Thorpe Park Fright Night 2016 Mini Review

Thorpe Park on Fright Night is definitely a different animal to a normal Thorpe Park day. I can't recommend it enough. The mazes were amazing, the atmosphere 100% more spooky and I am so sad I didn't manage to try all of them. Next year maybe?

 

Derren Brown's Ghost Train: 

After the Ghost Train, I didn't want to go on anymore physical roller coasters. It was a much longer and more adrenaline-fuelled experience which woke the whole squad up after three hours of queueing. If there is one attraction I would recommend fast track tickets to, it's this one. They asked us not to talk about the gritty details so I won't discuss it, because part of the thrill (and fear) is the mystery surrounding it. I will say that quite a few scares were had by all but the VR equipment could use a lot more work. A few of us ended up having to hold the equipmen up the whole time, which detracted from the experience a little. It was good preparation for the rest of the night's horror mazes.

It's not the type of attraction that you can visit again, so it's exciting to hear new plans to add another journey to the Ghost Train. Would I queue for three hours again in the rain? Probably not.

3.5/5

 

Cabin in the Woods

The cast interaction while we were all queuing was amazing! It's not every day that I get told that I'm going to die by a roughed-up redneck girl, but I'll take it. They were all over us. I almost died when one of the girls took my bag and asked if I was really going to need it, since I was clearly going to die and all. 

As you can tell, I am very faint-hearted when it comes to horror.

I think this maze really brings to light the horror of having too many options: we were faced with about four doors to choose from. We froze in indecision as we rehashed our internet lesson on how to escape from mazes- basically stick to the right. Obediently, the most adventurous one in our group opened the door and we were faced with a horrific, looming figure a few steps away from us.

At this point I basically bolted to the other door, scaring the couple who were standing in front of it. We all crammed through the door, encouraged by the grim corpse who was happily shrieking at us. The next three minutes after that was spent in a limbo of leaping away from decomposing cast members who appeared from the ceiling, in front of you and sometimes directly next to you. 

Sometimes it wasn't clear where it was we had to go, but the cast members made even signposting incredibly sinister. Also one of the group accidentally angered a cast member and we got a stern talking-to for touching her. I'm still not really sure what happened, but I 100% agree that cast members working in haunted house environments should be protected and safe. 

Apart from that, very creepy costumes and one of the absolute highlights of Fright Night. I think more changes in environment and environmental special effects could have heightened the experience. It all became very same-y, with people appearing and us pressing against the wall to avoid getting touched by them. 

If you only have one maze to do, this one is a good shout.

4/5

 

Saw: Alive

When you're stuck single-file in a maze of barbed wire at night, surrounded by innocuous farming equipment and torture devices, you have to question your life choices up to this point. Mine was: Saw Alive is known as the scariest maze in Fright Night. The thrill of it isn't lost after many years in the Halloween lineup, with seasoned Fright Night veterans finding it difficult to conquer their fear.

Part of the fear factor was lost because of the annoying pre-teen boys behind us who were complaining about 1) not being in front and 2) our slow walking pace. They ended up getting targeted because they lagged behind our main group, which admittedly was very entertaining. I admire their spirit.

The journey starts with an intimidating cast member screaming in your face to line up against the wall, while Jigsaw looms in the background. One of the boys had the honour of pressing the red button to get us started. He almost peed himself when the cast member started shouting at him for hesitating. His sobbed-out "I'm sorry" will warm the cockles of my heart the next time a teenage boy annoys me. 

To describe how scary it is, I have to give the transcript of my friend's audio recording. This is  a 14 year old's reaction to Saw: Alive.

3:07 "Oh! Oh my god! Save me!!! Help!!!"

Chainsaws, shrieking tied-up lady with amazing abs, grabbing hands from dark and misty rooms. All while shuffling slowly with your hands on the back of a stranger, single-file, marching to an uncertain death. Needless to say, we couldn't have ended Fright Night with a better attraction.

5/5

End thoughts

Fright Night is so, so worth it. I would recommend going on a Sunday instead if possible, because even Saturday two weeks before Halloween had incredible wait times. 90 minutes for Swarm, 3 hours for Ghost Train, 90 minutes for Cabin in the Woods.