Fright Nights 2017 - Spoilers!

[Flipper]

3 hours ago, onair said:

Really what removed ? 

 

1 hour ago, ProudToServe said:

Nothing, in fact more has been added!

On preview night there was images of ‘fancy’ lights around Amity projecting onto KFC and things; as well as some around the DBGT neither of which seemed to be present on sunday night; with the one opposite KFC obviously collapsed down as if ready to be removed again. There just off the top of my head; potentially being fixed or whatever but seemed a shame as there was so much shown on press night and a defiant amount less on Sunday.

[Martin Doyle]

Ok had a few goes on each maze now so I’ll just give my brief thoughts.

 

Platform 15 - Kudos to Thorpe Park here!! I utterly hated this maze last year but this year I found it to be terrific. The new village scene with the house was creepy and slightly unnerving with the dolls, the fact it has more of an enclosed feel to it the whole way round means I couldnt see scares coming a mile off like last year and just all round it’s a much better maze. The ending tunnel still lets it down a little though so hopefully if it returns next year then it will have that rectified. 7/10

 

Saw Alive - same as previous years so won’t say too much, still a solid enough maze but can do with updating next year (if not replacing) as it has got old as far as myself and many others go. Nonetheless still a good maze. 6/10

 

Sanctum - Not a fan what so ever. Just felt like an improved version of the old scare zone they used to have over near zodiac way back when. I will give it marks for the actors in there as they did seem lively enough but the attraction just felt a little cheap and very short for my liking. Also not too fond of having to get my shoes muddy because of the choice of location. Weakest of the attractions this year by far. 3/10

 

Living Nightmare - Ok as a fan of walking dead and the character of Negan, I absolutely loved the fact they allow the actors portraying him to swear (“which of you P...ks is the leader” and “I just slid my d..k down your throat and you thanked me for it”) as that is being very true to Negans character. I will say it’s got some ok theming in there (best themed maze at the park) with the sets like the hospital and the bus being quite well done. However what let’s this maze done is that it’s quite weak in the scare department. Not once in this attraction did anything make me jump or even come close to unnerving me which is a bit of a concern for a “SCARE maze”. Again I don’t expect the actors to be frantic and throwing themselves all over the place as they are after all portraying zombies but stuff like air canons or effects along those lines would not go amiss. So overall I’d say it’s a good maze with some alright theming but poor scares. As it’s the mazes first year I won’t be too harsh as let’s face it over the last few years Thorpe Park have had some shockers with new mazes but as we have seen with Big Top and Platform, they do try their best to rectify the issues the following year and this maze clearly has some potential. 5/10

 

The Big Top - Ok I’ve been going to fright nights for every year since 2004 and as a result I have done every attraction that has ever been at the event and this year, Big Top has taken the crown for my all time favourite fright night attraction (yes that includes the Asylum/Freezer) it was really that good when I went through. First off, the fortune teller scene let it down last year as you could barely hear the actor in there so this year the use of a projector and loud speaker means that issue is long gone. Secondly, the strobe maze is as disorientating as Asylum ever was and that is saying a lot as those who did Asylum will no doubt remember. It is so easy to get lost in there this year!!. Thirdly, last year the latter scenes after the Strobe maze fell flat compared to it so this year it was just great to see a lot of new additions like a mirror maze and multi doors to choose from before the chainsaw. These new scenes seemed to of done a good job in ramping up Big Tops running time (I had a good 10 minutes in there in one run through) as one complaint I had about last year was that it was too short for my liking so it’s just good that there’s now more of a substantial running time rather than feeling like you are out of there no sooner than you enter. Then ofcourse there’s the fact that the actors clearly seemed to have fun working in there!! They really did a great job using the scenery and new hiding places to generate scares and I just hope they can keep this up throughout the event. I really need to applaud Thorpe Park for The Big Top. If you told me in 2015 when this maze was a cheap abomination on the beach that within two years it would become my all time favourite fright night attraction over Freezer/Asylum, I would honestly think you yourself should be working at the circus but that is what has happened!!. Thorpe Park have taken an absolute disaster and turned it into a masterpiece that should remain the crown jewel of the line up for years to come (honestly I’d happily skip fright nights next year without batting an eye over it if Big Top doesn’t return) what a maze!! 9/10

 

[ProudToServe]

On 02/10/2017 at 11:44 PM, Flipper said:

 

On preview night there was images of ‘fancy’ lights around Amity projecting onto KFC and things; as well as some around the DBGT neither of which seemed to be present on sunday night; with the one opposite KFC obviously collapsed down as if ready to be removed again. There just off the top of my head; potentially being fixed or whatever but seemed a shame as there was so much shown on press night and a defiant amount less on Sunday.

Derrens tower has been there and on since the press night and working sunday... and there was only one tower at tidal wave by the exit ramp, nothing at KFC at all. Tho truss has appeared by the smoking truck over the weekend, so maybe there's even more to come? Living nightmare/Old town has had more installed since press night too. 

[Marc]

21 hours ago, ProudToServe said:

Derrens tower has been there and on since the press night and working sunday... and there was only one tower at tidal wave by the exit ramp, nothing at KFC at all. Tho truss has appeared by the smoking truck over the weekend, so maybe there's even more to come? Living nightmare/Old town has had more installed since press night too. 

Think I spotted one to go up near the Saw Store too.. although maybe wrong! 

[StevenVig]

15 hours ago, Marc said:

Think I spotted one to go up near the Saw Store too.. although maybe wrong! 

You are correct, and one by Stealth's Caravan

[Stuntman707]

That’s good as it’s a shame the areas around Saw and Saw Alive are just flood-lit at the moment.

[TPMSam]

Have the mazes tended to have shorter queues at the very end of the night? Or have they just been busy throughout? I know last year I got a couple of goes on big top in a row about 9:30!

[jessica2]

Taken me a while to post but here are my thoughts on this year's offerings:

Went 1st October. Seriously the best time to go I'd say, so quiet lots of rides were walk on (eg Saw) or very short queues! Managed front row swarm 3 times, and stealth 3 times! However it'd have been nice to do it as a Halloween thing but still never mind.

 

TWD living nightmare- my favourite maze of the day, excellent theming, less crowding/bunching up of groups, good actors. I wouldn't say it was that scary but definitely well put together. More jump scares would improve it 4/5

 

TWD sanctum- oh dear. I didn't queue for this at all so wasn't bothered, but too much empty space and unfortunately wasn't quite dark when we did it which exposed the empty spaces even more. Having said that the actors did a great job and we had plenty of interaction so it was fun, just wasn't that scary. More smoke machines and walls/sheets and could have potential. 2/5

 

platform 15- much improved from last year, however the final scene in the tent is still ridiculously long and boring, needs reworking. The house was good, I think there is still too much empty space and more should be done at the sleeper express (we just walked past it was uneventful) 2.5/5

 

The big top- so much to love and unfortunately to hate lol. More thorpe's fault for putting groups of 20 or so people in at a time, it felt like a slow moving queue for the whole thing, with lots of stopping and major bunching up, so they need to sort this out!! The queue was short I don't know why they didn't do groups of 10, say, instead. So very frustrating, didn't really enjoy it as a result, if you hang back you meet with the group behind you lol so no win situation. Theming and music still get top marks (love the song) and if I'd have been in a small group I would have loved it. 3/5

 

Saw- same as usual, good fun but definitely needs an update as it's getting old haha. 3/5