Fright Nights 2012

[Tom]

Might they mean reception of the police station?

[Deleted Users]

When I went to collect my £5 ticket from Annual Passes, I was given mine there (as I had the same order number for the actual tickets and The Passing ones). I guess you could pick them up from Fastrack kiosks as well, or from ATC.

Yeah it's just that I have a Premium so don't need to pick up anything else and that queue is normally rather lengthy.

[JoshC.]

Yeah it's just that I have a Premium so don't need to pick up anything else and that queue is normally rather lengthy.

I guess it's just a case of going for the shortest queue then, as the Fastrack points can get rather long as well. I think the AP office is not actually issuing AP over FNs, and instead they're being done at the ATC, to speed the queue up for people collecting the £5 tickets. I only had about a 5 minute wait when I collected mine, so not too bad.

[Ryan]

Might they mean reception of the police station?

It was Surrey police in general so not a specific station. The lady on the phone said she'd email Thorpe Park to tell them what date I've picked to go on and they'd have the tickets for me there.

[Deleted Users]

It was Surrey police in general so not a specific station. The lady on the phone said she'd email Thorpe Park to tell them what date I've picked to go on and they'd have the tickets for me there.

It all sounds like a ploy to get you into jail to be honest Ryan.

Thanks for the help Josh.

[JackR]

Turned up today and despite bringing my debit card and proof of purchase, the park insisted that I hadn't purchased any type of ticket. It wasn't a problem as I bought a second one at the gate and I had to re-purchase my ticket for The Passing. After spending £10 more than necessary (£5 AP entry and £5 for the passing), I could only get a ticket for The Passing 30 minutes later than all of my friends. The lady at the faststrack kiosk insisted that my friends would be able to shift their time slots without any problems and she confirmed that this would not be a problem if we came back later on. Once all of my friends arrived, we spent a while queuing in that awful cattle pen only to find out that the lady at the kiosk was completely wrong. It was all just a big fuss over nothing though because The Passing shut down by the time we were due to enter...

[holtjammy16]

I can't talk for The Passing or Experiment 10, but the mazes were incredibly weak today, Asylum just seemed to drag on and bore everyone in our line, the actors were funny but didn't really do well at providing much scares apart from banging their chains to make them loud noises I even had to stand in the front of our line in the Curse, I was nervous because of the reviews that have said it's the strongest this year but that then lead to me being more disappointed that it was a let down

The Swarm is great to ride in the dark, although I'm disappointed there was no smoke effects anywhere around the park ground (which imo is what brings the whole "fright night atmosphere".

[Daniel.S313]

any chance of fright night 2012 themes getting uploaded to audio section I like a few of them

[Fred]

Most of the parks capacity is led by carparking spaces, rather than the real capacity.

Lego "capacity" now is 16,000 guests, as measured by car parking spaces. However, they hit their all-time high attendance at almost 22k in 2009.

[BigBobJones]

@darkadder You liked some of the audio? I thought it was a shambles, I complained about the chart music being blasted, the chart music was a lot better than the Fright night audio. some rides had no audio at all. Atmosphere wise apart from the prisoners and a few grave stones at the entrance there was no theme or decorations.I would give Thorpe 1 out of 10 for their efforts with the audio this year, and only 1 as there was audio.

The Governor's voice did not work at all for me

[JackR]

Right, as promised I will stick up a review of each maze now I have returned from my third and final visit to Fright Nights this year. Before I start I would like to say that park theming was minimal and service was complete sh*t on every visit this year. Those of you who read my post at the top of this page will know about the fact that my entry ticket and ticket for The Passing went missing off of Thorpe's computer system on Tuesday. It turns out that they were on the system today which meant my Dad and I were lumbered with a wrongly dated ticket that nobody could use... I realise this is pretty text heavy, but I'm sure there is somebody who will give it a read. Ohhh and of course, there will be spoilers!

THE ASYLUM

I always do the mazes in an order when I go to Thorpe, starting with The Asylum. This is the only maze that makes me nervous before entering but to be honest, I no longer see why. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so used to it (although only having ever been in there 5 times) that I'm no longer phased by this maze, but it just seems to lack the intensity everybody praises it for. Sure, the strobes and sirens are all fine and dandy if you have decent enough actors running around, but most of the times it just seems to be somebody looking at you and giggling. There was some extremely memorable moments this year in The Asylum that left me shocked though, and I praise the actors deeply for those. I like how the maze has had slight tweaks to it this year and I especially like the monitor hanging off of the wall in the first corridor, a small but very effective touch from the park.

PROS:

• The man who threw a chair at the wall

• The actors who climb and jump the fences
• The man with no legs who came prancing out of nowhere!

CONS:

• The maze seems to lack the intensity it used to
• The strobes seem a little less violent than in recent years
• The ending is usually poorly executed

In conclusion, The Asylum is a bit of a hit and miss. The potential is there, but it really does rely on the actors to utilize their environment and make the most of their characters to scare the audience. Overall, I will give the Asylum a 6.5/10 this year.

EXPERIMENT 10

The main strong point of this maze is the psychological approach it takes. I have been with two girls this year on two different occasions who both reduced to tears in this maze. Sure, they were both wimps but that is besides the point The beginning always seems to build tension but I just like looking at the bulletins on the board by the guns. (Yes Maxy, I did see the letter the man who got new eyes!)

The decontamination room is also great. I love how the actors use the lack of vision, especially when the lights go out, to milk scares out of everybody. This is the point in the maze that people really do begin to crap their pants! The cupboards are also great, especially if you are alone. I love the draped material and spraying water in the closets and the actor who burst open my door and grabbed my legs really deserves to be commended. The tunnel is a nice touch, although that is the only route I have ever taken) and the rest of the maze is also great if the actors know what they are doing. The ending is also an interesting touch, if not a bit predictable. It seems to work best if there isn't too many people in the room but today the doctor had everybody on their knees and was grabbing this one poor boy! I stumbled upon my exit of the maze and the doctor chased the group out whilst shouting ''DON'T TRIP ABERCROMBIE!'' I think you can guess what brand of hoodie I was wearing... It's the interaction like this that the actors should be praised for.

PROS:

• Closets are great
• The beginning really builds tension
• The ending is a laugh

CONS:

• The actors no longer have the sexy hazmat suits
• The strobes are no longer as intense (yes I know the reason why)
• The ending is pretty predictable

Overall, I think E10 deserves a solid 8/10 as the best maze this year.

THE CURSE

Not much to say about The Curse. It was very intense on my first visit but didn't live up to expectations on the second visit. The actors are very good at impact scares but that doesn't seem to cut it for some people. The maze is definitely better than last year though! I would also have loved to been in there whilst Ricky was acting tonight, what a bummer I missed it.

PROS:

• Excellent first runthrough
• Lots of fog
• Great impact scares

CONS:

• Impact scares were not always enough
• Doesn't seem like it has too many years left in it (although no doubt Thorpe will keep it for the foreseeable future!)

My final verdict on The Curse is a 6/10 overall but a 9/10 for my first run through. Seriously guys, it really was a impressive one...

THE PASSING

Not really sure where to start with this maze... For a fast pass maze, it really is poor as f*ck. I'm sure nobody would pay £5 for The Swarm fast pass if they knew it would mean them queuing an hour! Seriously Thorpe, get yourselves together...

As for the maze, it was solid but I really feel it belongs in The Dungeons. I think it would be the perfect follow up to Extremis as that would be the perfect simulated execution. It just feels like it would fit in fine there As for the execution, a fake gunshot doesn't really cut it... Considering this maze emphasizes the 'death' part of the experience, I would have thought that Thorpe would kill you off a bit more extravagantly? The bags are flimsy and keep coming off of your head and the voices are just aggravating. I don't like the fact that you go outside in this maze, but that's just a minor thing. The next part is great though. That video really is disturbing. Thorpe really did take a bold step to be dealing with themes such as divorce, kidnap, arson, murder and mutilation! This is one thing Thorpe need to be praised for regarding The Passing, the video really is creepy!

The tunnels are good too, if not a bit hard to see in! After that the maze is pretty much average. It's pretty hard to see anything and the limited vision and small groups do kind of compensate for the poor themeing. One actor grabbed the girl I was with's head on Tuesday. Considering it was just the two of us, this really was creepy! The tunnel is disorientating and thr fake ending is predictable. The ending is actually pretty weak in comparison to The Asylum, which isn't really anything to show off anyway!

PROS:

• Creepy video
• Tunnel
• Lack of vision

CONS:

• Ridiculously overpriced
• Far too long of a queue
• You go outside...
• The bags are flimsy
• It's too short
• The ending is poor
• The theming is even poorer
• The actors tended to be pretty crappy (although that is a hit and miss factor)
• The certificate was definitely not worth the £3 (which soon became £5)

The Passing was solid, but it just lacked the intensity that the park seemed to market along with this maze. I would love to see it at The Dungeons though!

I would give it a 5/10.

I won't bother with Saw: Alive because that was just the same as usual. The actors tonight were pretty fab though so kudos to them!

Another thing I hate about Fright Nights is fast passes. The ratio of normal queue: FP queue was 4:1 today! That really is appalling and it made queues for Saw: Alive and E10 just over 2 hours. I don't see how people would want to spent £45 getting in, £5 for The Passing and then even more money on those bloody fast pass tickets.

So yeah, I like Fright Nights for the atmosphere (although it is usually non-existent) and the night rides along side the mazes that only stop by for a few days of the year. Not the fast tracks, lack of themeing and average roaming actors. Yet again, another average show from Thorpe Park and I long for them to act on The Passing next year if they are not going to do anything else!

[Dodge2002]

If you want to music. it was almost definitely all free public domain music.

Just google public domain haloween track and have a browse. There'll be a lot of it though mind.

[Daniel.S313]

cnt find any that match thorpes halloween ones I tried first page. glad they kept the samuari fright night theme one of my favs

[Fred]

People really shouldn't consider the Passing as a fastrack maze - it's a paid for maze. So you would still have to queue. Just a shame it was that length of queue, and that it was a crap attraction.

[c1hrisin]

Which outside part in the passing? Is it when ou cross with the exit tunnell?

[pluk]

People really shouldn't consider the Passing as a fastrack maze - it's a paid for maze. So you would still have to queue. Just a shame it was that length of queue, and that it was a crap attraction.

I they give you a time and make you stick to your end of the deal time wise then they should stick to theirs. For each time slot they should sell slightly less than theoretical capacity to allow for 'breakdowns'. You really should not have to wait more than 10 or 15 mins for something with a timed start ticket. If Thorpe aren't capable of that that (on an attraction with no 'standby' queue to manage into it) then they are even more incompetent than I gave them credit for.

[Daniel.S313]

I they give you a time and make you stick to your end of the deal time wise then they should stick to theirs. For each time slot they should sell slightly less than theoretical capacity to allow for 'breakdowns'. You really should not have to wait more than 10 or 15 mins for something with a timed start ticket. If Thorpe aren't capable of that that (on an attraction with no 'standby' queue to manage into it) then they are even more incompetent than I gave them credit for.

id say bring back hellgate that maze was good and you didn't have to pay for it

[Dan9]

Ok, so a hazy review of the mazes...

The Asylum

Having been pretty underwhelmed the previous two times I'd done this in the past, I didn't expect much. I didn't get a lot either, but this year was a much better experience. To be fair to the actors, they were actually really good today. Much better than I've seen in previous years, but it's way too light in the building. You could see every actor coming from a distance, and whilst they put the effort in, it was difficult for them to really muster a 'shock' factor or create the kind of intensity it supposedly used to have. It felt a lot longer this year though, and the actors did keep me entertained but maybe not in the way they're supposed to (especially when one seemed to get bored and decide to absolutely take out the woman in front of us - the whole group was laughing!). It might just be my general attitude to mazes though, I find it hard to get sucked into an atmosphere with the knowledge of where I am in reality. 7/10

Experiment 10

Didn't expect a lot from this considering once you know the 'gimmick' there isn't much else to shout about. Yet even so, it still managed to be worse than expected. The introduction is pretty good, but the 'maskmen' did absolutely nowhere near as good a job of creating a sense of panic as they did last year. Last year I got marched and thrown around, it was incredible mayhem. This year some guy just opened one of the boxes and waited for me to walk towards him, before just pointing at it. It's a good thing I already knew where I was going. Inside the 'cells', the sound affects from last year were missing. So yeah, that happened... we didn't get the tunnel this time, we just got a random empty corridor. No actors to be seen. After this it did pick up, for about 3 seconds. Some guy made me jump or something. Yeah. After that we just sort of walked into a room with the strobe light, not a lot really happened. Then when the large group had re-assembled (after a minute of faff), we got shut into the TV room. Mmhmm. Then we had to get out as fast as possible or something, but people seemed to have already taken the hint and started strolling out before the saw lady got released, and when she did she just seemed to stand there. Wow. Do I even need to do a summary here? 2/10

The Passing

I quite liked this, but I'm still not sure where my money went. I seem to be learning more about what actually happened reading JackR's review of it. We got bagged, sent into a room with a TV, and then started crawling through a tunnel. Hold on, when did I die in all this? Oh well. Despite my bag constantly falling off, the tunnel part was quite enjoyable considering there was just two of us at the time with me leading, totally blind. The slide especially was excellent fun. I have to admit, I genuinely can't remember all that followed. I remember being specially picked on by quite a few actors in the next few corridors which made it a lot better for me personally, but after that I really struggle. I guess that's enough in itself to tell you that it can't have a left an enormous impression. It's got potential and I certaintly enjoyed it whilst doing it, but my inability to explain what actually 'happens', in the plot and the action, means it struggles to leave the mark it was meant to. 5/10

The Curse

Now this was more like it. Having been consistently the worst maze of the last three Fright Nights, The Curse skyrocketed to the top this year. It really was excellent. Actors were EVERYWHERE. They were well-hidden, organised and absolutely determined to make them remember you. I literally had a good nine or ten seperate actors individually trail and torment me throughout the maze. The guy who sets about your legs from the floor as you try to avoid another actor made everyone hysterical in their own seperate way. I was laughing all the way through, as is my response to these kind of attractions, but it was definitely a good thing. 9.5/10

[Deleted Users]

So the event is now over. I could probably write an essay on why the conga-line mazes work so much better than these gimmick based mazes but I'll just keep it brief.

Asylum:

Lack of smoke, sirens, smoke and quiet audio but the actors were all great. Most what the hell moment possibly in a maze though when an actor just went full on psycho on the 2nd person in the line. With the strobes it look like she got pushed down to the ground and smacked her head on some scenery. Only gripe with acting was the ending; it works so much better when the actor blocks the exit, runs through the group and then chases them.

Experiment 10:

Lack of actors, smoke descending effect gone in the 2nd room, spent a good few minutes staring at a blank wall waiting for the terrible ending. What's the point of the splitting up if everyone joins back up? I feel bad for the actor having to deal with such huge groups at the end. Also they now have to tell you in the H&S brief that you get split up.

The Passing:

I just don't know what to say about this. I'd probably just find it funny if I didn't pay for it. The actors had no clue what they were doing for the most part as well.

The Curse:

Brilliant. Lighting and smoke levels were perfect, actors were the best of the night and they utilised the varied props and scenes. There was one scene in particular which was near pitch black and full of smoke. Strobes suddenly turned on and 3 actors lunged out from different places and assaulted the group. The actors were much better at one-liners and dealing with heckles as well.

[Daniel.S313]

any chance of some fright nights 2012 themes onto the audio section guys surely you got some

[MarkC]

The Following Videos Were Played In Fright Nights Mazes!

Experiment 10: Male Zombie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPHPjTZLa8&list=UU_FMyihZ81YGrOsUdPFZX1g

Experiment 10: Female Zombie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygd_b31vz4c&list=UU_FMyihZ81YGrOsUdPFZX1g

The Passing: Grave Scene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yDdo6Q97A&list=UU_FMyihZ81YGrOsUdPFZX1g

[JoshC.]

Wow, those Experiment 10 videos...they're pretty bad. No wonder I thought the ending was ridiculously poor last year.

I genuinely cannot believe that Thorpe changed the 2011 ending for THAT?

[c1hrisin]

Wow, I wonder how they gained those videos. Unless they helped produce them or something XD

[MarkC]

Did anyone actually see the female patient one being played?

[Deleted Users]

The female zombie video was used when a female actor was playing the role and the male zombie video was used when a male actor was playing the role. Hmmm.