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Scarefest 2019

I generally agree that sub species needs a facelift but what you experienced there was what is known as a “bad run”. You get them on all scare mazes as the scares depend on actors (who are known for having free will and the ability to move out of position) so sometimes you get a duff go.
.
But two bad runs in the same day 3 hours apart.
Is not forgivable
To be the only person in the dark rope room.
Someone flashes a light on the rope as you walk in them leaves you to it.
Nearly fell to sleep
Oh what’s that. Chainsaw guy stood there looking bored :rolleyes:
I’m just glad I didn’t have to pay for loosing 20 mins of my life.
 
First time since 2007 I won't be at Scarefest. I feel like I'm missing out a bit ... But not enough to make the effort to go.
 
It would be so easy for them to completely change the layout of sub species each season, especially as it’s sat there in touched all year. Yet it remains the same. If anything it’s lacking what it used to as the actors used to shut doors and block paths. Now all routes remain open and they just jump out.

My run throughs have been better this season than last, but now I know the routes I find myself trying to ignore the actors and just wonder around so my run through isn’t finished in 3 minutes.
 
Was Sunday just gone "Family fun day?" just im going up this weekend coming and dont want it spoilt
It was yes, there was police and security everywhere but not many showed up. Very little if any trouble from what I could see. Whether that means more will turn up this weekend I don't know
 
It would be so easy for them to completely change the layout of sub species each season, especially as it’s sat there in touched all year. Yet it remains the same. If anything it’s lacking what it used to as the actors used to shut doors and block paths. Now all routes remain open

They were shutting doors on my run through at the weekend. Also it wouldnt be all that easy to keep changing the route, picture it as doing building work in the middle of a literal labyrinth. You’d have to dismantle the whole labyrinth pretty much to change the route significantly. Which I think they should do next year, but every year is unrealistic.

I understand why regular people are burnt out on Sub by now and it definitely needs a refresh, but it’s back on top form recently and the fact is it’s a brilliant maze for first timers!

Im very glad we got an incredible new maze and replcement for Welcoming over a Sub replacement . Hoping for Sub replacement next year instead and that it will go out on a high
 
So Saturday. My ratings of the mazes:

Sub Species 8

A nice an actually fairly intense run through for me, probably long in the tooth for some but I think it's only my second or third time in this maze so still fresh for me. The only one in the triple ticket that felt worth doing but that is beside the point.

Darkest Depths 7.5

I love piracy and anything related so may be a touch biased the the themeing and effects were spot on, so despite it having the lowest age restriction, this was actually a really good maze. The water effects were a great touch, as was the sand and the bridge, well done Towers.

Attic 6.5

A decent little maze, never felt like it got properly going. The first room storytelling was great though, have to commend them on that. I'd absolutely love to see it return but seemed like it would be too scary for a 10 year old? Either way, as it was it was great.

Altonville Mine Tours 5

Slightly less ear destruction in the queue this time, still a maze without a real ending and a bit of an ambiguous start path (got dragged into a corner by an actor and everyone followed). Still lacks an ending, would like to see this gone next year. Also the actor for the briefing was.....interesting. The queue and batching process was the most OTT thing I've ever seen for no apparent reason.

Project 42 2

Give this it's P45 please. Just LOUD NOISES the maze, a terrible briefing video reminiscent of The Haunting, followed by going through Shed Terra filled with rubbish from behind Magic HQ, Duel and the local scrapheap. Felt more like I had been robbed of time and money than actually experienced a maze. Only saved from a 1 or 0 by not being made from Heras fencing or waiting a year for it. Scrap it harder than the scrapped Blade.
 
The people absolutely tearing a new one out of Project 42 (and Sub Species to a lesser extent), obviously haven't visited Fright Nights in the past few years. Don't talk to me unless you visited Vulcan Peak - *that* was a terrible attraction, it made Project 42 look Traumatica standard.

That said I think they should always make sure there's a free maze at Scarefest. I think it's the feeling of being ripped off that causes people to be excessively harsh, especially for those of us visiting and paying for the same mazes each year (and of course none of us are logical enough to just 'give some of the mazes a miss this year').
 
I'd rather them can 42, Make a new maze or scrap AMT and bring back scarezones and wandering actors. I'd happily see a maze or two gone to make the rest of the park feel more halloweeny
 
I'd rather them can 42, Make a new maze or scrap AMT and bring back scarezones and wandering actors. I'd happily see a maze or two gone to make the rest of the park feel more halloweeny

But if there is no Halloween atmosphere on park people will pay to do the mazes in order to get some..... Your not thinking like a M£rlin exec
 
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Obviously Disney and Unviersal have a bigger budget for Halloween but I would agree that the themeing especially in the lead up is pretty shocking - the car everyone loves but I would be putting banners out and have pumpkins round the park.

Maybe I need to go into events marketing
 
I’m genuinely interested in why people hate p42 so much. I know everyone has different opinions and that’s fine. What makes it so weak? Theming? Actors?
 
I’m genuinely interested in why people hate p42 so much. I know everyone has different opinions and that’s fine. What makes it so weak? Theming? Actors?
In my opinion it is just too short for the pace people walk through and too conventional. But interestingly Sub Terra also suffered from this so the building is really limited.

Last year, it at least felt like things were about to start kicking off when the corridor opened up into the big lab space, but then it ended as soon as it got going.

This year the lab is just a drab corridor. I wonder why? Not allowed to show the remains of Sub Terra maybe?

Last year the ending wasnt well lit either. The mannequins showed up and looked fake, and the shooters on the gantry had just one or two weak strobes. This year I genuinly mistook some for actors, in fact I still dont know if some of them were real.

The videos are horrendous

But it still beats most anything at some other places eg Thorpe Park
 
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I would rather see Sub-Terra up and running as it was, and have that as a Scarefest-only attraction (with perhaps a tent added at the end to make the maze ending longer)...

It's strange to hear they've covered over Sub-Terra theming this year, protecting it or have they scrapped stuff?

It may not be *as* bad as some of Thorpe's mazes but it's awful for a Towers maze when you look at what else they can do.

I’m genuinely interested in why people hate p42 so much. I know everyone has different opinions and that’s fine. What makes it so weak? Theming? Actors?

The theming is OK however the maze feels (or felt I should say as I have not done it this year) very hastily thrown together, it feels very amateur compared to all of the other mazes on park. I had a bad run through last year with two actors on show which didn't help. It doesn't feel like a maze that anyone put any thought or care in to it.
 
What do you reckon the chances of Sunday 20th being another “family friendly day” are? It’s our first visit to scarefest and I’m a little worried after hearing about people’s past experiences on these days?

Cheers


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It's strange to hear they've covered over Sub-Terra theming this year, protecting it or have they scrapped stuff?
It's unusual yeah. It's not so much covering the theming because most was covered before too, more like screened off the entire room so now you'd not realise a ride was ever there. Last year you could see right across the room and it was set out like a lab, now it's just a corridor with some of the lab props arranged down it.

I think this is worse than before (when most the other changes seem to have improved it), so it seems like they were asked to do it rather than wanted to? No idea.

The Sub Terra-themed egg room has gone from Sub Species too. Might be a coincidence

Suppose I can forgive Project 42 as a 'low budget' maze last year, when we got two stellar mazes built from scratch this year to make up for it. They should definitely scrap 42 next year. Just thought, maybe it was low budget because they thought Sub Terra may return? Which now seems unlikely.
 
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