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Scarefest 2013: Discussion

Back in 2011 the lighting around Nemesis was perfect. In 2012 the lighting was very poor. They had one red light on the lift hill and a variety of normal coloured lights around the ride.

Katanga Canyon was also really well lighted with green lights around the lake. Yet again in 2012 they reduced the amount of lighting and just had the one in the car.

It would be very good too see the park being well lit with various colours. It would be perfect if they do it like they did in 2011.
 
I think your referring to 2010, 2011 lighting was better than 2012 but it was still poor.
 
Mostly all the permanent lights on Nemesis (bar the entrance tower) were filtered red in 2012, just seemed most of it was overpowered by the generators. The dispatch and bay lights in the station were changed to red bulbs and half of the main lamps were turned off, making it quite dark.
 
code-red said:
Mostly all the permanent lights on Nemesis (bar the entrance tower) were filtered red in 2012, just seemed most of it was overpowered by the generators. The dispatch and bay lights in the station were changed to red bulbs and half of the main lamps were turned off, making it quite dark.
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Most of the station lighting on Nemesis was done by someone who worked on the ride. Would be nice if the lighting was more like it was in 2010!
 
I spotted some green gels placed over the floods on the Ripsaw cabin yesterday. Unsure if they've been around for a while, or whether they're maybe a hint that we could see some improved lighting across park this year?
 
I honestly don't know why the park isn't full of themed, coloured lighting!? Coloured gels cost less than a pound! There really is no excuse, and if the gels are installed properly they wont have to be replaced every year!
 
I think it's just the case that they simply can't be bothered anymore. They can easily create the atmosphere, without a massive budget that Entertainments crave for Scarefest. But I just don't think they care anymore.

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Without wanting to sound like I'm defending them (Wardley knows I'd rather die), Gels are cheap, but they burn through very quickly. They are best for temporary indoor use. To perminantly colour outdoor lights would need dichroic filters, which are rather more expensive. Though in the long term they are cheaper than constantly replacing gels. But since when do Merlin think in the long term? ::)
 
my main comparison I look at each year is the river rapids. In 2010 they were the greatest looking part of the park in my eyes! Every section was done perfectly with different colors and lights everywhere and blue shining through the falls. It was perfect! But now. They don't bother at all. Fair enough if they thought "aw we over did that ride we need to spread this around and make everything else slightly better" but that clearly didn't happen!
 
The reality is that Scarefest is the illuminations of Alton Towers. Blackpool uses them to extend the peak season and keep people drawn in. Alton Towers utilises Scarefest (and Fireworks) in the same way, but they still come at great cost.

The fact is they have just merely trimmed budgets constantly. People seem to be talking like lighting is free and the park have got things wrong by removing something that has no cost associated with it. In fact the removal of lighting brings significant (to them) savings.
 
Towers issues with lighting are:

1) it's not cheap, as Diogo said outside lighting is expensive, on top of that they are not allowed to put anything on the hired lighting so it's not just gels they have to buy its the light rigs as well.

2) to get rid of the generator lighting would require huge investment in a UPS system, the current gennies are not at risk from a power cut

3) they are only allowed to "permanently" light a certain percentage of the park, this is to do with their planning restrictions (you can find the exact number if your willing to trawl through the whole history of planning docs). So everything they get has to be storable too.

4) quite a lot of the hired stuff in 2010 was damaged or stolen, increasing the subsequent hire-rate.

Non of that is a reason not to do it as the event makes them money, just think some get the impression decisions are really black and white at the park and they rarely are... I still disagree with them not lighting the park but its not simple.
 
JordanC said:
I spotted some green gels placed over the floods on the Ripsaw cabin yesterday. Unsure if they've been around for a while, or whether they're maybe a hint that we could see some improved lighting across park this year?
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The green gels on Ripsaw appeared for Scarefest last year, along with the revolving warning beacon on the front of the truck.
 
I just cant believe so much stuff is stolen over scarefest, actors assaulted etc. Not wanting to start another "us vs them flame war" but out of interest, does a lot of this stuff happen when a certain "group" of visitors arrive at the park for their weekend outing?
 
GaryH said:
I just cant believe so much stuff is stolen over scarefest, actors assaulted etc. Not wanting to start another "us vs them flame war" but out of interest, does a lot of this stuff happen when a certain "group" of visitors arrive at the park for their weekend outing?
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It could be a result of any enthusiast meet-up yes...
 
If lights get damaged or stolen, once again towers need to take a bit more time and effort to put them in places where they won't! Same goes for when they add new themeing!

For example putting loads of fancy expensive lights on the ground down the haunted hallow (where there are no staff), is just asking for them to be stolen or broke! The same goes for the ones around Oblivions hole.
 
Benzin said:
GaryH said:
I just cant believe so much stuff is stolen over scarefest, actors assaulted etc. Not wanting to start another "us vs them flame war" but out of interest, does a lot of this stuff happen when a certain "group" of visitors arrive at the park for their weekend outing?
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It could be a result of any enthusiast meet-up yes...
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I think he was referring to travelers...

It depends. They do have a history of problems even though the majority are alright but the damage could be done by other visitors.
 
If it was done by them, it would've all disappeared after the first weekend, which it wasn't.

I imagine it's those bastard sun tickets. Ruining the lives of everyone.
 
Andrew said:
Benzin said:
GaryH said:
I just cant believe so much stuff is stolen over scarefest, actors assaulted etc. Not wanting to start another "us vs them flame war" but out of interest, does a lot of this stuff happen when a certain "group" of visitors arrive at the park for their weekend outing?
Click to expand...

It could be a result of any enthusiast meet-up yes...
Click to expand...

I think he was referring to travelers...

It depends. They do have a history of problems even though the majority are alright but the damage could be done by other visitors.
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Pretty sure it was a joke....
 
Just posted this in Talbot Street, but I thought I'd post it here so we people can compare the current Halloween events with the scale of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWte7a88--Q#ws


The thing that annoys me the most is that the only thing holding back the park's Ents team today is the budget. If they had the money, I'm positive they could do something similar (minus the ice show, for obvious reasons).

But as you can see, it was very different to Scarefest and and was all about the atmosphere, lighting and special theming, as opposed to just scare mazes and riding rides in the dark.
 
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