Thorpe Park - Fright Nights

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Danny
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Would anyone mind PM'in me a walkthrough of saw alive?
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Danny
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Been looking on some other forums and apparently the preview night was a bit disappointing. Apparently cabin In the woods is amazing and effects are impressive. Bloody valentine is far to much like experiment 10 and the Blair witch project was a failure. The your next people apparently weren't that impressive either.
However asylum is apparently longer but the sirens are still far too quiet!
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Jamie
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Review - Fright Nights preview evening.
SPOILERS AHEAD

Overall, I had mixed feelings about this year's event.  The mazes were, in general much better than last year although there were some flaws (although this is to be expected though on a preview evening).
There was one thing I was not happy about though, which will be mentioned in the review of that maze.


My Bloody Valentine
I really enjoyed this one.  The actors were really good, and the Harry Warden actors were effectively using the layout to make it seem like they had followed you around the maze.  The theming was brilliant in parts of the maze, particularly the first section and they really utilized it well.  Lots of the props represented things from the films in subtle ways, and overall it really impressed me.
The main downside was lack of atmosphere in the queueline - the newly installed speakers were playing nothing! (However it was preview night, so hopefully this will change).
Overall I was very impressed with this maze :)
8/10

The Asylum
This was good, but as we were one of the first groups of the day in it (and it opened late) I don't think that the actors were quite ready for us.  Still, we really enjoyed it and the new touches were very nice.  There were quite a lot of new/altered scenes and props (which I have wanted in there for a long time!)
The new finale will be brilliant, however for our turn we saw the man go to get the chainsaw before he was ready for us so it ruined it, however it's early days yet and it will be brilliant!
7.5/10

Cabin In The Woods
Based on the bad experience we had in this, I didn't rate it very highly.  I do however think that I might enjoy it more if I go in it again.
Firstly, in the queueline we had actors literally dribbling on us (as there are actors in the queue this year).  I had dribble on my hand, and another man got really close to several woman with LOTS of dribble on his beard.  This was unhygienic, dangerous (could enter cuts etc) and generally disgusting.
However, we decided to put this aside as we entered the maze.  It started off really well, but they separated my brother (who is not the bravest of people) from me and he hated it after that.  I did stress to the actor that they shouldn't split us up as while it didn't bother me, he really didn't like it.  I know it's part of it, but it makes it hard to find groups again at the end etc and should only be done to adult groups.
Overall, despite some flaws I thought that the theming quality of the maze was quite high and I might give it another go (if the dribbling stops).
6.5/10

The Blair Witch Project
Quite frankly, awful.  A walk through a darkened path (the only fear being of tripping up) with a few actors whispering stuff, then a woman screaming and bashing a wall in a hut at the end.  Won't be going back for more of this one.
2/10 (Second point only for the large amount of fog used at the entrance  :lol: )

I did enjoy this event, and I think it has given the park some flaws to fix before tomorrow's big launch of the event.  I look forward to returning to the park on Sunday and experiencing it all again (minus TBWP and possibly CITW, and I would like to do Saw Alive as well as I haven't done it for a while now).

Final thoughts on the general park atmosphere:
The Good:
- Asylum's Queue-line music.  That Bass! :D
- Theming in the dome and park entrance plaza
- New audio around the park
The Bad:
- No queueline music for Cabin in the Woods or My Bloody Valentine - this would really help the atmosphere and mood of people queuing up as without it everyone just looks bored and annoyed.
- NO theming whatsoever around the park.  A real shame, however this is only the first night so it could be improved. 
- Audio in mazes (Asylum in particular) could be louder.
- X music could be heard in parts of Cabin in the Woods
- The Blair Witch Project.  Just, what?
The Ugly:
- The bodily fluids dribbled onto us in the CITW queueline.  Not nice.

Hope the park fix the problems (such as queueline music for the mazes and park-wide theming) because it will really make all the difference.
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Kimberley
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I was there for the launch yesterday and had a pretty good day :) The rides were pretty much dead by 20.30 so plenty of rides on The Swarm in a row! I'm not a mazes person so didn't go in these, but am going back next week so this could change.

From what I could see of the actors, they were brilliant. Many of them hung around The Asylum, including the You're Next actors (one of which cornered me and tried to scare me a few times whilst I was spectating :lol:). I would have liked to have seen them spread around the park a bit more, but then again it might be seen as more appropriate for them to stay around the maze areas. Even so, a bit more horror theming around the park would have been good rather than just the same Fright Nights music!

One thing I was disappointed about was Saw, as a horror themed roller coaster I would have liked to have seen more for Fright Nights. It was exactly the same, no actors in the queue & no difference made for the event - I would have liked to have seen more effort put into this :)

On the whole though, I had a brilliant day. Twelve hours spent on park meant I could go on plenty of rides - and The Swarm in the dark is simply fantastic front row with the fire effect working!
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Thanks to Danny for the signature (:
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joelpagett
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Hi guys,

Went to Fright Nights yesterday and wanted to share my thoughts with you! First off I have to say starting the event so early is awesome because at 8pm last night nothing had a queue over 5 mins it was awesome! Firstly I loved the idea behind it, the music at the park with this creepy film director talking over it was amazing, really gave me the chills. There wasn't much park theme apart from at the entrance and at the dome. I will list of my thoughts on each maze below;

Asylum

This was usually my favourite maze and it did not disappoint. It was noisy, chaotic and jumpy, very good and the ending was even better than I remember. Really great and the actors were great! We got emergency evac nearly at the end of the first run so we went through again!
9/10 - Awesome job.

Cabin in the Woods

I don't know if it is because I haven't watched the film but WTF? What an earth was going on? It was chaos going through all these doors banging into people and the actors didn't seem to know either. It was very disjointed and no coherent story although the first room looked awesome. Okay but if it has more than a 1/2 queue dont bother.

3/10 - Maybe one of the worst mazes I have ever been on.

Saw: Alive
Saw: Alive was clearly on steroids. Maybe its because I haven't been in for so many years but it was awesome. Really gritty actors were amazing that night and there were a few new scenes including the final scene with the guns which was amazing.

8/10

My Bloody Valentine
Very disappointed by this one. It was just X10 with some branches and twigs and you don't even get locked into cupboards. The ending was utter rubbish really bad, nothing was good about it apart from the first scene in the hospital.

4/10

Blair Witch
This was the biggest surprise. We went in about 8:45pm so it was pitch black. You start off at the Canada Creek Railway where you walk down a pitch black pathway and there are campers throwing themselves at you, one was even led on the floor and grabbed me as I walked past not even realising! Should eat more carrots! The ending was a bit naff but all in all it was awesome for no wait!

7/10

Thorpe's new ticket attractions seem to need some work but they may get improved over time. It was a good event and I really enjoyed it. Good effort from the park this year just need to improve park theme and also tweaking some maze elements.

Here are a few photos, the rest can be found on my Facebook or Flickr

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Danny
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In any of the mazes were you separated from your group?
and wow I was on the phone to a worker today who really didn't have a clue. Apparently cabin in the woods your In a line with hands on the person in fronts shoulders, your next was a horror maze and none of them you get split up in, anyone can tell me if these are correct because I find them hard to believe?
Last edited by Danny on Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Altontowersbarlow
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http://www.thorpepark.com/crashpad/defa ... Experience Thorpe Park are offering a new experience with the Blair witch project scare zone :)
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Jamie
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danny.g97 wrote: In any of the mazes were you separated from your group?
and wow I was on the phone to a worker today who really didn't have a clue. Apparently cabin in the woods your In a line with hands on the person in fronts shoulders, your next was a horror maze and none of them you get split up in, anyone can tell me if these are correct because I find them hard to believe?
Neither of those are true!
Cabin in the Woods is a free roam horror maze - you choose which doors to go through.  We did get separated once out of three times though.
You're Next is just actors roaming around the park.
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Danny
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Jamie wrote:
danny.g97 wrote: In any of the mazes were you separated from your group?
and wow I was on the phone to a worker today who really didn't have a clue. Apparently cabin in the woods your In a line with hands on the person in fronts shoulders, your next was a horror maze and none of them you get split up in, anyone can tell me if these are correct because I find them hard to believe?
Neither of those are true!
Cabin in the Woods is a free roam horror maze - you choose which doors to go through.  We did get separated once out of three times though.
You're Next is just actors roaming around the park.
So do you have to split up in cabin in the woods and bloody valentine?
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Jamie
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danny.g97 wrote: So do you have to split up in cabin in the woods and bloody valentine?
I only got split up in Cabin in the Woods, and this only happened on one of our three goes in it.
We didn't get split up in My Bloody Valentine - they tried to on one of our goes through it but we said "NO" and they didn't.  The trick to stay together it to be firm but not sound scared when they try to split you up.
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Danny
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Jamie wrote:
danny.g97 wrote: So do you have to split up in cabin in the woods and bloody valentine?
I only got split up in Cabin in the Woods, and this only happened on one of our three goes in it.
We didn't get split up in My Bloody Valentine - they tried to on one of our goes through it but we said "NO" and they didn't.  The trick to stay together it to be firm but not sound scared when they try to split you up.
I know you done a detailed review but could you put the mazes in order of scariness and Tate them out of 10 please? I'm goin Saturday but really nervous
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Benb
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Don't know if it's been posted yet (can't see it in the last five-odd pages) but fotowizz's done a video of the Blair Witch Project Walkthrough on youtube. Looks pretty funny to be honest. Here's the link if anyone's interested, obviously a massive spoiler warning to not watch the video for those who don't want the experience ruined...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9FTvQHvGlM&feature=youtu.be


Also they've done a video on the park in general over a fright night to see what it's like this year. Again spoiler warning if you're visiting the park soon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfx3TaasO-U
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King Nemesis
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Benb wrote: Don't know if it's been posted yet (can't see it in the last five-odd pages) but fotowizz's done a video of the Blair Witch Project Walkthrough on youtube. Looks pretty funny to be honest. Here's the link if anyone's interested, obviously a massive spoiler warning to not watch the video for those who don't want the experience ruined...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9FTvQHvGlM&feature=youtu.be


Also they've done a video on the park in general over a fright night to see what it's like this year. Again spoiler warning if you're visiting the park soon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfx3TaasO-U
Just to clarify that video is from last year as they show Ex:10
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Benb
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King Nemesis wrote:
Benb wrote: Also they've done a video on the park in general over a fright night to see what it's like this year. Again spoiler warning if you're visiting the park soon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfx3TaasO-U
Just to clarify that video is from last year as they show Ex:10
Yep... the second vid is. But still it kinda gives a general Fright nights idea... thought it was a good companion video to post.  :D
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Danny
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Well I Went to fright nights last night, Saturday 12th October, and I found pretty amazing! I managed to do everything but My Bloody Valentine but apparently I didn't miss out on much. Here's my reviews. SPOILERS AHEAD SO IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW DONT READ ON!

The Blair witch project:
I think it was a good use of the train station and the smoke effects were brilliant. As you enter the forest you walk through a complete wall of smoke, it's like walking into the unknown which I really liked. Also from the queue it looks really effective. For the first quarter of the walkthrough there were no actors but just passed some tents and a burnt out campfire. However when we passed these the actors were brilliant really doing well to scare people. They made us jump and hide themselves really well. Then you have to crouch under some netting and go through a black sheet. This is disorientating in the dark and especially scary when there's an actor waiting for you on the other side :). After weaving our way through trees and more actors you enter the cabin (in the woods ;) ) there's a girl and a man screaming get out get out. You walk out and back round to inferno. Overall very good but needs more actors and better ending. As we joined the queue they had to shut the ride as someone is Cabin in the woods maze was punched and had to be sent to A&E. The only accessible route was through the Blair witch project. It then happened again at closing time.

Cabin in the woods:
The theming of this maze is what really won me over. Firstly you walk down a corridor with projections on the wall and are greeting by another worker who sends you into the cabin. As you enter the front door of the cabin you have 4 different doors to go through. We went into one filled with bushes. There were many actors hiding making for brilliant scares. We made our way through many doors and greeted by brilliantly scary actors. However the maze has the potential to be really short. If you pick the right door you can be out the maze in a minute! And we didn't find the facility where you can control the scares and no one else we spoke to did either. Also one female and male actor in the queue were absolutely disgusting. Dribbling. Everywhere. Then the girl took some Pringles off a boy in the queue and chewed them for about 20 minutes until soggy and dribbling them out her mouth! Then she got a bit of dribble on a stick and pointed it in peoples faces. I found this disgusting and really put me off. Overall a brilliant maze but they need to do something about the queue line actors.

Saw alive:
This was my first time doing this maze so expectations were high. You enter and have your picture taken with jigsaw then enter to watch hi telling you his latest game which we are starring in. As soon as we entered the bathroom our group halved as all the girls ran out screaming get me out so we're escorted out. Then as most of you know you go through all the different rooms with people being tortured. Then into the freezer room. This was disappointing as there was no temperature drop and our pig faced man was about 4 ft tall. Big disappointment. However the actors were all very good and I really was scared in the maze and the rooms and effects were brilliant. But this is the shortest maze for me.

The Asylum:
This was my first time do this so didn't know what to expect. Over all brilliant. I'm not sure how much it's changed since last year but u think this was my favourite. Walking through the asylum was just a room of constant strobes which were really effective but we're becoming a headache towards the end. Many actors were in this one and couldn't find anything wrong with it. A perfect maze and the ending was cool too. Got my heart racing.

Now I'm not sure if this is the same as all the other years but the workers tell you before the maze that the actors can and will touch you but will not harm you. If you touch them you will be removed from the park. Now I found this really adds to the experience. As I was at the back for most of the mazes I got touched a lot especially In the face and my hood was yanked countless times as well as my ankles grabbed in saw :)

However this is clearly a problem as two actors were rushed off to A&E throughout the night which resulted in Cabin in the woods closing very early and the Blair witch closing twice to let the ambulances in. I enjoy that the actors touch you as it adds to the scare factor however if this problem continues I can't see it being a rule with at will return next year.

There was no theming around the park and the your next actors were pretty disappointing. The masks and weapons were cheap plasticky looking things and I only saw 3. However apparently over by swarm they were chasing people around and we're having pictures. One recommendation is DO NOT follow the crowd in cabin in the woods. Go your own way as they might have been in there 10 minutes longer than you. They might know where there going. Marcuse you go through every door!
Overall I had a brilliant night.
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The poll will be closing in a month's time, please live comments and vote fast!  :D

Topics merged to keep discussion in one topic ~ Ladyofthelake team TTF
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Also would highly recommend buying the fast tracks for mazes. £18 for every maze is pretty good. We paid £5 a person for cabin and asylum!
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I went to Fright Nights on 5th October and found the event to be much better than last year. I loved Cabin in the Woods, possibly my favourite and the best maze this year! The multiple routes is a great idea for the maze, still intrigued to see which rooms I haven't gone through yet. Unfortunately the throughput was an issue with too many groups in the maze at once which made the experience crowded and in some parts rushed for me.

My Bloody Valentine was possibly the most disappointing on the lot however I believe that was due to the poor run-through my group got. Hopefully when I return to Fright Nights on 28th October, I may have a better run-through of this maze. The only good part was being in the front of the group and reaching a dead end to the point where I didn't know where I was going so an actor grabbed me by the arm and took me in the right direction! :P

Blair Witch Project. Well, what can I say about this. Lame. Short walk in the woods in the dark.

Asylum and SAW were the same as ever however I found SAW has improved some what since last year which was nice to see. Also favourite part of Asylum was the finale, as ever I always end up in a group who runs out. :P

The roaming actors for You're Next, they were alright but didn't really add to the atmosphere. But they did scare off a young kid whilst my group were waiting for Blair Witch which was very entertaining. I loved the park wide and on ride audio, definitely much better than last year and really made you feel like you are at a movie set. Overall, I enjoyed Fright Nights this year. Bring on my next trip there! :)
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My visit to Fright Nights was yesterday and I was really impressed with the event and how much improvement there's been since last year.  Personally, from what I experienced, all the mazes were very good and it would be a toss up between Cabin in The Woods and My Bloody Valentine for favourite as both were well themed and immersive.  In addition it made a pleasant change for Thorpe Park to do something different in that these two were free flowing mazes and at several points you could be split up from your party.

The Blair Witch Project I thought was quite good considering the space the park has and had a genuinely spooky atmosphere thanks to the use of fog machines and the shadows from the trees.  I'm also looking forward to going back for a second trip :)
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