fun. A lot of people who go on Duel happen to be young children. If you took an IP that not everyone is familiar or fond of, it'll be isolating because you'll have that IP in your face for 3 minutes which might not even be particularly well invested in or suited to the experience.

[lewis97]

When Thorpe Park acquired the Saw license, they were still marketing themselves as "the nation's thrill capital" and so it was the ideal theme to target their teenage audience with. I personally think it has served them very well, because, as definedancing has said, the theme integrates well with the ride but isn't massively reliant on riders having prior knowledge of the franchise.

When Duel comes to redeveloped, I would expect to see a new dark ride in its place, but this wouldn't necessarily have to be horror themed. I could see the park going down the IP route, especially if they want to produce a ride similar to Transformers/Spider-Man, as the video for such a ride could be incredibly costly to produce from scratch. I would trust that Alton Towers would select a property that would appeal to the majority of guests, but undoubtedly the theme will be much more prevalent in the ride compared to Saw.

The LTDP highlighted at 2016 being a possible year for the construction of a large-scale dark ride and with the clearing of trees in the surrounding area, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[Coasterfellow]

I hope they dont go for an ip. I love the gloomy wood because it's so quiet and, well... Gloomy! Thats why is hope they go for a stae of the art haunted house! Something like phantom manor or mystic manor.

[definedancing]

I hope they dont go for an ip. I love the gloomy wood because it's so quiet and, well... Gloomy! Thats why is hope they go for a stae of the art haunted house! Something like phantom manor or mystic manor.

It'd be great but knowing Merlin, incredibly idealistic.

[tallicay2k]

I love Alton towers for its uniqueness. I would hate to see film interperpreted rides forming I.e Spider-Man..blah blah you know what I mean, I've constantly said this, leave that to Disney etc. Same applies to the haunted house, duel was unique, the story, the layout. I mean hell look at hex....what an awesome story that fitted extremely well within the towers. I'm sure if duel was rethemed, merlin/AT would think of something without going down the whole film/program route. Ok we now have cebeebies but I can live with that.

[Coasterfellow]

I hope that alton leave film and tv ips alone for a while. I think that having charectors and stories that you already have and emotional opinion about can detract from a ride. This is why i like original stories. You get to know new charectors and plots and you feel like your going on a real journey where as with ips you are put in the middle of a storyline with charectors you already know. Personally, I dont like that.

[Coasterfan312]

Heres an idea if i could choose what to do with the ride. It would be called Alton Manor. I would replace it and go with a dark ride shooting game simalar to duel but with a twist... You do the classic haunted house shooting ride and then you reach what looks like the end station. The car keeps moving and your restraint dont come up. You the here a booming voice saying something along the lines of"Why leave the manor so soon? (evil laughter)". Then there is a small launch and your car then goes through the door at the end of the station you then go into a small dark roller coaster section with flashing lights and classic but large scale haunted house props. You then reach a brake run themed as a corridor and the voice says "I hope you enjoyed you stay at alton manor. Do visit us again soon."
You then reach the real station where you disembark.

This could be the rides backstory;
When futher work was being done on restoring the towers they unearthed a few paintings that had been made by the earls wife depicting the gardens and the towers. In one of the painting was an old manor situated south of the gardens. Merlin entertainments became increasingly interested in finding the manor and opening it to the public as part of the alton towers resort experience. They eventually found the manor in a clearing and it is now open to the public. Since being open, there have been stange sightings in the manor. Do you dare step inside?

I know i have written alto but once i started my idea i couldn't stop developing it.

Noticing quite a lot of Revenge Of The Mummy inspiration there. Probably wouldn't be different enough from Duel for them to bother. Also, having cars with lasers that can also launch round a small rollercoaster track might be a tad odd/hard.

[smeg_head]

With the Dark Forest now capitalising on all things spooky do we really need Gloomy Wood too?
Howabout with the Black Hole gone Alton used the Duel building for a new top flight dark ride?
On ride yesterday Duel was looking a sorry state. Duel needs a Doctor.

[Jack]

^wheres Kelman when you need him? :P

[NemesisRider]

I'm sure Gloomy wood is going. When I heard Ripsaw could be removed or moved park I heard Duel was going. It was a good way to waste time after FB rides... ](*,)

[RCandrew]

I'm sure Gloomy wood is going. When I heard Ripsaw could be removed or moved park I heard Duel was going. It was a good way to waste time after FB rides... ](*,)

What's FB? You've posted it in a lot of topics and I think you mean FV :lol proof read!

[Coasterfellow]

If duel goes that will be the end of the gloomy wood as a land. That leaves room for katanga canyon to expand. If katanga did expand to the gloomy wood area I would not be surprised if it also expanded into the flume site. Those two areas combined could the future sites of sw8 and a flat or dark ride.

[Sr88]

If duel goes that will be the end of the gloomy wood as a land. That leaves room for katanga canyon to expand. If katanga did expand to the gloomy wood area I would not be surprised if it also expanded into the flume site. Those two areas combined could the future sites of sw8 and a flat or dark ride.

That would be pretty cool, and I'm sure there would be plenty of space there for more than just 2 rides!

[Coasterfellow]

There would be enough room for more than two rides but i think that atlon towers should have more interactive scenery like haunted hollow. I hope that the next sw will be a roller coaster as well as a themed expansion with interactive scenery. Something like "mystic point" at hkdl or "la place du remy" at dlp where the attraction is integrated with a new land/expansion of a land.

[sadie123]

I like Duel, it reminds me of the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland. However, it has gotten very tame. I remember going into The Haunted House and being absolutely terrified. And then went into Duel and having fun. It depends what audience they want Duel for. If it is for real scares, then The Haunted House of old type would be better, but if they want a family friendly ride, Duel is better. I agree with the Alton Manor idea. Maybe a combination of the two and have some sort of filtering queue, like at Madame Tussauds, where you don't have to go into Scream/Chamber of Horrors if you don't want to, but its there. And there could be a scarier element to it.

[Danny]

I'd like there to be a big finale. Something that will get riders coming off thinking 'wow, what a ride!' Something like a big devil animatronic that blows a fireball or something