WHAT WE DELIVERED
Introduction
Alton Towers Resort brought CONDUCTR on board to reimagine one of its most iconic rides. The brief: turn a dated haunted house into a fresh, story-led attraction that could engage modern audiences and honour the original.
We led on AV, media, and guest-facing tech. From queue to final scene, every detail was designed to feel immersive, interactive, and purposeful.
This marked a major step for CONDUCTR in the dark ride space and confirmed our role as a trusted theme park design partner.
Awards won:
Curse at Alton Manor obtained the Gold award in the UK Theme Park Awards for Best Integration of Technology in a Guest Experience (2025), Best Ride Storytelling (2024), and the Gold award for Best Reimagined Attraction (2023).
The Challenge
The previous ride, Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back! was outdated. AV needed upgrading, the story lacked clarity, and the space was underused. The challenge wasn’t just technical. It was about creating a guest experience that felt alive. We were tasked with:
Bringing a clear narrative to life across scenes
Installing robust AV in a moving environment
Designing immersive moments across queue, ride, and retail
Prototyping and validating every key effect
Delivering within a tight seasonal window
Create all music and audio throughout the experience
Our Solution
We provided an end-to-end solution across design, media, AV, and production, enhancing the ride’s narrative, pre-show and on-ride effects. We delivered:
A three-stage emotional character arc for Emily Alton, including casting the actor, shaping her look and presence throughout the ride.
We cast, filmed, directed, and edited all ride and pre-show content in-house, including the creation of an original score as well as the character VO and SFX.
We built full-size mock-ups using actual ride vehicles to test layout, sightlines, and timing.
We provided AV systems and spatial tech, including a full-scale Pepper’s Ghost, projection mapped doll’s house and pre-show, reactive UV walls and a facial tracking, reactive haunted portrait.
Our team was on-site for 12+ weeks, refining scene by scene. We stayed on post-launch to support live tweaks based on guest feedback.
The Impact
The ride relaunched to strong feedback. Guests praised the detail, the park saw higher engagement, and CONDUCTR proved its value as a creative theme park agency capable of delivering interactive attractions at scale.
Key Results:
Boost in guest satisfaction and social buzz
Strong seasonal performance
Reliable delivery under live conditions
Coverage from the press, vloggers, and fans
Ongoing partnership for future developments
Two UK Theme Park Gold Awards, nominated for two more in 2025.
