Alton Towers Scarefest 2019

[Coaster Chall YouTube]

Scarefest: Halloween Events 2024 | Alton Towers

Join our 2024 Halloween event: Scarefest at Alton Towers for thrilling fun! Enjoy scare mazes, live shows & spooky attractions for families & horror fans.

www.altontowers.com

We've got two new mazes, House of Monsters and The Welcoming gone, 3 returning mazes, family entertainment and...is it just me or is House of Monsters gone because CCL could get rethemed for 2020??

 

[Lofty]

Shame that HoM has gone because it was quite easily the best thing at Towers. Couldn't care any less if I tried about Sub Species being there, still. It's definitely had its day at the park.

Another thing that absolutely boils my piss is the fact that you still have to pay extra for their scare attractions, but one of them isn't included in the deal. Just include it ffs.

 

[Coaster Chall YouTube]

Shame that HoM has gone because it was quite easily the best thing at Towers. Couldn't care any less if I tried about Sub Species being there, still. It's definitely had its day at the park.

Another thing that absolutely boils my piss is the fact that you still have to pay extra for their scare attractions, but one of them isn't included in the deal. Just include it ffs.

Absolutely agree! The Attic: Terror of the Towers needs to be included and I reckon House of Monsters isn't in because of 2020 or future development...

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Watched some sub species construction last week from high up in the towers, my memory of it last year is hazey, but it seems they are extending the shipping crate / tunnels sections near the end.

 

[JoshC.]

From a purely selfish perspective, I'm glad Sub Species is back since I still haven't done it. I appreciate it's past its best and such, and it's probably time for a change, but yeah, glad I can try it.

The loss of House of Monsters is a crying shame as that was brilliant. Hopefully Darkest Depths is a worthy replacement, but given that almost definitely will be a temporary attraction, I'm not hopefully.

Agree with Lofty about the upcharge system. Just have a package for all 4, and then single maze options. Singling out a 4th, more expensive, maze subconsciously raises expectations, which I highly doubt it justifiable.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

From a purely selfish perspective, I'm glad Sub Species is back since I still haven't done it. I appreciate it's past its best and such, and it's probably time for a change, but yeah, glad I can try it.

The loss of House of Monsters is a crying shame as that was brilliant. Hopefully Darkest Depths is a worthy replacement, but given that almost definitely will be a temporary attraction, I'm not hopefully.

Agree with Lofty about the upcharge system. Just have a package for all 4, and then single maze options. Singling out a 4th, more expensive, maze subconsciously raises expectations, which I highly doubt it justifiable.

Sub Species was still the best maze there last year, by some margin. Don’t want to give you any spoilers you may not have already had, but what happens to the group at the beginning is what still makes the whole experience so intense. Plus it got crazier and crazier as scarefest went on last year.

 

[zazobo]

I think it's a bit of shame that the welcoming has gone, I really enjoyed it. It was very different to the other scare mazes in that it was more atmospheric, less 'BOO' jump scare-y. The themeing/smell pods/fire etc.. made such an immersive experience.

It still shouldn't have been an additional charge to the other mazes though... ridic.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I think it's a bit of shame that the welcoming has gone, I really enjoyed it. It was very different to the other scare mazes in that it was more atmospheric, less 'BOO' jump scare-y. The themeing/smell pods/fire etc.. made such an immersive experience.

It still shouldn't have been an additional charge to the other mazes though... ridic.

As a SCARE maze it was, being nice here, a bit crap... Not in the slightest bit ‘scary.’ Marketed as something else and it was a fantastic experience, lots of effort had gone into the theming, effects and general experience.

 

[zazobo]

As a SCARE maze it was, being nice here, a bit crap... Not in the slightest bit ‘scary.’ Marketed as something else and it was a fantastic experience, lots of effort had gone into the theming, effects and general experience.

That’s a good point, hadn’t really thought about the fact it was called a ‘scare maze’... I’m less bothered about things being scary though, the atmosphere was great.

 

[Lofty]

The term scare maze is just generic termionology - look at the term "haunted attraction" in the USA, most of them aren't themed to ghosts or the paranormal, yet that's how they're refered to. Just take the term scare maze with a pinch of salt.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The term scare maze is just generic termionology - look at the term "haunted attraction" in the USA, most of them aren't themed to ghosts or the paranormal, yet that's how they're refered to. Just take the term scare maze with a pinch of salt.

I get what you’re saying, and it does seem to be the case. But I just think that, if only for the general public’s sake, it should be termed differently. The amount of GP I heard saying the Welcoming was rubbish was far more than any other maze there, yet, as something else, it was decent attraction.

I think the term haunted house would work better here, the term scare maze definitely implies that it should be ‘scary,’ especially to the GP.

 

[Markus.Downhill]

Hi, I’m going to Scarefest Monday 21st or Sunday 20th October, this is during school Holidays but from past experience, which is the best day to go?

 

[Markus.Downhill]

Also what time do the queues start to die down? So I can get some night rides.

 

[witchfinder]

Also what time do the queues start to die down? So I can get some night rides.

On the dates you're thinking of going, pretty much not at all. Certainly the bigger coasters like Wicker Man and The Smiler will be 2 hour queues all night based on past experience. I would imagine the Monday would be slightly quieter than the Sunday but every day will be busy. Here's the queue times for last year to give you an idea:

Alton Towers crowd calendar - October 2018

October 2018 crowd calendar for Alton Towers. View opening times and predicted crowd levels. Find the least busy days to visit.

queue-times.com

I'm actually going on Sunday 20th myself

 

[Markus.Downhill]

Does the website actually know how busy it was each day, or is it a guess?

 

[witchfinder]

Does the website actually know how busy it was each day, or is it a guess?

It's based on the queue times from the Alton Towers app, so it's as accurate as they are (which varies a lot!)

 

[Markus.Downhill]

It's based on the queue times from the Alton Towers app, so it's as accurate as they are (which varies a lot!)

It's based on the queue times from the Alton Towers app, so it's as accurate as they are (which varies a lot!)

Oh ok, so very accurate, I’m gonna use the history for when I go to Florida next year