Fright Nights 2017

[Jack]

7 minutes ago, Martin Doyle said:

 

I agree with this 100 percent. With the old school Congo line mazes, it felt like if the actors targeted the middle of the line then the whole group would always jump (asylum and hellgate being the best two for this) whereas with the free flow mazes, I have gone through without actors interacting with me one time so that's why I myself think Congo line mazes suit thorpe better than what free flow does.

I agree also 

[JoshC.]

For lack of a better word, Saw Alive is seemingly quite underrated.  It rarely blows people out of the water, and because of its age most enthusiasts know what to expect, but a majority actually do enjoy it, yet it's sort of always forgotten about a bit as people focus on newer stuff.   It is quite a theatrical experience though and it's unlike many other Thorpe mazes in that the scenery and props can scare you just as much as the actors.

 

The conga line vs free flow argument is interesting.  Conga lines control guest flow a lot easier, allow for certain scenes / scares to be triggered at certain times and allow designers to create a natural route for the maze (making operations more predictable).  However, it does lead to a safety in numbers vibe - people holding onto each other is a massive psychological thing that makes them feel protected and less scared.  The front and back of the line feel a bit more vulnerable, but aren't usually targeted as much.  It makes things easier for actors too, as I'll target the ones who look the most scared then work their way up - which can leave very little time for those who are braver.

 

Free flow creates a very different vibe - there's no one in frontor behind you to protect you.  Even if you're in a group, you feel open and vulnerable.  For enthusiasts who visit loads of scare attractions, it's easy to forget how big a factor that is in putting people on edge.  There are issues to it, as it can make it harder to manage, guests in a group split into 2, etc.  It's a difficult scenario.  And mazes such as Cabin and Big Top struggled further due to the multiple different routes, meaning there was even more splitting and subsequent stacking. 

 

Sometimes the choice of conga or free flow will not make much of a difference to a maze.  Something like MBV (with the non-crawling route) would make no difference as people would naturally hold on / let go of each other as the maze progressed.  Some mazes do benefit from the choice though.  Saw is a good example actually - by being told to go on a conga line, it's telling you stick close, you're a group, etc, and this fits very well with the narrative of the maze, as set up in the pre show.  Studio 13 is one that benefitted massively from being free flow, as it really sold the 'you're going on a backstage tour' idea, where you would naturally just wander round in a group.

 

So yeah, there's not necessarily a 'better' way to do it if you will.  Each maze will suit a different style, and as long as the maze can cope with the demand and is operated properly, the appropriate style will work.  

[jessica2]

I also feel a conga line works better for some mazes to keep groups moving, especially if you're in a free flow in a group of more than 8 people then it gets unmanageable and chaotic with people constantly bunching up.  Although I have a feeling I had a bad run through on TBT, there were a lot of people in our group and we often ended up clumped together trying to work out where to go so the actors didn't manage to get many scares from anyone as the actors were so heavily outnumbered, whereas in a conga line I think the flow would have been better. The whole thing felt a tad chaotic but not in a good way (I.e. unlike asylum which was crazy but scary and jumpy, conga line worked well for it). I'd like to try it again this year to give it another shot but I doubt my group will fancy queuing up for it again haha. My bloody valentine I enjoyed actually, I found parts of it quite scary and thought the actors were great, however I find weird miners scarier than clowns.

 

Saw alive last year was our favourite, was the most intense even though the group was quite large it was the scariest by far despite it being my 19828th time going through it haha. Platform 15 was a complete flop it needs major help bit annoyed its returning but hopefully it'll be improved.

 

American Horror Story I also haven't watched but sounds like fun! Cabin was always pretty decent for me and had some great scares with brilliant actors, like once where we thought an actor was part of the room's decor we jumped out of our skins lol. More moments like that please Thorpe!

[silenthillXD]

Has anyone actually got any conformation on this whole AHS rumour? Call me pessimistic, but I highly doubt we'll be seeing two new IP's this year, especially of such a large magnitude. They're not even owned by the same studio so they can't make a Lionsgate deal. Just a pre-warning, I think it will be one IP and from the promo art I think it's pretty clear what that is. I personally predict a maze in Cabin and roaming actors around the park. 

 

What I want to know, is what the hell is happening to Containment. It seems to have been totally forgotten (understandable considering how poor it is). Remember the days it was rumoured to be going year round? Whatever happened to that?! In all honesty I'd love to see it gutted and transformed into something different. The acting as with all Thorpe attractions is top notch, but the puzzles (if you can even call them that) are absolutely dire! All the puzzles seem to lack logic, the path to solve them seems to be through luck and guesswork rather than any actual sense. I've done quite a few escape rooms by now and Containment is by far the absolute worst. Thorpe really need to up their game if they are to bring it back. 

 

As for the others, Saw Alive has progressively been getting better year on year on year. I would love to see a change up in the scenery, but that's never going to happen. It will be great, they just need to ensure they get another fab show captain (please dear god get the one from 2016 back) and we'll be onto another solid year. Big Top will be great again, but as mentioned they do need to resolve batching. Though I think the two biggest issues for me were the lack of actors and the fact the tents let in light during the strobe scene. As long as these two issues are solved it will be great! And Platform... woah boy this is a tough one to fix. The concept is fantastic, but I just think the execution was appalling last year. I would honestly say the maze should be shorter. They're never going to have enough actors to fill that humungous duration, so why bother making it that long. There should be more setpieces/theming/indoor sections. Also they really need to think about providing the actors with more hiding spaces. It's all well and good hosting a maze out in the open, but if actors are visible for long stretches, there aren't going to be any scares. Also dear god does the finale need sorting out, puppet conductor was shocking. I think reversing the layout and having the superb sleeper express alongside a full on assault from the sleepers may be a better option. And brave it alone? Just make it more theatrical, it's never going to be Cracked or Snuffhouse so they shouldn't try make it too extreme (not that merlin would want that anyway) my Saw Alive run was at it's best when they got theatrical and utilised creative means to immerse me in the traps from the films. The brave it alone's are great, but would be amazing if there were more theatrics.  

With all that said, I'm super optimistic about Thorpe this year. I know this get's said every year, but I seriously think this could be the year everything gets turned around. Please Thorpe, don't prove me wrong! 

*Damn I am heavily opinionated about Fright Nights* 

[mrmatt]

Hmm fright night convo has slowed down to a stop. Must be soon for some Announcements. 

 

Only 50 days till the event begins. 

[StevenVig]

£100 says the new mazes will use old theming from Miss Hippos Fungle Safari and Chief Rangers Carousel

 

 

[mrmatt]

What I'm still wondering is if Blair witch and cabin in the woods have gone I assume walking dead will replace one but what about the other. Hopefully the event will not be running with a maze down so to speak. 

[StevenVig]

8 minutes ago, mrmatt said:

What I'm still wondering is if Blair witch and cabin in the woods have gone I assume walking dead will replace one but what about the other. Hopefully the event will not be running with a maze down so to speak. 

Blair Witch was basically nothing, so not much to replace really.

[mrmatt]

5 minutes ago, StevenVig said:

Blair Witch was basically nothing, so not much to replace really.

I really liked Blair witch. Was much better than bloody valentine and platform and many others thorp have done in the past. I'm just worried the 2-3 hour queues that would have been for Blair witch will be added to the other queues if they end up losing a maze from the line up plus on the fright night thing it said it would be bigger and darker than ever before which to me assumes there will be at least 6 mazes but can't find any evidence of that. 

[jessica2]

Yeah I'm not sure what the whole 'darker than ever' thing is referring to, I guess all will be made clear soon. Still you'd expect them to announce everything by September surely as they need to get hype going and tv ads if it's a big IP. I'm just concerned what a big name like the walking dead will do to queue times for mazes if the total number of mazes doesn't go up... 

Blair witch is one of the only recent(ish) Thorpe mazes I haven't been in, mainly because queue seems to be like 2 hours plus on weekends and described as being low on scare factor. 

[mrmatt]

I'm still a bit concerned we might be running with only 4 mazes this year. 

[JoshC.]

I find it kind of concerning that people genuinely think Thorpe could reduce the number of attractions at Fright Nights, given that it's grown year on year..

 

Do people really have that little blind faith to think that they'd be THAT stupid? :/

[mrmatt]

4 minutes ago, BaronC. said:

I find it kind of concerning that people genuinely think Thorpe could reduce the number of attractions at Fright Nights, given that it's grown year on year..

 

Do people really have that little blind faith to think that they'd be THAT stupid? :/

I would hope not I'm just saying that we presumably are losing cabin and Blair and we have heard about a potential walking dead maze and nothing else at the moment. I have faith that Thorpe park would match or advance he number of attractions but I'm just saying there isn't any evidence of anything else happening. 

[JoshuaA]

44 minutes ago, BaronC. said:

Do people really have that little blind faith to think that they'd be THAT stupid? :/

Well we did get Platform last year.. 

[mrmatt]

Some pics I found on the scruffy dog intagram page. The door picture in particular is more hinting towards a fright night project. The other one... who knows 

 

For those who don't know. Scruffy dog has worked with Thorpe park for years. Creating the fins restaurant designs and also fright nights own containment. 

[JoshC.]

2 hours ago, Amoss said:

Some lovely big fences are up around Big Top's area now  

And a lovely tent-like structure was being built today as well! 

[Quorn]

1 hour ago, BaronC. said:

And a lovely tent-like structure was being built today as well! 

Saw that at the park today. Looked as if the floor was either complete or almost complete and the frames of the tents seemed to be going up pretty fast.

[L7123456]

Anyone get any pics of the tent being built?

[jessica2]

I've seen a few pages (Thorpe park central, terror talk and even Wikipedia) that have 'confirmed' the walking dead as the global phenomenon. Nothing from what I can find from Thorpe park themselves though.

 

'In 2017, Thorpe Park teamed up with universal to bring The Walking Dead: Living Nightmare' (Wikipedia)

[jessica2]

10 hours ago, Amoss said:

Anyone can post on Wikipedia, it's not official 

Yeah I know. I've read that a trademark has been filed for that name under 'theme park attraction' https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003244625

 

[jessica2]

Haha true. Though I think we can be pretty confident now ? Exciting!

[Marc]

 

 

[JoshC.]

DOORS!

[L7123456]

Hopefully these doors mean that the light coming into the tent isn't an issue anymore! 

[Themeparkadict]

12 hours ago, Marc said:

 

 

Does this mean u will exit the maze through this door instead of the flaps like last year ? And I hope they have sorted the lighting issue as it was easy to see the actors inside the maze and one final point when do u think the fastracks will be realeased as hopping to buy the ultimate fastracks ?