Nostalgia within theme parks; what are your thoughts on it?

[Matt N]

Disclaimer: I apologise in advance, as this post is quite long. There is a TL;DR at the bottom for those who would like one.

Hi guys. As many of you probably know, Duel, Alton Towers’ interactive haunted house-style dark ride, recently closed for a retheme and is reopening in 2023. Speculation is rife throughout the UK enthusiast community about what this retheme could entail and what it might be like, but one thing I’ve noticed is that there are a considerable number of people who wish for the park to go down the nostalgia route. These people are clamouring for the ride to be returned brick by brick to exactly how it was when it first opened in 1992, as though the 2003 Duel revamp never happened. There’s quite a considerable group of people who believe this, and it’s part of a wider trend of nostalgia that seems to have gripped the UK enthusiast community as of late. There are now quite a few different nostalgic calls to “bring back” old rides being made around the community, including:

• “Revert Duel back to the Haunted House”
• “Revert Galactica back to Air”
• “Revive Pirate Adventure”
• “Revive Rocky Express”
• “Revert The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure back to Professor Burp’s Bubbleworks”
• “Revive Ripsaw, Boneshaker and Dynamo”
• “If Project Horizon isn’t a Black Hole revival, they’re missing a trick”

My basic point is; a considerable wave of nostalgia seems to have gripped the UK enthusiast community as of late, with clamouring for old attractions from the 90s and early 2000s to return being quite commonplace at the moment. So my question to you today is; what are your thoughts on the use of nostalgia within theme parks? What are your thoughts on parks “bringing back” old attractions, or making nods to the past?

 

Personally, I’m a bit mixed on nostalgia myself.

 

I’m perfectly happy with minor displays of nostalgia at parks. Subtle nods to the past scattered within a new attraction? Great! Loads of old artwork and concepts being displayed, like in the Rollercoaster Restaurant at Alton Towers? Love it! Wanting to sell retro merchandise? Go for it! Relatively minor nostalgic touches are nice for those who look for this sort of stuff and don’t really affect the experience at large for the average guest, so these can certainly be pretty good when done well, in my view.

 

However, I’m not so keen on the prospect of more major scale nostalgia, such as “bringing back” old rides. Personally, I think parks should move forward into the future rather than stay in the past when it comes to new attractions, and I am personally sceptical as to whether “bringing back” old attractions would have a happy ending, for multiple reasons.

 

Basically, my thought process is that “bringing back” an old attraction would please relatively few people, because the average guest likely wouldn’t know what the old attraction being “revived” was, or even if they did, they likely wouldn’t understand why the park was “reviving” an old ride that closed years prior. I also have a concern that the ride of old may not resonate with modern crowds in the same way as it did with original crowds, no matter how good it was when it originally operated.

 

Whereas I fear that the enthusiasts and die hard nostalgics whom such a move would be aimed at would be critical of the fact that the “revival” wasn’t enough like the old ride, because let’s face it, a “revival” can never be the exact same ride as the original attraction being “revived” was, no matter how good the intentions of your creative team are. That’s simply impossible due to technological advancements, part of or all of the old ride having been scrapped, and simply due to the fact that no matter how hard you try, you cannot rewrite history to pretend that the removal of the original ride never happened. That’s why I always say “revival” in inverted commas, because it wouldn’t be a true “revival”, but rather a new experience with the same name.

 

For instance, one of the main nostalgic wishes as of late is for Duel at Alton Towers to be reverted back to the Haunted House exactly as it was in 1992, with all of the original props being kept, the Swamp finale being rebuilt and the Graham Smart soundtracks and original facade being fully restored. My concern here is that the original HH closed 20 years ago, so there is likely a considerable number of Alton Towers guests who don’t know about it, and even those that do would probably be somewhat bemused at why it was “returning”. I also have concerns that the ride as built in 1992, as good as it was back then, might not resonate with 2023 guests in the same way.

 

On the other side of the coin, I fear that the enthusiasts such a move would be aimed towards would be critical that a “revival” of the HH wouldn’t be enough like the original 1992 ride. Given that I’ve heard “it doesn’t even smell like it did in 1992” being banded about as a criticism of Duel, I think the nostalgics would be keen for every little detail to be restored to exactly how it was before in the event of a “revival”, which I fear simply wouldn’t be possible. The entire 1992 finale was demolished prior to the Duel revamp in 2003, Keith Sparks (the original designer) is dead, certain technologies used in the 1992 original are now obsolete and have long been succeeded by modern alternatives (for instance, the ride would have to be lit very differently nowadays, which would make the original scenes look very different to how they were originally supposed to look)… there’s a lot of factors that mean the ride simply would not be the same ride as it was in 1992 no matter how hard the creative team tried to make it the same. You cannot rewrite history and pretend that Duel never happened; there was only one of the original HH, and it closed in 2002. A “revival” of the HH would be a totally different attraction that simply shares the same name; it wouldn’t actually bring the old experience back.

 

But what are your thoughts on the use of nostalgia in theme parks, and the prospect of “bringing back” old attractions and themes?

TL;DR: Given the recent clamouring for many old attractions to return within the UK enthusiast community, I’d be keen to know your thoughts on the use of nostalgia within theme parks.

 

Overall, I have a mixed opinion on the use of nostalgia within theme parks. I don’t mind minor displays of nostalgia, as these can be fun for those who look for such things and don’t really affect the experience at large.

 

However, I am less keen on major scale nostalgia, such as “reviving” old attractions and themes, simply because I feel that you can’t rewrite history no matter how hard you try, and that a “revived” ride would never be the same as the original attraction. I also feel that a “revival” of an old attraction wouldn’t really resonate with the average guest.

[Inferno]

Good post!

 

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure it’s a good thing.

Bringing back the haunted house, bubbleworks or black hole would be very odd now adays and feel very dated.

 

I think unless you’re Disney, attractions need to leave at some point when they feel old and tired.

 

I think as long as what is built in its place, it’s a good thing to retire and replace attractions. Subtly throwbacks and stuff are cool though.

[Mark9]

I like parks that celebrate their past with nostalgic merchandise and subtle hints at their past. The Corkscrews at Towers for example or the gravestones at Chessington dedicated to Zappomatic and Professor Burp. I don't think parks should pander to their history though. Emily Alton & Nemesis Sub Terra mean nothing to the majority of park enthusiasts, let alone the general public.

 

This is very Alton specific this topic, frankly theres a reason all these rides have left the park. Replacing them is the problem as all these rides gone have reduced the parks capacity considerably. 

[jom222]

Agree with the above - it’s nice for parks to pay tribute to their past with merchandise and Easter eggs in theming but overall they need to move onto the next new thing.

 

Sometimes rethemes or other changes to rides don’t go down well but I don’t think the solution is to try to go back in time.

 

It’s looking to the future that brings innovation and makes the parks more exciting!