Hex - The Legend of the Towers — Attraction in Staffordshire Moorlands

It Was A cold, stormy night in 1821, when the thunder of hooves signalled the return of the wealthy 15th Earl of Shrewsbury back to his home, Alton Towers. As the journey neared its end, a mysterious figure suddenly appeared in the road. The Earl impatiently demanded of the driver why the carriage had stopped. With palm outstretched, an old woman pleaded with the Earl for the charity of a coin. The Earl cruelly dismissed her, and instructed his driver to head back to the Towers. Scorned, the old woman screamed a curse... for every branch of the old oak tree that fell, a member of the Earl's family would die. Later that very same night, a ferocious storm raged and with one mighty bolt of lightning severed a single branch from the old oak tree. And true to the old woman's prophecy, a member of the Earl's family suddenly, and mysteriously, died. Shaken by this tragedy, the arrogant Earl ordered his servants that every remaining branch of the oak tree be chained up, in an attempt to prevent further misfortune. But the story didn't end there. Legend has it, that the Earl became so obsessed with the fallen branch, that he dragged it from the woods to the Towers, and sealed it in a secret vault. There he became locked into a furious battle of science versus the supernatural, conducting bizarre experiments in a desperate attempt to finally banish the evil power of the...

This is a great Dark ride which is included in the price of your entry ticket. I didnt ride this when it first came out in what I believe was year 2000. I went on this first in 2002 when another ride made its debut. The ride has been closed constantly throughout this season and opens up for a day or so before closing again. When I last visited in July 2022 the ride was closed on my first day and opened from 1pm to 4pm on my second day in the park.

This ride is great because it starts with a small intro, you walk through the castle and it then gives you a tale of the Chained Oak Tree and the legend involved. After a couple of themed rooms you then go on the dark ride which has been refurbished. The lighting is so much better than when the ride first debut. The damage and wear + tear has been fixed. Overall the effects are really well thought out and the way the ride works is so clever. There are still some TV screens in the queue but half the time the queue isnt too long anyway. Great for when its raining, if...

I've only ridden 1 Vekoma Madhouse and it is this one - Hex: The Legend of The Towers. Its just such a clever design and implementation that makes this ride hit the spot in the way it does, ride after ride, year after year. No spoilers, but there is something here for people of all ages 🤩

I've got to follow this up to say - despite my daughter and I being thrill seekers - this is still my favourite ride in the park. Just the sheer mechanics of this thing, the engineering and design that went in to HEX to make it do what it does, you have to respect and appreciate it for being a very clever piece of engineering. It's massively under rated by theme park goers in my opinion - hence the line never being too long - but it's an absolutely mind blowing ride...