Attraction Source Forum

On this forum you can discuss the future of Duel.
In an interview with Alton's General Manager he said that "there are all sorts of plans for Gloomy Wood or more specifically Duel."
This got me interested. What is the future of Duel? Could it be removed or replaced with a similar but state of the art attraction? who knows!

Well i did post this a long long while back...

Re: What's going on in gloomy wood : duel queue line

by jayson2125 » Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:58 pm
we spotted last week that there is actually quite a large area i.e queue line and this would easily house a flat of some sort.

When we went this last weekend and the area had been cleared/renewed we are sure that something will appear here.

Just a thought but what flats do Merlin have spare or being removed from other parks that could go here.

Maybe some of the props from the London dungeon to be used as theming for a small flat.? If I was guessing I would say some sort of roundabout/spinning flat as there is nothing in Alton since dynamo left.

Or dare I say it the infamous robo-arm ride

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Many many thanks to Lewis97 for my signature file.

I doubt more than one attraction will be in the gloomy wood. I think they will just replace duel with a ride similar to phantom manor or they may wait a few years and then make a large investment into a LPS ride system. (to those who don't know, LPS is trackless ride technology, so it looks like the cars are just drifting around.Ratatouille the ride at Dlp uses it).

As far as I am aware, planning permission is difficult to obtain in Gloomy Wood, especially if they wish to chop trees, so I cannot see loads happening.

Duel will be easily to change as the building would stay the same but have a different front to suit the new theme. I think a Scooby Doo attraction would work. Scooby Doo and the Haunted House. The cars could be rethemed to look like the mystery machine.

I would really like to see it revert back to the Haunted House, but I'd hate for them to remove it or retheme it (apart from back to the HH).

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.

Duel is going to be removed. I have heard this rumour and I expect it could be replaced by a new flat ride. However, they would need a new haunted house.

I would be sad to see Duel go, but to be honest it's removal is entirely plausible. Did they not change the ride from the original Haunted House to Duel because of lack of interest? And it's not like Duel really packs a queue anymore, with the exception of Scarefest. It also takes up a huge amount of space and, although, as Sr88 pointed out, it's difficult to get planning permission, something could easily go in it's place. The whole Gloomy Wood area isn't particularly well established or themed as it is; it could be if they put something else there, but as it stands it just looks uncomfortably squeezed in between Katanga Canyon and Forbidden Valley.
The thing is though is what could go in it's place? Does Alton Towers need a haunted house, when you have Hex and the towers itself? It's all a bit creepy as it is. Although I appreciate the absolute love for the Haunted House design and John Wardley's hand of brilliance, maybe it's time to move on and let it rest in peace so to speak. But I'm not sure what ride or attraction could go there. A flat, maybe, as suggested, but like what with the height restrictions? Or maybe it's all part of the SW8 planning? I'm sure we'll find out soon.

i much prefer the original haunted house to duel, but even that was slightly rubbish compared to a lot of dark rides outside the UK. duel was the obvious way to freshen up the ride and make it more "re-ridable"

i really hope they don't remove the whole thing altogether. every good themepark needs its dark rides.

it just needs another good retheme/new story for the area and the ride. more of an "enchanted" theme than scary.

I think they should remove Duel and Gloomy Wood. Gloomy Wood should be an extension of Katanga Canyon as I feel it is a bit small to be a stand alone area. The only way it could work as a stand alone area is by building into to HH, although i think AT aren't allowed (correct me if im wrong). They could then get another haunted house style ride based around 13 or the towers in the Dark Forest. and maybe even one in X Sector based on the Smiler giving the park a total of 5 dark rides.

A Dark Forest haunted house would work well! Maybe as another excavation to go with 13?

Does anyone remember the film Thir13en Ghosts, a haunted house in the woods in the Dark Forest, would work well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245674/, Great film by the way worth the watch if you have not seen it!

Merlin love their film IP,s but best not be giving them any ideas now must we!

The House of Thir13en Ghosts.

That would be awesome because that house is literally about a ghost house and thirteen of them :lol! They could do it so good with the theme and everything, making it so realistic to the film but then again it's a bit old so I don't know if they would do it

I love the idea of a haunted house in the dark forest because that will then give Katanga canyon room to expand. However I doubt the ride will be based on a movie that was made a decade ago

Just because it was 10 years ago, doesn't mean it wouldn't get riders. People who have seen the film would go on due to that and people who haven't seen the film will go on because A) its another ride and B) it's new. Plus it may make people watch the film if they like the ride which AT could use to get the contract.

Plus it could co inside, be perfectly timed with a new film Thir13en Ghosts 2 anyone?

Who of you have seen the film out of interest?

jamesc wrote:Plus it could co inside, be perfectly timed with a new film Thir13en Ghosts 2 anyone?

Who of you have seen the film out of interest?

I've never heard of it.

How about a creepy abandoned fairground retheme?

I've seen Thir13en ghosts. A pretty awful film that I'd hate Duel to be themed as. As a film it's very bad, however if they took the story and adapted it, maybe it would work.

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 who are likely to be familiar with the films, and even if they aren't, the ride in itself is entertaining enough not to disrupt the experience. With Duel, it's basically going to be in your face.