ThemeParkCrafter
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It might be a year away but what do you think and want Scarefest to be like next year?
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Scarefest 2016
- Thread starter ThemeParkCrafter
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ThemeParkCrafter
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- Th13teen
The thing is other forum sites have already started. This forum could also just be the future of Scarefest.
DiogoJ42
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- The Metropolitan Line
Or even planned for another 8.5 months.
ThemeParkCrafter
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I understand that but this is what you want to happen to Scarefest next year and beyond.
ThemeParkCrafter
TS Member
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You are both wrong. Next year is already being organised. If you had the logic of 8.5 months, there would be no Scarefest.
Sorry about double post
PeteB
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- Nemesis
There's an official blog post from Alton Towers which says that they started planning this years event before the end of 2014.
Despite all that time of planning, they were still only able to theme 2 out of 3 mazes, theme NONE of their scare zones, and somehow actually remove theming and lighting from around the park.
It blows my mind how they manage to pull these things off.
ThemeParkCrafter
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Remember how good Sub Species is. Maybe, lots of planning went into such a spectacular maze!
Alastair
TS Team
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I was tempted to delete this, but I know there will be another thread exactly the same in about a week so I might as well let it continue. It's remaining Scarefest 2016 for now though, there is literally no point in speculating further ahead than that 
ThemeParkCrafter
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Ok. To be honest, I would be happy enough if everything stayed the same with some minor changes. Maybe get Scary Tales back because from the videos, it looks great!
James
TS Founding Member
I don't see the harm in some early discussion. Sure this years event hasn't even come to an end, but for those who have already been to the park this Scarefest will have ideas or thoughts on how the event could improve in future.
TOTT really needs an overhaul next year. The new route has been a nice idea this year to freshen it up a bit although that's not what the maze needs to improve. It's needs a new theme/story, with new sets and perhaps the element of actors being able to touch you. It could even learn some things from Sub-Species and become more of an extreme maze.
Sub-Species will obviously be fine staying the way it is. Molly Crowe will certainly stay too, although it could do with some tweaks. A scene halfway through the maze where you take your hoods off could be good. It would break it up a bit and not leave you getting too used to wearing the hood. There would need to be some changes to the narrative, and money pumped into a set piece, but it would be a pretty minimal cost and would improve the maze.
Theming could be added to the two existing scare zones. They have Zombies theming left over, put that in Forbidden Valley! Dark Forest would be a bit harder although it wouldn't cost that much to have some bits of theming produced.
Lighting across the park still needs to be improved on. We need something on a 2010 level to happen again. It's a shame 5 years on lighting is actually worse than it was in 2010.
The area that really needs to change next year is family offerings. The Trick or Treat stage is very outdated now, they could do with a new stage set. They could also do with some new shows. I'm personally not a fan of the kids entertainment at the bottom of Towers Street, and think it worked far better in Fountain Square. It acted as a bit of a hub for kids shows and was far better in my opinion.
Oh and bring back A-Band-On Ship for Alton Towers Hotel. I don't have a bloody clue what's going on with hotel ents but it's dire. The band is the only thing of recent years that has turned around hotel ents into something exciting and dare I say a little more magical. It's bewildering they've been removed from the schedule. Maybe it's because it's cheaper to have a singer and a keyboard...
TOTT really needs an overhaul next year. The new route has been a nice idea this year to freshen it up a bit although that's not what the maze needs to improve. It's needs a new theme/story, with new sets and perhaps the element of actors being able to touch you. It could even learn some things from Sub-Species and become more of an extreme maze.
Sub-Species will obviously be fine staying the way it is. Molly Crowe will certainly stay too, although it could do with some tweaks. A scene halfway through the maze where you take your hoods off could be good. It would break it up a bit and not leave you getting too used to wearing the hood. There would need to be some changes to the narrative, and money pumped into a set piece, but it would be a pretty minimal cost and would improve the maze.
Theming could be added to the two existing scare zones. They have Zombies theming left over, put that in Forbidden Valley! Dark Forest would be a bit harder although it wouldn't cost that much to have some bits of theming produced.
Lighting across the park still needs to be improved on. We need something on a 2010 level to happen again. It's a shame 5 years on lighting is actually worse than it was in 2010.
The area that really needs to change next year is family offerings. The Trick or Treat stage is very outdated now, they could do with a new stage set. They could also do with some new shows. I'm personally not a fan of the kids entertainment at the bottom of Towers Street, and think it worked far better in Fountain Square. It acted as a bit of a hub for kids shows and was far better in my opinion.
Oh and bring back A-Band-On Ship for Alton Towers Hotel. I don't have a bloody clue what's going on with hotel ents but it's dire. The band is the only thing of recent years that has turned around hotel ents into something exciting and dare I say a little more magical. It's bewildering they've been removed from the schedule. Maybe it's because it's cheaper to have a singer and a keyboard...
Sub species can stay the same, though I'd personally prefer to not have alternate endings.
I'd like Molly Crowe to stay the same, but with less time wearing a hood. And the finale to be longer.
TotT should stay (remembering that this is my first year) but allowing touching, and maybe add a couple of new scenes.
A Dark apocalypse sort of thing (zombies) should stay, but with theming an better lighting.
A new scarezone should replace nox infernus, possibly in gloomy wood or x-sector.
I'd like Molly Crowe to stay the same, but with less time wearing a hood. And the finale to be longer.
TotT should stay (remembering that this is my first year) but allowing touching, and maybe add a couple of new scenes.
A Dark apocalypse sort of thing (zombies) should stay, but with theming an better lighting.
A new scarezone should replace nox infernus, possibly in gloomy wood or x-sector.
PeteB
TS Member
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Touching should be kept as a novelty in one maze only, if that. In Sub Species there is a good reason for it (breaking you away from the group), but Molly could do far better with other tactile effects than relying on hand/leg grabs - for example air blasts, contact with the sets, things dangling overhead etc.
Having actors touch you is just a cheap gimmick and a very uncreative way to get more scares. What I don't want to see is a trend breaking out across the country where every single maze is touching you because Towers do it.
Having actors touch you is just a cheap gimmick and a very uncreative way to get more scares. What I don't want to see is a trend breaking out across the country where every single maze is touching you because Towers do it.
Sub species works very well with touching, far from a gimmick. The leg grabs work well in Molly, air blasts would work, but not as well, you'd need both really. I was poked in the eyes (gently, not painful) whilst entering the maze (after being told about the crows) which actually added to the effect. TBH, I was touched by the actors (accidentally) quite as lot in TotT. I didn't really feel scared in there though. I knew that they couldn't hurt me (quite forcefully pushed by the actors in sub species).
Rob
TS Team
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- Steel Vengeance
Nothing wrong with a Scarefest 2016 thread this early on, if those creating the event have started working on it (which they have) then there's no reason why we can't discuss it!
Scarefest 2016 is going to be an interesting one and as ever the biggest factor in how it turns out is going to be budget. Will Merlin protect events budgets in 2016 or will they face the cuts that rest of the park is almost certainly going to receive? The impact of the incident on The Smiler cannot be underestimated, the park is losing a lot of money.
I'm going to work on the dangerous assumption that the budget will be protected; Merlin would be foolish not to do this especially as Scarefest 2015 is really something to be proud of. In my opinion Towers have two options (in terms of mazes):
Option 1: Incease the event to four mazes. Keep ToTT, Molly and Sub Species with some changes to enhance the experiences at small costs. Brand new fourth maze added to the line-up, this is where most of budget goes.
Option 2: Keep Scarefest as a three maze event. Retain Molly and Sub Species with low costs enhancements but spend significant portion of budget replacing ToTT. It has been around a while now and if there is to be no new mazes this year it is the one that needs replacing. I don't mind if the ToTT name is kept as it is an icon of Scarefest but a totally new theme and experience should be derived from this.
One of the reasons that Scarefest has got such good reviews so far this year is becuase it has felt like such a fresh event. It is important to maintain this feel in 2016 and ensure that the the mazes are not just the same three as this year but with minor changes.
In an ideal world the two current scare zones would remain and there would be a third scare zone added, maybe in X-Sector. I like how the scare zones have worked this year, they are what they say on the tin, so an additonal one would be welcomed.
The family offerings also need to be looked at next year as these have felt very limited this year compared to previous years.
And then there is park lighting. Realistically I know we cannot expect 2010 levels when a lot of expensive lighting was hired for the event and we had a manager who was very keen on this. Also H&S has impacted on lighting, all coasters now need to have a bright light shining on all blocks so that they can be clearly seen on cameras. But some more atmospheric lighting around the park would really be welcome and add a lot to the overall feel of the event.
Scarefest 2016 is going to be an interesting one and as ever the biggest factor in how it turns out is going to be budget. Will Merlin protect events budgets in 2016 or will they face the cuts that rest of the park is almost certainly going to receive? The impact of the incident on The Smiler cannot be underestimated, the park is losing a lot of money.
I'm going to work on the dangerous assumption that the budget will be protected; Merlin would be foolish not to do this especially as Scarefest 2015 is really something to be proud of. In my opinion Towers have two options (in terms of mazes):
Option 1: Incease the event to four mazes. Keep ToTT, Molly and Sub Species with some changes to enhance the experiences at small costs. Brand new fourth maze added to the line-up, this is where most of budget goes.
Option 2: Keep Scarefest as a three maze event. Retain Molly and Sub Species with low costs enhancements but spend significant portion of budget replacing ToTT. It has been around a while now and if there is to be no new mazes this year it is the one that needs replacing. I don't mind if the ToTT name is kept as it is an icon of Scarefest but a totally new theme and experience should be derived from this.
One of the reasons that Scarefest has got such good reviews so far this year is becuase it has felt like such a fresh event. It is important to maintain this feel in 2016 and ensure that the the mazes are not just the same three as this year but with minor changes.
In an ideal world the two current scare zones would remain and there would be a third scare zone added, maybe in X-Sector. I like how the scare zones have worked this year, they are what they say on the tin, so an additonal one would be welcomed.
The family offerings also need to be looked at next year as these have felt very limited this year compared to previous years.
And then there is park lighting. Realistically I know we cannot expect 2010 levels when a lot of expensive lighting was hired for the event and we had a manager who was very keen on this. Also H&S has impacted on lighting, all coasters now need to have a bright light shining on all blocks so that they can be clearly seen on cameras. But some more atmospheric lighting around the park would really be welcome and add a lot to the overall feel of the event.
Rob
TS Team
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- Steel Vengeance
Well there are only 3 more days to go and there will be people who went 2 weeks ago that aren't going to be returning so the event is over for them!
Every year we have discussion about the next year's Scarefest whilst the current event is underway. As I said previously, if those who plan and design the event have already begun work on 2016 Scarefest then why shouldn't we discusss, speculate and suggest!