Alton Towers has revealed that the reworked version of the Duel dark ride will be called The Curse at Alton Manor.
On Tuesday, a promotional image was released along with the ride’s name and description of its contents.
It was described as: “A haunting dark ride, taking you on a hair-raising journey through the spectacular twist and turns of the cursed Manor.”
The ride is planned to open on 18 March this year, the opening day of Alton Towers’ 2023 main season.
It will be housed within the building of the original Haunted House ride, which later became Duel – The Haunted House Strikes Back.
Dolls are widely expected to feature in the new ride after several journalists received wind-up jack-in-a-boxes from which dolls heads sprung.
Alton Towers has briefed that the ride will include special effects that have “never been seen before from a UK theme park”.
‘Repossessed’
Duel closed in September last year and was cordoned off to enable the refurbishment works to begin.
Work has involved original Haunted House concept designer John Wardley and Merlin Entertainments’ current creative lead designer John Burton.
The original house façade used in both rides will be retained, but the laser guns from the Duel era have been removed.
In marketing material, Alton Towers said that the “abandoned Alton Manor” was “repossessed under mysterious circumstances”.
Kate McBirnie, Alton Towers’ head of product excellence, said The Curse at Alton Manor was “no ordinary dark ride”.
“It has all the components of a supernatural tale – it’s dark, compelling and promises some thrilling and scary moments along the way. Fans of eerie rides will certainly appreciate this one,” she said.
Ms McBirnie added that more details on the ride would be revealed in February.
The original track ride system devised by Mack Rides is also known to be retained, although any changes to the track layout are not known.
The Curse at Alton Towers Manor is currently listed under the mid-level ‘Laughs & Frights’ category on Alton Towers’ website. Its height restriction is not yet stated.