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Scarefest 2014

I thought TOTT had people go excavating something goes wrong story line?

And actually @Tom.B from what I hear Field was quite spooky, the mazes were open much later, and being out in the dark in the open I could imagine was VERY creepy!!

You know you're in a controlled environment and there is an obvious direction and flow to the maze/actors in the buildings.
 
It was a maze, what you have to remember is field didn't open until 5pm so it was pitch black outside by the time you went on it (it didn't close until midnight)

TotT has a story but it's a lose one, really only the video and the last scene link in. It's had stronger stories in past iterations.
 
I miss the Field, I still think its my favourite ever maze, but the rose tinted glasses might be kicking in.

My favourite thing was that it felt like you were in a story, you actually got to interact with the characters, and felt involved in the story. There might not of been that many scares compared to TOTT, but it was a different kind of scary. Wondering through a corn field, at midnight, with a full moon above, hearing screams and shouting in the distance was a great atmospher builder.

I know there is a few other Scare Fields, and I would love to try and get to one if anyone else is thinking of doing something like this.

Ian
 
I was never fields biggest fan, the only bit that ever scared me was the bus finale at the end of year 3
 
Dave said:
I was never fields biggest fan, the only bit that ever scared me was the bus finale at the end of year 3
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That was one of the most memorable Scarefest endings EVER. That and being chased out of the ToTT by the "Master" and his colleagues around the banqueting table.
 
I think in some of the scenes, if you did not know what was coming (Which is the same with all the mazes) you could get a few jumps.

Sammy jumping out of the corn field.

The Army guy disappearing, and then coming back as a zombie from the other direction to which he left.

It had its scares, and slowly built up to the finale. Yes, I guess you could say walking between the scenes was boring, but the noises in the field, and the gaps gave you chance to understand the story, and I don't know what it is, but that sense of being in a corn field just added something for me.

On the flip side, most people really enjoy the Strobe sections at the end of TOTT, and that has never really done it for me TBH.

The problem with the mazes, and something that will be even worse this year, is that different things scare different people and with one less maze, there is going to be less varity, so if you enjoy TOTT and Sanctuary, you will get more enjoyment from them, but if you preferre the field style maze (Which I felt carnival was more similar to), there will be less enjoyment.

That being said, TOTT is long enough that there is a wide range of scare tactics in use, and should be something for everyone. My favourite part of TOTT is the statues, where one is real, but you do not know which one.

Ian
 
The cornfield was awesome. Always used to go there last thing, what could be better than walking through a field of corn late at night in the dark, with the natural sounds around you, the rustling of the corn in the wind, people moving between the corn, ahhh, it was awesome. Something the indoor mazes just cant match.
 
Field depended on what kind of way you liked to get scared. If jump scares are your primary thing then field wasn't quite like that (although as said above it had its moments). Field was more of what I would call a 'natural scare'. Pretty much like said above, being outside in the dark, looking up at the black sky, the sounds of screams in the distance, the sound of the wind blowing past you, the sound of the corn as you walk around... that was really a great and 'true' scare maze in my eyes. No fancy effects or lighting, no heaps of smoke that blind you from seeing anything, no things jumping at you every two seconds. Just a simply and pure maze.

Aside from field I loved it when Boiler House and Carnival were by the hotels. Standing outside waiting to go in at midnight was still quite an experience that you cannot really get at the theme park. Plus you still got to hear some screams in the distance and creepy music playing.

As great as it would be to see mazes next to the hotels return it's understandable that Towers keep everything within the theme park. It's easier for everyone to get to and causes less faff.

Maybe one day *if* Scarefest ever expands we could see an unique maze experience placed over by the hotels once again. They'll have lodge guests too so it would be a good opportunity to offer something that side of the resort and outside the theme park.
 
Justed looked on the website to see THE ULTIMATE SLEEPOVER. Which looks amazing you think hmmmmmm a night in the house itself, scare maze tickets. A full night of screams inside previous inaccessible rooms 8pm-3am. 2 day ticket. Breakfast. I was looking at this thinking sounds good..................... but not for 280 quid per person.
 
I don't think The Sanctuary is stale. We're only into it's 3rd season and while in the old days the mazes seemed to run on a 3-4 year cycle it seems towers want to stretch it out further. When we get to year 5 and 6 of The Sanctuary then yes fair enough that would be stale if it hasn't changed much. It seems to come down to the fact it was such a hit, got well over hyped and now everyone is just sick of it.

My biggest issue is really about diversity. Both ToTT and The Sanctuary are practically the same apart from slight differences in decoration - you start off with a little introduction, then walk round a spooky old castle, people jump out constantly, you descend down steps, and it ends in a loud strobe cage maze.

I think even if they reversed ToTT back to its old route (something I've been wishing for years) where you are ascending up the attraction it would add enough to make it different. The Sanctuary unfortunately got off to a bad start by using the exact queue/entrance area that we'd been using for ToTT for years lol!

Go back a few years to when we had a line up consisting of ToTT, Field of 1000 Screams, and Room 13 (or Boiler House) and you see enormous diversity between those attractions. That and all of the other things that were going on at Scarefest as well just made for a more interesting Halloween event.

As for Fo1KS. Well, I thought it was probably the best scare attraction in existance. A great example of simple theming/infrastructure which put the guest in an immersive world. The storytelling vs impact scares was perfectly balanced. Yes year 2 sucked a bit but I'm still amazed at how well the story and theme evolved over those 3 years. It really was like a great horror movie with 2 questionable sequels. Although in this case they went all out on that ending in season 3. That first year though just had everything going for it. In a way I'm pleased Fo1KS ended when it did, as the management at towers now would have milked it and ruined the whole thing.
 
I would hate it if the reversed ToTT back to its old route, it was horrid queueing at that side of the ruins. Her Ladyships Garden makes for a much more atmospheric queue.

I agree on variety though, I think the reason Carnival was so well received last year was because it didn't have another strobe finale.

As for field it was just too much wandering around going nothing for me. Nice idea and year 3 had a great finale but that's it. Scare mazes are always very personal though as I found Bloodfest Banquet ToTT a yawn fest too.
 
Alton Towers' Snapchat account will, unsurprisingly, have some exclusive updates on Scarefest over the next few weeks. I presume it'll contain some construction images as well as interior shots of the mazes.
 
James - your quite right, I loved waiting outside the Boiler House when it was the hotels in the late evening. That was a great maze. Infact, i'd love to see the Boiler House return again.

BTW - when is the TS meet up for Scarefest?
 
Was there much difference to the actual maze experience of BH when it was at the hotels compared to when it was housed in the Black Hole tent?
 
Tom - yes , definately. The BH tent experience was no where near as good as the one outside the hotels.

Why...? ok i'll try and explain... So, usually by the time you exited the theme park and got to the Boiler House, it was very late in the evening, I would say later than you would do the mazes in the park. I always remember doing FoTT at around 11pm on one occasion.

So you stand outside the makeshift boiler house in the queue, lights flickering, and a tv van showing news footage of the twins and their exploits. The batching was slower, which meant longer queues, but usually you didnt bump into other groups along the way. You went in and met the caretaker in the toilet block and then made our way into the boiler house. If I recall there were 3 actors, the twins obviously who did an excellent job of making themselves seen quite often around the maze with their freaky masks, and a girl who was their victim who you would find chained up somewhere screaming for help. I recall the first year they introduced the "inflatable walls", except I think they had inflated them too much cos it was ruddy hard work to get through them, and being chased by the brother being at the back was very freaky.

There were also quite a lot of stoop down moments practically crawling on your hands and knees with pretend electrical cables hanging down above your head. Also recall at the very end being chased out of the exit by the twins.

But yeah, the outside of the maze added to the whole experience, standing in another section of the park, not in the theme park as such, in a field, with the music, lights etc, just added to the experience for me. I really miss that.
 
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Dave said:
I would hate it if the reversed ToTT back to its old route, it was horrid queueing at that side of the ruins. Her Ladyships Garden makes for a much more atmospheric queue.

I agree on variety though, I think the reason Carnival was so well received last year was because it didn't have another strobe finale.

As for field it was just too much wandering around going nothing for me. Nice idea and year 3 had a great finale but that's it. Scare mazes are always very personal though as I found Bloodfest Banquet ToTT a yawn fest too.
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Well the garden may be more atmospheric but there won't be any more queues now anyway, with both mazes being paid they'll be pretty much walk on or a 5 minute wait maximum.

I think you're right about the return of Bloodfest Banquet, but not the original ones in 02 and 03. I was always amazed at the special effects they were using back then, like the half eaten living girl on the table, the animatronics, the realistic (and horrid smelling) body bags you had to push through before getting to the original strobe freezer maze. I preferred the gothic arches over the link fence cage they use now as the actors seemed to disappear and reappear better (better scares), and the walls were lined with Airzookas for the actors to attack you with. Was great fun! They seemed to use a lot more fog back then too which made for a more intimidating atmosphere.

07 and 08 Bloodfest Banquet was just dull. The terrible batching and long scripting just added to the problems. Half of the rooms just seemed cobbled together, and as for that bloody oven room thing, what the hell?
 
PeteB said:
Well the garden may be more atmospheric but there won't be any more queues now anyway, with both mazes being paid they'll be pretty much walk on or a 5 minute wait maximum.
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I'm not so sure about that. At times last year they did get queues, espeically TOTT. I recall queueing a good hour one evening last year.

As for Boiler House, it did indeed work so much better up at the hotels rather than in the Black Hole tent. It was so much more atmospheric. I think it was 2010 when it was absolutely brilliant!

:)
 
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