Scarefest 2017

Scarefest 2017 saw the addition of a brand new fourth scare maze, The Welcoming: Be Chosen, dubbed the official prequel to Secret Weapon 8, alongside the return of some award winning attractions and Scarefest classics. All of the mazes carried an additional charge, whilst the Freak Show scare zone remained free and accessible to all.

Dates: 7th-8th, 14th-15th, 20th-31st October

Skyride, Battle Galleons, Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure, Tree Fu Tom Training Camp, Mr Bloom’s Allotment, Nina’s Science Lab, Charlie and Lola’s Moonsquirters and Green Drops, The Furchester Hotel Live, and the Gardens shut at dusk.
CBeebies Land & Cloud Cuckoo Land closed at 7pm.
Other rides shut at 9pm daily.

Scare Mazes
Combined park and three-maze entry – £50.00

Single Ticket – £8.00
Double Ticket – £15.00
Combi Ticket – £20.00

The Welcoming: Be Chosen – £8.00

House of Monsters – £5.00

Thrill Attractions
The Welcoming: Be Chosen
Altonville Mine Tours
Sub Species: The End Games
Terror of the Towers
Freak Show

Family Attractions
House of Monsters
Franklyn’s Freaky Fun Zone
Halloween Characters
Patch’s Trick or Treat Party
Phil and Franklyn’s Ghoul School
Skelvin’s Spooky Storytime
Alton Ancestors
Gloomy Wood ALIVE

New for 2017 was The Welcoming: Be Chosen. Based around a mysterious group who had emerged from the woods around the village of Alton after being angered by people abusing the world’s natural resources, guests were invited to join the group at their festival which celebrated their own interpretation of Halloween, reconnecting with the earth, and celebrating the crossover between the living and the dead. Throughout the maze the theming and attention to detail was consistently impressive with a number of set pieces along the way. With the maze being the ‘prequel to SW8’, there were also a number of nods towards the Resort’s new wooden rollercoaster, with several sets of runes and the rollercoaster’s logo scattered throughout. The maze also included a short hooded section, for which guests were given a hood prior to entering the start of the maze. Some guests also caught sight of some of the maze’s inhabitants conducting what appeared to be a ritual on the front lawns…

Returning for a second year was Altonville Mine Tours: Uncover the Legend of the Skin Snatchers, as the pits re-opened for tours. Whilst the central storyline remained faithful to 2016’s version of the maze, there were a number of small changes and improvements, including a re-worked elevator scene, and a new ending. The Haunted Lantern technology also made a return with some adjustments to the settings to help further build the sense of tension and anticipation as they flickered or were even turned off completely.

Sub Species: The End Games returned for a third year, as, once again, guests descended deep underground to a post-apocalyptic sewer system, where their group would become contestants in The End Games, with the sewer-dwellers betting on their survival as they chose their own route in an attempt to avoid the creatures that chased after them. The maze received a couple of changes, the most notable being the return of a second ending (although this was slightly different to the alternative ending seen in 2015), and both endings feeding into the same exit point.

Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within returned for what would be its final Scarefest, with guests following in the footsteps of the missing urban explorers one last time, which meant navigating the same route as the previous couple of years, although some sections were much tighter giving a much more claustrophobic feel to the maze, whilst the end strobe section also seemed much more disorientating.

The Resort continued with the scare zone format introduced in 2015, however this year only saw the inclusion of one scare zone in the line-up, this being Freak Show, on the pathway between the Hospitality Suite and X Sector. A travelling side-show of circus rejects had descended upon the Resort, with only the bravest guests daring to walk amongst the freakishly fascinating misfits, desperate for their undivided attention. This would be the last year of Freak Show and this scare zone format, with 2018 seeing the introduction of a new programme of ‘Scaremosphere’.

Family maze House of Monsters returned for its second year, meaning guests could once again join a monster hunting vlogger on their quest to discover the truth about residents of a disused house. Whilst the characters encountered and the sequence of rooms remained the same, there were a number of changes to help improve the flow of the story. Gorgle the Mummy’s greenhouse was now home to Venus, a giant meat eating plant, instead of the shower used in 2015. The ending to the attraction was also revamped with it becoming a much more distinctive maze style ending featuring drop panels, plant tentacles dangling from the ceiling, and even some nods to past scare mazes.

The Freaky Four returned with Franklyn’s Freaky Fun Zone, which was located on the Front Lawns as it had been during the previous couple of years. Skelvin needed younger guests’ help to choose his Halloween costume in Skelvin’s Spooky Storytime. In Phil & Franklyn’s Ghoul School, guests joined Phil in reminding Franklyn how to spook. Then everyone was invited to Patch’s Trick-Or-Treat Party for the best Halloween ever, with a show that the whole family could dance along to. The Alton Ancestors also returned with their trademark flash-mobs on Towers Street in the morning, before moving to bring Gloomy Wood ALIVE during the afternoon and evening.

As in 2016, there was no overnight or late night experience available during Scarefest 2017.

Over at the Resort’s accommodation there was a variety of entertainment suitable for guests of all ages. The Fabulous Scott Family appeared nightly in the Alton Towers Hotel in The Phantasmagorical Scott Family Vaudeville Show, that was guaranteed to get guests on their feet and dancing the night away. In Splash Landings Hotel, the Dia De Muertos Live Show sees the Witch Doctor leading a spectacular party like no other with singing and dancing in memory of Ma Garrita’s ancestors. A live vocalist was also singing spooktacular songs in the Enchanted Village. There was also a Magical Mayhem Magic Show in Alton Towers Hotel, as well as Fantastical Spell School Halloween and Patch’s Pumpkin Party in Splash Landings Hotel.