Fright Nights 2020 - No Spoilers

[JoshC.]

You mean it's almost July and we don't have a Fright Nights thread? What's going on?! (what do you mean there's a pandemic??)

 

Following yesterday's updates about theme parks being allowed to reopen, the Thorpe Breaks website tweaked the Fright Nights information:

 

Originally, Fright Nights had been planned to start October 3rd, but that's now been pushed back by 2 weeks.

 

Obviously the very idea of scare attractions in the traditional sense this Halloween is still very much up for debate right now. There's plenty of smaller events which are debating about running at all. Many are thinking of drastic changes. I wouldn't read into any descriptions yet as these almost always end up as placeholders, but it will be interesting to see what the park have planned up their sleeve.

[Ringo]

Interesting have already got tickets for 3rd & 10th October wonder when they’ll be in touch to advise they’ve cancelled those dates. 
 

Just had a look and you can still buy tickets as well.

 

[JoshC.]

The Thorpe Breaks website is updated separately usually- and in the past has usually updated some details before the main website. Presumably the main site will update over the coming days with some form of contact done shortly after.

 

I'd guess it's treated as a lower priority for them to sort out at this point though. 

[Martin Doyle]

bIG tOp iS CoMInG bAcK!!

 

*Source: HP

[StevenVig]

The question is, how on earth will they observe social distancing? Unless they literally batch you and your group only and leave large gaps between groups, but then the question also applies to actors. They can't be permitted to come close to you. 

 

I'm not holding my breath on this

[BBoyJD10]

its not gonna happen lets be honest

[Glitch]

Gives my the sense of actor interactions around the park, no mazes rather experiences and zones, with no area of limits, type of thing.

[RobF]

Asylum come back .... face masks were standard 

[JoshC.]

20 hours ago, StevenVig said:

The question is, how on earth will they observe social distancing? Unless they literally batch you and your group only and leave large gaps between groups, but then the question also applies to actors. They can't be permitted to come close to you. 

 

I'm not holding my breath on this

Certainly a lot of challenges. I honestly can't envision any sort of normal Fright Nights happening. Even if they create attractions where it's possible for social distancing to be observed, those sorts of attractions would be very different.

 

I still expect *something* to happen, because Fright Nights is always the most popular time of year for the park by far, and they'll want to cash in on it however they can. But what exactly depends on how creative the park choose to be.

[JoshuaA]

It certainly is ambitious thinking to advertise the event basically as normal. As a former scare actor, these attractions are exceptionally difficult to run without a high risk of transmission (actors getting close to guests, actors with other actors).. The mazes as it stands are a breeding ground for common colds for actors, when you get close to 1,000's of people a night for nights on end, it is kinda a high risk. As JoshC said, we could see some modified mazes, though honestly that would take a lot of thinking outside the box, and also probably a lot of money and trial and error. They would have to completely change the way they build mazes. Would all that effort be worth it? Considering they would have cut capacity by a lot? I'm not so sure.

 

I guess by August/September we will know more about the future of scare attractions. But as of now, them coming back is somewhat of a dream.

[JoshuaA]

On 6/24/2020 at 4:00 PM, Glitch said:

Gives my the sense of actor interactions around the park, no mazes rather experiences and zones, with no area of limits, type of thing.

Sorry double post! I know!

 

This a good idea, I think something akin to the street at Tulleys would be so good at Thorpe. Though I guess it does pose some challenges as roaming actors do tend to be more at risk from troublesome guests. I guess maybe thats why they have been doing them in large groups over the past few years (or, not at all?)

I do think having some dedicated outdoor scare zones would be a good idea, maybe add some comedy like Tulleys do and make the event just more about being fun. 

[Ringo]

Website is now showing Fright Nights as starting on 9th October.

 

hour cut each day with 9pm close instead of traditional 10pm.

 

https://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/opening-times/

 

[Cal]

I can understand why they would cut back the first week or two till 9pm as the first 2 weeks are normally dead but its a shame they're cutting back the whole event till 9pm, especially with how busy Fright Nights gets. I guess it depends on the lineup as if there won't be mazes this year then it won't be missed too much anyway.

 

Hopefully 10pm closes will return next year when things are back to normal! 

 

If they are cutting an hour, would much rather they cut the first hour and did 11am - 10pm, seeing as most guests don't turn up till later for Fright Nights anyway.

[JoshC.]

The loss of the hour isn't that big a deal in my opinion. If Fright Nights still happens (regardless of the park's intentions, it could ultimately be out of their hands whether it happens or not), it will be a wildly different event. They should still have a lower park capacity too in my opinion. Put those two things together and I don't think the event being an hour shorter makes too much of a difference.

 

Agree that it's odd that the parks don't consider later openings for Halloween events. Even though the UK has a mindset of 'arrive early, leave early', it is slightly twisted during Halloween events. No doubt they have some sort of market research they've spun to show people aren't interested in a later opening, but I do think sooner or later it's something they should try.

 

Also, with a park the size of Thorpe's, and a park which has been so heavily reliant on scare mazes entirely, it'll be interesting to see what they actually do. 

[pluk]

16 hours ago, JoshC. said:

The loss of the hour isn't that big a deal in my opinion. 

It's a HUGE deal in mine. Getting night rides and getting mazes done is already an either/or affair, this just makes it worse. 

 

If they really really must lop an hour off then open an hour later. 

[JoshC.]

I get what you're saying, and do agree.

 

However, I simply don't envision Fright Nights being anything like previous years. If we get scare mazes, they'll be different, and I can only imagine there will be fewer of them. 

 

Obviously an extra hour never goes amiss, but I just don't think it'll have that much of an adverse affect if there's fewer Halloween experiences. 

 

If it does end up being busier and necessary, the park do have form in extending close to be fair (when they went to 9pm closes for 2012 Fright Nights, most nights they kept mazes open till 10pm anyways).

[pluk]

Thinking COVID, I can imagine the maze dispatches will just be in your 'social group', which will hit capacity hard. As the costs per dispatch do not vary I wonder whether ticketing wise you'll pay a set amount for a slot, rather than per person? You'd get to chose how personal (and expensive) an experience you get.

[JoshC.]

21 hours ago, pluk said:

Thinking COVID, I can imagine the maze dispatches will just be in your 'social group', which will hit capacity hard. As the costs per dispatch do not vary I wonder whether ticketing wise you'll pay a set amount for a slot, rather than per person? You'd get to chose how personal (and expensive) an experience you get.

Assuming, of course, we get mazes! 

 

With more parks and Halloween events announcing they're not going ahead, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing bigger places announce that they're not doing mazes whatsoever. The parks should at least capitalise on a spookier atmosphere and night rides, but with high levels of uncertainty about the situation, I wonder how many places are willing to put the money into building mazes, training staff, etc only for them to be cancelled.

 

In particular with Thorpe, they haven't started hiring actors yet (when they normally would have by now). Obviously there's still months before October so it's not a big issue, but it gives some indication to the park's current stance imo

[pluk]

17 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

Assuming, of course, we get mazes! 

True, although I read elsewhere that towers had started advertising for actors which is what made me think of it. I'd expect a similar approach across the estate, but wouldn't be at all surprised if there were no mazes, I suppose any recruitment now is non committal on Merlin's part and can be pulled nearer the time.

[Martin Doyle]

Well if it makes us feel any better, a Fright Nights with zero mazes would still be a better event than 2018!!

 

Thinking positive for once!!

[JoshC.]

Thorpe have put a job advert up for performers for Fright Nights this year:

 

 

Unsurprisingly hints towards a return of the Amity High show from last year. Whilst the advert does mention scare actors, there is not mention of 'mazes', or indeed any type of possible attraction we could see.

 

[StevenVig]

Key things to note from this job advert

Quote

roles include scripted characters, improvisation-based roles and dance-based positions.

Whilst this is very normal every year, we normally have mentions of mazes too, as that is the main part of Fright Nights

 

Quote

(Please note there will be a dance element at each audition so ensure you come prepared for movement)

As someone who went through the audition process last year, I can assure you that the dance element has always been optional. If it's mandatory this year, this to me indicates more 'Terror at Amity High' style shows, and actors probably interacting with the crowd from a distance. 

 

Purely speculation

[MattyMoo]

I would agree. More shows, scare zones, set pieces and roaming actors, but really can't see closed in mazes happening at all.

 

Appreciate the Thorpe website still has all the mazes listed from last year but that means diddly squat and points more towards them forgetting about them being on there/lazy/all of the above....! If you click through to a maze on there, and then "Buy your day ticket for entry" on the info page, it takes you to the FN dates which is a bit naughty to be fair as you could (almost certainly will be) booking for attractions that aren't going to be there... 

 

Just glad I went through Creak Freak Massacre an obscene amount of times last year to be honest ❤️

[coaster38]

6 hours ago, MattyMoo said:

really can't see closed in mazes happening at all

I would have said the same a few weeks ago but Alton Towers have recently confirmed their attraction line up for Scarefest, and it seems that they will be operating their (probably somewhat adapted) indoor mazes. Fittingly, their new maze for this year will be outdoors. I would imagine masks will be required throughout the attractions in line with COVID guidance and perhaps we'll see actors behind perspex screens. I'm surprised that skin snatchers is returning, as it's pretty claustrophobic..

[coaster38]