Alton Towers Scarefest 2012
Following our visit to Alton Towers on preview weekend (read here) we decided to head back once the event kicked off properly. Subtle changes could be seen thoughout:
The Sanctuary
We loved the Sanctuary on opening weekend and was surprised to see so many little changes had been made in a week. Many of the rooms were darker than before and in places a few extra props had been added to create a tighter more claustrophobic experience.
Over the week the actors have had much more chance to play around in their areas and were even livelier and crazier than before. We even saw a new little metal gizmo that when used by the actors managed to distort their faces into a rictus grin!
After experiencing The Sanctuary - we were treated to an exclusive lights on tour with the shows creator who spent about 45 minutes showing us the attention to detail and story that he has put into the maze. For example - all the portraits on the wall are of real doctors who have experimented with social conformity and it was highlighted how the attraction rooms get smaller and narrower as you go further down, ramping up the tension as it gets more claustrophobic. He also highlighted how all effects are there for a reason - an air cannon is a CO2 canister exploding or the kettle exploding. Nothing in the maze is random and everything has been carefully considered as to how it suits the story. Another interesting discussion was about how much detail went into the Marmalisation scene - with hours and hours of thought and trial to get something that would work and not be like the ill-fated "oven" effect in Terror of The Towers a few years back.
There are many many other stories we can share from this fascinating tour but we just don't have time to repeat everything here!
Over the week the actors have had much more chance to play around in their areas and were even livelier and crazier than before. We even saw a new little metal gizmo that when used by the actors managed to distort their faces into a rictus grin!
After experiencing The Sanctuary - we were treated to an exclusive lights on tour with the shows creator who spent about 45 minutes showing us the attention to detail and story that he has put into the maze. For example - all the portraits on the wall are of real doctors who have experimented with social conformity and it was highlighted how the attraction rooms get smaller and narrower as you go further down, ramping up the tension as it gets more claustrophobic. He also highlighted how all effects are there for a reason - an air cannon is a CO2 canister exploding or the kettle exploding. Nothing in the maze is random and everything has been carefully considered as to how it suits the story. Another interesting discussion was about how much detail went into the Marmalisation scene - with hours and hours of thought and trial to get something that would work and not be like the ill-fated "oven" effect in Terror of The Towers a few years back.
There are many many other stories we can share from this fascinating tour but we just don't have time to repeat everything here!
Unusual entrance to The Sanctuary
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Have you lost your smile? We know where to go!
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Terror of the Towers
Terror of the Towers was virtually untouched from last week. Perhaps the actors seemed a little livelier than before but every trip through had us screaming and laughing in equal measures.
Before the attraction opened - we had another lights on tour which highlighted some of the changes made this year to the ruins maze (the maze entrance is in a different place this year) and amazingly how Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers share a room in places yet there is no noise bleed between the two. The attention to detail is incredible throughout and its a shame that you miss most of it when visiting the attraction when it is running.
Anyone who has experienced Terror of the Towers will know how crazy that final scene is, so we were surprised to see that the maze footprint is actually quite small. The reason those creatures can get around so much are so obvious in daylight but once the strobes are on the whole thing is a scene of pure chaos. To prove that , just as we were leaving the attraction, it was suddenly switched into operating mode. The whole group jumped as the lights disappeared , the strobes came on and the noise kicked off. A fun end to another fascinating tour!
Before the attraction opened - we had another lights on tour which highlighted some of the changes made this year to the ruins maze (the maze entrance is in a different place this year) and amazingly how Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers share a room in places yet there is no noise bleed between the two. The attention to detail is incredible throughout and its a shame that you miss most of it when visiting the attraction when it is running.
Anyone who has experienced Terror of the Towers will know how crazy that final scene is, so we were surprised to see that the maze footprint is actually quite small. The reason those creatures can get around so much are so obvious in daylight but once the strobes are on the whole thing is a scene of pure chaos. To prove that , just as we were leaving the attraction, it was suddenly switched into operating mode. The whole group jumped as the lights disappeared , the strobes came on and the noise kicked off. A fun end to another fascinating tour!
The Terror of the Towers queueline
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Dare you enter Terror of the Towers?
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Carnival of Screams
Carnival has had a number of small changes throughout the attraction but hasnt been abel to rectify some of the issues we encountered previously. The puppet room still fails due to its layout and the attraction is still missing a killer finale. As we stayed later in the park - the outside secrtions of the carnival look incredible and really help to create the tension before entering the maze
Once inside, the clowns were particularly active and had a habit of making multiple appearances and scaring all of us several times. But unless you are terrified of clowns - Carnival is more fun than scary
Once inside, the clowns were particularly active and had a habit of making multiple appearances and scaring all of us several times. But unless you are terrified of clowns - Carnival is more fun than scary
The clowns outside Carnival were great fun
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Carnival fits in perfectly where Zombies Scare Zone was in 2011
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Zombies! scare Zone
Apart from a location change, Zombies remains unchanged from 2011. The same props (such as the bus and the army tent) are in place but we preferred the more twisting path of previous years. Strangely - by not having the tent at the end of the pathway, guests can stand in The Dark Forest section of the park and actually watch some of what's going on. Although fun for watchers and children too scared to go in, it does spoil some of the surprises.
But the joy of Zombies is not about the scenery - but the lively and enthusiastic bunch of actors populating it. With a random mix of school children, cheerleaders and bus drivers, it adds just enough scares for those easily frightened but also offers a chance for younger but more easily scared people to get a scare experience as part of their day at Scarefest. As we said last year - its still not the same as the scare zones in major US theme parks but is fun and entertaining and doesn't have a long queue!
But the joy of Zombies is not about the scenery - but the lively and enthusiastic bunch of actors populating it. With a random mix of school children, cheerleaders and bus drivers, it adds just enough scares for those easily frightened but also offers a chance for younger but more easily scared people to get a scare experience as part of their day at Scarefest. As we said last year - its still not the same as the scare zones in major US theme parks but is fun and entertaining and doesn't have a long queue!
Links:
2011 Scarefest review
2010 Scarefest review
Ten years of Fear feature
Official Alton Towers website - www.alton-towers.com
2011 Scarefest review
2010 Scarefest review
Ten years of Fear feature
Official Alton Towers website - www.alton-towers.com
You Review
Sanctuary - incredibly great theming throughout, the perfect mixture of settings, smells and atmosphere. It would have been terrifying even without the actors there! Went in twice, first time we were the front two of the queue and this really made the experience the best. The actors were on top form.
I found with this maze it was not only what you expect from a scare maze, but found it really interesting and loved how realistic the sets are. I love the eery vintage feel so much and it definitely drew me back to go on again (and again and again if I could have!)
The only thing I think could have been more prominent would be that the theme of 'we'll cut your smile' linked to the smile logo of the sanctuary/sw7 could have been clearer throughout - i had heard reviews of this being the theme and idea behind the experiments on the patients, but it wasn't until our second visit where a doctor told us he'd 'cut us first'. Also the prison style maze at the end could have been a bit longer to give more of a frantic feeling. The first time just the first two of us were separated from the group which made it great, but this didn't happen the second time and certainly could notice the difference in the dramatic effect.
Certainly would love to go on this another ten times if i could so I could truly take everything in. I well and trull fell in love with this maze!
I found with this maze it was not only what you expect from a scare maze, but found it really interesting and loved how realistic the sets are. I love the eery vintage feel so much and it definitely drew me back to go on again (and again and again if I could have!)
The only thing I think could have been more prominent would be that the theme of 'we'll cut your smile' linked to the smile logo of the sanctuary/sw7 could have been clearer throughout - i had heard reviews of this being the theme and idea behind the experiments on the patients, but it wasn't until our second visit where a doctor told us he'd 'cut us first'. Also the prison style maze at the end could have been a bit longer to give more of a frantic feeling. The first time just the first two of us were separated from the group which made it great, but this didn't happen the second time and certainly could notice the difference in the dramatic effect.
Certainly would love to go on this another ten times if i could so I could truly take everything in. I well and trull fell in love with this maze!
You Review 2
queue times are very long, terror of the towers was petrefying
You Review 3
The Sanctuary - from the outset the first videos give you a good sense of a secure hospital environment with the distinctive difference of being in an experimental state. After the briefing by the nurses and doctors which were hard to hear because of the volume of the TVs you get lead into the sanctuary to meet Dr Kelman. after a great little piece we enter the first room with some good effects, actors and some good quality set pieces. You then hit my favourite part of the maze the ward with a lot of jumps and some very very good music. Marmalisation although a novel experience just left me with the feeling of why does this need to be here and just seemed to be a bit pointless and really split the maze itself.then we headed downstairs to what was supposed to be a more chaotic scene with dark passageways, jumps and a chain link finally which separated the group. Unfortunately this maze seemed to be far to similar to Terror of the Towers and really just lacked originality with the exception of the marmalisation room. It produced some scares but needed more originality to stand out as a good addition to Scarefest.
Carnival of Screams - with a change to the music out front, the location of the entrance and the roaming actors including a very small clown, the atmosphere of the area was fantastic. The maze inside had some very good script pieces and starting with being outside then heading inside made this maze very confusing and very bright and comedic. There were some old classic set pieces from back in 2010 which had made a reappearance and some new parts such as a trommel tunnel which unfortunately didn't work very well because of the strobe lighting which counteracted the spinning. There were a good few scares in the maze too with a lot of twists and turns and some very unexpected places where the clowns, spotty men and other folk could be. Over all its a very theatrical and comedic maze and worth a run through but needs to be darker in places
Terror of the Towers - this is a solid attraction every year however its has now been exactly the same every year for the past 4 years and is in need of being changed. The entrance video was changed and was still very well done and looked great but upon entering the maze you encounter the same rooms, the same actors and the same scares. There were a few good scares without a doubt and the final room had a better strobe program than the year before but was shorter and had the same layout as before. Overall a solid maze but needs to now be re-configured, re themed and changed for next season before it starts to loose its scare and thrill.
Zombie scare zone - in its 2nd year it was still thrilling with some fantastic actors and set pieces however with the change of location it has become so big an area it has lost its potency. It seemed that most of the set pieces and hiding spots were fenced off and un-accessible to the actors to use however there was a lot of smoke about which helped with actors jumping out at you from all directions. The zone needs more hiding holes and needs to be in a smaller area but its great for a lighter scare and entertainment.
Carnival of Screams - with a change to the music out front, the location of the entrance and the roaming actors including a very small clown, the atmosphere of the area was fantastic. The maze inside had some very good script pieces and starting with being outside then heading inside made this maze very confusing and very bright and comedic. There were some old classic set pieces from back in 2010 which had made a reappearance and some new parts such as a trommel tunnel which unfortunately didn't work very well because of the strobe lighting which counteracted the spinning. There were a good few scares in the maze too with a lot of twists and turns and some very unexpected places where the clowns, spotty men and other folk could be. Over all its a very theatrical and comedic maze and worth a run through but needs to be darker in places
Terror of the Towers - this is a solid attraction every year however its has now been exactly the same every year for the past 4 years and is in need of being changed. The entrance video was changed and was still very well done and looked great but upon entering the maze you encounter the same rooms, the same actors and the same scares. There were a few good scares without a doubt and the final room had a better strobe program than the year before but was shorter and had the same layout as before. Overall a solid maze but needs to now be re-configured, re themed and changed for next season before it starts to loose its scare and thrill.
Zombie scare zone - in its 2nd year it was still thrilling with some fantastic actors and set pieces however with the change of location it has become so big an area it has lost its potency. It seemed that most of the set pieces and hiding spots were fenced off and un-accessible to the actors to use however there was a lot of smoke about which helped with actors jumping out at you from all directions. The zone needs more hiding holes and needs to be in a smaller area but its great for a lighter scare and entertainment.
You Review - Scare Rooms
The scare rooms are amazing! I have been twice and am going back this year too. The actors are very good and there were a few times when we didn't even realise they were in the room with us! It is quite an expensive attraction, but definitely worth every penny - especially when coupled with the excellent scare mazes in the theme park.
You Review
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