Fright Nights 2013

[Emma1980]

Can someone who did face it alone please PM I want to know exactly your experience as I've heard various conflicting things!! I really wanted to do it but hate not knowing what to expect lol and from what I've heard it wasn't really something I thought I'd like but want to try next year maybe.... So someone please xx

[Coaster]

Rip Asylum :(

We don't know if it's going yet!

We won't know until next year probably.

[FrightNights04]

We don't know if it's going yet!

We won't know until next year probably.

I know, it's just likely that it will go

[Ryan]

I expect it'll be the same maze, but under a new IP with a few new scenes. Texas Chainsaw anyone? Would be cool to walk through the Sawyer family house with the family all trying to attack you, then you go into the basement bit and Leatherface himself chases you out of the house. Maybe have it similar to MBV where it feels like Leatherface is chasing you through the maze. If done well it could be bloody intense!

[FrightNights04]

I expect it'll be the same maze, but under a new IP with a few new scenes. Texas Chainsaw anyone? Would be cool to walk through the Sawyer family house with the family all trying to attack you, then you go into the basement bit and Leatherface himself chases you out of the house. Maybe have it similar to MBV where it feels like Leatherface is chasing you through the maze. If done well it could be bloody intense!

that means there wouldn't be the strobes throughout the maze, but if done really well then it could be very good!

[Coaster]

Call it "Bedlam" and keep it the same

[TPJames]

I've done all the mazes except Blair witch this year!

I will post a full review later but will just give my ratings now:

MBV- 2/10

CITW- 8/10

Saw Alive- 8/10

The Asylum- 9/10

The asylum was easily the best maze and I can't bear to see it go! I also hope saw alive doesn't leave either as it was a fantastic maze! I even got scared by Steve in the queue who came up to me and banged on the fence while we were waiting . I was so freaked out, thanks Steve

From visiting yesterday, we got to saw alive at 2:30 and waited at least an hour from then. We were only a 5/10 minute wait from the front but they were letting in 3 groups fastrack to 1 group main queue. I asked why this was, and the lady said that they had to get rid of the fastrack line, the only problem was, it kept going! Fastrack was clearly being oversold in this situation...

[Worthy9992]

Lol ow that was you it was my pleasure

[TPJames]

Lol ow that was you it was my pleasure

Hahaha I can't wait to see you again . You should be an actor

[pluk]

A little review of the brave it alone experience, it is in no real detail and nothing in there that's not generally known...

http://www.themeparkguide.biz/brave-it-alone-2013.php

[Coaster]

Well Fright Nights 2013 was a big success (in my opinion) and a huge improvement on 2012. We saw two new mazes, a new scare zone and the return of their best maze (imo) which had improved greatly on previous years.

For next year I would like to see them work on consistency - for example at times MBV was brilliant, whereas at other times it was poor.

Overall a great year for Fright Nights, but in my opinion the best year of Fright Nights was 2011.

Went to Fright Nights 5 times this year!

[Benin]

You're NEVER going to get consistency with mazes due to their nature...

[Coaster]

You're NEVER going to get consistency with mazes due to their nature...

I know, but they should work out what gets the best scares and brief the actors to always do this.

For example, the man following us with the gas mask in MBV was effective when he didn't have his helmet torch shining in your eyes, as you could actually see him. Also, sometimes he didn't even follow us.

[Glitch]

So do we think lionsgate partnership next year?

[JoshC.]

From what I've heard, that is the plan.

I can see FN slowly developing into our own HHN.

[pluk]

I think Lionsgate for next year is a near certainty and effectively signed up already, clauses allowing.

As for the mazes and their consistency it is fair to say they can not be truly consistent due to their live action nature, the individuality of certain actors, the reactions of the guests they have to play against etc etc etc. There are a lot of variables that means it will not be the same every time, but that is only true to a point. There should be a consistency in effort, a consistency in numbers of actors, a consistency in numbers of guests, a consistency in theme and plot that still allows for more than a little variety in what the result actually is but is still a version of something that is at least good. There seem to have been too many reports of extremes of experience this year (like most other years in my experience!) where some run throughs, often following a multi hour wait, have simply been not good enough. This comes not only from here, but mostly from non geek/enthusiast friends who have told me their experiences, it is not just fan boys expecting too much!

I myself have not been to any theme park Halloween events this year sadly, which is quite telling of what I think of them now. I'm not saying the new direction of Thorpe is not a good idea, and ATs overall event is always solid, but for other reasons I could not attend at the start of the event when the crowds would have been bearable and the way the parks are run latter on is not acceptable to me. It is fastrack, it is shockingly run, and I'm not willing to play that game. It's not fun.

Something I have been very much a fan of this year has been the extras on offer (brave it alone, camping), that is how you add revenue without pissing everyone off a la fastrack. A very pleasing positive review of what they managed to turn camping into after a poor start.

[Emma1980]

There should at least be consistency in the actors in the queues lines.... how can you go from preview night where there were actors in queue lines and outside Cabin in the Woods and in the Arena by MBV acting out scenes to going on 2nd November and there not being an actor in any queue line for any maze...... being the last Saturday of the event you would have thought they would have made a massive effort to over pack the place with actors.

And not once did I see You're Next actors on both visits....

[JoshC.]

I think people's expectations of the You're Next characters were far too high. They're roaming actors, no different to the clowns from 2011 and the prison inmates for 2012. No one really complained when they didn't see those actors. They're not an attraction in itself, they're just actors going round the park. Their greatest success is also their biggest flaw - they go around in a large pack of people, which makes intimidating, but at the same time, not easy to bump into.

I do think the park put a bit more emphasis on the characters than they perhaps should have. Hopefully next year, there'll have roaming actors who go around in smaller groups, so there's a bigger chance of seeing them, or there'll put less emphasis on them, so people see it as a bonus when they find them.

[Benin]

Or maybe have set locations as to where they will hang out?

That being said, Walibi had TONNES of roaming actors around their scare mazes and other scare zones... Maybe it's just a case of boosting the numbers if they really want to make the park the destination for Halloween events...

Of course, making the park FEEL like it's having a Halloween event would be my personal focus...

[JoshC.]

Or maybe have set locations as to where they will hang out?

That being said, Walibi had TONNES of roaming actors around their scare mazes and other scare zones... Maybe it's just a case of boosting the numbers if they really want to make the park the destination for Halloween events...

Of course, making the park FEEL like it's having a Halloween event would be my personal focus...

I think a simple case of boosting numbers will do the job. There's been a obvious boost in numbers for actors in the mazes, so I'd expect as the event grows all the more, more park-wide roaming actors will come about. Hopefully the Lionsgate partnership will continue and there'll be willing to give as much financial support as necessary to make the Fright Nights feel like one of Europe's top Halloween events in the near future.

More actors roaming will definitely make the park feel more like a Halloween event. Park wide theming has the issue of feeling cheap, so I'd much rather see audio and actors used to make the park feel 'Halloweeny', for the time being at least.

[Benin]

It depends on the quality of the theming...

A budget could easily spread to have stuff like this:

Hell, even covering the park in pumpkins would be an improvement... You can also use the Towers Freaky Fun Zone on a good example of how to do a reasonably decent Halloween zone for the family market, as that certainly had the best atmosphere in the park upon my visit... There is nothing really stopping any of our parks to really pushing the boat out on park-wide theming like Chessie used to do...

Problem is with Thorpe, is that outside of the actual mazes, you'd be easy to forget it was a Halloween event... The only thing that changes in the park is the addition of spooky music and the mazes, which to me, isn't good enough to make it a truly decent event...

[Marc]

There was a few bits of theming added later on with body boxes / mannequins scattered across the park along with plenty of smoke which was good.

I do agree would be nice to see more, but I'm not too sure what they could do park wide which both fits in with the Movie Studio theme they are going for and dont cost a bomb.

[JoshC.]

Problem is with Thorpe, is that outside of the actual mazes, you'd be easy to forget it was a Halloween event... The only thing that changes in the park is the addition of spooky music and the mazes, which to me, isn't good enough to make it a truly decent event...

I definitely agree with this.

However, the thing is, Fright Nights isn't going to be for a family market. Regardless of whether the park as a whole are heading towards a family market, Fright Nights will always be 'that time' suited just for the teens / young adults. Things like pumpkins, draped clothes and spiders aren't going to fit in. If you want good theming which fits in, it's naturally going to be expensive, or there's not going to be a lot of it. We had body boxes by Saw, the mine cart by MBV, and then the usual barbed wires, fake CCTV cameras and a couple of signs about. It all 'fits', but it isn't enough, I grant you. I'd much rather that than loads of spiders stuck onto random buildings.

So, for the time being, I'd much prefer to see more money invested in roaming actors (which, let's face it, more people would pay attention to than the odd bit of theming), lighting and audio which help create that Halloween atmosphere (of which lighting and audio were fantastic this year in my eyes). Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see good quality FN theming all around the park, but it's easier said than done, and something which I don't think would benefit the park as much as investing more in park-wide actors, for example.

[Benin]

I wouldn't say Thorpe need to do anything with their lighting, as it's always there and used for more than just the Halloween event...

Audio, eh, whilst the stuff was fitting the theme, were the Director blurbs any better than previous years? They were rather cheap and corny jokes, which if the event is meant to be adult themed, should have no place within the park?

Thing is, to me, the park struggled to have an atmosphere that was Halloweeny... Indeed, it felt exactly like my Summer Nights trip for the most part since the only differences were the audio and the odd roaming actor...

I don't see what's wrong in the park trying out a theming splurge... If the park wants to make this event as good as possible, then they're gonna have to spend regardless... Be it on quality theming (which could easily be used BY roaming actors) or more actors...

At any rate, how expensive IS a good quality fake weapon? Not one that looks like they got it from ASDA?

[JoshC.]

I don't think this has been posted yet...

A full walkthrough of the Blair Witch Project in night vision.

One thing which has dawned on me is how the park seem to be trying to 'do an Asylum' with how some of their attractions end, and try and create this one huge scare that will get people running out. The trouble is, it doesn't work with the likes of Experiment 10 / MBV or BWP because of their free-flow style. It only works for Asylum because you're in a conga line, so it happens to everyone at once (and the fact that the finale involves being attacked by a guy revving up a chainsaw by your face...).

Relying on people staying together so they can all experience the finale, or by forcing a free flow maze to group together for the end, doesn't work well, and I hope the park take that into consideration next year!