Alton Towers Resort has today shown us our first glimpse inside Curse At Alton Manor ahead of its official opening on Saturday, March 18.
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The highly anticipated refurbishment of Duel: Strikes Back at the resort has been wonderfully marketed by the resort as week after week of promotional videos has been released to tease the new attraction.
Alton Towers even went as far as setting up a pop-up dolls house in Canary Wharf in London to tease the new attraction. This pop-up doll’s house contained a plethora of items and easter eggs that hinted at what was to come within the new ride.
We had a theory that the house painted the past, present and future events of what was to come from the experience. What started out as a happy family life slowly turned dark as Emily was confined to the attic.
Here in the attic, a dark presence took over her and in the right side of the doll’s house was the aftermath of this ‘possession’.
We discussed our own theories in this article HERE
Only days later after the event the following was released painting a small backstory of what the Curse At Alton Manor would be about. It confirmed that our theory was certainly on the right track.
Left alone in the attic, with nothing but her doll’s house to keep this quiet but curious girl amused. Emily becomes lonely and forgotten, with nothing but the sound of music and laughter of the parties, hosted by her parents to the high of society, echoing through the floors from the grand hall below.
Her hatred grew, fuelled by frustration and bitterness. Dark forces began to surround Emily, becoming a vessel for the evil that has seeped into every corner of the Manor.
Flying demons, levitating dolls and haunted chandeliers have all been teased by Alton Towers Resort as guests will be taking a look around this haunted manor.
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With dozens of scenes, visitors will take a step-by-step journey as Emily wreaks her revenge on her parents. Audio technology will make riders feel that Emily is talking directly to them. 3D projection mapping will also aid in bringing scenarios to life.
The ride will include The Grand Hall, where an opulent party becomes a scene of death with skeletal bodies lying at tables. While the Demon Doll Workshop gives visitors a chilling insight into the mind of Emily with an operating table at its centre and human-size dolls lining the walls.
The Attic will be a key feature where Emily was left and forgotten about with nothing but a doll’s house to entertain her. Easter eggs will be a common theme throughout each of the rooms which visitors are encouraged to discover.
Visitors will even seem to disappear in front of their very eyes as a result of a spine-chilling array of special effects and visuals. Effects that according to Alton Towers have never been seen before at a UK theme park.
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Bianca Sammut, divisional director at Alton Towers Resort, said:
We’re delighted to finally be able to take the wraps off The Curse at Alton Manor and welcome those brave enough to enter. We’ve harnessed the power of cutting edge technology to provide a fully immersive experience that blurs the line between reality and Emily’s demonic world.
Visitors will even seem to disappear in front of their very eyes as a result of a spine-chilling array of special effects and visuals that have never been seen before from a UK theme park. Child’s play, this isn’t. Emily is waiting … The question is, dare you experience what she has in store?
Curse At Alton Manor First Look Honest Opinions
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Whilst the images released so far are just a mere taste of what’s to come I have to be honest, I’m a little warier than I was previously.
The ride feels quite bright and the projection mapping is a worry to me as 99% of the time in any ride in the world, it’s executed poorly to the point where it looks a little cheap, I hope the ride isn’t too heavily reliant on the projection mapping and focuses more on physical sets and classic animatronics which will always be my preferred option.
The photos so far look very much like something you’d see in the Ratatouille ride at Disneyland or something from the set of The Borrowers, they’re all quite brightly lit and look very child-friendly horror as opposed to the dark and twisted trailers we have been seeing in the recent weeks.
The set pieces certainly look great but at the same time drop the scare level immediately for me, it looks very child friendly and some of the fonts used on certain scenes give me Gangsta Granny vibes *shivers*.
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Whilst I have every faith this ride will be an immersive and quite wonderful experience the images released so far have sadly dampened my high expectations.
The detail looks phenomenal and I love how the sets are designed to replicate the childlike world that surrounds Emily. There’s a childlike balance of objects with a dark touch added to each one. A fine balance between childlike innocence and the dark forces at work that is consuming her. That’s a beautiful touch and I love how they’ve done this.
But.
Whilst they look great they are miles away from the dark vibes of the trailer. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping and praying we don’t have another case of 13 (one of the park’s rollercoasters) on our hands where a ride was marketed to be insanely scary and the final product was about as tame as they come.
I’m crossing my fingers, toes and anything else that I can cross that this is a dark ride we can be proud of but from the images released so far, I have to be honest, I think I preferred Duel. BUT, before I’m cast aside for saying that, the verdict is still out on the final product.
The Curse At Alton Manor dark ride is certainly an exciting project for the park and one of many that Alton Towers have in store for us.
With Nemesis Sub Terra set to return sometime this year, a new Retrosquad ride and the ever-evolving construction site that is the Nemesis rollercoaster refurbishment there’s plenty to keep guests happy in 2023.
With Haunted House creator/designer John Wardley at the helm for this new Curse At Alton Manor dark ride project I will maintain positive thoughts that this ride will deliver and I won’t have long to wait to find out what it’s like for myself.
Curse At Alton Manor Dark Ride Easter Eggs
Even with a limited number of images released by the park, there was still an absolute plethora of easter eggs to be spotted in the images released.
Let’s break down all the ones we’ve spotted, if you’ve spotted some of your own, let us know!
