Thorpe Park General
So, after being held up in traffic for four hours, we finally arrived. The large screen was playing the teasers for THE BIG TOP and WC16 on repeat; I liked this as it teased the attractions very effectively. I headed to The Swarm, and unfortunately it wasn't as good as normal in the day. Stealth on the other hand, surpassed my expectations, it was smooth and the "human catapult" rework for FRIGHT NIGHTS really added something special to the ride as well as the blood detailing on the trains. Colossus was very smooth surprisingly - although not a highlight. Next was Nemesis Inferno, this was amazing in my opinion! This was my second favourite ride of the day... My favourite ride however was Saw: The Ride, it was incredibly smooth and really intense!
We then rode various flat rides including Samurai - which I really enjoyed after not liking it at all before!
Highlights
- Nemesis Inferno
- Saw: The Ride
- Stealth's audio and blood detailing
- Samurai
Thorpe Park After Dark
By 5PM the island was dark, and this meant rides in the dark. I managed to get on Saw, Nemesis, Stealth and The Swarm.
Saw, was by far the best ride - and possibly best moment overall, looking vertically into the stars was a real wonder and it felt really special!
The Swarm, although it was dark, the ride area was so bright it made little to no difference - however, the ride was much faster and much more enjoyable compared to in the day.
Nemesis Inferno I really enjoyed in the dark, it felt very intense and the zero-G roll was my favourite element as opposed to least favourite as it normally is.
Stealth was a close second to Saw, however due to the lighting not working this unfortunately wasn't my favourite.
Highlights
- Saw: There Ride
- The Swarm's intensity
- Nemesis Inferno's zero-G roll
*MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD...ENTER IF YOU DARE...*
FRIGHT NIGHTS - The island changes after dark...or 3PMish...
As initially stated, I was a bit of a wimp when it came to mazes (note past tense) - however this year I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Below are the mazes in order of how I did them and ratings on Scariness, Enjoyment, Actors and Theming.
My first maze of the day was THE BIG TOP. I was not scared, I was nervous. I was very nervous. Deciding to throw myself in I got in with the third ruin of the day...
Tent 1 - well, here I had two of my biggest scares of the day - a gypsy was standing to the left of me and at first I just looked at her - not expecting her to yell at me when I looked away which really made me jump. We proceeded to circle her table as she handed people cards and I felt that this gave the attraction a much more authentic feel. We were then told too exit - and the actress stared at people, but not me, oh no she wanted to make me jump, which she then succeeded in doing (the exact same way as he first time). After a long shuffle through black corridors we exited the first tent, I really enjoyed how this set the rest of the maze up. I heard a maniacal laugh as strobes began to flash and we weaved through a hall of mirrors - this section was quite cool rather than scary, and I really enjoyed it. We then exited to an outdoor section were the ringleader simply told us to "move along". There was no actor out here which I saw as a missed opportunity for some really effective jumps. Through the clowns mouth we entered into tent 3. This was by far the best part, beginning with a manic section were a hand shot out right in front of my face - this was incredibly effective and I really liked how last minute it was. The actors were on top form in here. We entered a red and white room where a man with a sledgehammer began walking towards us. Then the lights went out. This really was effective as we could not see a thing - I was touched and this really made me uncomfortable - in a good way. What could make this worse? The jack in the box began to wind up. In the dark. Then the box lit up right next to me with...no actor inside of it, another missed opportunity. Finally the chainsaw came out, I was at the back and I walked most the way, until I felt something touch my back and I was out of there!
Scariness - 2/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Actors - 4/5
Theming - 3/5
Overall - 3.5/5
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The next maze I braved was The Cabin In the Woods. I was most worried about this maze; however it was probably my favourite. We entered, and were immediately told to enter door 2. We then encountered many actors, and were guided through many rooms, including a mime room, red neck zombie room and trommel room. In the trommel room we had to go underneath an actor's legs, which I thought was a really nice touch. I most remember the last scene as there were many memorable moments, including an actor that was right in my face, and actor that dropped in front of me from above and also, a point where a woman ran towards the group screaming and banging walls that I really found quite scary. The ending however, was quite anti-climatic.
Scariness - 5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Actors - 5/5
Theming - 2/5
Overall - 4/5
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My third maze was Saw Alive. I did not like this maze at all. The only conga line maze in the event. I didn't like the line concept. The first scenes were not very scary - we the actors were very lack lustre I felt, many just banging chains to try and jump scare people - this I hated as it wasn't scary and was quite dull. This was a recurring theme throughout and this was then aided by the fact I couldn't see a thing. I really don't feel like I will be doing this maze again.
Scariness - 1/5
Enjoyment - 1/5
Actors - 2/5
Theming - 5/5
Overall - 2.2/5
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My fourth and final 'maze' was My Bloody Valentine. This maze was ok, nothing more, nothing less. We began listening to a young girl explain how Harry Warden had killed people in the mines ect, we then were sent into various black corridors were the occasional actor would pop out and make a noise. There were many actors missing from this maze I felt sorry for those who were trying their hardest to make a scary experience. The scariest part of this maze was when I had to slide down a slope on my knees in a crawl section. The maze ended with a man flapping a pickaxe in the air shouting - nothing really that scary.
Scariness - 2/5
Enjoyment - 2/5
Actors - 2/5
Theming - 3/5
Overall - 2.3/5
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Finally I ventured into The Blair Witch Project 'scare zone'. This completely shocked me, this was no stroll through the woods, this was brilliant. The actors were popping out of everywhere and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The eerie silence of the attraction made this so much scarier - in fact my scariest attraction! There was much more interaction here than any other mazes including when an actor snarled in my ear from behind. The outdoor section was hindered by the light of Nemesis Inferno, however then ending offered one last jump for a few. I liked the ending however it was rushed and I could not see a thing!
Scariness - 5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Actors - 4/5
Theming - 2/5
Overall - 3.8/5
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BOO! One more has jumped out on ya! I had also booked CONTAINMENT for 22:50 (10:50 PM). This was an interesting experience, one I am glad I hadn't paid for due to receiving it free with the Thorpe Shark Hotel stay. After a briefing on behaviour and a briefing on why we were there, we were told to enter a room. There were approximately 10 in our group, and because of the size of the first room - it was quite cramped! We had been told to find clues to unlock the codes for each door. Room 1 consisted of 4 roman numerals each with dots on. We had to enter each numeral value in the order of the dots. The best part of this is we exited the room the same way we entered - however it had been changed - a very nice touch! We the crouched through an air vent in a room with clocks a computer, this room went well until an actor jumped out from under the table, offering a nice scare! She helped and scared many people in a military fashion, once we had found the code; we then had to find a key - a key she was holding he whole time! WE then were sent through a vault that took us into the next room...the dentist. We were lined against the walls as the actor checked our teeth - I was shouted at for not showing my teeth enough - again nice interaction. Then, the dentist told a person to get in the dentist chair as she terrorized them. We had to find syringes in a glass cabinet hat had numbers on them - we then frantically entered numbers in different combinations. The actor then began singing "I'm A Little Teapot" as she crawled under the cabinet and grabbed my legs! The final room we found ourselves with an infected patient. Many light switches hung in this room, as well as a periodic table and desk. After many minutes of searching (and the actress scaring us) we found "Y+Tm=Antidote". WE then had to find these elements on the periodic table and use their atomic numbers to unlock a pad lock. We escaped and then wandered outside.This was rather anti-climatic...
As a reward we were given green wristbands (these had the attractions old name BREAKOUT printed on them).
Scariness - 1/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Actors - 5/5
Theming - 4/5
Overall - 3.7/5
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My personal ratings are as follows -
Overall
1 - The Cabin In the Woods
2 - The Blair Witch Project
3 - THE BIG TOP
4 - CONTAINMENT
5 - My bloody Valentine
6 - Saw Alive
Scare Factor
1 - The Blair Witch Project
2 - The Cabin In the Woods
3 - THE BIG TOP
4 - My Bloody Valentine
5 - Saw Alive
6 - CONTAINMENT
Highlights
- THE BIG TOP
- The Blair Witch Project
- The Cabin In the Woods
- CONTAINMENT
The Thorpe Shark Hotel
During the FRIGHT NIGHTS event I stayed at the Thorpe Shark Hotel. I really enjoyed my stay as it was comfortable and quite cheap at £150 for 3 people. The rooms were very small, and had one double and a bunk bed. The white walls in the room were understandably used once the mood lighting was used as this was very effective. Our stay included Ultimate FastTrack for the first hour of the park, as well as a cooked buffet breakfast and tickets to CONTAINMENT. Overall my stay was nice and I will 100% be staying here for FRIGHT NIGHTS 2016.
WC16 Construction Update
WC16 is coming along VERY nicely and is drawing a tonne of attention. The newest Derren Brown announcement video was playing both at the entrance and in The Dome. Below are some construction images from the 29/10/15. These show that the rest of the frame work for the building front has been erected.
Showing new steel work
Finally, my overheard quote of the day -
Boy 1 - "Look it's the new ride, cool!"
Boy 2 - "Yeah, I think it might be another indoor one"
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I hope you have enjoyed my review of Thorpe Park's FRIGHT NIGHTS event. If you would like to use any of the images provided, please contact me via PM for a better version.
Check back in the coming months for reviews on WC16 Preview Day, Thorpe Park's February Half Term event and more!
