Alton Towers Room 13 - 2006
It’s always very difficult to write a review of something that you can find no fault with, and as such this review of Room 13 is going to prove very difficult to write. Built in the Emperor suite at the Alton Towers hotel, this temporary 2 week attraction could be the scariest haunted attraction of the 2006 season.
Granted, we were treated to the “late night performance” at 5 in the afternoon but never has a maze had so many concerted big scares with such little to work with. At most the maze has 5 actors and often only 4 but due to the limitations of the room and the way many scenes are squeezed on top of each other, the actors are free to interact with guest from all sides. Many of the actors worked together well with one diverting attention with another coming up behind for a secondary scare.
Most of the scenery is recognisable from the Terror Of the Towers but due to the size restrictions of the conference room, the tunnels seem very claustrophobic and closed in. Coupled with actors reaching through the walls, curtains hanging down, a glut of body bags and other distractions, it all helps to make the maze feel very intimate and therefore scarier.
The acting talent were really getting into the spirit of the event and were clearly relishing the detailed roles that they had been given. This was no jump out and say boo maze but a more theatrical story led attraction where the actors got to ply their skills to guests in a very up close interactive manner. Several of the roles required large speaking parts and it was interesting to see the different spin that different actors put into these parts.
Theming around the maze was top notch from the simple but effective ghostly corridor outside to the detailed mock up of an Alton Towers Hotel bedroom. From this initial start, guests are invited into a scary world of the undead and like something out of a horror movie are invited to step through a magical wardrobe into a world far beyond fear. Be warned though – you wont find the cosy world of Narnia through here!
The thing that must be commended is how big the maze appears to be – the first time through it felt like we were in there for a lifetime and we were very grateful to finally come stumbling out into the light of the Dragon Bar (to much amusement of the patrons who hadn’t even realised what was going on the other side of the door!)
In a way it’s a shame that the maze is only available to Hotel guests but this does mean there is a lower potential audience meaning that groups can be cycled through with a longer lead time. This means the actors have more chance to scare or chase guests, and play out the story that the attraction has created. This unrushed element to the maze is definitely a winner.
All in all – we could find no fault in the maze at all – ok a churlish person might say that the conference room carpet was at odds with the scares surrounding it but personally we found this quite comforting – it was a very good way to keep reminding ourselves that it wasn’t real!
Praise has to go to the talented designers who have created such a wonderful maze cobbled together from a large conference room and some old props lying around the theme park. The actors must also be commended for really throwing themselves into the roles and living the characters they had become. The creative team behind the maze appear to be very proud of what they have achieved and so they should be. Who ever would have expected that one of this year’s most terrifying scares would be found in a hotel conference room in Staffordshire?
Granted, we were treated to the “late night performance” at 5 in the afternoon but never has a maze had so many concerted big scares with such little to work with. At most the maze has 5 actors and often only 4 but due to the limitations of the room and the way many scenes are squeezed on top of each other, the actors are free to interact with guest from all sides. Many of the actors worked together well with one diverting attention with another coming up behind for a secondary scare.
Most of the scenery is recognisable from the Terror Of the Towers but due to the size restrictions of the conference room, the tunnels seem very claustrophobic and closed in. Coupled with actors reaching through the walls, curtains hanging down, a glut of body bags and other distractions, it all helps to make the maze feel very intimate and therefore scarier.
The acting talent were really getting into the spirit of the event and were clearly relishing the detailed roles that they had been given. This was no jump out and say boo maze but a more theatrical story led attraction where the actors got to ply their skills to guests in a very up close interactive manner. Several of the roles required large speaking parts and it was interesting to see the different spin that different actors put into these parts.
Theming around the maze was top notch from the simple but effective ghostly corridor outside to the detailed mock up of an Alton Towers Hotel bedroom. From this initial start, guests are invited into a scary world of the undead and like something out of a horror movie are invited to step through a magical wardrobe into a world far beyond fear. Be warned though – you wont find the cosy world of Narnia through here!
The thing that must be commended is how big the maze appears to be – the first time through it felt like we were in there for a lifetime and we were very grateful to finally come stumbling out into the light of the Dragon Bar (to much amusement of the patrons who hadn’t even realised what was going on the other side of the door!)
In a way it’s a shame that the maze is only available to Hotel guests but this does mean there is a lower potential audience meaning that groups can be cycled through with a longer lead time. This means the actors have more chance to scare or chase guests, and play out the story that the attraction has created. This unrushed element to the maze is definitely a winner.
All in all – we could find no fault in the maze at all – ok a churlish person might say that the conference room carpet was at odds with the scares surrounding it but personally we found this quite comforting – it was a very good way to keep reminding ourselves that it wasn’t real!
Praise has to go to the talented designers who have created such a wonderful maze cobbled together from a large conference room and some old props lying around the theme park. The actors must also be commended for really throwing themselves into the roles and living the characters they had become. The creative team behind the maze appear to be very proud of what they have achieved and so they should be. Who ever would have expected that one of this year’s most terrifying scares would be found in a hotel conference room in Staffordshire?
This review was written by Michael Bolton and originally appeared on Haunted Attractions UK.
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