Fright Nights 2017

[Marhelorpe]

Yesterday reminded me why you should never attend this event on a Saturday in the middle of October. It was a joke.

Swarm was by far the worst out of all problems last night. What could have easily been just a 40 minute queue turned out to be over 2 hours long in the early hours of the evening for the following reasons:

1. Pretty much every train going round the track had at least between 6-8 empty seats due to single riders or odd numbered groups. No organising or grouping from the staff was being used here.
2. The staff in the station as Ringo above mentioned were more interested in having chats with their colleagues during the loading stages of each dispatch than getting those trains going round the circuit at a relentless rate.
3. The ratio of the main queue:Fastrack was 50:50 and the number of people using it just for Swarm alone was absurd. On top of that, nobody next to the baggage hold was monitoring the number of people going through the fastrack queue at one point which explained why the main queue went to a near standstill for nearly 20 minutes.

Other problems from the night were prevalent too. Big Top was overcrowded inside, especially during the first half of the maze with the strobes as groups kept going through at a constant rate, so much so that I estimate about 40 people were in that section at the same time on the second run. Why you might ask? Because staff were guiding guests completely through the first fortune teller scene, meaning it was an endless stream of people going through with no holding zones, as well as a missed scene from the attraction.

And as for Fastrack, last night just goes to show you even a price hike still isn't enough to stop it being sold in large quantities. The queue pen outside Depth Charge to buy the stuff was overflowing by the time the sun was starting to set for the remainder of the evening. As result, the entire Fastrack queue for Big Top was full all night, an endless number of people were pouring through Swarm's Fastrack queue, Colossus was the same all day and night and Platform 15's Fastrack queue I swear was longer at one point compared to the normal queue.

People's feedback online social media is just as valid as anybody else's out there regardless of what platform or rank they have, so I wouldn't write them all off as being OTT or exaggerated. If people fork out over £35 minimum for entry to discover they must queue over 2 hours for a 40 minute queue on Swarm, find lousy operations on all main rides, broken or missed scenes from the scare mazes and to be persuaded the only way to enjoy the night is to shell out more money on Fastrack which ironically had a massive queue all night to get, they have every right to complain and call the park out on it.

[Mattgwise]

That's a shame, because those problems were not present the previous week at the TPM meet, just shows inconsistency.

[JoshC.]

34 minutes ago, Martin.C said:

Other problems from the night were prevalent too. Big Top was overcrowded inside, especially during the first half of the maze with the strobes as groups kept going through at a constant rate, so much so that I estimate about 40 people were in that section at the same time on the second run. Why you might ask? Because staff were guiding guests completely through the first fortune teller scene, meaning it was an endless stream of people going through with no holding zones, as well as a missed scene from the attraction.
 

Given it's hard enough to see your own hand in front of your face in the strobe maze, I really don't see how you can give any fair estimate for the number of people in there?  People get lost in there and stay in there so long, I imagine there's always more people in that section than people think.  There's people on here who have said they've gotten lost in the strobe section for 5-10 minutes, which would mean that at least 2-3 groups should also have entered the maze by then too, yet never did anyone complain of overcrowding.  Not saying there wasn't necessarily a large number of people in there (having no pre show won't help that), but it's not exactly uncommon or something which necessarily affects the experience. 

 

Skipping pre show is poor though.  It doesn't really change anything throughput wise (since it's a similar length to the safety talk), and it does set the maze up nicely.  Hopefully just a one off more than anything else. 

 

 

Regarding Fastrack, in theory it shouldn't matter how long the Fastrack queue is, as the same number of people should be batched in every time.  So it doesn't matter if there's 10 people there, or 200 people, only 6 Fastrackers say (I've got no idea on the actual number) should be in a group.  Fastrack is designed so that if you buy a ticket, you wait at most 1/3 of the advertised queue time (so in theory if there's a 90 minute queue, you could still wait up to 30 minutes).  This fails when people don't stick to their slots, advertised queue times are wildly inaccurate, etc.  If / when these things go wrong, it leaves staff having the struggle with an in-balance for the rest of the night.

 

 

Also, just to clarify my comment about Facebook posts - yep, every comment is just as valid as any other time of year.  But it's always worth baring in mind that there's always more negative feedback during Fright Nights compared to other times of the year, and social media rarely gets used to express good feedback, only excellent feedback.  Whether the negative feedback is proportionate to the crowd numbers we don't know, but it's always worth keeping in mind that it will never tell the full story.

 

 

[Mark9]

To think, how much shorter those queues would be if Rumba was open.. 

 

 

[Marhelorpe]

3 minutes ago, BaronC. said:

Given it's hard enough to see your own hand in front of your face in the strobe maze, I really don't see how you can give any fair estimate for the number of people in there?  People get lost in there and stay in there so long, I imagine there's always more people in that section than people think.

That judgement was based upon the fact as soon as my group turned the corner into the strobes, the next one was right on our tail behind us. And then after circling through the strobe section once in 30 seconds, looking back at that archway, another group of around 12 goes through. This all happened in the space of less than a minute and caused a lot of congestion inside with lots of stoppages despite the actors guiding everyone through. Around 3 groups went into that maze in less than a minute. How did I see all this? Because that first corridor has a massive white light shining inside and leaking into the strobe area around the corner, so I could see these figures of people passing through constantly.

Then to top it all off, after getting off and going back round to see the queue, they were sending groups of 10 through on average every 20-30 seconds after that which would explain why the queues suddenly shrunk afterwards.

I know what I saw and it was overcrowded inside last night with too frequent dispatches of groups, especially compared to previous nights this year.

[Marc]

It’s not unusual for them to start sending through bigger groups more often when queues get very long - the groups on quieter days are almost always smaller than those on the peak packed out days - there’s a fine balance between keeping the queues at a reasonable length / keeping the groups smaller for a better experience.

 

Did notice the mazes opened at 12 again yesterday which was originally only planned for Half term , which should help abit on the busier days.

[Cal]

1 hour ago, Martin.C said:

Then to top it all off, after getting off and going back round to see the queue, they were sending groups of 10 through on average every 20-30 seconds after that which would explain why the queues suddenly shrunk afterwards.

 

 

How were they sending groups every 20-30 secs? Not doubting what you're saying but the safety announcement is over a minute long. Were they not playing this as well as the pre-show? 

[Marhelorpe]

47 minutes ago, ThorpeAddict said:

How were they sending groups every 20-30 secs? Not doubting what you're saying but the safety announcement is over a minute long. Were they not playing this as well as the pre-show? 

It was on an endless loop with no stops in-between. In the middle of the announcement groups were being shown through the flaps.

[Martin Doyle]

2 hours ago, Martin.C said:

And as for Fastrack, last night just goes to show you even a price hike still isn't enough to stop it being sold in large quantities. The queue pen outside Depth Charge to buy the stuff was overflowing by the time the sun was starting to set for the remainder of the evening. As result, the entire Fastrack queue for Big Top was full all night, an endless number of people were pouring through Swarm's Fastrack queue, Colossus was the same all day and night and Platform 15's Fastrack queue I swear was longer at one point compared to the normal queue.

 

 

I knew the price hike would not lead to them capping the amount of fastrack sold!! Saw it coming a mile off. I’m sorry but to charge near enough tulleys prices for the one go on each package and then £125 for ultimate and STILL oversell is unacceptable in my eyes. For those prices I really would expect it to take 15 minutes tops before I’m entering the maze. Tulleys handle their fastrack option brilliantly (only 200 fastrack and 50 VIP sold per night) so I just find Fright nights having stupidly long fastrack lines to be ridiculous ESPECIALLY for those prices 

[0wl]

Can anyone tell me the individual prices for mazes fastrack??

[Cal]

46 minutes ago, 0wl said:

Can anyone tell me the individual prices for mazes fastrack??

 

£10 each for walking dead ones, £8 for the rest

[RobF]

In terms of maze quality the big top was so much better than the annual pass night although the projector is broken for the fortune teller. (It was abit weird with just the speach). It may also lead into why it was completely missed later in the night. 

 

I agree with swarm op's yesterday. There seem to be staff who would rather talk until the train is back rather than actively running the attraction.

 

 

[Themeparkadict]

So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it 

 

1. Is DGBT included in this package 

2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far 

3. Is it worth the money ? 

[StevenVig]

3 minutes ago, Themeparkadict said:

So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it 

 

1. Is DGBT included in this package Yes, but I think it's a one-shot

2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far Don't know, but judging on the comments here, be prepared for long waits

3. Is it worth the money ? You tell us, you purchased it

I was originally planning to purchase an Ultimate Package, but after attending Press Night, I could not justify it as the only decent maze was The Big Top, and Platform with its major improvements. 

[Mark9]

I'd have asked those questions before buying it to be honest. I don't think £125 on a fastrack package can ever be worth the money, regardless of how many rides or mazes you get to do.

[Marc]

1 hour ago, Themeparkadict said:

So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it 

 

1. Is DGBT included in this package 

2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far 

3. Is it worth the money ? 

I wouldn't expect to instantly walk on things but you should easily be able to do everything you want to do with the ultimate fastracks - enjoy! 

[Themeparkadict]

1 minute ago, Marc said:

I wouldn't expect to instantly walk on things but you should easily be able to do everything you want to do with the ultimate fastracks - enjoy! 

Thank you

[david I]

This forum is making me really concerned for my visit on the 30th OCT. How is the park on a weekday in october ( day before halloween) I'm not fussed about going in the mazes but seeing as this will be my first visit to Thorpe park in 3 years I would love to be able to get on all the rides I want

[Rach666]

2 hours ago, Themeparkadict said:

So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it 

 

1. Is DGBT included in this package 

2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far 

3. Is it worth the money ? 

I went this Saturday and also had UFT....

 

1. Yes (but still expect to queue around 15mins)

2. 0-15 - (Saw, walked on: TWDLN, 15mins in tunnel: Sanctum, walked on: BT, 15mins due to maze "breaking down": P15, 15mins due to some idiot hitting an actor and waiting for security)

3. 100% yes IMO. Yes, for that kind of money I agree you should walk on, but I would rather queue 15mins than 2 hours. 

 

Going again this Sat with same pass, so will see how we get on... 

[Marc]

1 hour ago, david I said:

This forum is making me really concerned for my visit on the 30th OCT. How is the park on a weekday in october ( day before halloween) I'm not fussed about going in the mazes but seeing as this will be my first visit to Thorpe park in 3 years I would love to be able to get on all the rides I want

Dont be concerned - are you spending the whole day there? If so you'll be fine to get all the rides in, the gates open at dead on 10, Swarm is usually where a lot of people head early, in previous trips ive gone over to Stealth first thing got that done and then Inferno straight after with minimal queues. After that if you have the TP App it has the queue times on, check out if Saw / Colossus or Swarm are busy and head to the quieter. 

 

The park will be busy but you'll have no issue getting in everything you want to, especially if your not planning to do the mazes - although If you get chance would recommend giving them a go - especially Big Top!

[JoshuaA]

I visited last night and overall the mazes and the acting quality is by far some of the best I've seen at the park for years.

Most mazes seemed to have a decent amount of actors, and Platform was swarming with actors in some sections..

The operations though were god-awful, Big Top e-stopped three times within a hour, young kids were running over the ropes and kept running into maze past the groups and

The staff look puzzled to what do.. Shocking..

[JoshC.]

I believe that last night was the night were there was a large number of certain visitors in the park.  They cause more trouble and it does affect the operations a lot.  For some staff (especially if they're newer / haven't experienced that behaviour in large quantities before), it can be intimidating, difficult to control and a bit 'rabbit in headlights' for some.  And the security team will always be stretched regardless of how many staff they get in.  

 

That's certainly not to give staff / the park a bye for the operations / handling of some things, but perhaps it's easier to be a bit more forgiving given the circumstances. 

[Stuntman707]

On 16/10/2017 at 10:36 AM, Themeparkadict said:

So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it 

 

1. Is DGBT included in this package 

2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far 

3. Is it worth the money ? 

1. Yes, at least I’d hope so for that price!

2. On average I’d say around 15mins. I think Platform 15 fastrack was about 30-45mins last time I went but Big Top had an evac earlier so they handed out a lot of free fastracks.

3. I always say no but I never buy fastracks. Last few times I’ve been I’ve had free hand outs from other ride issues. They only really advertise the bundled fastracks but you can get separate one shots for any ride in the park which I’d consider much better value if there is a ride you really want to do. You can get a one shot on each maze for £8 and Walking dead for £10, I can’t verify as I’ve only seen one shot prices at the park but you can get a one shot for DBGT for about £6-8 (£6 for other main coasters), It’s no more than £10 for one shots though.

[ProudToServe]

On 16/10/2017 at 4:08 PM, JoshuaA said:

I visited last night and overall the mazes and the acting quality is by far some of the best I've seen at the park for years.

Most mazes seemed to have a decent amount of actors, and Platform was swarming with actors in some sections..

The operations though were god-awful, Big Top e-stopped three times within a hour, young kids were running over the ropes and kept running into maze past the groups and

The staff look puzzled to what do.. Shocking..

I wouldnt say the three e-stops on big top in an hour would be bad operations. They could have all been for valid reasons, like guest action, security, first aid, which would be out of anyones control.  2015 Big Tops e-stops on the other hand, would have been classes as bad operations

[JoshuaA]

9 hours ago, ProudToServe said:

I wouldnt say the three e-stops on big top in an hour would be bad operations. They could have all been for valid reasons, like guest action, security, first aid, which would be out of anyones control.

I still found the operations needlessly poor though, and no wonder the constant e stops, the queue was barely being batched.. People just ran past the poor puzzled looking staff who seemed to just give up after a while..

 

Guest action was apparently (according to staff) what caused the e-stops, though

I have been on travellers night at Tulleys/Scarefest/ect and never had the problems that I had at Fright Nights on Sunday..

Security seemed to be pretty sparse around the park too..