Scarefest 2018

[Rob]

TBH, I've no idea what the pay is for Alton or any other scare attractions. I'm only assuming in light of this years budget cuts. I know that Merlin are very picky in their selection, but if you want quality actors, then you need to pay decent money. I personally find it hard to believe that they are having trouble recruiting people. I should imagine that there will be plenty of people willing to volunteer to become a scare actor for free.

They have been struggling to recruit people, that is a fact (they've got 50% less roaming actors than they had the budget for simply because they could not recruit enough). Part of it is definitely down to pay in the leisure industry but that is not a new problem and it is not a problem unique to Alton Towers. Cedar Point for example have had real trouble this season in recruiting enough staff and Europa-Park have faced issues in the past as well. It's the nature of the beast.

It's also probably hard to attract high quality acting staff for a period of only a few weeks; it's not exactly secure employment.

 

[ChristmasPud]

I'm almost certain the "Nemesis backstory" (yawn) tie in with Project 42 was something that the Entertainment department were told to say by the brand managers or whoever, after the maze was already designed.

The maze has almost nothing to do with Nemesis or Sub Terra and doesn't need to be really, should just be a good one-off maze. The only mention of Phalanx etc are online or in the press surrounding it, that and the egg making a cameo appearance in the maze.

The 'story' at the start is weak anyway and has no effect on the maze ahead, but the theme is pretty cool. Just feel it could have been much better had there been a bit more show made of it. Missed opportunities and a bit flat. Also the building is quite small for a maze, means people walk through too fast and the ending is an anti climax. Inherits much the same problems as Sub Terra.

 

[Brad97]

I visited on Saturday and it was absolutely rammed - the weather was great which probably made it busier than normal. Got on Wicker Man though which was the main reason for going, and to give the park credit ride availability was very good, with no major downtime as far as I could see when I was checking the queues. Wicker Man didn't go down once while I was queuing for it.

Had a good day overall but it's clear that the park can't cope with peak days anymore, even with no major breakdowns.

 

[bluesonichd]

They pay is not great at all, or at least it wasn’t last year from what they were paying me.

 

[RoyJess]

After spending 30 years in the entertainment business, I've seen plenty of roaming street entertainers as well as done it myself, I personally find them a bit meh!

You don't need many scare actors in a maze to make it work. When the TOTT was in use, the same scare actor would scare the guest in several places as the scenery allowed them to jump out in several places as the maze double back on it self.

Primevil scare event near Norwich made use of animatronics that would suddenly jump into action with motion sensors, or the sudden unexpected of flashing sparks light lighting effect along with a popping noise, or unexpected air cannon going off, all of which can give a bigger scare than any scare actor.

Colchester Zoo for one of their scare mazes, had a sound of a dog barking that is triggered off as you pass the bush, again, when you are not expecting this, it can make you jump.

 

[GaryH]

Only problem with the Scarezones is that they were at the mercy of the great British weather. I think the only one which had some form of weather protection was Scary Tales, which, was actually quite good and would have made a great indoor maze had they expanded on the theme a bit more.

Its also a shame the hotels dont offer anything "exclusive" for guests staying over. I dont believe there were any scare rooms this year, the evening entertainment now extremely poor when you consider the band that played a few years back with their costumes and special musical routines just for Scarefest, and the atmosphere in the hotels is just meh.

I went into ATH two weekends ago for a drink and to watch the "entertainment", and its the first time I have been so bored out of my skull that I left early ( the extremely long queue to get to the bar also didnt help ).

I would suggest they did some sort of outdoor scare attraction just for hotel guests but, they have built on the ATH gardens, the Field of 1000 screams area is now Enchanted Village, while the field used once for Boiler room is going to be the enchanted sheds.

I was thinking of coming up this weekend with my partner who has never been to Scarefest, but, I dont think I will as quite frankly I will be embarrassed when she see's just how poor it is. Yeah, the lighting is great, but apart from that, the rest is extremely poor.

 

[ChristmasPud]

After spending 30 years in the entertainment business, I've seen plenty of roaming street entertainers as well as done it myself, I personally find them a bit meh!

You don't need many scare actors in a maze to make it work. When the TOTT was in use, the same scare actor would scare the guest in several places as the scenery allowed them to jump out in several places as the maze double back on it self.

Primevil scare event near Norwich made use of animatronics that would suddenly jump into action with motion sensors, or the sudden unexpected of flashing sparks light lighting effect along with a popping noise, or unexpected air cannon going off, all of which can give a bigger scare than any scare actor.

Colchester Zoo for one of their scare mazes, had a sound of a dog barking that is triggered off as you pass the bush, again, when you are not expecting this, it can make you jump.

You think that Alton Towers aren't already employing everything you mention here and more?

Most good performers or people who've been in entertainment industry long have a great passion for what they do, and will tell you what a difference it really does often make to guests' experience. And they work hard for that.

I think the problem is more budget for performers. It's run like a show after all, the same maze may be great one day, and not great the next.

 

[RoyJess]

You think that Alton Towers aren't already employing everything you mention here and more?

I must of missed that during my maze runs

Most good performers or people who've been in entertainment industry long have a great passion for what they do, and will tell you what a difference it really does often make to guests' experience. And they work hard for that.

I disagree, sometimes I find the best scares come from events where they use amateur scare actors as they are not trained to be a carbon copy of the last, amateur can be surprisingly scary and unpredictable, and they can give it 100%, especially when they scream at you

I think the problem is more budget for performers. It's run like a show after all, the same maze may be great one day, and not great the next.

I agree, I think the problem is with Alton not getting the budget needed to run these events. I also agree that not two maze runs are ever the same, I did multiple runs of the mazes as PrimEvil (I had the VIP ticket which gave me unlimited access, fast track, free drink and burger).

I'm sure that the lack of actors is a continuation of their "It's better than nothing" approach

 

[James]

At least with scare zones it made up for the lack of a 'free' scare maze, you still get somewhat of a themed area/experience with actors, without the £20 extra charge.

I imagine it's difficult to draw in staff for a three week job, and with the huge amount of scare attractions across the UK these days, people will go apply for their local attraction rather than travel far to a place like Towers.

It's a shame they have the budget for actors but cannot employ any. I doubt there's one easy solution, but they will definitely need a different approach for 2019, whether that be starting the recruitment drive for Sacrefest earlier, changing the Scarefest line up a little, or maybe expanding on park entertainments all season, so you have a guaranteed set of actors that can be used all year and not have such a struggle in September/October to employ temporary actors*.

*I know The Dungeons are coming in 2019 with a million actors before anyone says

 

[ChristmasPud]

I must of missed that during my maze runs

I guess you did, although possibly also because the effects weren't timed right. But the mazes have employed lots of differnt kinds of trickery for years.

The kind of thing you're describing is bread and butter stuff for scare mazes and any walkaround really. After 15 years of building them it's not like Alton Towers simply hasn't thought of these. I think it's a bit of a moot point compared to the bigger factors restricting Scarefest – lack of resources and budget (from the budget lords above).

Also I suppose with performers, it depends what you mean by amateaurs. I can't think of an occasion where any actors no matter what their experience would be trained to be 'a carbon copy', theyd be trained to be inventive.

You need to be resiliant and have some skill to not lose all your energy, voice (and sanity!) when you have a constant stream of various guests and you're spending every day for weeks in a loud, dark room. Younger performers will mostly be better at this for energy, but more experienced performers might have better improv and character.

Having said that I've had some incredible and some really naff runthroughs of the same mazes in the same weekend, in the past. So it's also a bit of a gamble sometimes whenever you have live actors.

 

[RoyJess]

I guess you did, although possibly also because the effects weren't timed right. But the mazes have employed lots of differnt kinds of trickery for years.

The kind of thing you're describing is bread and butter stuff for scare mazes and any walkaround really. After 15 years of building them it's not like Alton Towers simply hasn't thought of these. I think it's a bit of a moot point compared to the bigger factors restricting Scarefest – lack of resources and budget (from the budget lords above).

Also I suppose with performers, it depends what you mean by amateaurs. I can't think of an occasion where any actors no matter what their experience would be trained to be 'a carbon copy', theyd be trained to be inventive.

You need to be resiliant and have some skill to not lose all your energy, voice (and sanity!) when you have a constant stream of various guests and you're spending every day for weeks in a loud, dark room. Younger performers will mostly be better at this for energy, but more experienced performers might have better improv and character.

Having said that I've had some incredible and some really naff runthroughs of the same mazes in the same weekend, in the past. So it's also a bit of a gamble sometimes whenever you have live actors.

Thanks for your detail lecture in scare acting, considering that I've friends and family members that do scare acting and I myself have been in the entertainment business since the early 1980's for most of which I was a professional. I'm sure your information will be as much use to me as a bunch of flowers to someone that suffers from hay fever

The bottom line is that your are only as good as your last performance or your last maze run, going by what you are saying, it looks like the scare timing has been out for me for the past 10+ years

 

[Danscott22]

After doing the 4 main mazes yesterday, I must say that I was very, very impressed! For me, AMT, SS, and TW have massively upped their game since last year! My favourite last year was The Welcoming (I've never really understood the slack it gets), this year my favourite was Altonville Mine Tours! Whether its because I was the last person in the group wearing the helmet, and the actors were jumping out at me and then following me I don't know, but it was fantastic! The part where they strobe your helmet light was insane!

Sub Species for me this year was also a lot better than last year, but I must agree with a previous comment in regards to the fact that all the actors seem to do (excluding chainsaw guy and the ones who drag you through the doors at the start), is point you in which direction to go! Nevertheless, I was impressed.

The Welcoming for me was even better than how I enjoyed it last year. I was at the front of the group, and at one time, the gap was so far between me and the person behind that I was the only person in one of the outdoor sections. Fire finale is fantastic, and I honestly thought this was intense for a 12 maze. The amount of jump scares and touching scares I got in here was crazy!

Altonville Mine Tours was absolutely phenomenal, 1000x better than last year for me. Like I've said, maybe it helped that I was at the back of the group, but it really felt like the actors were singling me out which I loved! No lack of actors in this one in particular, which was fantastic, and the bodies section is also great!

Project 42 was the first one I did, and I initially thought it was great, theming is fantastic! Can't tell if drop towers are still there when you walk past the egg or not? I assume they're not? The theatrical makeup in this one is particularly impressive, but my issue with this is that it was by far the shortest maze, and actually ended up being my least favourite. Not saying it was bad, but thinking about them all and comparing them all, it was definitely the weakest.

1. Altonville Mine Tours
2. The Welcoming
3. Sub Species
4. Project 42.... is my personal ranking. One final note to touch on is that every single actor was on top form, and overall much more enjoyable than 2017!

 

[Mikw]

Good for you

I said "Good Luck!" in the quoted post above as my response was to a question about doing the park in a specific order to minimise your queuing whilst visiting during the scarefest and fireworks. These won't be your usual off season quiet dates to visit on The order of ride that that Chlowaa proposed was probably the order that most (not all) guest will be thinking of doing, as well if you post your intended plan of action on here, from my experience, people are like sheep, they will read this forum and then put that order of plan into action then making your plan of action unworkable

The best plan of action is not to follow the crowed

My method these days is Smiler first, get on it before the queue gets unmanageable, got four in rides in just over a hour on my last visit, Then Oblivion. RIta, Thirteen. Wickerman at Lunch, Hex too. Then Runaway Mine train, and finish with Galactica and Nemesis. Galactica (if you do it non VR) has a much shorter queue than advertised. Got on it twice last week in 20 minutes, despite the queue being displayed as 35.

 

[ChristmasPud]

Thanks for your detail lecture in scare acting, considering that I've friends and family members that do scare acting and I myself have been in the entertainment business since the early 1980's for most of which I was a professional. I'm sure your information will be as much use to me as a bunch of flowers to someone that suffers from hay fever

The bottom line is that your are only as good as your last performance or your last maze run, going by what you are saying, it looks like the scare timing has been out for me for the past 10+ years

You are entitled to your opinion, but it's a discussion. I was posting for anyone who happened to be reading, not trying to lecture you.

Im confused as to how you can be such an expert, but not recognise that Alton Towers uses other kinds of basic effects?

You describe triggered sounds and air cannons – these have been in like every maze I've ever tried at Alton Towers. Theyre scare mazes 101. And plenty of fans have noticed stuff like the rat runs for the same actor to scare you multiple times, etc.

I agree not all the mazes are fantastic at the park, but criticise them for something valid at least. Your original post comes across like someone saying 'Ive been a baker 30 years and I can tell you cakes are a bit meh. One baker I know uses bread which is like cakes but not sweet, they should have used that.'

I dont get it. But youre entitled to what you think, I'm just adding to the discussion.

 

[RoyJess]

You are entitled to your opinion, but it's a discussion. I was posting for anyone who happened to be reading, not trying to lecture you.

Im confused as to how you can be such an expert, but not recognise that Alton Towers uses other kinds of basic effects?

You describe triggered sounds and air cannons – these have been in like every maze I've ever tried at Alton Towers. Theyre scare mazes 101. And plenty of fans have noticed stuff like the rat runs for the same actor to scare you multiple times, etc.

I agree not all the mazes are fantastic at the park, but criticise them for something valid at least. Your original post comes across like someone saying 'Ive been a baker 30 years and I can tell you cakes are a bit meh. One baker I know uses bread which is like cakes but not sweet, they should have used that.'

I dont get it. But youre entitled to what you think, I'm just adding to the discussion.

Yes we are all entitled to our own opinions. Roaming entertainers are simply not my type of thing. I've seen too many over the years in my line of work and I just find them meh! That is just my personal opinion. With roaming entertainers, you need to be in the right place and the right time to see them, otherwise you can miss them. I prefer scare zones, you know exactly what time and place they are going to be, so you have the opportunity to either pass through the zone or avoid it. I find the zones also adds great atmosphere to the park.

My original post was all about how you can create scares from using other methods in addition to actors. I've visit several scare attractions each year and I know that there is a lot of various methods (many never seen at Alton) that don't require and actor that can be used to scare the guests.

Also I suppose with performers, it depends what you mean by amateaurs.

One of my local Zoo's put on a scare event where all the scare actors are not professionals, they are simply the zoo keepers


Alton do a great job with the theming of the mazes, the theming are second to none compared to the other scare events that I attend.

Roy

ps..the use of smiles is an indication that my post are tongue in cheek and not to be taken literally or too seriously

 

[Poopoohead]

Is Horror in Penitence still there? That maze was appalling.

Yes still there and still quite average at best. I did enjoy the large scare zone in the Polynesian area though

 

[Britford]

Search for the Ghosts of Mutiny Bay
Captin's Log
1

Arr I started me search like any good pirate ...I asked the poor sod outside the Sea Life
She went into the back and got an internal event schedule, while the Alton Ancestors were listed, The pirates, were not...

Capt'n Britford
Signing out!​

 

[Laura91]

The elusive ghost pirates of mutiny bay

 

[Matt N]

And here we have it... the Scarefest 2018 TV advert:

Sorry to be picky as it is only an advert, but I'm not a huge fan if I'm being honest. Definitely preferred the Smiler and Thirteen Scarefest adverts.
EDIT: Just to clarify, I never meant that I hated it. It's still a good advert, but I didn't like it as much as some of their past ones, if you get what I mean.

 

[Robert.W]

It’s not very “Scarefest-y” to be honest, to me it just screams “we’re reusing all the visuals from the Wicker Man advert ‘cos they was very expensive to make”