Alton Towers Scarefest/Thorpe Park Fright Nights

[silenthillXD]

The lineup for both of the main Merlin halloween events have been announced!

Alton Towers

. Terror of The Towers What Lies Beneath - Is back for another year, presumably unchanged
. The Sanctuary - Surprisingly back, even though Doctor Kelman has signed off. Apparently it will have a "new twist" to it.
. Zombies Scarezone
. (New for 2014) Scary Tales Scarezone - "Once upon a time there was a tortured mind, which in the darkness was left to unwind. Re-writing stories to make nightmares come true, the only character missing…is you!"

http://www.altontowers.com/scarefest/ha ... -days-out/

Thorpe Park

. Saw Alive
. My Bloody Valentine
. Blair Witch
. Cabin in the Woods

(This next maze hasn't officially been confirmed yet, but has been leaked via the same sources which leaked Scary Tales earlier)

. Studio 13 - "Celebrating 13 year’s of Fright Nights, Studio 13 invites visitors to take a tour of a live movie studio where you’ll get to see behind the scenes of some of the latest productions, however all is not as it seems as you realise you’re the star of a chilling and terrifying new snuff film"

I must admit, I am excited that Alton are changing the Sanctuary, and the Scary Tales theme is one I have wanted to see for ages, but I hate the fact it's a scare zone, rather than a maze. It's also a major disappointment they're dragging on Terror of the Towers for yet another year.

Thorpe, I am not surprised they have kept the mazes, and I expect minimal changes to them. Studio 13 sounds really intriguing! They've confirmed it's a unique experience and it will be in the same location where the Asylum was! (There should be more news on this later as it's still yet to be announced)

"Celebrating 13 year’s of Fright Nights, Studio 13 invites visitors to take a tour of a live movie studio where you’ll get to see behind the scenes of some of the latest productions, however all is not as it seems as you realise you’re the star of a chilling and terrifying new snuff film"

What does everyone else think?

I haven't heard much from Chessington's Howl'o'ween, but apparently it's Hocus Pocus, Haunting in the Hollows and a new experience in the Market Square area.

For anyone interested, my source is: https://www.facebook.com/ScareTOUR?fref=ts (They're very reliable with this sort of thing)

 

[Serena]

I'm surprised Thorpe Park didn't base their new maze on a Lionsgate film to tie in with the others. Either way, glad to see The Asylum go - it was losing impact. (I kinda hope they re-use it's amazing theme music somewhere else on park though!)

I like the idea of Studio 13, sounds as though it could be quite immersive.

Disappointed with the Alton Towers line up, probably won't bother going now. I would much rather a new maze than a new scare zone, especially when there was nothing new last year. 2 scare mazes seems really minimal to me, they usually have at least 3.

Quite sad to see Carnival go, I always thought it was the best one.

I think Alton's fairy tale scare zone could work well if it's done similarly to Vampire: Haunting in the Hollow - with actors telling you a story rather than just jumping out at you.

 

[silenthillXD]

Yeah completely agree with everything you've just said! I love your idea of the Fairy Tale scare zone being story based, that would literally make me forget how annoyed I am that it's a scare zone rather than a maze. I must admit, I am rather worried about the scare zone already, where's it going? I am sure Zombies is staying in the same place as the last two years, and the old carnival site doesn't look like it's being worked on. I know how unlikely this is, but wouldn't it be amazing if it was in the gardens!

Studio 13 looks awesome! They've confirmed it now, and the promo art looks interesting. I am kinda worried though, I heard rumours ages back, that Thorpe was bringing in a museum like attraction of their past mazes. The fact Thorpe keep mentioning that this maze is in celebration of their 13 years has me worried this could be that rumour exactly, all their past mazes mashed together. Admitedly the rumour came from your average goon, so was probably 100% speculation, but still, it's something I can see Thorpe doing to save on money. *Looks at the Dead End scare zone which used old props too*

 

[Lofty]

I personally think that Scarefest is a much stronger event than Fright Nights. I can't actually put into words how disheartened and completely underwhelmed I felt when leaving Fright Nights, it was just completely flat and truly lacked any atmosphere whatsoever. Scarefest always seems to maintain that feeling of atmosphere and I've always enjoyed visiting - the scare attractions are actually much higher production value than Fright Nights too. I'll be taking my annual trip to Scarefest, but won't be bothering with Fright Nights.

 

[Martyn B]

^ Whilst I haven't been to Scarefest for many years, I completely agree with your Fright Nights comment.

Frighy Nights in 2006 (circus of horrors etc) was amazing, yet last years was just a complete disappointment. Like you said, no atmosphere at all. You wouldn't have even know it was FN until you approached a maze.

 

[silenthillXD]

Just a quick update on the Scary Tales scare zone, Alton surprisingly just answered my question on facebook as to where it is! Unsurprisingly it's "Next to Sonic Spinball" which I am assuming means the old Carnival of Screams outside route. I must say I am mildly disappointed, as that means it's uber short...

 

[Ethan]

^ They already said it was replacing Carnival of Screams on the site though? I'm confused.

 

[silenthillXD]

Oh ha! I just assumed that meant in the line-up not location.

 

[Lofty]

The location is where Carnival of Screams was. This site was also where the original Zombies Scare Zone was located. The original took around 1-2 minutes to get through and to be fair, was much better than it is now...