Fright Nights 2018 - General Discussion

[WWTPRadio]

2 minutes ago, Coaster said:

Why would they remove Big Top though?  It was consistently one of the most popular mazes for the past 2 seasons, and IMO the most solid in the lineup last year.

 

Only reasons I can think of are operational cutbacks and/or a lack of skilled staff to build and configure all the effects?

??

[ItzAdam]

18 minutes ago, Coaster said:

Why would they remove Big Top though?  It was consistently one of the most popular mazes for the past 2 seasons, and IMO the most solid in the lineup last year.

 

Only reasons I can think of are operational cutbacks and/or a lack of skilled staff to build and configure all the effects?

I’m only quoting this on reputable sources. I agree it seems like quite a stupid decision for the park to make, however if they were to get rid of a maze at the park (which seems like what is going on) The most logical maze to get rid of is the big top because, unlike the other mazes, it doesn’t even exist at the park! There’s no construction for it whatsoever.

 

 With figaro bros hosting their own scare attraction, maybe they want to take a step back from Thorpe park. 

 

Remember when The big top had the project zerO sign resting on the tent during construction and another sign saying legacy? The Blair witch legacy was a fan made film that came out this year. It all seems like more than just a coincidence to me. 

 

Another thing, when living nightmare was open during the summer and during the 10 days for extreme, the queueline had lots of big top themeing in it, which doesn’t really fit in with walking dead. They wouldn’t of put it there for no reason.. 

 

Sorry if my theories come out as a bit messy at parts. Please feel free to reply with anything you agree or disagree about. I’m open to everyone’s opinion! 

[JoshuaA]

The Big Top is easily the most well paced, well designed, and most popular maze at the event for the past two years, if it bites the dust I will not even make the effort to come to Fright Night!

Thorpe getting rid of Big Top would be like Tulleys removing the Hayride! Stupid

[Stuntman707]

Well I definitely won’t be going to FN if Big Top isn’t returning. That leaves potentially only three exclusive Fright Nights attractions, Platform, Blair Witch & Sanctum (Or whatever replaces it). Opening the other mazes early is of course good in the way it brings more attractions to the park in general but bad in that it devalues the Fright Nights event. Meanwhile Tulley’s are adding a ninth scare attraction to their event! The Cellar will be more intense and the Colony extension sounds like it’s easily going to be over half an hour long this year.

[Marc]

2 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

Well I definitely won’t be going to FN if Big Top isn’t returning. That leaves potentially only three exclusive Fright Nights attractions, Platform, Blair Witch & Sanctum (Or whatever replaces it). 

 

Assuming nothing new is added to the event lineup of course..

[ItzAdam]

3 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

Well I definitely won’t be going to FN if Big Top isn’t returning. That leaves potentially only three exclusive Fright Nights attractions, Platform, Blair Witch & Sanctum (Or whatever replaces it). Opening the other mazes early is of course good in the way it brings more attractions to the park in general but bad in that it devalues the Fright Nights event. Meanwhile Tulley’s are adding a ninth scare attraction to their event! The Cellar will be more intense and the Colony extension sounds like it’s easily going to be over half an hour long this year.

 

43 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

The Big Top is easily the most well paced, well designed, and most popular maze at the event for the past two years, if it bites the dust I will not even make the effort to come to Fright Night!

Thorpe getting rid of Big Top would be like Tulleys removing the Hayride! Stupid

as sad as it is, I feel Thorpe have something big planned this year, something better than the big top. They know the big top was the most popular. And they know that if they want to get rid of it, they’ll have to replace it with something even better. Keep your calendar dates free, I wouldn’t lose all hope just yet. 

[WWTPRadio]

5 minutes ago, ItzAdam said:

 

as sad as it is, I feel Thorpe have something big planned this year, something better than the big top. They know the big top was the most popular. And they know that if they want to get rid of it, they’ll have to replace it with something even better. Keep your calendar dates free, I wouldn’t lose all hope just yet. 

Don’t hold your breath.

[JoshC.]

Just because a maze hasn't started construction yet, doesn't mean it won't appear. Big Top V1 (or should that be Big Top V0.1?) didn't start construction until September 2015 (and it was basically mid-September too). And equally, just because a maze hasn't been advertised yet, that means little too - it's not uncommon for mazes to be announced in September.

 

Admittedly, the rumours are cause for concern - there's no smoke without fire after all. And also the lack of any sort of advertisement until the past couple of days is a bit unusual - with The Year of The Walking Dead, in theory, attracting people who love scare attractions, it would make sense to push what's happening at Fright Nights a lot sooner?

 

So yeah, there's cause for concern, but let's not completely rubbish the event until we hear something more concrete.

[Coaster]

Big Top v1 was atrocious though, it has been much better in 2016/17 through leaving more time to get it built up and configured well - that and the fact it was pretty much an entirely different maze to the 2015 version.

 

I don't think the lack of any construction is too worrying at this stage, but leave it much longer and it means there's less time to build a decent quality attraction and a rush job is more likely.

 

Also, I don't personally find outdoor mazes to have the same appeal, so TBT swapped for Blair Witch (IF that is what's happening) would be very disappointing IMO.

[Project LC]

8 minutes ago, Coaster said:

I don't personally find outdoor mazes to have the same appeal, so TBT swapped for Blair Witch (IF that is what's happening) would be very disappointing IMO.

If you ever read the financial annual reports from Merlin you'll find that Merlin only aim to have 90% guest satisfaction so providing 9 other people aren't dissapointed Merlin won't mind.

 

I suspect they haven't started fright nights advertising because they are trying to maximise the investment they have made on Love island lates. It doesn't make much financial sense to start advertising an event in a few weeks time when you still have an event going on. It would just result in a loss of potential revenue for the summer period.

[Coaster]

11 minutes ago, Project LC said:

If you ever read the financial annual reports from Merlin you'll find that Merlin only aim to have 90% guest satisfaction so providing 9 other people aren't dissapointed Merlin won't mind.

 

I suspect they haven't started fright nights advertising because they are trying to maximise the investment they have made on Love island lates. It doesn't make much financial sense to start advertising an event in a few weeks time when you still have an event going on. It would just result in a loss of potential revenue for the summer period.

They could be doing some advertising in the park though, posters and such - unless they have started since I last visited?

 

It's a good way to build interest whilst not putting off custom (as the people seeing the ad are already there).

[Project LC]

34 minutes ago, Coaster said:

They could be doing some advertising in the park though, posters and such - unless they have started since I last visited?

 

It's a good way to build interest whilst not putting off custom (as the people seeing the ad are already there).

In park advertising should be very heavy on encouraging guests to return. Some general promotion on return for fright nights by buying something on leaving seems to be a source of revenue the park is missing out on. Sometimes it's just a matter of not being able to see the obvious thing right in front of them. 

That being said any return advertising would need to be done in the right way as word of mouth could end up with people discouraging friends and family and telling them to visit at fright nights. 

[L7123456]

We have the new Fright Nights poster. Pretty similar to last year's.

The tagline "Nowhere is Safe" has appeared again. It was used in the short video on social media, and is now on the website too. 

[ItzAdam]

17 minutes ago, MilesK said:

We have the new Fright Nights poster. Pretty similar to last year's.

The tagline "Nowhere is Safe" has appeared again. It was used in the short video on social media, and is now on the website too. 

Already posted this but not in full resolution.. 

[MustafaAkyz]

 

Please no.(Screenshots From JackSilkStone's Construction vlog.)

.

[JoshuaA]

Blair Witch returning is perhaps the most odd, uncalled for, and weirdest decision for Fright Nights in absolute years..

Blair Witch wasn't a terrible attraction, but with Platform and Sanctum both being outside now, I bet it will be completely redundant..

 

If Big Top goes I think the team behind Fright Night needs to do a drug test asap.

Tis a shame, things were kinda looking up last year, sure they had the IP's, but you had Platform and Big Top that both held their own.

 

[WWTPRadio]

2 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

Blair Witch returning is perhaps the most odd, uncalled for, and weirdest decision for Fright Nights in absolute years..

Blair Witch wasn't a terrible attraction, but with Platform and Sanctum both being outside now, I bet it will be completely redundant..

 

If Big Top goes I think the team behind Fright Night needs to do a drug test asap.

Tis a shame, things were kinda looking up last year, sure they had the IP's, but you had Platform and Big Top that both held their own.

 

It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that the team responsible for Fright Nights in 2016-17 have long since departed the island. 

 

Each of them are watching on with baited breath.

 

Long live Big Top. 

[Cal]

Makes sense for them as Blair Witch really won't cost them a lot to bring back compared to Big Top 

 

If Big Top goes and there is nothing new this year I won't be attending Fright Nights - last year I only enjoyed Big Top and Platform 

 

RIP Fright Nights

[Stuntman707]

Guys, the tent is up. Quite a compact size this year but Big Top now confirmed. ? 

[jessica2]

Never did Blair witch but if the other outdoor mazes are anything to go by I’m not holding out much hope ? I thought it once held a scare factor of 2 or 3 out of 5 too, basically meaning there will be about one actor saying boo during a wander round a muddy dark alleyway lol

[MattyMoo]

A friend of mine who isn't an EnTHuSiAsT went to Thorpe a few years ago and said Blair Witch was laughably bad then and an embarrassment to the film, and I can't really recall anyone ever actually wanting Blair Witch to come back so can only assume it's returned because it's simple and cheap vs. Big Top. I went to FN press night last year with the same guy and he said Big Top was one of the best mazes he had ever done - nearly Tulleys level. Similarly he was impressed with Living Nightmare (can't deny that themeing is pretty bloomin good, credit where credits due), but thought Sanctum needed a lot of work and thought P15 was marginally better with the house scene (cough Creepy Cottage cough) but still generally poor.

 

So basically #prayforThorpe

[ProudToServe]

On 8/25/2018 at 1:59 PM, ItzAdam said:

Here’s the promotional artwork for this year: 

 

Since Sanctum was pretty rubbish and the majority of people said it would be better as a scare zone, I personally believe that there will be scare zones at the park this year. The “nowhere is safe” seems to be the slogan for this year as “the global phenomenon” was last year. Nowhere is safe just tells me that there will be more roaming actors and more scare zones. 

 

Also here’s a sad rumour for you (JUST A RUMOUR): Blair Witch will be replacing the big top. Somethings gotta go! the two walking dead mazes are pretty much confirmed, Saw alive is set and ready for fright nights as it’s open right now during love island lates, Platform 15 hasn’t been taken down and there’s some working going on Inside there at the moment if you look down monks walk.

 

The big top however, NOTHING! There’s no sign of the big top anywhere! Last year the construction started about nearly two weeks ago! I really don’t think the park will be operating 7 mazes (if containment counts as a maze) and even if the big top was the best maze at fright nights, it seems like the most logical maze to go. All the other mazes are all set up (other than sanctum) So they wouldn’t get rid of those. 

 

The Big top will hold a place in all of our hearts for a very, very long time. 

R.I.P The Big Top 2015-2017 

 

(just a rumour lmao)

 

p.s Sorry for the really long post. 

 

I mean, while your theory seems logical... it seems very biased on that the reason its not coming back isn't because Thorpe have screwed up, but because they have something BETTER?! How can any outdoor maze thats years old and a walk through some trees become better. Yet as Coaster says below, it was the most consistent maze the last 2 years. 

 

If only you knew the plans for last year.. but how Big Top seems logical to go I don't know, Platform is half built, sanctum and BW non existent, but they can build big top as they have everything for that...  

 

Maybe Coaster is right, they don't have the skilled people to build mazes and fill the roles with inexperienced people.

On 8/25/2018 at 3:04 PM, Coaster said:

Why would they remove Big Top though?  It was consistently one of the most popular mazes for the past 2 seasons, and IMO the most solid in the lineup last year.

 

Only reasons I can think of are operational cutbacks and/or a lack of skilled staff to build and configure all the effects?

Nail - Head. 

13 hours ago, Stuntman707 said:

Guys, the tent is up. Quite a compact size this year but Big Top now confirmed. ? 

haha, VR exprience ? 

[jessica2]

Definitely a downgrade to replace a good indoor maze with another traipse through the mud. I hope they make some changes to sanctum as doing that in semi daylight last year was terrible (though the actors did try lol).

 

I liked the cottage section in platform 15 the most but the maze was a bit meh because of the boring never ending tunnel at the end lol.

[WWTPRadio]

2 minutes ago, jessica2 said:

Definitely a downgrade to replace a good indoor maze with another traipse through the mud. I hope they make some changes to sanctum as doing that in semi daylight last year was terrible (though the actors did try lol).

 

I liked the cottage section in platform 13 the most but the maze was a bit meh because of the boring never ending tunnel at the end lol.

Platform 15. 

[jessica2]

4 minutes ago, WWTPRadio said:

Platform 15. 

Hah oops just goes to show how memorable it was ? It was better than The Curse if anyone remembers that offering...