Duel and the Gloomy Wood - A future?

Got an idea of how the Alton Towers Resort may develop over the coming seasons? Discuss it here.
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The two areas have completely different themes but the true themes for both aren't fully realised meaning they seen very similar
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CJH
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Honestly, I can see GW staying, also seeing a Ghostbusters 5D attraction replacing it.
Maybe a flat ride if we are seriously lucky.
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matt_1985x
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How would you guys feel about a ride based on visions of Hell? If done correctly this would be the scariest “ghost train” in the world, be the first of its kind and would probably need an age restriction. Dark rides are already getting at Hell so why not go the whole way and create a ride that would literally scare people out of their atheism. I envisioned a station as church ruins which then leads to a portal, then a revolving tunnel, which then leads to the first part of Hell. Here are some images of what else you might see:

Warning: Some potentially graphic images which some users may find disturbing
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The pits
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The worms
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The spirits that try to grab at you as your car goes past
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Various torments in Hell
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Demons
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And imagine an animation as big as this:
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So what do you think folks? Is there a market for this. I know people wont want there kids on such a ride but as someone who believes in Hell I think any warning you can give about it, is a good thing.
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Sawboss
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Only if the soundtrack is Black Sabbath.
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matt_1985x
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Lol :D That would work quite well actually. Originaly I thought Deftones or Charlie Clouser but Sabbath is good too.
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Justin
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While thrill rides are good, any park needs stable classics such as Ghost Trains. I personally enjoy riding Duel as a haunted house style attractions and with guns.
Certainly the Dark Forest and Gloomy Woods are two separate areas, but one is more family friendly. I think more could be made of each area; personally I would like to see more family attractions/entertainment placed within the area with Dark Forest receiving another trill ride.
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TuesdayNightChat
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I would really like them to do a breaking-the-fourth-wall type of Dark with Duel.

Stop the ride carriages,and turn it into a walk through.
Narrative being they have had to stop the rode because of disappearances, spooky goings on Ect , might be a good way to have the Alton Ancestors involved too.
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matt_1985x
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Just another image from my Hell idea, sorry if its a little crude, I'm not a natural designer:

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As we pass by the lids shake violently and blood curdling screems are heard from within the cast iron coffins. These glow to appear red hot with careful painting and UV light. Obviously you cant use real fire so smoke and orange light would be used.
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Tryst
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You want to be careful not to make it too scary. I'm certain I read that it was John Wardley's intention to make it a family-friendly, laugh in the dark ride. Anything liable to disturb young children would definitely be a step too far. Having said that, kids are a lot more resilient then we give them credit for, and what might have been terrifying to an 8 year old child in 1992 is unlikely to be quite so terrifying to an 8 year old now; so there's probably scope to dispense with the blasters, invest in some new effects and make ghost trains relevant again.

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mark_h
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TuesdayNightChat wrote:I would really like them to do a breaking-the-fourth-wall type of Dark with Duel.

Stop the ride carriages,and turn it into a walk through.
The scenery would have to be made a lot stronger before the public could "interact" with it. Some of the effects would be risky if the riders were not secure in the ride vehicles.


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I assume you are not referring to a DBGT style part ride- part walk through attraction (which would require a modification of the ride layout).
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matt_1985x
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Tryst wrote:You want to be careful not to make it too scary. I'm certain I read that it was John Wardley's intention to make it a family-friendly, laugh in the dark ride. Anything liable to disturb young children would definitely be a step too far. Having said that, kids are a lot more resilient then we give them credit for, and what might have been terrifying to an 8 year old child in 1992 is unlikely to be quite so terrifying to an 8 year old now; so there's probably scope to dispense with the blasters, invest in some new effects and make ghost trains relevant again.

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I do like laugh in the dark rides, I’m literally trying to see if there’s a market for a really scary ride. My ideas are not that far-fetched from your typical dark ride. Duel, for instance has 10 foot demons. It’s important to remember that however scary something might seem at the concept stage; it might not be quite as scary when its turned into a physical scene so it’s good to start off with really powerful images.

Like I said before, the only way to justify a ride like this is as a warning of Hell (something I’m becoming an expert on) and if people can die and go to such a horrible place why can’t we create something in its image to warn people, even teenagers.
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simononestop
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I say restore the ghost train to how it was, but with updated effects through out. Cutting edge effects. keep the ride system, it was brilliantly designed.

what a great bit of pr as well. a new ghost train is back.

I used to love the original ghost train when I was younger. and the ghosts holograms flying at you were like nothing else done at the time.

maybe a zombie theme? that seems to be big at the moment with walking dead and all alike.
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matt_1985x
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I've been thinking about this Hell ride a lot, not that people are ever interested in what I do so I promise this will be my last post about it if it doesnt get any reaction.

Queue scene
As we come to the end of the que we climb some stairs. These lead to a kind of balcony/bridge above a hospital cubical. Looking down we can see a figure in a bed, bandaged from head to toe and on life support machines. The heart monitor is flat lining. We then walk up some more stairs, into the ceiling. Some of the tiles are removed and as we ascend we see pipes, wires, the underside of lighting fixtures and every thing you would see inside a typical ceiling. Aslong as the sets are of high quality you don't really need to explain to the public whats going on but the idea here is that you've died and are ascending through the ceiling, that you ARE the person in the hospital bed, having an out of body experience. Either that or you are following someone who is dying. It doesn't really matter which a person might choose or not choose.

Ride station
We approach a church ruins on a path passed skewed grave stones a bits of broken church. All of this is inside the blacked out warehouse so it feels like night. It becomes clear this is the ride station. Positioned down the front of the station, is the Grim Reaper/Angel of Death who signals for as to come with his animatronic arm.

Portal/Trommel
We then descend through a downward pointing, revolving tunnel (this represents the gates of Hell) before entering Hell itself.

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In Hell we see many of the torments of Hell such as those described by Mary K Baxter including the pits, the cells, the giant heart and the lake of fire. Here you can read all about the different places in Hell: http://www.divinerevelations.info/The most detailed accounts are 'Mary K Baxter's Divine Reveltation Of Hell' and 'The Revelation Of Hell By 7 Columbian Youths'. Here there is tonnes of inspiration for a dark ride.
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70s_kid
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With this year's ride line-up soon to be announced I was asked by another forum member what closure I think might be likely this year that would cause a stir.

My answer was that I think Duel may well be closed based on a few different thoughts:

Definitely in need of some TLC.

Usually not very busy.

Often has downtime due to methane build up.

Approved plans for a new SW8 storage area at Pinewood (behind Duel) leads me to suspect that the footpath from Katanga Canyon to Gloomy Wood might be closed to provide construction access across that area meaning that guests would need to get to Forbidden Valley via Haunted Hollow instead.

Any opinions on this theory?
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Liam.W
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70s_kid wrote:Approved plans for a new SW8 storage area at Pinewood (behind Duel) leads me to suspect that the footpath from Katanga Canyon to Gloomy Wood might be closed to provide construction access across that area meaning that guests would need to get to Forbidden Valley via Haunted Hollow instead.
But there is an access path behind Duel that leads down to Mutiny Bay (where there are the access gates oppposite the gates to the SW8 site) so why close off a path in the park?
70s_kid wrote:Often has downtime due to methane build up.
I don't think I've ever seen Duel closed due to downtime...
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Georgie
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Liam.W wrote:I don't think I've ever seen Duel closed due to downtime...
Not officially, but the ride definitely stopped during the Summer Sizzler!
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Liam.W
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GThing64 wrote:
Liam.W wrote:I don't think I've ever seen Duel closed due to downtime...
Not officially, but the ride definitely stopped during the Summer Sizzler!
Really? I've had Duel stop for like 2 minutes for me, but that was probably just to let a guest on who was having struggle boarding the moving cars.
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Nickolai
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During my school trip the ride stopped shortly twice with announcements having to be played. :)
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S.J_O'Grady
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On one day of my work experience Duel did have to close for several hours and it was due to the methane build up.
Life is a roller coaster. You can either scream every time you hit a bump or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it.
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Nickolai
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Just out of curiosity what causes the methane build up?
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