So here are some of my thoughts and feeling about Scarefest so far this season. I will pretty much ignore the whole of last weekend as almost everything was utter crap due to the powercut/rail and various other issues. However I have since spent all of Friday there and yesterday afternoon and evening on park.
The Sanctuary:
For me this maze has become a little boring, it might be because I overdid it last season and at the start of this season. But its the same old maze every time you go through it, the actors say the same things, they jump out in the same places, etc. The finale is also still weak, often with one or two actors, there just isn't the scares compared to the TOTT finale.
Terror Of The Towers:
On the staff preview this maze was quite good, however all weekend it was running poor. It has now returned back to a similar level to last year and the staff preview. However overall it is just very tired and needs replacing. Everytime I do it I know where the actors will appear from and where to go, as I have just done it far too many times. The banqueting hall is nice this year, but the actors don't always use it to its full potential. The same can also be said for the corridor afterwards.
Also the BIG problem with TOTT this year is the batching! I did it four times on Friday and once yesterday, on all five times we either caught up with the group in front, the group behind caught up with us or both! On Friday night at one point there was four groups (40 odd people!) that had joined together before the strobe maze. This lead to no scares and a very boring few rooms.
For this to happen so often, either the video has been speeded up this year, the gap in between videos is shorter, or the staff are just far too eager. On Friday the maze was walk on all day, yet they were still batching you straight away, as you walked into the video room, the group before you were still just leaving. I really hope towers sort this out, for a paid maze it is poor, and for it to happen on all my visits on different days throughout the day, shows it isn't just one staff member or anything.
Carnival:
Firstly i'm rather glad they have moved the fastrack entrance, it was a utter joke last weekend!
This is by far my favorite maze this year by far. Everything seems to work so well compared to other years, and it finally has a finale that works! All the actors are on top form and really know where to scare from, also the various tricks work well this year, such as the Voltex, Spot rooms, Trommel, etc, Despite doing the maze at least 6 times in the last few days, there are still new things I notice (like the man in the mirror, in the mirror maze) or new places where the actors seem to appear from. There are just no end of places they can scare you from. However quite a few of the batching staff leave a lot to be desired. Even a week in to the event, many can't remember the brief they are giving.
Finally the finale is great, but it only works with smaller groups, we had 15 yesterday and it just doesn't work, as if you are at the back you can't see a thing, and the people at the front are just too close. Other than that I think its fantastic. And does get people running and screaming out of the exit.