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Scarefest 2023

Call me stupid but I have yet to do Scarefest given my location and schedule, though given what I'm hearing the last time Scarefest had something good was so long ago that when it was good, the Dead Sea was only feeling sick.

Oh well.
 
I'm still non the wiser what a 'Daz Panic' is, it certainly doesn't seem very Alton Towers. Towers have the best settings of any theme park for Halloween, how many other parks have thier own gothic mansion? They need to stop trying to be down with the kids and make the most of the great location and setting they have. Not having an Emily Alton inspired maze this year is a huge missed opportunity.
 
Nerdsticks said:
Yep, totally jealousy. Nothing quite says Alton Towers like this:

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Daz woz here. Haterz not allowd.
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The tone is just so odd and un-Alton I’m convinced this was meant for Thorpe and has either ended up here by mistake or they noticed how full Thorpe’s offer was and decided to move it here. When was the last time they put something in the hospitality suite?

Burial grounds looks great, and hopefully it stays next year and they add something in for FV.

It’s a shame they can’t get darkest depths into mutiny bay somehow (bus park?).
 
So, I just came out of Daz Games: Panic. First of all, I don't think the Daz Black branding is a problem at all; in fact it's probably the best bit.

I know most people here probably haven't ever watched the guy, but the narrative fit well and made sense. It wasn't shoehorned in. Neither do I think it's particularly out of place, which I know isn't the majority opinion on here.

That being said, the experience is entirely underwhelming. A complete lack of any theming and far too large batches kill pretty much any hope it had. I am also disappointed in actor quality for the most part. There's also some problems with perceptions, as intensity will vary from person to person and I didn't get grabbed or stopped at all. I think I built it up to be more more in-depth in my head.

The worst part is that the original trailer made it look really good and it's just not like that at all..

It suffers greatly from being an up charge on top of the "normal" mazes.

It's not bad, but it's also not good either.
 
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I did opening day yesterday with the wife and kids and had a brilliant day. The last few scarefests have been a bit meh but at least this year there is signs of progress. Burial grounds is brilliant as a free scare zone would love them to do more in the future and the entertainment on the lawn was great fun to relax for a while from the rides. Bianca is obviously helping to push stronger events with the money available to her and to me it shows with the progression this year. Rome wasn't built in a day as they say hats off to towers this year
 
I like that Burial Grounds' reception has been so positive. Hopefully, this will mean that Towers will create more free scare zones in the future.
 
Yalnix said:
That being said, the experience is entirely underwhelming. A complete lack of any theming and far too large batches kill pretty much any hope it had. I am also disappointed in actor quality for the most part. There's also some problems with perceptions, as intensity will vary from person to person and I didn't get grabbed or stopped at all. I think I built it up to be more more in-depth in my head.
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Yeah I agree that anyone expecting high quality theming or a story-led experience will be left disappointed.

I found the large batch of guests to make it more fun, as it was absolute chaos in my run through with so many people running around in a panic. I guess it can vary greatly depending on how many actors you run into and the other guests that are in at the same time.

There's also the fact that if you ace the challenge you can be out in minutes, meaning the £10 you just spent hasn't gone very far...
 
I'm gonna say, I've never experienced a worse set of scare attractions in my life. I'm not going to do an in depth review, but I will say maybe I'm just immune to a certain style of scare mazes now, but not once did I come out of a maze today feeling as though I had been scared.

The Attic is just embarrassing.
Mine Tours is alright but incredibly anti-climatic.
Darkest Depths was underwhelming.
The Invitation, was the one that surprised me after hearing how awful it was last year, it was the only attraction that made me feel unsettled but again the ending is anti-climatic.
Burial Ground was very well done, and a free attraction was very much welcome.
Panic, whilst a good concept, I had completed it in like two minutes unwittingly so again felt like it was a waste of money.

Maze wise the event needs scrapping and starting again.
 
Burner said:
The Attic is just embarrassing.
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That is interesting. It was by far the best of the mazes for me, although being alone at the front without any other people in sight apart from the actors definitely made it much better. I may have got an especially good walkthrough, though. Perhaps you simply don't like suspense scare mazes.
 
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I think if you’ve done the scaremazes of the past (I.e. things like boiler house, sanctuary, terror of the towers blood banquet etc) and then compare them to the mazes now, you can see the difference.

Would the general public notice it though especially those not used to the mazes? Not sure they would. But if someone can complete Panic! In two minutes after paying £10 for the privilege, something isn’t right.
 
Take my views with a pinch of salt, as someone who isn’t into this sort of thing at all, but in terms of why perceptions are differing so drastically, I think scare mazes suffer from two problems compared to a regular attraction like, say, a roller coaster. These are:
  1. They are built for the element of surprise and seemingly lack “rerideability”, if you like. As such, the scare factor won’t be nearly as high on re-runs as it was the first time you did it, as you’ll know where all of the scares are and the element of surprise is gone. With a roller coaster, you will always feel the same forces regardless of whether it’s your first time or your 100th.
  2. They are very inconsistent by virtue of them being entirely people-led; the actors you get, the group you get, or both can make or break a run-through. With a roller coaster, you just don’t have that degree of variation. Yes, they do vary slightly from ride to ride due to weather conditions and such, but if you love Nemesis, it won’t suddenly go from brilliant to rubbish because the temperature has dropped by a few degrees or the wind speed has picked up by a few mph. With a scare maze, on the other hand, the actors you receive can make or break your experience. If you have an absolutely stellar group of actors giving it their all, you will have a drastically different experience to someone who had a slightly less motivated bunch of actors.
 
Based on my experience last year, the mazes themselves aren’t the actual problem (If all these mazes were in their first year I think it’d be a well reviewed lineup) it’s the fact they’ve been left unchanged for so long. I remember doing Mine Tours in opening year when I’d first started uni, I’ve been graduated for 3 years now. 7 years in and it’s only just had a minor refresh, seriously? I remember the halcyon days of mazes lasting 3 or 4 years and getting changes year on year, unthinkable now!
 
It's really odd how different Towers and Thorpe have approached thier offerings. Thorpe has gotten better most years and have new experiences where as Towers seems to stubble around offering the same mazes with weird trend chasing experiences bolted on.

Burial grounds works well because it's takes advantage of the woodland setting next to Wickerman, its well themed and builds on an existing IP owned by Merlin. More of this please Towers, they need to use thier IPs to full effect.
 
If I’m honest this year looks like a placeholder year for scarefest. I’m not saying we will get a full new product next year but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets a big overhaul.

There is only so much the new management can do in one season and Scarefest needs more than a sticking plaster.
 
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