What's new
Wish to continue browsing our forums? Please take a few moments to register for a free account and get involved in the discussion!

Alton Towers

Ciaran

Ciaran

Administrator
Noticed we hadn't got an Alton Towers thread, what do you all think about the park and its attractions?
 
We post on towers street mainly for Alton Towers that’s how most of us meet to start up this Drayton Manor forum.
Anyway I’m going on the 23rd October for Scarefest got 2 free sun tickets so looking to seeing the new area and riding the 4 flat rides. I really miss the flat rides of the 90s
 
I visited last week. It was a pretty good day out as the park was dead, didn't queue for more than 5 mins for anything.

Only issue I found was that, because there were no queues, we could go from coaster to coaster without a break, which apparently doesn't agree with me anymore :ROFLMAO:
 
What are your guys thoughts on The Curse At Alton Manor? The only reason I'm posting this on here is, well it's nice to hear other opinions rather than by the same people, that all.
 
Honestly think it's really good, for what they have done in a short space of time brilliant. It's Alton towers the ride
 
Monkeynips said:
Honestly think it's really good, for what they have done in a short space of time brilliant. It's Alton towers the ride
Click to expand...
Glad you enjoyed it!! Personally, It doesn't have any character or charm in it apart from the refreshed Gloomy Woods. When I heard John Wardley was involved, I was actually really excited, thinking we could see many aspects of the ride return to their former glory, and not in a technical manner, rather in style, but what we got was anything but. Definitely not for the family audience they're trying to bring in IMO. Way too dark and the concept is very uncreative, that and they stripped out the best parts of the ride, the original props! They replaced them all for either oversized dolls or Emily herself, making the ride feel very generic and no longer unique.

The lighting and audio is good and all, but (controversial) at first I thought it was better than Duel, but the more I think about it, the more I prefer Duel (when it was all working and lit well, and without the blasters.). Duel was spooky, but never took itself that serious and had a lot of charm, same for The Original Haunted House thanks to the props and lack of projections and screens, but for some reason, every new ride by merlin has to be the most grim and serious ride the can come up with.

There's been more reviews of it by families saying its way too scary and dark (story-wise) for their kids. It's scary, but it isn't fun if you get where im coming from. The original Haunted House had a scary factor, but even kids that weren't fond of being scared 24/7 could really enjoy it because it had a perfect balance of Humour and Scares. Lots of people have been praising the outdoor area, especially the outdoor queue because of the funny gravestones and amazing audio. It has a perfect balance, the audio is creepy, but the funny jokes on the gravestones are hilarious and anyone can have a good laugh with it.

The reason why the original Haunted House was very unpopular in the late 90s and early 2000s was because Tussauds removed all the humour away from it, so it just became a very generic ghost trains designed to only scare you. Imagine watching the same horror film over and over repeatedly that's heavily reliant on jumpscares, you'll get bored of it quickly and it'll just feel bland. This is why it was later concerted into Duel. I feel the decisions put in The Curse At Alton Manor has the same problem with the late 90s and early 2000s Haunted House but turned to 100 (generic topes of possessed child, creepy dolls, toys, etc.) and it will really badly effect it in the long term with it being too dark and grim with no humour or charm for the little ones, we'll see. Heck, it might only last 10 years, and I wouldn't be surprised personally.

If former members of Sparks and Rex Studios were also involved with The Curse At Alton Manor to keep the rides character with the new story, it might worked then. John only did the creepy aspect of the original ride. The props, the style, the humour element of it, the music, lighting, were done by different people.

The man who made most of the original props, Donald Owen, is still alive and makes props independently, same with Daniel Harvey, he helped with painting the original ride. He actually designed his own ghost train for Pleasure Island With his company, Studios East Ltd. It was named Shrieksville, and had a very similar style to the original Haunted House. It opened in 2010 and was considered by many as one of the best Dark Rides in the country until it was shut down along with the rest of the park in 2016. It was said to be very scary, but it also had humour like the original Haunted House had.

Oh, one more thing, the music in the ride can get a bit annoying and repeatative, each scene seems to use the same instruments and sound almost identical to one another.
 
Last edited:
I rode it on opening day and was quite impressed. I think it's a huge improvement on Duel, however I can't comment on the original Haunted House as I never rode it. There's plenty of room for new additions too. The only thing I didn't like was the two dark scenes. Hopefully they will change these and add some theming to keep the ride flowing.
 
I’m just wondering if anyone who goes to towers has some hotels they would recommend that arnt on resort ? I’m looking to take the lad to the water park for a trip out in January but I can’t justify spending close to £200 on a room for the night on resort especially when things are so tight.I do drive so driving is not an obstacle for me.
 
Charliie said:
I’m just wondering if anyone who goes to towers has some hotels they would recommend that arnt on resort ? I’m looking to take the lad to the water park for a trip out in January but I can’t justify spending close to £200 on a room for the night on resort especially when things are so tight.I do drive so driving is not an obstacle for me.
Click to expand...
There is a premier inn on the Derby road not far from Alton Towers (about 20 mins away). We used it a few years back to do multiple days at the park and it was ok. From memory it was about 20 mins drive to/from the park there.
 
remlap said:
There is a premier inn on the Derby road not far from Alton Towers (about 20 mins away). We used it a few years back to do multiple days at the park and it was ok. From memory it was about 20 mins drive to/from the park there.
Click to expand...
Thankyou I will have a look. He’s at that awkward age where he’s to grown up for CBeebies land but because his short for his age , there’s not really anything else for him to go on but he is a strong swimmer and from memory splash landings water park was always a good couple of hours out.
 
I’m heading there on Thursday before Oblivion closes and it should be relatively quiet. Has anyone heard about the free nemesis badges you get from forbidden valley guest services, you just say to them I seek the truth!
 
Trainenthusiasts said:
I’m heading there on Thursday before Oblivion closes and it should be relatively quiet. Has anyone heard about the free nemesis badges you get from forbidden valley guest services, you just say to them I seek the truth!
Click to expand...
It’s been so many years since I’ve been. Are they getting rid of Oblivion?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top