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Scarefest 2014

toriswift said:
Only ever done the regular version and love being scared so pretty desperate to try the extreme version! Got MAP as well so that helps :) think £18 would be a bit of a put off for the GP.
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I wont spoil it and tell you what happens, mind you it's different every time. I've done 2 extreme versions including one "finale", being one of my most abiding theme park memories of all, think that's why I am such a fan boy of this maze. Having been through it so many times the actors recognise you, to still throw out the intense character and immerse you into the experience <3
 
That is quite an increase! Saying that £16 is an OK price for those with an annual pass. Maybe £18 is bit too much for those without annual passes though.

Looking on Facebook and Towers Nerd Live it seems the event is very good on the whole. It's just the two mazes being the exact same that seems to be the only/main problem.
 
I've been glued to Towers Nerd Live all day :D the theming looks improved and looks like there's plenty to do in the fountain square! It's just a shame that this improvement hasn't included the mazes.
 
toriswift said:
I've been glued to Towers Nerd Live all day :D the theming looks improved and looks like there's plenty to do in the fountain square! It's just a shame that this improvement hasn't included the mazes.
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It seems further proof of what ents can do, for GOODNESS SAKE give them a proper budget to create a huge event!
 
Like the year before, things have been cut very late on causing things to be shelved/changed which is just a complete shame.

Whilst I feel a minor shake up of Terror Of The Towers and The Sanctuary could have been fairly easy and cheap to do (without any huge set or route changes) but just difference in their story-lines to give guests a feel that something is new to them, the entire event is so stale.

Look at the good old 2010 event even '08 and '09...then look at this year. Whilst park lighting has improved slightly and it's nice to see roaming actors (but sadly they stop after the morning), really, the entire event should be bigger, better and wider across the park year on year.

Yet what do we get? Less and less as we go which is to enhance the entire experience/event and more "premium" over-priced, money grabbing "experiences" which you would not expect at all.

Either a serious slump in scarefest visitor numbers needs to happen or we need some better fighting from Towers management.
 
Imagination said:
Either a serious slump in scarefest visitor numbers needs to happen or we need some better fighting from Towers management.
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I know some thing I am anti-towers at times, far from it, I can see where the problems arise it's obvious. I can see why they are adding more premium add ons not that I agree with them all.

I wish somehow we could get Towers to align with those of us on here that are willing to use their experience to back them up to fight for a better all round event!

I think they do a magnificent job but Merlin forcing cut backs again (as it appears obviously to be) is really ridiculous.

To have lost a proper free maze is just too big of a cut.
 
The roaming actors run till about 3pm but they head to other parts of the park after 12.

This years to be the year of the little improvements, if only maze improvements had come as well it would be a great event.

As for Scary Tales, it's a good Scarezone, few good jumps and nice atmosphere.
 
I love the signs I have to say! Seeing them on Towers Nerd, I'm not even sure I'd have noticed them initially. There are indeed some nice touches. It's obvious they've squashed a maze to spread the budget around park.

That they shouldn't need to is well documented, but you can see not a penny has been wasted.

Makes me detest Varney & Co even more and love Ents etc more too.
 
Dave said:
This years to be the year of the little improvements, if only maze improvements had come as well it would be a great event.
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But it was never meant to be that and should never be that for an event which park-wise has practically remained the same since 2012. Modernisaton of Sanctuary, gone. Carnival/Carnival replacement maze, gone. TOTT story update, gone.

Yes I agree the new additions/improvements are lovely and it's great to see park lighting has been given some loving along with Scary Tales which, to me, is a nice try with what little they had left. But for the UK's premium theme park (young/family stuff aside) the two free attractions do not show off this event to a standard it should be and the two paid for attractions have seen minor tweaks which the normal guest would not even notice.

I seriously think Towers need to visit Twinlakes in Leicester this year to see how they do their Xtreme Scream event. They've thrown a lot at their event year on year and it only ever gets better and for a tenner - you can't go wrong and get five scaremazes in that price. The Pie Factory was brilliant last year and I've only heard good things about the two-floor, 50 room, brand new "Stilton Hall and Hell Spa" maze this year. Whilst the other three mazes aren't as amazing, you can tell they have been aimed at the easily scared indviduals, yet the entire event is worth the money.
 
Having finally plucked up the courage to walk all the way through Scary Tales and Zombies yesterday, personally, I think they were horrible. Turns out I'm not a scare maze/zone/whatever person.

My reviews SPOILER ALERT:

Scary Tales was longer than I thought it would be, with 2 or 3 different indoor sections, one being a room of mirrors, which first appears to be a mirror, maze, but you only walk pretty much straight forward, and there's one place that the actors can hide in that particular area. There were only a couple of times that actors jumped out on you, but they mostly just walked up to your face and didn't let you past them etc etc. From the 2nd scene onwards, you wouldn't be able to tell it was themed around fairy tales, which is rather disappointing, however the 1st scene is easier to tell.

Zombies was much more intense than Scary Tales, despite @Sam saying that Zombies would be less. I think there were 2 indoor sections, and both had lots of smoke in, making it even more scary for someone who is very weary of this sort of thing. I ended up clutching onto @Sam's arm throughout the whole thing, and when I came out, I was quite shaken, and my heart was beating like mad. Unlike Scary Tales, Zombies only has one scene throughout the whole maze, and they jump out at you and come up to you quickly much more.
 
I thought Scary Tales was much better than Zombies. Perhaps that's just because I've done Zombies too many times in the past, but it seemed longer, had more content, theming was better and there were more actors. The "indoor" section in Zombies was just a white tent with some flaps, and no one inside it.
 
You seem to be a bit of an insider @Imagination and I have to say what you a proposing would be how I'd 100% imagine (er, sorry) the Ents team would have wanted to develop. It is also the most logical form of progression.

I think at announcement with a replacement MAZE all the improvements and some alterations of ToTT and Sanctuary they'd have been given a round of applause for good, solid progression. Not spectacular, but certainly of the level of a premium park.

TwinLakes sounds fantastic, maybe that's where I should go and spend my Scary cash this year.
 
Dave said:
According to TPW Scary Tales soft opened today and is apparently quite scary and includes an indoor section. Sounds intriguing!
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I did see people haning around Scarytales on Friday Afternoon as I headed off park to get the bus home.

It's good to see people on here giving Scarefest some good reviews!
 
Jordan said:
I suspect that the loaded statements will be used to try and get more funding from Merlin for Scarefest next year - they'll be able to say "75% of guests think that Scarefest is getting boring"
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I really hope the statistics reflect that! Would be the perfect incentive and kick up the backside to get the funding needed to makes improvements. Hopefully it's only a small minority who fill it out who haven't been before as they may not realise that things haven't changed/improved.
 
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