Living Nightmare Extreme - SPOILERS

[Project LC]

 

4 minutes ago, ProudToServe said:

So they would revert it back to being non-scary for Fright Nights, the time when it should be its best? That would be a step back in the wrong direction imo

Yeah it would be a step backwards but they have limited resources. They can't just keep spending money on actors. The year of the walking dead was always going to suffer from this problem. Personally I doubt that the spending the money on extra actors would bring about a return on the investment.

 

The park has been moving towards higher running costs for years with throwing actors at everything and the year of the walking dead is another prime example of throwing actors at something as a "cheap" solution to pulling people in. It is unsustainable as they are sacrificing long term assets for short term gain.

[Stuntman707]

Have to say, I’m not the only one who gave an unfortunately negative review. (I want to like it but Tulley’s sets the bar very high for me!)  Some of the members on South Parks were equally not as impressed: 

http://forum.towerstimes.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=42401

[ProudToServe]

4 hours ago, Project LC said:

 

Yeah it would be a step backwards but they have limited resources. They can't just keep spending money on actors. The year of the walking dead was always going to suffer from this problem. Personally I doubt that the spending the money on extra actors would bring about a return on the investment.

 

The park has been moving towards higher running costs for years with throwing actors at everything and the year of the walking dead is another prime example of throwing actors at something as a "cheap" solution to pulling people in. It is unsustainable as they are sacrificing long term assets for short term gain.

Oh yes, I and everyone else knows that. But it seems the big bosses at Thorpe don't. I mean, isn't that why Saw alive and celeb are seasonal attractions because of the operating cost. 

 

What they are spending out on actors now... clearly isnt working either looking at queue times and random 10pm closes being thrown in. So taking a step back to something that is deemed 'worse' by Thorpe, because they created an extreme version, wont help their case.   

 

But it does seem a petition has started now on Merlin pass group, and if X amount of people sign it, Thorpe will keep it for FN. So, I'm very sure it'll come back as extreme but with slightly less actors than now, but more than last year.

[Stuntman707]

Indeed Saw Alive and I’m a celeb were built and intended to be run as year round attractions but are now seasonal. Feels like we keep having the same discussion, actor based attractions are not sustainable long term. How many times do they have to make the same mistake? 

They insist on yet another actor based attraction outside fright nights while two permanent attractions stand SBNO for most the season.

 

Even if Living Nightmare Extreme returns, Thorpe have screwed themselves for Fright Nights because this is what guests will expect from here on out. 

[JoshuaA]

I have yet to experience LN Extreme but I think its common sense that it will probably not be as scary in Fright Nights unless they make more drastic changes in the maze beyond actors.

FN across the years always seems to have problems (not too bad last year) with actors and having enough of them.

Sanctum for example didn't require too many, and the roaming actor team was pretty much non existent.. (If one or two mazes takes up a lot of actors it only hurts other mazes/roamers in the park.

 

With no 5 additional actor led attractions+ roamers to soak up the actors, all the actors could be focused on LN just for this week.

The park getting a similar density to this weekend probably is a little bit unrealistic unless they hire WAY more actors for this year (which probably won't happen)..

 

Back in FN I think the amount of actors in LN wasn't a problem whatsoever, I think they were just really poorly laid out (some sections with too many actors  and too much going on, and sections with no actors in sight).. They could of really spread them out a bit.

 

I think the length was the clear main problem of the attraction..

 

[ProudToServe]

20 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

Indeed Saw Alive and I’m a celeb were built and intended to be run as year round attractions but are now seasonal. Feels like we keep having the same discussion, actor based attractions are not sustainable long term. How many times do they have to make the same mistake? 

They insist on yet another actor based attraction outside fright nights while two permanent attractions stand SBNO for most the season.

 

Even if Living Nightmare Extreme returns, Thorpe have screwed themselves for Fright Nights because this is what guests will expect from here on out. 

That or better... somehow. 

 

Nightmare needs SFX and clever use of AV more than actors. Just typing this, and I could think of many things to do at low cost...

 

How are the light levels in the maze? last year the rooms were all very bright, including the hospital area.  

[Stuntman707]

Honestly the maze looked exactly the same apart from the sheets in the end bit.

[ProudToServe]

3 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

Honestly the maze looked exactly the same apart from the sheets in the end bit.

Shame, maybe they are holding out for FN ?

 

[nashertvoffical_yt]

Living nightmare Extreme review:

Operations: considering it's a scare maze,on the preview night I thought I was waiting 60 minutes but I ended up waiting 115 minutes ( 1 hours 55 minutes)

Pre show: I Prefer the Pre show this year,because of negan interacting with the group a lot more and him splitting the group up whilst you can't see what he doing because your facing the wall

The Hospital scene: I Loved this scene last year due to I got split up and I had to face the rest of the maze Alone last year,this year it's a lot darker and there were 3 actors in there,last year there was 1

rest of the Maze: the rest of the maze has not changed,but it feels a lot more creepier,darker and more intense

School Bus: can I say I generally felt Really Scared on the bus this year,because the masked zombie really crept me up,because I was on my own and he got really close to close for comfort

Finale: it's better then before but not What I was expecting,maybe At Fright Nights 2018 they'll Update it with maybe a Ending like the walking dead the ride Loud noises,strobe lighting,air cannons,maybe keep it but extend the maze into the exit area?

rating:

theming:

10/10

Scares: 8/10

Finale: 7/10

Total rating:

25/30

 

[Coaster]

Is it just me who doesn't see the appeal of this outside of Fright Nights?  Like, they've got rides sat there SBNO and areas that need sorting, yet they're spending out their operational budget on this, devaluing their Fright Nights product in the process?

 

How long has the queue been for Living Nightmare Extreme this week, out of interest?

[Rach666]

20 hours ago, WWTPRadio said:

I’m surprised you found extra rooms... given that there aren’t any. Are these ones you may have missed last year?

Haha, I'm terrible in mazes, if this is not new I must have ran through it petrified on previous runs...!!!

[Marc]

1 hour ago, Coaster said:

Is it just me who doesn't see the appeal of this outside of Fright Nights?  Like, they've got rides sat there SBNO and areas that need sorting, yet they're spending out their operational budget on this, devaluing their Fright Nights product in the process?

 

How long has the queue been for Living Nightmare Extreme this week, out of interest?

 

The budget for running LN will be a drop in the ocean for what it would take for Loggers to return (The only ride SBNO which has any chance at all or returning in some form) 

 

No idea on queues, when i went on Saturday late afternoon it was quiet but before that was advertised at an hour i think. 

[Coaster]

4 hours ago, Marc said:

The budget for running LN will be a drop in the ocean for what it would take for Loggers to return (The only ride SBNO which has any chance at all or returning in some form) 

 

No idea on queues, when I went on Saturday late afternoon it was quiet but before that was advertised at an hour I think. 

Nevertheless, the budget for these "short-term" attractions could be saved and put towards something more worthwhile.  When you add up the budgets for IAC, converting X into The Walking Dead, the operating budget for Living Nightmare Extreme, I feel this could have gone towards something much more beneficial for the long-term future of the park - reopening the log flume (a popular family ride) should be quite high up on the priority list, in my opinion.

[Ringo]

4 hours ago, Marc said:

 

The budget for running LN will be a drop in the ocean for what it would take for Loggers to return (The only ride SBNO which has any chance at all or returning in some form) 

Slightly off topic but does that mean Slammer actually had an issue they couldn’t fix which led to it SBNO? 

[Mattgwise]

Slammer was a ride type that was discontinued by S&S, so parts for them became difficult to get and often had to be specially made meaning it would take months every time a new part was needed. This was quite expensive as well leading to it not being worth the hastle and money to keep repairing.

[JoshC.]

It's not going to be that simple though, really, is it Coaster.

 

The UK public best respond to new things being introduced within the park. Merlin have arguably dug themselves into a deeper hole by always adding new stuff too. 

 

Imagine if the park didn't introduce I'm a Celebrity, The Walking Dead The Ride, Living Nightmare Extreme and other small investments with potentially limited lifespans and high operation costs, and that money was saved over, say, 5 years for opening Loggers. There would be less guests coming, guests would be less satisfied since there's nothing new at all, and the money that would have been invested elsewhere still hasn't made its way into Loggers yet. That means less profit for the park, which means more cuts, and more pressure to spend money on a quick fix to help make a long term plan actually work.

 

There are of course other potential things to invest in, which may last longer, but I don't think Thorpe are in a position to simply not invest.

[Coaster]

2 minutes ago, BaronC. said:

It's not going to be that simple though, really, is it Coaster.

 

The UK public best respond to new things being introduced within the park. Merlin have arguably dug themselves into a deeper hole by always adding new stuff too. 

 

Imagine if the park didn't introduce I'm a Celebrity, The Walking Dead The Ride, Living Nightmare Extreme and other small investments with potentially limited lifespans and high operation costs, and that money was saved over, say, 5 years for opening Loggers. There would be less guests coming, guests would be less satisfied since there's nothing new at all, and the money that would have been invested elsewhere still hasn't made its way into Loggers yet. That means less profit for the park, which means more cuts, and more pressure to spend money on a quick fix to help make a long term plan actually work.

 

There are of course other potential things to invest in, which may last longer, but I don't think Thorpe are in a position to simply not invest.

They could have put that money to much better use though, new attractions which only last a season or two before they close/start having cutbacks are failed investments IMO, why not invest in improving guest satisfaction, infrastructure, then put more effort into a huge new ride when the time is right?

 

I'm not suggesting they shouldn't invest, I'm saying that I feel they are investing in marketing-led areas rather than focusing on guest satisfaction.

[ProudToServe]

3 hours ago, BaronC. said:

It's not going to be that simple though, really, is it Coaster.

 

The UK public best respond to new things being introduced within the park. Merlin have arguably dug themselves into a deeper hole by always adding new stuff too. 

 

Imagine if the park didn't introduce I'm a Celebrity, The Walking Dead The Ride, Living Nightmare Extreme and other small investments with potentially limited lifespans and high operation costs, and that money was saved over, say, 5 years for opening Loggers. There would be less guests coming, guests would be less satisfied since there's nothing new at all, and the money that would have been invested elsewhere still hasn't made its way into Loggers yet. That means less profit for the park, which means more cuts, and more pressure to spend money on a quick fix to help make a long term plan actually work.

 

There are of course other potential things to invest in, which may last longer, but I don't think Thorpe are in a position to simply not invest.

In reality though, The Walking Dead The Ride is just a re-theme with miss-lead advertisement and Living Nightmare Extreme is what, more actors with 'new rooms'. More miss-leading advertisement?  And can there be any more less guests in the park than what there is now? MoS looked dead, £5 to upgrade to MoS too? sounds like they cant sell the tickets.

 

I am for one very lost as to why they thought having a Fright Nights exclusive maze open out of Halloween time would be a good idea. And the whole Walking dead stuff really, it'll kill the buzz for Fright Nights as everyone will have had enough of walking dead. The Tv series that is now dropping off. Investing into things that everyone would enjoy and not limiting your target group would have been the better option. I know quite a few families that have decided not to visit Thorpe because they think it's all 'Walking Dead' related. Yet it does have timber tug boat!

[nashertvoffical_yt]

I'll be Honest I think I'm a celeb is leaving at the end of this season I did heard this 2 years ago because of the contract,saw alive will probably be rethemed,I just hope they do living nightmare extreme at fright nights 2018

[Zappomatic]

Rather enjoyed having absolutely no queue for this on Saturday night!

[Graw]

how 'extreme' actually is this? is it just the normal maze with smaller groups of like 3 and more actors, or is it as intense and touchy as like sub-species? just wondering, thorpe always seem to exaggerate things lmao

[JoshC.]

Did this the other day. It's fair to say that chucking more actors in a maze doesn't always make things better. However, the second half the maze (the Asylum-inspired section) is certainly a lot more intense, being surrounded by multiple actors and attacked from all angles. It's a shame there's still not a real ending though.

 

The pre show is a mixed bag. Not having people knell loses the big Walking Dead/Negan link, and it makes it less dramatic. However picking people off one-by-one / in small groups is clever. Giving Negan a microphone is a welcome addition though (at least, I don't remember the actor having one last year?).

 

It's hard to judge how popular / well received the maze is at the moment. Lots of people queued outside waiting for it to open, there was a reasonable sized queue all day, etc, so that's something. Whether it's proven to be a successful decision for the park we won't know until Fright Nights I guess.

[WWTPRadio]

10 hours ago, BaronC. said:

Did this the other day. It's fair to say that chucking more actors in a maze doesn't always make things better. However, the second half the maze (the Asylum-inspired section) is certainly a lot more intense, being surrounded by multiple actors and attacked from all angles. It's a shame there's still not a real ending though.

 

The pre show is a mixed bag. Not having people knell loses the big Walking Dead/Negan link, and it makes it less dramatic. However picking people off one-by-one / in small groups is clever. Giving Negan a microphone is a welcome addition though (at least, I don't remember the actor having one last year?).

 

It's hard to judge how popular / well received the maze is at the moment. Lots of people queued outside waiting for it to open, there was a reasonable sized queue all day, etc, so that's something. Whether it's proven to be a successful decision for the park we won't know until Fright Nights I guess.

No mic last year. In a preshow that size, projection from an actor isn’t out of the question. I’m sure Britney Negan looks and sounds great.