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Scarefest 2023

Bert2theSpark said:
Also apart from Garden Lights, there seems to be no mention of Alton Ancestors either? Unless I've missed something.
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The full quote from the press release is:
Also returning for 2023 is the family friendly frights line-up of live entertainment including the Alton Ancestors, Freaky Five and CBeebies Land Monster Ball, where little monsters can see their favourite CBeebies Land characters for a special Halloween party.
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So ents wise it's pretty much the same :)
siralgenon said:
Fair do's if it interests others, although the fact it's not Halloween themed in the slightest is disappointing.
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I'm not a fan of the YouTube collab, and I'll reserve full judgment until the attractions is available to experience. But what is a "Halloween theme"? The teaser shows it features scary elements, so to me that still fits the Halloween theme? We'd all be whinging if every maze featured your stereotypical frights with zombies, ghosts or whatever so on one hand I applaud them for doing something different and what appears to be relatively unique and novel.

That said, I do still have concerns about the escalating cost of just doing the mazes at Scarefest. I'm still of the belief that the adult mazes should've been moved to a separately ticketed late night event - much like many of the independent farm places do. They could've captured the superb atmosphere of when the mazes were at the hotels and added F+B options for additional revenue. At least guests feel like they're paying for a rounded out evening of entertainment over paying for single entry to mazes on top of the entrance fee they've already forked out on. I fear they've missed the boat on going all in these days, but it's a shame as they were once leaps and bounds ahead of their competitors.

The lineup is certainly an improvement on what we initially believed to be happening, but I'm interested to see what (if anything) they do with The Invitation considering the general panning that it got last year...
 
I have mixed thoughts on the lineup this year, but I will firstly say this is an improvement from last year.

I actually like the concept of the Daz attraction. Undoutably strange, sure, (I said WHAT out loud when I saw the tweet :tearsofjoy:), but I think some are getting the wrong idea of it being "Daz Games: The Scare Maze". I hope Daz does not get hate for this, you can't blame him for taking such a cool oppurtunity. It doesn't come off as cheap or lazy to me, I feel that Daz cares about creating a good experience. Pushing his name as much as they are is definitely a good move to bring in numbers as he has millions of subscribers, (though I agree it would have worked better at Thorpe), but overall a scare escape room is a cool idea for a paid extra imo.

I don't think the scare zone will be anything very scary, but it's a step in the right direction and good sign for the future. But is it strange the scare zone wasn't based in Forbidden Valley or Gloomy Woods.

Removing the family attractions was a poor move to me. Trick'O'Treat town was very overpriced and could be done without, but the Garden Lights Walk? It was a great free option for families and enthusiasts alike.

EDIT: I have just seen that Trick'O'Trick Town is in fact returning, My mistake.
 
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Think I'm most excited about Burial Grounds as I've never done a scare zone before (my first SF was 2019), but the more I think about PANIC the more it intrigues me. Will probably give it a go to see what it's like.

To recap, though, we have;

The Invitation (returning)
Darkest Depths (returning)
The Attic (returning)
Altonville Mine Tours: Tiny's Revenge (reimagined)
Trick o Treat Town (returning)
Daz Games: Panic (new)
Burial Grounds (new).

I think this might be the biggest lineup we've had for a few years now, even though it's not the most exciting.
 
Morgan Price said:
Markings up at Forbidden Valley by N:ST. I’m still convinced that we’re getting a Phalanx / Nemesis scare zone that hasn’t been announced yet.


From: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwr4qTGMHFr/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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As much as I'd love that, I'm not convinced. I think it's more likely to be for some sort of theming piece.

Also, the technology for PANIC is being provided by CONDUCTR, who did many of the effects for TCAAM.


From: https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/posts/pfbid02KMMapCfSv9GrsKAa4vfZTQiWZ7Tym8D9dyLrPRH42sXMXJ6yDPzDnaUSqMoxo2Sfl?locale=en_GB
 
This is the first scarefest we’re doing since 2018, and I am so disappointed that AVMT is STILL apart of the line up. Granted, it is reimagined, but I still find it disappointing that it’s sticking around. However, someone did make a good point that TOTT has been reimagined a few times and is different, so I’ll hold out hope for that.

As someone who is of the youtube age, even I have no clue idea who Daz is, and I am shocked that AT has gone for an attraction which is out of its comfort zone, like many have said it’s a Thorpe based idea, but maybe it’s been successful there which is why AT have decided to incorporate?

Regardless, I am looking forward to returning, although I am disappointed they haven’t been able to recreate a Sub species type maze, as I’ll never get over the feeling I felt when first finishing that maze!
 
youngqueenvic said:
I am shocked that AT has gone for an attraction which is out of its comfort zone, like many have said it’s a Thorpe based idea, but maybe it’s been successful there which is why AT have decided to incorporate?
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I don't know if Alton towers still has the creativity they had before, I feel like that's why they're clinging onto the attic, darkest depths and AVMT because they don't have the budget or creativity that they have had before I mean think about everything we've had since like toxic junkyard and the invitation, there's a clear skill or big money issue.

Please towers scrap festival of thrills maybe even Mardi gras and focus on just Oktoberfest, scarefest and fireworks.

The scare zone is the biggest improvement we've seen for this year's line up but the fact there's still not a new maze and no gardens light walk and they replaced that with a 7 minute escape room YouTube gamer edition, I'm probably gonna give this one a miss and stick to fright nights.
 
Skyscraper said:
As much as I'd love that, I'm not convinced. I think it's more likely to be for some sort of theming piece.

Also, the technology for PANIC is being provided by CONDUCTR, who did many of the effects for TCAAM.


From: https://www.facebook.com/towerstimes/posts/pfbid02KMMapCfSv9GrsKAa4vfZTQiWZ7Tym8D9dyLrPRH42sXMXJ6yDPzDnaUSqMoxo2Sfl?locale=en_GB
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Also worth noting that one of the founders of CONDUCTR, was also responsible for designing many of the classic AT Scare Mazes such as the Carnival of Screams, The Sanctuary and Sub Species!
 
I have a baseless theory!
You know how Last year, Thorpe swapped The Invitation for The Terminal as a favour for Alton, what if this is a return favour where they have swapped Alton's new maze, Stitches(which seems very alton-like), for Thorpe's Daz Games(need i say more)?

It would explain a lot at least...
 
Britford said:
I have a baseless theory!
You know how Last year, Thorpe swapped The Invitation for The Terminal as a favour for Alton, what if this is a return favour where they have swapped Alton's new maze, Stitches(which seems very alton-like), for Thorpe's Daz Games(need i say more)?

It would explain a lot at least...
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Where did you hear that that happened last year? I haven't heard about that rumour?
 
Hazza said:
Where did you hear that that happened last year? I haven't heard about that rumour?
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I'm pretty sure I heard it either on this forum or from a TPWW video, supposedly they did it because Terminal was the worse of the two and Alton's lineup was particularly dire last year.
Ummmm... I just looked at my post history, and that was a theory I had last year...oops...
 
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I’m gutted the garden light trail will not be going ahead. It had so much room for expansion and upgrades, and was beautifully unique for towers. Utilising there gardens it was literally there USP.

Such a shame they could of added so many props to enhance it further you know like the boat with the figure in, floating pumpkins around the pagoda fountain, spinning Manikins dressed as ghosts dancing in the conservatory’s, the magical playing piano from the enchanted Tipi tent could be set in that wonderful garden Canapoy as well as much more projector mapping to make statues come to live! The possibilities are endless. This doesn’t require much of the budget just simple creativity, unfortunately they just didn’t bother and they missed a huge opportunity to expand further here I believe.

Every year they seem to completely miss utilising “Haunted Hollow” for Halloween, just baffles me to be honest. It would be so easy to add a few smoke machines, lights and some extra props to bring that walk alive for scarefest and market it as a new addition. They could of even named it “Emily’s trail” or something and add a few dolls etc.

I can’t seem to decide if it’s simply budgets or lost passion/creativity due to ongoing budgets?
 
TroySmith1 said:
I can’t seem to decide if it’s simply budgets or lost passion/creativity due to ongoing budgets?
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I'd imagine its the latter - although probably no lost passion or creativity just not enough budget. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some frustration amongst the entertainment team and other staff that Garden Lights isn't on this year. My guess is that some or all of the equipment used in the Garden Lights is needed in this new Gaz Maze (Gaze?!) - basically not enough equipment to go round all the scare attractions.
 
They had troubles in Haunted Hollow a few years back with the travellers. I believe some props got damaged/stolen and an actor attacked. Since then they haven’t don’t anything with this area at Scarefest.

I’d imagine it’s due to needing quite a lot of security staff to monitor the pathways rather than a lack of creativity. It’s much easier to monitor a confined small scare zone than a long pathway.
 
Also doesn’t the garden lights trail use the same lighting package for Christmas. Assuming this also isn’t going ahead then, Is Lightopia confirmed?


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TroySmith1 said:
Also doesn’t the garden lights trail use the same lighting package for Christmas. Assuming this also isn’t going ahead then, Is Lightopia confirmed?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Lightopia went bust earlier this year. The Santa Sleepover packages went on sale a few weeks back with zero mention of any Lightopia style replacement or gardens lighting at all. Therefore it appears this has been scrapped.

It could well have been that the business case for Garden Lights Walk and the time and money needed to install it etc was based on it being used for both Halloween and Christmas. If the Christmas side of it is no longer going ahead, it could have been deemed too resource heavy just for Scarefest.
 
Thanks for clarifying and that would make a lot of sense. Just a shame overall and for those inflatables which Alton Towers personalised just for the park.
 
I mentioned previously that I was returning to scarefest after 5 years, which means I haven’t done The Attic, Darkest depths or The Invitation. Can someone please let me know if they are worth the money and experience? I know there have been several complaints about them becoming stale, but I’ve never done them so I wouldn’t know! thanks :)
 
youngqueenvic said:
I mentioned previously that I was returning to scarefest after 5 years, which means I haven’t done The Attic, Darkest depths or The Invitation. Can someone please let me know if they are worth the money and experience? I know there have been several complaints about them becoming stale, but I’ve never done them so I wouldn’t know! thanks :)
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Yes, if you have never done them and don't know what to expect, they are worth it (well The Invitation is questionable based on last year). As TPWW Shawn said on his live video about them the other day, the complaint isn't about the mazes themselves as they are superb: good stories, very well themed, great actors and interaction etc, it's just that they're the same ones that have been there for a number of years.
 
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