Scarefest 2012: General Discussion (Spoiler Warning)

[DeanGaryCox]

Will put up a full review tomorrow but to summarise, Carnival - 7/10 same sort of thing as usual, sanctuary 9/10 really loved this - it's different and alot of efforts been put into it! TOTT was quite a poor showing for me this year, lack of actors throughout large parts of the maze and it was pretty much unchanged from last year! The organisation generally throughout the mazes in terms of staff was really poor! Guess they'll improve as the scarefest goes on, but some serious issues need sorting! In terms of general atmosphere/lighting - another poor showing from towers! Felt like I was playing on a floodlit football pitch in most areas of the park especially dark forest! Highlight was certainly Sanctuary tho!

what about sonic spinball... that was just awful!

[ScaryMB]

hey guys - our NON Spoiler reviews of the this years mazes are up

http://www.scaretouruk.com/review---alt ... ekend.html

We LOVED The Sanctuary!

[biometricstu]

Hi All.  My kids and thier friends had been looking forward to Scarefest for months but had to abandon the park along with everyone else who were not 'Travellers", with hotel guests returning to the hotels complaining of feeling trapped.  By mid afternoon they were there in large gangs and the atmosphere was one of fear and disgust.  They witnessed threats of violence to the staff, they had chewed food spat at them in the queues and hard sweets thrown at them, massive que jumping.  A day which was not only expensive but which they were looking forward to was ruined.  The staff lost control of the park (despite the brave efforts of a few) and had to watch as families left early with tearful dissapointed and most of all scared children, whilst my adult kids felt let down and miserable, which is not how you normally leave AT feeling.  This has happened before for apparently yet AT say they cannot discriminate which send the message 'behave how you want'.  The zero tolerance policy only applies to non-travellers apparently.  According to my kids the police were useless, they were outnumbered and were simply a big gang of useless Hi-Vis numptys!  We have been visiting since my kids were small and in fact I have been going since I was about 10 and I'm 50 now but if the park cannot guarentee both safety and value for money we won't be returning.  A very sad day 

[X]

Hi All.  My kids and thier friends had been looking forward to Scarefest for months but had to abandon the park along with everyone else who were not 'Travellers", with hotel guests returning to the hotels complaining of feeling trapped.  By mid afternoon they were there in large gangs and the atmosphere was one of fear and disgust.  They witnessed threats of violence to the staff, they had chewed food spat at them in the queues and hard sweets thrown at them, massive que jumping.  A day which was not only expensive but which they were looking forward to was ruined.  The staff lost control of the park (despite the brave efforts of a few) and had to watch as families left early with tearful dissapointed and most of all scared children, whilst my adult kids felt let down and miserable, which is not how you normally leave AT feeling.  This has happened before for apparently yet AT say they cannot discriminate which send the message 'behave how you want'.  The zero tolerance policy only applies to non-travellers apparently.  According to my kids the police were useless, they were outnumbered and were simply a big gang of useless Hi-Vis numptys!  We have been visiting since my kids were small and in fact I have been going since I was about 10 and I'm 50 now but if the park cannot guarentee both safety and value for money we won't be returning.  A very sad day 

You really should contact Guest Services about this, sounds awful. Clearly this is not what you expect when visiting supposedly the UK's number one resort...

Every year we hear this happening and Alton Towers need to do something about this to stop it happening ever again. Simply not acceptable.

[PeteB]

Clearly this is not what you expect when visiting supposedly the UK's number one resort...

No no, this is EXACTLY what you should expect from a Merlin attraction. Useless.

Anyway, I am sorry to hear that a day was ruined by these people. Why Merlin, security and the police aren't more heavy handed is beyond me. They know the reputation of travelers.

[ImURNemesis]

Sounds awful!

Really sorry to hear you've had a bad time, but don't let this put you off AT. Most of the time the crowds are well behaved and this is just a one off event. Don't that these travellers should get away with what they did and anyone eles that caused problems for the safety and security of law abiding visitors!

Contact Guest services ASAP! They might offer you a refund or free tickets as anarchists should never have allowed to enter in the first place.

I wonder is this will happen with Thorpe, considering the scum that go there!

[NoseyElephant]

Sounds awful!

Really sorry to hear you've had a bad time, but don't let this put you off AT. Most of the time the crowds are well behaved and this is just a one off event. Don't that these travellers should get away with what they did and anyone eles that caused problems for the safety and security of law abiding visitors!

Contact Guest services ASAP! They might offer you a refund or free tickets as anarchists should never have allowed to enter in the first place.

I wonder is this will happen with Thorpe, considering the scum that go there!

I was at thorpe yesterday and we had travellers there too. Not half as bad as the ones at Alton by the sounds of it though!
It was more groups of what looked like 10 year old girls "dressed" in little more than their underwear and the worlds most rudest set of men you've ever seen!
Stupid comment of the night went to one group of lads in the queue to the Saw Alive maze:
Traveller lad: How long have we been in this queue?
Man behind me: About 20 mins
Lad: *looking at his mates puzzled* whats 20 mins?!
Man: As in, we've been in the queue for 20 minutes
Lad: Well how long is that?! Whats 20 minutes?
And then his group of lads were just standing discussing how long 20 mins was for seem liked an age!

[ImURNemesis]

^
Lol!

Might you it was stupid of them to wait 20 mins to go on Saw Alive!  :P

[Boz]

Might you it was stupid of them to wait 20 mins to go on Saw Alive!  :P

I Never stick up for Thorpe, but I will contest that one. Saw Alive was (surprisingly) really good this year 
Check out my review

[redpiggy]

I'm beginning to get a little worried about this whole travellers thing!
A quick search on the forum shows various times around the year that people have encountered such behaviour, and there were posts from October last year too..
Is it a year round thing or do certain events attract them so to speak? I'm starting to worry they'll still be there causing trouble when I go (30th). I'm from an area that gets a lot of travellers anyway, so I'd much rather not feel intimidated by them at Alton Towers too!

[roary01]

I'm beginning to get a little worried about this whole travellers thing!
A quick search on the forum shows various times around the year that people have encountered such behaviour, and there were posts from October last year too..
Is it a year round thing or do certain events attract them so to speak? I'm starting to worry they'll still be there causing trouble when I go (30th). I'm from an area that gets a lot of travellers anyway, so I'd much rather not feel intimidated by them at Alton Towers too!

Don't worry yourself, they only visit once in october and easter they arn't present all year round, so you should be fine, and yes it is bad for the guest that are there on the days when there around, but Alton Towers can't not allow them in, they'd probably cause a lot more fuss if they refused them entry to the park, trust me.

[Ripsaw Raver]

how about get actual police in the park hmm, is it that difficult. Seriously why do they have to act this way!

[Luce]

I was there on Sunday and did see some police officers walking around the park but how many were in attendance I'm not sure.  Fortunately I didn't see any trouble whilst I was there but I can imagine that anyone who did might have had their day spoilt somewhat.

[Krazycoaster]

Pictures, reviews and videos of Scarefest can be found here: http://live.towersnerd.com/

[ImURNemesis]

Pictures, reviews and videos of Scarefest can be found here: http://live.towersnerd.com/

Greats pics from towersnerd!

I'm might get shot down for saying this but, I quite like the flood lights in X-sector!

[altontowerskid]

Just a quick reminder, I'm going to be at the Towers from tomorrow (Sat 20th) until Monday.

I'll be uploading pictures to my new Flickr page, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmkeeler/

[Mikkel]

There is nothing worse than those travellers ruining the experience for others.

I honestly feel deep sympathy for everyone who has encountered these vermin on their day out to the towers.

[N3m3s1s]

Has anyone been in the scare rooms yet?

[venny911]

I haven't got time to write a long review, but three quick points from yesterday;

-The Sanctuary was excellently done and a nice change from previous mazes.  I loved the fireball, but not sure how it related to the story.
-I cannot believe that apart from the poor lighting efforts in general there were still lights not working for yesterday.  This is perhaps excsuable in the 'preview' weekend, but having had a year to plan for the event and still not having lights working is a bit farcical.  From what I saw there were some interesting lights on the Towers that were still being programmed last night.
-SW7 merchandising is good to see, I now own a new cup!

[oliviamae]

I think it's been said a few times that the fireball effect is to do with a breaking television set (I haven't been so I can't be sure)