The Alton Towers Dungeon

[Stan.H]

The Warwick Castle Dungeon is around £6 I believe, I could see Towers getting away with £5/6 - considering one-shot fastracks seem to sell fairly well at that cost, so a live-action experience should (in hindsight) work at that cost. 

[Morgan]

Close- it's £9, so considering that the Towers one is rumoured to have rides and I could imagine it being a bit longer, I want to think it'd be a bit more expensive.

[hursty]

I wonder why the default position of charging for entertainment based attractions (excluding CBeebies).
When you think what is spent on the purchase, running and staffing of rides, can you avoid upcharges, and fund it from the ticket price, like with Sea-life.
I think the introduction of a Dungeons would appeal to a wide audience, similar to a new (smaller) ride, and help attract the the GP, so more people through the gates.

Depending on the pricing, and any inclusion/discount of MAP holders, I could see limited opening dates/times to adjust for demand.

Maybe they should try opening House of Monsters during the Summer Holidays as a mini-experiment. Although that said, I do think that Alton should be offering something like this year round, included in admission. It's what makes trips to other theme parks so enjoyable, where there is much more money for entertainment.

I find it interesting comparing this to Thorpe, where for example the scaremazes, I'm a Celeb, DBGT (pre-changes) are all included (with fastrack option)

[Dom]

A thought about this AT Dungeon. If it happens, I wonder if they will run any Lates like London and York?

[Swarm Chris]

A thought about this AT Dungeon. If it happens, I wonder if they will run any Lates like London and York? 

A missed opportunity for paid evening entertainment if they don't. But if it's located in the Charlie building, then any after hours usage seems somewhat unlikely sadly.

If they'd had the space, then I really think it would have been better in the Sub-Terra area, as it would allow for evening or even out-of-season access. Afternoon at Splash Landings, dinner at RCR, evening in the Dungeons.

[WickerManSmiler]

It would be a better idea if they did a revamp of Cloud Cuckoo Land.

[MakoMania]

It will do well in it's first season, perhaps its second as well.

Merlin's obsession with adding high staff requirement attractions confuses me.

I cannot see many guests wanting to pay extra on top of already expensive theme park admission for an experience that many will have already done in London, Warwick or Blackpool and take precious time out of their already short day when they could be experiencing included with admission attractions.

I just can't see it being a success for more than a couple of years. If it's free then that would help, but I still don't think it'll be overly popular.

[Justin]

It works at Warwick, so I can see it working at Alton with the following set up...

Day - Optional charge
MAP/Season - Optional charge
PMAP - Free timed slot

Also, this may be good for those guests who don't want to go on rides and often bag sit. At least they have another attraction which they can experience with friends and family

[Swarm Chris]

A decent non-coaster addition is certainly good for Alton. Perhaps not particularly great value for money for those who don't want to ride the coasters though if it's an upcharge. :P

If this is a 2019 addition, we should see signs of construction soon (although most of the prospective locations allow for any work, or sounds of work, to be well hidden). It makes me wonder if the reason they started preparations for Scarefest earlier is so they could move onto Dungeon construction earlier or because they've split the team between both jobs.

[AltonOperator]

A decent non-coaster addition is certainly good for Alton. Perhaps not particularly great value for money for those who don't want to ride the coasters though if it's an upcharge.  :P

If this is a 2019 addition, we should see signs of construction soon (although most of the prospective locations allow for any work, or sounds of work, to be well hidden). It makes me wonder if the reason they started preparations for Scarefest earlier is so they could move onto Dungeon construction earlier or because they've split the team between both jobs.

If we're looking at the Charlie building as is rumoured, then most of the work is interior so is accessible from backstage areas. It could be almost finished for all we know. All they'd need to do is build a façade and any signage and it's done

[Uttox83]

It will do well in it's first season, perhaps its second as well.

Merlin's obsession with adding high staff requirement attractions confuses me.

I cannot see many guests wanting to pay extra on top of already expensive theme park admission for an experience that many will have already done in London, Warwick or Blackpool and take precious time out of their already short day when they could be experiencing included with admission attractions.

I just can't see it being a success for more than a couple of years. If it's free then that would help, but I still don't think it'll be overly popular.

Totally agree!

I think this is a really daft idea by AT. I think it will flop big time as I doubt people would be willing to pay extra for the attraction, especially when people are most likely to have been to a similar attraction in the UK.

If it is indeed in the CATCF building, it will be a random location also! Surely Gloomy Wood would be a better location for it. We shall see.......

[fillc85]

I agree with pretty much most everyone here that an upcharge would be a bad idea. How many rides have they removed recently and not replaced. Submission, Ripsaw and even Sub-Terra is just sat there. I think the only reason Blade didn't go is because of the backlash remember #prayforblade?

And the price has still continue to rise. I think I'm the only person that didn't like Wicker Man. Probably because I joined the queue for it just after gate drop and still had to wait 2 hrs as the ride kept breaking down. Maybe I will change my mind when it does eventually become a walk on in a couple of years. Any way, I digress but not really. Alton Towers isn't value for money as it is. Based on gate price not discounts or MAP. So an upcharge for a new attraction would be another reason not to go.

However saying all that Sharkbait Reef isn't an upcharge and it is another Merlin brand (Sealife) so maybe it's going to be an advertisement in Park for the other dungeons around the country? To try attract visitors to them. If it is another upcharge I probably won't go to Alton Towers again. They just seem to be money grabbing if you pay an entrance fee everything inside should be free...........just saying.

[Adam W]

Well, looks like it's a thing!

https://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/dungeon/

[Joel Allen]

If we are getting the Dungeons next year, surely the Toadstall should re-open with it... Otherwise it would be strange to have an SBNO ride next to a new one. They did say they intend for it to re-open in 2019 also. Fingers crossed!

[Swarm Chris]

As reported by the Derbyshire Telegraph who quote TowersTimes forum users Justin and Dan, the speculation is that the Alton Towers Dungeon will be similar to the Warwick Castle Dungeon in terms of size, and that it will cost extra for all but VIP and Premium Merlin Annual Pass holders.

So I guess the remaining speculation to figure out is whether it will be a walk through, or whether it will use the boat transport system, assuming it's going in the Charlie building?

[Dom]

I think its safe to assume the Charlie building given its the only place on park that seems to be having any work done in any sense. I do think we will enter the building slightly differently to how we entered Charlie. I think it will start with what was the glass elevator room. The London Dungeons start with the descent, and the glass elevator scene would be the perfect place to recreate that scene. I do feel that we will only get the generic scenes like plague doctor and the torturer. 

A crazy theory i've had is that what if it utilises the boat ride as a whole and instead of moving room to room, you take a boat ride through the dungeons and the boat takes you through each room. So it remains a ride as opposed to an interactive attraction so to speak. Crazy idea i know, but it would make for an interesting twist on the Dungeons

[Swarm Chris]

If they're going for a lower budget year, then making use of the existing boat system as the entire attraction and adding scenery, theming and perhaps even animatronics, would surely be most cost effective. Rather than ripping it all out, rebuilding walkways and then being extremely reliant on actors all season long, or extending the building to add more scenes and make the attraction longer. Given the whole purpose of dark ride boat transportation systems is to increase throughput and to make visiting each scene more interesting than just walking through, I really hope this is where they're going with this attraction.

A dark and spooky boat ride that just happened to have the Dungeon brand, I think would be pretty awesome and would add a decent capacity attraction. With good set design they could probably get away with minimal to no actors outside of peak season.

[daboywunda]

Another prediction for you....

I don't think we have seen the last of the drop towers from Nemesis Sub-Terra either. They're not in the building with Project 42 and are far too new to scrap... Plus all of the Dungeons I'm aware of has a drop tower ride... And there's a space where the Great Glass Elevators would have been...

Just saying!

[Dom]

Weren't the drop towers sold on?

[Ladyofthelake]

Another prediction for you....

I don't think we have seen the last of the drop towers from Nemesis Sub-Terra either. They're not in the building with Project 42 and are far too new to scrap... Plus all of the Dungeons I'm aware of has a drop tower ride... And there's a space where the Great Glass Elevators would have been...

Just saying!

As far as I know, the drop towers are very much still in the NST building - just very well hidden behind the Project 42 sets, but I could be wrong. Also, Warwick Castle's Dungeon does not have a drop tower, therefore it is entirely possible Alton's will not have one either.