I don't really think it's harsh, more of a reality check. Like I say, I have absolutely nothing but admiration for the dedication that Kieran and Jack put into these trailers - but at the end of the day, those trailers are pretty much just for the enthusiasts... aka people who are very much aware of Fright Nights and will likely attend the event anyway. I suppose the level of quality that the park get through Kieran and Jack for their money is unmatched by anybody else, not forgetting that these videos are produced by two individuals with a passion for theme parks and videography - something you won't get if you run to a bog-standard marketing agency - so they really hit the nail on the head each time when it comes to knowing what the people want.
However, I must admit that the balance of storydriven narrative and actual genuine promotional material for the mazes/zones has been bang on point this year so far. The Trailers reveal last night had the narrative to kick off the video, panned into the box, and had a montage of what it's actually like inside of the maze... perfect!
When leaning too heavily into a narrative you can often oversell an attraction and unfortunately I feel like that's definitely what was done last year, so it's great to see that they've finally found the perfect balance this year.