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Scarefest 2015
- Thread starter ThemeParkJack
- Start date
Hitch
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- An Unnamed Infinity Coaster
I was following someone, so they pushed me down a different route of the maze to separate me.
Danny
TS Contributor
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
The scare zones feel like a bit of a let down compared to previous years, but then that's due to the marketing of Zombies! And Scary Tales in previous years as they aren't true scare zones.
There's been a nice bit of effort shovelled into Dark Apocolpyse, but it's a shame it doesn't cover a larger area. Nox Infernus however felt vastly inferior, cramped and less effort from the actors.
Terror of the Towers. It was nice to have a route change and freshen things up, but it still felt samey and predictable as previous years. The new route is part of the way to making TotT feel fresh, the story behind it just needs a tweak now.
Molly Crowe is a nice concept, but as anticipated it feels like the result of budget cuts without having any theming. The finale is exceptional, but the price simply isn't worth it for that one scene. The lengthy actor changeovers which affect the throughput aren't ideal either.
Sub Species is mind blowing. It's great to see Towers trailing a multi route maze and they've been able to nail it on the head first time round. The second run through this afternoon was even better. I've never left a scare maze pumping with adrenaline until today from the sheer effort applied by the actors, combined with a great story and the ability to repeat run throughout multiple times. Towers could have set this maze up three times over rather than adding Molly Towers and TotT and I'd still have been pleased.
There's been a nice bit of effort shovelled into Dark Apocolpyse, but it's a shame it doesn't cover a larger area. Nox Infernus however felt vastly inferior, cramped and less effort from the actors.
Terror of the Towers. It was nice to have a route change and freshen things up, but it still felt samey and predictable as previous years. The new route is part of the way to making TotT feel fresh, the story behind it just needs a tweak now.
Molly Crowe is a nice concept, but as anticipated it feels like the result of budget cuts without having any theming. The finale is exceptional, but the price simply isn't worth it for that one scene. The lengthy actor changeovers which affect the throughput aren't ideal either.
Sub Species is mind blowing. It's great to see Towers trailing a multi route maze and they've been able to nail it on the head first time round. The second run through this afternoon was even better. I've never left a scare maze pumping with adrenaline until today from the sheer effort applied by the actors, combined with a great story and the ability to repeat run throughout multiple times. Towers could have set this maze up three times over rather than adding Molly Towers and TotT and I'd still have been pleased.
Martin
TS Member
No contact on ToT or the scarezones, and only light on Molly Crowe, just brush against you, that kind of thing. Sub Species though is a bit rougher, they will push you, block your path, force you in different directions, that sort of thing. It's not violent but it's a fair bit more physical than the others.
badlydrawnkelBel
TS Member
They were touching us quiet alot in Molly last night. If you took your hand off the person in front or the rope they would put your hand back on it. They were pullif people around and grabbing legs and one linked arms with me and was whispering in my ear.
Tott is no touching but as my OH was at the front they kept bumping and running into him.
Sub species was ok. They liked to touch you in there too.
Tott is no touching but as my OH was at the front they kept bumping and running into him.
Sub species was ok. They liked to touch you in there too.
ScottPBE
TS Member
I ended up on my own for the first part of it, it was only by luck I found another group who I tagged along with for the rest of it and even then the actors split us from a group of four into two.
I liked the fact the actors were a bit more brutal in Sub Species, I felt like I was rugby tackled from behind at the start when they chose the route I'd be taking, but stuff like that made it much more fun than previous mazes at Towers.
bluesonichd
TS Member
Completed the Maze Alone with Molly Crowe on Saturday.
A lot of comments that this maze is a bit meh,
my experience going it alone, for me was quite intense, the first introduction did feel a tad awkward standing there,
what with it being one on one and getting full attention from the actor and just having to stand there and take it all in.
After the hood went on the maze was full on with only one person to attend to, me! lots of touching and grabbing, I was glad when I was told to take the hood off.
Not giving the end away, but when I was asked for the hood back on exit, it had vanished. must have been that traumatized I just dropped it
For a new maze experience really enjoyed it.
A lot of comments that this maze is a bit meh,
my experience going it alone, for me was quite intense, the first introduction did feel a tad awkward standing there,
what with it being one on one and getting full attention from the actor and just having to stand there and take it all in.
After the hood went on the maze was full on with only one person to attend to, me! lots of touching and grabbing, I was glad when I was told to take the hood off.
Not giving the end away, but when I was asked for the hood back on exit, it had vanished. must have been that traumatized I just dropped it
For a new maze experience really enjoyed it.
FuriusJosh
TS Member
Don't go in then, the whole part about being in a maze is being scared...
MrsT2015
TS Member
I realy want to go but trying to persuade the hubby is hard grrrr his answer but love you went to Thorpe park three weeks ago. lets hope if i find a cheep sofa next week he may be a bit more convinced. The thing is it would only be me going in to the mazes as my son is only 9 so at least he would have some company
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I've now moved this thread to General Discussion.
Anyway, Scarefest 2015, where to begin! With new attractions and an increased budget, this was the most excited I have been for Scarefest in two or three years. So how did it stack up and were expecatations met?
I'll start with Terror of the Towers (TotT). TotT is pretty much the same maze but in a new park of the Towers with a different route; many of the old scenes remain with some being slightly different due to their new environment. At the end of the day TotT was TotT, you knew pretty much what to expect and it reamins a very solid scare maze. I don't think the new route worked as well as the old one (you could hear audio from scenes that you were not in and the maze felt slightly shorter, shame the strobe maze wasn't a bit longer). The big positive for TotT was the amount of actors in the maze, I did it twice and both times the whole maze was swarming with them. This had been a problem in the last couple of years so was very pleasing to see.
Next up, Molly Crow. This was the first maze that we did and unfortunately we ended up having to wait 70 minutes for it which is not ideal when you have a pre-paid time slot. This was largely down to an issue that they were having with actor change overs on Saturday; it was taking 20 minutes every hour for the changeover so that meant 3 hours of operation were lost overall throughout the day. This problem has now been solved though! This was the hooded maze and going though a maze with a hood on did not really do it for me and become quite tedious. The story is solid though and at least there is a reason to have a hood on throughout the maze, it is protecting your eyes, so it wasn't totally random. The finale is pretty impressive also. Not a maze that I would pay to do again.
Last but not least on the mazes front, Sub Species. Let me first describe it in single words; wow, phenomenal, intense, unique - utterly brilliant! This maze alone makes visiting Scarefest totally worth it. I was not overly sure what to expect from this maze beforehand, I knew there were alternate endings but that was pretty much it. As it happened there were not only alernate endings but multiple routes in a free flow maze where you were split up from others. The first time I did it I was shoved in one of the start doors on my own and experience the whole thing alone not knowing where on earth I was and what was going on, quite an experience! The actos in here are incredible, being allowed to touch you (quite forcibly at times) really does add to it all and cannot be called a gimmick. Myself and Russell were foreced to the ground at one point for a good 20-30 secnds whilst the actor got right in our faces. There is such a variation in scares, theming, lighting and other elements in the maze making it such a 're-rideable' maze. I was also lucky enough to be one of the few that experienced both maze endings (the 'human' ending was always open but they were having some technical problems with the 'alein' ending), however at one point they sent a few very small groups down the alein route for testing purposes. This was the only part of the maze that felt like it needed a bit of work and maybe another actor in it - I'm sure this will come once it is up and running as it should be. Overall this is the best scare maze that I have ever experienced.
The scare zones, Nox Infernus and Dark Apocalypse, are exactly what they say on the tin - scare zones within the park. Dark Apocalypse in FV is the stronger of the two with some really good lighting effects and an actor with a chain saw on the Sunday. I think the reason that these might be getting somewhat mixed reviews is because of the scare zones we have had in the past. Zombies and Scary Tales were never actually scare zones, they were more mini-mazes where you queued to enter a very controlled environment. I much prefer the idea of having scare zones like this year where actors are free to roam - hopefully in future years these can be expanded as they really do help give the park more of a Scarefest feel in the evenings.
Another big positive of the event this year is quite a bit of new music including a totally new soundtrack on Towers Street which is great. Nice to see some new theming on Towers Street as well, even if it isn't much it is a definite improvement. Park lighting is pretty decent this year with there being a lot less white light generators around the place. Still not up there with 2010 lighting, it would be nice to have some more atmospheric lighting on key buildings/trees etc in some areas.
Overally I have to be generally positive about Scarefest 2015. The event badly needed something doing to it and it now does feel totally fresh and exciting. Sub Species really is something else and I urge anyone who has not been to go and give it a try. It says something that I was prepared to pay for it three times over the weekend.
Good work Alton Towers!
Anyway, Scarefest 2015, where to begin! With new attractions and an increased budget, this was the most excited I have been for Scarefest in two or three years. So how did it stack up and were expecatations met?
I'll start with Terror of the Towers (TotT). TotT is pretty much the same maze but in a new park of the Towers with a different route; many of the old scenes remain with some being slightly different due to their new environment. At the end of the day TotT was TotT, you knew pretty much what to expect and it reamins a very solid scare maze. I don't think the new route worked as well as the old one (you could hear audio from scenes that you were not in and the maze felt slightly shorter, shame the strobe maze wasn't a bit longer). The big positive for TotT was the amount of actors in the maze, I did it twice and both times the whole maze was swarming with them. This had been a problem in the last couple of years so was very pleasing to see.
Next up, Molly Crow. This was the first maze that we did and unfortunately we ended up having to wait 70 minutes for it which is not ideal when you have a pre-paid time slot. This was largely down to an issue that they were having with actor change overs on Saturday; it was taking 20 minutes every hour for the changeover so that meant 3 hours of operation were lost overall throughout the day. This problem has now been solved though! This was the hooded maze and going though a maze with a hood on did not really do it for me and become quite tedious. The story is solid though and at least there is a reason to have a hood on throughout the maze, it is protecting your eyes, so it wasn't totally random. The finale is pretty impressive also. Not a maze that I would pay to do again.
Last but not least on the mazes front, Sub Species. Let me first describe it in single words; wow, phenomenal, intense, unique - utterly brilliant! This maze alone makes visiting Scarefest totally worth it. I was not overly sure what to expect from this maze beforehand, I knew there were alternate endings but that was pretty much it. As it happened there were not only alernate endings but multiple routes in a free flow maze where you were split up from others. The first time I did it I was shoved in one of the start doors on my own and experience the whole thing alone not knowing where on earth I was and what was going on, quite an experience! The actos in here are incredible, being allowed to touch you (quite forcibly at times) really does add to it all and cannot be called a gimmick. Myself and Russell were foreced to the ground at one point for a good 20-30 secnds whilst the actor got right in our faces. There is such a variation in scares, theming, lighting and other elements in the maze making it such a 're-rideable' maze. I was also lucky enough to be one of the few that experienced both maze endings (the 'human' ending was always open but they were having some technical problems with the 'alein' ending), however at one point they sent a few very small groups down the alein route for testing purposes. This was the only part of the maze that felt like it needed a bit of work and maybe another actor in it - I'm sure this will come once it is up and running as it should be. Overall this is the best scare maze that I have ever experienced.
The scare zones, Nox Infernus and Dark Apocalypse, are exactly what they say on the tin - scare zones within the park. Dark Apocalypse in FV is the stronger of the two with some really good lighting effects and an actor with a chain saw on the Sunday. I think the reason that these might be getting somewhat mixed reviews is because of the scare zones we have had in the past. Zombies and Scary Tales were never actually scare zones, they were more mini-mazes where you queued to enter a very controlled environment. I much prefer the idea of having scare zones like this year where actors are free to roam - hopefully in future years these can be expanded as they really do help give the park more of a Scarefest feel in the evenings.
Another big positive of the event this year is quite a bit of new music including a totally new soundtrack on Towers Street which is great. Nice to see some new theming on Towers Street as well, even if it isn't much it is a definite improvement. Park lighting is pretty decent this year with there being a lot less white light generators around the place. Still not up there with 2010 lighting, it would be nice to have some more atmospheric lighting on key buildings/trees etc in some areas.
Overally I have to be generally positive about Scarefest 2015. The event badly needed something doing to it and it now does feel totally fresh and exciting. Sub Species really is something else and I urge anyone who has not been to go and give it a try. It says something that I was prepared to pay for it three times over the weekend.
Good work Alton Towers!
nickhutson
TS Member
Another big positive of the event this year is quite a bit of new music including a totally new soundtrack on Towers Street which is great.
Thanks for the nice comment on the Towers Street Track - I am glad people are noticing it! Really a joy to have written that - and all the other new audio currently playing in the park.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
A few brief thoughts on Scarefest:
- Overall, best event in some years.
- Sub Species is exceptional. Thematically it is excellent and the maze offers variety, intensity and length. BRILLIANT.
- Molly Crowe is improving. The narrative needs to be very explicitly referenced so that the guests 'get it'. Nice idea though and I think it is solid.
- Terror of the Towers is solid, pretty much the same as previous years (route aside). I do feel it could do with a refresh (thematically) soon though, but it's still good.
- FB Scare Zone is bang on.
- DF Scare Zone is just, well - it's Dark Forest. It's just an awful area. Scare Zone was OK I guess.
- Towers Street looks great. New music is great.
- Food and beverage changes are great across park.
My only real concerns this year:
- Lighting isn't very good
- The Scare Zones, whilst fine as Scare Zones, aren't as substantial as what has been free in the past. I feel like a mini maze (Scary Tales style) would be in order on top of the Scare Zones. The included stuff just isn't as major feeling as it was.
- Wobble World Café was shut. Grrr.
- Overall, best event in some years.
- Sub Species is exceptional. Thematically it is excellent and the maze offers variety, intensity and length. BRILLIANT.
- Molly Crowe is improving. The narrative needs to be very explicitly referenced so that the guests 'get it'. Nice idea though and I think it is solid.
- Terror of the Towers is solid, pretty much the same as previous years (route aside). I do feel it could do with a refresh (thematically) soon though, but it's still good.
- FB Scare Zone is bang on.
- DF Scare Zone is just, well - it's Dark Forest. It's just an awful area. Scare Zone was OK I guess.
- Towers Street looks great. New music is great.
- Food and beverage changes are great across park.
My only real concerns this year:
- Lighting isn't very good
- The Scare Zones, whilst fine as Scare Zones, aren't as substantial as what has been free in the past. I feel like a mini maze (Scary Tales style) would be in order on top of the Scare Zones. The included stuff just isn't as major feeling as it was.
- Wobble World Café was shut. Grrr.
AliceHL91
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis, Oblivion
Wow. Thanks for highlighting that for me.
