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Scarefest 2025

Mazes already have such varying mileage, I would hate to go through one like Compound and barely even get to experience it. It's bad enough that you would have to pay for another attempt, but you are also eating into valuable park time, hope you don't live far away.

Side note, extremely unrealistic, but I would love Scarefest to have an extra hour.
 
Nerdsticks said:
Side note, extremely unrealistic, but I would love Scarefest to have an extra hour.
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Not as unrealistic as you'd imagine. The main hangup will be permission from the local authority for longer operational hours.

I am loath to bring up the beast in Bedford, but if Universal start running events at their proposed park until 10, 11pm or later, there may be more appetite and willing to extend events like Scarefest.

Sadly many years away.
 
Right so I have looked high and low and cannot find the info I need. Currently trying to book Scarefest mazes for next week and it will be my first time at Scarefest. Is there any applicable discount to be had for Platinum pass holders?
 
A little bit late, but I visited Alton Towers for Scarefest last weekend (4th October). Was a good day despite the weather, and the park was quieter as a result.

Compound

I really enjoyed my encounter with the Phalanx last year, and so was looking forward to experiencing the maze again this year. It was glad to have gone a different route this time, and it was just as intense as last year!

Edge of the Forest

I still can't believe that, 15 years after the Dark Forest opened, it has finally been used for scare attractions! And they have certainly done a good job with Edge of the Forest, although I do wish there was more theming on the exterior next to the batching area, apart from the doorway to the pre-show.

Inside, the theming is sublime, it's incredibly well done! The pre-show is good and the actor does a great job of setting the story. It's a very clever setup, in that all the rooms are similar apart from certain details which change every time. It really makes you feel like you're going around in circles, although it could feel repetitive if you know the trick. It did feel a little shorter than it expected, but it's still a fantastic maze and not too intense either. I did like the photo and video opportunity in the final scene as well, a clever idea and a nice memento. I'll definitely consider doing it again next year!

Altonville Mine Tours: Tiny's Revenge

This was my first time experiencing Tiny's Revenge, as I had previously only experienced the original version, plus that was back when social distancing was in place so I didn't get the full experience.

For that reason I was looking forward to experiencing this maze, especially as this could (and should) be it's final year.

Unfortunately though I didn't really enjoy it, mostly because the majority of the route was completely pitch black and as a result it was different to see where were were supposed to be going. I did loose my bearings quite a few times, and at one point an actor had to tell my and my friend "Left!, LEFT!") 🤦‍♂️
I do hope that this year is it's last, it has long outstayed its welcome now.


Burial Grounds

I wasn't planning to do this one as I've done it before but decided that I might as well while a couple of my group were finishing their dinner. Think were a few more actors than last time, and it was pretty good.

Dark Hollow

I was looking forward to the new scare zone, and it was cool! There were a few actors missing, though (namely the monkey and the ringmaster), which was a shame, but I assume that was because it was quite late when I went through.
 
Right, as promised, a first time scare maze goer's thoughts on Compound.

I'm visually impaired and use a white cane. I had my friend guiding me through and I'm glad I did! The VIP behind the scenes tour runs with house lights up and the difference was extreme.

We were sent quite a short route, and I think going through with my friend helped - she doesn't scare easily at all and I think I fed off of that. Not as many actors as I thought there would be, and not intense in the way I thought it would be - but walking through those curtains was the worst bit, not knowing what would be on the other side! The actors were on form, loved how they used the disorientation from the strobes to just appear suddenly, and how they'd suddenly appear behind you.

Overall, I found it fun, and I'd definitely do another run through. I do think it'd be better with more actors though - don't know if time has anything to do with it as we went quite early.

I'd like to tackle the other mazes and scare zones, if I can get back before the end of season.
 
Vicki said:
Right, as promised, a first time scare maze goer's thoughts on Compound.

I'm visually impaired and use a white cane. I had my friend guiding me through and I'm glad I did! The VIP behind the scenes tour runs with house lights up and the difference was extreme.

We were sent quite a short route, and I think going through with my friend helped - she doesn't scare easily at all and I think I fed off of that. Not as many actors as I thought there would be, and not intense in the way I thought it would be - but walking through those curtains was the worst bit, not knowing what would be on the other side! The actors were on form, loved how they used the disorientation from the strobes to just appear suddenly, and how they'd suddenly appear behind you.

Overall, I found it fun, and I'd definitely do another run through. I do think it'd be better with more actors though - don't know if time has anything to do with it as we went quite early.

I'd like to tackle the other mazes and scare zones, if I can get back before the end of season.
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Glad you enjoyed it Viki! I do think that the number of actors can vary depending on the time of day... It's just luck, I guess, if you get loads.

I would not recommend Mine Tours due to the extreme low lighting levels, plus there are sections where you have to duck as well. I highly recommend Edge of the Forest, though, it's a fantastic maze and fully accessible. 😊
 
Visited Scarefest again today for a second time and thought I’d put my reviews on here! Did Edge of the Forest, Compound (again) and Dark Hollow. Wanted to do Burial Grounds but think opened later- unsure why but it’s open now!

I had quite low expectations going into this. Heard some very mixed reviews so didn’t expect much. I was so pleasantly surprised! Was right at the back of the group and got a good level of scares. The concept of the repeating scenes was very clever and quite disorientating. I felt the maze was longer than expected because of this. The bog scene also stunk! The only thing which a slight let down was the finale- I think being at the back I completely missed it. I thought the actors were very energetic which made a big difference.

Again, was pleasantly surprised by this one. Was expecting scary tales 2 electric boogaloo but found it well themed and quite clever. The effect in the window of the Swiss Cottage was a nice effect. The bears were fabulous. Couldn’t bear the masks though and definitely gave me a scare!

Paid for another go round of Compound. If I pay again going to try and not get put in the same cells- feel as though that affects the route you take into the maze. I felt as though the actors had eased into their roles more than the first weekend I visited.
 
Just learnt that Compound has twelve different rooms and thirty-six different routes, as you can criss-cross between them.

Oh My God Omg GIF


Source
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Not as unrealistic as you'd imagine. The main hangup will be permission from the local authority for longer operational hours.

I am loath to bring up the beast in Bedford, but if Universal start running events at their proposed park until 10, 11pm or later, there may be more appetite and willing to extend events like Scarefest.

Sadly many years away.
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Pretty sure the issue is they can’t operate rides after 11pm hence the 9pm ride close. I doubt the council would let them extend that even with the pressure from Universal.

They could change the model to ride close at 11pm and close the queues early which might give more time for some rides but I doubt it.
 
I went in Edge of the Forest today and here is a quick review.

The queue looked really good at night but I can already tell it will look awful in the day, also make of this what you will but all I could think of when walking round to the entrance was that this would make the perfect location for Boiler House.
I found the looping in the first half a bit repetitive and it probably should have had the first loop actually loop back into the preshow room via a side passage in order to really sell the effect.

The transition into the 2nd half of the maze was far too abrupt with the scene already having ended by the time I got in the room (I was literally right behind the guys infront), Maybe they could add to the confusion by having the room be a dead end until everyone had caught up.

The entire 2nd half of the maze, while good, all felt like it was building up to a climax that never came, even the finale felt like the lead in to a strobe maze so having it end you just waltzing out the back door basically unopposed feels wrong.
P.S I shall have to do jazz hands at the leshwel next time...
honestly, the maze felt a bit too short...

and more to the point, the most common criticism of COMPOUND is that its too short so I think that the new scare maze buildings are simply just too small and that every maze put in them will feel short until either they expand the buildings, or completely change their design philosophy for mazes set in these buildings.
 
I did all three mazes on the 10th, when it was quite quiet and I'm wondering if this had any impact on my run throughs as all of them were long, small groups (apart from Edge with around 12 of us) and filled with actors- which was a stark difference to Thorpe's last year 😂

Compound I was in there for ages- we had 5 people in our run (myself and two friends, plus a couple) which gave the staff in there lots of 'victims'. Shout out to the Phalanx getting me to do squats as a form of "are you human?" until I got it right. It was a good 15 minutes in the maze, with constant attention by actors. Other than the start when you're pulled in, everyone got separated and basically had a solo maze with the occasional "Hi! Bye!" when passing by. Sub Species still clears.

Mine Tours I thought was better this year than previous ones- this could also be due to a smaller group (7 this time) and the actors giving us all extra attention due to it. A directionally challenged friend was at the front, so him guiding us all down the wrong way a few times probably helped! Pretty sure you're not meant to loop around areas as often as we did...

Edge I personally thought was the weakest- not in theme or style, but probably because of the larger group (12 people). We were at the front again so nothing was missed.

I thought the start where you're looping with things ever so slightly decaying was fantastically done and effective, although it did cause frustration for some- a person behind our trio was convinced we were going the wrong way and tried to squeeze down a staff walkway. With the larger group though, there was noticeably less attention from the actors since naturally, they were spreading their attentions across 12 versus the 7 in Tours. I noticed that those at the back couldn't quite squeeze into the rooms which sounds similar to what people have been posting- perhaps smaller groups should be batched so to not have people struggling to get into places and subsequently missing scenes, or people in the front of groups standing about in 'dead time' waiting for something to happen.

What ruined it for me- through no fault of their own- was the involuntary laugh and silliness that the actor playing Leshwall got out of me. I'm tall, people who have met me on meets know that. Leshwall was a Short King. Picture this- lights out, climactic moment, BOOM lights on- teenage Groot in front of me with their hand in my face. After that giggle though, through the final 'escape', Short King did focus me quite a lot but it just wasn't working- I cannot fault their effort or dedication to the bit though. To echo others, the end part did seem much faster paced and tacked on to the rest of the maze.

Overall, all mazes were great for me this year in the actors performances and amount, the theming, and execution. I don't scare easily so always wander through these looking at the set ups and props which you could tell had a lot of effort put into, kudos to all those involved!
 
I've done all of Thorpe's mazes as well as Compound and Edge of the Forest at Towers this year, and Edge of the Forest was the strongest for me.

I actually really enjoyed the looping round element as you don't immediately realise that you're not actually back where you started until you start to see the changes as the area becomes more and more abandoned. The old woman in the house was pretty well acted in our run and the jumpscare at the end (right behind us) worker really well. I thought the props and set were done to a really good standard as well.
 
Caught the group ahead in mine tours and in edge of the forest after the final room with the big tree monster, I got told to wait at the flaps. so seen the finale 3 times while waiting 🤣🤣 should space out a lot more .
 
Back from a trip to scarefest yesterday; I had a good time despite the crowds, full report and some musings below:

Started the day on sub-terra, which was going well until one of the towers (the one to your immediate left as you enter the show room) failed to park properly after rising, it ended up getting stuck about 3 feet from the top. Took maybe 20 minutes for tech services to arrive and fix, after which we left the attraction via an emergency exit. Was vaguely interesting to see the room with lights on, and the egg reset back to its uncracked form. The guests seemed to be having a good time, we got a mexican wave going all the way around the square of towers which was pretty fun. We were given a name to use at the fast-track entrance of either sub-terra or Galactica as compensation (which ended up saving a 120 minute queue on Galactica). A later run-through of Sub-Terra was flawless, all four towers in operation and all effects working.

Curse seemed to be running relatively well, but a lot of scenes were dark (I think we must've missed a few triggers) and some effects didn't go off.

After that, a quick run on Oblivion which was unfortunately e-stopped on the lift hill as a guest had their phone out. The operators climbed the staircase and made him pass it along the row -- I saw them make him fill a form out after disembarking, does anyone happen to know what that was for? Do they log the name of all the violators or something?

Anyway, onto the main event, scare mazes:

Edge of the forest was my only new maze this year. It was *fine*, the finale was pretty good, but I couldn't help feeling that it was a little actor light, especially in the first few rooms, and the repetitiveness gimmick probably made it feel shorter than it actually was. The option to buy a video of your group in the finale scene is... interesting? Not for me, but I'm sure some would be interested. The set design in here was quite nice, some good places for actors to grab you.

AVMT, had a decent runthrough but again feeling a little actor-light in some areas. That said, the lighting and set design in here is really great at making you think there are actors where there aren't, so that helped a lot. Unfortunately had a rather fast group here, but what can you do, eh?

Compound was fun, but again, just not enough actors. Got sent through a quiet route and didn't see an actor for a good minute or so. The maze here, I think, lacks a real finale, would be fun to have a nice big set piece at the end.

Both Edge and the scare zone nearby experienced "in-show stops" shortly after my groups left; the house lights came on and a tannoy announcement said "Due to circumstances beyond our control, you must leave the attraction immediately" or something. Anyone know why this would happen?

Operations throughout the day weren't great, nemesis was consistently stacking, galactica was on two trains and often had an empty station. The ops on wickerman also weren't cranking out the trains like they normally do, leading to fairly long queue times across the park, but it was a busy day. After that, it was off home via maccies from another enjoyable scarefest!

So, as I mentioned, I went via McDonald's on the way home. Being the good consumer I am, I sampled their new "stolen from across the globe" menu. Review follows.

Shaker fries - 5/10, you could definitely taste the pepper and sour cream, but I think it just wasn't for me with this particular flavour combo.
Canada Burger - 6.5/10, basically just tasted like a regular mcdonalds burger with some extra bacon. Which improved it, but, it's still a maccies burger.
Mac n Cheese bites - 6.5/10, probably the most distinctive thing on the menu and they were fine, but not particularly tasteful. The cheese was also not good.

Overall, new menu is a bit of a disappointment, but I could see some of it staying around, particularly the mac&cheese bites and Canadian burger.
 
BenTechy66 said:
Both Edge and the scare zone nearby experienced "in-show stops" shortly after my groups left; the house lights came on and a tannoy announcement said "Due to circumstances beyond our control, you must leave the attraction immediately" or something. Anyone know why this would happen?
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There are emergency stop buttons dotted through the attractions, some are more visible than others. A member of the public could've accidentally or maliciously pressed one. A guest could've been taken ill or fallen over so the actor(s) pressed it, or just a technical reason like a prop falling over or something which meant the attraction had to stop.
 
My reviews of the mazes this year


I thought this was the strongest of the mazes and an instant classic for me, having done all mazes the past 15ish years.

The looping route design is a genius idea and works so well, really messing with your head.

I see a lot of people complain it’s repetitive- but that is the point. Then I see some people say ‘it wasn’t explained why’ -but again why should it have to be? Not everything needs explaining in a 10 minute pre show video.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. The maze was packed with actors throughout (who I will add were very physical, for me more physical than any in Compound) the leeshwall was terrifying, the theming absolutely top class, lighting and sound was disorienting but mesmerising, and as someone who has done A LOT of mazes, I felt really happy to finally come out of a maze and feel quite buzzed.

My only weak point was the pre show, the actress was really hard to hear unless you were close by. I think the positioning of the group needs work but understand they will have an access route to get out quickly when the lights go.

Yeah this maze has long ran its course now. 10 years is way to long for a maze that has little changes over the years, and the changes that have been just made it weaker.

Like many mazes Towers have produced, AMT has never been as strong as the first year.

The first half of the maze is too dark, to the point even jumpscares had little affect.

Hopefully this is the last year of it now.

Compound had little to no change from last year but that was to be expected.

I thought it remained fun, clever and extremely intricately designed.

The scares in this mainly come from a focus of the actors of splitting you up from your group and isolating you. To your niche enthusiast, this may not be scary, but to the general public, this is terrifying.

Actors had superb energy levels throughout and seemed to really enjoy their roles. The theming is great but maybe lacks a bit towards the end, with the final few rooms consisting of some generic cages and some ropes coming from a ceiling?

All in though it is a really good maze, there is room for potential and I hope they make some changes to keep it fresh next year.

One thing I think was missing this year was a maze in the Towers. Scarefest really doesn’t feel the same without a ‘terror of the towers’ style maze
 
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