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Scarefest 2024

I would argue that Wickerman is a very strong ride for it's family niche - the theme, the layout's unique use of elevation, queueline and preshow are all very good and aren't seen in other parks as often as people realise. Any discussions on whether this makes it "world class" or whether or not people would travel for it ultimately need to consider that this is a family coaster - I don't think anyone here is necessarily saying that it stands up to the RMC coasters of the world.
 
AT86 said:
Amigos is not what I was expecting at all and I don't know if I went in with high expectations but it was pretty cringe in my opinion but maybe I'm just boring 🤣
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Is that the family one? Is it an up-charge or just something you can go and do at anytime?
 
I’m probably going to be visiting in a couple of weeks, and feel like I ought to try some of the scarefest attractions out. Not being keen on physical contact or sudden scares (being autistic), I’m assuming the two spook attractions will suit me. Can anyone provide details (in a spoiler, of course) as to what I can expect? (I’m guessing that there won’t be any videos on YouTube unlike rides)
 
Dan12345 said:
I’m probably going to be visiting in a couple of weeks, and feel like I ought to try some of the scarefest attractions out. Not being keen on physical contact or sudden scares (being autistic), I’m assuming the two spook attractions will suit me. Can anyone provide details (in a spoiler, of course) as to what I can expect? (I’m guessing that there won’t be any videos on YouTube unlike rides)
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The actors in the spook attractions will not touch you 😊
 
Honestly thought Compound was incredibly Mid. Actors were so passive, didn’t touch me or tell me to go any certain way. Some didn’t even speak to me at all.

Disappointed after all the hype.

Free Flow Merlin Mazes just aren’t very good
 
As well as Compound, I did The Attic, which I really enjoyed last year, with @Alix. Although it was still decent, it was nowhere near as good as last year, when I certainly got lucky. Burial Grounds was still good for its intended purpose.
@Bowser: Burial Grounds is free.
 
Let’s talk about Scarefest. An event I think was all around executed very well. Today was a lot of fun, Attic felt a lot more intense than last year, and I appreciate what they tried with Amigos. Ultimately I think the kids really enjoyed it more than us!
 
Just on my way home from my first scarefest in 6 years (I think).

Compound = Great new maze - my run through felt quite short but very much like sub species!

The Attic was pretty decent and had a fair amount of actors in there.

Mine Tours was okay I guess but yeah that needs to go now imo.

Daz Games - Now quite controversial but I really enjoy this! I find it so fun looking for the symbols and trying to beat each other's times etc...yes the themeing is bare minimum unfortunately but you don't have time to take in theming anyway! You now only have 6 minutes to escape compared to last years 7.

TrickO Treat Town was great too - we found it quite fun (2 adults) and got 15 bags of sweets each!

Amigos was just not my cup of tea but I guess it is good for the little ones!

I do miss the added themeing around the park though like the skeletons on oblivions drop and on the rapid boats!

But overall I really enjoyed it and hope to convince the other half to come back next week!
 
I’ve removed and edited a very large number of posts that are not directly related to Scarefest. This had been done a little crudely due to the sheer number of posts, so apologies if some on topic information was removed.

Unfortunately, conversation had delved into personal opinions about creators and/or discussion about the validity of those opinions. This is well off topic about Scarefest, and not what this topic should be used for.

Obviously being the first week there’s going to be a lot of vlogs etc about the event. If you’d like to post videos, they should only be posted if they show new information that hasn’t already been covered. We discuss this in our post in Guest Services on embedding videos.

If you want to criticise the creator’s views, then please use their own avenues for feedback and discussion - for example their own comments section on Youtube.

TowersStreet is not the place for you to bitch and moan about certain creators - and it certainly isn’t somewhere to chuck around random accusations or rumours. As we mention in our Member Expectations:
Just like our own members, we think other communities out there and their members should be treated how you’d like to be treated by them in return – courteously and respectfully. After all, we all share the same passion of loving theme parks and rides, we just all have a different way of showing it.

And that’s why we ask you to remain respectful and courteous towards other communities whilst on our forums, across our social media, or even on meet ups. Of course we know there will be discussion and perhaps even praise or criticism for others thoughts, ideas and ways – but we ask you to remain respectful and rational, otherwise you may see your posting rights affected again… and we really dislike doing that too, as it happens.

Just remember – treat people how you’d like to be treated, and you (hopefully!) shouldn’t go wrong!
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Bowser said:
Are the age restrictions adhered to or is that more at the parents discretion, especially seeing as children don't typically have identification...
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I saw a small lad, maybe 7/8 in the queue for the attic. He was in the group before us so I’ve no idea how he coped.

Generally on Scarefest though, I discovered I just don’t “get” scare mazes. I did burial grounds, the attic, trick o treat town and Amigoes.

Trick o treat town was the best paid thing we did - it was the right level of jump scare for Chimp (who is 13 but leaps out of her skin very easily). Amigoes was just dreadful, very pretty sets, nice idea to have an attraction for younger kids but the story was just poor and cringe worthy in places,

Burial grounds was fine - Chimp managed just about, although her cunning plan of saying firmly “no thank you” to actors who got too close didn’t really work. I only had to get involved once when a machete wielding “unchosen” blocked chimp’s path and she didn’t know what to do.

Did the attic with @Zeock and was just non plussed by the whole thing. Yep it’s spooky with restricted vision and there’s a story about a governess who’s beaten to death (I don’t think that’s a spoiler?) but the premise of paying money for people to jump out at me and say various versions of “boo” just doesn’t bring me joy. Or fear. Or anything really except a £12 hole in my pocket.

Discussing with our group before and after I think it’s just one of those things I’m not going to enjoy. Anyone telling me to crawl or bark like a dog (things I’ve heard happen in other mazes) will be given short shrift as I’m far too old for that crap, and I really don’t see any attraction in being grabbed, licked or generally bothered.

Night rides will be the way forward I think.

(Disclaimer before anyone says, oh you just need to try such and such maze - Obviously if mazes are for you then that’s great, I’m not looking to be convinced)
 
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Alix said:
I saw a small lad, maybe 7/8 in the queue for the attic. He was in the group before us so I’ve no idea how he coped.

Generally on Scarefest though, I discovered I just don’t “get” scare mazes. I did burial grounds, the attic, trick o treat town and Amigoes.

Trick o treat town was the best paid thing we did - it was the right level of jump scare for Chimp (who is 12 but leaps out of her skin very easily). Amigoes was just dreadful, very pretty sets, nice idea to have an attraction for younger kids but the story was just poor and cringe worthy in places,

Burial grounds was fine - Chimp managed just about, although her cunning plan of saying firmly “no thank you” to actors who got too close didn’t really work. I only had to get involved once when a machete wielding “unchosen” blocked chimp’s path and she didn’t know what to do.

Did the attic with @Zeock and was just non plussed by the whole thing. Yep it’s spooky with restricted vision and there’s a story about a governess who’s beaten to death (I don’t think that’s a spoiler?) but the premise of paying money for people to jump out at me and say various versions of “boo” just doesn’t bring me joy. Or fear. Or anything really except a £12 hole in my pocket.

Discussing with our group before and after I think it’s just one of those things I’m not going to enjoy. Anyone telling me to crawl or bark like a dog (things I’ve heard happen in other mazes) will be given short shrift as I’m far too old for that crap, and I really don’t see any attraction in being grabbed, licked or generally bothered.

Night rides will be the way forward I think.

(Disclaimer before anyone says, oh you just need to try such and such maze - Obviously if mazes are for you then that’s great, I’m not looking to be convinced)
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I did two of AT's scare mazes last year (Darkest Depths and Altonville Mine Tours) and like you I think it's just concept that's not really for me. I find people leaping out at me more awkward rather than scary and I guess in the context of a scare maze you're expecting it anyway. I might have been able to get behind an attraction with a dark, sinister story that develops as you go through the maze but that's not really how they work - at least for the two I did there was a very basic premise and then some jump scares. I quite enjoyed Burial Grounds but I think that was more appreciation of the lighting, theming and atmospheric effects - plus the fact that it was free.

I might try a couple of the Thorpe mazes at Fright Nights to see if a slightly edgier, darker theme does anything more for me - I certainly won't be doing survival games though!
 
Alix said:
I saw a small lad, maybe 7/8 in the queue for the attic. He was in the group before us so I’ve no idea how he coped.

Generally on Scarefest though, I discovered I just don’t “get” scare mazes. I did burial grounds, the attic, trick o treat town and Amigoes.

Trick o treat town was the best paid thing we did - it was the right level of jump scare for Chimp (who is 13 but leaps out of her skin very easily). Amigoes was just dreadful, very pretty sets, nice idea to have an attraction for younger kids but the story was just poor and cringe worthy in places,

Burial grounds was fine - Chimp managed just about, although her cunning plan of saying firmly “no thank you” to actors who got too close didn’t really work. I only had to get involved once when a machete wielding “unchosen” blocked chimp’s path and she didn’t know what to do.

Did the attic with @Zeock and was just non plussed by the whole thing. Yep it’s spooky with restricted vision and there’s a story about a governess who’s beaten to death (I don’t think that’s a spoiler?) but the premise of paying money for people to jump out at me and say various versions of “boo” just doesn’t bring me joy. Or fear. Or anything really except a £12 hole in my pocket.

Discussing with our group before and after I think it’s just one of those things I’m not going to enjoy. Anyone telling me to crawl or bark like a dog (things I’ve heard happen in other mazes) will be given short shrift as I’m far too old for that crap, and I really don’t see any attraction in being grabbed, licked or generally bothered.

Night rides will be the way forward I think.

(Disclaimer before anyone says, oh you just need to try such and such maze - Obviously if mazes are for you then that’s great, I’m not looking to be convinced)
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I admittedly haven’t done any scare mazes myself, but I’ve felt enough anxiety around the roaming actors in the plazas and been jumpy enough in things like Alton Manor to know that they aren’t for me and don’t appeal to me.

By the sounds of things, I probably have more in common with your daughter in that regard than you @Alix (and I should say that she’s braver than me to have been in any scare attractions at all!), but you certainly aren’t the only one who doesn’t “get” scare attractions (albeit I have different reasons to you). I largely steer clear of the parks at this time of year for that very reason.
 
I find the mazes that rely heavily on people going boo or being overly touchy kinda boring (survival games), I don't find it scary or that entertaining. However the better themed ones with some storytelling are awesome. Currently Stitches at Thorpe is pretty cool because of all the environmental story telling and fun but gruesome concepts. The Sanctuary was very cool back in the day as it tied into the forthcoming Smiler story but was a bit more intense in it's theming. I think the stronger ones feel more like exploring a haunted house with the odd boo, rather that a dude with a fake axe screaming at me.
 
I been going to Scarefest on and off since it started. I did the scare mazes when they were free but can see both sides of the story. Like I paid to go on the 27th but I’m just gonna do the scare zone, watch the entertainment and ride our favourite rides in the dark.
Can see a good % of guests/vloggers using the mazes been Alton Towers or Merlin pass holders and they gonna say what’s good/bad about the event.
Looking back for me the strongest line up of non paid maze was 2010 or 11 when you had actors In Duel, Hex and actors walking around the dark forest and between the queue lines.
 
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