Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

What's Your Favourite Madhouse?

Benenen

Benenen

Hyper Poster
Bit of a stupid question as if you've been on Hex the answer is obviously Hex. But as I feel these are sometimes overlooked rides I'll give a rundown of my favourites, looking forward to seeing how you guys rank them.

1. Hex (Alton Towers) - it's a beautiful experience. Being set in an actual castle (ish) it has that cold, eerie feel in a way that goes beyond the theming. The soundtrack is incredible as well.

2. The Haunting (Drayton Manor Park) - I'm showing my bias for the English language here but I really like The Haunting. I went on it today and the Dr Ghostman update has greatly improved. The first corridor was pumped with smoke and eerie lighting to the point you couldn't see all the way down it. One kid chickened out straight away followed by two more families having to leave during the main pre show, it was quite amusing.

3. Merlin's Magic Castle (Walibi Holland) - I was expecting this to be rubbish as you never hear people talk about it but it was great. It's a bit cheesy but the theming is solid and I like how it actually tells a story during the ride sequence rather than relying on being a trippy experience.

4. Curse of Kassandra (Europa Park) - Short and sweet, no faffing with pre shows, just a nicely themed attraction with a great sound track.

5. Haunted House Monster Party (Legoland Windsor) - Aimed more at kids but it's still fun even though there's a lot of 2D Merlin vinyls throughout. I like how it goes for an upbeat high energy ride sequence rather than the usual slow and mysterious one. I think Legoland have shot themselves in the foot a bit with how they opened and marketed it like a headline attraction when it's really just a solid filler ride.

6. Feng Ju Palace (Phantasialand) - There's a drop in quality here, I wasn't that keen on Feng Ju. The pre show goes on and on in a repetitive way and the ride itself while well themed is too dimly lit to really get the illusion. I may rank this low because every other ride at Phantasialand is so much better, if this was at say Drayton I may rank it higher.

7. Villa Volta (Efteling) - Eh. It's alright. The pre shows are very audio and narrative heavy and the ride itself felt out of synch to the point where it didn't feel like I was moving.
 
Out of the two I've ridden it'd definitely be Curse of Kassandra. Feng Ju Palace's pre-show goes on for an eternity and the actual ride sequence is half-baked. Kassandra is straight to the point and the effect works better.
 
1. Hex (Alton Towers)
2. Haunted House Monster Party (Legoland Windsor)
3. Alpen Hotel (Winter Wonderland)
4. Magic House (Gardaland)
 
Apparently Le Défi du Cesar at Asterix is really elaborate with a ton of effects and varied preshows that help you get into the ride's backstory. I, myself, haven't been on it though.

1. Hex (obviously)
2. Fluch von Kassandra - Europa Park
3. Hotel Embrujado - Parque Warner (back when all the effects were on)
4 - Feng Shui Palace - Phantasialand
5 - Villa Volta - Efteling
6 - Houdini's Great Escape - SFGAdv
7 - Merlin's Castle - Walibi Holland
 
I didn't even realise there was one in Phantasialand, will have to try it when I go back for FLY next year.

1) Hex - Alton Towers
2) Haunted House Monster Party - Legoland Windsor
3) The Haunting - Drayton Manor
4) Merlin's Castle - Walibi Holland
 
Sorry to be so negative, but none of them... Think they’re boring personally and an absolute waste of time. Hex has a great story, but that’s it, I feel like the experience could have been infinitely better having linked that story with almost any other ride system. I’ve done 4 and will happily never ride another for as long as I live.
 
So I think I did 5 in my life, but Villa Volta I did when I was a bit younger only and back then I felt it had a good story and the ride experience I don't really remember well, so won't be adding it to the list.

1) Merlin's Magic Castle (Walibi Holland): Great ride, well themed. Went in, because I wanted to take a break from the heat, rather than expecting a solid ride, but I was a suprised!
2) La palais du génie (Walibi Belgium): While I am no fan of the story telling in 2 languages (it breaks the atmosphere) I think the rest of the experience was great. Do feel it has a shorter cycle though
3) Curse of Casandra (Europa Park): well yeah, good atmosphere, but with the ride alone you can only get so much.

........ Probably any other madhouse that I did not ride yet


4) Feng Yu Palace (Phantasialand): It's sad to say this about the park where I do have love for every other ride (Except TotNH when it was still TotNH), but this ride sucks. It is the worst ride in the China part... and everybody knows what other ride is there. The preshow sucks, has no comprehendable story, and the madhouse itself doesn't have great themeing. (I did the ride alreayd plenty of times, s it's not that I had one bad experience)
 
Oooh, having to remember all the ones I've done is a challenge in itself..

1. Hex, Alton Towers
I'm not as fond of this as others, but it's still the best.

2. Le Palais du Génie, Walibi Belgium
I can't quite explain why, but I've always really enjoyed this one.

3. The Haunting, Drayton Manor
I think I've preferred this more for the pre shows than the main show, but eh, it's still great.

4. Haunted House Monster Party, Legoland Windsor
Mostly for the soundtrack. But it's a good blend of fun and spooky too in fairness.

5. Houdini, Bellewaerde
This has buckets of potential, but misses the mark. Still think it's alright though.

6. Villa Volta, Efteling
Never really been a fan of this; pre shows drag on.

7. Merlin's Magic Castle, Walibi Holland
Never got why people rate this so much? It's just, eh?

8. Verlies des Grauens, Belantis
Really didn't like this. The queue is a saving grace. If it wasn't for Feng Ju's absolute awfulness, this would be bottom.

9. Feng Ju Palace, Phantasialand
Yeah, it's bad.
 
1: Hex (Alton Towers)
A dark and creepy theme, somewhat based on reality, really well done, appears to be inside the towers, about a tree.

2: Le Défi de César (Parc Asterix)
Has some of the best pre scenes, including bubbles and water. The actual house/boat makes sense in a cartoon story line, and its fun.

3: The Haunting (Drayon Manor)
Really good, but not as good as Hex. Love the floor in the first scene. Not done in in decades but doesn't it move or something?

4: Curse of Casandra - (Eurpoa Park)
Very generic, just there to sell the model and if there was a story (in German?) I have no idea what it is beyond copying the ride name from this list.

5: Blackpools, if we are counting the forerunner. I rode it in a very dilapidated state ages ago and went on accidentally. Is it even still there?
 
1. Hex @ Alton Towers - Yes.

I forget the rest.

Luckily I now have a spreadsheet for dark rides. It just doesn't say what they are. Time to add a column.
Here we go:

2. Le Défi de César @ Parc Astérix - I liked this one. One of(?) the preshow rooms is cool with water effects and stuff. The ride itself actually uses the swinging effect different to the rest (magical disorientation) by implying you're on a boat.

3. The Haunting @ Drayton Manor - One of the funniest theme park experiences I've ever had. I believe it was in the iteration previous to the current one. The big preshow room after the van(?) played a stupidly loud and sinister organ soundtrack over the top of a bloke narrating something. The music kept building and building for what felt like at least 10 minutes, all while you cannot hear a word he is saying. Occasionally the floor would wobble, like 100 back pokes were going off under everyone's feet. Small children were having panic attacks and wanting to leave around us. I nearly wet myself. I forget the ride.

4. Feng Ju Palace @ Phantasialand - Seems everyone is rating this in relation to the standard in the park, rather than the overall standard of these rides. It's fine, certainly more memorable than most and has a much more engaging preshow. I quite like the Chinese-ness and the bloke chucking fireballs about was amusing.

5. Villa Volta @ Efteling - Love the soundtrack, but the preshows bore me to tears. Meh about the ride. With Hex using the underside of the ride as a reveal for something, this one particularly irks me by being... a checkered floor!

6-11. are interchangeably forgettable.
Rotating House @ Everland - Something about wizards. Hilarious narrating over the actual ride sequence.

Merlin's Magic Castle @ Walibi Holland - Something about wizards. Obnoxious narrating over the actual ride sequence(?)

Verlies des Grauens @ Belantis - Something about castles.

Cassandra's Curse @ Europa Park - Something about
a back poke

Le Palais du Génie @ Walibi Belgium - All I remember is a preshow room where you stand around some sort of table projection thing. The ride - nothing.

Hotel Embrujado @ Parque Warner Madrid - Actually don't know what this is. Is it a Madhouse?
 
Only four of these ever opened in the States. I live in the U.S., but I’ve been on far more of these in Europe than I have in my own country.
 
Equal first place for me are

Hex & the Cesar themed one at Parc Asterix

then

2, Villa volta
3, Kassandras curse @ Europa due to it's Anal probing action
 
These are quite rare in the States. There's only two major ones: Houdini's Great Escape at SFGAd and SFNE. Interestingly, those parks are only a few hours apart, and there are none in the rest of the United States (save for some very small, handmade ones in very small parks).

Personally, I think they're a great family ride, and wish Knott's Berry Farm would get one sometime... they used to have an attraction called the Haunted Shack which was a slanted house you walked through on a guided tour, and a Mad House would be a great tribute to that.

For what it's worth, I actually love Houdini's at SFGAdv, and ride it repeatedly when I visit. The SFNE one didn't do as much for me, the queue and effects don't have the same build up. And the one time I made it to visit Alton Towers (I live in Los Angeles, so it was a real trek), Hex was closed for the day, so I didn't get to ride it. :/

It may be nostalgia for me... many years ago, Universal Studios Hollywood had the same effect on their tram tour as a spinning ice tunnel (later becoming themed to The Mummy), and I loved it as a child. It's been gone for many, many years by now.
 
5. Villa Volta @ Efteling - Love the soundtrack, but the preshows bore me to tears. Meh about the ride. With Hex using the underside of the ride as a reveal for something, this one particularly irks me by being... a checkered floor!

Actually the floor on villa Volta has a gauze bleed effect and momentarily revels a ghost under the floor - but if you were looking elsewhere etc its easy to miss! but there are POVs which show it! Its quite well done when you see it.
 
rideguy70 said:
It may be nostalgia for me... many years ago, Universal Studios Hollywood had the same effect on their tram tour as a spinning ice tunnel (later becoming themed to The Mummy), and I loved it as a child. It's been gone for many, many years by now.
Click to expand...
Oh, yes. Themed to The Six Million Dollar Man! (Or was in the Bionic Woman? I think it was from a crossover episode with both of them AND with Big Foot. ?)
 
Hex is easily the best of the madhouses I've ridden, but that's probably more of a critique of most of the other madhouses than unconditional praise for Hex itself.

Honestly, having seen some of the great concepts behind some of the other madhouses, the basic premise for Hex doesn't seem particularly strong or inspired. The first of the pre-show rooms is a fairly bland video that, whilst effective at getting the story across, is probably more notable for the fact that most CFers can quote it word for word, rather than for the quality of the video itself. Conceptually, I feel that both Villa Volta and Feng Ju Palace have much more interesting ideas, even if they drag on a bit too long and are a bit weak in execution.

However, I can't think of any other madhouse that pulls off the actual ride as well as Hex. The quality of the environment, the music, the lighting, and the way in which the movement of the ride perfectly matches the illusion they're trying to create - to this day, it still amazes me with how well they've managed to create the illusion of the spinning vault (sealed for two centuries!), and it surprises me that in 2019, the being able to create a convincing illusion that riders are being inverted is still apparently not a solved problem in some of the other madhouses.

Hex was the first madhouse I rode, and ten years on I'm honestly a bit disappointed that I've yet to ride another that betters it. There's clearly so much potential in the ride type, though, and I really hope that someone somewhere manages to come up with a really amazing idea, and use it to take the ride type to a whole new level.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top