Trooper Looper
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Posts posted by Trooper Looper
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19 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
It appears Alton Manor is set for an overhaul!! Personally I hope a proper scene is added to the Hide and Seek,former giants lair,scene following the Vortex Tunnel. With this scene changed Alton Manor could be Europes best Dark Ride. @Trooper Looper I know this information will be music to your ears. Your passion for Alton Manor and its predecessors is evident. Like myself I feel parts of the Alton Manor retheme are a downgrade of Duel.
@Trooper Looper what areas of Alton Manor do you hope are changed during the refurbishment? I’m shocked that Alton Towers have listened to guest feedback and are undertaking changes less than a year after Alton Manor’s initial opening. It’s rare that disappointments at the Merlin Theme Parks are addressed so quickly.
@Theme Park Fanatic If the refurbishment does ever occur, I think my list of what needs to be done would be pretty damn long to be honest. I know a big number of families (even my own) are saying it's a bit the story was a bit unnecessarily dark for a family ride, that and the ride segment is a bit too scary for quite a few kids. I wouldn't really change the overall lighting apart from the dining hall. The new lighting in there ruins the mirror effect.
Some of these choices of mine are optional, but I'd fix up the window on the facade and clean it up a bit. I know its supposed to look old, but I personally think they overdid it a bit.
I'd change the Preston video and effects. I'd like the chandeliers back on flickering, it's very dark in there and you miss a lot of details, and tone down the actual backstory it tells you in there. Instead of Emily killing her parents, why not she simply disappears without a trace?
I'd remove a lot of the UV words in the station and ride segment, they look really cheap to me personally.
In terms of the props, I'd have a lot of different things here. The ride pretty much only has Emily, dolls, a hooded ghost, and some spiders, there not really unique and the lack of variety makes the ride pretty boring after a while. Duel/The Haunted House had a wonderful variety of ghouls/creatures, each scene offered something different from the others, which the ride severely lacks now personally apart from a few exceptions such as the Mirror Corridor. I'd remove half of the dolls in the attic of Spiders and add more spiders in there hanging down. I'd bring back the flying demon in the Grand Hall, but make it make sense in there with the story. I'd redo the trommel area and replace the fireplace with something a little more memorable.
I think the Hide N Seek scene needs a lot of work. What a lot of people want is for it to go back to the giant lair, but have the hands be Emily's as if she's trying to find you in the house.
The screaming heads needs new heads and sound effects apart from the last one which breathes smoke. The new heads need to be smaller/lighter since I hear the reason the mechanisms are so slow is because the new heads are too heavy. I'd have the new heads share the same style of the original ones but still being different and unique from one another.
I think the Garden is very cluttered now with stick props. I'd get the old peppers ghost effect back in the hearse and replace the figure that jumps out with something like the cackling man, or why not a possessed person?
As for the finale, I think too much happens in there. I'd remove the hand cloth, it doesn't scare anyone, though mint sure what id do in there.
Let me know your thoughts!
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On 6/23/2023 at 1:25 AM, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Trooper Looper I know that all the incarcerations of the Haunted House have a place in your heart. I recall reading that Alton Manor disappointed you. Since Alton Manor’s initial opening in March has your opinion changed? I must admit I think Alton Manor is largely an improvement over Duel. Despite this one a scene is a definite downgrade. This scenes namely the blank hide and seek area are namely the blank scenes following the Vortex Tunnel. @Trooper Looper do you know if Alton Towers has plans to change this season during the next closed season? Another thing I disapprove of is the removal of some of the amazing animatronics. The animatronics I mourn are the smaller Spiders in the Hall Of Spiders and the Undertaker in the Goolish Garden.
Upon the opening of Alton Manor the Park were asking for riders opinions. I presume this was so Alton Manor could be refurbished to guests satisfaction.
Personally I think this post is a waste of time as I knew Alton Manor will be overhauled over the closed season. Despite this I wanted your views. Lastly you are a frequent visitor to Alton Towers, so could have overheard conversations regarding Alton Manor or you could have asked these questions yourself.Any information or opinions you could provide me with would be greatly appreciated.
Hey @Theme Park Fanatic, I've been thinking for a while about replying to your post, and, I won't lie, it's been quite a while to think this reply through properly since the ride opened. Firstly, I'm not a frequent visitor of Alton Towers. I only go around 2-4 times a year, some thoosies I know go around 10-15 times a year.
As for my opinions of Alton Manor as a whole, I'm still not a great fan of it for the most part, heck, for some peculiar reason, I'm starting to Prefer Duel, though not because of the guns and zombies. I do agree that the Hide N Seek scenes are horrendous, though I've managed to notice from flashes that that Scenes from Duel are still there, though painted black. With your question about me knowing if the ride will undergo any changes for next year, I haven't a clue sorry. I'm as clueless as you and everybody else are. With the animatronics, this is my biggest problem with the ride, NONE OF THEM ARE MEMORABLE. I can remember still from Duel without a second thought, but I have to intentionally search POVs of Alton Manor to remember what's new. The only new thing that's memorable/an improvement is the Mirror Corridor.
I can still remember you emailing John Wardley, asking him if anything from the original ride would remains, and him replying that, "Everything you knew and loved from the Original Haunted House will be here to stay." Looking back at that, I feel like I've kinda been punched in the stomach. There is almost NOTHING from the original ride left apart from what remains of the indoor queue, the dining room, some mechanics, a single prop, and the sinister gardens scenery. Pretyy much everything that I loved from the Haunted House and what made it 'The Haunted House' is now gone, and presumably carelessly thrown in skips and in little pieces.
The ride used to be an atmospheric journey through an old house with a few jumpscares, now every scene is nearly cluttered with them aside from a few exceptions, and they all fall flat personally. They're trying to hard to be scary, rather than being good and appropriate. The new ghosts are also a huge downgrade. Back in Duel/The Haunted House, each being had its own personality by simply looking at their face, they were a little goofy, and unique to one another, and helped with a great variety of unexpected beings and scares, it have the ride a lot of charm, which a lot of modern dark rides lack. Now it's just an evil girl that's possessed, some evil dolls, a hooded demonic figure, and a few Spiders. That's it. Compare that to Duel/The Haunted House, its nothing in terms of variety and uniqueness. The John Wardley/Sparks Creative feel the ride had is now gone.
Is it a bad new ride though, no, the lighting is a huge improvement from Duel, especiallythe UV, though I think it's a little too 'in your face' and sensory overload in a lot of places, if you get what I mean. Sometimes holding back is what makes a ghost train so effective. I think the ride is a 'bit' too scary and dark for quite a few families, especially with the unnecessarily dark story behind it, A girl that gets possessed, then killing her parents. I love the revamped area, so I spend a good hour in there chilling. The amount of kids from 7-9 I see either crying, a bit upset, or not even that happy are quite frequent, even on a busy day. The age demographic I see mostly happy after riding are people ranging from 12 years old and onward, ESPECIALLY Alton Towers Enthusiasts. For a family ride,I think this ride fails at that in a lot of places aside from the Outdoor area. My last time I went, I had around 5 rides on it, TRYING to enjoy it more than Duel, but failed. I noticed quite a few families coming off saying how much they miss Duel!!
Sorry about this rant folks, I didn't know where else to post this but here. All in all, I'd rate 'The Exorcist/Annabelle The ride' a 6/10. Not great personally, but not terrible.
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I'm really disappointed with The Curse at Alton Manor (I can already hear the horde chasing after me), let me explain myself. Is it a bad quality experience? Good lord no, the area and the queue is fantastic, and the characters that walk around are hilarious!! It has good lighting and some nice effects. I just think it's tone is very unnecessarily dark and grim, especially for being marketed as a family attraction.
Personally I can only see people aged 12 and above really enjoying this ride and most below that age being more scared than actually having fun. They removed most of my favourite elements from duel/HH for either screens or dolls on sticks, which was a bad move Personally and removes a lot of the rides character. Most of the praise so far has came from mostly die hard UK enthusiats and nearly no reviews from the GP so far as it's only been open for one weekend, which is pretty ideal for most families to visit the park.
Let the hype die down and see if the attraction can still stand on its own legs in terms of what it's target audience thinks of it, and ignoring the Easter eggs, since most of the praise so far has came from nods to past attractions in the ride. Sure the ride can be scary, but I think it needs some good humour to go with it (but good lord is the story way too dark and serious, and that's coming from me, a ghost train lover.) The park already has enough gritty themes and wacky cuddly themes, I think this could've been the chance to refurb this ride as a nice balance of both, offering something for everyone of all ages.
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37 minutes ago, Benin said:
The pre-show makes me think someone went to Movie Park Germany and liked the Van Helsing queue.
I'm not sure what you really expected regarding a lot of the older props/ghosts. Few would make sense in terms of the new storyline (everyone has vanished, but the undertaker is still there for example) and in terms of budget I think they were essentially stuck reusing a lot of Duel mechanisms which were always cheap and somewhat off-putting.
Based off POV viewing, there's a definite air of not quite completeness about it. 2 sections in complete darkness certainly doesn't make sense to me considering it's quite filled in everywhere else. Presumably timescales and priorities as with all projects.
I'd imagine they'll tweak and edit things as they go. Much like the original Haunted House. From an initial standpoint though it looks a vast improvement over what Duel had turned into, and shows the difference 30 years makes.
I don't really have a huge issue with the props going as ling as they're replaced with new props of the same quality, but personally for a good chunk of the ride didn't do this. The zombies being replaced by dolls were an easy improvement and was much creepier, same with the new screaming heads. But with things like the undertaker, the Flying Demons and the column ghost being replaced with literally nothing was just really disappointing for me, and no, I don't count projections as replacments. The Flying Demons literally could've been redone into something like demon dolls, with pale and cracked skin. Imagine if the one that used to hold the rat was now holding a human skull while saying something like "Delicious", it would've explained what happened to the guests lol. A bit gross though, ha! It's much darker and would fit in pretty well and explains the disappearance of the guests and Emily parents. But hey, that's just me.
In terms of scenes of complete darkness, yeah, the giant's lair really shows this... yeah isn't not great is it. I'm sure the lighting will improve as the years pass, or they'll leave the effects to break until they're broken and replace the ride with a new one. Let's hope anything but the latter on that.
It's a definite upgrade from duel in terms of lighting and effects, but personally props wise it's a downgrade for me in certain aspects.
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MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW:
So I rode it today, and I won't lie, it's a bit of a marmite situation. Some parts I really liked, some I didn't like.
The area outside is simply fantastic!!! The new gravestones in the queue really fit the vive of the original ones being really finny deaths while some are nods to rides in the past.
The indoor queue is okay, not a fan of the UV Words all over the wall, seems very generic to me. The actual new dolls house is great looking! Wish it was a bit brighter in there, turn up those chandeliers up a bit.
The station is nicely done. Not too underdone but not too extreme.
Now, onto the actual ride itself. So the poltergeist room is still there and integrated really well into the first scene, though the lights behind them don't seem to flicker as well as previously, but I'm sure the lighting will be perfected at the end of the year.
The grand Hall.... oh boy, this is a downgrade to me, the Flying Demons are no more and are replaced by... a projection of Emily standing still. A small ghoul seems to swoop over you, which is a nice effect.
The trommel. ITS BACK IN BUSINESS BABY. The trommel is actually tunring now, but the theming in the room is entirely different, from a gothic corridor with a giant skull about to swallow you whole is replaced by some portraits, a crack in the wall, and a very thin fireplace replacing the face. The giants lair is mostly pitch black, but there a new set between the trommel and the giant's lair with Emily. The window where the giant used to be (the only thing you can see in there) is repurposed with a trio of toys that resemble Emily and her parents, then a giant station hand prop is lit above right before you enter the hall of spiders. Most of it has been rethemed to an attic with dolls replacing the zombies, and a set of new spiders, thankfully the giant spider still remains, but with more eyes that glow now. The ghost corridor is completely different, with a car by your side which reveals Emily sitting in it, followed by a doll jumping put on your left.
Now, onto the screaming heads. The iconic scream is sadly no more and the heads have been replaced with much larger and sinister ones, though they don't have any sound effects.
The Sinister garden is still very familiar with most of the sets mostly untouced aside from additional props of dolls, but the undertaker, the lunatic, the grim reaper, and the column ghost are no more. With the undertaker and the column ghost being replaced by nothing, but the lunatic has been replaced by a doll, same with the grim reaper, with this doll sharing the same illusion to pirates of The Caribbean where the pirate turns into a skeleton. With the doll, it just disappears. The scene before the lab is where the giant dolls house is at.
The final still has a lot of the old lab intact, but the zombies is replaced by toys and deformed dolls. Some of the walls are replaced by projections and set pieces such as oversized boxes. The final scare is where a static prop of Emily but giant trying to grab you, this was where the photo is, same where it was in duel. The gargoyle at the end has a clock in it's mouth, and that's the ride. The gift shop is much darker themed and the ride has its own merchandise.
All in all, it's okay, but not my type of ghost train. It's a bit too serious and dark in some places personally, and I think the removal of most of the previous props and replaced with projections was a disappointment to me. But on its own, ignoring its past, its a nice dark ride, but maybe not for young kids.
All in all first impressions are a 7.5/10
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7 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Benin what scenes do you think the ones we’ve seen photos of have replaced? Regarding the Dinning Room I’m expecting the column monster to have been dished. It won’t fit into the theme of a Haunted Dolls House. I hope the undertaker from the Goolish Garden remains. Even if the Goolish Garden has been ripped out the undertaker could be repurposed as a butler. For instance the undertaker could be in the first scenes welcoming riders into Alton Manor. Another possibility is the undertaker could be relocated to the Dinning Room. Butlers were often employed in the Victorian era to deliver food.
My thoughts regarding the dining room differ. This New's article mentions flying demons being in the attraction, which what those ghouls were called!
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1 hour ago, Stuntman707 said:
If towers really want to make the facade creepy, they could put a figure behind one of the windows that occasionally pulls back the curtain and peeks out. Have a dim light behind it that casts a shadow at night too.
Don't Disney do that on Phantom Manor already though?
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33 minutes ago, JoshC. said:
I'm clearly not as observant or enthusiastic as I thought I was, because that facade looks exactly the same to me.
Here's a comparison between to when it was Duel to now.
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1 hour ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Hethetheth I am beginning to think I’m psychic. I’ve predicted 3 events that have happened. 2 of which involve Theme Parks. Firstly I foresaw that Project Amazon at Chessington would be related to Jumanji. Obviously months ahead this new area for Chessington was declared to be The World Of Jumanji. Secondly I immediately had a premonition that the refurbished Duel would grant Emily Alton and Snowy bigger roles. Thirdly about a year ago I sensed that a particular Carer of mine would be pregnant by the end of 2022. To the amazement of myself and my Carer she is now Pregnant. @Hethetheth you should apologies. Your refusing to admit your wrong as your freaked and jealous of my psychic abilities. If your sceptical about my insight into the future explain how I could know the outcome of a couple of Theme Park developments and a pregnancy. Even some of my Carers believe I have been gifted powers.
I can't tell I'd you're being sarcastic or not... I think you're taking this too serious and stop saying things that'll happen when there's no evidence. If Tomb Blaster was being redone, there would've been an announcement from the park by now. No one can tell the future, its physically impossible 🙄
There are other things you can talk about the Refurb for Duel that isn't linked to Emily and Snowy, like the music, the facade, etc. It can be a bit annoying when you keep going on about Emily and Snowy, so I just wanna give some advice out (not in a rude manner), don't keep going on the same thing. I know this return is incredibly exciting for many, including me, but we have to remember that we the General Public don't know a damn thing what's going in inside there apart from a few photos. So saying that this is gonna happen with no physical evidence from the park officially isn't really well liked by many. Hope you understand.
Anyway, out of that now, there seems to be some work being done to the facade, not a huge fan of it personally outside of the turret. It seems pretty bland and boring with the lack of colour, unlike the previous look, but I'm hoping this is still a work in progress and it'll hopefully look better when it opens.
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55 minutes ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
As the date of Emily Alton’s housewarming party nears it appears she wants to play hide and seek. I cannot wait to enter Emily’s Dolls House and explore its eerie rooms. @Trooper Looper from what I’ve heard/been told it’s likely both the Dining Room and Hall Of Spiders will remain. I am eager to see the refurbished Carriages I bet they look wonderful.
I definitely think the dining hall is staying as if you notice the wall behind the girl in justnby the bust that used to scream at you before the scene, and you can notice the chequer flooring and the columns on each side. Do we know if the carriages will be similar or keep any of the old traits the older ones had?
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Double post sorry, but in case of anyone's missed out, we've got our first prioer teaser!!
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@Theme Park Fanaticmay I ask, what group are you on Facebook? I'd like to see if there's anymore news about this refurb!!
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On 2/2/2023 at 2:44 AM, Theme Park Fanatic said:
I read the following on a Facebook Group I belong too “I can confirm cars are back on site, and also can co firm that set pieces from duel will be staying”. The same person confirmed the same ride system and carriages will remain. According to my source the Cars have had a lick of paint and the guns and scoreboards removed. Finally my source said the Spider Scene has been kept. @Trooper Looper I know how passionate you are about The original Haunted House/Duel so I thought I’d share this information. I’m relieved the ride system,arguably the best in the world, will be part of Alton Manor. It’s brilliant that Emily Alton has let the spiders reside in her Dollshouse. The Spiders are amazing. Despite this I bet people with arachnophobia won’t be so pleased.
Let’s hope Alton Manor enables the ride system to survive another 30 years. @Trooper Looper do you look forward to seeing the carriages minus the guns and scoreboards?
That's great news!!! Always liked the not too over the top theming on the pews/cars had with the wood-carved goat face. Glad they didn't retheme them, why would they anyway when it'd going to still be a haunted House theme? Thank you for sharing the news!
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1) The Haunted House
2) Professor Burps Bubbleworks
3) Journey into Imagination
4) Space Mountain: De la terre à la lune
5) Toyland Tours
6) Tinkaboos Sweet Adventure
7) Terror Tomb
8) Shrieksville
9) Jaws, the ride
10) Horizons
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@Theme Park FanaticWell, The Sparks Group did design both The Haunted House and Wicked Witches Haunt, so that probably explains why so many of the props are the same style, but John Wardley wasn't involved with Wicked Witches Haunt. If you're interested in that style, I highly suggest looking at the now defunct Shrieksville that used to be at Pleasure Island in cleethorpes. It was made a year after The Haunted House debuted in 1992, and was also designed by Sparks, which it also used a lot of familiar sound effects from The Haunted House.
In scenes with Emily Alton being involved, only 2. The Skeleton Corridor, and the Finale. I'd rather have more unique scenes in the ride rather than something like the Gruffalo River Ride where there's exposition and the same characters reappear.
In terms of the Giant Whitch prop, I doubt it'll be reused as we haven't seen it for 20 years now and is probably stored for preservation, or left to rot, and hopefully not the latter.
I'd love to see a lot of Former Spark Group members to be given a gravestone or at least hinted in the new ride as an Easter egg.
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On 12/29/2022 at 3:18 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:
Hi if there were 5 elements of The Haunted House/Duel you would like to remain following the current refurbishment what would they be? I hope the indoor queline,Dining Room and Gholish Garden remain. My dream would be these scenes are adjusted to support Emily Alton and Snowy being the primary characters. I’ll be overjoyed if in March Duel reopens as a tour through the Dollshouse you pass before boarding the ride.
1) The facade
2) The Drawing Room (Indoor Queue)
3) The Grand Hall
4) The Screaming Heads
5) The Sinister Garden
Wouldn't really want the old scenes incorporated for Emily, but would rather have new scene implemented for Emily and have the old scenes speak for themselves in their original manner.
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Double post sorry, but if anyone's interested, Euro Theme Park Archive has released a trailer of his Upcoming Haunted House documentary!
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56 minutes ago, JoshC. said:
I believe the screenshot has now been deleted. At least, I can't see it.
Thank you to those who reported the post and helped resolve this.
The mod team is aware of the spam issue and looking to resolve it. Unfortunately we are also busy with other things outside the forums, so thank you for your patience.
No problem. Thank you for taking your time to resolve this wee accident and being respectful in the situation!
Anyway, let's try and actually discuss about Duel now!
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2 minutes ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Trooper Looper I’ve completely deleted the screenshots from page 9. I won’t repost them. Could you please post the edited versions you put on Towerstreet?
I can still see it! Just press the backspace key on the keyboard,
When writing the post, like deleting a letter, but a picture, it still works!!
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10 minutes ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
I don’t know how to edit out our email addresses. @Trooper Looper could a Admin or Moderator please do this for me. I’m panicking I’ve got pawn sites all over my email inbox. I’m concerned I’ll be labelled a pervert. Sorry Admins please don’t ban me from this Forum. This was a genuine mistake. Please don’t label @Trooper Looper a troublemaker. If you give anyone a telling off let it be me. @Trooper Looper I wish I had edited out my personal details. What was me trying to be kind and share exciting information backfired.
Press/click the three dots on the bar your profile pic is on above the post of the screenshot, then select edit when it comes up, then delete the screenshot, and if you want to replace it with a edited version, just go over it in a colour, just doodle over both email addresses and your name. If you can't find a way to edit the screenshot on another app, just delete the screenshot. Don't allow any more bots to see it!
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4 minutes ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:
@Trooper Looper please be assured I wasn’t implying you were to blame. If anyone’s at fault it’s me. I should’ve edited the screenshots prior to posting them on Thorpe Park Mania. BTW @Trooper Looper thanks for editing my personal information out of the screenshots on Towerstreet.
It's okay, you didn't mean to. It was a mistake, but by god, PLEASE EDIT THE SCREENSHOTS ON PAGE 9 OF THIS FORUM!!! YOURS AND JOHNS EMAIL IS STILL ON THERE!!!!!
Sparkle Project
in General Discussion
Posted
I'd much prefer if it was the inside of the shop painted blue and the outside stayed the same originally.