• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Scare Mazes - What time ?

T

TowerTigger

TS Member
Hi All

Never done the scare mazes at Alton Towers and I was wondering what times to book for the best experience ?

Are the three main Scare mazes all inside ? Meaning it doesn't matter what time of day you do them they are going to be the same "dark" experience ?

Is the new one inside or outside ?

The website says you have to do the three original mazes within 2 hours ? But what are the queue times like ?

So what time would you book the three original ones for and what time would you book the new one for... We would also like the do the Freak show when its dark as well.

I was thinking 5pm for the original mazes and 8pm for the new one ?

The person I am going with isnt really into the rides and only cares about the mazes.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Yes the three main mazes are inside.

I usually do these during the day as I like to use my night time darkness to ride the rides. The mazes do get very popular after dark and the queue times can be significantly longer after dark. I'm sure if the queue lines are long, that they will make allowances if it takes longer than the 2 hours allocated. I have read on TT site that 2 hours is plenty of time to get them all done.

I presume the new maze will be an open air maze. As this is a new maze, no one really can inform you what time will be best for this one. Being a new maze, I presume that it will be very popular.

The freak show you can just walk though any time and how often as you like as it is situated on the main pathway. Best to do this one after dark.
 
Any idea when best time to do them queue wise is Roy? I usually start them 3-4 ish kind of time. Got the kids so will be doing them alone this year and don't want to be waiting in long queues on my own for hours on end!
 
I usually go for the earliest time possible, I normally get all three mazes done in around 15 to 20 mins.

I know some people prefer to do them after dark because of the better atmosphere, especially in the queue lines. But it all down to personal preferences.

Also the queue time will also depend on what day you go too.
 
Make sure you do House of Monsters, its way better than it has any right to be! (The best time is early in the day, as they start cutting the scenes short as it gets more crowded)

Since HoM gets shortened based of how many people are going through, (and the new maze looks to be somewhat more story/show based,) I would reccomend trying the new one, at its least crowded.

I don't know when that would be, but I'm sure some more experienced scarefesters could work it out for you!
 
RoyJess said:
I usually go for the earliest time possible, I normally get all three mazes done in around 15 to 20 mins.

I know some people prefer to do them after dark because of the better atmosphere, especially in the queue lines. But it all down to personal preferences.

Also the queue time will also depend on what day you go too.
Click to expand...
We're doing Tuesday and Wednesday so I'm thinking Wednesday 1pm should do the trick with The Welcoming 17:30 Tuesday.
 
Sounds like you are going Half term week, expect the park to be busy. I would say 1pm and 17:30 sounds like a great idea, these are the times I've booked. If the welcoming is going to be an open air maze, it won't get truly dark until 7pm.
 
How long do you reckon I would have to queue for the welcoming for? Especially as it's an open air maze not really sure when would be the right time - want to get the night rides in too! :D
 
Wait a minute, I'll get my crystal ball out :p

I personally think the new maze will be popular. I usually go for an early slot, if for any reasons the maze runs late or they have technical issues, this can have a knock on effect on the later time slots.

It really depends if you want to do the maze in the dark vrs minimum of queuing. (Early = less queues vrs later = more darkness)

Usually it gets fully dark around 7pm (The last weekend in October the clocks change, so will get dark around 6pm) and I use those last 2 hours to get good night time rides in.
 
RoyJess said:
Wait a minute, I'll get my crystal ball out :p

I personally think the new maze will be popular. I usually go for an early slot, if for any reasons the maze runs late or they have technical issues, this can have a knock on effect on the later time slots.

It really depends if you want to do the maze in the dark vrs minimum of queuing. (Early = less queues vrs later = more darkness)

Usually it gets fully dark around 7pm (The last weekend in October the clocks change, so will get dark around 6pm) and I use those last 2 hours to get good night time rides in.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the difficult question :D I guess you know a lot more about me regarding scare attractions - thanks for the tips :)
 
Difficult questions? No, not at all. You can ask any time. The last thing I want to do is to recommend a time and it turns out to not be suitable for you. Your guess is as good as mine. I could say that a certain time would be great and then people would read this forum and then suddenly a influx of people will book that time and then it would no longer be the best time.

If you are getting a few visits in, then try and do the 3 maze package on one trip, the house of monsters on another day and the welcoming again on different day (not necessarily in that order).

Trying to second guess which days are going to be quiet and what times will be best is like trying to pick a winner at the Grand National, however by calculating which day and time would be quietest, then you can minimise your queuing time.

Roy :)
 
Do we even know where the queue will be?

If we know where it is-we can work out the queue path's length-roughly calculate the average group size/throughput (based on the queue's length and the fact that since its new, it will lightly be the most popular thing there)-we can roughly hazard a guess at the average queue time!

Maybe...
 
Ok...

As of yet Towers have not done an outdoor maze on park, they did run "Field of a Thousand Screams" several years ago but since then all mazes have been indoors. With that in mind, we can assume that the new maze will be under covers. You do occasionally get light seeping in from the outside world, so remember that before you book your slots

With regards to earliest slots, it's kind of down to you. The mazes have little to no atmosphere during the day time and the actors tend to still be warming up for a few hours and getting into the swing of it. You may want to consider this too, but usually the actors are to a high standard and give a pretty equal performance throughout the run.

Finally, you should also consider where you place yourself in the group. Generally the actors target the central members of the group and if you're at the front or back you may miss a few of the scares. That's not to say that by being at the front or back you'll get no scares but you're less likely to be targeted.

Happy to answer any more questions you may have.
 
We usually do about 5.30 - 6 ish - that way its getting dark enough and you still have time to do the rides in the dark afterwards
 
Oli said:
Ok...

As of yet Towers have not done an outdoor maze on park, they did run "Field of a Thousand Screams" several years ago but since then all mazes have been indoors. With that in mind, we can assume that the new maze will be under covers. You do occasionally get light seeping in from the outside world, so remember that before you book your slots
Click to expand...

Carnival of screams were half inside and half outside, the zombie zone was outside

Oli said:
With regards to earliest slots, it's kind of down to you. The mazes have little to no atmosphere during the day time and the actors tend to still be warming up for a few hours and getting into the swing of it. You may want to consider this too, but usually the actors are to a high standard and give a pretty equal performance throughout the run.
Click to expand...

A good scare actor should be consistent what ever the time of the day is. I believe that the actors do a rota, taking breaks. Also the same could be said for the end of the day. After many hours of repetitive scares, they may tire towards the end of the night.

Oli said:
Finally, you should also consider where you place yourself in the group. Generally the actors target the central members of the group and if you're at the front or back you may miss a few of the scares. That's not to say that by being at the front or back you'll get no scares but you're less likely to be targeted.
Click to expand...

You can't always guarantee where you go in the line, sometimes it's pot luck. I tend to find the actors tend to focus on scaring the ladies in the group. Makes no difference where I am in the queue line.
 
Join the queue at your start time.

Staff will be at the entrance and will check your ticket.
 
I find it more entertaining to casually stroll through, and try to strike up friendly conversation with any actor who gets in my face, in an attempt to make them corpse. Or whisper to them something along the lines of "those girls at the back are real screamers" with a wink.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top