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Scarefest 2018

Mine Tours is atrocious. The theming is superb however I do not, personally, find it scary. Perhaps it's just me. The finale is still abysmal.

Sub Species remains largely unchained bar some new audio in the pitch black section. By far, this maze remains the strongest, however I feel it lives on reputation now to drive visitation from regular guests.

P42 is somewhat interesting. It is themed very well and provides moments of intense scares, which is sustained only for the middle section. The scares disappear at the start and end.

The Welcoming remains a theatrical performance but is not remotely scary. I would be extremely surprised if it returned for next season. The new, revised finale is, however, great to watch.

I would rank the mazes, in order, from best to worst:

  • Sub Species: The End Games
  • Project 42
  • AltonVille Mine Tours: The Legend of the Skin Snatchers
  • The Welcoming
:)
 
I've not tried any of the mazes yet, doing them this coming Saturday. I did however do House of Monsters yesterday which was fantastic!

I last did it in 2016 and enjoyed it back then however it's good to see that it's been refreshed somewhat with some new sets and scenes. The acting is pretty good, the scirpt is amusing and the quality of the sets for a temporary attraction is high. It's aimed at kids of course but adults can still appreciate its quality.

I did not feel much of a Scarefest atmosphere around the park yesterday but maybe that is because it is still early in the event and I did not do any mazes. Park lighting was good though. There are new LED generators around the whole park and the vast majority of them do have different coloured filters over them, including some colours we've never had before. So Battle Galleons now has nice subtle orange light rather than bright garish white light.

Wicker Man looks stunning. Nothing more can be said!

:)
 
RicketyCricket said:
I wouldn't let if put you off going, just treat it like a normal visit and enjoy yourself. They tend to congregate in big groups and keep to themselves so you can easily avoid them.
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I’m visiting Alton Towers for the second time this season this Sunday and can’t believe it. My visit earlier in the year was abysmal due to poor operations and I had hoped a family visit on Sunday would redeem it.
 
I cannot lie i wouldn't say Sub Species was anything special this year from what i experienced. Maybe i had a bad run through or something but with us doing the mazes three times on both days, Sub didn't really stand out and i thought it was the weakest of the maze line-up.
 
Rob said:
I last did it in 2016 and enjoyed it back then however it's good to see that it's been refreshed somewhat with some new sets and scenes. The acting is pretty good, the script is amusing and the quality of the sets for a temporary attraction is high.
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That "temporary" attraction has now been there 3 years! 1 more scarefest and it will equal SubTerra for number of operational seasons :laughing:
 
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I know it's unlikely as it didn't happen last year, but does anyone know if they're doing the extreme run through of the mazes at 9pm this year?
 
In anyone's opinion has Mine Tours gone downhill since it opened or was it always underwhelming? Ive heard some people say it was a brilliant experience previously, but heard mostly only negative things this year.

I guess it relies a lot on tension/atmosphere and actors, and that maybe those elements are missing this year?
 
The thing with Mine Tours is, it's quite a beautiful maze thematically - but it just doesn't have anything unique about it. Overall it's better than, say, Molly Crow - but then, Molly Crow had an amazing ending special effect. Mine Tours lacks anything like that Welcoming has fire, Sub Species has the crawling and splitting up element - unsure on Project 42 but mazes need that unique element.
 
TakeYourMedicine said:
In anyone's opinion has Mine Tours gone downhill since it opened or was it always underwhelming? Ive heard some people say it was a brilliant experience previously, but heard mostly only negative things this year.

I guess it relies a lot on tension/atmosphere and actors, and that maybe those elements are missing this year?
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It’s amaxing. My favourite maze this year so far.
Then again managed a solo run on Sunday evening as it was dead on Park so slightly biased :p
Its better than anything else Towers are offering this year anyway :rolleyes:
 
TakeYourMedicine said:
In anyone's opinion has Mine Tours gone downhill since it opened or was it always underwhelming? Ive heard some people say it was a brilliant experience previously, but heard mostly only negative things this year.

I guess it relies a lot on tension/atmosphere and actors, and that maybe those elements are missing this year?
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It was bad when it opened, it's still bad now and the worst maze at Scarefest IMO.

It's marmite.
 
Mine tours was my fave last year. The way the lights work on the helmets I thought was great. The Welcoming last year was boring as hell.
 
I think people should look at Welcoming more as a 'prequel' to Wicker Man than anything else. It's the lowest age restriction of all 4 of the current mazes.
 
MakoMania said:
All 4 mazes are 15+
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Welcoming is now 12+ as of this year; I expect the website to be altered iminently (as at present it states 15, as you say). I would imagine that due to the loss of TOTT (which was 12) they feel Welcoming best suits that middle ground.

:)
 
TakeYourMedicine said:
In anyone's opinion has Mine Tours gone downhill since it opened or was it always underwhelming? Ive heard some people say it was a brilliant experience previously, but heard mostly only negative things this year.

I guess it relies a lot on tension/atmosphere and actors, and that maybe those elements are missing this year?
Click to expand...

Yes. It is just very dull.
 
I thought it was rubbish 2 years ago, I've not been tempted to try it since
 
The first and only time I did Mine Tours was at the Staff Preview in 2016. And it was dull and boring then. Shame it hasn't improved 3 events in.
 
Might be an unpopular opinion, but as someone who hasn’t done the mazes, I’d actually be most intrigued to try out The Welcoming and Mine Tours, if I’m being completely honest. The other two don’t seem to have much appeal to me. That said, I’m not really a scare attraction person, having only done a few scare zones in the past.
 
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