Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2020
We’re not going to labour the point. We are all aware that Covid-19 has completely decimated the global scare attraction industry, and therefore things have had to change to survive.
For Thorpe Park this has meant a change of tone and atmosphere as Fright Nights has morphed into Fright Nights Fearstival. This new event is a park wide horror makeover that leaves no corner of the park unscathed, with just two separate stand along scare attractions in the line-up. We’ll cover the mazes themselves later, but first let’s look at those highly anticipated scare zones.
So, we do need to start any discussion about scare zones, with the underlying truth that “scare zones aren’t inherently scary”. We have visited parks that have huge scare zones such as Halloween Horror Nights and Walibi Holland, and aside from a few chance scares when an actor catches you unaware, scare zones should actually be called “atmosphere zones”. Although not scary they add so much more to a night at a theme park, and it is something that Thorpe Park has always been missing. Yes, they have had a few roaming characters in the past such as the You’re Next crew during the Lionsgate takeover, but you could spend a whole night at the park in queues and miss the characters completely.
And this is sadly what happened to us with The Crows – the first of this year’s new additions. These characters are easily some of the best costumes and masks we have event seen at the park, but on our night we only saw them as we crossed the bridge into the resort. The park has cleverly set up multiple scarecrow points around the event, but we only saw them once – whereas we know other people saw them multiple times. The spontaneity of their appearances adds a great air of mystery, but we do wish we had seen them a bit more.
Back in 2012 when The Swarm rollercoaster first opened, Swarm Island was populated with a number of actors who created a great back story about alien conspiracies and government intervention. It only ran for a few weeks, so it was great to see the characters return in this new zone – Swarm Invasion. The zone includes alien hybrid armed warriors, freedom fighters, campaigners and more, and their interaction around the area and with guests was clever and entertaining.
Another ingenious addition to this year’s event was the werewolves of Lycanthorpe High, who quite clearly have a grudge against their rival high school – Amity High. Both of these zones are entertaining as the actors move around between guests, but of course, are both set up with music and lights for sporadic high energy dance routines. On our visit to Amity during one of their routines, they were raided by the werewolves who challenged them to a dance off. The whole show exploded all across the Stealth Plaza, and the sheer number of dancers and performers was pretty impressive.
One of the main scare zones of the event is the Fearstival Arena in the centre of the park. This twisted take on a circus/freakshow eschewed the colourful clowns from The Big Top, and brought a traditional more Black and White ethic to the event. As we walked into the arena we were taken aback by the sheer volume of actors in this zone and spent a lot of time interacting with all them. We loved the lady trying to set fire to us through her malfunctioning cigarette lighter and the creepy white masked doll type creatures. The population of different characters in this arena was very impressive and the costumes were again some of the best we have seen at the event. This area is also home to a lively fire and light show at different points through the night.
The other incredibly fun scare zone was Creak Freaks Unchained. Unlike the free flow nature of the other zones, a full route around the area has been defined, and this works perfectly to make this into a mini outdoor scare maze. If you hate chainsaws, then this area will genuinely be terrifying you as the Buckwheat family are rather prone to firing them up unexpectedly. We genuinely had some great jump scares as characters would distract us with conversation whilst a chainsaw wielding maniac would fire up their weapon behind us! The mix of scares and hilarious banter from the actors worked perfectly and we passed through this zone multiple times and always experienced something new and unique.
New for 2020 is the outdoor scare Maze Roots of Evil. Utilising the wooded area at the back of the park, this maze used the dense foliage and woodland to create a number of great scares throughout. In the darkness and with the actors camouflaged throughout the attraction, they would just appear out of nowhere and gave us some very unexpected scares, and soon it was clear that the hybrid creature/planets wore becoming more humanoid in appearance. Towards the end – several indoor sections made effective use of UV light to accentuate the make up on the actors and the loud and impressive finale left us rushing out the final door to safety.
Returning this year is Platform No 15 which has a new story and a new route as we are taken on a tour to discover what happened to the notorious Sleeper Express. The reversal of the attraction helps build up the story better than previously, with a number of great scores throughout the village section. The reveal of the fate of the train itself and a venture into a new extended ending, works so much better than the dull tunnel exit of previous incarnations. We had an unfortunate technical failure in our finale (it happens – we aren’t being critical) so we were impressed at how well the actors managed to make it a great finale just through the intensity of their performances. It was a great case of making the best out of a bad situation, and we enjoyed the attraction as it was (it was only after - that someone told us that the finale had failed.)
The final experience of the event is the ScreamPlexx Cinema which presents a couple of short gory horror movies with some actor interaction before and after. The films by Bloody Cuts were great choices and the Director and his crew were creepily fun throughout (especially when this reviewer got pulled up on stage to “audition” for their next movie!
So with all that said – we just need to go back to that C word (no - not that one – Christmas is a few months away yet!) We genuinely can’t fault Thorpe Park at the way they have handled the Covid restrictions imposed. In fact have to commend the for making the most atmospheric Fright Night ever.
Once the nightmares of 2020 are long behind us we wouldn’t be surprised if the park don’t (at least partially) keep this winning formula. By spreading the entertainment around the theme park it means that everyone who visits can get a taste of the Fright Nights’ atmosphere without standing in line for a maze. Yes, if you want the extra scares – there will be an upcharge extra, but there is still enough free stuff to keep even the most hardened cynics happy!
Fright Nights is Dead. Long live the Fright Nights Fearstival!
For Thorpe Park this has meant a change of tone and atmosphere as Fright Nights has morphed into Fright Nights Fearstival. This new event is a park wide horror makeover that leaves no corner of the park unscathed, with just two separate stand along scare attractions in the line-up. We’ll cover the mazes themselves later, but first let’s look at those highly anticipated scare zones.
So, we do need to start any discussion about scare zones, with the underlying truth that “scare zones aren’t inherently scary”. We have visited parks that have huge scare zones such as Halloween Horror Nights and Walibi Holland, and aside from a few chance scares when an actor catches you unaware, scare zones should actually be called “atmosphere zones”. Although not scary they add so much more to a night at a theme park, and it is something that Thorpe Park has always been missing. Yes, they have had a few roaming characters in the past such as the You’re Next crew during the Lionsgate takeover, but you could spend a whole night at the park in queues and miss the characters completely.
And this is sadly what happened to us with The Crows – the first of this year’s new additions. These characters are easily some of the best costumes and masks we have event seen at the park, but on our night we only saw them as we crossed the bridge into the resort. The park has cleverly set up multiple scarecrow points around the event, but we only saw them once – whereas we know other people saw them multiple times. The spontaneity of their appearances adds a great air of mystery, but we do wish we had seen them a bit more.
Back in 2012 when The Swarm rollercoaster first opened, Swarm Island was populated with a number of actors who created a great back story about alien conspiracies and government intervention. It only ran for a few weeks, so it was great to see the characters return in this new zone – Swarm Invasion. The zone includes alien hybrid armed warriors, freedom fighters, campaigners and more, and their interaction around the area and with guests was clever and entertaining.
Another ingenious addition to this year’s event was the werewolves of Lycanthorpe High, who quite clearly have a grudge against their rival high school – Amity High. Both of these zones are entertaining as the actors move around between guests, but of course, are both set up with music and lights for sporadic high energy dance routines. On our visit to Amity during one of their routines, they were raided by the werewolves who challenged them to a dance off. The whole show exploded all across the Stealth Plaza, and the sheer number of dancers and performers was pretty impressive.
One of the main scare zones of the event is the Fearstival Arena in the centre of the park. This twisted take on a circus/freakshow eschewed the colourful clowns from The Big Top, and brought a traditional more Black and White ethic to the event. As we walked into the arena we were taken aback by the sheer volume of actors in this zone and spent a lot of time interacting with all them. We loved the lady trying to set fire to us through her malfunctioning cigarette lighter and the creepy white masked doll type creatures. The population of different characters in this arena was very impressive and the costumes were again some of the best we have seen at the event. This area is also home to a lively fire and light show at different points through the night.
The other incredibly fun scare zone was Creak Freaks Unchained. Unlike the free flow nature of the other zones, a full route around the area has been defined, and this works perfectly to make this into a mini outdoor scare maze. If you hate chainsaws, then this area will genuinely be terrifying you as the Buckwheat family are rather prone to firing them up unexpectedly. We genuinely had some great jump scares as characters would distract us with conversation whilst a chainsaw wielding maniac would fire up their weapon behind us! The mix of scares and hilarious banter from the actors worked perfectly and we passed through this zone multiple times and always experienced something new and unique.
New for 2020 is the outdoor scare Maze Roots of Evil. Utilising the wooded area at the back of the park, this maze used the dense foliage and woodland to create a number of great scares throughout. In the darkness and with the actors camouflaged throughout the attraction, they would just appear out of nowhere and gave us some very unexpected scares, and soon it was clear that the hybrid creature/planets wore becoming more humanoid in appearance. Towards the end – several indoor sections made effective use of UV light to accentuate the make up on the actors and the loud and impressive finale left us rushing out the final door to safety.
Returning this year is Platform No 15 which has a new story and a new route as we are taken on a tour to discover what happened to the notorious Sleeper Express. The reversal of the attraction helps build up the story better than previously, with a number of great scores throughout the village section. The reveal of the fate of the train itself and a venture into a new extended ending, works so much better than the dull tunnel exit of previous incarnations. We had an unfortunate technical failure in our finale (it happens – we aren’t being critical) so we were impressed at how well the actors managed to make it a great finale just through the intensity of their performances. It was a great case of making the best out of a bad situation, and we enjoyed the attraction as it was (it was only after - that someone told us that the finale had failed.)
The final experience of the event is the ScreamPlexx Cinema which presents a couple of short gory horror movies with some actor interaction before and after. The films by Bloody Cuts were great choices and the Director and his crew were creepily fun throughout (especially when this reviewer got pulled up on stage to “audition” for their next movie!
So with all that said – we just need to go back to that C word (no - not that one – Christmas is a few months away yet!) We genuinely can’t fault Thorpe Park at the way they have handled the Covid restrictions imposed. In fact have to commend the for making the most atmospheric Fright Night ever.
Once the nightmares of 2020 are long behind us we wouldn’t be surprised if the park don’t (at least partially) keep this winning formula. By spreading the entertainment around the theme park it means that everyone who visits can get a taste of the Fright Nights’ atmosphere without standing in line for a maze. Yes, if you want the extra scares – there will be an upcharge extra, but there is still enough free stuff to keep even the most hardened cynics happy!
Fright Nights is Dead. Long live the Fright Nights Fearstival!
Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2019
After the fairly lukewarm reception to Fright Nights 2018, all eyes were on the park for 2019 to see if they could turn things around. Fortunately for everyone involved - we can categorically say that they have succeeded, and this years event has turned out to be the freshest and most exciting season at the park in years!
But what has happened? On paper the line up is poorer than last year. We have lost Vulcan Peak (although hard to say if anyone will mourn its demise!) Saw Alive has been officially decommissioned, and Dead Creek Woods has not returned. So with only one new maze - Creek Freak Massacre, how can this event be so much better than before?
Well for a start, it is clear that the park listened to the feedback from 2018 and cut the mediocre attractions, to give themselves chance to actually focus on the main line up. This has therefore meant changes to all 4 returning mazes, plus a massive new maze, touted as their most intense ever. Across all five mazes we could see a marked improvement on actor engagement with actors throwing their all at us, and delivering good quality scares. Definitely a case of quality over quantity and we have to thank the park for the effort they have made with each show.
Starting with the big new maze, Creek Freak Massacre had a lot of hype to live up to. Pre-publicity promoted the sawmill and promised lots of chainsaws and killer hillbillies, and that's exactly what we got. The maze is a perfect mix of detailed sets, lively characters, some free flow sections, and of course a strobe lit finale to rival the classic Thorpe maze - The Asylum. By the time we were left to get lost in this final section, we were completely in love with the whole experience, and ran out wanting to go straight back in! If this had been the only change for 2019 we would have been happy, but there was a lot more to come.
Platform 15 has always had a great potential, but has often been let down by long periods with nothing really happening, and an ending that always left us feeling more confused than scared. This year we got a number of good scares along the main route, and the new ending completes the story so much better than previously. Even within the long black tunnel, the actors were really working the space and getting good scares from all the group!
Blair Witch has seen multiple changes including a far more twisted route, replacing the linear path of previous years. The switchbacks and direction changes all add up to make a totally confusing experience. We also noticed how densely packed the bushes and trees were at times, which really gave the impression of fighting through dense woodland. Although quite slow to start, on our runs through, the tension certainly built up with a number of good jump scares towards the end.
Having given up on the TV series a few years back, we now understand that the characters in the new ending to Walking Dead Living Nightmare are The Whisperers. Although we didn't know the characters at the time, the sudden attack from multiple directions in what used to be an empty space, was most welcome, and just added to the whole Walking Dead experience. Of course this maze has always been about the beautiful set,s but we also got some good scares along the way.
Walking Dead Do or Die has always been the poor relation in comparison to Living Nightmare, but this year the maze has seen a massive turnaround in intensity, layout and story. It sets up the story well from the start, and instead of being threatened by zombies, the real dangers lay in our interactions with the community, and it was clear that they soon wanted their pound of flesh. Early on, there is a chance for groups to be split up and at one point this reviewer was left in isolation for a few minutes while the rest of the party walked away. We then got sent for "processing" and had to complete the rest of the maze alone! One of the things that impressed us the most was the level of acting throughout. The actors were thrilling, relentless and genuinely terrifying. This maze was a real eye opener for us and a lot of people were saying was the best of the night!
Being big escape room fans, we headed down to Containment to see if we could escape the multiple rooms in their latest incarnation. First up - the negative. We found some of the puzzles were just too obtuse or difficult to actually get out. In one room the UV torch wasn't strong enough to see anything, and in another we had solved the puzzle but couldn't actually see the numbers on the padlock due to the poor lighting in the room. This made the game play extremely frustrating, as there was nothing we could do to rectify it. What made up for it though was the level of acting throughout. The characters were really entertaining with a mix of frights and fun. Their ad-libbing to the situations (or our lack of progress ) really added to the experience. So despite despite the terrible logistics for solving the puzzles and escaping, we genuinely had a fun experience!
Another big experience for 2019 is the return of Amity High, in a musical flash mob show based around the American vampire high schoolers. The show is a great medley of upbeat Halloween songs and ended with the dancers running into the audience for a few close up scares. A great fun show, that you should catch if you can.
Finally - Thorpe Park Fright Nights have always generated long queue times for the mazes, when some of the nighttime rides have been a walk on. Hopefully the new Feared Five challenge, where guests have to ride 5 of the main coasters to get a small prize, will encourage the crowds to spread round the park a little better.
All in, we were overjoyed to see how much of a difference the park had made in a year. Creek Freak Massacre and Do or Die both rank pretty equally as the best mazes there, and the changes in the other attractions, have all added new and exciting elements to the shows.
So now the park seems to be back on track, and we are sure they will use this as a launch pad for the future and really seal their reputation as the home of FEAR. We're prepared to forget about 2018 and the issues it had, and just celebrate that one of the longest running theme park events in the UK has finally got its mojo back!
But what has happened? On paper the line up is poorer than last year. We have lost Vulcan Peak (although hard to say if anyone will mourn its demise!) Saw Alive has been officially decommissioned, and Dead Creek Woods has not returned. So with only one new maze - Creek Freak Massacre, how can this event be so much better than before?
Well for a start, it is clear that the park listened to the feedback from 2018 and cut the mediocre attractions, to give themselves chance to actually focus on the main line up. This has therefore meant changes to all 4 returning mazes, plus a massive new maze, touted as their most intense ever. Across all five mazes we could see a marked improvement on actor engagement with actors throwing their all at us, and delivering good quality scares. Definitely a case of quality over quantity and we have to thank the park for the effort they have made with each show.
Starting with the big new maze, Creek Freak Massacre had a lot of hype to live up to. Pre-publicity promoted the sawmill and promised lots of chainsaws and killer hillbillies, and that's exactly what we got. The maze is a perfect mix of detailed sets, lively characters, some free flow sections, and of course a strobe lit finale to rival the classic Thorpe maze - The Asylum. By the time we were left to get lost in this final section, we were completely in love with the whole experience, and ran out wanting to go straight back in! If this had been the only change for 2019 we would have been happy, but there was a lot more to come.
Platform 15 has always had a great potential, but has often been let down by long periods with nothing really happening, and an ending that always left us feeling more confused than scared. This year we got a number of good scares along the main route, and the new ending completes the story so much better than previously. Even within the long black tunnel, the actors were really working the space and getting good scares from all the group!
Blair Witch has seen multiple changes including a far more twisted route, replacing the linear path of previous years. The switchbacks and direction changes all add up to make a totally confusing experience. We also noticed how densely packed the bushes and trees were at times, which really gave the impression of fighting through dense woodland. Although quite slow to start, on our runs through, the tension certainly built up with a number of good jump scares towards the end.
Having given up on the TV series a few years back, we now understand that the characters in the new ending to Walking Dead Living Nightmare are The Whisperers. Although we didn't know the characters at the time, the sudden attack from multiple directions in what used to be an empty space, was most welcome, and just added to the whole Walking Dead experience. Of course this maze has always been about the beautiful set,s but we also got some good scares along the way.
Walking Dead Do or Die has always been the poor relation in comparison to Living Nightmare, but this year the maze has seen a massive turnaround in intensity, layout and story. It sets up the story well from the start, and instead of being threatened by zombies, the real dangers lay in our interactions with the community, and it was clear that they soon wanted their pound of flesh. Early on, there is a chance for groups to be split up and at one point this reviewer was left in isolation for a few minutes while the rest of the party walked away. We then got sent for "processing" and had to complete the rest of the maze alone! One of the things that impressed us the most was the level of acting throughout. The actors were thrilling, relentless and genuinely terrifying. This maze was a real eye opener for us and a lot of people were saying was the best of the night!
Being big escape room fans, we headed down to Containment to see if we could escape the multiple rooms in their latest incarnation. First up - the negative. We found some of the puzzles were just too obtuse or difficult to actually get out. In one room the UV torch wasn't strong enough to see anything, and in another we had solved the puzzle but couldn't actually see the numbers on the padlock due to the poor lighting in the room. This made the game play extremely frustrating, as there was nothing we could do to rectify it. What made up for it though was the level of acting throughout. The characters were really entertaining with a mix of frights and fun. Their ad-libbing to the situations (or our lack of progress ) really added to the experience. So despite despite the terrible logistics for solving the puzzles and escaping, we genuinely had a fun experience!
Another big experience for 2019 is the return of Amity High, in a musical flash mob show based around the American vampire high schoolers. The show is a great medley of upbeat Halloween songs and ended with the dancers running into the audience for a few close up scares. A great fun show, that you should catch if you can.
Finally - Thorpe Park Fright Nights have always generated long queue times for the mazes, when some of the nighttime rides have been a walk on. Hopefully the new Feared Five challenge, where guests have to ride 5 of the main coasters to get a small prize, will encourage the crowds to spread round the park a little better.
All in, we were overjoyed to see how much of a difference the park had made in a year. Creek Freak Massacre and Do or Die both rank pretty equally as the best mazes there, and the changes in the other attractions, have all added new and exciting elements to the shows.
So now the park seems to be back on track, and we are sure they will use this as a launch pad for the future and really seal their reputation as the home of FEAR. We're prepared to forget about 2018 and the issues it had, and just celebrate that one of the longest running theme park events in the UK has finally got its mojo back!
Scary
Our little group used to visit Fright Nights around five times per season back when The Big Top maze was around just because we had so much fun in there, but after just the one visit to the disaster that was Fright Nights 2018 we were pretty wary this year. Thankfully, 2019 was a much better experience, although we were in agreement that a lot of work still needs to be done for the event to be as good as it used to be. We visited twice this time, the first being on the second Sunday Thorpe was open and again on their final Sunday.
Despite improvements to the mazes, there was something glaringly obvious about the entire park again this year, the complete lack of atmosphere. We visited a fair few places throughout October and every single one of them had a much spookier, more vibrant feel to them than Thorpe. Sure, there were a few bloodied body bags and severed heads dotted around the park but that's not enough to make up for the absence of atmospheric lighting and sound. We all miss the days when the Saw theme amoung others would be blasted out of speakers after three pm. On our first visit, the Amity soundtrack did change after three but on our second one, the area continued to be filled with the usual daytime tracks as though someone forgot to switch on the spooky ones. When we queued for Creek Freak Massacre for the first time we had hope as we noticed colour filters over the lights, but when we queued again later after dark the lights weren't even switched on and we queued in the darkness! There's something about Fright nights 2018 and 2019 that somehow just feels like a regular day at the park with rides and mazes after dark, it doesn't feel like Halloween there and I'm baffled how such a huge operation manages to have less atmosphere than somewhere small like Dr Frights which oozes personality.
The park was fairly quiet on the first Sunday we visited with many of the rides being walk on and so it was relatively easy to complete the Feared Five challenge. Presumably, the challenge was there to help shift some of the guests from the mazes but it didn't really work as ride queues remained minimal throughout the evening whilst maze queues still managed to reach an hour or so each.
Onto the mazes themselves and after all the media hype we were excited to dive into Creek Freak Massacre first. Thorpe has a habit of overhyping pretty much everything and calling this their most intense maze yet was a rather bold claim to make, we personally felt it was untrue for our experience in there but then Thorpe also said that The Walking Dead ride was incredibly scary so we already knew to take their claims with a pinch of salt!
While we wouldn't describe it as Thorpe's most intense maze ever, it certainly has potential and easily blew anything from 2018 out of the water. The theming inside was a lot more detailed than we were expecting as we were packed in like sardines with other guests. It was nice to have a decent monologue from the first actor and we were amused to see people being split up from their friends right from the get-go as they were sent into a tunnel. On our first run we proceeded with caution, taking in the scenery as hillbillies appeared from all directions, the acting was aggressive and intimidating in the best way possible and once we reached a room where an actor begged us for help whilst slowly being sawn apart, our entire group backed away, hugging the wall so as not to become the next victim!
We're not entirely sure what happened in regards to the ending which fell a bit flat. Entering the strobe cage finale we were anticipating getting lost and being cornered but for some reason an actor with a chainsaw sort of directed us in a way that meant we exited the strobe maze almost immediately, skirting the outside of it rather than going through, after which we just walked out of the exit confused.
We decided to queue up again later in the day to give it another go but this run was worse, actors were sparse this time. The actor begging us for help in the saw room had been replaced by a dummy and nothing was happening in there other than one actor standing silently rubbing people's heads as they exited the room. Thankfully, I got one scare that saved the run for me in the form of an actor jumping down from somewhere above me, much to my surprise, and holding an axe to my throat whilst making threats! Somehow we managed to miss the finale section again as we were made to skirt the strobe maze and chased out by a chainsaw-wielding actor.
I can see how Creek Freak Massacre could be a really intense, terrifying experience when it's full of actors giving it their all, but I guess we got unlucky on our visits. The second Sunday we also made it our first maze of the day and the less said about this run the better... we witnessed 3 actors in one room who were sitting/laying down chatting away to each other not even doing anything. On the upside, we did finally get to experience the finale strobe maze properly that time around, but it was difficult to really appreciate it when actor interaction throughout the rest of the maze had been minimal. We're crossing our fingers that the maze will return next year and we might get to experience it in its full glory!
The queue for The Walking Dead Living Nightmare was the shortest maze queue on both of our visits so we ran it a few times on day one. The intro scene first time around featured a fantastic gnarly Negan actor who even left the room to torment people awaiting entry at one point, sadly he was missing on our other runs but he was one of the best Negan's we've seen in there over the countless runs we've had throughout the attraction's lifetime. My dad very much appreciated the splattered head dummy in the first room with one eyeball sat atop the mushy mess! The intro used to be a lot better in previous years and now seems rushed with not much really happening. The maze itself is always a pleasure to look at with its realistic and highly immersive theming, it still amazes me how many people completely miss the room with heads in tanks but the freeflow nature of the attraction always works pretty well. The zombie actors seemed numerous and aggressive with my dad actually coming close to having some chomping around his ear and it was interesting to see that they're keeping up with the TV series by featuring the whisperers in the finale.
On our second Sunday we were unfortunate enough to encounter two zombie actors having a conversation in the strobe section before realising we were there and quickly jumping into character.
Moving on and it's hard for me to come up with many positive points regarding Blair Witch, for some reason it always seems like a bit of a drag whenever we've run this maze in the past and sadly, despite improvements, we still feel the same way about it as previous years. The walkthrough area this year does seem much denser and enclosed with the pathways slightly more uneven, leading people to get somewhat lost as they stumble around in the dark. Our biggest issue with this maze is that more often than not, nothing really happens! It's actually scarier to walk through a random patch of woodland in the dark than it is to go through Blair Witch.
To be fair to the actors on our second visit, they were being a lot more active than we've ever seen in the past, appearing and disappearing into the darkness. One brave actor was even performing scares whilst laying on the soaked, muddy ground! Those in the house finale were managing to get a lot of screams out of the group in front of us which we ran into. Holding back, I let my dad and partner proceed first and watched them get lept upon by two actors, much to my surprise when I entered, there was a third actor who I didn't realise was there and he genuinely made me jump as he performed a spider-like touch to my head and down the back of my neck.
We still don't know what was going on throughout the night with the attraction but for some reason, it seemed cursed with repeated stopping with the app displaying queue times as "come back later".
Something that baffled us all was the insane queue times we witnessed for The Walking Dead Do or Die which easily reached two hours considering the maze seems to attract a fair amount of negative comments online. It does seem vastly improved this year and teaming with plenty of energetic actors doing a brilliant job of freaking people out. We had heard of an isolation box but never got to see anyone put there in the three runs we did of this attraction. With some outdoor mazes, it really pays to wait until after dark before entering but with Do or Die it doesn't really seem to make that much difference immersion-wise, either way, you're entering an encampment filled with ruthless cannibals!
The acting in here was some of the best we've seen at Thorpe this year from those setting the scene on the bus at the beginning, to those roaming throughout. We even saw one actor sat in the car smashing his head against a window before bursting out to terrify the people in front of us. There was also a lot more contact in this maze with actors touching the backs of our necks, almost licking our faces and running fingers through our hair, we couldn't help but wonder why we didn't get this level of contact in Creek Freak as well. Personally, I would go as far as saying that Do or Die actually provided a much more intense experience than Creek Freak Massacre, especially considering the number of people we watched get cornered and held back by actors. The theming still isn't great but the energy of the actors more than made up for it, we didn't exactly have time to be gazing around at scenery with so many cannibals breathing down our necks!
I've left Platform 15 until last because all of us felt like this maze was the most improved this year, finally delivering an experience closer to what we had hoped when it originally made its appearance. The idea behind the story of Platform 15 has always intrigued and excited us but somehow the execution never quite worked, especially with the long tunnel section towards the end which used to be a frustrating, empty stroll in the dark. All the effects were working on both of our runs with the Sleeper Express looking as impressive as ever. The actors within Platform 15 were really going for it this year, all of us experienced a lot of contact with my dad having one actor run at him and grab his shoulders with both hands, pushing him backward.
On both runs I saw people being held onto by actors as they passed the wreckage of the train, myself being one of them as the actor begged us not to leave. The house scene was extra frantic with actors throwing themselves all over the place in manic rage, one actor was drooling and looked completely insane while others were scrabbling about on the floor grabbing at people's ankles as they hurried past.
Next we arrived at the dreaded tunnel section, I was at the very back of the group both times which means I completely missed the final on both runs, as did the rest of my little group as by the time we exited the tunnel whatever had happened was already over and actors were resetting for the next group. However, the tunnel section itself is so much better than previous years that I almost didn't mind missing the finale. There were plenty of actors inside and having flashlights illuminate their ghastly faces before drowning us in darkness again is quite effective. I had a few actors cling onto me for a bit in the first run, making creepy noises right in my ear while the actors further up ahead made people at the front of the group scream and fall into the tunnel walls.
Thanks to two amazing actors on my second run, I had the best ever personal experience in Platform 15, possibly the scariest since I went to a Face it Alone that Thorpe used to do after the park had closed. There was a lot of screaming going on at the front of the group in the tunnel and I could just about see that people had broken formation in their attempts to flee in terror from the relentless actors. I felt a little sad that I was missing out at the back, that was until I felt hands firmly gripping both of my shoulders... I was no longer holding onto my partner in front of me since I'm used to the tunnel by now and so without resistance, an actor slowly dragged me backward down the tunnel by my shoulders, occasionally flicking his flashlight on whilst growling creepily in my ear! I was so shocked that I didn't even know how to react, I wasn't used to this level of contact in a regular maze run, I debated shouting out to the rest of my group for help but as their silhouettes disappeared further and further into the distance I remained silent, wondering just how far the actor planned on taking me. We must have been right back near the start of the tunnel by the time he stopped and released me, for the first time in a long time during a maze I felt nervous, I couldn't hear any sound coming from my group up ahead, they were long gone and somehow the group behind hadn't caught up either. Never before in a regular maze have I experienced such a sense of isolation. When I didn't move for a few seconds, taking in the unfamiliar situation, the actor behind me gently pushed me forward whilst still snarling eerily. I only took a few steps when all of a sudden another actor was right in my face with the flashlight on, moaning and groaning. This triggered the actor behind to really go crazy and sandwiched between the two of them relentlessly going for me I was forced to recoil in an attempt to avoid their assault. By the time I reached the end of the tunnel the rest of the group I'd entered with had long dispersed while my dad and partner were waiting for me seeming bewildered as to where I had been.
Everything about that run of Platform 15 was just perfect and I can't imagine I'll ever have a run as intense as that again. Considering the actors in the tunnel can't even speak due to their character's being zombie-like creatures, the noises they made and the small amount of contact they used was so simple and yet so incredibly effective that between the two of them they managed to create my favourite scare of the season. Never in a million years did I imagine that Platform 15 would become one of my favourite Fright Nights mazes! I'd love to see this become a regular occurrence in the tunnel section, it shocked me as much as it did because it seemed like the sort of thing you only get to experience as a VIP guest on press night or something.
We missed the Amity vampires on our first Sunday as the times for the show were unclear, however, on our second visit, there was a board stating four different showtimes so we made the effort to catch at least one of them. We arrived a little early and had some entertaining interactions with the vampire actors there, it was nice to see younger children having fun playing with the vampires too. The dance show was energetic, upbeat and fun to watch and we all agreed that it's lovely to have a more family-friendly spooky area in the park. Once they finished their routine the actors went back to seamlessly interacting with the crowd.
Fright Nights was fun this year and I'm glad we still went but it has a long way to go to get back to the amazing event it was before 2018. A joint decision was made to skip Containment due to having a few bad runs in there over the last couple of years, we just couldn't justify paying the additional charge for it so I can't comment on how that may have changed for 2019.
Our little group used to visit Fright Nights around five times per season back when The Big Top maze was around just because we had so much fun in there, but after just the one visit to the disaster that was Fright Nights 2018 we were pretty wary this year. Thankfully, 2019 was a much better experience, although we were in agreement that a lot of work still needs to be done for the event to be as good as it used to be. We visited twice this time, the first being on the second Sunday Thorpe was open and again on their final Sunday.
Despite improvements to the mazes, there was something glaringly obvious about the entire park again this year, the complete lack of atmosphere. We visited a fair few places throughout October and every single one of them had a much spookier, more vibrant feel to them than Thorpe. Sure, there were a few bloodied body bags and severed heads dotted around the park but that's not enough to make up for the absence of atmospheric lighting and sound. We all miss the days when the Saw theme amoung others would be blasted out of speakers after three pm. On our first visit, the Amity soundtrack did change after three but on our second one, the area continued to be filled with the usual daytime tracks as though someone forgot to switch on the spooky ones. When we queued for Creek Freak Massacre for the first time we had hope as we noticed colour filters over the lights, but when we queued again later after dark the lights weren't even switched on and we queued in the darkness! There's something about Fright nights 2018 and 2019 that somehow just feels like a regular day at the park with rides and mazes after dark, it doesn't feel like Halloween there and I'm baffled how such a huge operation manages to have less atmosphere than somewhere small like Dr Frights which oozes personality.
The park was fairly quiet on the first Sunday we visited with many of the rides being walk on and so it was relatively easy to complete the Feared Five challenge. Presumably, the challenge was there to help shift some of the guests from the mazes but it didn't really work as ride queues remained minimal throughout the evening whilst maze queues still managed to reach an hour or so each.
Onto the mazes themselves and after all the media hype we were excited to dive into Creek Freak Massacre first. Thorpe has a habit of overhyping pretty much everything and calling this their most intense maze yet was a rather bold claim to make, we personally felt it was untrue for our experience in there but then Thorpe also said that The Walking Dead ride was incredibly scary so we already knew to take their claims with a pinch of salt!
While we wouldn't describe it as Thorpe's most intense maze ever, it certainly has potential and easily blew anything from 2018 out of the water. The theming inside was a lot more detailed than we were expecting as we were packed in like sardines with other guests. It was nice to have a decent monologue from the first actor and we were amused to see people being split up from their friends right from the get-go as they were sent into a tunnel. On our first run we proceeded with caution, taking in the scenery as hillbillies appeared from all directions, the acting was aggressive and intimidating in the best way possible and once we reached a room where an actor begged us for help whilst slowly being sawn apart, our entire group backed away, hugging the wall so as not to become the next victim!
We're not entirely sure what happened in regards to the ending which fell a bit flat. Entering the strobe cage finale we were anticipating getting lost and being cornered but for some reason an actor with a chainsaw sort of directed us in a way that meant we exited the strobe maze almost immediately, skirting the outside of it rather than going through, after which we just walked out of the exit confused.
We decided to queue up again later in the day to give it another go but this run was worse, actors were sparse this time. The actor begging us for help in the saw room had been replaced by a dummy and nothing was happening in there other than one actor standing silently rubbing people's heads as they exited the room. Thankfully, I got one scare that saved the run for me in the form of an actor jumping down from somewhere above me, much to my surprise, and holding an axe to my throat whilst making threats! Somehow we managed to miss the finale section again as we were made to skirt the strobe maze and chased out by a chainsaw-wielding actor.
I can see how Creek Freak Massacre could be a really intense, terrifying experience when it's full of actors giving it their all, but I guess we got unlucky on our visits. The second Sunday we also made it our first maze of the day and the less said about this run the better... we witnessed 3 actors in one room who were sitting/laying down chatting away to each other not even doing anything. On the upside, we did finally get to experience the finale strobe maze properly that time around, but it was difficult to really appreciate it when actor interaction throughout the rest of the maze had been minimal. We're crossing our fingers that the maze will return next year and we might get to experience it in its full glory!
The queue for The Walking Dead Living Nightmare was the shortest maze queue on both of our visits so we ran it a few times on day one. The intro scene first time around featured a fantastic gnarly Negan actor who even left the room to torment people awaiting entry at one point, sadly he was missing on our other runs but he was one of the best Negan's we've seen in there over the countless runs we've had throughout the attraction's lifetime. My dad very much appreciated the splattered head dummy in the first room with one eyeball sat atop the mushy mess! The intro used to be a lot better in previous years and now seems rushed with not much really happening. The maze itself is always a pleasure to look at with its realistic and highly immersive theming, it still amazes me how many people completely miss the room with heads in tanks but the freeflow nature of the attraction always works pretty well. The zombie actors seemed numerous and aggressive with my dad actually coming close to having some chomping around his ear and it was interesting to see that they're keeping up with the TV series by featuring the whisperers in the finale.
On our second Sunday we were unfortunate enough to encounter two zombie actors having a conversation in the strobe section before realising we were there and quickly jumping into character.
Moving on and it's hard for me to come up with many positive points regarding Blair Witch, for some reason it always seems like a bit of a drag whenever we've run this maze in the past and sadly, despite improvements, we still feel the same way about it as previous years. The walkthrough area this year does seem much denser and enclosed with the pathways slightly more uneven, leading people to get somewhat lost as they stumble around in the dark. Our biggest issue with this maze is that more often than not, nothing really happens! It's actually scarier to walk through a random patch of woodland in the dark than it is to go through Blair Witch.
To be fair to the actors on our second visit, they were being a lot more active than we've ever seen in the past, appearing and disappearing into the darkness. One brave actor was even performing scares whilst laying on the soaked, muddy ground! Those in the house finale were managing to get a lot of screams out of the group in front of us which we ran into. Holding back, I let my dad and partner proceed first and watched them get lept upon by two actors, much to my surprise when I entered, there was a third actor who I didn't realise was there and he genuinely made me jump as he performed a spider-like touch to my head and down the back of my neck.
We still don't know what was going on throughout the night with the attraction but for some reason, it seemed cursed with repeated stopping with the app displaying queue times as "come back later".
Something that baffled us all was the insane queue times we witnessed for The Walking Dead Do or Die which easily reached two hours considering the maze seems to attract a fair amount of negative comments online. It does seem vastly improved this year and teaming with plenty of energetic actors doing a brilliant job of freaking people out. We had heard of an isolation box but never got to see anyone put there in the three runs we did of this attraction. With some outdoor mazes, it really pays to wait until after dark before entering but with Do or Die it doesn't really seem to make that much difference immersion-wise, either way, you're entering an encampment filled with ruthless cannibals!
The acting in here was some of the best we've seen at Thorpe this year from those setting the scene on the bus at the beginning, to those roaming throughout. We even saw one actor sat in the car smashing his head against a window before bursting out to terrify the people in front of us. There was also a lot more contact in this maze with actors touching the backs of our necks, almost licking our faces and running fingers through our hair, we couldn't help but wonder why we didn't get this level of contact in Creek Freak as well. Personally, I would go as far as saying that Do or Die actually provided a much more intense experience than Creek Freak Massacre, especially considering the number of people we watched get cornered and held back by actors. The theming still isn't great but the energy of the actors more than made up for it, we didn't exactly have time to be gazing around at scenery with so many cannibals breathing down our necks!
I've left Platform 15 until last because all of us felt like this maze was the most improved this year, finally delivering an experience closer to what we had hoped when it originally made its appearance. The idea behind the story of Platform 15 has always intrigued and excited us but somehow the execution never quite worked, especially with the long tunnel section towards the end which used to be a frustrating, empty stroll in the dark. All the effects were working on both of our runs with the Sleeper Express looking as impressive as ever. The actors within Platform 15 were really going for it this year, all of us experienced a lot of contact with my dad having one actor run at him and grab his shoulders with both hands, pushing him backward.
On both runs I saw people being held onto by actors as they passed the wreckage of the train, myself being one of them as the actor begged us not to leave. The house scene was extra frantic with actors throwing themselves all over the place in manic rage, one actor was drooling and looked completely insane while others were scrabbling about on the floor grabbing at people's ankles as they hurried past.
Next we arrived at the dreaded tunnel section, I was at the very back of the group both times which means I completely missed the final on both runs, as did the rest of my little group as by the time we exited the tunnel whatever had happened was already over and actors were resetting for the next group. However, the tunnel section itself is so much better than previous years that I almost didn't mind missing the finale. There were plenty of actors inside and having flashlights illuminate their ghastly faces before drowning us in darkness again is quite effective. I had a few actors cling onto me for a bit in the first run, making creepy noises right in my ear while the actors further up ahead made people at the front of the group scream and fall into the tunnel walls.
Thanks to two amazing actors on my second run, I had the best ever personal experience in Platform 15, possibly the scariest since I went to a Face it Alone that Thorpe used to do after the park had closed. There was a lot of screaming going on at the front of the group in the tunnel and I could just about see that people had broken formation in their attempts to flee in terror from the relentless actors. I felt a little sad that I was missing out at the back, that was until I felt hands firmly gripping both of my shoulders... I was no longer holding onto my partner in front of me since I'm used to the tunnel by now and so without resistance, an actor slowly dragged me backward down the tunnel by my shoulders, occasionally flicking his flashlight on whilst growling creepily in my ear! I was so shocked that I didn't even know how to react, I wasn't used to this level of contact in a regular maze run, I debated shouting out to the rest of my group for help but as their silhouettes disappeared further and further into the distance I remained silent, wondering just how far the actor planned on taking me. We must have been right back near the start of the tunnel by the time he stopped and released me, for the first time in a long time during a maze I felt nervous, I couldn't hear any sound coming from my group up ahead, they were long gone and somehow the group behind hadn't caught up either. Never before in a regular maze have I experienced such a sense of isolation. When I didn't move for a few seconds, taking in the unfamiliar situation, the actor behind me gently pushed me forward whilst still snarling eerily. I only took a few steps when all of a sudden another actor was right in my face with the flashlight on, moaning and groaning. This triggered the actor behind to really go crazy and sandwiched between the two of them relentlessly going for me I was forced to recoil in an attempt to avoid their assault. By the time I reached the end of the tunnel the rest of the group I'd entered with had long dispersed while my dad and partner were waiting for me seeming bewildered as to where I had been.
Everything about that run of Platform 15 was just perfect and I can't imagine I'll ever have a run as intense as that again. Considering the actors in the tunnel can't even speak due to their character's being zombie-like creatures, the noises they made and the small amount of contact they used was so simple and yet so incredibly effective that between the two of them they managed to create my favourite scare of the season. Never in a million years did I imagine that Platform 15 would become one of my favourite Fright Nights mazes! I'd love to see this become a regular occurrence in the tunnel section, it shocked me as much as it did because it seemed like the sort of thing you only get to experience as a VIP guest on press night or something.
We missed the Amity vampires on our first Sunday as the times for the show were unclear, however, on our second visit, there was a board stating four different showtimes so we made the effort to catch at least one of them. We arrived a little early and had some entertaining interactions with the vampire actors there, it was nice to see younger children having fun playing with the vampires too. The dance show was energetic, upbeat and fun to watch and we all agreed that it's lovely to have a more family-friendly spooky area in the park. Once they finished their routine the actors went back to seamlessly interacting with the crowd.
Fright Nights was fun this year and I'm glad we still went but it has a long way to go to get back to the amazing event it was before 2018. A joint decision was made to skip Containment due to having a few bad runs in there over the last couple of years, we just couldn't justify paying the additional charge for it so I can't comment on how that may have changed for 2019.
Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2018
For their 17th year, Thorpe Park announced that they were going bigger than ever, and as the season approached it was clear that some big changes were afoot. It soon became obvious that The Big Top maze wasn’t due to return, but what would the park use to spread out the crowds across attractions? In a surprise move, they actually announced seven attractions (an increase from the usual five) plus two “scare zones”. These along with the Screamplexx movie event, a new Fanta sponsored clown experience and the return of the pay extra Containment, looked promising on paper. But could the park live up to its marketing claim that “this year – nowhere is safe?” We went along to find out.
We genuinely had a really good time and we will highlight all the positive aspects of this year’s event later in this review but first we MUST address the very big elephant in the room. If you have been to the event, or read any social media, then you will know exactly what we are talking about. Two words to strike fear into the heart of any scare attraction enthusiast – Vulcan Peak.
Now anyone who has read any of our reviews in the past, will know that we love this industry and love scare attractions in general. We can always find something positive to say about any experience - even if it is a bit rough around the edges. But this was before we experienced Vulcan Peak – the new hooded experience based in the I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here building
It pains us to say it, but this was genuinely the worst scare attraction we have ever visited in over 20 years of reviewing scare events. From the strange name of the attraction – we generally associate Vulcans with Dr Spock from Star Trek, through to the the annoying soundtrack, there is nothing good we can say about this maze (and we’ve experienced the Passing!)
Granted we visited on first night, but comments on social media over the weekend have been just as poor. But why? We think the attraction has multiple issues. First off – the hoods are covering the view of rooms and sets that are already beautifully themed - the space could easily be utilised for a jungle themed attraction without the hoods. Secondly it was too bright throughout so we could see through our hoods in places so we could tell where the “actors” were. Thirdly the attraction used the most annoying voice over in a scare attraction we have ever heard. Having an unthemed voice just repeat “do not remove your hood” every 10 seconds becomes really monotonous - it spoilt any immersion there might have been, and actually made us want to remove our hoods just to rebel! Next, the attraction was light on actors (if there were any at all) – we seemed to only have 2 moments of interaction throughout the whole thing - generally we just walked round the room following a rope. Finally, the “finale” was just a member of staff asking us to remove our hoods, and then a final walk through some hastily covered scenes from the I’m a Celebrity maze. We walked out so disappointed that we can’t even imagine that this is in any way finished. If it wasn’t then it shouldn’t have been opened. It’s such a shame that the park have messed up such an opportunity, but we would recommend they hastily review the design of this show before re-opening to the public this weekend, or there are going to a lot of very disgruntled customers!
So that’s the negative bit out the way – lets focus on what we liked about this year’s event.
One of the criticisms of last year Walking Dead Sanctum maze, was that it was effectively an outdoor maze walking round a few packing containers. This year – Do or Die follows a similar storyline but has utilised the packing containers to create a mix of indoor and outdoor elements. Best visited in the dark, we had several good jump scares throughout and the acting crew seemed to be partially active from beginning to end. The maze started impressively on the American style school bus, but the theming slightly petered out by the end with some Heras fencing covered in Tarpaulin. It didn’t stop the actors from scaring us but it was a shame the quality design couldn't make it all the way through. Saying that – we genuinely had some great scares in the attraction – a marked improvement on Sanctum.
Saw Alive has been a staple of the event for years and can always be relied on to provide some short sharp scares. We shouldn’t still be getting surprised by this maze as we have done it so many times, but the actors were really going for it and gave us a great run through filled with screams.
Walking Dead Living Nightmare has returned to the “non-extreme” version and suffers slightly for it. Although scarier than its previous year, its hard not to miss the sheer volume of zombies in the extreme version. Either way- the sets are as impressive as ever and we had a great run through with some very energetic actors.
The other returning maze from last year was the excellent Platform 15, which again seems to have really upped its game. The addition of the indoor sections last year really help the experience and we had some genuine scares as we passed through the village. We also love the storytelling throughout and the many effects such as the flaming train. The finale of Platform 15 has always appeared to be the hardest thing to pull off, but this new ending worked better for us and actually left us running out the tunnel in fright!
New for this year (although returning to park after a 2-year absence) The Blair Witch Project has been reinvigorated with a new route, new story and a much denser forest. Compared to the wide-open paths of the previous show, Blair Witch felt much tighter and more like walking through an actual wood. The closer nature of the woods also worked well for the actors who managed to get us loads of times with some really impactful scares.
The final “new maze” is Dead Creek Wood that just utilised most of the same route as this Summer’s Zombie Hunt. Fortunately, the props and sets for that mostly worked well in the story (well apart from the studio set playing quotes from the classic Night of the Living Dead). There were some good scares here, but you could argue that Dead Creek Wood and Blair Witch could have been combined to make one larger experience instead of two smaller ones.
So, let’s go back to the disappearance of The Big Top this year – although we miss the attraction, we found the roaming actors to be great fun whenever we experienced them. They were always both cheeky and scary , and the concept of the Big Top Showtime was great fun. If you are visiting the park – we recommend you check out the show times as the clowns WILL have fun at your expense!
The other “scare zone” is more of a character meet and greet with some American High School vampires wandering about. We caught up with them on entering the park and they really add atmosphere to the event, although are more fun than scary.
As you would expect from Fright Nights – the general atmosphere around the park is incredible - especially with the new soundtrack (most notable in the Amity area). Also, compared to other UK parks that just drag in generators for Halloween, Thorpe has been designed for night time opening, and as such feels more complete for it.
So, as we said – we genuinely had a great time at Fright Nights this year - only one maze completely dropped the ball (and we think we have made that point pretty clear already) so it will be interesting to see how the changes and additional attractions make an impact on the busier nights coming up. We will keep monitoring for public reactions and report back on any changes when we visit later in the run.
We genuinely had a really good time and we will highlight all the positive aspects of this year’s event later in this review but first we MUST address the very big elephant in the room. If you have been to the event, or read any social media, then you will know exactly what we are talking about. Two words to strike fear into the heart of any scare attraction enthusiast – Vulcan Peak.
Now anyone who has read any of our reviews in the past, will know that we love this industry and love scare attractions in general. We can always find something positive to say about any experience - even if it is a bit rough around the edges. But this was before we experienced Vulcan Peak – the new hooded experience based in the I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here building
It pains us to say it, but this was genuinely the worst scare attraction we have ever visited in over 20 years of reviewing scare events. From the strange name of the attraction – we generally associate Vulcans with Dr Spock from Star Trek, through to the the annoying soundtrack, there is nothing good we can say about this maze (and we’ve experienced the Passing!)
Granted we visited on first night, but comments on social media over the weekend have been just as poor. But why? We think the attraction has multiple issues. First off – the hoods are covering the view of rooms and sets that are already beautifully themed - the space could easily be utilised for a jungle themed attraction without the hoods. Secondly it was too bright throughout so we could see through our hoods in places so we could tell where the “actors” were. Thirdly the attraction used the most annoying voice over in a scare attraction we have ever heard. Having an unthemed voice just repeat “do not remove your hood” every 10 seconds becomes really monotonous - it spoilt any immersion there might have been, and actually made us want to remove our hoods just to rebel! Next, the attraction was light on actors (if there were any at all) – we seemed to only have 2 moments of interaction throughout the whole thing - generally we just walked round the room following a rope. Finally, the “finale” was just a member of staff asking us to remove our hoods, and then a final walk through some hastily covered scenes from the I’m a Celebrity maze. We walked out so disappointed that we can’t even imagine that this is in any way finished. If it wasn’t then it shouldn’t have been opened. It’s such a shame that the park have messed up such an opportunity, but we would recommend they hastily review the design of this show before re-opening to the public this weekend, or there are going to a lot of very disgruntled customers!
So that’s the negative bit out the way – lets focus on what we liked about this year’s event.
One of the criticisms of last year Walking Dead Sanctum maze, was that it was effectively an outdoor maze walking round a few packing containers. This year – Do or Die follows a similar storyline but has utilised the packing containers to create a mix of indoor and outdoor elements. Best visited in the dark, we had several good jump scares throughout and the acting crew seemed to be partially active from beginning to end. The maze started impressively on the American style school bus, but the theming slightly petered out by the end with some Heras fencing covered in Tarpaulin. It didn’t stop the actors from scaring us but it was a shame the quality design couldn't make it all the way through. Saying that – we genuinely had some great scares in the attraction – a marked improvement on Sanctum.
Saw Alive has been a staple of the event for years and can always be relied on to provide some short sharp scares. We shouldn’t still be getting surprised by this maze as we have done it so many times, but the actors were really going for it and gave us a great run through filled with screams.
Walking Dead Living Nightmare has returned to the “non-extreme” version and suffers slightly for it. Although scarier than its previous year, its hard not to miss the sheer volume of zombies in the extreme version. Either way- the sets are as impressive as ever and we had a great run through with some very energetic actors.
The other returning maze from last year was the excellent Platform 15, which again seems to have really upped its game. The addition of the indoor sections last year really help the experience and we had some genuine scares as we passed through the village. We also love the storytelling throughout and the many effects such as the flaming train. The finale of Platform 15 has always appeared to be the hardest thing to pull off, but this new ending worked better for us and actually left us running out the tunnel in fright!
New for this year (although returning to park after a 2-year absence) The Blair Witch Project has been reinvigorated with a new route, new story and a much denser forest. Compared to the wide-open paths of the previous show, Blair Witch felt much tighter and more like walking through an actual wood. The closer nature of the woods also worked well for the actors who managed to get us loads of times with some really impactful scares.
The final “new maze” is Dead Creek Wood that just utilised most of the same route as this Summer’s Zombie Hunt. Fortunately, the props and sets for that mostly worked well in the story (well apart from the studio set playing quotes from the classic Night of the Living Dead). There were some good scares here, but you could argue that Dead Creek Wood and Blair Witch could have been combined to make one larger experience instead of two smaller ones.
So, let’s go back to the disappearance of The Big Top this year – although we miss the attraction, we found the roaming actors to be great fun whenever we experienced them. They were always both cheeky and scary , and the concept of the Big Top Showtime was great fun. If you are visiting the park – we recommend you check out the show times as the clowns WILL have fun at your expense!
The other “scare zone” is more of a character meet and greet with some American High School vampires wandering about. We caught up with them on entering the park and they really add atmosphere to the event, although are more fun than scary.
As you would expect from Fright Nights – the general atmosphere around the park is incredible - especially with the new soundtrack (most notable in the Amity area). Also, compared to other UK parks that just drag in generators for Halloween, Thorpe has been designed for night time opening, and as such feels more complete for it.
So, as we said – we genuinely had a great time at Fright Nights this year - only one maze completely dropped the ball (and we think we have made that point pretty clear already) so it will be interesting to see how the changes and additional attractions make an impact on the busier nights coming up. We will keep monitoring for public reactions and report back on any changes when we visit later in the run.
We didn't take many pictures but we do have video footage inside all the scare mazes and Big Top Showtime on our You Tube channel. Why not head over and pres subscribe?
Zombie Hunt
As part of their “Year of the Walking Dead” celebration, Thorpe Park have opened Zombie Hunt, a live interactive walk through experience, where the guests get to fight back. The attraction has been built on the old Blair Witch route, along the back of the park, and is included free with park admission.
The first thing to really point out is that this is NOT a scare attraction in the vein of the park’s annual Fright Nights event. Although there are some scares along the way, the attraction is aimed at a younger market and as such, perfectly blends humour with some horror. That isn’t to say we didn’t jump several times, but most of our experience was fun as opposed to frightful.
So why is the attraction so much fun? We would say it is because it really doesn’t take itself seriously. Everything from the setup, through to the zingy script and lively characterisations, has been set up to keep the show moving at a pace. Along the way, the experience references different characters and scenarios from previous Thorpe Park attractions including Platform 15 and the Director, alongside some fun scenes such as the zombie on the toilet and the chainsaw finale. Each scene provides an element of story along with the chance to shoot the hell out of the zombies present.
And so on to the guns. These aren’t cheap little laser quest guns, but are high quality weapons with a responsive trigger and a clear eye sight. The targets throughout the attraction are on the bodies of the zombies and would flash red when triggered. The actors would then use this as an indicator of being hit and would fall dramatically onto conveniently placed crash mats around the route. It was quite satisfying seeing them drop to the floor, dead as we moved from scene to scene.
All in, we genuinely loved Zombie Hunt a lot more than we were expecting to. It was refreshing that the park has gone down the route of family friendly fun and as such, the attraction is perfect for most people. Granted we wouldn’t take a toddler through, but the age range of 8+ suits the attraction perfectly. Saying that though it isn’t just a kid’s attraction – we experienced it several times as a group of adults and had just as much fun as the kids!
The first thing to really point out is that this is NOT a scare attraction in the vein of the park’s annual Fright Nights event. Although there are some scares along the way, the attraction is aimed at a younger market and as such, perfectly blends humour with some horror. That isn’t to say we didn’t jump several times, but most of our experience was fun as opposed to frightful.
So why is the attraction so much fun? We would say it is because it really doesn’t take itself seriously. Everything from the setup, through to the zingy script and lively characterisations, has been set up to keep the show moving at a pace. Along the way, the experience references different characters and scenarios from previous Thorpe Park attractions including Platform 15 and the Director, alongside some fun scenes such as the zombie on the toilet and the chainsaw finale. Each scene provides an element of story along with the chance to shoot the hell out of the zombies present.
And so on to the guns. These aren’t cheap little laser quest guns, but are high quality weapons with a responsive trigger and a clear eye sight. The targets throughout the attraction are on the bodies of the zombies and would flash red when triggered. The actors would then use this as an indicator of being hit and would fall dramatically onto conveniently placed crash mats around the route. It was quite satisfying seeing them drop to the floor, dead as we moved from scene to scene.
All in, we genuinely loved Zombie Hunt a lot more than we were expecting to. It was refreshing that the park has gone down the route of family friendly fun and as such, the attraction is perfect for most people. Granted we wouldn’t take a toddler through, but the age range of 8+ suits the attraction perfectly. Saying that though it isn’t just a kid’s attraction – we experienced it several times as a group of adults and had just as much fun as the kids!
The Walking Dead: Living Nightmare (Summer '18)
When the Walking Dead Living Nightmare debuted in 2017, we were impressed with the quality and design of the sets. In fact, the attraction won this year’s ScareCON award for best set design. It was shame than that the maze wasn’t that scary.
Obviously this was corrected earlier the this when the park ran Living Nightmare Extreme where the maze saw the biggest number of actors ever. It was always therefore always going to be interesting to go back to the standard version of the maze.
Fortunately, this came sooner than expected as the the park had to do a last-minute switch back to Walking Dead after they were unable to open their Saw Alive maze for the summer. We were lucky enough to be there on opening day of the reopened maze and there was no queue - we had to go in!
Nothing has really changed in the attraction apart from the extra scenes added as part of the extreme run. Although quieter than the extreme runs, the actors seemed to be really working the maze hard and still managed several good scares throughout. Surprisingly we had one of our best runs through since it opened last year!
So, which is better? It’s hard to really decide one way or the other. We felt that the standard maze has more tension as you never actually know when the zombies will appear, as opposed to the onslaught that "extreme” created. This version of the show is certainly more subtle in its presentation and probably stronger for it. Maybe the actors have learnt from all the different versions and come up with a sustainable version of the show that works. Certainly we are expected to get this version for Halloween, and the maze has now matured enough to stand proud with the rest of the Fright Nights lineup.
Obviously this was corrected earlier the this when the park ran Living Nightmare Extreme where the maze saw the biggest number of actors ever. It was always therefore always going to be interesting to go back to the standard version of the maze.
Fortunately, this came sooner than expected as the the park had to do a last-minute switch back to Walking Dead after they were unable to open their Saw Alive maze for the summer. We were lucky enough to be there on opening day of the reopened maze and there was no queue - we had to go in!
Nothing has really changed in the attraction apart from the extra scenes added as part of the extreme run. Although quieter than the extreme runs, the actors seemed to be really working the maze hard and still managed several good scares throughout. Surprisingly we had one of our best runs through since it opened last year!
So, which is better? It’s hard to really decide one way or the other. We felt that the standard maze has more tension as you never actually know when the zombies will appear, as opposed to the onslaught that "extreme” created. This version of the show is certainly more subtle in its presentation and probably stronger for it. Maybe the actors have learnt from all the different versions and come up with a sustainable version of the show that works. Certainly we are expected to get this version for Halloween, and the maze has now matured enough to stand proud with the rest of the Fright Nights lineup.
The Walking Dead : Living Nightmare: Extreme
In 2017, Thorpe Park launched their big The Walking Dead takeover of Fright Nights, which was met with a mixed response. There was no denying that the sets and design of Living Nightmare were some of the most detailed the park have ever produced. The scenes all followed noticeable scenarios from the TV series and the attention to detail was unparalleled. In fact, the maze has just won in this year's Scare awards for Best Set, Costume and Make up.
So why the mixed reactions? As we said in our review below - the maze looked great, but it just wasn't inherently scary, and it lacked any real finale. So we were excited to hear that for one week only - the maze has been turned into Living Nightmare Extreme, with more than double the normal actors than were around at Halloween, and some new room additions at the end.
Now just adding extra actors doesn't necessarily guarantee extra scares but, all the zombies were very up close and personal, and did their best to separate groups and try to create individually scary experiences. On each of our runs through - we were very quickly singled out, and even terrified guests hanging on to each other got the full treatment from the zombies. It was advertised as extreme, guests were warned before going in it was extreme, and what we loved was that once inside there really was no turning back - you HAD to proceed through the maze and on each visit we experienced terrified guests just desperately hoping it would end!
The new ending, although not a big impact scare to leave us running out the door, certainly left us lost and confused as to how we would find a away out. Clearly the zombies were having great fun here, just trying to torment everyone. In fact, the actors were everywhere and were completely relentless throughout the maze. This, alongside the ability to touch guests, stroke their hair, sniff them etc, made for a really intense experience for even hardened guests. We hope no scare attraction newbies do this as their first maze - it could scare them off for life!
Essentially Living Nightmare Extreme is EXACTLY the attraction that Living Nightmare should have been last Halloween, which does leave the park with a bit of a quandry. With this promised as a 1 time experience, we will have to see what we get when the maze returns for Fright Nights, as it would be sad to see the attraction take a step backwards.
Also on the day we visited, there were live actors inside Walking Dead The Ride, which really added to the post ride area, so everything is looking really exciting for this year's Fright Nights with effectively more scare experiences than ever before. The park have promised a few extra surprises for us this year, and with them opening Saw Alive during the Summer - this really is a great year for scares at the park!
So why the mixed reactions? As we said in our review below - the maze looked great, but it just wasn't inherently scary, and it lacked any real finale. So we were excited to hear that for one week only - the maze has been turned into Living Nightmare Extreme, with more than double the normal actors than were around at Halloween, and some new room additions at the end.
Now just adding extra actors doesn't necessarily guarantee extra scares but, all the zombies were very up close and personal, and did their best to separate groups and try to create individually scary experiences. On each of our runs through - we were very quickly singled out, and even terrified guests hanging on to each other got the full treatment from the zombies. It was advertised as extreme, guests were warned before going in it was extreme, and what we loved was that once inside there really was no turning back - you HAD to proceed through the maze and on each visit we experienced terrified guests just desperately hoping it would end!
The new ending, although not a big impact scare to leave us running out the door, certainly left us lost and confused as to how we would find a away out. Clearly the zombies were having great fun here, just trying to torment everyone. In fact, the actors were everywhere and were completely relentless throughout the maze. This, alongside the ability to touch guests, stroke their hair, sniff them etc, made for a really intense experience for even hardened guests. We hope no scare attraction newbies do this as their first maze - it could scare them off for life!
Essentially Living Nightmare Extreme is EXACTLY the attraction that Living Nightmare should have been last Halloween, which does leave the park with a bit of a quandry. With this promised as a 1 time experience, we will have to see what we get when the maze returns for Fright Nights, as it would be sad to see the attraction take a step backwards.
Also on the day we visited, there were live actors inside Walking Dead The Ride, which really added to the post ride area, so everything is looking really exciting for this year's Fright Nights with effectively more scare experiences than ever before. The park have promised a few extra surprises for us this year, and with them opening Saw Alive during the Summer - this really is a great year for scares at the park!
The Walking Dead: The Ride
At the close of the 2017 season, the Walkers (remember they aren’t referred to as zombies) from The Walking Dead had invaded Thorpe Park in the stunningly designed Living Nightmare, and the far from well received Sanctum. As the park closed, we were left with one chilling notice – “See you in the Safe Zone.” Speculation was rife but with the announced closure of X – the family indoor rollercoaster – fan theories soon started to circulate the ride was about to get a full Walking Dead makeover.
So, jump forward to 2018, and the Park announced a whole new raft of Walking Dead experiences including a new extreme version of Living Nightmare, Apocalypse Weekends and a new Zombie Hunt experience. This would all be headlined with The Walking Dead The Ride.
We had been fortunate enough to ride an early version of the ride several weeks before, but it wasn’t until the media launch event that we got to experience it with all the effects working. First off – we must remind people that this is a makeover of an existing family rollercoaster, so it was never going to suddenly be the fastest or loopiest ride at the park. The ride’s mechanism works in the attraction’s favour, as it allows multiple stop points along the way. It is at these points that most of the new on ride effects have been added. Our favourite being the second from last stop as the recorded voiceover tries to get the vehicle started whilst zombies start to break through the windows alongside. There are also some great effects on the drop sections of the ride with an incredible gunshot effect, which you can see in the attached video – made us raise our hands to our face in shock!
Another key thing about The Walking Dead The Ride is that the whole thing starts long before the ride itself. The transport system is just part of a longer narrative that runs from entering the main watch tower at the entrance through to the final exit from the building. We also loved the fact that this story is set in Thorpe Park itself and not a recreation ofa location from the TV series.
So all in, we really enjoyed the new experience, as it has given an old and faded ride a much-needed new lease of life. Clearly its not going to be everyone’s cup of tea as despite the horror theme, it really is more fun than terrifying.
So, jump forward to 2018, and the Park announced a whole new raft of Walking Dead experiences including a new extreme version of Living Nightmare, Apocalypse Weekends and a new Zombie Hunt experience. This would all be headlined with The Walking Dead The Ride.
We had been fortunate enough to ride an early version of the ride several weeks before, but it wasn’t until the media launch event that we got to experience it with all the effects working. First off – we must remind people that this is a makeover of an existing family rollercoaster, so it was never going to suddenly be the fastest or loopiest ride at the park. The ride’s mechanism works in the attraction’s favour, as it allows multiple stop points along the way. It is at these points that most of the new on ride effects have been added. Our favourite being the second from last stop as the recorded voiceover tries to get the vehicle started whilst zombies start to break through the windows alongside. There are also some great effects on the drop sections of the ride with an incredible gunshot effect, which you can see in the attached video – made us raise our hands to our face in shock!
Another key thing about The Walking Dead The Ride is that the whole thing starts long before the ride itself. The transport system is just part of a longer narrative that runs from entering the main watch tower at the entrance through to the final exit from the building. We also loved the fact that this story is set in Thorpe Park itself and not a recreation ofa location from the TV series.
So all in, we really enjoyed the new experience, as it has given an old and faded ride a much-needed new lease of life. Clearly its not going to be everyone’s cup of tea as despite the horror theme, it really is more fun than terrifying.
Review -Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2017
It’s crazy to think that Fright Nights have been running at Thorpe Park now for 16 years. In that time, we have seen mazes come and go, along with the introduction of new themes and stories. But for 2017, the park has gone all out to acquire the license rights for the global phenomenon – The Walking Dead.
It’s an exciting but potentially dangerous move for the park – the popularity of the series is slightly waning after a pretty mediocre season 7, but for die-hard fans, they will expect the park to be respectful of the brand and not just produce a simple zombie cop out. The weight of expectation was huge, so how would the park get on?
Well it is a mix of good and bad news. The main Walking Dead Living Nightmare maze looks stunning. For the first time ever, Thorpe have created beautiful immersive sets that look like they have been lifted directly from the TV show. Iconic scenes follow each other and fans of the show will be excited to see themselves in key locations such as the hospital (including the iconic Don’t Open Dead Inside doors.) It was also a brilliant touch to add Negan and Lucille into the mix and the photo op with them is a great souvenir photo! The only complaint we would have is that the maze wasn’t inherently scary and lacked any sort of finale to leave us running out the door.
In comparison – The Waking Dead Sanctum is just a rag tag mix of packing containers and Heras fencing. But the actors here were a bit more active than Living Nightmare. It’s clear where the budget was spent this year and although it was nice to have another “maze”, this attraction feels better suited as a scare zone style experience. It will be interesting to see how this develops in later years.
Which points us to an interesting observation that quite a few people have mentioned recently. It’s quite a blunt statement, but it’s true that in recent years, Thorpe’s mazes have suffered from Year 1 issues. Look back at reviews of The Big Top in 2015 and you’ll see that it was clearly a flawed maze and drew a lot of criticism. Jump forward a year and the revamped Big Top last year was amazing and it’s hard to believe that in 2017 this is now easily the best maze at the event.
It’s the same with Platform 15. There just wasn’t enough going on last year to keep this long walk through the woods interesting, so this year they have added whole new scenes round the back of the attraction including a village with houses that we had to pass in and out of. The change from last year was stunning and even the sounds in the long black tunnel had been improved. The only thing missing still – a killer finale to leave us running out the door.
So, this pattern does bode well for the Walking Dead attractions going forward. The park is passionate about creating amazing attractions and we are sure that they will address some of the weaker elements of the new mazes for the future. That isn’t to say that we didn’t enjoy them. In all, this was one of our most enjoyable nights at Thorpe Park Fright Nights in years and we look forward to going back later in the run to see how things have bedded in!
It’s an exciting but potentially dangerous move for the park – the popularity of the series is slightly waning after a pretty mediocre season 7, but for die-hard fans, they will expect the park to be respectful of the brand and not just produce a simple zombie cop out. The weight of expectation was huge, so how would the park get on?
Well it is a mix of good and bad news. The main Walking Dead Living Nightmare maze looks stunning. For the first time ever, Thorpe have created beautiful immersive sets that look like they have been lifted directly from the TV show. Iconic scenes follow each other and fans of the show will be excited to see themselves in key locations such as the hospital (including the iconic Don’t Open Dead Inside doors.) It was also a brilliant touch to add Negan and Lucille into the mix and the photo op with them is a great souvenir photo! The only complaint we would have is that the maze wasn’t inherently scary and lacked any sort of finale to leave us running out the door.
In comparison – The Waking Dead Sanctum is just a rag tag mix of packing containers and Heras fencing. But the actors here were a bit more active than Living Nightmare. It’s clear where the budget was spent this year and although it was nice to have another “maze”, this attraction feels better suited as a scare zone style experience. It will be interesting to see how this develops in later years.
Which points us to an interesting observation that quite a few people have mentioned recently. It’s quite a blunt statement, but it’s true that in recent years, Thorpe’s mazes have suffered from Year 1 issues. Look back at reviews of The Big Top in 2015 and you’ll see that it was clearly a flawed maze and drew a lot of criticism. Jump forward a year and the revamped Big Top last year was amazing and it’s hard to believe that in 2017 this is now easily the best maze at the event.
It’s the same with Platform 15. There just wasn’t enough going on last year to keep this long walk through the woods interesting, so this year they have added whole new scenes round the back of the attraction including a village with houses that we had to pass in and out of. The change from last year was stunning and even the sounds in the long black tunnel had been improved. The only thing missing still – a killer finale to leave us running out the door.
So, this pattern does bode well for the Walking Dead attractions going forward. The park is passionate about creating amazing attractions and we are sure that they will address some of the weaker elements of the new mazes for the future. That isn’t to say that we didn’t enjoy them. In all, this was one of our most enjoyable nights at Thorpe Park Fright Nights in years and we look forward to going back later in the run to see how things have bedded in!
Warning - these videos contain spoilers
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Very scary - Having been to the Staff Preview Night (I started working for Merlin in January but have been a long time Fright Night Fanboy) I thought I’d share my opinions. Take them to be biased if you will! The Walking Dead theme is cool and the live resort-roamers are more funny and sarcastic than scary which I enjoyed - lots of funny quips about how I “probably had nothing good to steal anyway”. The Sanctum (by SWARM) is the tamest Maze, it’s Outdoor and feels like that “Dead End Terror Zone” they tried a while back without succ ess. Some nice theming with broken cars but on the whole not particularly scary. The other WD Maze (Living Nightmare) takes place behind X where Hellgate was (alas, no Trommel Tunnel). There’s an opening scene which to me didn’t make much sense but I haven’t actually seen the WD so maybe it does to those who have. Then you walk through a hospital scene and the jail. There’s a “finale” where a survivor talks to you for a bit before getting eaten by a zombie, and you have to run away, but scarewise it’s pretty lacking; no loud noises or aircannons. It should also be noted for both of these mazes because the actors are Zombies they’re slower and not as jumpy. It’s more based on theming I guess...?
Platform Fifteen didn’t leave a very big impression on me last year so maybe that’s why I don’t remember what’s changed - was definitely more fun this year
The Big Top is over by Rush, and personally I found this one the scariest. There’s an actual Maze section (I spent a good five ten minutes in there because I got lost) with really dense fog and strobe, with actors hiding around the place. Then a mirror maze which really unnerved me. At one point you have to choose one of three doors. And at the end a good old chainsaw finale (except for us he was waiting at the exit, forcing us to walk PAST him until he lunged and we ran.) also because it’s clowns they’re a lot more enthusiastic and jumpy.
Platform Fifteen didn’t leave a very big impression on me last year so maybe that’s why I don’t remember what’s changed - was definitely more fun this year
The Big Top is over by Rush, and personally I found this one the scariest. There’s an actual Maze section (I spent a good five ten minutes in there because I got lost) with really dense fog and strobe, with actors hiding around the place. Then a mirror maze which really unnerved me. At one point you have to choose one of three doors. And at the end a good old chainsaw finale (except for us he was waiting at the exit, forcing us to walk PAST him until he lunged and we ran.) also because it’s clowns they’re a lot more enthusiastic and jumpy.
Having experienced walking dead mazes many times at Universal HHN was interested to see how the UK version compared.
Sadly neither of them were even close in terms of the quality of the mazes, both of which could have been much better if they had spent a bit more money on them.
Platform 15 had some nice touches but again was let down by a lack of spend.
The big top was ok but the maze using strobe lights was more confusing than scary, with people bumping into each other all over the place.
Overall the whole experience seemed very disorganised as whilst the number of people there was quite low when we visited, the wait times for some attractions was still an hour+ due to the poor layout of the mazes. Having the same entrace and exit for the main walking dead maze didn't make any sense at all.
The park also lacked an overall halloween feel, with no scare zones or actors outside of the mazes.
Hopefully Thorpe Park will address some of these issues in years to come, especially as admission with fastpass isn't cheap.
Sadly neither of them were even close in terms of the quality of the mazes, both of which could have been much better if they had spent a bit more money on them.
Platform 15 had some nice touches but again was let down by a lack of spend.
The big top was ok but the maze using strobe lights was more confusing than scary, with people bumping into each other all over the place.
Overall the whole experience seemed very disorganised as whilst the number of people there was quite low when we visited, the wait times for some attractions was still an hour+ due to the poor layout of the mazes. Having the same entrace and exit for the main walking dead maze didn't make any sense at all.
The park also lacked an overall halloween feel, with no scare zones or actors outside of the mazes.
Hopefully Thorpe Park will address some of these issues in years to come, especially as admission with fastpass isn't cheap.
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