As per previous years, we visited Thorpe Park for their excellent Fright Nights event. This year there wasn’t any new mazes but we had a new scare zone called Purgatory Town to try.
We were intending to do all the mazes as we did with Alton Towers, but their packages had sold out days before we looked at buying them so we only ended up trying out Dead Beat.
Dead Beat is a decent time, themed around the last night on earth and a sinister DJ taunting you as you make your way through a night club and escape his clutches. I enjoyed it myself. It was nicely themed and it really did give the impression you were in a nightclub thanks to the music, dark environment and sets. I wouldn’t say it was particularly scary but it was a good time nonetheless.
The scare zones were good too, Purgatory Town was a bit flat but we didn’t really see too much of it. So far as we could see, it amounted to roaming actors and a flash mob every so often. The characters were nicely designed and the actors were doing a good job but it was nothing compared to The Crows of Mawkin Meadow! This is arguably the best part about Fright Nights, at least for me anyway!
I adore the aesthetic of this Scare Zone and the design of ‘The Crows’ who are animated Scarecrows roaming the fields. It is a simple idea, designed and executed wonderfully and I hope this stays as a permanent fixture of Fright Nights.
Lucifer’s Lair makes a return this year and it hosted an opening ceremony that officially kicks off the days scare activities and introduces all of his minions.
I felt this was a good idea that didn’t quite hit the mark.
The problem here was that Lucifer was on the stage talking to us, and behind us were his minions so you kept having to turn back and forth between the two sides to see everything. Thought it was nice that the minions got loose into the crowd from that point onward and no one was expecting it!
Then there’s the new Creature Campus show, Shock to the System which brings in two new factions, The Sarpedon Society headed by Medusa and The Franks, seamingly created by Medusa as an experiment.
The Franks step up and challenge Medusa over the control of the campus and I really enjoyed this one! It had a great use of props and it was well choreographed too. The costumes were well designed and realistic too.
Finally there’s the new 4D experience which features Pennywise the clown from It. I’ve not seen the It films myself so I don’t know the full story there but I don’t feel like I needed it for this. Much like Saw the ride, you can enjoy it without any prior knowledge.
It was ok, but I wouldn’t rush back to watch this. I much prefer the Ready Player One show myself. It: The 4D Experience felt like it lasted a bit too long and was far too heavy on the water elements and not a lot else. We came out completely soaking! I would say it was worth watching once but that was enough for me!
Merchandise was good, much like Alton Towers but not as extensive as Thorpe Park lacks their own version of the Freaky Five. they still managed some new pins, clothing and even a decent looking tombstone backpack as well, and it wasn’t a rip off either!
Food offering’s were much improved over Alton Tower’s offerings as Thorpe Park have got a lot of outside catering options set up throughout the park. You can still get Pizza and Pasta and the buffet, KFC or Burger King too. However you can also get dirty fries, Indian street food, vegetarian options and even themed apple crumble (though this just amounted to coloured custard that tasted exactly the same!)
I would talk about the rides but for the most part, the wind kept rides closed throughout the day. We did eventually manage The Swarm, Nemesis Inferno, Saw, Flying Fish, Stealth and Hyperia, as well as The Walking Dead, so it wasn’t a complete write off!
The only thing I can honestly say I’m a little disappointed about Fright Nights was that the multi maze packages sold out so quickly and none were available on the day. It hardly ruined the day as I’m not particularly that fussed about Scare Mazes but it would have been nice to try it all out for once!
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