Fright Nights 2019 - General Discussion

[Platform15fan]

I am going to be really really terrified in creek freak massacre I will be doing tulleys next year to compare it 

[MattyMoo]

Not so gassed for a free wristband and Terror At Amity High show tbh. 

[Platform15fan]

31 minutes ago, MattyMoo said:

Not so gassed for a free wristband and Terror At Amity High show tbh. 

I am mainly going for the mazes I will be going from when the park opens like last year and do the full 12 hours I know its long but it is worth it I do rides till 3:00 then do. My first 3 attractions that are indoors creek freak massacre living nightmare and containment I do containment at half-past 5 then do one-night ride I am doing Colossus this year for the dark I did swarm this challenge will probably make the night rides busy though I only queued 3 minutes for the swarm last year.

[BAP]

Does anyone know the reason Big Top was scrapped? It seemed to be really well received... Fright Nights is a poor event these days it used to be something to get excited about but now it’s just lacking anything that exciting... kind of sums up the state of Thorpe Park... it was once arguably the best park in the UK and now it’s just rubbish “investment” after rubbish “investment” The last few years have been so disappointing I miss the days when flat rides opened in between the years of coasters being added and then we got a rollercoaster to be excited about... those were the days

[Glitch]

12 hours ago, Platform15fan said:

I am going to be really really terrified in creek freak massacre I will be doing tulleys next year to compare it 

We may be waiting a while for the review then....

[WWTPRadio]

38 minutes ago, BAP said:

Does anyone know the reason Big Top was scrapped? It seemed to be really well received... Fright Nights is a poor event these days it used to be something to get excited about but now it’s just lacking anything that exciting... kind of sums up the state of Thorpe Park... it was once arguably the best park in the UK and now it’s just rubbish “investment” after rubbish “investment” The last few years have been so disappointing I miss the days when flat rides opened in between the years of coasters being added and then we got a rollercoaster to be excited about... those were the days

Documentary coming soon.

 

Its gone because those responsible for its conception and build are gone. Unfortunately there are many reasons for arguably the best park in the UK to be in the state it is now, and a lot of it is down to retention of talent and management of events such as Fright Nights. 

[Coaster]

It's a shame when you think that there will only be 2 fully indoor horror mazes this year.

 

Remember when we had Asylum, Experiment 10, Se7en, The Curse and Saw Alive as the event lineup.

 

Or Cabin in the Woods, My Bloody Valentine, Asylum, Saw Alive and The Blair Witch Project as a more recent example.

 

It's a joke that they still advertise Fright Nights as the UK's premier Halloween event, regardless of how good this year's new maze is the others don't really do anything for me, Platform 15 is good after it gets dark but when you look at the lineup we used to get, this year's is very sparse.

 

Also, Thorpe Park is one of the UK's biggest theme parks, it's not really acceptable that they "don't have anyone who knows how to build The Big Top" when independent events are running 5+ full scale mazes.  It was an incredibly popular maze and the park just can't deliver it?  That's just sad.

[Martin Doyle]

43 minutes ago, Coaster said:

 

Also, Thorpe Park is one of the UK's biggest theme parks, it's not really acceptable that they "don't have anyone who knows how to build The Big Top" when independent events are running 5+ full scale mazes.  It was an incredibly popular maze and the park just can't deliver it?  That's just sad.

 

In other words “we can’t be asked”

 

Just goes to show how this once great event has been handled in recent times. Honestly don’t get why people are so shocked at how last year turned out. The writing was on the wall the very second it was announced Big Top was gone. Big Top in its final year was the ONE thing that held that event together so to lose it and not improve anything else was always going to be a disaster.

 

I really do hope the event turns the corner one day. It’s going to take more than a new maze to do that however In my book. One of the many reasons the event was great back in its early days was the park wide atmosphere,unique themes to each ride when it got dark, park ride decoration and in general the organisation of the event aswell as the quality of the mazes. The park has really strayed from that in recent years as far as I go or certainly compared to the first few years and now just feels like a massive cash grab. I know it comes across at times that I borderline hate the event and frankly in it’s current state as of last year, I do. However, I was a massive fan of fright nights from 2004 right up until 2013 and the event would always be the very first thing I looked out for when the season calendar was released as well as being the first event I would aim to schedule when October came round. Heck if it wasn’t for fright nights of the past, I don’t think I would have come to enjoy scare mazes and Halloween events half of what I currently do. I just now feel the event has strayed so far from what made it great to the point I now have zero interest in going especially when I stop to consider the other Halloween events out there.

 

[Benin]

*No Big Top*

 

"Waaaah why doesn't it exist?"

 

*Have Big Top* 

 

"Why can't we have something NEW?"

 

 

Surely these events would be good if every year the parks and other places did completely new experiences every year? Or is that just me?

[JoshuaA]

7 minutes ago, Benin said:

Surely these events would be good if every year the parks and other places did completely new experiences every year? Or is that just me?

I think it depends. Screamland do this with their lineup, pretty much all the mazes get either completely replaced or built completely differently to the year before.

This is good though some mazes that were bloody excellent only lasted a year, When a scare attraction is so polished and works (Asylum, Haunted Hayride, Creepy Cottage) there is no point in changing it for a decent while. With Thorpe I think the quality of the event and the mazes has just dipped in general, even if they got a completely new lineup every year it would still be bad. You can pump new attractions like crazy but if there is no creativity or heart involved then there is no point..

[Martin Doyle]

I think having one or two “signature” or “headline” mazes can help an event if they are given slight tweaks here and there.

 

Asylum,Cellar and Terror Of The Towers being the 3 prime examples I can think of. The Cellar still holds up well even against the Tulleys newer mazes as did Asylum against thorpes newer mazes when that was around. This was helped with each event tweaking and making slight changes to each maze. 

 

It can also depend on how stale said mazes get. Terror of the Towers for the first few years with the “what lies within” story arc generally was the best maze at the event. However as the years went by and Alton bought in the much more extreme Sub Species and Altonville Mine Tour, Terror of the Towers all of a sudden looked very dated in comparison. 

 

Keeping a whole bunch of the same mazes with no changes however can make an event grow stale quite quickly. 

 

[JoshC.]

16 minutes ago, Benin said:

*No Big Top*

 

"Waaaah why doesn't it exist?"

 

*Have Big Top* 

 

"Why can't we have something NEW?"

 

 

Surely these events would be good if every year the parks and other places did completely new experiences every year? Or is that just me?

 

One of the beauties of Big Top was the fact it changed in each of its three years.

 

Of course, 2015 to 2016 was the biggest change, but 2016 to 2017 saw quite a few changes too. And I'm sure they could have kept chop and changing if they wanted. And even if they had a completely different design team, they could still reinvent it (the quality is a different matter, mind), and it would still be Big Top. If you have a good core idea, you can keep it fresh and keep it for a long period of time.

 

Some of the best received events in Europe have staple mazes that have been their for years. They still receive new experiences and the staples get tweaked too. And it's that long lasting consistency which makes it good. 

 

There's always a time and a place for the big attractions to go and for something new to come along. Big Top really hadn't reached that time yet.

[Platform15fan]

8 hours ago, Glitch said:

We may be waiting a while for the review then....

Yes I do give out reviews 

[Glitch]

1 minute ago, Platform15fan said:

Yes I do give out reviews 

Cool look forward to it.

[Platform15fan]

I have seen one maze from scream park it's got the interior of the curse Thorpe/merlin would of sold that maze on 

[Glitch]

1 minute ago, Platform15fan said:

I have seen one maze from scream park it's got the interior of the curse Thorpe/merlin would of sold that maze on 

Can we see I remember the Curse vividly.

[Platform15fan]

Does anyone remember experiencing my bloody Valentine I eventually got the blue ray I did of the 2009 remake the movie is based on does anyone remember vaguely if it was a good maze or scary because I seriously liked the movie and I wish the maze came back plus I have read reviews from total thorpe park page and from jack silkstone video. That fright nights 2013 was the best FN with the lion's gate Take over plus I understand that year thorpe was trying to be like Halloween horror nights in Orlando plus I have had a thought thorpe should do an icon of a character each year this may work to get the popularity of the event again as I have read the event has gone downhill plus Thorpe if they went this direction don't use the same character icons as Halloween horror nights. Lastly, I am going to say just let's hope this year is better than last year, I am not happy that terror at amity high is back but at least they get there show this year I understand big top showtime was trying to be like the circus show at tulleys in a way plus I am going next year if big top does not make its return I will just go to tulleys next October plus I am pretty sure their circus 3D maze is good.

[Glitch]

1 hour ago, Platform15fan said:

Does anyone remember experiencing my bloody Valentine I eventually got the blue ray I did of the 2009 remake the movie is based on does anyone remember vaguely if it was a good maze or scary because I seriously liked the movie and I wish the maze came back plus I have read reviews from total thorpe park page and from jack silkstone video. That fright nights 2013 was the best FN with the lion's gate Take over plus I understand that year thorpe was trying to be like Halloween horror nights in Orlando plus I have had a thought thorpe should do an icon of a character each year this may work to get the popularity of the event again as I have read the event has gone downhill plus Thorpe if they went this direction don't use the same character icons as Halloween horror nights. Lastly, I am going to say just let's hope this year is better than last year, I am not happy that terror at amity high is back but at least they get there show this year I understand big top showtime was trying to be like the circus show at tulleys in a way plus I am going next year if big top does not make its return I will just go to tulleys next October plus I am pretty sure their circus 3D maze is good.

 

Remember most of these reviewers were too young to go in any mazes pre 2013 so there reviews are a tad unbalanced. I'd argue that 2011 was the best year. Why? Because the park was full of original content. 

[Matt 236]

Halloween event fans be like:

TBF, given last year’s travesty at Fright Nights, I can see why. Let’s hope they do a better event this year.

[GetEchoes]

3 minutes ago, Loggers Creek said:

TBF, given last year’s travesty at Fright Nights, I can see why. Let’s hope they do a better event this year.

Dont really hold up that much hope. The Creek Freak Massacre looks like it might be good, but to be fair the rest of the announcements were a dud - as usual with Thorpe Marketing. These so called Fears, one is from last year and one is a Challenge of the coasters everyone does all the time for a wristband. I do think Quality over quantity of mazes is better, but nothing compelling for a go this year unfortunately. 

 

I'm really hoping they pull it back, but I cant see it in all honesty. 

[Martin Doyle]

41 minutes ago, Loggers Creek said:

Halloween event fans be like:

TBF, given last year’s travesty at Fright Nights, I can see why. Let’s hope they do a better event this year.

 

This has got to be the greatest thing I have ever seen on this forum!! 😂

 

So accurate it’s unreal!!

[Platform15fan]

1 hour ago, Glitch said:

 

Remember most of these reviewers were too young to go in any mazes pre 2013 so there reviews are a tad unbalanced. I'd argue that 2011 was the best year. Why? Because the park was full of original content. 

Yes true my mate used to like the curse so much my sister would not take me atall to fright nights she is not in to this sort of thing and she woul definitely 100% avoid a scare zone even last year's amity high vampires she would avoid that.

[Han30]

4 hours ago, Platform15fan said:

Yes true my mate used to like the curse so much my sister would not take me atall to fright nights she is not in to this sort of thing and she woul definitely 100% avoid a scare zone even last year's amity high vampires she would avoid that.

I persuaded my sister to join my niece and I on Saw Alive when it was open last summer - it was the funniest thing - she got told to press the button and the beginning and didn’t want to and the actor screamed at her - she’d never done a horror maze before and her reaction was priceless 

[Platform15fan]

21 minutes ago, Han30 said:

I persuaded my sister to join my niece and I on Saw Alive when it was open last summer - it was the funniest thing - she got told to press the button and the beginning and didn’t want to and the actor screamed at her - she’d never done a horror maze before and her reaction was priceless 

Wow that's a good experience I have heard yes my sister will not even do a thing like this atleast I got my friend now to do it with me he is always behind me though I will make sure he is in front of me this year I was at the front of all mazes last year.

[Coaster]

Ah, 2011.  Easily my favourite year of Fright Nights, the excitement surrounding Experiment 10 at the time was huge!

 

 

I think for this year, at this point I'm just hoping that Creek Freak Massacre is a good, solid maze because the rest of the lineup looks poor.  There used to be such a huge buzz about Thorpe during Fright Nights; the mazes around the park, the audio, sights, smells, it was such an incredible event and it just feels marketing-led and poorly executed nowadays.

 

At least Inferno in the dark is always good.