My first Scarefest and I enjoyed myself quite considerably.

I was kind of expecting more people to be in dressup while I was there but I did have some fun walking round and spending the day as a zombie covered in blood and made for some interesting encounters in the queues and especially with the staff in the Mine Tours.

After taking my mum to AT as a treat in the summer she loved the experience so much she asked to go to Scarefest so I decided to treat her and my step dad to the whole show including the mazes and a set of gold passes for them so they were able to do any of the rides at their own pace while I went the whole hog and got myself a platinum pass which ended up been very nice to just go mad on the rides all day with no limitations.

Nice early start giving us plenty of time to apply all the latex, paint and blood all over us with a nice 40 min drive to the park we got on the Monorail at around 9am got to the main gates got all the tickets and passes only to find the gates during Scarefest don't open till 9:30 but that was not that much of an issue. Got in and started on my standard anti clockwise run around the park so right over to Smiler as the 1st ride, they wanted to save there FT on there for a dark run later on in the day we all just queued up in the normal que and got on around 10am which was not too bad, we then FT oblivion together and my SD was not feeling the best so we decided to skip over Spinball for a bit and headed over to Hex which was rammed at 10 in the morning which was strange so we carried on over to Dark Forest.
We went on Th13teen first and I just flashed my platinum pass and we all walked on (bonus).

We then did Rita and did the same thing flashing my platinum band and we all walked on (that was the last time that trick worked) After that they decided to have a break as they were not feeling 100% and they decided to have a walk about change makeup and get some food so I headed out on my own for an hour. I was able to cram in a Rita, 13, Smiler, Oblivion, Smiler in around 55 minutes and then met up with them in Katanga Canyon for a quick sandwich and a nice chill ride on the Rapids.

We then walked over to Forbidden Valley for a nice ride on Air (sorry but Galacticas VR is garbage) then a nice ride on Nemesis. It was now coming up to our time slot for the mazes. Cable car station was rammed so we had a nice chill walk over to the Towers the long way round and went on the Haunted House (we skipped the dumb laser game and just went on for the ride….) It was not too bad. Just a shame some of the really old effects are still not working but with a few more tweaks this could be a perfectly fine ride for 2019.

We came out to be greeted by the Alton Ancestors doing a show so we watched that for a bit before heading to the towers.


Sub Species - The End Games:
Going into the scare mazes I was a bit you could say scaree not knowing what to expect but after about 2 mins in I was really enjoying them.
Pre show instructions, I think we picked the perfect time to go as the group we were in only had 6-7 people which i think was perfect. After getting us all lined up and one of the staff members running up and screaming take your hood down in my face (which i immediately did lol) and setting the ground rules for the mazes they ordered us into the building and split us all up dragging us into different positions which was quite exciting then having a door randomly open behind me and getting dragged backwards that was the last time I saw anyone from my party alive.
Having not been in any other scare mazes i have nothing to compare it to but i thoroughly enjoyed it and came out with a massive smile on my face when I finally got to the end passed the crazed lunatic with the chainsaw. Then a few minutes later my SD came out looking like he also had a fun time…. Then we waited… and waited.
Almost 8 minutes then my mum came running out been chased by the chainsaw guy with a massive smile on her face. Her story was a funny one.

She had got totally lost in the follow the rope section and ended up going backwards to almost the start of the maze, a couple of staff members had found her going the wrong way pushed her into a corner looked at her face with all the facepaint on and said “your a funny looking creature” and proceed to hold her there taunting her and said she could not leave till she baa baaed like a sheep, She said with a laff no, they said well you're not going and continued to scaree her till she did it (she finally did lol) and they directed her in the right direction. She made her way back thu the rope section with a staff member semmi pushing her in the right direction and then went on to the next section of the maze.. She then crawled thu one of the pipes and made her way to right at the end (were the chainsaw guy is) but before seeing him she sees a sign saying “there's no way out” so she thinks she has gone the wrong way again and turns back into the maze and then ends up back at the sign after a bit of time and some random pushing from some staff members and then gets chased out to the end…..

We all enjoyed this maze very much (my mum the most because of her random experience) and then proceeded down to…

Altonville Mine Tours - The Legend of the skin snatchers:
A nice walk round the back of the towers had our tickets scanned and was told to wait. staff members were prob waiting for more people to come but after a couple of minutes (no one else came) they showed us round to were you get your helmets.me and my SD was given a helmet each but my mum didn't… she was not happy not having a light and the staff member was super nice but it was part of the whole show we guessed so my mum just stole mine. We then were shown to the 1st of the actors and we all started laughing when he started talking in his southern redneck accent, he went thru the maze rules and then gave us some of the backstory… he also looked at me and said “you look just like my sister” which got a good laugh and he led us down into the mine… and to his sister… we were laughing so much at this point and we could tell she was having to really try not to break character but she did a good job gave us some more back story and made loads of comments about the way we looked…. And how we would fit right in down there because we were all beautiful (the costumes we had on) she then led us to the start of the maze and we proceed in. the helmet was not really the right size for my mum and when she found out the lights on the helmet were part of the show and was not really that useful i ended up with it again. With us the only people in the whole place we definitely got a top show and all in all was very enjoyable and again my mum got the brunt of a lot of the actors with her skull makeup and costume vs mine and SD’s zombie costumes.
We did not understand the end with the gun and that happens all to fast but other than that was fun.

Then we headed over to Mutiny Bay to get the cable car over to Forbidden Vally and onto

Project 42:
We got into the line and followed the staff members very random instructions before he showed us into the pre show area.
I missed half of the pre show vid as I walked right passed the point where the screen was not knowing we had to stop there but got the story about having to try to find someone in the maze or something…  
Now one of the parts near the beginning were you have to squeeze though (an air lock thing) expecting a zombie or something on the other side but we all said we were sort of disappointed there was not a scare right then. Anyway we all got split up and we all made our way through. Now I cannot comment that much on this one because I don’t remember hardly anything about it, after going through the other 2 mazes and remembering loads of elements of them the only 2 sections I really remember as memorable are the airlock at the beginning and one section near the end in a long corridor with strobes going off and a zombie in there going backwards and forwards but the sound effects going off saying “GET BACK” so I turned around thinking I had gone the wrong way only ending back there and just casually walking passed the zombie and out at the end. We all were sort of disappointed in it in the end. I think if I had of gone through again it might of been better but that was not on the cards for this year.. I do hope I find it better next year if it's still there.

So all in all the 3 scare mazes I went in only Sub Species and The Mine Tour were super good (for completely different reasons)  and I really hope there at next year's Scarefest so I can do them again.. Project 42 not so much. (such a shame)

After that we went on Nemesis again and did the extra queue for some good front row action we then all split up again to do our own things. 
I stayed around FV for some Air action, fastracked and got stuck in the left hand que that is super long and goes over the bridge. I could of/Should of just walked back out and left it and gone and done something else but I stayed on the bridge que for almost 50 mins before getting on… In the end it was semi worth it because I got on front row just as it was going dark so ended up been an ok ride but not worth it compared to what I could of done with the fastrack on other rides.
After that I did Nemesis in the dark on the very back row which was good fun.
I then had a wander through Haunted Hollow which is quite good in the dark then headed to one of the best rides in the park…. HEX
A trip is not complete with a ride on this and at whatever time it was maybe 6:00-6:15 there was no one in there and had a good ride on the left back middle… the best seat in the house. With Scarefest on, you exit out a different exit on the Cloud Cuckoo Land side so a quick stroll passed the show stage in The Towers courtyard (cannot remember the show that was on but it was rammed). I headed over to 13 for a night ride only to find they close it at night which ment Rita was rammed but was a nice change doing that in the dark… I think i liked rita more each time I went on it.
Then I had a walked over to Smiler for a quick ride then walked over to Pizza buffat the long way round via Towers Street where I was able to see the freek show and got chatting to one of the members on my walk over.

We met up at the pizza place and stuffed ourselves… Now a lot of people complain about the food and the prices but tbh £13.50 for all you can eat inside a theme park I think I pretty reasonable considering. And it was quite nice as well. 

We then had a nice night ride on the Choo Choo and then headed back over for another FR Nemesis ride in the dark. Then over to Wicker Man.
Now Wicker Man had been closed for the first 3-4h of the day so the queues on if were never below 90mins all day getting up to 120+mins in the dark and never dropping so we were thankful for the FT’s and it still took 25 mins before we got into the pre show…  We had a very good ride on it though. All the effects were working and the flames were on and we got the 2 back rows which was good as well. It's a good ride not the best in the park in the daytime but prob the best of all rides anywhere in the dark with everything working as it should… 10/10

By this point 8:30pm we were all tired but I was able to quickly head over to Smiler and get 2 more runs in before the 9pm line closing, the first of which I did not enjoy.. What ever carriage I was in was very much a different experience from every other rides I had had on it the rest of the day and was slightly concerned… but the last ride was very good.

All in all the day was very good, 24 rides 3 mazes good staff, good weather, good day.
I never got to go on Spinball or the tea cups but I was still satisfied.
Some things I did think were lacking were costumed staff in areas like Forbidden Valley outside Nemesis which I had seen in other reviews from previous years and I was expecting more of the ride staff to be sort of costumed up which none of them were.
I have definitely been thinking about getting a Premium Pass for next year after my trips this year…

TowersTimes were fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to photograph Project 42 before the end of Scarefest. Check out the article that's now live to see the collection of photos!

I know this might sound like a strange question, but does anyone know what they use to create the loud air bursting sound effects throughout the mazes? I'd like to know but I'm not really sure what they would use.

I believe they are called Air Cannons.

Hi, could anyone possibly post a full spoiler walkthrough of TOTT? I only got chance to visit last year and am kind of disappointed I missed out on it. Thanks

The scene's generally stayed the same in the past, with some minor changes (and a big one being the location change in 2015).

Thanks for the walkthrough description!

I hope Project 42 and Altonville Mines return next year as both mazes were some of the most intense and well themed for me last year.

Speaking of The Welcoming, despite the stunning theming throughout the maze it was very quiet during my run through and I didn't really see it going anywhere. Maybe they could re-use some of the props they produced for that maze to create something new and even better of an experience.

Lastly, I think Sub Species should stay as it is quite a staple at the park now and always offers an intense and fun experience that leaves you running out of the door.

In regards to Subspecies: Operation Lockdown, did anyone go into this attraction back in 2015? I’m the type of guy that wants to know everything about every attraction there and this one seems to be the one that no one talks about. I actually remember not wanting to do this when I was at the park during Scarefest 2015 because it was too long and I thought that I’d just do it next year. But next year came and it didn’t return. 

Can anyone spill the beans about what happened during the massive 2 hour experience?

BucketM wrote:

In regards to Subspecies: Operation Lockdown, did anyone go into this attraction back in 2015? I’m the type of guy that wants to know everything about every attraction there and this one seems to be the one that no one talks about. I actually remember not wanting to do this when I was at the park during Scarefest 2015 because it was too long and I thought that I’d just do it next year. But next year came and it didn’t return. 

Can anyone spill the beans about what happened during the massive 2 hour experience?

I did enjoy Lockdown, and I would have been pleased to see it return for the following season. It would have been a good base to improve on and expand.

From the start, the pricing and marketing weren't ideal, there are understandable factors that would have influenced both of these, and pricing is also a very subjective issue. As you've highlighted, it wasn't completely clear what the experience would entail, and whether the experience would be both enjoyable and the very subjective issue of value for money.
This was also something that affected the Ultimate Sleepover, which has been one of my favourite experiences to date (and would love to see return), but as with Operation Lockdown, by the time word had got out, it was broadly, too late for people to attend. With neither returning for a second year, those that may have been keen to do it in the second year were then not able to!

Lockdown was more conservative in its approach and was effectively designed into the Sub Species maze; it utilised the full maze as well as one additional room.
The experience took the form of an escape room, but crossed with a scare attraction. The evening started outside the Sub Species entrance where most of the safety bits were completed by an operative in character.

You'd be lead through the control room, and after descending the steps, rather than turning right down the corridor, you would all enter the additional room to the left (the old boiler room).
This room would be the 'base', where you'd each put on a hazmat suit (white painting coverall) and would undergo the briefing. The group would be split in two and need to undergo various puzzles and challenges with a view to saving one of the characters. I don't want to spoil any of the puzzles in case they come back, but they would be consistent with those in an escape room, or similar puzzle challenge, but with the intensity of the setting as well lots of interactions from the actors.
You'd need to navigate the maze, to move between some of the puzzles/challenges, which would mean avoiding roaming characters in the maze sections who would try to rub red 'blood' onto your boiler suit.

In the shipping containers part of the maze (just after the crawl tunnel - on the left side's ending), you'll still see a small room which was the location of one of the puzzles, which also involved traversing to other locations in the maze to collect pieces of the puzzle.
Your team would ultimately be assessed on achieving your primary mission, as well as personal points for particular achievements or problem-solving, points would also be deducted for the amount of staining on the suit you were wearing.
There were also some personal objectives you would need to undertake, although with varying effectiveness!

The setting was excellent and the actors were fantastic, I think the major issue with the experience would mostly come down to the people you were grouped with. For those not expecting a puzzle based experience, those who were shy or not talkative would make working as a group tricky as well as limiting those working through the puzzles and proposing solutions.
I do like escape rooms, although if you don't beat them, or achieve as much as you would like, they can be a bit anticlimactic, this can also be exacerbated if you feel some of your team weren't particularly supportive. I do wonder if this would have been better if you were more in control of the groups and perhaps entered as a team of 4-6, such that is more of an experience shared with friends. In my case, the friends I attended with were split between the two teams, which was good for mixing things up, but would mean you were very dependent on the public you were grouped with.

I do think it's a shame that whilst Alton Towers have tried these new ideas, they, unfortunately, have been short-lived and have definitely left a much-missed gap in the Scarefest line up.

Apologies if someone has already posted this elsewhere -
Sub Species is currently under construction with the shipping containers already being lifted into place at the side of the towers.
An older picture of this can be found on the TowerTimes Instagram.
This means scarefest is already underway at the Towers! Which mazes are expected to come back/leave?

So, surprise Scarefest announcement! Earlier than the past two years which is always welcome. To recap the headlines:
-Project 42, Sub Species: The End Games, and Altonville Mine Tours are returning; all included in the combi ticket previously offered.
-The Welcoming and House of Monsters are both being replaced by the new family maze, Darkest Depths
-The Attic: Terror of the Towers is the big new maze, with a seperate ticket.

So, the big news here obviously being another version of ToTT, which was towards the top of the Spooky Wishlist. With it being a seperate ticket, this is making me think it's a different style of scare attraction that the park haven't offered before- just like Welcoming. However, as The Attic has previously been used as a name for a maze at The Howl, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a placeholder name, similar to the Skin Snatchers scenario. It's similar for Darkest Depths, which just doesn't quite sound like a maze name.
It's interesting as well to see there won't be another 12+ maze this year, after the park dabbled with it with Welcoming last year.

The only thing missing from this announcement (unless the news of ToTT IV has swept it under the rug) are new scare zones as hinted at last year- but they'll likely be announced sooner or later.

The maze lineup looks strong. I was a little surprised to hear that House of Monsters isn’t returning, but Darkest Depths seems like a interesting replacement, so I don’t really see any issues there. Alton Towers seem to know how to execute pirate themes well, so I have a lot of confidence in this new offering. Presumably it’ll be located in the courtyard now that The Welcoming has gone.

Little bit surprised to see both Sub Species and Altonville Mine Tours return. I had expected to see one of them return, alongside a new maze – which we also seem to be getting anyway in the form of The Attic – Terror of the Towers. Not a bad thing, but...

Scare zones. Im not really a maze fan, but I do like to have scares around that park to create more of an atmosphere. Last year was, to be quite honest, awful. Small things like the projections in the banqueting hall window were good, but not nearly enough. The “scaremosphere” really didn’t work – they obviously didn’t recruit anywhere near enough actors or have enough resources (re: Galactica Airways costumes). I would rather they had discontinued one of either Sub Species or Altonville Mine Tours to ensure they do have enough actors to create a better park atmosphere.

As a side note not related to today’s announcement – last years use of music around the park was poor. Use of the Duel / Gloomy Wood soundtrack did not work well at all around the Towers / front lawns and Towers Street. There was a number of dead spots where you couldn’t really hear the music all that well, and in general just felt very out of place in these areas of the park. If any of the entertainment teams are reading this, please just use the IMAscore track that has been used in previous years, it honestly worked so much better.

Earlier today, Alton Towers unveiled the line-up for Scarefest 2019, promising it will be ‘bigger, better, and spookier than ever’!

TowersTimes News explores this year’s line-up, including a brand-new family maze, the revival of a classic scare attraction, the return of some of the Resort’s award-winning scare mazes, and the appearance of some family favourite characters.

Will you be visiting Alton Towers Resort this Halloween?

For a trip in the future, which is generally the least busy time to visit AT in Scarefest?

With regards to 'Darkest Depths', as awesome as it would be to have a scare attraction set within Sharkbait Reef, I can't help wondering how the combination of jumpy, terrified humans and glass tanks would go down. I agree with the article in reckoning it'll be situated in the Courtyard. Mind you, we never know what Towers may have up their sleeves!

I don’t think it should be set in Sharkbait Reef to be honest. Alton Towers should be aware that replacing an attraction from their regular lineup with an experience that incurs an additional entry cost is not a very good idea, from both a guest experience and a business point of view. A lot of people (quite rightly) do not see that as adding any value to their visit (and perhaps even see it as a loss), and as a result are less likely to pay the additional cost.

CoasterBoyyt wrote:

For a trip in the future, which is generally the least busy time to visit AT in Scarefest?

The first weekend.

On TowersStreet Instagram, there is a picture that shows additional theming being added to the outdoor area of the Altonville Minetours Scare maze.

Here's the link : https://www.instagram.com/p/By0e_o0BYlz ... oateao6b6l

Having given it a few weeks to think over. I can say that I'm extremely excited for Scarefest this year. Whilst yes we do have regular attractions in Mine Tours and Sub Species returning (even though I would have thought 1 or at least both would have been removed), these are still solid attractions and if they can be altered for the new season then great. I hope Project does receive a big update or rework this year. I never found this maze to be that great, it was always so medicore in my opinion.

Of course the return of the Terror Of The Towers name is a big thing for this year, I'm extremely intrigued to see how they pull this off and how it'll pan out. I think the new Darkest Depths attraction will be interesting and I would seriously love Towers to announce some scare zones for this year, after a year which roaming actors really didn't work well for the event.

2019 is certainly set to be interesting and I can't wait to see the rides again in the night once again!