Scaremazing North 2013 - Reviews & Feedback

[Rob]

For those of you that attended our Scaremazing event, thank you.

Please leave your reviews and feedback below.

[Dom]

Will write amore detailed review tomorrow evening but it was epic. Had such a laugh and was great meeting everyone. Thanks to all the team for being welcoming, and organising everything, and all the surprises.

[bensaund]

I was a little disappointed with the TT live, I feel Towersnerds always do excellent coverage of the park.

[Burniel]

I agree with bensaund, however I was monitoring ridetimes, and I don't blame them, queues ranged from 40mins to 140mins! However I'm a little confused as to why it couldn't be updated when you were in the queues. Even if it was just "really busy we're currently in an hour queue for nemesis". However, I hear from those who went that it was a great success!

[Tom.B]

So, Rob-TT, when are you going to make a Team Wuss for Michelle, Pizzazz, Sam2244, Lucy2244 and me?

[Tom.B]

I suppose it's time for me to post my review then! Here goes:

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So I was very nervous about talking to people to start with, but the team were all very welcoming and were happy to talk to anyone! It felt very strange being in the park with no one else around, and the talk and Q&A session with Pete and Gerry was really interesting!

For anyone who doesn't know, the surprise was that we got the first ride on Oblivion, and then a group fast track to Thirteen and Rita (we split into two groups as there were far too many of us). Unfortunately, the F/T queue for Rita was actually longer than the main one, and there was one man taking and giving back bags on 13. Quite ridiculous. Because we only got 2 fast track rides done in 1 hour, we managed to get a fast track for everyone on The Smiler.
When we got to the front of the fast track queue there, the guy manning it turned us away for a reason I don't think anyone's sure of, but then we got back on through fast track. This took a whole hour.

Because of this fiasco, just after 12:00, we were all given unlimited fast tracks for any ride until 1:00. TomL, Benji and myself decided to go to Sonic Spinball. When we got there, the ride attendant knew nothing about this, and kept us waiting at the front of the F/T queue while they let others go past us for over 45 minutes. Apparently management was coming down to us at this point, but we needed to go to Woodcutter's for lunch, so we left the queue line.

I told the team about this at lunch time, and Lee and Adz recommended we go to Guest Services. We managed to get ourselves 4 fast tracks for Air, which we used at the end of the day.

TomL, Benji, Sam2244, Lucy2244 and myself all did The Flume, Rapids, and Duel. Then we saw some team members and we went round on Duel again with them. (Luce and Hursty). Then we took over most of the front row on ripsaw with TT-ers, which was great fun! (Thumbs up, guys! )

At this point we tried to cram 12 of us into one sky ride car as we needed to get to the mazes, but we only managed 8! While the hardcore peeps went into the mazes, Michelle, Pizzazz, Sam, Lucy and me all went to Ice Age which was better than expected When everyone eventually finished getting scared, TomL, Lucy, Sam, Pizzazz and me went to Nemmy and Air to ride in the dark. This is where I need to thank Jamie, for letting me sit on front row with him as they only had 3 on the front, and I don't think there were any single riders!

We finished a fantastic day by riding Air with our F/Ts, and then going home! Well done to all the team for making the day as successful as possible, with only a few minor hiccups, and sorting them out the best they could.\

Edit:And forum is pronounced FAWRUM, not FOHRUM!!!

[thomasjenks]

After getting in late we met up with the group who were all really nice, we went to ride Nemesis and Air which then took us to lunch at Woodcutters. We then went off for some free time to take us to meet up for the scare mazes at 5. The extreme group went on The terror of the towers first which was amazing, I got my ankle pulled, my face grabbed and my face licked, the final part of ToT was epic. after that we went to queue for The sanctuary, the video in the queue was annoying after a while, but it was worth it after we got in, it was so freaky. Dr kelman met us before we entered which then lead to me getting my cheek kissed and also pulled. we then went on to ride 13 in the dark which was amazing and also the smiler in the dark which ended the day on a high.

Thanks for a great day guys I can't wait till next year.
(From the guy in the red morph suit)

[Tom.B]

Oh, that was you in the red morph suit!

[Dom]

I am only going to comment on the bits I was with the group or group members for.
The group were a welcoming and friendly bunch of people. The talk was really interesting and quite informative. The surprises were amazing. First ride on Oblivion, Front Row, First car, was amazing. Then the fast track Dark Forest take over was so much fun. I Did the Smiler for the first time with Martin and John and someone else (but can't remember who) and we were lucky enough to get front row. It was the best morning I have ever had in the morning. lol.

I separated from the group and met up with everyone for the mazes, but I chickened out. so me Michelle, Tom, Sam, Lucy and Tom's mum went and did Ice Age. I can't believe it snowed inside. we then went to the the maze entrance and saw everyone go into their second maze. We then met the non extremer's in the square and managed to make people think we were queuing for the scare zone, which was kind of funny. We then split up again and some of us headed over to Forbidden Valley. We did Nemesis and Air in the dark. We then all went our own ways. I ended the day with The Smiler in the dark and rain and I must say it was intense.

At the hotel, I got lost in splash trying to find the walk way to AT hotel and ended up stumbling on Lakey and then Lee, Alex and Michelle appeared. Had a drink in The Dragon Bar while watching and dancing along with the creepy singers. We then went to splash and I got to witness the legendary super hero dance. Funniest thing ever.

It was a really fun day and I had a blast and everyone is amazing.

[Danny]

Thank you all for once again, a lovely and epic event. I'm glad I had the chance to socialise a lot more on this event and it was really nice meeting the variety of new (and from previously) members. An incredible range of costumes also from those of you who dressed up (I thought dressing up as myself would be scary enough

Im sure the team will join me in thanking you all for attending what has been another successful event. A big thanks has to be said to Pete and Gerry for their incredibly interesting talks and answers, hursty for sorting the room out, and of course, Dan for organising the event.

[lucy2244]

Well, what a great day it was!
Arriving in the morning, we met everyone in the group and it ran very smoothly getting into the park. The talks from Gerry and Pete were both very informative and answered a few questions I had asked myself about the scaremazes and park- the lighting being a big one. All the ride takeovers where very successful and so much fun with all the forum members. I got the chance to socialize with people who I had already met, and those who I hadn't. I think this was one of the best aspects of the day. Even despite quite a few mix ups, and the harsh cold and rain which was inflicted upon us, the day was well run and very enjoyable! One of the best days I've had at Alton! Although, I was never given my keyring! 

[thomasjenks]

Oh, that was you in the red morph suit!

Yes it was

[Lee]

Had an absolute ball once again with you guys, and it was lovely to see both new and old faces and meeting you all. There were too many laughs to go through, so ill just pop down my personal highlights:

- The fantastic talk from both Gerry and Pete
- Group fastrack and takeover of The Smiler
- The extreme maze experience
- Extreme Zombie Scarezone
- The Hotel drinking

As always, thank you all for coming. It's amazing to be able to put names to faces and meet fellow park enthusiasts. I'm sure everyone who attended will confirm that we're all lovely people, so if you missed out, don't next time Once again, a massive thanks to Dr. Kelman Gerry and Pete for their very informative and open Q&A with us.

[lewis97]

Not long finished watching Jamie's SM Vlog. Unsurprisingly, it looked like a brilliant day and it's great to see so many people attending! It looked reasonably well organised, but I think the number of people in the park complicated things slightly. It was a bit of a disappointment that TT Live didn't have more updates, but I'm aware of the reasons.

Watching the video only makes me want to try even harder to get to the next event, and so I hope to meet you all soon.

[Luce]

I'd just like to say a big thanks to everyone who attended and what a fabulous time I had on Saturday.  It was full of memorable moments and fab rides

Highlights for me included:

The Scarefest Q&A/talk by Pete & Gerry - really fascinating and big thanks to them
Meeting new faces and people I know
The general great atmosphere between the group and the fun involved
Superhero dance in Splash Landings
The Sanctuary & Zombie Scarezone extreme
Fastrack of The Smiler

Roll on the next meet

[Martin]

Hi All

First of all,me and John would like to say a massive thank you to the organisers of this event.... THANK YOU!
To all the members of the team,you are a credit to yourselves and this website.

Me and John had never been on any event, or meet of this kind before. And can we say we were not disappointed.
And well done to everyone.
The day for us from start to finish was excellent. Well organised and lots of fun.
Apart from the misunderstanding with The Smiler fastrack,which was sorted within a very short timescale,the itinary and the days events ran very smoothly.
The event in our opinion,was excellent value for money.
By 12 noon we had done the top 6 coasters on the park. And not many people could have said that on Saturday with up to 25,000 people at Alton Towers(maybe more)
We also got to do a few extra bonus fastrack attractions,with the help of a couple of team members. Not going to mention names but if you are reading this you will know who you are, so THANKS.
The Scare Mazes themselves were really good. Terror of the Towers and The Sanctuary Extreme were both brilliant.
We have not laughed and jumped in fright so much ever.
The highlight and funniest part of the day for us,was when ADZ got taken and locked up,in the Zombie Scare Zone Extreme.

All in all for me and John, the people on the event made it for us. There are too many names to mention.
Every single one of you,were friendly,fun and a pleasure to be with.

If anyone reading this has not yet been on a TT Meet, we strongly urge you to do so.
We can only see these events,getting more popular,bigger and better in the future.

Thank you also for the TT SM keyring. A nice touch on behalf of the TT Team and a fab momentum of the day.

Once again THANK YOU and WELL DONE to the TT TEAM 














 

[Ladyofthelake]

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to the team for organising this event, and to everyone who attended. It was fantastic to meet everyone and any nerves I had at the start of the day soon disappeared.

This was my first event and I had a fantastic weekend. Some of my personal highlights included:
- The talk from Pete and Gerry
- Ride takeovers and Smiler fast-track
- Extreme Sanctuary
- Zombie Scarezone - Adz getting locked up, and there was one moment when I thought the two who had me pinned up against the van were going to keep me there all night!
- The friendliness of everyone which created a great atmosphere
- Having a great evening in the hotel afterwards (and of course getting to see the superhero dance )

Once again a huge thank you to everyone for making my first meet (and my first visit to Scarefest) such a memorable one. I am now looking forward to my next meet

[Liam B]

Was brilliant! I felt it was going to be a bit awkward as I knew no one but straight away everyone was really friendly and had a great laugh! Can't wait for the next one! The talk was very informative and interesting. Even my sister who isn't even a member found it interesting haha! The perks were fantastic and just had such a fun time. Hopefully will get to know everyone a bit better next time. Really hope hursty gets photos up soon!

Thank you to everyone involved in the organizing!

EDIT: Completely forgot about the donkeys XD

[Deejay]

Hi guys, we had such a fantastic time on the park on Saturday, thanks to all who came and supported. We are delighted that you had such a great time at ATR with us. Your enthusiasm tells me that this fresh take on theme park meets is definitely the way forward for TT. We have a great relationship with many departments on the resort and I will continue to develop that and strive to deliver top quality events to our community.

The whole team had input into the planning and delivery of this event. Special thanks to Ben, my right hand man, he's a top guy and helped ensure you all had such a great time! Also we had Danny designing graphics and creating tickets, Lee organising wristbands, hursty, Roodles and Tom who are outstanding photographers, moderators giving input into all the planning and the best Admins that are supporting my vision and trusting me to take this on. Seriously guys, YOU ROCK

Initially I was dreading this meet as I had never experienced Scarefest and had a lot of rides and entertainments to choose from on and also on the busiest day of the year. My vision was to try and plan a route around the park that encompassed the best of the resort and was also flexible enough for people to have time to go off and ride their favourites. It worked fantastically well, we had new groups of friends forming and old ones reuniting, people going off to get moist on Ripsaw and I even held a Tarantula!

My highlights were:

Pete and Gerry - I have to say that Pete is one of the most hard working and passionate people I have ever met. ATR are very lucky to have him. Gerry is a celebrity to a lot of you and he loves this community very much. TT are very happy to have had the opportunity to hear these tales of how some of our favourite attractions were created. Entertainments are my favourite department on at ATR by far.

Opening Oblivion - The ride team allowed us to be the first to ride with our fastrack tickets so at 10am we were boarding the first public trains of the day!

How many rides? - Managing to fit all of the big 6 roller coasters in before 1:30pm was astonishing considering the 25,000-30,000 people that were there.

EXTREME Mazes - I loved how the group all came back together for this. The finale in TOTT was incredible and probably the most scared I have ever been in a scare maze, I was also separated from my group at the end of The Sanctuary and made to walk the last part alone, that was very scary indeed! As we gave out the group photo key rings we had a variety of scary stories being shared after that great experience.

EXTREME Zombies - "You cannot touch the actors, however, I assure you that they will touch you" They really went to town. Adz getting shoved in the cupboard was awesome, the zombies must not like clowns Then I had the big guy zombie take a shining to me and had me backed up on the fence breathing heavily in my face and pushing me around, then he picked up Valler and locked him in the fridge! The actors conviction and fantastic make-up and effects combined make this so great. 10/10

Coasters at night - If you haven't experienced this then you really should have, AT's collection of rides are really enhanced by night riding, Th13teen lets you see the Dark Forest as intended, Nemesis dives in and out of light and dark tunnels and the Smiler was even more disorientating at night, I love how the Marmaliser lights up the whole area but yet it still feels dark when you ride!

TT Social - Started in the Dragon bar then moved up to Margaritas for drinks, superheroes, pizza, shots and a fantastic atmosphere. These socials are becoming legendary!

To all the people that came to support, new and old faces, we had so much fun and hope to see you all (and more) at the next one!

[Michelle]

I'm not sure where to start so I'll go with the undeniable fact this is weekend was... #MOIST!

On a serious note.. what a wicked weekend with an amazing bunch of people All of the members that I've not met previously, whether I'd spoken to them on the site or not, were absolutely delightful people and I'm so pleased that I got to spend a portion of the day with a fair few of you. Our members truely are an absolute credit to this site and we wouldn't be here without you guys

A recap of the day/ highlights (from the perspective of team WUSS ) -

The talk with Pete and Gerry was an excellent opportunity to gain an insight on just how much work goes on, the fact that there was much discussion on the input into the seasonal park ents (Park Keepers, Bravo) really pleased me. It's no secret that a large number of us on this site think that these additions are the best thing to happen to the park in a long time, and to hear first hand from the guy organizing it that he is committed to trying bigger and better things (budget permitting!) really fills me with hope for the future of the park!

First ride on Oblivion was such a welcome surprise, well done Dan for organising this! That, and the subsequent takeover of Dark Forest was a really fun way to start the day and got us all mingling and chatting well.

Although there was then some faff regarding the miscommunication of The Smiler fast tracks, I personally quite enjoyed the little time we spent queueing as it gave me more opportunity to chat to people, finding out that this was going to be Pizzazz' first ride on it was great, as was his reaction on exiting the ride

After some further faff we ended up in a splinter group getting food and doing our own thing, and myself and some other team and members ended up doing the EXTREME WUSS version of the park...
a miniature takeover of TT: the ride and Gallopers, followed by a trip to the farm to do Doodle Do Derby, analyse whether the animatronic pig in the barn does infact swear, and a brief spell watching the donkeys have a lovers tiff.

From there, onto the mazes!... Where I continued my role as leader of the wusses (consisting at this time of Pizzazz, Tom, Lucy, Sam and Tom's mum!)  and as my small group waved the others off into our worst nightmare, we swiftly landed on the decision that we would partake in a bit of Ice Age 4D, This was an excellent giggle, especially as Pizzazz , Tom, and Toms mum hadn't experienced it before, the leg ticklers get people every time!
After the mazes we regrouped with some of the others and had a really fun ride on Thirteen after dark and then came my personal triumph for the day, I actually went through the Zombies Scarezone!

I was astounded by how busy the park was all afternoon, despite the rain and I'm so pleased that even though we got very #moist the morale of the group stayed high all day, everyone mingled and got along so well, and my only regret for the day is not getting to chat to more of you!

The social in the hotel has already been covered, Superheroes, silly dancing to Mr Brightside, Lego.. too much fun was had by all

Thank you to ALL my fantastic fellow team members, Dan and Ben, for organizing everything for us beforehand, and for making sure it ran as smoothly as possible on the day despite some set backs which were no fault of their own! Thank you to hursty, Roodles and Tom-TT for capturing the day on camera, can't wait to see all the pictures guys. Thank you to all the other Team and Admins who were such fun to be with! Finally THANK YOU to all the members who attended ( with a special mention to Mr Paws who I spent a lot of time with and TEAM WUSS for keeping me company! ), I really hope that we see you all again next time for more fun and banter!