Fright Nights 2022

[JoshC.]

One thing I'm finding frustrating with these videos is that, in isolation, they give very little detail about the attractions themselves. They're great videos, but they don't tell us:

-What type of attraction it is (maze, scare zone, show, roamers, experience?)

-Give any feel for what the attraction is actually going to be like

-Are largely disconnected from the attractions themselves

 

It's cool to build up extra story, hype and intrigue, but it does feel a bit too far removed for my liking.

 

On a related note, I'm still not a fan of the park marketing roamers as an attraction. Through no fault of a guest, you can search high and low for roamers and not see them (even if they have a set route). Hopefully they have some sort of 'show' piece at set times too. But heyho, that's just a minor pet peeve of mine.

[ML27]

I agree with you. I get these videos are made for the Fans but normal paying customers do see these videos too.

 

Judging by last year, these will be the only trailers advertising what the experience is.

 

Only true hardcore fans will know what video is what type of experience.

 

Birthday bash is in a cafe, it’s actually on the stage.

 

crows isnt in a shed

 

creek freak roamers are in the park , not woodland

 

 

[ML27]

Creek Freek Annoucement

 

Creek Freak Massacre: The Final Cut  is returning for its third and final year!

 

Glad it’s been confirmed as the final year  (and on a separate note, I’m glad that they are continuing to be confident on Exodus and preparing for it)

 

Sad to see it go, it was possibly the maze which changed fright nights as we see it in its present day. It was a strong maze last year and imo the best.

 

 

[ML27]

Shame, seems like scare zones are slowly being reduced even though they are the free part of the event 

[JoshC.]

Vampires vs Werewolves is back:

https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/videos/3248466045420453/

 

I wonder if the graduation story line is a hint that this is the last year of the zone / show?

 

With the confirmation that this was the last returning attraction, this means that Swarm: Invasion is not returning. A shame, as it was never given the budget it deserved to reach its potential. Although, with a new maze going behind Swarm, I wonder if they will introduce a new scare zone on Swarm's island still, so it doesn't suffer from "Sanctum syndrome" and feel isolated from the rest of the event?

 

I expect we'll see 3 more announcements: the new maze, the new "experience" and one more zone or show.

 

 

Speaking of the "scare experience", I'm thinking more and more that that could be a VR...'thing'. Alton Towers have also announced a scare experience for Scarefest, and they've already got a VR set up from Mack in place. It fits the bill of being an 'experience' rather than an attraction, is something that can be duplicated and tweaked for multiple attractions (which fits Merlin's remit lately), but is something that could be good if done right. 

I personally hope it's not a VR thing, but I think that feels more likely right now.

[ML27]

Teased as “afraid of the dark?” Some sort of hooded experience?

[coasterverse]

 

An 'audio scare experience' huh? If done correctly this could be very, very cool indeed.

[Inferno]

2 hours ago, coasterverse said:

An 'audio scare experience' huh?

The long-time Thorpe fan in me half expects this to be a darkened shipping container containing a few rows plastic garden chairs, where everyone sits and listens to a scene play out through some noise cancelling headphones for 10 minutes.

 

However….. If I remove my musty old ‘The Passing’ hood and put my shiny new optimistic hat on for a second, that trailer looks absolutely amazing.

LOVE the storyline idea!

Really hoping for the theming shown in that video to be part of the experience.

 

I’m getting Sub Terra vibes from that - the panic and urgency the evacuation sirens and lights created in there were GLORIOUS, and so need to be part of a scare maze 

[coasterverse]

Am I the only one who thinks this could be a vague storyline tease for Project Exodus?

The description of the door 7 video reads:

 

"It’s time to pack your bags and enter your cryo-pod aboard The Terminal for a one-way trip to an intergalactic utopia! You’ll find yourself drifting into an eternal slumber as you dream of the promised new land in a faraway galaxy. On your journey, your safe haven gets hijacked by unearthly creatures leaving you and your fellow passengers in perilous danger😧 Drifting in and out of consciousness, trapped in your own cryo-pod, there’s nothing you can do except accept your fate and pray you make it in one piece. "

 

Obviously in Trailers, the E:\O-DUS poster very clearly had imagery of somebody being abducted by aliens... and 'The Terminal' is very much extraterrestrial in nature.

 

 

Could be a similar thing to The Sanctury (for The Smiler) and The Welcoming (for Wicker Man) to foreshadow a vague storyline for their upcoming coaster projects. Just a thought! 🤔

[Inferno]

Oohhhh - very good shout!

Exodus does mean leaving after all. Leaving earth seems to fit the bill. 

[Nn1992]

Has anyone been to the blue light fright night event? Does it include entrance to the mazes or is that paid for separately? 

There's no option to book them for 6th November on the website

[coasterverse]

15 minutes ago, Nn1992 said:

Has anyone been to the blue light fright night event? Does it include entrance to the mazes or is that paid for separately? 

There's no option to book them for 6th November on the website

 

I'm not sure about the blue light event, but at the passholder events mazes have still been paid for seperately (although discounted for passholders, not sure if they would be discounted for blue light holders). I would probably say that, knowing Merlin, the free entry will only be to the park and the mazes will still be upcharges.

[JoshC.]

The Terminal sounds like an interesting experience and idea.

 

The park are working with Darkfield for the experience, who have lots of experience with audio attractions (they very much became the rage during the Covid lockdowns). I believe that usually you do these experiences blindfolded, and it relies on your imagination somewhat. Couple that in with special effects (movements, mist sprays, etc), and it has potential to be a really cool experience.

 

But. I think this experience suffers from being quite niche in market. I reckon it involves a certain level of buy in from the guest for it to truly work. How many people, at Fright Nights, want to go into a experience and actively participate in making the most of an attraction for themselves, whilst also - somewhat paradoxically - sitting in an enclosed space alone? I don't know, but I reckon it's a smaller proportion of the audience than those who are interested in going into a scare maze.

In turn, it runs the risk of disappointing a lot of people because it may just end up feeling like "sitting in the dark with some headphones on". 

 

I'm not saying that's what will happen. But there's certainly a risk there. Could be a risk that pays off majorly though.

Fair play to Thorpe for doing something which is truly different and not really seen before in a wider market. I really hope it works out well.

[JoshC.]

Today's announcement is a new scare zone, Death's Doors

 

https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/videos/598885065061349/

 

It's taking place in the pathway under Nemesis Inferno, and it sounds like it will have 21 different doors which you can open, and each has some sort of reference to Fright Nights. Some will be scarier than others.

 

It's...a thing. The location sounds like a nightmare, especially being adjacent to the Birthday Bash show. And operationally it sounds like even more of a nightmare, especially when the park is busy.

 

Could be a cool thing, but....yeah, I'm not sold on that.

[coasterverse]

15 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

Today's announcement is a new scare zone, Death's Doors

 

https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/videos/598885065061349/

 

It's taking place in the pathway under Nemesis Inferno, and it sounds like it will have 21 different doors which you can open, and each has some sort of reference to Fright Nights. Some will be scarier than others.

 

It's...a thing. The location sounds like a nightmare, especially being adjacent to the Birthday Bash show. And operationally it sounds like even more of a nightmare, especially when the park is busy.

 

Could be a cool thing, but....yeah, I'm not sold on that.

 

Very cool concept, but operationally would be so much better as a scaremaze rather than a scarezone. Imagine having a maze with 21 different individual micro-scare mazes rather than, what is evidently just going to be, 21 different jumpscares in one room.

[Inferno]

5 hours ago, JoshC. said:

Fair play to Thorpe for doing something which is truly different and not really seen before in a wider market. I really hope it works out well.

I agree - nice to see something different being tried again.  Cabin and Exp10 were ‘different’, and we’re fab!

 

I do wonder though.. That’s now 2 quite ‘different’ main attractions in this year’s FN.

 

Having an audio experience AND an experimental multi-door scare zone feels slightly risky. 
I know I don’t speak for everyone, but I quite like the ‘usual’ concept of a scare maze. Scare zones and other experiences are cool, but it’s the “real” scare mazes I love.

 

I’m just cautious because Thorpe can be very hit and miss with their risky experimental attractions.

 

I hope they can pull them off this year.

 

Looking forward to trying some new stuff!

[ML27]

Yeah this scare zone, isn’t exactly a normal one. It’s such a small short tight avenue, by the time you started you could be at the end.

 

Having to knock on individual doors will make it so much slower ect ect. It will be like the crows scare zone, your kinda batched and released in waves. Is that a normal scare zone by definition? In my eyes a scare zone would be similar  to the 2020 ones.

 

also three scare attractions in that area? Is that a good idea……

 

 

on another note, no legacy type show? I know it wasn’t that popular but if they went for it and invested in a screen, it would have been better.

 

just another show to add to the event..

[coasterverse]

 

Final maze announcement - Survival Games!

From Jack Silkstone's Twitter:

 

"A BRAND-NEW multi-route scare maze and Thorpe Park’s single biggest FRIGHT NIGHTS investment to date! 

This incredibly intense indoor experience features live actors, special effects, and multiple genres of horror designed to terrify even the most fearless."

 

Now this, I am excited for. This has massive potential, especially considering it's the biggest fright nights investment to date.

[JoshC.]

I think the most expensive maze before this was Trailers (though it wasn't marketed as such). Though I guess it depends on how the measure expense, etc. And that assumes it's not just some throwaway phrase.

 

But yeah, I like the concept of this at heart. Multi route, potentially being split up and the whole "survival" aspect. Really cool. The social media side is something that's been done a lot lately (you could even argue Black Mirror does this), so I hope that's more just a backstory and not a key focus of the maze. 

 

These things are difficult to do right, and it may take some time to bed in, but I'm excited to see how this develops. 

[coasterverse]

The thing is, the theming of Trailers was top notch - can definitely see that it was their most expensive maze to date. However, the execution of it was poor in my opinion. If it was executed better (and personally, the different rooms were reduced so the rooms could be bigger and therefore less predictable scares that you can see before even entering the room), it would've been a phenomenal maze.

 

I'm super, super excited for this one. It has massive potential, and if the theming is anything near Trailers, it has the potential of being super immersive too. Let's just hope they don't go over-ambitious with their ideas in a small space which will lead to predictable scares again. I'd rather only have a few rooms but have them be massive and therefore have well-hidden scares in it, than lots of different rooms to experience and be able to predict the scares before you even experience them.

[JoshuaWAHH3]

So I actually really admire Thorpe this year with their lineup- I actually after the reveals am excited to slot a visit in between Tulleys.

I feel Creek Freak returning was a good move- I think its a stellar attraction and deserves to return. The scare zones also look like a lot of fun, the new door based one looks awesome, even if it just is a bunch of easter eggs with a few actors, it sounds like a fun little attraction. The other two are also very fun, and bring a bit of atmosphere to the park outside of the main mazes.

 

For the Terminal I do believe it is going to be interesting- I kind do not presume VR, but maybe a maze completely based on sound- I have no idea how this attraction will work, but honestly sounds very outside of the box, and I certainly commend Thorpe with trying something completely new. Even if it fails, Thorpe tried something unique.

 

Survival Games remind me of Sub Species/Cabin, I love multi route mazes and if it takes things as extreme as Sub Species I'd be shocked. But it could be a kickass maze- I am guessing it is going to be pretty big. I hope they really play on seperation here and touch scares. Cabin was a bit mild compared to Sub Species, so I hope they ramp up the multi route/seperation aspect of it all, also provide us with good theming which I am sure they will.

 

Trailers, honestly I have mixed opinions. I went to Thorpe at the best time probably, at an event of 200-250ish people. So generally the mazes were at the most optimal. Even with low group sizes and optimal conditions, oh my Trailers did not scare me at all. Platform left me running every run through, I went through CF alone 3 times and got chased by the roamers after being chased out of the main maze itself. Both left me wanting more, but Trailers- it just did not do much for me. Even in a group of 3.

 

I think the problem is the overall concept- it is highly unique, but honestly the way the maze is designed is really bad for impact scares. I found myself watching some of the actors more than interacting at points too- kind of like they were acting out scripted stuff instead of engaging with us. This in a maze can be good in moderation, but after a while it gets boring.

 

Breakout at Bozo's though flips the script- is is not scary, but is a utter joy to walk through. Laced with a few good impacts (using the few impact oppertunities they have to properly startle me), and plenty of great interactions and laughs. I hope they make trailers more like this- this was immense fun and having a slightly less scary maze would be fun. With CF and the new maze probably being pretty scary, I do think having a more mild fun maze would not go amiss.

 

 

 

 

[Inferno]

With Alton Towers also having a seemingly similar “audio experience” as their sole new addition to Scarefest, it looks like Fright Nights is where Merlin are spending nearly all of the scare season money this year.

 

Really looking forward to Survival Games - getting all the Sub Species feels From this!

Looks like it’s going to be a big maze too.

[TPGG]

Hi guyyys!

When's the least busy day to do Fright Nights?

[coasterverse]

10 hours ago, TPGG said:

Hi guyyys!

When's the least busy day to do Fright Nights?

 

I think Fright Nights is always pretty busy to be honest, but your best bet is definitely some time during the week. Although with the extended park hours allowing people to travel down after work and still enjoy the event, being there of a weekend is usually just all-out hell even on a non-event day let alone Fright Nights.

 

Definitely try to go down mid-week, that way you should be able to avoid families - but just remember that it will pretty much always be busy at a Fright Nights... just a bit less busy during the week.

[Cal]

From experience, the first Sunday and Friday are usually the best days to go for low crowds