Fright Nights 2023

[MattyMoo]

Pleased to confirm that I'll be on the ISLAND LIKE NO OTHER on Friday 13th, officially the sPOoPiEsT day in the world for FRIGHT NIGHTS, and I look forward to having an incredible experience in the mazes, with 15 actors surrounding me at all times, each referring to me by name and then the one off the posters escorting me to a secret maze within the maze where Russ Gaines then greets me with a Coke freestyle of my choosing and a selection of doughnuts from DOUGHNUT TIME, before handing me a real life Easter Egg with the words THE CURSE on it, a nod to the maze THE CURSE if you don't know, before then returning to the maze via the - relocated - new Tidal Wave fire effect room, upon which Alice off the videos jump scares me out of a MACK RIDES timber box, where I then run out of the maze and am given an Ultimate fastrack wristband and a bespoke game of DOBBLE.

 

Jokes aside though - echoing what my m80 Jessica says, considering it's £10 a maze, I will genuinely - for the first time ever - go to guest services and moan if a run through is ruined by numpties. Or, hopefully the staff just forget to scan our booking like they did last year.

[Tatum-Riley]

I also have an issue with getting one run through with your ticket as mazes such as Survival games have multiple routes so you could be in there for 5 minutes or 20 minutes. It seems a waste of money, I usually just linger from the group and try and lengthen my experience and interact with actors to give them the opportunity to scare me more.

[JohnnyRocket]

So what time slots are people going for this year? Not sure if it's been mentioned but the 3 maze combo ticket has 2 pricing tiers for the first time this year -

 

Afternoon (between 3-6pm) £24

Evening (between 6-9pm) £30

 

It's a very smart way of spreading the queues out over the day so they're not dead in the afternoon and massive in the evening - but not sure which slot to go for! Tempted to go for the afternoon to save a bit of cash, but then perhaps everyone will have the same idea and it'll be busiest in the afternoon!

[Cal]

The crows scare zone has started to be set up in the same location as the last couple of years. 

 

A small part of the Platform 15 tunnel has been set up and looks like it'll form part of the scare zone which looks good! 

 

Didn't take any photos but I'm sure it won't be long until someone gets some 😄

[coasterverse]

11 hours ago, JohnnyRocket said:

So what time slots are people going for this year? Not sure if it's been mentioned but the 3 maze combo ticket has 2 pricing tiers for the first time this year -

 

Afternoon (between 3-6pm) £24

Evening (between 6-9pm) £30

 

It's a very smart way of spreading the queues out over the day so they're not dead in the afternoon and massive in the evening - but not sure which slot to go for! Tempted to go for the afternoon to save a bit of cash, but then perhaps everyone will have the same idea and it'll be busiest in the afternoon!

 

Probably best just to observe how it goes for a few days and then make a decision, I reckon it’ll be pretty 50/50 tbh! A decent portion won’t care about the darkness and will be chuffed to pay less, and another decent portion will want the full creepy experience and will exclusively do the mazes in the dark.

 

I could be very wrong though (which is why I’d advise holding back for a few days to see what the general consensus is) but I really do reckon it’ll be close to a 50/50 split - families will def prefer to do the cheaper daytime mazes, I guarantee it.

[Tatum-Riley]

Does anyone know what the audition process is for Fright Nights. I have an audition with them and just want to know what to expect. Also do you get a say in what attraction you would prefer to be placed in or is it totally random. 

[jessica2]

Hadn't seen anyone posting these yet but some pictures of fright nights construction on theme park guide:

 

 

The front looks pretty cool. You can also hear the audio testing on the theme park guide page and it sounds cool if a little different to what I expected, hard to comment too much at this stage.

 

I did notice some of the adverts on Facebook for the maze had very erm basic makeup going on and didn't look scary at all, I hope that the actors will actually look scary and not just like they've put on too much blusher/about to star in a school play/going on a trip down the shops.

 

...then there's this bus which I must admit I'm slightly puzzled by, at the moment you can't really see it much at all which slightly defeats the point of it. I guess we will see how covering the bus with these stands works into the dance show. 

 

[Inferno]

I was puzzled by the bus too.

I wonder if they can drive it out of there still? Maybe it’s just parked out of the way for now?  Who knows 

[JoshC.]

Here's an alternative view:

 

 

It doesn't seem like the bus will be capable of moving with those stands there. I'd also be surprised if that was ever considered, just from a H&S perspective. 

 

I guess the main reason for its inclusion is to allow for the controls for the AV equipment to be stored somewhere. It's on theme and also somewhere for actors to pop to as necessary. 

[Inferno]

Very true - I guess it's just an ideal waterproof space that can be easily moved anywhere.

[Coaster]

Thorpe Park's new maze for 2023 has seemingly taken some inspiration from the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.

 

The similarities are as follows:

 

1. Both 'villains' are called The Toymaker

 

2. Both operate out of a similar-looking toy emporium 

 

Whilst the DW 60th anniversary has not aired yet, The Toymaker as a character originated in the 60s, and filming took place for the 60th anniversary special back in May/June last year; meaning that the DW story was likely written and planned well ahead of Thorpe Park.

 

Interested to hear theories on this.  Has it taken inspiration, or purely a coincidence?

[Martin Doyle]

17 minutes ago, Coaster said:

Thorpe Park's new maze for 2023 has seemingly taken some inspiration from the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.

 

The similarities are as follows:

 

1. Both 'villains' are called The Toymaker

 

2. Both operate out of a similar-looking toy emporium 

 

Whilst the DW 60th anniversary has not aired yet, The Toymaker as a character originated in the 60s, and filming took place for the 60th anniversary special back in May/June last year; meaning that the DW story was likely written and planned well ahead of Thorpe Park.

 

Interested to hear theories on this.  Has it taken inspiration, or purely a coincidence?

 

 

Plot twist. Coaster Jamie is parm pap!! He makes his return after so long!!

[Coaster]

1 hour ago, Martin Doyle said:

 

 

Plot twist. Coaster Jamie is parm pap!! He makes his return after so long!!

Ding dong, etc 😂

[Benin]

Universal probably have done a toymaker character at one point.

 

Also the Chucky franchise exists.

 

Halloween events are rarely the most imaginative.

[Mark9]

10 minutes ago, Benin said:

Universal probably have done a toymaker character at one point.

 

Also the Chucky franchise exists.

 

Halloween events are rarely the most imaginative.

 

If Universal has done a toymaker character then they copied Doctor Who as well

[JoshC.]

18 hours ago, Coaster said:

Thorpe Park's new maze for 2023 has seemingly taken some inspiration from the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.

 

The similarities are as follows:

 

1. Both 'villains' are called The Toymaker

 

2. Both operate out of a similar-looking toy emporium 

 

Whilst the DW 60th anniversary has not aired yet, The Toymaker as a character originated in the 60s, and filming took place for the 60th anniversary special back in May/June last year; meaning that the DW story was likely written and planned well ahead of Thorpe Park.

 

Interested to hear theories on this.  Has it taken inspiration, or purely a coincidence?

 

I don't know when the Doctor Who Toymaker/Emporium stuff came into the public domain, but it could also be purely coincidence.

[Coaster]

3 hours ago, JoshC. said:

 

I don't know when the Doctor Who Toymaker/Emporium stuff came into the public domain, but it could also be purely coincidence.

1966; the Doctor Who villain 'The Toymaker' dates back to a William Hartnell episode.

 

Filming for the 60th anniversary (where the same character is being brought back, 'reimagined') took place in May and June 2022.

 

Pictures from the filming were available in the public domain (many were posted to Twitter, YouTube etc) including photos of the shop facade and a sign inside the shop stating "Toymaker of the year".

[JoshC.]

Fair enough. 

 

It's possible that took some inspiration from there then. Could also be purely coincidental.

 

The 'creepy toys' idea isn't exactly original in the world of scare attractions. Neither is 'things from childhood becoming scary'. Thorpe could have seen the successes elsewhere and thought that they'd try to replicate. Equally could have just even their own idea and they didn't take inspiration from anywhere. 

[jessica2]

just as a practical update, I saw the evening maze ticket for this saturday and the 28th have sold out, I guess even when they're indoors people do prefer to do the mazes in the evening and are prepared to pay extra for it.

 

This weekend is predicted to be good weather too so I imagine saturday will be heaving. I am due to go sunday but slightly concerned it will be packed! I think I will stick with an afternoon maze ticket regardless.

[MattyMoo]

On 9/28/2023 at 4:05 PM, Martin Doyle said:

 

 

Plot twist. Coaster Jamie is parm pap!! He makes his return after so long!!

Did someone call for me? Oops wrong account.

[Cal]

7 hours ago, jessica2 said:

just as a practical update, I saw the evening maze ticket for this saturday and the 28th have sold out, I guess even when they're indoors people do prefer to do the mazes in the evening and are prepared to pay extra for it.

 

This weekend is predicted to be good weather too so I imagine saturday will be heaving. I am due to go sunday but slightly concerned it will be packed! I think I will stick with an afternoon maze ticket regardless.

 

I've always done the first Sunday and it has historically always been a good day for Fright Nights and the crowds tend to really drop off later in the day

 

Seeing 25 degrees forecasted is crazy though certainly going to be the nicest weather I've ever had for Fright Nights 😄 

[jessica2]

12 hours ago, Cal said:

 

I've always done the first Sunday and it has historically always been a good day for Fright Nights and the crowds tend to really drop off later in the day

 

Seeing 25 degrees forecasted is crazy though certainly going to be the nicest weather I've ever had for Fright Nights 😄 

Same re first Sunday! Its always my choice too- I think the nice weather will certainly make it busier than usual though its now saying Saturday will be the warmest day.

 

Is anyone going to press night on Thursday?

 

[JoshC.]

59 minutes ago, jessica2 said:

 

Is anyone going to press night on Thursday?

 

Keep an eye on your favourite Thorpe Park fansite's social media for updates... 😉

[Glitch]

Yay the press night so we can all hear that the event is the best it’s ever been then go ourselves hand over £50 and find out it’s utter rubbish

[JoshC.]

5 hours ago, Glitch said:

Yay the press night so we can all hear that the event is the best it’s ever been then go ourselves hand over £50 and find out it’s utter rubbish

 

7 hours ago, JoshC. said:

 

Keep an eye on your favourite Thorpe Park forum afterwards for an honest review of the event...

I like to think I keep my forum reviews from Press Night as reasonable and level-headed as possible!