An Alton Towers enthusiast and teacher who visits the theme park every weekend celebrated the reopening of their haunted house attraction earlier this month – which he estimates he has been on 15,000 times – by racking up 35 rides on opening weekend and even bringing his class of students along.
Michael Eley, 51, a primary schoolteacher, lives next door to Alton Towers and is so dedicated to the theme park’s haunted house ride, named The Curse at Alton Manor, he estimates he has been on the attraction around 15,000 times in his life.
Since the ride reopened on March 18th, Michael has been on 86 times, even hosting a class trip to experience the revamped ghost train.
Michael, who moved to Alton village, Staffordshire, to be closer to the theme park in 2013, lives with his wife, Caroline, 50, a Tesco worker, and has three children, Jamie, 29, Charlie, 23, and Sonny, 20, said: “It all started with my brother dragging me on ghost trains as a kid, I always wanted to go on the rides he liked with him and that sparked a lifelong love of them.
“I’ve loved the Alton Towers Haunted House since it first opened in 1992 and the newest version is incredible, I love how they’ve used technology to update it.”
Michael’s love of Alton Towers dates back to 1976, after going on a family outing with his mum and older brother.
He said: “Back then, it didn’t have the big rollercoasters and the attractions were more like fairground rides.
“My older brother, who passed away in 1987, loved going on the ghost trains whenever we went out and I would join him.
“My dad would take us to fairgrounds, and I became fascinated by the haunted houses, the set-up and decoration of them, and how the experiences were designed.”
In 1992, Alton Towers opened their classic Haunted House ride, which became a firm favourite for Michael.
In the early 90s, Michael says he would go to Alton Towers around four to five times a year.
“I would take my girlfriend, who then became my wife, on days out to Alton Towers in the 90s. We would drive there regularly and it was just escapism, getting away from the humdrum life and doing something fun,” he said.
A handful of park visits a year soon became twice a week after Michael and his family relocated from Doncaster to Alton in 2013, to be just minutes away from the theme park.
He said: “My dad had always dreamed of living in Spain, which never happened. After he passed away, it sparked something within me to actually do as much as I could now to live my life to the full.”
It’s a childhood passion that I never grew out of and is very much my happy place— Michael Eley
“My wife and I had always talked about how beautiful Alton village is every time we had visited, so around 10 years ago we finally decided to make the move.
“I’ll pop down to the theme park in the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday, and then if I’m off work during school holidays, then I’ll head over most days.
“Alton Towers has always felt special because of the amount of money and thought they put into their rides.”
He added: “I’ve always loved how the park looked and the feeling of being there when you walk through those gates. It’s a magical place where you forget your troubles and everyone can enjoy themselves. It has a really happy vibe about it.”
This month, Michael’s favourite attraction has had a revamp as the original Haunted House, most recently known as Duel, has been updated into The Curse at Alton Manor and Michael made sure to be in line to be one of the first to try out the new ride.
“It might seem totally bonkers but I had sleepless nights over it. I’ve invested 30 years into the ride so I was always going to be a bit nervous about how it was going to look,” he said.
Luckily for Michael, when opening day came, he was in attendance and says he was blown away by the revamp.
“All I could think was, ‘wow’. I went on 35 times that weekend and since then, I’ve been on a total of 86 times.”
The Curse at Alton Manor is an immersive dark ride and the latest theme park attraction to open in the UK.
The haunting experience at Alton Towers Resort takes guests on a hair-raising journey of spectacular twists and turns through an abandoned and cursed Manor.
Alton Towers reached out to Michael and offered for him to bring his students to check out the new ride and, last week, he took a year six class on a school trip to try out the family-friendly attraction.
He added: “The kids loved it, and it was great to see them experience it.”
Going on those rides feels very nostalgic and brings back those memories of being on the ghost train with my brother.— Michael Eley
Michael has also poured his love of the Alton Towers haunted ride into a book called Smoke and Mirrors: The Haunted House of Alton Towers.
Self-published with Amazon in 2013, the dad-of-three is now in talks with Alton Towers to sell it in their gift shop.
He said: “It all started with following my big brother around and wanting to go the rides he was going on.”
“He was three years older than me and was always very kind and caring about me. Unfortunately, he passed away when he was 18 so we never got to make memories as adults together.
“Going on those rides feels very nostalgic and brings back those memories of being on the ghost train with my brother or having my dad take us to local fairgrounds and me being fascinated by the haunted houses there.
“It’s a childhood passion that I never grew out of and is very much my happy place.”
