The Alton Towers Dungeon

[Justin]

I doubt they will recycle any scenes. Even when The London Dungeons moved, the majority of set pieces were new and not brought across from the old site.

With regards to The Haunting, I would put money down that this is a mirror maze. They are used in Dungeons to control guest flow as the exit is a mirror door which gives the illusion that it is a dead end until they are ready. With regards to the other boards around Alton, then yes, these could be the characters being used, but don't expect everything to be revealed in the first week. We could see other scenes added, and who is to say that the 'generic' characters can't tie in their scripts to Alton?

I am expecting the ride system in Charlie to be used as part of The Alton Towers Dungeons to be honest. It would be the second boat ride system in The Dungeons portfolio, but different enough to keep The London Dungeons, the original, unique!

I am a big fan of The Dungeons brand and I am fully behind this move! It is an excellent decision by Alton. It is also a step in the right direction to make this an all year round resort! I thing the success of House of Monsters has contributed to this move too!

As I said long before this announcement, I can see Ghost Train eventually turning into a Dungeons too!

[Swarm Chris]

With regards to The Haunting, I would put money down that this is a mirror maze. They are used in Dungeons to control guest flow as the exit is a mirror door which gives the illusion that it is a dead end until they are ready.

Well this explains a lot. I was in group that did a full loop of the mirror maze in London, then staff had to come get us. I assumed it was because we messed up, sounds like they just weren't ready for us.

I am expecting the ride system in Charlie to be used as part of The Alton Towers Dungeons to be honest. It would be the second boat ride system in The Dungeons portfolio, but different enough to keep The London Dungeons, the original, unique!

My real hope is that we get a ride that can be nicknamed Pirates of the Alton Towers Dungeons. Not having been in that building since it was Toyland Tours in 1994, I have no idea what space they have available. Would the entire attraction have to be just the boat ride if they didn't extend the building? Or is there already space for a Warwick Castle sized attraction?

Part of me wonders whether the Dungeons really were what Alton was referring to, when getting feedback on interest for a year-round paid-for scare attraction. Surely the project must have been sufficiently developed that any information gained couldn't be used to adjust whether it was designed as a paid-for attraction or an inclusive one. I wonder if something like House of Monsters might be used to add additional capacity during peak times, like how Saw: Alive and Living Nightmare have both been used as a simple cost-effective way of adding temporary attraction capacity at Thorpe.

[Black Hole]

It would be nice if they had a reference to Doom and Sons included.

[Dom]

It would be nice if they had a reference to Doom and Sons included.

That would be cool, but I think people are hoping it's going to be something which The Dungeons aren't. They only have one or two scenes that particular to the local area. The rest are generic scenes that can be found in the majority of Dungeons. I think it will be a good addition to the park. It will bring some life to that area of the park and that can only be a good thing. 

[Black Hole]

I agree with the above. Definitely a good addition (hopefully no extra charge). Hoping for Twirling Toadstool to reopen also so that end of the park sees some life return to it. Just a sign on the wall that references Doom and Sons will do me!!

[Marcus]

I would of hoped for a more children-friendly retheme to match with Cloud Cuckoo Land. Since they'll probably use existing infrastructure from Charlie it would be a kick in the nuts if they charged for it, but I doubt this will be a long term attraction as Merlin and high staffed attractions never last long.

[Justin]

They won't put a very successful brand in then to close it down a couple of seasons later. It will be here to stay and while it may only be seasonal, I do think they are looking at the parks long term future, possibly opening up the resort and selected attractions during closed season. This is already happening with Christmas, Pirates and Princess Weekends, so they are operating half of the closed season already, in some form!

With regards to Cloud Cuckoo Land, hopefully we will see a retheme very, very soon. I doubt it will be 2019 now though, so I'm looking towards 2020.

[Bert]

It’s very clear why they’re adding a dungeons, attendance will still be high as WM will still be bringing guests in.

Additions such as RCR, Treetop Adventure, Dungeons and the 3 new forms of accommodation have all been added to increase guest spending at the park. There may be more of this sort of additions from what I’ve heard through the grapevine.

EDIT: Does anyone else think the "Miss it and you'll be gutted" suggest it could be a temporary addition?

[calebgill352]

If you remember a while back on those question points around the park that ask "How’s your day has been?" and "Thoughts on Wicker Man" it also asked "How would you feel about an up charge attraction at the resort?" so I can suggest it will be an upcharge attraction and it will be at the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory site. I think it will be a great addition to Alton Towers and honestly I'm glad they are doing something with that area of the park, only time will tell from now so hopefully it lives up to expectations.

[scruffy_]

i for one won't pay for another attraction after already paying entry into the park 

[Bert]

Worth noting that at yesterday’s Interim Results Nick Varney confirmed that the Alton Towers Dungeon will be a “second gate”.

[PhNx Survivor]

What does that mean?

[lewis97]

What does that mean?

The implication would be that there will be an additional charge to experience it.

[Swarm Chris]

Wouldn't it also normally imply a literally separate attraction too?

Except for those two-person sling shot things, I'm struggling to think of a full-cost ticketed entry park that has an attraction with an additional cost inside it.

[Justin]

I still stand by the Warwick Castle Dungeons model.

Day guests will be charged
MAP = Upcharge
PMAP & VIP = Free

[abigsmurf]

I'm not sure I can think of a park that's closed an attraction and replaced it with an upcharge attraction of the kind that wouldn't be out of place among a park's rides and shows. Disney are the kings of nickle and diming and Alton Towers have been following their example a lot recently but I'm not sure even they'd dare do something like this. This just makes for terrible PR. 

Are they expecting more visitors to come to AT for a paid attraction? Are they expecting families to not realize it's paid and go "oh well, lets spend another £60-80 and spend 90 minutes less in the park itself with its tiny operating hours"

[Bert]

Most Dungeons currently are in locations in city/town centres with big footfall like Blackpool, London, Shanghai, Amsterdam etc. 

Warwick Dungeon is the only exception but I think a major reason it is successful is because it is the only thrill based attraction on the grounds outside Halloween. 

Alton Towers does not get the footfall of a major city and unlike Warwick's Dungeon it has plenty of major thrill attractions already included in the ticket price. So the question is to me, looking at it from a first time guest or infrequent visitor, Why should I pay extra to go into the Alton Towers Dungeon when I have loads of other major rides that I don't have to pay more for? 

Not to mention the fact that this is replacing a major family ride, of which the number of major non coaster additions is slowly depleting from the park.

[homer22422]

To be honest, wouldn't the placement of such a dark/horror related attraction near a kid friendly zone (Cloud Cuckoo Land) seem inappropriate and redundant to the target audience? There are so many eye popping colours sounding the area and this would just look... out of place. I could imagine the disappointment on some of the childrens faces if they were told that they were not allowed in (if there is an age rating).
Wouldn't this be more suited for more of a gloomy wood attraction?

[abigsmurf]

The entire park slowly seems to be getting a horror theme outside of ceebeebies.

[Justin]

My thinking into why Merlin are adding a Dungeons comes down to them trying to make Alton an all year round resort.

I can see them opening The Dungeons during Christmas, Feb half terms and beyond, along with Sealife and CBeebies Land. It offers another attraction which can be ran independently from the rest of the resort's offerings.