Arrived at Thorpe Park at 1pm, was greeted by a new Fright Night sign.
Could this be a sign of Thorpe making some actual Halloween effort this year..?
The park was quite literally dead
So we walked onto Swarm. I was already very happy because the sky was grey and it was raining - perfect weather to set a Halloweeny atmosphere in the park.
Swarm was running very sluggishly. The train labored through the inversions, to a point where the tightness of the vest restraint became quite uncomfortable when you were hanging into it.
Normally Swarm with no queue would get immediate re-rides from me, but I felt sad that I didn't enjoy the ride enough to summon any enthusiasm to get back on it.
This was followed by a second wave of disappointment when I saw that the best food stall in the park was closed.
..nothing to relish here <//3
Headed over to X://Brake Run Disco next, because I heard that they've added lots of smoke machines. I love the smell of smoke machines. Either that's a lie, or they weren't switched on today. However, they have reduced the time of the brake runs so you now don't spend more time motionless than you do turning around endless corners.
I like the X://Forwards Way Out re-theme because it no longer makes me feel sick. High praise, I know.
Walked the Enthusiasts Walk of Despair past Colosrust
There were staff standing at the queue entrance telling people it was a 40 minute wait and offering Fast Track for £3. I opted for neither of the above, and headed over to my precious Number Two coaster - Saw <3
They've got rid of the cool police car, and replaced it with....ominous boxes.
Uhh, spooky, I guess.
Saw also had staff at the queue entrance telling people it was a long wait and desperately trying to sell fast track. I looked at the queue and it was only just coming out of the ride building, definitely not the 40 minutes the staff were proclaiming! :/
Every time I have visited Thorpe this year Saw has been down, so it was fab to finally get to ride it this year. I don't get any of the roughness people complain about on this ride, I just find the whole coaster incredibly fun, it has a great mixture of elements.
Now, just as I was starting to think this is one of the best visits I've had at Thorpe in a long time all the rides started to break down.
Samurai came to halt mid air and remained there for hours (no one was on it though)
Loggers Leap was down, Slammer was down, and Serena Rumba Rapids had a huge pile up of boats in the wave machine section.
Had a disgusting hot dog in a stale bun, then went over to Nemesis Inferno - which did have a massive queue due to only running one train. Good old One Train Thorpe! Made the mistake of sitting in the left outside seat and got pissed on by the seat in front during the lift hill, ugh.
Inferno felt very fast and forceful today, I was rather impressed with it. They are also selling copies of John Wardleys autobiography in the exit shop too!
It was now 3pm, and the mazes were about to open. I bumped into Nadroj at the front of the queue for The Asylum, (thanks for letting me jump in with you!) so we were the first group of the day to go into the maze, hoping the actors would be full of beans and ready to scare!
Meh. I don't like The Asylum much, because there aren't enough different scenes to it. Once you're in the main section of the maze, it's just cage wall after cage wall and nothing really stands out. The characters are just your standard 'crazy people in make up', there's nothing really imaginative, surprising or absorbing to it.
I was pleased that chainsaw man actually made an appearance this time, I was convinced that he wasn't real because I didn't see him once last year. They've made the end of the maze a bit more hectic with plastic room dividers hanging from the ceiling, so people don't just leg it down the corridor. Overall, I give it 4/10, it would be an ideal starter maze for someone who hasn't done one before as it's not very intense. The best thing about The Asylum is the queue line music!
Next, we headed over to Cabin in the Woods, which I was really looking forward to. They split the groups down to small numbers before you go into the cabin room, I was lucky to go through the maze with just one other person - which really adds to the sense of vulnerability.
Cabin in the Woods is by far the best maze at Fright Night, because it's free flowing you feel like you are exploring for yourself, as opposed to navigating a set path. If you are careful of which doors you choose, you can spend a good while inside the maze. There are some parts which I found very intense - small dark rooms with actors in, where the door closes behind you and you have to find another door in the dark, whilst actors are pinning you against the walls and grabbing you by the head.
There is one door on the furthest right, which has a genuinely scary girl who looks like she's from The Grudge on a bed. It's the first time I've been properly scared in a horror maze for a while, desperately trying to find a way out of the room with her relentlessly freaking me out!
Managed to find the Control Room, which is a nice touch to the maze. It's outlined in the wall paper, and a timed-release door, so you may need to wait for it to open.
After lots of small rooms, the maze filters out into a more traditional route with one way corridors. These have clowns, mad scientists and hillbillies in, some of which are very hands-on. A tall clown pinned me against the wall and started back combing my hair with his hands! Others would block your way then shove you down the corridor. I loved that these actors were so confident and in your face, as opposed to doing the usual jumping out / pinching you technique.
Admittedly, there aren't any of the monsters from the film in the maze; but Thorpe have still done a great job of putting as many different scary characters into one maze and keeping the atmosphere coherent. The best thing about Cabin in the Woods is that you can make your experience different every time and take different routes, I ended up going in 3 times and having a great, unique run each time. 9/10
Next we did the Saw Alive maze, which I found far more enjoyable this year. I'm not sure if it was new or not, but after the photo with Jigsaw there's a room with a policeman who kept asking me to push the red button. (I didn't push it because I could see the actor underneath, ready to grab my legs!) I don't remember this scene from before, and it was a good start to the maze.
The rest of the maze is the same as it has always been. The actors varied wildly with their efforts. Some of the ones in pig masks were great at silently creeping up on people, another actor tried to pull my arms off the person in front, he wouldn't let go and it surprised me how committed he was. Part of me now wishes I had just let go and let him drag me off from the group just to see what would happen. In this respect, it's noticeable in Saw Alive that some of the actors are keen to push to the limits of what they can get away with, but because not all of them do this, the maze has a feeling of inconsistency. It could be pretty intense, but every time the maze starts to head that way it calms down again. 6/10
Saw some of the You're Next roaming characters after this, they were ok I suppose. Their weapons are straight out of the Asda Halloween isle, and their costumes are rather basic. They were pretty good at intimidating younger gaggles of girls, but in general I think roaming characters are hard to get right. They have to have really convincing costumes and mannerisms for it to not lose impact in an outdoor setting where they are outnumbered with normal people.
Met up with Nealbie and rode Saw again, followed by Colossus. It made me realise how much I prefer The Smiler to Colossus, even though The Smiler isn't great. Colossus' pace of inversions, especially the barrage of inline twists at the end are starting to make it feel like a flat ride to me.
Went in the Cabin maze again, where Nealbie managed to accidentally scare the hell out of me by waiting behind a black curtain! Then Nemesis Inferno in the dark, which was still blindingly forceful. Nealbie went on Stealth (whilst I admired it's fab color changing lights on the top hat <3), then we rode Rumba Rapids in the dark - it's great when you can't see how worn down it is. So ambient!
Stuffed our faces at Pizza Hut buffet, admiring the ninja like qualities of the pizza cutter-upper man. Then it was time for the maze I had been slightly dreading: My Bloody Valentine. I had heard that it was exactly the same as last years Experiment 10, and was not looking forward to being shut in a small room on my own.
This didn't happen in the maze. In fact, nothing happened. At all. My Bloody Valentine starts well, if you are standing at the end of your group, you will see the gas mask man appear (I don't know his name, I've not seen the film) and follow you down the tunnels. He was pretty cool.
There are lots of banging noises, then the group gets split up. We took the left side of the maze, which involves a bit of crouching and more corridors and banging. Then one actor jumps out at you at the end and that's it. Apparently the right side of the maze is better and has lots of actors, but we couldn't be bothered to queue for it again, especially as you don't get to choose which side you go down. All in all, I would say it's the worst maze at Fright Night this year, especially as you can still see all the Experiment 10 parts lying around outside, it was very disappointing. 2/10.
Next we rode Swarm in the dark, which was also disappointing as half of those lovely little red lights it has on the train weren't working. It normally looks fantastic at night, but not this time. I was not looking forward to re-riding Swarm after it's sluggishness earlier in the day, and unfortunately it was just as lame at night.
The trains were bouncing a lot around the turns, and the whole ride was just uncomfortable and slow, in a similar way to Air. I loved Swarm when it first opened, but it is becoming underwhelming and I'm really starting to dislike those awkward, bulky restraints. As soon as we hit the brake run Nealbie summed it all up by shouting "Swarms not fun anymore!" Indeed.
Last, and certainly least, was the Blair Witch Project scare zone. Which is a pleasant walk through the woods, with a few tents and some people in pale make up and hoodys standing around. There were very few actors, and they didn't come anywhere near us. The loud noises from the park prevent any feelings of being cut off from society, which is a huge factor in the film. It just doesn't work as a concept for a scare zone, because Blair Witch Project is a quiet, slow burning and eerie film, as opposed to a jumpy one. The house at the end had nothing in it. We walked through then gooned out over a view of Nemesis Inferno that we hadn't seen before, watching the train dispatch from directly underneath. Oooh!
I had a lovely day at Thorpe due to good company, rain, lack of queues and Saw actually being open for once. But as far as Fright Nights go, this was nothing special, there is a lack of park-wide themeing and the premise of a 'crazy horror movie director on the loose at Thorpe' is barely noticeable.
Could this be a sign of Thorpe making some actual Halloween effort this year..?
The park was quite literally dead
So we walked onto Swarm. I was already very happy because the sky was grey and it was raining - perfect weather to set a Halloweeny atmosphere in the park.
Swarm was running very sluggishly. The train labored through the inversions, to a point where the tightness of the vest restraint became quite uncomfortable when you were hanging into it.
Normally Swarm with no queue would get immediate re-rides from me, but I felt sad that I didn't enjoy the ride enough to summon any enthusiasm to get back on it.
This was followed by a second wave of disappointment when I saw that the best food stall in the park was closed.
..nothing to relish here <//3
Headed over to X://Brake Run Disco next, because I heard that they've added lots of smoke machines. I love the smell of smoke machines. Either that's a lie, or they weren't switched on today. However, they have reduced the time of the brake runs so you now don't spend more time motionless than you do turning around endless corners.
I like the X://Forwards Way Out re-theme because it no longer makes me feel sick. High praise, I know.
Walked the Enthusiasts Walk of Despair past Colosrust
There were staff standing at the queue entrance telling people it was a 40 minute wait and offering Fast Track for £3. I opted for neither of the above, and headed over to my precious Number Two coaster - Saw <3
They've got rid of the cool police car, and replaced it with....ominous boxes.
Uhh, spooky, I guess.
Saw also had staff at the queue entrance telling people it was a long wait and desperately trying to sell fast track. I looked at the queue and it was only just coming out of the ride building, definitely not the 40 minutes the staff were proclaiming! :/
Every time I have visited Thorpe this year Saw has been down, so it was fab to finally get to ride it this year. I don't get any of the roughness people complain about on this ride, I just find the whole coaster incredibly fun, it has a great mixture of elements.
Now, just as I was starting to think this is one of the best visits I've had at Thorpe in a long time all the rides started to break down.
Samurai came to halt mid air and remained there for hours (no one was on it though)
Loggers Leap was down, Slammer was down, and Serena Rumba Rapids had a huge pile up of boats in the wave machine section.
Had a disgusting hot dog in a stale bun, then went over to Nemesis Inferno - which did have a massive queue due to only running one train. Good old One Train Thorpe! Made the mistake of sitting in the left outside seat and got pissed on by the seat in front during the lift hill, ugh.
Inferno felt very fast and forceful today, I was rather impressed with it. They are also selling copies of John Wardleys autobiography in the exit shop too!
It was now 3pm, and the mazes were about to open. I bumped into Nadroj at the front of the queue for The Asylum, (thanks for letting me jump in with you!) so we were the first group of the day to go into the maze, hoping the actors would be full of beans and ready to scare!
Meh. I don't like The Asylum much, because there aren't enough different scenes to it. Once you're in the main section of the maze, it's just cage wall after cage wall and nothing really stands out. The characters are just your standard 'crazy people in make up', there's nothing really imaginative, surprising or absorbing to it.
I was pleased that chainsaw man actually made an appearance this time, I was convinced that he wasn't real because I didn't see him once last year. They've made the end of the maze a bit more hectic with plastic room dividers hanging from the ceiling, so people don't just leg it down the corridor. Overall, I give it 4/10, it would be an ideal starter maze for someone who hasn't done one before as it's not very intense. The best thing about The Asylum is the queue line music!
Next, we headed over to Cabin in the Woods, which I was really looking forward to. They split the groups down to small numbers before you go into the cabin room, I was lucky to go through the maze with just one other person - which really adds to the sense of vulnerability.
Cabin in the Woods is by far the best maze at Fright Night, because it's free flowing you feel like you are exploring for yourself, as opposed to navigating a set path. If you are careful of which doors you choose, you can spend a good while inside the maze. There are some parts which I found very intense - small dark rooms with actors in, where the door closes behind you and you have to find another door in the dark, whilst actors are pinning you against the walls and grabbing you by the head.
There is one door on the furthest right, which has a genuinely scary girl who looks like she's from The Grudge on a bed. It's the first time I've been properly scared in a horror maze for a while, desperately trying to find a way out of the room with her relentlessly freaking me out!
Managed to find the Control Room, which is a nice touch to the maze. It's outlined in the wall paper, and a timed-release door, so you may need to wait for it to open.
After lots of small rooms, the maze filters out into a more traditional route with one way corridors. These have clowns, mad scientists and hillbillies in, some of which are very hands-on. A tall clown pinned me against the wall and started back combing my hair with his hands! Others would block your way then shove you down the corridor. I loved that these actors were so confident and in your face, as opposed to doing the usual jumping out / pinching you technique.
Admittedly, there aren't any of the monsters from the film in the maze; but Thorpe have still done a great job of putting as many different scary characters into one maze and keeping the atmosphere coherent. The best thing about Cabin in the Woods is that you can make your experience different every time and take different routes, I ended up going in 3 times and having a great, unique run each time. 9/10
Next we did the Saw Alive maze, which I found far more enjoyable this year. I'm not sure if it was new or not, but after the photo with Jigsaw there's a room with a policeman who kept asking me to push the red button. (I didn't push it because I could see the actor underneath, ready to grab my legs!) I don't remember this scene from before, and it was a good start to the maze.
The rest of the maze is the same as it has always been. The actors varied wildly with their efforts. Some of the ones in pig masks were great at silently creeping up on people, another actor tried to pull my arms off the person in front, he wouldn't let go and it surprised me how committed he was. Part of me now wishes I had just let go and let him drag me off from the group just to see what would happen. In this respect, it's noticeable in Saw Alive that some of the actors are keen to push to the limits of what they can get away with, but because not all of them do this, the maze has a feeling of inconsistency. It could be pretty intense, but every time the maze starts to head that way it calms down again. 6/10
Saw some of the You're Next roaming characters after this, they were ok I suppose. Their weapons are straight out of the Asda Halloween isle, and their costumes are rather basic. They were pretty good at intimidating younger gaggles of girls, but in general I think roaming characters are hard to get right. They have to have really convincing costumes and mannerisms for it to not lose impact in an outdoor setting where they are outnumbered with normal people.
Met up with Nealbie and rode Saw again, followed by Colossus. It made me realise how much I prefer The Smiler to Colossus, even though The Smiler isn't great. Colossus' pace of inversions, especially the barrage of inline twists at the end are starting to make it feel like a flat ride to me.
Went in the Cabin maze again, where Nealbie managed to accidentally scare the hell out of me by waiting behind a black curtain! Then Nemesis Inferno in the dark, which was still blindingly forceful. Nealbie went on Stealth (whilst I admired it's fab color changing lights on the top hat <3), then we rode Rumba Rapids in the dark - it's great when you can't see how worn down it is. So ambient!
Stuffed our faces at Pizza Hut buffet, admiring the ninja like qualities of the pizza cutter-upper man. Then it was time for the maze I had been slightly dreading: My Bloody Valentine. I had heard that it was exactly the same as last years Experiment 10, and was not looking forward to being shut in a small room on my own.
This didn't happen in the maze. In fact, nothing happened. At all. My Bloody Valentine starts well, if you are standing at the end of your group, you will see the gas mask man appear (I don't know his name, I've not seen the film) and follow you down the tunnels. He was pretty cool.
There are lots of banging noises, then the group gets split up. We took the left side of the maze, which involves a bit of crouching and more corridors and banging. Then one actor jumps out at you at the end and that's it. Apparently the right side of the maze is better and has lots of actors, but we couldn't be bothered to queue for it again, especially as you don't get to choose which side you go down. All in all, I would say it's the worst maze at Fright Night this year, especially as you can still see all the Experiment 10 parts lying around outside, it was very disappointing. 2/10.
Next we rode Swarm in the dark, which was also disappointing as half of those lovely little red lights it has on the train weren't working. It normally looks fantastic at night, but not this time. I was not looking forward to re-riding Swarm after it's sluggishness earlier in the day, and unfortunately it was just as lame at night.
The trains were bouncing a lot around the turns, and the whole ride was just uncomfortable and slow, in a similar way to Air. I loved Swarm when it first opened, but it is becoming underwhelming and I'm really starting to dislike those awkward, bulky restraints. As soon as we hit the brake run Nealbie summed it all up by shouting "Swarms not fun anymore!" Indeed.
Last, and certainly least, was the Blair Witch Project scare zone. Which is a pleasant walk through the woods, with a few tents and some people in pale make up and hoodys standing around. There were very few actors, and they didn't come anywhere near us. The loud noises from the park prevent any feelings of being cut off from society, which is a huge factor in the film. It just doesn't work as a concept for a scare zone, because Blair Witch Project is a quiet, slow burning and eerie film, as opposed to a jumpy one. The house at the end had nothing in it. We walked through then gooned out over a view of Nemesis Inferno that we hadn't seen before, watching the train dispatch from directly underneath. Oooh!
I had a lovely day at Thorpe due to good company, rain, lack of queues and Saw actually being open for once. But as far as Fright Nights go, this was nothing special, there is a lack of park-wide themeing and the premise of a 'crazy horror movie director on the loose at Thorpe' is barely noticeable.