Alright then! It's time for another update from SAC! And after such a terrible season last year, will the park be able to dig up some dignity? Read to find out...
Spring 2002Ask any fan of SAC and they'll say that 2001 never happened. (Despite having a strong attendance figure of over 500,000.) Who could blame them after getting the wrong ride in embarrassing circumstances? Thankfully, the damned KMG Afterburner the park received has now gotten a new home at Blithering Lodge and opened for the '02 season. There was no doubt that 2002 had to be the year that SAC got back some respected, though it wasn't going to be easy than to simply install a new flat ride...It had to be top class in order to show that St. Adam's Castle was on it's way to compete with the best. Towards to end of the 2001 season, Lochty Mansion was closed and was to be revamped for it's 10th Birthday for next year, clearly it was going to be another dark ride year for the park. Many fans will remember seeing new trains arrive at the park last year that would help confirm that the revamp would be more than a simple case of TLC. The ride cars, as many theme park fan will know, are like those of the Spider-man attraction at Islands of Adventures in Orlando, and have the ability to move in nearly every direction. On a visit to Florida with his wife and three children in 1999, Brian Morrison first encountered the new ride when it was first opened to the public. Despite disliking the 3D effects (which Morrison is know for thinking that 3D is pointless) he was however won over by the ride system and knew that this sort of ride would be perfect for Lochty's 10th anniversary. During the Winter of the '01 season, new advertising posters emerged in the Media and on the park's website such as this one.
On TV, adverts for the ride show a sinister and dark adventure that seems to show that this ride will be appealing for an adult crowd. Though despite every fan knowing that Lochty Mansion will look new for '02, fans start to speculate at what will be happening with the ride, soon enough, they'd all find out during the opening 2002 season...The ride is now under the new name of 'Return to Lochty Mansion'.
On opening, the public and fans alike and stunned at the new ride. Like it's Atlantis dark ride counterpart, the ride has a storyline, and it is uniquely enough a sequel to the old ride. The story goes as during the course of the Lochty Mansion being opened for the last ten years, the supernatural forces have become more and more frequent and even violent, causing the Mansion to be closed off the the public as a team of experts went in to see what was going on. One by one, members of the group suddenly disappeared, never to be heard of again. As guests enter they find the remains of the highly advanced rovers that were designed to explore the Mansion, though it would seem that all of the surviving experts have abandoned and fled. Little do guests know what they are getting themselves in for...
The ride reopens to overwhelming reviews, many praising the ride system and it's continuation of the old ride's storyline, though it's not without it's critics...
With it being more aimed for the older crowd with some terrifying moments in the ride that the attraction scares many guests, practically young children. So much so that Morrison even considers adding an age limit to the ride. Despite what might happen, nevertheless, the ride helps SAC get back to normal and the attraction itself is a fitting way to celebrate such a classic dark ride. The only way is up for the park. And here are some photos from early on in the season...
The Lochty Estate area has also had a few touch ups with the addition of a new wall seen here on the path way.

A new booth for buying on-ride photos of Revelation has also popped up.

The entrance to the Mansion...dare you enter?

These brave souls do...

Guests see a strange green glow in all parts of the queue...something's not right.

On arrival at the station, the Rovers lay abandoned and only one or two members of the old team (the ride operators!) are still there.

The ride also includes an on-ride soundtrack, in which has Dr. Wallace (head of the old team) guiding you on your adventure as you attempt to find any survivors of the old team.

Round the corner is a corridor that starts off the adventure.

And at this point, there is no turning back...

After a sudden flash of white lights, riders find themselves in the Supernatural world and see that the cause of the green lights earlier in the queue lines was from a gap in time that riders entered in.

The simpleness of blackened effects helps to make the ride scary, with various 'feet ticklers' and various other effects in the cars helping that.

Round another corner, guests find to their horror of one of the old ride cars on fire, clearly there is more here than just simple ghosts.

After going down another corridor, guests find themselves in a dark woodland. It is here when riders found out the truth of the old team members...

The old workers have been caught by the demons and have become ghosts themselves, trapped in this world forever.

Now it is a race for your life, and the ride stops during one part of the ride when the rover breaks down, and the car getting rocked about and ghosts on your back, it is a terrifying moment to make even the bravest guest scream.

The ride starts moving again, and on the radio, Dr Wallace has found a way to bring you back into the real world if he can adjust a few things where he is, all you have to do is not get caught!

Eventually he get's it working and you are on your way home, though all the ghosts soon block your entrance, is it all over?

Just in the nick of time, the rover lands in the second station area. Guests by this point are either shaking or letting out some nervous oughts of laughter as they leave. Truly, the ride is now a masterpiece in dark rides. The park finally is back on top.

While on the inside it is all good, outside is not so good. Since the ride's opening, Like with Air's tunnel at Alton Towers, fans complain of the steel wall seen in this photo, complaining that it ruins the theming of the area. Whenever this is seen to at a later date remains to be seen, but with the Internet being more advance these days, who knows how fans will be able to keep contact with mr Morrison...
So that's that for now, It'l be a smaller update for the park in 2003, but before I go, I'd like to show you some inside photos of the dark rides without their tin shed's on.

For those who wanted to see that, here we go!

Return to Lochty Mansion

Atlantis

Bogalta
So there, see you next time with the park in 2003, try and have a guess of what might be coming in that year, remember, it won't be big or even another dark ride!
