Not necessarily.

Really, AT does need a haunted house as it is a resort that is for everyone, thrill seekers and families.

I just hope they do an AT themed HH ride as it would make it very original and unique to AT.

Same here, if Duel gets replaced by another haunted house, let's hope it is original.

I think what should happen is the following:-

Gloomy wood should close down as an area. Then have Katanga Canyon extended to include the old Gloomy Wood area. Haunted Hollow would just become a footpath. Duel and the area of Gloomy Wood should be rethemed to look like an African tribe settlement. Duel could be re themed inside to basically something similar to Tomb Blaster or to mines. Your fighting for the tribe to get rid of the miners. The outside of Duel could stay the same but be painted to look like a Rich Miners Place. The queue line could then be themed around going through the house and into the mine.

Then Dark Forest could be extended to take over Charlie. This would make it seem like the Dark Forest is extending. Charlie could then get re-themed to look like a river boat going through the Dark Forest. You could use the themeing from inside Duel (minus the LED's) as well as make it look like a forest. Then the glass elevator segment of the ride could turn into the source of the curse and the wraith try to capture you. You leave the ride being unable to break the curse.

Sorry for going off track a little bit, But i needed to explain the whole thing.

That is what i posted in the Gloomy Wood Future Topic.
This idea sort of does two things that enthusiast would like to see happen. It would breath new life into Duel and would also get rid of Charlie (as its not everyone's favourite ride). Plus how many Haunted House style things do you know that is part boat ride, part walking. (Someone is bound to say Dungeons). As for Duel. The idea of it being a mine, and the indoor queue line going from a house into a mine could work. You could keep the guns, and that way AT have two entirely different dark rides.

How much height is there in the Duel showbuilding? This would have an impact on whether it could fit a coaster or have a large scale final scene. Both Haunted House (and Duel which uses the same layout) rely on relatively small scale scenes with riders following a twisting path through many scenes.

How sound is the ride mechanism, is it reaching end of life or would it last another 10 years in a rethemed ride (possibly with a major overhaul.)?

DannyG wrote:

Each room needs a smoke machine that creates a blanket of mist over the ground to hide the track, adding to the mystery of where your going.

I like the idea of this (would hide the track). There would be a potential issue with residue from the smoke interfering with the ride mechanism (or making the floor slippery). Consideration would also have to given to how the ride could be evacuated as the smoke would hide trip hazards.

I personally think that a replacement of duel along the lines of Valhalla at Pleasure beach. Would take up a similar sort of room dimensions wise part from upwards which would need to be increased or being built downwards like ST. This would mean that the theme carries through from KC to the now to be previous GW site. Although it has high running costs and has had multiple problems with effects I think something similar would be a great addition to the park (even possibly keeping the duel/GW theming).

Another idea is a larger scale version of raptor attack at lightwater valley in Yorkshire which is themed around a mine which again could link in with the runaway mine train. Although not fantastic at lightwater valley it's still a good experience and a larger scale version would be a lot better.

Would really appreciate your thoughts regarding this?

Also as a side note, is it known what the height canopy for the area near KC is as the amount of land area this takes up would be ideal development for a large coaster maybe themed similar or not to the runaway mine train.

not sure if this is impotent or not but last time I was at Alton Towers, I was walking past Duel's outdoor queue and spotted what looked like ether one of the figures on the wall in the queue for Hex, the hag from Hex or the wraith from TH13TEEN (specifically this one ) against a tree.

do you think that this means anything (possibly something to do with scarefest) or has that just always been there?

Count-Vonduel wrote:

not sure if this is impotent or not but last time I was at Alton Towers, I was walking past Duel's outdoor queue and spotted what looked like ether one of the figures on the wall in the queue for Hex, the hag from Hex or the wraith from TH13TEEN (specifically this one ) against a tree.

do you think that this means anything (possibly something to do with scarefest) or has that just always been there?

On balance I would probably say it is impotent after all it is a statue not a human.

On a more serious note I would say its probably always been there, not sure why they would add it to Duel's outdoor queue when it is hardly used anymore.

I think they should re-theme duel to something along the lines of an old 17th century haunted house. Make it a walk through attraction going room to room with live scare actors. They could also maybe incorporate some of Alton's history along the way so it ties in with the area and it also gives good opportunity for a good back story!

Still, I guess the whole point of Duel is to be a haunted house you are taken through to shoot, an interactive ride with actors (like Saw alive) could be viewed as unprofitable and be turned into a seasonal attraction.

Duel will probably be removed. It's been around for a while, and I think it may have lost a lot of It's appeal, this is a shame, as the ORIGINAL haunted house was pretty cool

Duel will probably be removed. It's been around for a while, and I think it may have lost a lot of It's appeal, this is a shame, as the ORIGINAL haunted house was pretty cool

It will be such a shame if they do remove it but completely understandable. I have never had the chance to go on the original haunted house as my first visit was in 2013. But I have read the book written about it and from what I have seen it dose look like a much better ride. The amount of detail that was put in to the queue line and other effects was amazing and its truly a shame that these effects where removed or stopped working and never repaired.

I get the feeling it will be replaced but it will be another shooter ride as the laser equipment was most likely a expensive investment and I don't think merlin will let that go to waste. But then again that's just my view.

I for one would be really sad to see Duel go, compared to a lot of the other dark rides on offer in the UK I actually think it ranks pretty high. Alton Towers has always been a family theme park so I highly doubt they will get rid of the building or put a thrill ride in it's place; for people like my mum who hates anything fast or high this is a great 10 minute (?) attraction and is re-ride-able

I think if anything did happen to it, they would either completely re-design the attraction (trackless maybe like in Sea World Orlando); I think a Duel 2.0 rebrand would be a huge waste of money. Just my 2 cents!

I think Duel should be re-themed back to The Haunted House as some of the targets aren't working anymore! But if the re-theme didn't happen then I think they should try and fix the targets or replace them.

Probably wishful thinking, but I'd like to see Duel replaced with a high-standard dark ride. Not another tacky finger-aching shooter, but a proper experience attraction.

Personally, I think a brand new haunted house would be cool.
I think they should restart from scratch,

I agree, that a Haunted House based on AT would be awesome,
Something that has never been done before!

A new indoor B&M 4D could be built in that space with is bigger would be awesome,
But unfortunately, that would take the 'family' aspect of the haunted house away

I think duel has much breath left in it's lungs yet though!

My Duel re-furb idea:
"Haunted One" it's a mix of Duel and the Haunted House. The area would be re-named "Haunted Hollow", just like the attraction.
Plaza
The plaza is similar; original music played, tomb-stone replaced, etc. Also, the opposite stair-case entering the house would be a Fast-Track entrance (you know, the one that's never used???)
Entrance hall, Drawing room and Station
This scene is the same as HH's.
Poltergeist room, Dining hall and Crash-Column
In these scenes, the original giant music is used. Script-wise, they're the same as HH's.
Trommel Tunnel
Original tunnel of doom music is used. The zombie outside the tunnel is now dressed as a devil. The original flame-artwork is used in the tunnel itself. The area feels quite hot, to give a hellish feel. The split-demon is moved.
[b]Giant and Spider sequence[/b]
In this scene, the Duel: Live! interior music from 2009 is used. Like HH in 93-02, the fingers have demon-like creatures on. The Spider scene remains, but the zombies aren't there. When the large, overhead spider is revealed, several sprays of cold water is used to make the spider feel like it's clinging a web around you.
Skeleton Laboratory (Ghost corridor)
The alternate Duel theme is used in this section. There are several skeletons using electricity, the most notable set's off a quieter Tesla-coil-thing.
Screaming room and Sinister garden
2003-present Gloomy Wood music is used. These scenes remain the same.
Demon Hall (Finale)
The music in this scene is the 2002 TOTT maze-music. In here, the split-head demon returns, and the zombies are dressed as demons.
Exit Corridor
The exit corridor uses the Mutant Racers theme. It uses the original photo-room, and is like the original Doom and Sons.
Shop
In here, the old escape music is played. Shop remains the same.

(NOTE: There are no-more blaster guns!)

I think the only thing that's gonna draw the crowds back to duel is another IP attraction. Just look at how a IP has brought life back to the farm and storybook land area. Now to still class it as a family ride the IP got to be something like Scooby Doo haunted Mansion ride https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b_M7Ry_ZK_M
Now for the queue line the videos could show a clip of them visiting the house. Now get rid of all the zombies and replace them with ghosts. The ride could really just stay the same but add Scooby and the mystery machine team around the attraction. On the front where the zombie shooting they could put the mystery machine and in the shop sell Scooby doo goods.

I think Duel should be re-themed to Katanga Canyon with like a Jungle theme as the spooky theme is scaring away the families with little kids and Katanga Canyon needs more rides so this would be the perfect solution. The area that Duel is in wouldn't look out of place in the park anymore and the Dark Forest could be the proper spooky place of the park now. Also the exterior could be turned into a tree house instead of a haunted house plus it would be unique from all the other laser shooting rides in the world.