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Duel at Alton Towers closing on 6th September - retheme or refurbishment for 2023?

toofpikk

toofpikk

Hyper Poster
Wasn't really sure where to post this as the Duel 2023 thread has been locked, but maybe some of the rumours about something happening to it for 2023 are coming to fruition? Something something about something about being overlayed back to The Haunted House?
gYjQXt7.png


(possible closing date being 6th September?)
 
Something about that image doesn't look right to me - especially the handwritten text underneath. It looks too flat to be real. Then again, perhaps I'm just a cynic.

That notwithstanding, 6th September is how I'd interpret that in the first instance.
 
Hi guys. I know I made an ill-fated thread a few months back about Duel’s rumoured demise at Alton Towers, but I’m here today to make another one. Because we now have actual evidence pointing towards the ride closing on 6th September. According to numerous sources, a new sign has appeared in Duel’s queue strongly hinting towards this:
https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/photos/a.10151742928413185/10160348594103185
For those who cannot see the post, the sign says “06 + 09 = The Duel is over. This is my house.”

That to me (and most others, it would seem) hints that the ride in its current form is closing on 6th September.

Rumours have been swirling for months about Duel’s future, and various small pieces of evidence, such as Alton Towers having dropped the level of upkeep on the ride, a Merlin Magic Making van appearing behind the ride (which has been a sign of impending CAPEX in that area in the past) and the extended queue line being cleared have begun to hint towards something happening, but it looks like we may finally have an official sign that something is happening to Duel.

What could this mean? Retheme? Refurbishment? Major new ground up dark ride? Who knows!
 
Matt N said:
Hi guys. I know I made an ill-fated thread a few months back about Duel’s rumoured demise at Alton Towers, but I’m here today to make another one. Because we now have actual evidence pointing towards the ride closing on 6th September. According to numerous sources, a new sign has appeared in Duel’s queue strongly hinting towards this:
https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/photos/a.10151742928413185/10160348594103185
For those who cannot see the post, the sign says “06 + 09 = The Duel is over. This is my house.”

That to me (and most others, it would seem) hints that the ride in its current form is closing on 6th September.

Rumours have been swirling for months about Duel’s future, and various small pieces of evidence, such as Alton Towers having dropped the level of upkeep on the ride, a Merlin Magic Making van appearing behind the ride (which has been a sign of impending CAPEX in that area in the past) and the extended queue line being cleared have begun to hint towards something happening, but it looks like we may finally have an official sign that something is happening to Duel.

What could this mean? Retheme? Refurbishment? Major new ground up dark ride? Who knows!
Click to expand...
Sign hints that the duelling element will be no more. ‘This is my house’ In ghostly font. A return to it’s (modernised) roots maybe?
 
A guy I know who works at the park (he's an engineer) told me they are removing the guns and the ride is getting "a refurb", whatever that means.

I realise just saying "A guy I know" makes me sound like one of those people that gets rumours from the Dippin' Dots guy, but there it is. 😆
 
Matt N said:
Hi guys. I know I made an ill-fated thread a few months back about Duel’s rumoured demise at Alton Towers, but I’m here today to make another one. Because we now have actual evidence pointing towards the ride closing on 6th September. According to numerous sources, a new sign has appeared in Duel’s queue strongly hinting towards this:
https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/photos/a.10151742928413185/10160348594103185
For those who cannot see the post, the sign says “06 + 09 = The Duel is over. This is my house.”

That to me (and most others, it would seem) hints that the ride in its current form is closing on 6th September.

Rumours have been swirling for months about Duel’s future, and various small pieces of evidence, such as Alton Towers having dropped the level of upkeep on the ride, a Merlin Magic Making van appearing behind the ride (which has been a sign of impending CAPEX in that area in the past) and the extended queue line being cleared have begun to hint towards something happening, but it looks like we may finally have an official sign that something is happening to Duel.

What could this mean? Retheme? Refurbishment? Major new ground up dark ride? Who knows!
Click to expand...
Well, this was not expected by me. But then again John Wardley did hint at an announcement in the coming weeks of the future of Towers, so I suppose this is it. Also, could his statement about technological advancements be about Duel, because he said, "It IS coming along ... Here, which when we start talking about technology, dark rides are at the forefront of that. In my dreams, I would like to think that Duel would be ripped out of the building, and then replaced with a new Triotech Trackless Dark Ride, which would bring back and revive the original Haunted House name and have a slue of amazing theming and effects.
Trackless Dark Ride Vehicle 1.jpg
 
I like the idea of a more modern trackless system taking over, but I do find it unusual they'd close it before Scarefest.
 
Im really glad to see that they are starting to look at the aging rides with this and Nemesis getting done.

The timing of this closure should give them 6 months to carry out the work for next season. Just PLEASE dont use the VR from Galactica

With the rumored return of Sub Terror and hopefully Hex being fixed, next year could be a good year for dark rides at Alton. All of this planned work does have me concerned that we will have another year of the Retro Squard rather than investment in permanent flats given possible budget restraints.
 
I hope they go all in on the haunted house theme and this isn't a half assed effort just removing the guns.

With the new Jumanji dark ride at Gardaland we have seen that Merlin are capable of retheming these dark ride shooters into something pretty good.

But yea to echo above, trackless dark ride would be the dream. Can't see it though.
 
The more I think about it, the more I am quite excited to see what they do with this.

As much as I was one of those campaigning against a “revival” of the HH like others are/were pushing for, I do think the ride has a lot of potential for a really good refurb.

My concerns with the idea of them simply “reviving” the HH do remain; rightly or wrongly, I think that “reviving” the HH would likely not have a happy ending, as I feel that the average guest wouldn’t really “get” it, and enthusiasts would be critical of it not being exactly like the 1992 ride (I don’t think it would ever be the exact same ride as the 1992 original, hence why I always put “revival” in inverted commas). I would be perfectly willing to be proven wrong if this does happen, but that’s just my current thought.

However, if they were to lean on the original concept and ultimately create a whole new attraction based upon it, then I do think that could be quite cool! It’s a clever concept that could make a really good ride, it would require minimal work to the facade and queue, and it would feasibly be marketable as a new product instead of looking as though it’s simply bringing back something old.
 
Yeah rip out that shooting rubbish and (re)install a top-notch dark ride haunted house thing with all the tricks that have been developed in the last 20 30 years.

I'm all for it.
 
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Makes me wonder whether they may make an announcement on the 6th of September instead of just closing it potentially?!
 
EDjanaika said:
Makes me wonder whether they may make an announcement on the 6th of September instead of just closing it potentially?!
Click to expand...
Most who seem to be "in the know" about what Alton Towers are doing seem to concur that it will likely be a 6th September closure.
spicy said:
I think that’s more linked to Nemesis Sub Terra returning with the ‘What lies’ and the eye emoji?
8ce5df5ce8814683008afe4d5c892e7f.jpg
Click to expand...
It could well be... there has been some subtle activity with Sub-Terra in the last few months!

My personal thought, though, is that John Burton's tweet was most likely about Duel, and the N:ST activity is to do with Scarefest.
 
I don’t have much hope for a trackless dark ride. I would guess that any modern upgrade will be using the fair but unremarkable Gangsta Granny tech…. or the Jumanji dark ride vehicles.

I don’t really think a haunted house style ride needs a fancy vehicle ride type anyway.

No screens please.
 
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