Alton Towers Haunted House | Behind The Scenes Documentary

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Thanks for such a wonderful response! I've now had time to read all your comments and really appreciate it. It's been years of hard work but great to create something that gets people jolly, hopefully a real insight into the making of something that inspired me and entertained many people over many years!

[@louiswright8282]

Somehow, with Years of progress, every year was worth the wait!!! What are your thoughts on the new Alton Manor attraction?

[@Enk64]

Excellent work mate, I've rewatched this about 3 times now😅. The original ride's theme may be gone... but now at least it's been properly documented. (I went on it when I was 5 years old and I think it shaped everything I've ever done since) Thank you. 🙏😈🏆🎩

[@TeamTheme]

It would be great if you ever got the chance to do a documentary of the spirit of London ride at Madame tusssauds. One of the rare few UK dark rides that still retains its original charm

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

That would be great, but unfortunately not likely as the production archives are owned by Merlin who don't allow use. I have researched with some of the production team though, it's a special ride!

[@paulbaines8983]

Thank you for making this wonderful documentary - its great to see the original ride's history being preserved. I hope that some of the concept art will be in the Sparks book!

[@JSG093]

What a brilliant day going on the new ride and coming home to watch this fantastic documentary, I was smiling throughout both and you should be proud of what you have achieved here.

[@jonathandixon2896]

This was never my favourite dark ride at Alton Towers. It still isn't (Toyland Tours holds that honour) but even then, I can't deny that this ride's overall history is *by far* the most fascinating, intriguing and almost mysterious at the entire resort. I probably have much more to say than this comment, but the only thing that I think will continue to elude us is the various other changes in the ride over the years. Like say... The split-face suddenly becoming gory, the final dragon changing looks completely, the final, pre-station skeleton jumpscare, the long-fabled screaming Jellyfish. It almost felt like what was in that ride changed depending on who you talked to, making it even more mysterious if you'd never ridden it. The only thing I think the original team categorically failed to achieve is in making the ride more "fantastical" and overall less intense. I'm still surprised the team mention that design philosophy when even the "toned down" ride was full of incredibly menacing sound and imagery, especially for smaller children given how big and organic many of the props looked and how intense in tone the soundtrack got. I was probably just a sensitive kid, but my ride in the 90s *did* give me nightmares for days and put me off of dark rides for a good 10 years after. ...I thought the documentary was neat too!

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

It was hard to get across with such limited archive media of the first version of the ride, after the tone started to be changed only a few weeks after opening, but really it was more about balance. The team still wanted it to be scary but also fantastical and colourful. I was surprised to see just how more fantasy the original ride was, which explained a few stray clues about the ride after it was changed. You’re right it seemed to change tone every few years so everyone has a subtler different memory of it and the ride became very disjointed. It had another revamp in 1994-5 that subtly changed the style more, and then another in 1999 with the gorey face and dragon you mention and removed lots more scenery/lighting. I could have done another chapter on it but then the video would’ve provided gotten too long and boring. Researching this ride really was going down a rabbit hole !

[@geraderaus1010]

This documentary is absolutely brilliantly made. It is of the highest quality, thank you for making it available, fantastic watch! Hope to see more

[@MagicKillerClub]

Great documentary, very professionally done and brilliantly entertaining. Having been on the 'new' ride today I certainly feel as though it's got that special feeling back. It's definitely breathed new life into Gloomy Wood.

[@jeylampard5895]

Excellent work ! Thanks for putting this out tonight for perfect timing 🎉

[@stevenjgfm]

I will defo be looking out for John wardley in the rafters from now on 😂

[@jaystocky]

Really amazing! Well done you should be super proud of this!

[@JordanH1400]

Absolutely brilliant work, Peter

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Thank you!

[@beca198]

This is awesome, I have not watched any of the spoiler pov videos so I have no idea what to expect when I step into the house next. I was gutted when they got rid of the working tunnel, giant and the serpent at the end as well as the sound track and sound effects. I'm crossing my fingers, toes and eyes that it brings back all the excitement from my childhood! ❤🤞🙏

[@alexonmymind4925]

Honestly best video by far!

[@ATAMytb]

I can’t stop watching this!

[@Fuzzywuzz71]

Not once in my history of love for this park did I think I'd see a video like this.

[@TheEddieSpangles]

Thank you for a great documentary. Amazing in depth knowledge.

[@millieseymour1823]

Wow this is an amazing documentary I’ve always loved the haunted house and duel and now the curse!! Was so cool to know that most of the original props still there today

[@alexuk2000]

Amazing! Thank you so much for making this.

[@Balaclava96]

that was a nostalgia trip!

[@BritHumorBanter]

I installed at least 2 lights here

[@ghosterdesign]

I'm lost for words, what a fantastic in-depth documentary. I'm really intrigued to see what's in lurking inside the new rendition!

[@themeparksplus6903]

I have to tell you, watching this has been a form of therapy and made me feel so happy by the end of it. The amount of time, effort, money and I sense the amount of “you” that has gone into this documentary screams from the screen and all I can say is massive congratulations and thank you. Also- the amount of ambition that Alton towers had during those initial 90s years is kind of difficult to imagine in this day and age. Loved hearing Nick talk about his experience, too, made him feel very human.

[@Stuntman707]

Incredible. I know the release was set back but somehow it's really fitting that it was released on the opening of the new Alton Manor. Great to hear not only from John Wardley but also Nick Varney which I don't think a lot of people appreciate how passionate he was at Merlin. Great story about quick thinking & dressing up the staff. Thank you for sharing this otherwise lost footage. You should be proud of this, many people will have fond memories looking back at this. I'll be sharing this with everyone I know. I hope the next chapter lives on as an original, British dark ride modernised to a world class standard with some Wardley magic for many years to come. A ride unique to Alton Towers showcasing the diversity and creative thinking of the brilliant teams at Merlin.

[@leehardcastle]

Philip Scofield - "It's absolutely TERRIFYING!" - fast forward to 2023....

[@rossmaitland9848]

Amazing work with this documentary, it brought back a lot of childhood memories! This is TV level production quality! I found Nick Varneys comments very interesting, essentially admitting the ride was broken and sticking targets on it wasn't going to fix it.

[@SkepticalShelby]

I wish I could have seen this ride in the 90’s. Seems like one of the best Haunted Houses in the world.

[@matt64allison]

This is a genuinely brilliant documentary. This is not a KZbin video, this is TV quality

[@lisabourne2885]

I hope Nick Varney writes a book too. I also hope the same coverage has gone into the creation of The Curse. What a great doc to watch. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@OBIISSS]

I loved this ride as a teenager. It used to really spook me. One year we saved it until the last ride, and there was no queue and we ran straight from the end to the beginning and went back on it, must have been about 10 times.

[@kiaran1991]

Wow!! What an amazing video!! How did I not know about this channel and why do more people not!?! Will be watching everything and hoping for more videos like this in the future keep up the great work!!!

[@louiswright8282]

The best theme park documentary to date!! Phenomenal work!! Really makes you appreciate this ride for what it is, even more then before.

[@ShadowTD]

This is completely worth the wait. An outstanding achievement that you should be incredibly proud of. Amazing stuff.

[@David-R-Hall]

Absolutely fantastic documentary, thank you. I love the original soundtrack. This ride scared the bejesus out of me as a child, especially the finally with the serpent. Loved watching this 👍🏻

[@AdventureMe]

Absolutely fantastic documentary. Really enjoyed that. Been waiting for you to release it. I know how long that must have taken you to make. Very impressed. Well done Peter.

[@David-R-Hall]

Hey Darren, I hoped you would see this documentary 👍🏻

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Thanks very much!

[@StewartWaddell]

This is a great documentary! Highly recommended watch for any haunted house Alton towers fans!

[@kevinbaxter9464]

Loving watching this. Brings back a lot of memories, and wonder what’s happened to a lot of our friends from inside the ride! If only they’d let us long time fans access to them.

[@Rachael8989]

Wow I learned so much in this highly informative but very fun video! The music and production of the whole thing is incredible! I hardly remember riding the Haunted House as a child in the 90s but my appreciation for it has just grown so much! Thank you for uploading and sharing this with us! Absolutely amazing work 😍 I will be watching it again and again!

[@WangelHL2]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The fact you devoted so many years into this project and it paid of damn well.

[@Luluzshortys]

This is genuinely amazing, this is the first video I've fully watched, 55 minutes well spent

[@xsm5525]

I was lucky enough to ride this as an early teen in 1996 and judging by this documentary, mid 90's, arguably the peak of this ride! I have huge nostalgia for it, and when I went 10 years later to ride Duel, I was disappointed to say the least. as much as I'd prefer them to bring it back to the OG Haunted house, I look forward to some day riding the new Curse of alton manor!

[@louiswright8282]

Personally I'd say the rides peak was it's first couple of years operating when it still has that magical feel to it and when it still had a lot of humour.

[@vimes1003]

Such a joy to watch, thank you for all your hard work on keeping this alive. You really get a sense of all the different personalities that went into creating the thing, I'll be watching it again tomorrow!!!

[@thecinematicmind]

The staff as Undertakers on the ride to hide the breakdown. Sweet move by Nick.

[@Enk64]

Been waiting a very... VERY long time for this. ❤❤👻

[@davidturner9120]

I rode this ride shortly after launch and it was amazing. But as an engineer I'm confused by how they made their lives so hard! That ghost, why was it relying on a lift hill and gravity to run it's sequence? Why not a powered track using stepper motors to track each car? We had that stuff in the nineties! The mechanics of this ride were cruder than they needed to be.

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Budget and time unfortunately!

[@davidturner9120]

@@EuroThemeParkArchive nothing costs more than unreliability. I suspect it was the theatrical background of the designers and engineers that led to such solutions - a team with a background in industrial automation would have come up with far more reliable solutions. However, it was an epicly good dark ride back then :)

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

@@davidturner9120 I totally get where you’re coming from, the engineers who came in to rescue the animations (from an agricultural engineering background) said similar but the deadline was so tight. They got it all working reliably except for the spider and flying ghost, which were restarted from scratch later by an industrial engineering firm but I believe the solution for a new flying ghost was deemed too much, so the much simpler scene replaced it. Very interesting to learn about!

[@dougbriglmen716]

51:20 this right, here is why you can’t just give up on a special effect If it doesn’t work anymore, you have to at least try to get it operational and working as intended and if not replace it with something that will work and that will still blow peoples socks off. You have to keep on top of the maintenance side of the effects in the dark ride, otherwise, as Nick says it just loses all its lustre overtime and becomes a shell after that once was. In my opinion, this is what happened with Valhalla towards the end before its refurbishment, so I’m hoping that when that reopens it will blow peoples socks off again.🤞🤞🤞🙏🙏🙏

[@AltonTowersMemories]

Well done Peter. This is absolutely brilliant. Excellent production and content. This the best theme park documentary I've seen in many years. You should be very proud. Thanks for your efforts :)

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Thanks very much!

[@matts80s90s]

Great documentary. You forget just how great it was originally. Looking forward to sampling the new version.

[@TobiasBroad]

15:47 the only thing I remember from the ride as I had my head down completely terrified, from pre-show to getting off the ride.

[@QTXAdsy]

How fitting that you put this up just before the ride in it's third form is about to open...amazing stuff! 😃

[@beckyfay6226]

Ahh. Thanks so much for the memories here. I loved that ride!

[@WorldofThrills]

This is an absolutely brilliant documentary! Makes me wish that I had done the original, looks like such a passion project for the team.

[@GingerAndBrown]

Incredible job and well worth the wait. A great insight into one of Alton Towers most nostalgic and loved attractions. Thank you 🙏🏼

[@237mo]

Finally got around to watching this the other night and - dude, what a bloody spectacular piece! Learnt so much more about this than I thought was possible in an hour, alongside so much wit and humour that's made following this project over the last eight years worth every second. Can't wait to see what else you uncover and whatever discoveries you're able to share with us.

[@chloeroseweaver]

I loved watching this! I live very far from AT so don't visit often, but I did really like Duel, but I have to say I wish I'd ridden Haunted House because it looked SO much better. I can't wait to ride Curse at Alton Manor now to see what out of the original scenery or ideas have remained. This is a seriously TV worthy documentary, very enjoyable, well done!

[@commandercody8511]

Well that hour just breezed by! Amazing work, such a fantastic doc on one of the most unique little rides in all of Britain. Well done

[@emmad4845]

What a fab documentary, thank you so much for this!! Loved this ride back in the day and can’t wait to ride the new version of it!

[@SpringyTales]

This is such a fantastic watch! The amount of passion and enthusiasm everyone involved with the creation of the ride had is great to see.

[@twinstarzeonx]

Fantastic feature video. It didn’t disappoint. Well done and thank you for all your hard work. I will definitely be looking forward to future videos!

[@Daemon_RXT]

Amazing video, loved seeing this classic behind the scenes!!

[@Enk64]

I know the giant spider got modified but I wonder what happened to all the other props like the giant demon.

[@Thrust_Rider]

Incredible Documentary! Loved every second!

[@serpineslair]

This was amazing to watch, even having never ridden the original haunted house!

[@paulirving2142]

That’s is the best video I have ever watched

[@kevinjbroome]

What a brilliant insight, and so well produced and put together. I love this iconic dark ride!

[@AdventureRachel]

good video, but some some reason there is a sound delay for me when watching in through google TV, had to watch it on my PC instead

[@danf2903]

Same for me on my Samsung TV, but is fine on my phone

[@christianhudson5017]

Thank you so much for making such a great documentary! The effort you've put into this is amazing and it's so brilliant to see all the history behind this amazing ride 😊

[@LMinett]

Fantastic documentary. Very informative, well put together and spanning a wide-variety of areas. Great work!

[@jonathangray7087]

This was fantastic and really well put together. Loved all of the behind the scenes footage and music from my favourite dark ride 👻

[@HMFan2010]

It’s amazing how Disney’s Haunted Mansion had a very similar genesis including the scary vs. humorous angle, the effect that doesn’t quite work (the bridge monster = the Hatbox Ghost), reliance on rather low tech effects (mirrors and Pepper’s Ghost), and many other parallel aspects. Costuming the ride operators as undertakers was inspired! Early in the Haunted Mansion’s life, someone had concealed a firearm on their person and tried to shoot at something within the ballroom scene, not realizing that giant panes of glass separate the riders from the ballroom space (the glass is what make the ghostly apparitions appear and disappear via the Pepper’s Ghost illusion.) Luckily, the giant glass pane didn’t shatter BUT it did suffer what looks like a classic pebble-to-the-windshield crack: concentric circles with a few linear cracks radiating from its center. As replacing the glass would have been cost-prohibitive to say nothing of peeling back the roof of the show building to replace it causing massive downtime, the designers at Disney happened upon a simple solution. The cracks looked like a spider web so... they glued a rubber spider right in the middle of the crack. Problem solved! Thanks for the wonderful documentary! I’ve always loved dark rides and am fascinated by the technology and creative minds behind them!

[@thecinematicmind]

I love the use of a model of the ride and film it as a POV to show the concept. 😊

[@lukegreen5341]

I've Been On The Haunted House Ghost Train Dark Ride At Alton Towers Theme Park Near The City Of Stoke On Trent In Staffordshire Near The City Of Birmingham In England In The United Kingdom Back In August 2016 And It Was Super Awesome And It Was A Bit Like The Haunted Mansion Dark Ride At Disneyland Resort Theme Park In Anaheim Near The City Of Los Angeles In California And Tokyo Disneyland Theme Park Near The City Of Tokyo In Japan And Disneyland Paris Near The City Of Paris In France And Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Theme Park At Walt Disney World Resort In Orlando Florida In The United States Of America. Awesome. Thanks Mate. X

[@Dazalton]

Thats one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on here! Also the re-imagination of the ride is simply amazing! It’s now the best dark ride in the UK!

[@thebup6850]

Can’t stop smiling, has 1000x the energy of the original

[@EuroThemeParkArchive]

Very glad to hear it!

[@christopherpotter6650]

I like the bit when some ghoul emerges from the darkness in the creepy garden scene.

[@thecinematicmind]

I love entering the house and boom those morbid paintings hit you and then walking through the house looking at the doll’s house and various items building up the atmosphere of the ride.

[@MiNigle]

Thoroughly enjoyed watching this. So well researched (I mean the hours you’ve put into that alone is astounding), filmed and edited. It was an absolute joy. Thank you.

[@EveryDayVape]

13:44 a bit of fun? In the 90’s it scared the shit out of me! Even the theming spooked me and I wouldn’t go on it for years 😂 eventually I did but still sobbed aha

[@David-xu3yk]

Absolutely brilliant documentary!!! Very well done!

[@8Carl8]

This was such a brilliant watch, thank you so much for the time and effort put in to this! A real gift to AT and theme park fans

[@andyknight1]

Very good documentary. My favorite scene will always be the flying heads.

[@simonsays335]

Motormouth! What a blast from the past. @35:23

[@moobit]

Amazing Docu! Honestly should try and sell this to streaming, its that good xx

[@mychuckyromance9707]

Fantastic video! Really great inspriation

[@davidrawlings9288]

The crazy thing is that I've been on both iterations of this ride, the original and crappy Duel, and I have no memory of the garden scene. Admittedly, the last time I rode was in the mid 2000s, but there's a lot I remember, but just not the garden. 🤷‍♂

[@NemesisRider]

Absolutely fantastic work. A great overview of a classic ride, with stellar production quality to boot.

[@AdamJamesWhittaker]

Wow, this is so well researched, an amazing effort!

[@TheMaverick987]

This has answered so many questions I had about this ride. And some I didn't even know I had. Amazing!

[@misskittylitteratx5339]

Being a HUGE fan of Dark Rides, I found this immensely entertaining. I hope to make it one day back to Europe so I can experience this in real time. It looks absolutely incredible! Big love from across the pond!

[@ThetrollISBACK-hv7uv]

39:51

[@3002st]

Outstanding! Thank you for putting so much time into this

[@beautywithcraig4448]

I absolutely loved this video! Thank you for making it ❤

[@_adventureplanet]

An incredibly detailed and well researched project. Looking forward to seeing more!

[@emily-tristancresswell1863]

This is absolutely fascinating - it's really amazing to see this ride from more of an insider perspective, and I can't quite get over just how big most of the elements are. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into it. I'm really looking forward to the new incarnation of the ride!

[@snowmanbuzzfm]

What an absolutely fantastic film. Totally got my sub for this alone ❤

[@JwabJwab]

Amazing stuff - what a fantastic doc. Thank you

[@stevewalsh1987]

This is simply outstanding. Thank you so much for making it.

[@darrenbevan8603]

Phenomenal. This was just what I needed to see. Thank you so much

[@StuartMulcrow]

Superb documentary! Thank you so much for all your hard work and research that went into making it.

[@Coastsandcoasters]

This was brilliant! Thank you for taking time to make an in depth look at an iconic attraction. As a child who rode the original version who also had a dabble with an engineering career, this was fascinating. *spoiler* (Kind of) Great to see a promise delivered.

[@ottorose832]

i will watch this tonight on the TV :)