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Scarefest 2024

Skyscraper said:
They probably decided it was too much work to change all the projections and scenery of the boat ride as it's quite big.
Real shame though tbh.
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It’s a shame, but thinking more about it, turning the existing boat ride into a live action scare attraction would’ve required such a large number of actors due to the amount of scenes that the existing layout has, so I guess it was just not viable from a human resource and cost perspective. I’m now doubting if the ride trough will feature at all, and that they’ll just route the attraction around the rooms instead.

It could then be easily reverted back to being The Dungeons again, if that’s still on the cards.

I’m no fan of intense scare attractions, but I can certainly see why people who are will be disappointed that there’s only really one properly new scare maze this year, and even then, it’s phalanx themed and not a completely new concept.
 
So I’m guessing the layout of Amigos will be largely the same as The Dungeons but with people turning left through the alternate rope corridor after Judge when the Black River was out of operation.

Such a shame to have such a large attractions SBNO, but let’s hope MMM are cooking something up to replace it and not let it sit SBNO for years, again…
 
Bert2theSpark said:
So I’m guessing the layout of Amigos will be largely the same as The Dungeons but with people turning left through the alternate rope corridor after Judge when the Black River was out of operation.

Such a shame to have such a large attractions SBNO, but let’s hope MMM are cooking something up to replace it and not let it sit SBNO for years, again…
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Next on the list after Hex.... and Skyride... and the various flat rides.... and Project Horizon. Definitely after that though.
 
Excalibur said:
Maybe it’s time for them to take a close look at Universals Horror Nights. Forgetting about the IP mazes the universal original mazes are rated some of the best themed out there! And it’s all down to creativity! I don’t understand how Alton are literally pondering or to scared to approach it from a different angle.
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...and money! I'd imagine Universal's budgets are a few quid more than Alton's!
 
Honestly I'm surprise at how a mainstream theme park is able to make their, arguably, most popular event stale when other small scale theme parks such as Tullys shocktoberfest and Xtreme scream park can manage to keep their mazes year on year but still feel fresh?
 
s_g_k said:
Is there any significance to this? Sorry - I don’t follow 🙂
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It demonstrates that the guitar is probably used in the wrestler encounter, and the way the kid plays it is akin to a Bard from DnD casting a spell so it can be inferred that the wrestler probably challenges you to a fight and is defeated by the power of music or something...or maybe I'm reading too much into it...

Also the first scene with the dancing seems to be set in the old surgeon scene judging from all the jars on shelves!
 
Hazza said:
Honestly I'm surprise at how a mainstream theme park is able to make their, arguably, most popular event stale when other small scale theme parks such as Tullys shocktoberfest and Xtreme scream park can manage to keep their mazes year on year but still feel fresh?
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Money!
It isn't exactly the same people every year...
Most people attend every few years.
As you stated, the post popular weeks of the year...
Why spend extra on changes when people turn up regardless.
 
I’ve said this before, but I have a suspicion that a large part of why Scarefest is so panned among enthusiasts these days is down to overfamiliarity rather than the attractions themselves actually being poor quality.

Scare attractions are inherently less “rerideable” than something like, say, a roller coaster due to their reliance on the element of surprise, so enthusiasts who’ve experienced Alton Towers’ current scare attractions multiple times each year for multiple years in a row are bound to get a bit bored of the offering.

But the thing to remember is that most people will not be visiting Scarefest annually, or at very least will not visit Scarefest at the frequency the average Alton Towers enthusiast does. Many people will have never visited Scarefest before, and many others will not have visited for a number of years. To these people, the Alton Towers offering will still pack a lot of novelty and still punch in the same way it always did. Not everyone is an enthusiast who’s been to Scarefest every year and gone long past the point of being bored with Alton’s current scare attractions. Many people will walk into Scarefest as first time visitors or visitors who haven’t been for a few years and will still experience wide-eyed wonder and surprise at Alton Towers’ offering.

As for why Scarefest feels “stale” and independent scare events like Tulley’s and Fear at Avon Valley don’t despite also not changing the mazes, I feel that that again goes back to overfamiliarity. It’s likely that these independent scare parks have far less people who are overly familiar with them in the way that they are maybe overly familiar with Alton Towers’ offering. I could be wrong here, as I kind of check out of the vlogging and trip scene during scare season to an extent, but you don’t seem to get enthusiasts going to Tulley’s or Xtreme Scream Park or Fear at Avon Valley annually in nearly the same quantity as you get enthusiasts going to Scarefest annually.
 
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GaryH said:
What they could do to improve things would be to theme the other areas of the park and not just towers street. The area by Hex used to be heavily themed years back with the blood fountain, Latin writing on the walls, Halloween decs etc.
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I would love to see a picture of this if anyone has one?

I agree they definitely could add more theming to certain areas and they miss a huge opportunity with haunted hollow every year. They don’t need actors but they could bring it to life easily for Halloween with atmospheric smoke, lighting and some of Emily’s “giant toy props” easy replacement for the lighting trail.


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GaryH said:
Perhaps you had a poor run through but I remember it being very atmospheric, walking through the corn late at night with the moon beaming down and people in the corn jumping out/rustling the corn. The crashed car scene, running into the shed with zombies banging the walls all around you, and the finale of the bus and having to all try and jump out the tiny rear emergency door. I doubt from a H&S point of view they could ever do such a scene again.
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I went through it about 10 times over the years it ran, as I say it was atmospheric but it was not in anyway scary, and in those days I was easy to scare.

I really liked the 1st year of Carnival, and the 2nd year of Boiler House (1st year with the Hamble Twins).
 
TBoy535 said:
I agree they definitely could add more theming to certain areas and they miss a huge opportunity with haunted hollow every year. They don’t need actors but they could bring it to life easily for Halloween with atmospheric smoke, lighting and some of Emily’s “giant toy props” easy replacement for the lighting trail.
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Thanks @Nerdsticks for posting those photos. Beat me to it !

Haunted Hollow …. I think it was the first year it opened but they had smoke machines and actors roaming the hollow. You had the gravediggers up towards CoAM who kept in character constantly. You had an undertaker, a female ghost, can’t recall anything further but it was a great fun walk through. They didn’t do it as a scare zone, it was just as it normally is, a walk through but the smoke really added to the atmosphere. Sadly I believe (may be wrong) that an actor as assaulted by travelling folk and they didn’t do it again for subsequent years.

The Live! Attractions were also fun, Duel Live!, Hex Live! This is where they placed actors inside the rides. Duel had some who would scare you from behind a panel, or bang on something just as you passed them. Was simple but added that extra bit of fun to the rides.

Then there were the hotels , with the band and singers who would do a special Halloween set, all dressed up with masks etc and this would go on until late in the evening. Really did make it worth staying on site.
 
Matt N said:
As for why Scarefest feels “stale” and independent scare events like Tulley’s and Fear at Avon Valley don’t despite also not changing the mazes, I feel that that again goes back to overfamiliarity. It’s likely that these independent scare parks have far less people who are overly familiar with them in the way that they are maybe overly familiar with Alton Towers’ offering. I could be wrong here, as I kind of check out of the vlogging and trip scene during scare season to an extent, but you don’t seem to get enthusiasts going to Tulley’s or Xtreme Scream Park or Fear at Avon Valley annually in nearly the same quantity as you get enthusiasts going to Scarefest annually.
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I'd reckon the uptick in scare events across the country means there's far more variety and possible options for those interested in them.

If the parks don't appeal to them (or don't push on why they try new things) then those they're trying to get in the mazes will look elsewhere.

Tully's is offering 12 Haunts, with a ticket that gets you Fastrack for 11 of them for a similar price to Towers' VIP offering (£100-£125 date dependent).

The parks don't have to compete with these events (after all, the rides are also big draws), but stagnation leads to repetition and disinterest. Especially when it costs a decent wedge to do the mazes on top of park entry.
 
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