Alton Towers Halloween: Scarefest Mazes, Dates and Tickets

What Scarefest is and who it suits

Scarefest is a Halloween overlay rather than a separate event: the theme park stays open and the Halloween content runs alongside the rides. That means a family with young children can spend the day in CBeebies Land at Alton Towers and on the gentler coasters, skip every maze, and still see roaming characters and a Halloween show. Teenagers and thrill-seekers get the most value by staying into the evening for mazes, scare zones and night rides.

The event is busy, and the most popular coasters draw long queues. Ride the biggest names early or late in the day, and expect the park to thin out from late afternoon as day guests leave and the scare mazes open. Queues for rides often ease once the maze slots begin.

Scarefest dates and park opening hours

For 2026, Scarefest runs on selected dates from 26 September to 1 November, and the theme park is listed as open 10am to 9pm across the event. Treat that as the published pattern rather than a guarantee for every date: the official Alton Towers calendar is where the final hours for your chosen day appear.

The 2025 event ran a similar long-day format, with the park open from 10am until 9pm on Scarefest dates. One important internal difference: CBeebies Land attractions closed at 5pm, well before the rest of the park, and the Gardens closed at dusk because of low lighting. Plan the youngest children's rides for the afternoon.

What is included with a standard theme park ticket

Your ordinary park ticket covers the scare zones Dark Hollow and Burial Grounds, the Freaky Fun Zone shows, the roaming Alton Ancestors characters and the CBeebies Land Monster Ball show. None of these need a separate booking, so a family can build a full Halloween day around included entertainment alone.

The scare mazes, Amigos in the Afterlife and Trick O' Treat Town are not included in regular theme park admission and must be bought as add-ons. When you price up a Scarefest day, compare the park ticket on its own against a park ticket plus maze tickets, because the add-ons can substantially change the cost per person. Current Alton Towers tickets and day-ticket options are listed on the official booking page and set out in our price breakdown.

Scare mazes: Final Exhibit, Edge of the Forest, COMPOUND and Altonville Mine Tours

For 2026 the maze line-up lists four live-action attractions: Final Exhibit, new for the season and set inside the Curator's collection; Edge of the Forest, in the Dark Forest area; Altonville Mine Tours; and COMPOUND, the Phalanx-themed sci-fi maze tied to Nemesis Reborn. Each is a walkthrough scare maze rather than a ride, so expect theatrical sets, actors and dark, enclosed spaces.

In 2025, the mazes carried a 12+ age recommendation. COMPOUND was described as dark and claustrophobic, with narrow lab corridors, while Altonville Mine Tours sat inside the Towers with entry near X-Sector. If anyone in your group dislikes tight spaces or sudden scares, those two are the ones to think hardest about.

Scare zones: Dark Hollow and Burial Grounds

Dark Hollow and Burial Grounds are free-flowing outdoor scare zones rather than ticketed mazes, and they carry the same 12+ recommendation. Dark Hollow sits in the Dark Forest and builds on the area's mythology, while Burial Grounds is beside Wicker Man and themes around the Beornen cult. Because they are open-air routes through the park, you can walk around them or through them depending on your group.

In 2025 the scare zones opened at 5pm on all Scarefest dates and stayed open until 30 minutes after ride close. That makes them an evening experience, not a daytime one, so families with younger children can plan to be heading out as they start.

Family Halloween attractions: Amigos in the Afterlife and Trick O' Treat Town

Amigos in the Afterlife is an interactive walkthrough inspired by Dia de los Muertos, set in the Dungeon building, where friendly spirits guide you back to the living world. Trick O' Treat Town hands children a tote bag and sends them knocking on doors along Spooky Avenue and Treat Street to collect sweets, with tricks along the way. Both carried a 6+ recommendation in 2025.

These two are the paid family add-ons, and their hours differ from the mazes: in 2025 they ran 11am to 4.30pm on Sundays to Fridays, and 10.30am to 6pm on Saturdays. If you are buying them, book a slot that fits the middle of the day, before the scare zones open and while CBeebies Land is still running.

Live shows and roaming characters

The Freaky Fun Zone in the Mutiny Bay courtyard is a Halloween play area with shows and activities, included with park admission and pitched at young families. Alton Ancestors roam Towers Street, Fountain Square and Mutiny Bay, performing flash mobs during the day before a staged evening dance on the courtyard stage. The CBeebies Land Monster Ball adds a dance-and-games show for younger children, with costumes welcomed for that show.

These included shows are the backbone of a Halloween day for families who are not buying maze tickets, and they fill the gaps between rides without extra cost. Show times sit alongside the ride schedule and shift across the season, so pick them up from the times board or app on the morning of your visit.

Scarefest ticket options and prices

Scarefest add-ons come in several shapes. The 2025 pricing included a Thrills Combi ticket covering Edge of the Forest, COMPOUND and Altonville Mine Tours at £38 per person, an All Maze ticket giving one entry to each of the five attractions at £55, and a Family Duo ticket for Amigos in the Afterlife and Trick O' Treat Town at £16. Passholders paid less, and single-attraction tickets ranged from £10 to £16 depending on the maze. These are 2025 figures, so compare them against the current official Scarefest booking page before you commit.

Slots matter as much as tickets. In 2025 the thrill mazes offered early slots from 3pm to 5pm Sunday to Friday, or 1pm to 5pm on Saturdays, plus late slots from 5pm to 9pm, and passholder discounts applied only to early slots. If you want cheaper pricing and a calmer maze, book early; if you want the full after-dark atmosphere, book late.

There is also a separate one-shot maze Fastrack, sold per attraction, which cuts the queue for individual mazes rather than for rides. That is a different product from the park's ride queue-jump passes, which our Alton Towers fast track guide covers.

Behind-the-scenes extras and VIP packages

Beyond the mazes, 2025 offered two add-on experiences: a COMPOUND Behind the Scenes tour on selected dates, including a lights-on tour, a maze ticket and a pin badge, and a 90-minute Alton Towers Ghost Tour through the Towers ruins with ghost-hunting tools. Both were priced separately and ran only on certain Scarefest dates, so they need booking early.

A full VIP package bundled front-of-line access with a host, unlimited maze entry with Fastrack, food and drink vouchers, photos, merchandise and express parking, sold either with or without theme park admission. It is the expensive option and only makes sense for a group treating Scarefest as the main event of the year.

Age guidance and which scare attractions suit which children

The 2025 age recommendations separate the event cleanly: 12+ for the four mazes and both scare zones, and 6+ for Amigos in the Afterlife and Trick O' Treat Town. Use those as the dividing line when planning for siblings of different ages, and expect the park to enforce age guidance at maze entrances.

A family with a 7-year-old and a 13-year-old cannot realistically do the same evening together. A workable split is the family walkthroughs and CBeebies Land in the afternoon for the younger child, then the scare zones and a late maze slot for the older one, with an adult swapping out.

Rides in the dark: where to be after sunset

The dark transforms several areas. Forbidden Valley is lit through the evening, with synchronised lighting around Nemesis Reborn and the silos beside Toxicator, and X Sector gives a strong night view from Oblivion across The Smiler. Wicker Man runs with its flames more visible after dark, and TH13TEEN's circuit has almost no lighting around it.

If you are staying for night rides, build the day so the coasters you most want after dark are saved for the last two hours, when day guests are leaving and maze queues absorb the crowd. Spinball Whizzer tends to be quieter in the afternoon and evening.

How Scarefest changes the park day: crowd flow and ride order

Scarefest compresses the useful day. The park fills in the morning, the family attractions close mid-afternoon, the scare zones open at 5pm and the mazes run into the evening. Aim to hit the headline coasters at opening, use the middle of the day for shows and family walkthroughs, and keep the late hours for mazes and night rides.

If you have never been to the resort, our Alton Towers guide explains how the areas connect, which helps when you are moving between the Dark Forest, Forbidden Valley and the Towers in the dark.

Family versus thrill evenings: planning a group with mixed ages

For a mixed group, pick a base: the Mutiny Bay courtyard and Towers Street keep younger children busy with the included shows and characters while older members head into the scare zones. Agree a meeting point before the scare zones open, because phone signal and crowds make the park harder to navigate after dark.

Book only the add-ons each person will use. A Family Duo ticket for the two family walkthroughs plus a Thrills Combi for the older teenagers is usually cheaper than buying everything for everyone, and it avoids paying for mazes a child will not enter.

Scarefest during October half term

The 2026 dates run right through the October half-term window, ending on 1 November, which means the school holiday dates are among the busiest of the season. Expect the headline coasters to carry the longest queues and the popular maze slots to sell out first. Book maze times well ahead and plan your coaster order around opening.

If your dates are flexible, the late September and early October weekends before half term give you the same event with fewer families. The trade-off is shorter evenings and darker, colder conditions later on, so dress for a night outdoors.

Food, parking and getting home after a 9pm close

A 9pm close changes the exit plan. Buy your parking ticket from a machine or booth at the start of the day to avoid a queue on the way out, and consider leaving the theme park via the Galactica Gates to skip the monorail queue. Both are simple choices that save time when everyone leaves at once.

If you are relying on public transport, check the last connections before you commit to a late maze slot; our guide to how to get to Alton Towers by car, train or bus covers the routes and the transfer from the station.

Practical accessibility and rider swap notes for scare attractions

Scare attractions involve dark, uneven and enclosed spaces, which is worth raising with the accessibility team before booking a slot if anyone in your group has mobility or sensory needs. Our Alton Towers accessibility guide covers the schemes for rides and how to arrange them.

For families with a child too young for a maze, rider swap lets adults take turns on rides without queueing twice. Ask at the ride entrance how it works on the day, since the procedure varies by attraction.

Plan Your Scarefest Day

Treat Scarefest as three decisions: your park ticket, your maze add-ons and your evening plan. Decide who is doing which mazes, book the time slots that match, keep the middle of the day for family shows and walkthroughs, and save the coasters for after dark.

The official Alton Towers calendar carries the exact dates and hours for your visit, with maze slots best booked early if you are travelling in half term. If you are making a weekend of it, our Alton Towers Resort guide covers the on-site hotels and how to build the break around the park. Comparing how other parks run their season can help too, so our Drayton Manor Halloween guide offers a family-focused alternative in the Midlands.