Fright Nights 2021 - 20th Anniversary

[MattyMoo]

1 hour ago, StevenVig said:

Anyone who says The Big Top is coming back, should be banned for the rest of the year

 

👏🏻 IT'S 👏🏻 NOT 👏🏻 COMING 👏🏻 BACK

Defo is, Park Pixie told me.

[JoshC.]

And so the teasers begin:

 

 

[LukeP_8]

Anyone else notice the old Surgery/Matron's office/recovery room sign from the Asylum's first corridor in the top right? 👀

That probably means nothing but it's certainly interesting to me non the less...

 

[JoshC.]

36 minutes ago, LukeP_8 said:

Anyone else notice the old Surgery/Matron's office/recovery room sign from the Asylum's first corridor in the top right? 👀

That probably means nothing but it's certainly interesting to me non the less...

 

 

There's a lot of mini references to previous mazes there - the walls have posters for some mazes for example. I'm sure the longer you look at it (and with a large enough resolution), you'll end up finding other little nods and such too.

[JoshC.]

The rethemed Flock n Shop, Superspark, which is being used to advertise Fright Nights in some aspect, is open. And there's some TVs in there:

 

 

[Stuntman707]

If they redo a popular maze, I may be persuaded to go back to FN (pending reviews that are not on influencer night)😉

[Glitch]

13 hours ago, Stuntman707 said:

If they redo a popular maze, I may be persuaded to go back to FN (pending reviews that are not on influencer night)😉

I just dream for a tent maze to come back, the Curse, 7 something in a white marquee. 

I think that the cinema will have a history of FN. POV's of old mazes etc, wouldn't be surprised to see highlight reel of our favourite youtubers POV's.

[MattyMoo]

Just watching Jack's video - state of that paintwork behind the new sign for Superspark!

[JoshC.]

Teaser number 2...

 

 

[coaster38]

5 hours ago, JoshC. said:

Teaser number 2...

 

 

Whatever FN 20 ends up being like, at least we're getting good teaser videos now! At last these have some decent production quality which is consistent with a major theme park..

[Inferno]

Oooohhhhh - Very interesting!

 

I wonder if these are the scenes in a new cinema style maze?

 

Could they even be doing a series of 'tributes' to mazes from the past?  That would help stop unfair direct comparisons to the originals.

 

• Beyond the chair - Something to do with the dentist chair in Containment maybe?
• Nightmare on Staines Street - Asylum vibes?
• Vulcan Voodoo - Vulcan Peak tribute? (why..)
• Ship Happens - The Curse tribute?  Or Saw Alive throwback (as it was on a boat)?
• Hell Cell - Hellgate / exp10 combo?  Or could it be referring to the prison in the walking dead?
• Seven Dolls - Got to be something to do with Se7en?
• Bozo's Playzone - The big top showtime type thing?
• Breakout at Brainsbury's - (love this) Maybe a supermarket zombie breakout themed maze? Very different!

[LukeP_8]

On 8/19/2021 at 5:00 PM, JoshC. said:

 

There's a lot of mini references to previous mazes there - the walls have posters for some mazes for example. I'm sure the longer you look at it (and with a large enough resolution), you'll end up finding other little nods and such too.

Ye theres loads of posters for instance of other mazes. I just thought as though that sign was one of the biggest ones and seemed to get some attention in their latest teaser too, But ye as I said, probs doesn't mean an awful lot sadly. But one can hope.

[JoshC.]

On 8/22/2021 at 10:36 PM, Inferno said:

Oooohhhhh - Very interesting!

 

I wonder if these are the scenes in a new cinema style maze?

 

Could they even be doing a series of 'tributes' to mazes from the past?  That would help stop unfair direct comparisons to the originals.

 

• Beyond the chair - Something to do with the dentist chair in Containment maybe?
• Nightmare on Staines Street - Asylum vibes?
• Vulcan Voodoo - Vulcan Peak tribute? (why..)
• Ship Happens - The Curse tribute?  Or Saw Alive throwback (as it was on a boat)?
• Hell Cell - Hellgate / exp10 combo?  Or could it be referring to the prison in the walking dead?
• Seven Dolls - Got to be something to do with Se7en?
• Bozo's Playzone - The big top showtime type thing?
• Breakout at Brainsbury's - (love this) Maybe a supermarket zombie breakout themed maze? Very different!

 

Yes, I certainly think that's the plan!

 

I thought Breakout might have been a reference to Containment, as that's what the original victor wristbands said (as well as the original-planned name of the experience I believe!) and Nightmare on Staines Street a reference to Living Nightmare. Beyond the Chair I'm less sure about, though the dentist thought is a good shout. Maybe that will be a nod to the new maze though?

 

 

There's another teaser, doesn't seem to feature anything of interest though:

 

[Mattgwise]

Line up announced. Interesting the way the video 'freezes' at the end. 

 

Scare zones include:

• The Crows of Mawking Meadow,
• Lycanthorpe vs Amity High Love Bites
• The Swarm Invasion
• Creek Freak Unchained

 

Shows include:

• Legacy Fire and Light Show
• Birthday Bash
• The Crows

 

Mazes:

Platform 15 End of the Line (last year possibly?) and Creek Freak Massacre are the only two announced in the video. One more to come... 

 

https://www.facebook.com/27217550866/posts/10159375714555867/

 

Thoughts? Discuss... 

 

[oscar.butler]

One more maze to be announced then, not sure why it wasn’t announced with the rest of the lineup…. 

 

Thorpe teasing it to be doing with volts and power again in the facebook comments

[JoshC.]

Yep, there's certainly one more maze to come. The website certainly makes that clear: https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/theme-park/fright-nights/

 

Humorously, the name of the image with the question mark is titled "Nice try"; a nice stopper to anyone who checks those things for a little hint.

 

Line up looks promising. Some immediate thoughts:

 

Maze upcharge - Will have to wait and see on costs before a full judgement, but I don't have a problem with the idea in principle. 

Creek Freaks Massacre - Good to see it return. Wasn't my cup of tea, but I know the masses liked it.

Creek Freaks Unchained - Happy to see that return too. Good duo there.

Platform 15 - Interesting to see it has received the 'End of the Line' tagline in the title. It's final year, perhaps?

Vampires vs Werewolves - Yeah, good idea to merge these to one. Should have been like that last year really imo.

Crows Scarezone - Nice idea. Bit confusing having that AND the Crows roaming. Curious about the location of the zone and what exactly will happen there.

Swarm Invasion - Has potential. Hopefully it gets more actors and some extra bits.

Birthday Bash - Seems like it will be a generic clown thing, but can be fun.

Legacy - Nice idea. The stage location is awkward, especially with Ghost Train open again

 

Mysterious new maze - Still confused why they're holding off on announcing that. I just hope whatever they're planning is worth the extraness.

[LukeP_8]

9 minutes ago, oscar.butler said:

One more maze to be announced then, not sure why it wasn’t announced with the rest of the lineup…. 

 

Thorpe teasing it to be doing with volts and power again in the facebook comments

So were only going to get one more maze? That seems way too little to me. I was really hoping Thorpe would finally nail it with mazes this year but I suppose covid was still a factor in their decisions.

Lets hppe their last maze makes up for this as Platform is a terrible maze.

[Mattgwise]

10 minutes ago, LukeP_8 said:

So were only going to get one more maze? That seems way too little to me. I was really hoping Thorpe would finally nail it with mazes this year but I suppose covid was still a factor in their decisions.

Lets hppe their last maze makes up for this as Platform is a terrible maze.

3 isn't many you are right, but for years it was just literally mazes, no scare zones and shows as such. So when you look at it like that it's still more "attractions" as such. For years people complained about lack of scare zones and shows. Plus i'd say you're likely right that Covid is still having a small part of the reason for less mazes.

[LukeP_8]

3 minutes ago, Mattgwise said:

3 isn't many you are right, but for years it was just literally mazes, no scare zones and shows as such. So when you look at it like that it's still more "attractions" as such. For years people complained about lack of scare zones and shows. Plus I'd say you're likely right that Covid is still having a small part of the reason for less mazes.

Ye indeed there used to only be 2 or 3 mazes in its earliest years. Which is why I didnt write off this years fright nights already haha.

The only thing is back then, all those mazes were top class (Freezer and hellgate for example) whereas there isnt one top class maze imo currently.

[Mattgwise]

5 minutes ago, LukeP_8 said:

Ye indeed there used to only be 2 or 3 mazes in its earliest years. Which is why I didnt write off this years fright nights already haha.

The only thing is back then, all those mazes were top class (Freezer and hellgate for example) whereas there isnt one top class maze imo currently.

Yep you can't beat early to mid 00s Fright Nights! Such good times as a teen back then!

 

[oscar.butler]

Think it massively depends on what this new maze is. I don’t think we should look past how heavily teased it’s been and how it’s having it’s own separate announcement. Clearly Thorpe are focusing a lot on this maze. 
 

I for one are really excited and interested to see what the theme actually is going to be 

[JoshC.]

I think there's a lot of rose-tinted specs with regards to some of the old Fright Nights attractions.

 

I've made my comments on Asylum quite clear in the past, but just as a general thought experiment. Imagine if Asylum (and Freezer) never existed, and this year the park opened up a maze which was 90% chain-mesh fencing with strobe lights, featuring a chainsaw runout at the end. I'm sure it wouldn't flop, but would it be as well received now as it was 10-15 years ago? Or would many find flaws in comparison to many other mazes? 

 

Mazes such as Hellgate, Se7en and Curse took a while to find their feet. Hellgate really was never that good or sparked that much interest. Se7en and Curse only really more consistent positive reviews in their final year or two and, despite their well-themed interiors, were mocked for being in white tents.

The park had plenty of misses and underachievements too.

 

My point here is simply that it's easy to look back and say Fright Nights was better in the past, etc etc, but saying so certainly glosses over many things.

 

I think the set up for this year is good on paper. 3 mazes, 4 scare zones, 2 shows and roamers. Good mix of themes too. The number of mazes is a difficult balancing act to get right, especially going down the upcharge route. But, at the very least, both Platform and Creek Freaks are decent length mazes (which can be stretched out time-wise if you are in smaller groups). That's a good thing. 

I'd like to see the event develop and experiment with one high throughput free maze and the rest upcharge to give that extra choice.

[LukeP_8]

46 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

I think there's a lot of rose-tinted specs with regards to some of the old Fright Nights attractions.

 

I've made my comments on Asylum quite clear in the past, but just as a general thought experiment. Imagine if Asylum (and Freezer) never existed, and this year the park opened up a maze which was 90% chain-mesh fencing with strobe lights, featuring a chainsaw runout at the end. I'm sure it wouldn't flop, but would it be as well received now as it was 10-15 years ago? Or would many find flaws in comparison to many other mazes? 

 

Mazes such as Hellgate, Se7en and Curse took a while to find their feet. Hellgate really was never that good or sparked that much interest. Se7en and Curse only really more consistent positive reviews in their final year or two and, despite their well-themed interiors, were mocked for being in white tents.

The park had plenty of misses and underachievements too.

 

My point here is simply that it's easy to look back and say Fright Nights was better in the past, etc etc, but saying so certainly glosses over many things.

 

I think the set up for this year is good on paper. 3 mazes, 4 scare zones, 2 shows and roamers. Good mix of themes too. The number of mazes is a difficult balancing act to get right, especially going down the upcharge route. But, at the very least, both Platform and Creek Freaks are decent length mazes (which can be stretched out time-wise if you are in smaller groups). That's a good thing. 

I'd like to see the event develop and experiment with one high throughput free maze and the rest upcharge to give that extra choice.

Well I first went to FN in 2012 and the Asylum was by far the scariest maze on the night. And you could say that 2012/13 is in the more "modern era" of the event. So I completely disagree with the idea Asylum would not be well recieved because it was levels above (imo) any other maze back then, and the rest of those 2012 mazes are better than the mazes (bar a couple) that we've had since then. Imo 90% chain link mesh is what the end of creek freak is, Asylum added a hell of alot of messed up detail to that strobe maze and it all added up to a terrifying experience. Also the chain link stuff was probably only a half of the actual maze in later years... There were many different scenes added to that maze each with their own unique detail and chaotic environment. The only thing that stayed constant throughout the whole thing was the soundtrack and strobes (which was a good thing).

 

As for overall past years being tinted by nostalgia I completely understand that arguement actually, but in this particular case also disagree with this aswell. I'm a big advocate for the past not necessarily being so much better than the present due to nostalgia bias but in this case the mazes in recent years have done absolutely nothing. I mean come on... Are we really suggesting the 2018 maze line up with those walking dead mazes is better than the 2013 lineup, or better yet, the 2011 lineup? Well I'd say most will agree that's not the case. 

[Martin Doyle]

Think I've said it often now but Asylum absolutely blew practically every other FN maze that ever existed out of the water.

 

I wouldnt necessarily say it is nostalgia that gives me that opinion, its the genuine fact that for me and 95 percent of the people that did it, it just did its job which was to scare. It was loud,chaotic,disorienting and the cast that was in it on most of my visits during its tenure absolutely went all out to deliver.

 

No FN maze that has came after it has came anywhere near matching it in those regards. 

 

Then we look at some other mazes the park historically had.

 

Experiment 10 created one hell of a sense of isolation that at the time was a breaking of the mold for UK theme park halloween mazes

 

Se7en was the single most disgusting and psychological maze I have seen on these shores. Those scenes,smells and sights to this day have stayed with me

 

Hellgate whilst not particularly unique in that it was just a generic haunted house themed maze, was an absolute jump scare ridden fun experience.

 

Those opinions to me are nothing to do with nostalgia. Its just as I remember them on their own merits during their time at the event. They did their jobs far better then MOST of the mazes that have been at the event since Asylum left. Aside from Big Top and Cabin, none of the other mazes that have been at the event have done anything for me personally. For all Platform 15 is worth, one might as well leave the park early and just head round to monks walk for an evening stroll....you're now doing Platform 15 for free.

 

[Glitch]

Little Easter egg, your favourite vloggers seem to know a tad bit more than what's in their construction updates.

In all seriousness we have one new maze, which I assume will also be an upcharge but this really doesn't do the 20 years justice.

Comments on socials say bring back XXXX maze and we want this, yet Thorpe never deliver on these comments.

We do get a nostalgia light and fire show which I assume will be at the Fearstival stage, another great park of last years event why get rid of it but keep the family friendly cringeworthy dance acts, probably budget?

 

Only good is finally removing the Walking dead but man do I miss the Asylum, Cabin, Experiment 10, Big Top and the other old tented mazes or even Saw, why can't we do what the fans want and bring some of these back rather than having a nostalgia show, hopefully there will be some visuals of POV'S etc rather than just the music, but I even think here a museum, like what what they did for X would be better suited.

 

Then the scare zones, will they be doubling the actors for Creek Freak for example or will the outside just have a few actors on the quiet short staff days while the main cast are inside.

 

Overall Fright nights for me has just lost the scare factor tbh as it takes more of a family friendly path, while charging consumers for the mazes so they won't have time to find all the little easter eggs included.