Scarefest - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Smiling.Always
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Is the 5th October a good day to go? And what are the park hours?
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Morgan
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With that being the first day of Scarefest (which is 10:00-21:00), the park will be decently busy, but you'll still manage to see everything you want to see. With regards to mazes- the earlier slots are a good choice if you want to get them done quickly. I believe the longest we queued was about 10-15mins for Project 42 at around 2pm :)
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Morgan wrote:With that being the first day of Scarefest (which is 10:00-21:00), the park will be decently busy, but you'll still manage to see everything you want to see. With regards to mazes- the earlier slots are a good choice if you want to get them done quickly. I believe the longest we queued was about 10-15mins for Project 42 at around 2pm :)
Okay, Thank you. So the Scarefest experience wouldn't be any different as it's the first day? (like actors first day any teething issues if you get what I mean)
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I'd say it's a bit of a mixed bag. Sub Species and The Welcoming were running very well, 42 wasn't at it's best (although I'd say that was more to do with a painfully slow group), and unfortunately we had one of the worst runs of Mine Tours (we were in the very first group and it was clear that they weren't ready for guests, as staff were walking in as we exited!). However a lot of those issues could've been with the fact that we did the mazes as early as possible so they were done. Your experience may be compromised a little, so unless you're terrified of spoilers, waiting a week would probably be of benefit.
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Morgan wrote:I'd say it's a bit of a mixed bag. Sub Species and The Welcoming were running very well, 42 wasn't at it's best (although I'd say that was more to do with a painfully slow group), and unfortunately we had one of the worst runs of Mine Tours (we were in the very first group and it was clear that they weren't ready for guests, as staff were walking in as we exited!). However a lot of those issues could've been with the fact that we did the mazes as early as possible so they were done. Your experience may be compromised a little, so unless you're terrified of spoilers, waiting a week would probably be of benefit.
Okay thank you so much for your help :)
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So guys I'm heading for my first Scarefest ever for the first weekend of October! Been visiting Towers for years but always in the early Summer.

My question is what are the must do's? I thinking my best bet for night rides will be Nemesis or Wicker Man! The idea of riding any coasters in the dark is exciting to me as with Alton Towers operating hours over the last few years I haven't been able to ride at dusk let alone in the dark!
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Save the dark rides (indoor attractions) for day time.  

Rollercoasters in the dark are awesome, they seem faster in the dark. Wicker Man looks awesome in the dark.  I would suggest to get on as many rollerocoaster after dark as possible. They are all good in the dark.  
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If you could only do three coasters at night, I'd prioritise Nemesis, Wicker Man and Thirteen. Nem and Wicker feel much faster and look great with all the red lighting, but because Thirteen is in the middle of nowhere, there's virtually no lighting and you can't really see where you're going. It should be of note that the Skyride closes in the afternoon, so getting on all the coasters after dark can be quite challenging. And if you're planning on doing the mazes- it seems that Darkest Depths will take place outdoors so it might be worth waiting until dusk before doing it.
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Cheers! Nemesis is my favourite ride in the park so I'm going to prioritise that for sure! Taking a friend for his first time ever at Towers so I hope the queues aren't too bad! Saying that we were just in Tokyo Disney waiting 1.5 hours for most big rides.
I've heard of these mythical green doughnuts, do they still do them for scarefest?
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I find the Smiler disorientating in the dark.  Front row Rita is good in the dark too, but not worth the extra wait if there is a bit of a queue for the front row
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Hi there does anyone know if they do Fastrack tickets for the mazes like they do at Thorpe Park please?
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Banshee wrote:Hi there does anyone know if they do Fastrack tickets for the mazes like they do at Thorpe Park please?
Alton Towers don't sell Fastracks for their mazes. The mazes you have to pay for separately from the entry ticket to the park but there are no Fastrack options for the scare mazes when you have purchased the maze ticket. :)
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Justin
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As Jack has said, there are no Fastrack tickets as you require a payable ticket for each maze. These will be available in combo packages and one shots. Darkest Depths will be ticketed separately, along with The Attic.

Queues at Alton are well managed, so your wait should be short. Enjoy! :)
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The Resort appears to have updated their FAQs to confirm the return of 'scaremosphere', that will once again include Galactica Airways and Ghost Pirates, along with the roaming actors from the Dungeon.
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UGH!!!

The 'scaremospheres' were absolutely terrible last year! Bring back the scare zones like Dark Apocalypse and Freak Show!!!
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What are the scaremospheres exactly? I don't remember seeing them at all.
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Bexa wrote:What are the scaremospheres exactly? I don't remember seeing them at all.
They were roaming actors that never seemed to be there. I visited Scarefest many times last year and I never saw them.
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I must have been lucky. I saw Freak Show, the Pirates and Galacrica Airways during my visits last year :)

Going back to a topic of conversation from last year concerning the graffiti on Sub Species, I must say that it has really, really grown on me this year. It certainly sets the scene :)
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I liked the sub species grafitti from the start!

On the topic of Darkest Depths - how similar do you think it will be to HoM? My family are trying out scare mazes for the first time and if Darkest Depths is similar to HoM it will be perfect for the younger ones, but if it is too scary then I dont think it will be appropriate.

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Based on personal observation, I think that Darkest Depths is going to be darker in tone (no pun intended) because HOM had a logo that was very childish and fun, and the Darkest Depths logo is a little bit more sinister, more realistic. If it was designed for young children, the logo would have been designed for them in mind. I do hope this reply has helped you in your decision, however this is just me speculating.
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