While the Halloween celebrations proceeded as usual in 2003 with the return of Terror of the Towers and the addition of a new ice show, the 2004 event was cancelled.
Key Information
Dates: 18th October – 2nd November
Opening Times: 10am – 7pm
The 2003 Halloween celebrations took place in October and November. The Halloween festivity, included a new show that could be found in the Webmaster’s ice rink called ‘The Halloween Circus on Ice’, while still spooky, this attraction was more suited for the whole family!
Due to the overwhelming success with Terror of the Towers during the 2002 season Alton Towers decided to have the spooky attraction return for 2003, entitled ‘Terror of the Towers Bloodfest Banquet’ which was a chilling attraction and not for the faint hearted. Guests were warned… Do not touch the monsters and the monsters will not touch you! Terror of the Towers was a walkthrough maze located in the towers which was an enormous success again in 2003, thanks to great effort put into the set, the costumes, the acting and soundtrack.
The Halloween event was scheduled to return bigger and better than ever in 2004, with enhancements to Terror of the Towers and plans to introduce a second horror maze attraction. Unfortunately budget restraints and company management changes meant the event was cancelled halfway through the year.
Whilst the event did not go ahead as planned, the park did make an effort to theme Towers Street with Terror of the Towers props. The Halloween themed ice show also returned for its last season. A large amount of the park’s Halloween props and equipment were later transported to Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures to enhance their Halloween events and attractions.
Despite many attempts to relaunch the Halloween event during the following couple of years many external factors meant this was not possible.
At the start of the 2006 season, Alton Towers Resort advertised that the Halloween Spooktacular would once again return, bringing back Terror of the Towers and a new attraction called Midnight In The Garden Of Evil. Unfortunately halfway through the year this event was cancelled for reasons unknown. However, the resort hotels took the unusual step of hosting their own Halloween themed event by introducing themed evening shows and a horror maze in the Alton Towers Hotel’s conference suite. Room13 was largely built out of Terror of the Towers props and theming – due to the small space in which the attraction occupied it was a very tight and claustrophobic experience which enhanced the scare factor, rivalling that of the original Terror of the Towers.
During the same period, it had also become increasingly difficult to stage the annual Fireworks Spectacular due to a court battle over noise pollution. Therefore, in 2006, the decision was made that it would be the last year of the Fireworks display and the park would relaunch the Halloween event in 2007 to compensate.