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Scarefest 2013: Discussion

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet but I think needs addressing is Fastrack for Carnival. Evening using the Fastrack entrance you still have just over half an hour of queue to put up with. Last year Fastrack for TotT meant you got straight in. On Sunday we didn't get to skip any of the queue as it was only up to the merge point. This is disappointing when you have paid for a product that gives you Fastrack entry to an attraction; it really isn't fast!

:)
 
I thought that myself as the main queue was only about double the size of the fast track one (which isnt "that" big, however, people at the front of the main queue had been waiting nearly an hour, while we got slotted in after 10 minutes (but then still have to wait another 10 minutes after the photo booth!)
 
If I remember rightly as well, didn't last year for the Fastrack to TotT bypass the photo booth, where as for Carnival this year you are required to queue for it.
 
Lottie. said:
If I remember rightly as well, didn't last year for the Fastrack to TotT bypass the photo booth, where as for Carnival this year you are required to queue for it.
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It did indeed. you just got to the end of the fast track queue and basically wen't straight on. Not liking the sound of the carnival system
 
Apparently, they've rectified it and you skip the photo point now.

:)

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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) :p.

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 :p. 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 :).
 
I'm yet to go to Scarefest this year. Although looking at reviews so far I think it's not so much nostalgia that's making people leave the 2013 event with sour mouths, it's more of the fact Scarefest has remained unchanged for a few years now. TOTT has been the same for god knows how long, The Sanctuary is a carbon copy of its March version (near enough the same as last year), Carnival has had little change since it arrived at Alton Towers and lighting (or lack of, rather) has remained the same for years (albeit with minor changes).

I suppose if you have been to Scarefest before it's just more of the same and with nothing new there is nothing to excite or surprise you.

With budgets not being too great though, ents have really had not a lot of choice this year. Fingers crossed Scarefest 2014 gets a shake up!
 
Having been again last night I feel that it is a very solid event. Park lighting is the best it has been since 2010. Areas of Dark Forest actually look quite good, they just need to sort of the remaining lights that haven't got the coloured bulbs in them. The mazes are of a high standard in terms of theming. Then compared to say Fright Nights there is much more atmosphere in the mazes.

TotT still remains my favourite by some distance. It just gets me every time, especially the immense finale. I don't think that will ever be topped, I've done it countless times over the years yet it still scares the sh!t out of me!!

I personally think we will see a new attraction next year. Whether that be an additional attraction to what we already have (yes please) or a replacement of one of the current mazes I don't know, but it should help give the event a fresher feel.

:)
 
What I will say is that the event hasn't expanded with its popularity - the number of mazes hasn't grown (it has been 3 for as long as I remember) and yet the event seems more and more popular each year.

I also wanted to say how awful the ticket collection system is - The Box Office can't deal with the sheer volume of guests wanting to collect freedom tickets & passes, fastrack and everything else. I waited a bloomin long time on Saturday morning to collect my Freedom Pass!

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I really, really cant understand why Alton do not install self service collection machines, or self service machines where you can buy fast pass tickets. Touch screen, insert card, tickets come out. Simples.
 
The Box Office is a great idea. However it can never cope when there is any form of demand. The service is far too slow and inefficient, and there are not enough till points. It's another thing they need to look in to for busy periods.

:)
 
Can you only collect scare maze tickets from The Box Office? Or are there other places around the park you can collect pre-booked maze tickets?
 
James said:
Can you only collect scare maze tickets from The Box Office? Or are there other places around the park you can collect pre-booked maze tickets?
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Can you collect them at the pre-booked ticket collection windows? I have tickets to collect as well so it seems a waste of time to queue twice?
 
I'm not 100% certain. I think you can buy maze tickets from any of the Sales & Info booths. However you can probably only collect pre-booked maze or freedom tickets from the Box Office.

:)
 
The thing is, they have loads of unused space in the box office that just doesn't get used. They need a proper queue and then add additional tills either in the middle or around the edges, but anyway that's another topic.
 
I went up to one of the ticket windows facing the coach park as there was no queue and asked the girl if I could collect my tickets from there rather than queue in the ticket collection area. She said yes no problem, she just needed the order number and ID/Card paid with etc. Took 5 minutes!
 
Has anybody had the chance to stay in a trick or treat room yet thiss year? if so what are they like and do you have any pictures?
 
After visiting yesterday i have to say that ToT and the sanctuary are very much the same as last year however the carnival was better than ever. Me and a friend went in with a group of maybe 9 or 10 and came out just the two of us as everyone else decided that they wanted to go back. I do think however that when you are having the photo taken in the queue the scare could have been a little less predictable. Especially as the photographer said to us as soon we sat down 'watch out for the person behind you' and then tried to rectify it by saying 'no im joking'.
We enjoy being scared we did not want that to reflect the rest of the maze. Luckily it didnt and for both of us it was our favourite maze.
All in all we both enjoyed the day and both came home smiling. :)
 
I wont post any information in here as I don't want to spoil it, but if you can do The Sanctuary Extreme I really cannot recommend it enough.

You have to sign a disclaimer before taking part as it really is a far more intense and longer version of The Sanctuary but if you're up for a real experience definitely go for it! They only do 1 run at the end of the day so tickets are extremely limited. I don't ever say anything at Alton Towers is worth the money as I think they are greedy money grabbers but in this case the £14 is well worth it (that is testament to the actors).
 
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