This weekend the PAS team took a road trip up to Alton Towers for the opening day of Scarefest. And what fun we had.
Alton had the balance just right. Both families and thrill seekers were kept thoroughly spooked all day long. The park was themed throughout with pumpkin displays and other tricks and treats.
We stared off the day with the brand new ride, TH13TEEN. We only queued for an hour and it was worth it. If you haven’t been on it already, you’re in for a real surprise! Although the park was busy, we managed to get on all of the ‘big’ rides; Nemesis, Rita, Air and Oblivion. Another highlight of the day was looking around the Sharkbait Reef. With so many tropical fish, sharks and other sea life creatures, it’s well worth a look around while you’re there.
After a long day at the park, by about 7pm we were all hungry and needed a rest. The Woodcutter’s Bar and Grill was the perfect place to stop and they managed to fit us all in (we were a large table of 10) straight away. The food was great and inexpensive.
A little tip for you if you’re planning on staying at the park late: make sure you take extra clothes to wear. It gets freezing in the evening, especially waiting around in the queues. There are lockers available to hire for the day in Guest Services. For £3 a day, it is a good way to keep your extra scarves and jumpers safe until you need them later on in the day. Another tip to prevent frostbite while queuing, is to buy a hot chocolate before you join the queue. It keeps your body warm and tastes delicious. Happy days!
If you want the ultimate frightening experience, there are four maze attractions, one for children and three most definitely for adults! The Terror of the Towers maze is actually in the towers themselves and the other two mazes, Carnival of Screams and The Boiler House sit by the onsite Hotels and are open until midnight. You have to book tickets for these mazes, but if you really want the ultimate Scarefest experience and you’re not afraid of clowns, blood or the dark, then this will be right up your street! I can safely say I was a wimp and stayed well away from these and stuck to the rides.
But don’t worry if you’re taking the little ones, there’s still lots of things for them to enjoy. With live shows and characters entertaining the guests, families wont be disappointed. The real scary stuff doesn’t start until the evening when the sun has gone down, by which time they will be tried and ready for bed.
After a long day at the park, we went back to our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton East midlands, which is about a 30-45 minute drive away. It was clean, comfortable and had everything you needed. If you want to stay at the on site hotels, you’ll be in for a real treat. Throughout Scarefest they host a range of evening entertainment for the kids and you can even book to stay in a special Halloween themed room.
All in all it was a brilliant day out and highly recommended. The queues weren’t horrendously long and the rides didn’t disappoint (Nemesis is still my favourite). Scarefest runs until 31st October, so if you want a fright, be sure to head to Alton.
