Alton Towers Scarefest 2012
With the departure of The Boiler House, all eyes this year were focused on The Sanctuary, the new maze for 2012. Themed to tie in with the new roller-coaster next year, this mysterious attraction promised something out of the ordinary. We went along on preview weekend to see for ourselves..
One of the biggest things we mentioned in our 2011 review was that the "pay extra" mazes never seemed to be worth the money compared to the incredibly long Terror of the Towers, which is included free with park entry. This year the park have set about to change that, and both Carnival of Screams and The Sanctuary are approximately twice the length of previous mazes. But what were they like inside?.
The Sanctuary

Somehow, remarkably, Alton Towers have managed to keep the content of the Sanctuary a secret. Tied into the new roller-coaster for 2013, the exact storyline and theming inside the maze had not been revealed before opening day. Therefore, as we were one of the first public groups to enter, those ahead of us hadn't had time to complete the course and spill the beans. So in a state of blissful ignorance we lined up for our appointment with the Doctor!
From our first contact through to our final exit the attraction played out like an elaborate film with clearly defined rooms, roles and situations and a self referential storyline. Early warnings NOT to go downstairs were still ringing in our ears as we were forced later in the maze to go down. Like Terror of the Towers, things get worse the further you go and by the time we got to the finale we were all really keen to escape.
The comparison to Terror of The Towers is fitting, as like its sister attraction (they actually share some rooms in the historic building) the attraction plays out over an extended period with some good scares, some quiet moments and a great sense of anticipation and fear of the unknown. Guests are never sure what will be waiting round the next corner and some of the surprises are, to be completely honest, bonkers. And we mean that in a nice way - there is a real sense of silliness at one point that shouldn't work on paper but just does. To say any more would seriously ruin the surprise!
Many people have been expecting the Sanctuary to perform something completely new and different. But in an era where its all about gimmicks such as bags on your heard, crawl through mazes, and a desire to go even more extreme, The Sanctuary goes back to old school techniques . It provides a fascinating story, some great impact scares and long periods of tension and unease, For that, the creative team have to be commended.
On a small negative note, on opening day we had a few sound issues early on with the ambient/background noise drowning out the actors, but once through the main door those niggles were gone. With a week to go until full opening, we expect some of these smaller issues to be addressed.
From our first contact through to our final exit the attraction played out like an elaborate film with clearly defined rooms, roles and situations and a self referential storyline. Early warnings NOT to go downstairs were still ringing in our ears as we were forced later in the maze to go down. Like Terror of the Towers, things get worse the further you go and by the time we got to the finale we were all really keen to escape.
The comparison to Terror of The Towers is fitting, as like its sister attraction (they actually share some rooms in the historic building) the attraction plays out over an extended period with some good scares, some quiet moments and a great sense of anticipation and fear of the unknown. Guests are never sure what will be waiting round the next corner and some of the surprises are, to be completely honest, bonkers. And we mean that in a nice way - there is a real sense of silliness at one point that shouldn't work on paper but just does. To say any more would seriously ruin the surprise!
Many people have been expecting the Sanctuary to perform something completely new and different. But in an era where its all about gimmicks such as bags on your heard, crawl through mazes, and a desire to go even more extreme, The Sanctuary goes back to old school techniques . It provides a fascinating story, some great impact scares and long periods of tension and unease, For that, the creative team have to be commended.
On a small negative note, on opening day we had a few sound issues early on with the ambient/background noise drowning out the actors, but once through the main door those niggles were gone. With a week to go until full opening, we expect some of these smaller issues to be addressed.
Terror of the Towers

Terror of the Towers returns for one more year with the "What lies Within" storyline and apart from a slightly rearranged opening - provides pretty much the same experience as the last couple of years . Due to the need to locate The Sanctuary entrance through the greenhouse, Terror of the Towers has a new temporary entrance and the show starts with an ascent up some stairs. It's not as instant as previous years but by the time you get to the opening scene, the video is probably more threatening than last years and then once through the curtain - it's business as usual.
But saying "business as usual" is paying a massive disservice to Terror of the Towers. It is long, well themed, realistic, full of actors and most of all - scary. Every trip through elicited screams across our whole group and that was long before we even got down into that basement finale.
The finale remains one of the most intense scare experiences in the UK as the crazy actors know exactly how to move around and scare people. The creatures are everywhere at once and utilise the lighting effects perfectly. The route through this scene seems to wind round and round for ever and the attacks from the creatures never let up. For a maze that starts so slowly and quietly it is a wonder of design that the whole thing builds up to this!
But saying "business as usual" is paying a massive disservice to Terror of the Towers. It is long, well themed, realistic, full of actors and most of all - scary. Every trip through elicited screams across our whole group and that was long before we even got down into that basement finale.
The finale remains one of the most intense scare experiences in the UK as the crazy actors know exactly how to move around and scare people. The creatures are everywhere at once and utilise the lighting effects perfectly. The route through this scene seems to wind round and round for ever and the attacks from the creatures never let up. For a maze that starts so slowly and quietly it is a wonder of design that the whole thing builds up to this!
Carnival of Screams

Although some people hate clowns many people love them, so a clown maze has to do something special to be scary to everyone. When Carnival debuted in 2009 over at the hotel, it was a breath of fresh air and offered some fun and original effects. Notable set scenes included the "puppets" corridor, the fortune telling machine and of course that massive gorilla!
When the maze moved on park in 2011, it lost a lot of its freshness and despite the strong acting talent, it never really felt like it was heading anywhere. Therefore this year it was interesting to see the maze in a different location with a much longer route through.
The first part utilises the old Zombie Scarezone area and although adding to the overall running time, these scenes do nothing for the overall story itself. Once inside the main building, it is business as usual but with a few more extra elements to help create the "fun house" vibe. The scenes are all very reminiscent of previous years and nothing particularly new or different stood out. Unfortunately the incredible puppet room had been compromised due to the strange layout and on preview weekend the final scene was seriously lacking any punch.
All in all, the new location is better for the carnival, but compared to Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers, the attraction is the weakest of the three.
When the maze moved on park in 2011, it lost a lot of its freshness and despite the strong acting talent, it never really felt like it was heading anywhere. Therefore this year it was interesting to see the maze in a different location with a much longer route through.
The first part utilises the old Zombie Scarezone area and although adding to the overall running time, these scenes do nothing for the overall story itself. Once inside the main building, it is business as usual but with a few more extra elements to help create the "fun house" vibe. The scenes are all very reminiscent of previous years and nothing particularly new or different stood out. Unfortunately the incredible puppet room had been compromised due to the strange layout and on preview weekend the final scene was seriously lacking any punch.
All in all, the new location is better for the carnival, but compared to Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers, the attraction is the weakest of the three.
Don't forget that we have an exclusive behind the scenes tour of both Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers on Saturday Sept 20th. The trip will cost a £10 donation to Merlins Magic Wand charity and registration closes at midnight on October 15th. Register now
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
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