BigAl
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Forbidden Journey
After being slightly underwhelmed by the mazes at Alton Towers this year and then also experiencing Chessington's 'Vampire: The Haunting in the Hollows' and Warwick's Dungeon, I realised just how much of a difference actor interaction with some kind of tale has on the overall experience. As much as the Sanctuary had a clever tale and the fantastic Dr kelman, I still feel like it could have been so much better for a couple of different reasons.
Besides the fact that the finale felt like a rehashed TotT ending, but with less actors, and the effects taking it in turns to not work (leg tickers on one run-through failed to do anything and then the fireball didn't go off until we'd passed it on another occasion), if The Sanctuary had been more than just a hospital full of weirdos, I think it could have been much better.
A lot of this is down to my personal opinion, but simply walking though some dark rooms waiting for the odd actor to pop out and say hello does nothing for me. Obviously there has to be some kind of balance between being too scary and boring so that a wider range of guests can enjoy the attraction, but to me, it's much better when you're concentrating on an actor telling you a story and then something suddenly happening. A maze should do more than just rely on staff jumping out at you and an odd air blast or sound effect. If there could be more of a narrative with future mazes it'd be great.
So I'll get to the whole point of this topic now. If you were in charge of creating the mazes, what would you do? I'll post one of my own ideas and a more basic one and I hope that helps.
The Catacombs:
Something for press releases or posters, etc...
This maze is about the discovery of a network of tunnels which lead to an ancient crypt beneath Alton whose walls are lined with the skeletons of a slain convent. Preparation for the annual Scarefest mazes resulted in the disturbance of a secret entrance from the Towers down to the tombs. Now, the same Historians that helped to unlock the secrets of the Chained Oak and the hex placed upon the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury return to find out what truly lies at the end of these mysterious passageways. Will you volunteer to go with them?
Here's what I'd get an actor to say to set the scene for the maze:
This idea came about from last year's speculation over what 2012's new ride would be. Back over on TTF, I'd done a little researching after I'd seen people mention Catacombs and discovered something that may have made for a decent attraction.
Basically, there's supposed to be some catacombs located somewhere around Alton Towers (possibly closer to the village and Castle) which contains the remains of Nuns and / or Monks who were killed for their beliefs and were buried deep inside a chamber which is supposedly linked to a tunnel which then links all (or at least most) of the major buildings in the area.
Here's a little information that I came across:
Taken from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/03/03/chained_oak_legend_messageboard_archive_feature.shtml
And here's a two-part documentary detailing legends of Alton, including the Old Oak, King Ina's rock and the catacombs (1:26 in part 2)...
Part 1:
Ghosts , Myths and Legends of Alton Staffordshire : Part One
Part 2:
Ghosts , Myths and Legends of Alton Staffordshire : Part Two
So as you can see, I've taken this info and a few other comments and pages and used it for a Scaremaze idea.
I'll now explain what I'd want the maze to consist of...
Scene 1: Base of operations for archaeologists, where the professor talks to the group about the passage and the tale of the catacombs. A few howling sound effects and maybe a curtain being blown or an object being moved may work well here to interrupt the talk and keep people engaged. The professor then allows his trainee to guide you down into the unblocked passage.
This could be located in a tent before the entrance into the Towers which was used as the entrance for the Terror of the Towers this year as it would give the effect of going down beneath the Towers into a secret tunnel. There could be two separate tents and professors as this would allow for more than one group to enter the attraction and listen to the story before going into the maze.
Scene 2: The trainee guides the group down into the tunnel. It would look something like this:
This tunnel would be wider though, and no scare actors would be present. Instead, this tunnel is designed to unnerve guests and trick them into thinking that there's something following them. It would be very dark, water could occasionally drip onto the heads of guests, it would be cold and an odd brick in the wall could move as guests pass. The room could smell damp too add to the creepy atmosphere.
Scene 3: A wider room than the previous tunnel. Some old shelves and stands littered with dusty artefacts could be in here (think along the lines of the scene from National Treasure where they find the shelves covered in dust which have scrolls on them before they stumble upon the oil that they light to reveal the whole room full of treasure and whatnot).
Behind these, one solitary scare actor could be stood at the very back of the room who would sink back into the shadows without saying or doing anything other than watching the guests and the Professor move through the room. They may look something like this:
Scene 4: A round, domed room with a crack in the top which allows a slit of light to cut through the room. This is where guests come into contact with the lost member of staff that I previously mentioned. The actor could be slumped against the wall with blood over their hands and a ripped uniform, cackling to themselves with a menacing grin. When the trainee asks them what they're doing, how they are and where the blood is from, the crazed actor could tell them that they heard the voices calling them down into the catacombs to help them. They could go on to say that the blood isn't their's and then run up to each guest, move past them, pointing to each one and say that "they're coming for you, and you and you... and you... ALL OF YOU". They could then proceed to grab the trainee and pull them away into the darkness, kicking and screaming.
Once the group is alone in the room, a stone passage way could open up and the sound of monks chanting could slowly get louder until a single pale figure lurches out from the opened room. They circle the group before stopping and telling everyone that if they want to get out of the room alive, they'll move quickly into the next scene (obviously not in those exact words
).
Scene 5: A rectangular shaped room with various passageways leading off from it. This is where all of the surrounding landmarks join before entering deeper to the catacombs.
Here, the group would stand and wait for the correct door to be revealed so that the maze can continue. However, at random, a scare actor appears at each doorway and screams or roars and shakes the door blocking them from the group of guests until each door has an actor and the guests are surrounded. It is here that the one door in front of the group is unlocked by a ghostly Nun who tells the group to follow her quickly before the other angrier spirits are able to break down the doors and get to them.
Scene 6: This scene is decorated to look like a kind of safe house, with a few broken beds around the sides. Part of the ceiling would also have caved in to give the effect that the ancient tunnel is so deep underground and old that it has given to the immense weight of the ground above. The room is dark and a single candle light in the centre of the room is the only source of light. It could also be filled with mist / dry ice to make the candle light look more affective in the darkness.
The Nun explains that not all of her brothers and sisters down in the catacombs want to hurt the group and that they need to hurry before the other angrier spirits get them. But then she is interrupted as the actors in the previous room have broken through and are now hammering and snarling at the wooden door between them and the room that the guests are currently in. Suddenly a single blast of air blows the candle out and the guests are stood in a pitch black room for a few moments as the Nun who was with them disappears, leaving the guests vulnerable.
Then the door behind them creaks open slowly (allowing some light into the room). Now various actors jump out from the shadows at the guests and shout at them to go and find out what their surprise in the following room is.
Scene 7: The Finale - Part 1 The guests are moved quickly into a narrow tunnel and get locked-in. Here, they must walk forward to the end of the passage and make a turn into the catacombs which is lined with skeletons of dead Nuns and Monks. Lightning can be heard striking above their heads and a grate or two on the ceiling will occasionally flash with light (will also help to disguise the camera flash in a moment).
Warning, this next image is of the Capuchin Catacombs and contains real skeletons! I'll put it in a 'spoiler' section so that anyone who doesn't want to see them doesn't have to.
This room starts of quite, but as the group moves through, a skeleton or two starts to rattle, move slightly or lean forward off the wall. Then, towards the end of this section of the finale, two of the corpses which stand against the wall jump forward at the guests and a camera takes their picture whilst they're chased away into the next section of the finale (disguised by a thunder/lightning sound effect).
Scene 8: The Finale - Part 2 This section of the catacombs is more similar to those found in Paris.
Warning, this next image is of the Parisian Catacombs and contains real skeletons! I'll put it in a 'spoiler' section so that anyone who doesn't want to see them doesn't have to.
The walls are piled high with skulls and bones and the room is long and smells horrible (similar smell pots used to the ones in the mazes and Dungeons). As guests move forward, a sudden Th13teen style air blast (so, quite big and loud) and a flash of light from all around them attacks their senses and once that is over, hands start to reach out at them from the bones that line the walls. Here, guests would naturally pick-up their pace towards the end of the room.
The tunnel seems to be a dead-end. The lights go out and Sanctuary style leg-ticklers and water jets out from the sides of the walls hit the guests and roaring from behind gives the effect that they're trapped.
However, some skulls move away from the side to reveal a stone passageway out from the catacombs and into the open. A final actor (dressed as an archaeologist) says they heard you all screaming and got help to open the section of wall to help you escape from the demons inside. You all then get chased out into the open (where the photo booth is) by a wraith-looking actor and the archaeologist actor tells you to run as he/she will fend them off to let you all get to safety. Once everyone is out in the open, you hear a final scream from the archaeologist being taken by the demons to be sealed in the catacombs and you're finally free to pick up your photo and carry on as if nothing had happened!
I have no idea how much that would cost to do and whether or not anyone would actually fin it scary or not, but that's just one idea for a maze with more actors interacting with guests with a bit more of a scary story behind it.
So does anyone else have any ideas for a future scaremaze? One other idea I thought of might be to make a more family friendly maze themed to the return of Doom & Sons. I'm sure that would be of interest to some of the older guests!
Besides the fact that the finale felt like a rehashed TotT ending, but with less actors, and the effects taking it in turns to not work (leg tickers on one run-through failed to do anything and then the fireball didn't go off until we'd passed it on another occasion), if The Sanctuary had been more than just a hospital full of weirdos, I think it could have been much better.
A lot of this is down to my personal opinion, but simply walking though some dark rooms waiting for the odd actor to pop out and say hello does nothing for me. Obviously there has to be some kind of balance between being too scary and boring so that a wider range of guests can enjoy the attraction, but to me, it's much better when you're concentrating on an actor telling you a story and then something suddenly happening. A maze should do more than just rely on staff jumping out at you and an odd air blast or sound effect. If there could be more of a narrative with future mazes it'd be great.
So I'll get to the whole point of this topic now. If you were in charge of creating the mazes, what would you do? I'll post one of my own ideas and a more basic one and I hope that helps.
The Catacombs:
Something for press releases or posters, etc...
This maze is about the discovery of a network of tunnels which lead to an ancient crypt beneath Alton whose walls are lined with the skeletons of a slain convent. Preparation for the annual Scarefest mazes resulted in the disturbance of a secret entrance from the Towers down to the tombs. Now, the same Historians that helped to unlock the secrets of the Chained Oak and the hex placed upon the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury return to find out what truly lies at the end of these mysterious passageways. Will you volunteer to go with them?
Here's what I'd get an actor to say to set the scene for the maze:
This idea came about from last year's speculation over what 2012's new ride would be. Back over on TTF, I'd done a little researching after I'd seen people mention Catacombs and discovered something that may have made for a decent attraction.
Basically, there's supposed to be some catacombs located somewhere around Alton Towers (possibly closer to the village and Castle) which contains the remains of Nuns and / or Monks who were killed for their beliefs and were buried deep inside a chamber which is supposedly linked to a tunnel which then links all (or at least most) of the major buildings in the area.
Here's a little information that I came across:
Taken from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/03/03/chained_oak_legend_messageboard_archive_feature.shtml
And here's a two-part documentary detailing legends of Alton, including the Old Oak, King Ina's rock and the catacombs (1:26 in part 2)...
Part 1:
Ghosts , Myths and Legends of Alton Staffordshire : Part One
Part 2:
Ghosts , Myths and Legends of Alton Staffordshire : Part Two
So as you can see, I've taken this info and a few other comments and pages and used it for a Scaremaze idea.
I'll now explain what I'd want the maze to consist of...
Scene 1: Base of operations for archaeologists, where the professor talks to the group about the passage and the tale of the catacombs. A few howling sound effects and maybe a curtain being blown or an object being moved may work well here to interrupt the talk and keep people engaged. The professor then allows his trainee to guide you down into the unblocked passage.
This could be located in a tent before the entrance into the Towers which was used as the entrance for the Terror of the Towers this year as it would give the effect of going down beneath the Towers into a secret tunnel. There could be two separate tents and professors as this would allow for more than one group to enter the attraction and listen to the story before going into the maze.
Scene 2: The trainee guides the group down into the tunnel. It would look something like this:
This tunnel would be wider though, and no scare actors would be present. Instead, this tunnel is designed to unnerve guests and trick them into thinking that there's something following them. It would be very dark, water could occasionally drip onto the heads of guests, it would be cold and an odd brick in the wall could move as guests pass. The room could smell damp too add to the creepy atmosphere.
Scene 3: A wider room than the previous tunnel. Some old shelves and stands littered with dusty artefacts could be in here (think along the lines of the scene from National Treasure where they find the shelves covered in dust which have scrolls on them before they stumble upon the oil that they light to reveal the whole room full of treasure and whatnot).
Behind these, one solitary scare actor could be stood at the very back of the room who would sink back into the shadows without saying or doing anything other than watching the guests and the Professor move through the room. They may look something like this:
Scene 4: A round, domed room with a crack in the top which allows a slit of light to cut through the room. This is where guests come into contact with the lost member of staff that I previously mentioned. The actor could be slumped against the wall with blood over their hands and a ripped uniform, cackling to themselves with a menacing grin. When the trainee asks them what they're doing, how they are and where the blood is from, the crazed actor could tell them that they heard the voices calling them down into the catacombs to help them. They could go on to say that the blood isn't their's and then run up to each guest, move past them, pointing to each one and say that "they're coming for you, and you and you... and you... ALL OF YOU". They could then proceed to grab the trainee and pull them away into the darkness, kicking and screaming.
Once the group is alone in the room, a stone passage way could open up and the sound of monks chanting could slowly get louder until a single pale figure lurches out from the opened room. They circle the group before stopping and telling everyone that if they want to get out of the room alive, they'll move quickly into the next scene (obviously not in those exact words
).Scene 5: A rectangular shaped room with various passageways leading off from it. This is where all of the surrounding landmarks join before entering deeper to the catacombs.
Here, the group would stand and wait for the correct door to be revealed so that the maze can continue. However, at random, a scare actor appears at each doorway and screams or roars and shakes the door blocking them from the group of guests until each door has an actor and the guests are surrounded. It is here that the one door in front of the group is unlocked by a ghostly Nun who tells the group to follow her quickly before the other angrier spirits are able to break down the doors and get to them.
Scene 6: This scene is decorated to look like a kind of safe house, with a few broken beds around the sides. Part of the ceiling would also have caved in to give the effect that the ancient tunnel is so deep underground and old that it has given to the immense weight of the ground above. The room is dark and a single candle light in the centre of the room is the only source of light. It could also be filled with mist / dry ice to make the candle light look more affective in the darkness.
The Nun explains that not all of her brothers and sisters down in the catacombs want to hurt the group and that they need to hurry before the other angrier spirits get them. But then she is interrupted as the actors in the previous room have broken through and are now hammering and snarling at the wooden door between them and the room that the guests are currently in. Suddenly a single blast of air blows the candle out and the guests are stood in a pitch black room for a few moments as the Nun who was with them disappears, leaving the guests vulnerable.
Then the door behind them creaks open slowly (allowing some light into the room). Now various actors jump out from the shadows at the guests and shout at them to go and find out what their surprise in the following room is.
Scene 7: The Finale - Part 1 The guests are moved quickly into a narrow tunnel and get locked-in. Here, they must walk forward to the end of the passage and make a turn into the catacombs which is lined with skeletons of dead Nuns and Monks. Lightning can be heard striking above their heads and a grate or two on the ceiling will occasionally flash with light (will also help to disguise the camera flash in a moment).
Warning, this next image is of the Capuchin Catacombs and contains real skeletons! I'll put it in a 'spoiler' section so that anyone who doesn't want to see them doesn't have to.
This room starts of quite, but as the group moves through, a skeleton or two starts to rattle, move slightly or lean forward off the wall. Then, towards the end of this section of the finale, two of the corpses which stand against the wall jump forward at the guests and a camera takes their picture whilst they're chased away into the next section of the finale (disguised by a thunder/lightning sound effect).
Scene 8: The Finale - Part 2 This section of the catacombs is more similar to those found in Paris.
Warning, this next image is of the Parisian Catacombs and contains real skeletons! I'll put it in a 'spoiler' section so that anyone who doesn't want to see them doesn't have to.
The walls are piled high with skulls and bones and the room is long and smells horrible (similar smell pots used to the ones in the mazes and Dungeons). As guests move forward, a sudden Th13teen style air blast (so, quite big and loud) and a flash of light from all around them attacks their senses and once that is over, hands start to reach out at them from the bones that line the walls. Here, guests would naturally pick-up their pace towards the end of the room.
The tunnel seems to be a dead-end. The lights go out and Sanctuary style leg-ticklers and water jets out from the sides of the walls hit the guests and roaring from behind gives the effect that they're trapped.
However, some skulls move away from the side to reveal a stone passageway out from the catacombs and into the open. A final actor (dressed as an archaeologist) says they heard you all screaming and got help to open the section of wall to help you escape from the demons inside. You all then get chased out into the open (where the photo booth is) by a wraith-looking actor and the archaeologist actor tells you to run as he/she will fend them off to let you all get to safety. Once everyone is out in the open, you hear a final scream from the archaeologist being taken by the demons to be sealed in the catacombs and you're finally free to pick up your photo and carry on as if nothing had happened!
I have no idea how much that would cost to do and whether or not anyone would actually fin it scary or not, but that's just one idea for a maze with more actors interacting with guests with a bit more of a scary story behind it.
So does anyone else have any ideas for a future scaremaze? One other idea I thought of might be to make a more family friendly maze themed to the return of Doom & Sons. I'm sure that would be of interest to some of the older guests!
