Marc Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Ive noticed abit of a debate starting around the forums about the £5 entry charge for Standard Annual Pass holders to Fright Nights with it being compared to Scarefest at Towers which have no such fee but charge for 2 out of the 3 mazes and was curious to get a general opinion on what you prefer. Personally Id much rather pay the £5 event fee which allows me to go on all the mazes without paying any extra whilst on park (Of course if your a premium pass holder I this this is free anyway so premium holders get the better side of the deal at Thorpe) I'd say the majority of the guests visiting at Fright Nights / Scarefest have an intention on doing the Halloween attractions also so id much much rather a one of fee for all mazes instead of having to pay for them whilst on park but what do others think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jom222 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 I prefer no event fee because I don't go in any of the mazes, BigBobJones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 As mentioned in Questions to Thorpe - it's swings and roundabouts. I prefer the charged mazes method. Because I know the queues will be short, it's almost like a fastrack ticket. Though it varies hugely, I managed to get on both mazes for £5 due to a twitter offer. There were 5min queues when I did it. Wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 I cant actually remember the prices of each maze last year and dont think they have been released this year but I do remember last year The Carnival of Screams attracting quite lengthy queues despite the charge, I'm intrigued how this will cope being the free maze this year, to me it seemed TOTT had much better throughputs so made more sense that being the free one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 It is literally dependant on personal tastes, as someone who couldn't give a rats behind about queuing 2 hours to go down some corridors with people jumping out at me, £5 is a bit silly (though I have a Premium Pass anyways) for me to pay extra for a few extra hours of ride time... Meanwhile if I go to Towers for night rides, I don't have to pay anything extra to enter... So what's best for the ride enthusiast at these events? (Answer is of course, go to Chessie) But if you want to do the mazes, then paying one price for all you can do in a night is a better option (but then the issue turns into how many can you do, since the queues are long and quite slow due to the low throughputs)... Though obviously Towers do their deals on maze tickets to get that old value for money out... On a busy night at Thorpe, how many mazes would people average in the 7? hours they are open for (3-10 this year isn't it? Assuming each is a 90 minute queue and you do all 4 of them that's 6 hours of your life gone and little to no time for night rides)... Swings and Roundabouts, Apples and Oranges really... As for whether or not CoS can deal with being free, let's not forget how easy it is to completely change a maze and it's layout... They'd be pretty daft not to make it as high throughput as possible this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 The mazes were expensive late in evening with no offers - something like £12 or £14 for them both. Carnival I imagine they'll work it to increase the throughputs - larger groups, with people going through more often. Wonder if they'll sell fastrack on it though like they did TOTT, as I can imagine that'd kill it. TOTT as a charged maze makes sense - both charged mazes right next to each other (ensuring guests didn't go from TOTT into sanctuary was a nightmare), it also allows them to lower the group numbers going through, which'll increase the atmosphere. Hopefully it'll mean some additional budget to change it enough. Plus, for those who don't pay for mazes, it'll be a welcome change considering it's been this version of TOTT for 3yrs now. Also, arguably, towers mazes you can feel where the money has gone - they've got a quality feel about them, they've got the length and atmosphere which hopefully makes it worth the money. I doubt you'd be anywhere near satisfied if you had to pay for thorpes mazes and ended up with the quality of them (based on last year and the opinion with The Passing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 Thorpes mazes don't have the length to be paid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 When you consider the price paid for the Annual Passes in the first place then the £5 event fee isn't bad, although I can see why it is unpopular. An annual pass really should allow access to the park every day it's open. I guess this is why they have different grades of Annual Pass though. I hate the idea of paying extra for attractions when already inside the park though, so yeah, I think Thorpe are doing it right If you're that upset about it then you've bought the wrong pass - get a Premium, it's still incredible value for money & you'll get "free" parking as well. (well, not 'free'... but it's included) Something I don't agree with though is the extra charge for Summer Nights... I don't understand why an Annual Pass doesn't cover that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 It should all be included when your paying soo much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topsyturvy15 Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 The costs for these events though are pretty high and do warrant a small fee!!! Better pay the fee than not have the events. As someone that likes mazes the Thorpe method is much better as its cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted August 27, 2013 Report Share Posted August 27, 2013 I'm not entirely sure what system I prefer. Personally, I think Thorpe's system is fine as it is. £5 extra for Standard AP holders and a rise in price for everyone, and you can choose between mazes, night rides, or a bit of both. It's consistent with the pricing of Summer Nights, too. Alton's system is also good, as it allows for people who don't want to do the mazes not to have to fork out extra. It also helps keep queues small most of the time. In a bit of a cop-out answer, I think each system suits the individual parks fine. Thorpe have more scare attractions, and have a lot more focus on them at Halloween, so it makes sense to have an added extra price. Alton have less scare attractions and I feel have them as a sideline for Halloween, with the focus being more on all-rounded for everyone, so having 1 free maze and 2 paid mazes works well. pluk, FrightNights04 and Inferno 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Hopefully alton and thorpe both stick with the current prices Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 I prefer Fright Night's pricing, but I do think that entry should still be free and that you should obtain a wristband to go in mazes which costs £5 (therefore people who aren't interested in Fright Nights aren't "blocked out" of the park for a month). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 I prefer Fright Night's pricing, but I do think that entry should still be free and that you should obtain a wristband to go in mazes which costs £5 (therefore people who aren't interested in Fright Nights aren't "blocked out" of the park for a month). but then you're getting extra hours of park opening and including roaming actors etc. completely free - considering how I and probably the majority of people with passes now got them pretty much for free with a full priced entry, I think it's only fair they charge the fiver, as it's costing them to keep open longer even without the mazes, so a fiver extra is a complete bargain if you only have a standard thorpe or merlin pass... best way so people stop complaining is that you go and buy a premium merlin pass - simple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Other parks offer extended opening hours without you having to pay extra to enter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Alton Towers... but then you have to pay for the mazes which I guess is why this topic is being created. And most people have said they would rather pay the extra fiver for all the mazes to be included. When you get a standard pass you know what you're letting yourself in for with the terms & conditions, and I personally think a fiver extra for standard passes is reasonable - I understand what people mean they have to pay extra just to go to the park even if they don't want to stay late or use the mazes, but thorpe have a park to run efficiently and it's not exactly easy to distinguish between different guests having people check wristbands ect. If you had a premium pass it wouldn't make any difference... and then you would be complaining when you go to Alton Towers that you still have to pay for the mazes!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 I don't think there should be any limits on Annual Passes whatsoever, already paid one price for the year, why should someone who only got a Standard not be able to go to certain places whenever they want to? Indeed, the only reason I have a Premium is so I can visit the Midway attractions during August... Not exactly fair though is it? It's simple to check wristbands on people if they don't have 'access' to the mazes... Most mazes last year had 4 members of staff at each entrance, why can't they check? Not exactly a painful procedure, especially as it's simple to show off a wristband to someone... Both methods have their own pros and cons as I said at the start of the topic, but as I'm only interested in night riding things, not having to pay extra to get in as an excuse for the extra charge is the better option for myself... The charge is for the maze staffing, not for the extra hours... Otherwise every park in the world who did this type of Halloween event (I.e. NOT a completely separate ticketed event) would charge people the extra money... Hell even Chessie don't charge extra (then again, it's only 2 hours and all their stuff is free)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 even though it's merlin it seems to be up to the parks what they do at the end of the day... I'm sure chessie are happy putting the event on as I'm guessing they wouldn't get many visitors that time of year, so the amount of guests visiting outweighs the cost of running the event. I go for the whole aspect of halloween events, although I mainly love the rides in the evening/dark as it's hard to do in the summer (although summer nights were good with nemesis inferno in almost pitch black ) I've said it before, and I'll say it again parks have the power to do what they want, only they will learn when they have a decrease in visitors (in this case due to lack of passholders attending), and have to make changes, but I know the amount of people that won't go will be rather small, so thorpe won't really take any notice and therefore won't do anything, it's how merlin seem to run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Users Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Everyone wants an event more like Halloween Horror Nights, yet nobody wants to pay extra money. Then again, night rides are easy to get at other times of the year at Universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 That is a good point, I had no idea so many parks did that. I don't think there should be any limits on Annual Passes whatsoever, already paid one price for the year, why should someone who only got a Standard not be able to go to certain places whenever they want to? I I guess simply because you haven't paid for the whole year. In the same way that most Ryanair customers haven't paid for baggage, and haven't paid for food/drinks. That's the reason it's Cheaper! The option is there to have a better product, but you have to pay full price for it. As long as the premium pass continues to give unlimited access without restrictions then none of us have a leg to stand on really, unless they raise the prices a lot. OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrightNights04 Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 How much extra is premium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 I think they usually advertise that an 'upgrade' is £30 - that's if you already have a Standard pass. My advice would be to wait until the annual Boxing Day Sale, where you'll be able to buy a Premium for less than a full price Standard FrightNights04 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 Whilst I never liked paying extra, I think £5 for standard pass holders is very good for the addition of 5 horror attractions as well as 12 hours of rides. Alton on the other hand, you may still get in free, providing of course they haven't hit capacity, however £5/£6 (can't remember think it was £6) is FAR too steep for a maze which where never particularly good... I never went in sanctuary so can't really comment. But The Boiler House & Carnival of Screams where terrible! And most of of all not worth a penny let alone over a tenner for two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackR Posted August 28, 2013 Report Share Posted August 28, 2013 At the end of the day, MAPs are great value for money. I went to Thorpe 15 times last year aswell as Chessie/Alton/Midway attractions and I'm sure that gate prices for all of those tickets would have dollied up to a bit more than the £120 I paid for my Standard pass. An extra £5 for mazes and 5 hours of extra ride time isn't really too much to ask for in my opinion. With Alton most people are limited to one go in each maze due to the cost of re-runs or lack of avaliable tickets. I go to Fright Nights for the mazes, and I want to be able to use them freely. I really couldn't care for night rides if I'm honest... *Prepares to be slated by everyone for that* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted August 29, 2013 Report Share Posted August 29, 2013 In general as a fan of the mazes I prefer a £5 entry fee and get on them as much as you like, however I don't agree we have to pay extra to get into the theme park during that time. However it is Thorpe Park's rules, and I much prefer feeling like you are getting something extra and can go on the mazes over and over again if you so wished, rather than be restricted to one go on the Alton Mazes and what I would call silly money! The Price of their mazes cover the cost of Fastrack for the Thorpe Park Mazes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.