If there is a similar balance of IP and non-ip mazes to this year, with a high quality, I am happy enough with fright nights. However, I would want more relevant IPs

So long as it's a balance of IP mazes and original ideas I'll be happy (well so long as Big Top stays in it's 2016 state I'll be happy). Would've rathered all original though.

 

So excited to see what's to come this year for Fright Nights! Hopefully we'll get a bit of a change up now with the new director (ahem)...

New IP could mean the end of Lionsgate (which they've been moving away from for a few years now anyway) with a new theme across the whole of frightnights, or it could mean a new single maze IP from the Lionsgate stable?

My prediction is the lionsgate IP will stay, the maze will just get new films.

at the end of the day as long as big top returns exactly the same I'll be happy.

 

And if all goes wrong at least I live less than 5 minutes from tulleys! Yay

 

This is what an ideal 2017 would look like to me:

 

parkwide theming and audio was good last year, but even more wouldn't hurt.

 

roaming actors were dyer, barely saw them and when I did they just walked and stared, what the park needs is an actual scarezone just to walk through instead of branding one of the mazes as a scare zone.

 

a proper and well thought out queue system for all mazes without selling too many fast tracks, if possible bring back the queue line actors, only cabin had them last year.

 

 

in terms of the mazes:

 

dont touch big top, keep it exactly the same just a couple more actors will be good.

 

saw Is always lots of fun Imo, idk why people slate it so much, keep it just one more year

 

platform could be good with narrower outdoor scenes and theming like the old MBV tunnels in the tunnel, with a lot of actors and a better finale it could be really good

 

scrap Blair witch, make an original maze themed to being lost in the woods with a couple of inside scenes along the way, extend it all the way to rumba instead of the dead pathway at the end. 

 

Keep containment but change up the rooms so people pay for it again, keep it the same quality though.

 

finally make an original maze in the site of cabin, don't make it free flow but use all the rooms to make it a really long maze with potential to have a good combination of open scenes and narrow corridors, it is a very good make a long, claustrophobic maze

 

 

The end ?

 

 

Realistically, I think where gonna see Saw, Platform, and Big Top all return, which is all fine as long they cleanup the utter mess which is Platform.

Blair Witch I think might stay, as the new film kinda keeps the IP relevant.

I think Cabin's spot will be where the new IP will be TBH, as Cabin's throughput and flow is awful, plus it seems a lot of Cabin's special effects have been let to rot recently.

Fright Nights needs a big shake up (and was due one last year I believe but it only semi happened).

 

The movie idea was nice, kinda worked to begin with but now it's just a mess with a handful of Lionsgate IP's, some clowns and a train. So we're back in the era of random mazes which is fine! But, back then we had a strong theme of the roamers, something that used to be standout at Thorpe for me and now they're really lacklustre. The park just lacks any atmosphere at FN I feel.

 

I think the key is, FN used to be lighthearted, fun, the announcements were jokey, random theming and a mix of mazes. Now it feels like they try too hard but miss out important elements. The studio announcements around park don't fit in anymore and are repetitive. The music played is either drab noise or Saw. It was a bold move to go the IP route and numbers wise its paid off massively. But in doing so I feel we've lost true FN forever.

 

I'd like them to pick a route and go all out with it. Either keep all the mazes close together like last year and make it like an entire horror zone after 3/4pm with the roamers all located through Colossus/OldTown/Saw and lightly theme the rest of the park (Chessington could lend some of their pumpkins I'm sure) or spread it out again and use the park. I feel the maze queues aren't helped because they all lead into each other.

 

As for the mazes:

 

Saw is fine. Standard conga with good theming and decent scares, always consistent which is good for an event.

 

Cabin is stale. It was smart first year round, but now it's just like a standard maze and then you realise it isn't actually any good at being that.

 

Blair Witch is fine for what it is. Could easily get rid of the IP and make it about Monks or something creepy. Few more trees, actors, effects and it'll be fine.

 

Platform isn't worth it. It needs tents or shipping containers, it needs maze elements, it needs huge set pieces to hide the actors. That long path over the bridge round to the endless tunnel could work great with a set up like Freak Show at Towers. A bit of interaction in your mazes please Thorpe, no more of that horrid growling.

 

Big Top, I did not get the hype for this. The 2015 rendition had so much more potential with the mirror maze, all the effects they were trying to do and the interactive element! The new one just felt like a strobe maze followed by a few things to push around, bit of history and then a chainsaw... oh. I get why it was loved. It was just like the over rated Asylum. Fab.

 

Containment is good though, bit expensive but good!

 

Basically, there is little uniqueness too any of the mazes now. The stories are lost, the queues only grow and the atmosphere dies. Now the queue thing I don't mind too much, the event gains popularity so gains queues. But when they design a new maze, like Platform, they could actually consider this and try provide a decent throughput for it.

 

I want some new, unique mazes, a solid set of roaming actors, and maybe a base for a set of them to stay in like the zones at Towers. And I know Towers' mazes are charged for, but they could at least take some ideas from them.

If Platform returns I'll be shocked considering half of their props are broken... I'd say move the train elsewhere but knowing the nature of some guests if it was accessible it would be ruined in a few days. Saw will definitely stay and I'm holding out for Big Top and would be baffled if that went! They just need to get a lot more actors in general and if you live around that area and wanted to go for it then do it! It'll really make a difference! New audio for rides needs to be created as like Mitchada04 said, the studio ones are just out of place. Just a new everything would be good.

I'm not a horror event fan at all but from my perspective Thorpe's lineup lacks uniqueness - I feel like a solid hooded maze could work very well at the park.

 

Of course a major rebrand of the event would probably do it no harm too.

Fright Nights needs to go back to its roots IMO, original-idea mazes, theming in the ride stations and more around the park and more creative use of parkwide audio.

 

I honestly think that the event (as of 2016) has become one of the least enjoyable Halloween events in the country, the lineup is stale, crowd control is terrible and for the last two years the "big new scare attraction" has been a disappointment.

 

Onto the mazes themselves.

 

Saw Alive is dull IMO, it's been exactly the same for six years, it has become too predictable.  Time for a replacement or major shake-up.

 

Cabin is good in concept but has become stale, due to a lack of fresh ideas being added each year as well as a reduction in effects.  I think a similar (but different) concept to Experiment 10 would work well whilst keeping a similar layout to what is there now.

 

Big Top was great last year, I think it could do with a few minor improvements but apart from that leave it as it is.

 

Blair Witch needs replacing, and just pretend Platform 15 never happened.

35 minutes ago, CharlieN said:

I'm not a horror event fan at all but from my perspective Thorpe's lineup lacks uniqueness - I feel like a solid hooded maze could work very well at the park.

 

Of course a major rebrand of the event would probably do it no harm too.

 

Of all the criticisms that could be thrown at Fright Nights, I don't think a lack of uniqueness is one of them.

 

Outdoor attractions are rather uncommon, especially in a more set attraction format (most outdoor scare attractions are scare zones).  Cabin's free-flow, choose-a-door style was original, and still remains rather unique.  Of the top of my head, I can't think of many specific scare events that offer, albeit mini, escape rooms either.  And they've never been afraid to try something different or unique in recent years either - Experiment 10 and The Passing being prime examples.

 

In some ways, we are spoilt for choice a bit, and with Towers pushing the boundaries a lot more lately, it does under-value the uniqueness of Thorpe's mazes somewhat - especially since everyone visiting Thorpe will know of Towers.  

 

One could argue that Thorpe's biggest downfall at the moment is their inability to be able to produce a quality, 'standard' maze.  And that's not the park's fault either - they don't have a huge space they could use to create a standard, conga-line maze with rich theming, lots of special effects and so forth.  Compare this to all other major scare events in the country, who all have large spaces which can be used / converted into scare attractions. 

Keep the big top the same as 2016

Saw needs to go its really boring now 

Cabin is stale and probably needs replacing 

 

And let's all forget about Platform 15

 

Unfortunately my first fright nights was 2013 and I have been every year since, but to me 2008-2012 seem like they were the best years for fright nights. I'm extremely annoyed that I never got to experience experiment 10, hell gate, the curse and se7en, which all seem to be consistently rated right at the top in terms of all previous fright night mazes. Luckily in 2013 I got to lead the asylum which was amazing and I'm assuming the freezer was very similar to that, hence why I'm not too bothered about missing out on the freezer.

 

but anyway my point is can somebody please tell me what was so good about these mazes, especially experiment 10 which is almost always rated as THE best ever fright nights maze. I've only ever heard one bad review about it which was that it was a slightly longer version of MBV with a different theme.

 

I'm so eager to know why the (IMO reasonably good) mazes now are slated and hated so much.

31 minutes ago, Jack said:

Unfortunately my first fright nights was 2013 and I have been every year since, but to me 2008-2012 seem like they were the best years for fright nights. I'm extremely annoyed that I never got to experience experiment 10, hell gate, the curse and se7en, which all seem to be consistently rated right at the top in terms of all previous fright night mazes. Luckily in 2013 I got to lead the asylum which was amazing and I'm assuming the freezer was very similar to that, hence why I'm not too bothered about missing out on the freezer.

 

but anyway my point is can somebody please tell me what was so good about these mazes, especially experiment 10 which is almost always rated as THE best ever fright nights maze. I've only ever heard one bad review about it which was that it was a slightly longer version of MBV with a different theme.

 

I'm so eager to know why the (IMO reasonably good) mazes now are slated and hated so much.

Experiment 10 was on another level compared to the mazes they have now, it's hard to describe but it created such a buzz when it opened.

The entire maze was just so well done - the atmosphere in the gas chamber, fear of being locked in the containment rooms on your own and then the maze that followed was still very good.

Unfortunately when it returned in 2012 everything had been tamed/ruined, and the "new ending" was lacklustre.

 

I think that Thorpe's previous mazes (especially Asylum, E10, Hellgate) were far better than the ones they have now, but that's just my opinion.

I think some of the new mazes have been quite good, and at times better IMO than the park's older mazes.

Big Top (2016), Studio 13, Cabin (2013-2014), where all brilliant and good new additions.

I think the park's problem as of now is some of the maze's are beyond stale now, and it seems some mazes are very short of actors.

I also think the operations at Fright Nights recently have been quite poor, and the mazes are getting clustered with large groups..

4 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

I think some of the new mazes have been quite good, and at times better IMO than the park's older mazes,

Big Top (2016), Studio 13, Cabin (2013-2014), where all brilliant and good new additions.

I think the park's problem as of now is some of the maze's are beyond stale now, and it seems some mazes are very short of actors.

I also think the operations at Fright Nights recently have been quite poor, and the mazes are getting clustered with large groups..

 

Did you prefer Studio 13 over Asylum though.

The demand for fright night at the moment is too large resulting in groups having to be pushed through the mazes to prevent 3 hour long queues.

I wonder if Thorpe would ever take a Universal conga line style to the mazes and focused on theming to keep the guests entertained in larger groups.

Also lets have a throwback to my all-time favourite maze .....the passing.

9 hours ago, Coaster said:

 

I think that Thorpe's previous mazes (especially Asylum, E10, Hellgate) were far better than the ones they have now, but that's just my opinion.

 

The three mazes you just listed blow today's line up out of the water!! Just sad to think that few years ago we got experiment 10 and now we get platform 15

Having only been since 2013, I'll list my top 5 mazes to see how they compare to the classics which many of you seem to have experienced:

 

5: big top (2016)

4: Cabin (2013)

3: MBV (2013)

2: studio 13

1: ASYLUM!!!

2013 was my first as well so my top 5 is
5)Saw alive (2013)
4)Asylum
3)CITW (2014)
2)Big top (2016)
1)Mbv (2013)

2014 was my first my Top 5 would be:

5. Saw Alive (2015)

4. Studio 13

3. Cabin (2014)

2. MBV (2014)

1. Big Top (2016)

My top 5 my first was 2011

 

1) the big top (2016)

2) MBV (2014)

3) Cabin (2014)

4) Saw Alive 

5) Studio 13

 

I know I listed my top 5 above but Tbh my favourite maze in terms of experience is probably saw alive, it is always consistent, filled with actors, has great theming and smells, and it is the only maze I go through and get touched at least 3 times. I seriously don't know why it gets so much hate

I think Saw Alive has been quite good post ScareCon.

It seems they've loaded the maze with actors in the last few years, which means scares come quite thick and fast.

Also Saw Alive isn't plagued with the issues of being a free-flow maze..

 

On 2/12/2017 at 0:35 PM, Coaster said:

I think that Thorpe's previous mazes (especially Asylum, E10, Hellgate) were far better than the ones they have now, but that's just my opinion.

 

Agree 100% 

 

FN had such a stronger atmosphere back then as well (imo) Especially with all their soundtracks