Well, what a weekend!
I genuinely feel quite positive about the event, and I don't agree with the damp squib chorus that others have expressed (though quite rightly so in some cases!).
Saturday
Saturday was a very unfortunate day for the Scarefest team, with power cuts and low staff numbers, and I have to admit I felt quite disappointed by the day as a whole... with The Sanctuary being the redeeming factor right at the end of the evening!
My run through TotT wasn't as fantastic as it could have been, owing to lack of cast, but I didn't feel it was awful - thankfully I wasn't in the first group that caught up with those in front of them & got barely any scares! I found it... mediocre. There was no scare between Monk corridor down to bodybags, which was quite disappointing. The changes have made a slight difference, but as a whole the experience is as solid as it ever has been. The crawling part in the crate room, however, is WAY too low!!
My first run through The Sanctuary in the early afternoon was as good as a standard run could be - nothing spectacular, but it wasn't bad either. It's solid with a good enough change to the initial script to fit it into post-Smiler times.
Owing to the powercut, I never got to go through Carnival, and ran out of time to do Zombies! Scarezone. I did manage to get a glimpse at Katanga Canyon's new lighting by the Rapids, and was thoroughly impressed, though never made it as far as Forbidden Valley to spy any lighting changes there (except the solo blue light in the Air tunnel. LOL. That is all!).
It was great to see everyone, and the 60+ person group photo was really quite astounding to be a part of
!! I had fun dressing up (having been off park from 3.30pm - 6pm), even despite bursting into the Q&A at the front of the room (Dave win for organisation, DAN FAIL for having us come in at the front)
.
The final part of the night was spent queueing for The Sanctuary with Jude, Badger, Russell, Rob & Lottie... and the experience after the 1 hour queue was absolutely worth it! The actors were really on the ball, putting 110% into every scare at every opportunity they had; we were all jumping like cats on a hot tin roof! I guess at this point in the night, everyone was in the swing of things, and it really showed
. The finale in itself was a masterpiece, with the slanted corridor being blocked by an actor who moved with the strobes, and another absolutely mauling us through the holes in the side!
Sunday
After the really mild weather on the Saturday, I begrudgingly took my coat on park with me on Sunday morning... more on that excellent decision later!
As folk drifted onto park at around lunch (to metal detectors, Police and security), my first Scarefest stop was to be Carnival after failing to experience it on the Saturday. We Fast Tracked. And waited. And waited. And wai--- WHY AM I WAITING SO LONG IF IT'S FAST TRACK??? Jeeeeeeeez!!! Fastrack takes around 30 to 40 minutes at any given time, so it's quite frankly a waste of a perk :/.
Using a very similar setup to the previous year's incarnation, I didn't feel much of an improvement until the end, with the exception of the trommel and it's catchy paint job. This first run was very much devoid of actors, and our group went long periods without any scares and indeed any reference to the finale. I do find the finale to be much more effective than any previous year - no stinking monkey here thank you!
TotT was much better, with additional actors (full cast??) and much more effective use of scares. The only thing I felt needed tweaking was the lighting in the Banqueting Hall, as I knew the monk figures were sat at the benches, but I really couldn't see them to get scared as to whether any would move! Anyone noticed the bodybags are REALLY hard and heavy this year? Or have I become a wuss over a 12 month period?? The finale was short of actors, but I presume they may have been out at break (can't blame them working in the strobes!).
After TotT, we headed up toward Burger Kitchen... and my god, what an occurrence. The heavens absolutely opened in thunderstorm style as we neared the Barbican (Hex archway). A huge number of people had crammed into the tiny space to take cover, and a crush quickly ensued. The floor became a river, the rain came down as if buckets were being thrown on us, and then HUGE hailstones pelted down! As we squeezed through the crowd, we bolted for Burger Kitchen, but by then it was too late - we were SOAKED to the skin! There were pockets of flash flooding everywhere... not least in my shoes.
When the rain had died down, we headed to The Sanctuary... where staff were clearing up a rather large amount of water from the area. After a short queue, we headed inside to see the Professor, while Dr Kelman was away. The first scene had Dr Kelman casually hanging around, with some delectable actors shouting mine, and a few other's names! I quickly realised someone had ratted us out, and boy did we get it
. The Professor followed us right throughout the maze, which added a certain eerieness to the experience, and I really couldn't fault this run through of Sanctuary
.
My second run through of Carnival (at the front of the group) was much improved on the first later on in the day as dusk fell. Actors seemed much better organised, and were utilising the scenery and lighting effectively. In particular, the black & white check room really threw me as I struggled to see the clown! It genuinely seemed like the clowns were enjoying themselves, and it added to the overall feel of the maze considerably. There were also much more noticeable references to Jack Knife where this had previously been lost, and so I understood the finale more.
Zombies! is dramatically improved on previous years, with much better props and set pieces. Unfortunately a pair of undesirable, queue jumping little morons muscled into our group and were being disruptive, so I didn't get a true reflection of the attraction. Next week!
The one thing I was really quite peeved about was the last thing we did... The Smiler. I had said I wanted to leave park earl(ish) owing to the long drive home, so my group and I agreed we would join The Smiler queue at 7pm (advertised queue time of 80 minutes) with a view to being in the car for 9pm.
WRONG.
We started queuing at 7pm for The Smiler. We got to the station at 9pm. I got to the airgates. The ride ceased operation. I nearly ceased operation. Cold, wet and tired, and very very annoyed after having such a long queue, I couldn't believe it when I got to the airgate and heard 'Download'. After much faff of sending empty trains to get riders off, we finally got to ride at 9.15pm, and got out of ATR at 10.15pm... an hour later than planned. I crawled into bed at 1.30am
!!
Overall
Better than previous years, but still not at 2008 levels. Nostalgia? Maybe, but I do feel the event has lost a certain something! The mazes felt stronger and I'm sure they'll get better given more time to bed in - I'm heading back each weekend to get my money's worth of my Freedom Pass and give them a fair going over! They're much better than Fright Nights mazes
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