Thorpe Park Fright Nights - 2012 review.
We have been visiting Thorpe Park Fright Nights since it began in 2002 and have seen a lot of changes along the way. Mazes have come and gone, some just get re themed but over recent years we have seen a move away from "marquee mazes" to something a bit more different.
This started with Experiment 10 last year which really tried to do something different and succeeded in places, although a lot of the surprise and fear from the first run through are ruined once you know what is going to happen. Unfortunately the same could be said of The Passing - but more on that later.
This year the whole event is themed around a penitentiary storyline and this suits the park well. Small touches across the whole park including changes to ride announcements and wanted posters help to create a more immersive feel than other theme parks. Of course, once the lights go down the park takes on a whole different personality anyway. But the strength of any event will be judged on its mazes. Having heard only bad reviews from the opening weekend, we went along a week later to see if things had improved in anyway:
This started with Experiment 10 last year which really tried to do something different and succeeded in places, although a lot of the surprise and fear from the first run through are ruined once you know what is going to happen. Unfortunately the same could be said of The Passing - but more on that later.
This year the whole event is themed around a penitentiary storyline and this suits the park well. Small touches across the whole park including changes to ride announcements and wanted posters help to create a more immersive feel than other theme parks. Of course, once the lights go down the park takes on a whole different personality anyway. But the strength of any event will be judged on its mazes. Having heard only bad reviews from the opening weekend, we went along a week later to see if things had improved in anyway:
The Passing

Apart from two spoiler images posted by Thorpe Park themselves we knew absolutely nothing about The Passing when we entered. Having heard many bad reviews from opening weekend, we wanted to make up our own minds and are glad we did. Its no secret now that there are hoods to be worn and we were expecting another dark but ultimately unscary maze. As it is, the hoods do not completely obscure visibility but do hamper what can be seen. This did mean that one scene played out above us was nearly missed as only one of our group spotted it and directed us to look up. Once inside the maze, the crawling element was a fun distraction but before long it turned into a regular dark walk-through with some very aggressive actors and some decent scares due to the lack of peripheral vision.
There is one massive element to The Passing which so far has managed to avoid being made public and we hope it remains so for the time being. Like the separation trick in Experiment 10 - it is a shocking and audacious move, that 100% works on first visit. It completely threw all of our group and is something we've never seen in a scare attraction before. The only problem is - once you know what the trick is then you cant repeat the experience and get the same effect as you know what's coming!
As part of our behind the scenes tour, we spoke to the Entertainments manager about The Passing and why our experience was so different to those who experienced it opening weekend. Like any responsible attraction, they said they listen very closely to customer feedback and forum comments and have made changes to give people what they want. They understand that scare attractions are fluid by their very nature and that they are able to make changes throughout the run - " we don't set out to make a disappointing attraction but until we run it live, it's hard to see how customers will react to it. Fortunately we have the luxury of listening to feedback and making changes as required and The Passing is now selling out and getting very good customer feedback." It is clear to us that whatever they have done has worked, as we all thoroughly enjoyed The Passing.
There is one massive element to The Passing which so far has managed to avoid being made public and we hope it remains so for the time being. Like the separation trick in Experiment 10 - it is a shocking and audacious move, that 100% works on first visit. It completely threw all of our group and is something we've never seen in a scare attraction before. The only problem is - once you know what the trick is then you cant repeat the experience and get the same effect as you know what's coming!
As part of our behind the scenes tour, we spoke to the Entertainments manager about The Passing and why our experience was so different to those who experienced it opening weekend. Like any responsible attraction, they said they listen very closely to customer feedback and forum comments and have made changes to give people what they want. They understand that scare attractions are fluid by their very nature and that they are able to make changes throughout the run - " we don't set out to make a disappointing attraction but until we run it live, it's hard to see how customers will react to it. Fortunately we have the luxury of listening to feedback and making changes as required and The Passing is now selling out and getting very good customer feedback." It is clear to us that whatever they have done has worked, as we all thoroughly enjoyed The Passing.
Experiment 10

Experiment 10 tried to push a few boundaries in 2011 and was loved and hated in equal measures. Certainly doing it with no idea what was going to happen, the solitary confinement concept worked well and scared many many people. Unfortunately this year due to some misguided attempt to push through the queue-line - we were batched in groups of 24 which meant most of us ended up trapped in confinement with 1 other person which lessened the impact.
Then once the doors were opened there were just too many people trying to get out that any real threat or danger seemed to be neutered. Like a long conga line we proceeded through the rest of the scenes which seemed strangely quiet. We are not sure whether the soundtrack had failed but the strobe lit rooms seemed like an anti climax even though the lively actors were doing really well to get some fun scares throughout. The new ending scene was quite strange as it clearly tried to mix projected images with animatronic effects and although making us jump did leave us bewildered as to how "unreal" it looked. Fortunately a large and noisy power tool soon had us running for the door!
After the surprise of last year was known, Thorpe needed to do a little bit more to bring back the scare factor in Experiment 10. Unfortunately the new ending and the strange batching let the attraction down this year.
Then once the doors were opened there were just too many people trying to get out that any real threat or danger seemed to be neutered. Like a long conga line we proceeded through the rest of the scenes which seemed strangely quiet. We are not sure whether the soundtrack had failed but the strobe lit rooms seemed like an anti climax even though the lively actors were doing really well to get some fun scares throughout. The new ending scene was quite strange as it clearly tried to mix projected images with animatronic effects and although making us jump did leave us bewildered as to how "unreal" it looked. Fortunately a large and noisy power tool soon had us running for the door!
After the surprise of last year was known, Thorpe needed to do a little bit more to bring back the scare factor in Experiment 10. Unfortunately the new ending and the strange batching let the attraction down this year.
The Asylum

The Asylum is the oldest attraction in the whole event but still packs a mighty punch. The simple strobe and metal fencing maze creates a real feeling of panic and chaos every time The actors were particularly wild this year and we loved little touches such as the inmate with the syringe full of water and the man in the padded cell getting us to try and eat the padding he'd ripped out. Fortunately for this year, it would seem that climbing has been officially sanctioned in the attraction again and a number of scares came from above our heads which really helped create the tension.
Before our run through we had a lights on tour of the Asylum and many of the group were surprised at how small the main room is and how simple it looks. The maze works well due to its simplicity and although there are some really detailed themed sets (the shower being one) most of these details are missed once the show is running live.
Before our run through we had a lights on tour of the Asylum and many of the group were surprised at how small the main room is and how simple it looks. The maze works well due to its simplicity and although there are some really detailed themed sets (the shower being one) most of these details are missed once the show is running live.
Saw Alive

After being unceremoniously closed for the main operating season earlier this year, it was good to see Saw Alive back for Fright Nights. One of our biggest problems with this maze is that generally guests are "passive" to the experience. There is no threat to us as generally we are watching other people being tortured. It was tehrefore good to see that most of these elements have been dropped and there were plenty of scares throughout . Its still a shame that there is no interactive element to it - after all - the Jigsaw doll does say he "wants to play a game" with us. All in - it's nice to have Saw Alive back at the park, but it will be interesting to see how long it stays around with a Saw theme as the Lionsgate licensing deal must be due to expire soon.
The Curse

The Curse is now the second oldest maze in the park but fortunately shows no sign of ageing gracefully! This year, the whole maze was extremely dark, filled with fog throughout and crawling with lively actors that just seemed to keep appearing out of nowhere. If anything, it was too dark in places, as it was impossible to see some of the well themed rooms throughout but then, when the scares are coming this thick and fast - that's a minor gripe.
As mentioned before, the theme of the whole event is Thorpe Park Penitentiary and there was a great atmosphere all around the park. In the Dome, there was a new show where the prison governor and his gang of sackheads test members of the public in a number of bizarre and quick frankly twisted challenges. Although mildly entertaining, we found the nature of the challenges a bit cruel especially after seeing one man have to be escorted off the stage due to extreme cramp in his legs.
As a final point, 2012 was the year of the new apocalyptic roller-coaster, Swarm, and we were surprised that Thorpe Park didn't capitalise on the theming and concept of this. When the coaster opened in March, the whole area around it was filled with character actors and it was therefore disappointing that we didn't see them return for Fright Nights.
As a final point, 2012 was the year of the new apocalyptic roller-coaster, Swarm, and we were surprised that Thorpe Park didn't capitalise on the theming and concept of this. When the coaster opened in March, the whole area around it was filled with character actors and it was therefore disappointing that we didn't see them return for Fright Nights.
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The governor and park general - this year Thorpe Park was turned into Thorpe penetentiary resulting is a good group of roaming scare actors and "the governor". These were spotted in the dome to get guests to take part in a few games to win some DVDs and fast track tickets to the mazes. Watching the guests eat cups of cold beans and sitting in stress positions till they couldn't walk back to a seat was a lot of fun with the governor towering over them screaming both insults and encouragement. It was a good addition to the park as with the change of music all over from Stealth and its firing line to the teacups and music from terror of the towers at Scarefest the whole park had a good atmosphere and looked great at night.
The Asylum - yet another solid attraction that changes very little over the years yet very much manages to thrill and scare. With a few additions to the maze including a solitary confinement room and new hide holes the overall confusion of the layout, openness of the chain link fencing and continuous onslaught of actors from below, above and all sides this maze is very confusing and really does
have something to scare everyone. The classic chainsaw is still at the end which although a staple scare tool still gets people running out the exit. Like terror of the towers this attraction has not changed for a long time however with this being so simple it promises to scare and delivers what it promises.
The Curse - the only attraction in a white tent - it looks a little odd from the outside with very well themed doors but with a very white tent it doesn't look the best. Scares start happening as soon as your briefing is over and you head into the dark and twisting corridors of the decks of the cursed ship. This is again a very old attraction and is very much showing its age creaking and cracking alot and some of the scenes are looking dated but since this is what the theme is surposed to be it works well with the attraction. with a few changes to some of the scenes and the lighting this could again become a terrorfying attraction and be one of the best on the park.
experiment 10 - this attraction had not changed much since its opening year in 2011. still the same on your own feeling with walking through the corridors in both dark, crawling and very stobe lit places you unfortunetly dont get very dissorientated through the atraction as you just walk in a straight line. a few of the lights and props have been moved but some of it to places which didnt work very well. the final scene has been replaced by a video where you are batched into a room and an actor apears to walk of screen and apper though a door but this was unfortunetly very poorly coriographed as the room each time was over filled and the "doctor" opened the door for the maniac so the scene didnt have the caohs it really needed.
the passing - the new maze in thorpe park was a very mixed bag of scares and whys. starting at the first corridor you get your last rights from a very nasty charricter and then into another room to get your hood.the hood didnt add much for me as you you could see right through it and of the couple of times i went through once it had sound like it was surposed to and other times it didnt. after getting burried the tunnelsyou crawled though were very dissoirentaiting and very dark which were very good. from here you got the usual very dark with actors shouting things at you with the exception that you had a hood overyour head. exiting into a white room where you get a death certificare and into another room i think you are surposed to feel like its finnished but unfortunetly to me and the others i talked to it didnt really workand just confused everyone before heading through a very very short black area with one actor. overall it has the basics of being a good attraction but the hoods needed to be totally blind, it needed to be alittle longer and the ending really needed to be changed however it is a good addition to the park and hopefully with develop in the future.
The Asylum - yet another solid attraction that changes very little over the years yet very much manages to thrill and scare. With a few additions to the maze including a solitary confinement room and new hide holes the overall confusion of the layout, openness of the chain link fencing and continuous onslaught of actors from below, above and all sides this maze is very confusing and really does
have something to scare everyone. The classic chainsaw is still at the end which although a staple scare tool still gets people running out the exit. Like terror of the towers this attraction has not changed for a long time however with this being so simple it promises to scare and delivers what it promises.
The Curse - the only attraction in a white tent - it looks a little odd from the outside with very well themed doors but with a very white tent it doesn't look the best. Scares start happening as soon as your briefing is over and you head into the dark and twisting corridors of the decks of the cursed ship. This is again a very old attraction and is very much showing its age creaking and cracking alot and some of the scenes are looking dated but since this is what the theme is surposed to be it works well with the attraction. with a few changes to some of the scenes and the lighting this could again become a terrorfying attraction and be one of the best on the park.
experiment 10 - this attraction had not changed much since its opening year in 2011. still the same on your own feeling with walking through the corridors in both dark, crawling and very stobe lit places you unfortunetly dont get very dissorientated through the atraction as you just walk in a straight line. a few of the lights and props have been moved but some of it to places which didnt work very well. the final scene has been replaced by a video where you are batched into a room and an actor apears to walk of screen and apper though a door but this was unfortunetly very poorly coriographed as the room each time was over filled and the "doctor" opened the door for the maniac so the scene didnt have the caohs it really needed.
the passing - the new maze in thorpe park was a very mixed bag of scares and whys. starting at the first corridor you get your last rights from a very nasty charricter and then into another room to get your hood.the hood didnt add much for me as you you could see right through it and of the couple of times i went through once it had sound like it was surposed to and other times it didnt. after getting burried the tunnelsyou crawled though were very dissoirentaiting and very dark which were very good. from here you got the usual very dark with actors shouting things at you with the exception that you had a hood overyour head. exiting into a white room where you get a death certificare and into another room i think you are surposed to feel like its finnished but unfortunetly to me and the others i talked to it didnt really workand just confused everyone before heading through a very very short black area with one actor. overall it has the basics of being a good attraction but the hoods needed to be totally blind, it needed to be alittle longer and the ending really needed to be changed however it is a good addition to the park and hopefully with develop in the future.
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