AstroDan
TS Team
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- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Horror Nights 2013 - Trip Report
As a frequent visitor to Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, I am not usually one to write trip reports. However, with Horror Nights being something which is much discussed and with a mixture of opinion on the event over the years, I felt the urge to report back on the experiences of 2013. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts.
This year saw the 7th installment of a horror nights event at Europa-Park and my personal 6th consecutive visit. It's fair to say that the event has had its ups and downs since the early days, back in 2007 and 2008 when relitavely small crowds thronged the passages and piazzas of Italy and France and Marc Terenzi wandering checking everything was running smoothly. The terrible event of 2011 still sits in the memory as one of my worst experiences of any event at Europa-Park in the 10 years I have been visiting. Indeed, that woeful arrangement back then was the slippery slope to Marc Terenzi leaving the organisation, and resulted in Europa-Park combining with renowned Dutch theming masters, Jora Entertainment - which showcased in a completely new event for 2012. However, the 2012 event wasn't without its fair share of criticism, with many people disappointed at the lack of scare zone/roaming actors and excessive crowds at times.
So, with an open mind and one of uncertainty, we made our way to the event on 1st November, having paid our €24 (£20) admission. Ostensibly, the area used for the event these days is quite large, with the bulk of Greece and parts of Switzerland used. Yet, with narrow pathways, I was all too aware that over crowding was a possibility, especially after we learnt that the event was sold out. We started with a 10 minute queue to enter, just after 8pm, when the event started. We had a plan of action, in order to make the most out of our time. Hence, we headed straight to one of the main attractions. What was immediately apparent, was 5 or 6 roaming actors in the pathways - chainsaw wielding maniacs, clowns - a real assortment, with plenty of smoke and booming Benny Richter soundtracks - which started us off pretty well.
We arrived at our first maze, in the well themed central arena (China Town), and joined the queue, which took 15 minutes (throughput was good). Take Away, is a heavily themed experience into a Chinese Take Away - however at this particular outlet, things aren't running smoothly. It's pretty much the same as the maze from 2012. The theming inside is great - scenes including caged cats preparing for slaughter, a rather disgusting backroom featuring a blood stained bra and knickers, crazy chefs and more. Unfortunately, I didn't really get many scares on this one, and there didn't seem to be many actors. If anything, it was a little overrated. But that said, it was alright, but we were ready to move on. Take Away: 6/10.
The second maze we did was The Villa, which had a 20 minute queue. Throughputs were again very good, and the pre show in the queueline set the scene well. I was towards the front of the group and thought it was fantastic. What Europa-Park do really well in their mazes is the 3 point scare. Rather than the Alton Towers approach where the actor simply lunges at you with a noise, here we have 1) The Actor appearing out of nowhere, for example, bursting out of a grandfather clock which doesn't look like it could ever have an actor inside it 2) a smashing sound effect as the clock opens out and 3) light effects. This means that the full effect of the scare is felt, for maximum impact. This was common across the main 4 mazes. At one stage, myself and Kaycee (who as at the front) were split entirely from the rest of the group and ordered to march into a room, where we were subjected to a very intense scare. Lots of scenes of old mansion memorabilia and other items, a laundry room (which was really cool) and other areas left us with a great impression and high enjoyment of the maze. The Villa 8/10.
Following this, we headed to Snow White, which was located in the queueline for Matterhorn Blitz. The queue was 30 minutes. I was expecting this to the lowest quality of all the mazes, and I was right. There were some decent scenes here and there, and the actors were very interactive, but the scare rating was less here. One actor followed me around for nearly the entire maze, constantly asking me if I needed to "s**t my pants". Obviously, this added to the amusement. There were various snow effects and again, some use of the 3 point scare, but overall, it felt much cheaper in quality than the other mazes and therefore I didn't rate it as highly. A bonus point however for a ride on Matterhorn Blitz at the end, but how the rollercoaster fits in to the theme I have no idea. Surely a sinister swiss farm house theme would work much better? Snow White 4/10.
We went for food next, which was excellent. Lots of selection: In Greece there were kebabs, in the China Town tent there were various Oriental specialities, and in the Hex Kitchen there were hot dogs, chilli con carne or hot meat sandwiches. Beer and spirits were flowing, too and the tents were warm, loosely themed and comfortable - with candles on all the tables. Food and Beverage 8/10.
Whilst walking around, Horror Nights did have several areas with roaming actors. I would estimate that in 2012, there were only 4 or 5 of these, but this year this was easily 15-20 - many of which were located within the well themed End of Days or Zombie Arrival Scare Zones. But not all, which was great. Some of the tactics used were hilarious - you could tell that many of the actors were professionals. Roaming Actors 7/10.
Following food, we queued for The Crypt, which took 30 minutes. Once again, I was towards the front of the group. This was for me, by far, the darkest and most sinister of the attractions. It was genuinely scary in several places. the beginning was a steady walk through an Ancient Egyptian tomb, with some actors located here and there, it was very dark - with very eerie music. An actor wearing a giant 7 foot Anubis costume was absolutely horrendous, and this got one of the greatest scares of the night. It was hideous - and the actor would open the wings of the costume and block your path through the maze. Very scary. Towards the end, it got worse again, with a section overrun with giant spiders. Hideous spider sound effects, bodies hanging wrapped in silk, an actor trapped shouting HELP - and then, the finale. First, what looked like a modestly sized spider lunged at the group, an impressive costume to hide the fact it was a human - absolutely grotesque - more 3 point scares. At this point, we thought it was over, as there was an exit sign and arrow. Cue slight relief. However, the ordeal was not over. Upon moving towards a dark corner, something huge lurched out of the darkness towards us. A giant, hideous spider outfit. I almost fell backwards at this point, before basically deciding to run out past the beast. Everyone ran out screaming. A truly grotesque and terrifying maze experience and one which I will not forget in a hurry. The Crypt 10/10.
A quick ride on Pegasus took us to 11.30pm, and time to join the final maze of the night - DEAD Inside, which was themed to Zombies. It was loosely similar to a maze last year, but this was much bigger. Sadly, this was the longest queue of the night at 1 hour, but we could see why, as this was a very long experience. Much of it is located in the lower parts of the Poseidon queueline. It was fantastic. The 3-point-scare technique was used to the maximum. An example? Imagine walking through what you assume to be a corridor, it's pitch dark. Suddenly, cue a massive noise, alarms, bright white lights, and several zombies banging against clear perspex glass right at you. Youw alk past what you think is just a crate. But no. Cue a Zombie bursting out of it, with a loud sound effect and lighting. This sort of scare tactic was used constantly in the maze, and many of the group were genuinely terrified. There was a tight tunnel, similar to one Carnival of Screams, and a finale which involved 'pushing a button', which released Zombies and meant you had to run out. A fantastic experience, which left many people quite shaken. DEAD Inside 10/10.
Which brings us to around 12.45am, and the end of the event. Overall? The best since 2008. I am really pleased that the park have set about improving every element, and ensuring that crowding doesn't spoil the evening too much. Whilst some attractions could have been improved, there were sufficient high quality mazes to make the £20 worthwhile and some excellent scare tactics. I am looking forward to seeing further improvements next year, and seeing what the partnership with Jora can bring moving forwards. With Horror Nights added into the wider Europa-Park Halloween product, it is one of the best in Europe and comes recommended. After the awful times in 2011, Horror Nights is finally on the up.
As a frequent visitor to Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, I am not usually one to write trip reports. However, with Horror Nights being something which is much discussed and with a mixture of opinion on the event over the years, I felt the urge to report back on the experiences of 2013. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts.
This year saw the 7th installment of a horror nights event at Europa-Park and my personal 6th consecutive visit. It's fair to say that the event has had its ups and downs since the early days, back in 2007 and 2008 when relitavely small crowds thronged the passages and piazzas of Italy and France and Marc Terenzi wandering checking everything was running smoothly. The terrible event of 2011 still sits in the memory as one of my worst experiences of any event at Europa-Park in the 10 years I have been visiting. Indeed, that woeful arrangement back then was the slippery slope to Marc Terenzi leaving the organisation, and resulted in Europa-Park combining with renowned Dutch theming masters, Jora Entertainment - which showcased in a completely new event for 2012. However, the 2012 event wasn't without its fair share of criticism, with many people disappointed at the lack of scare zone/roaming actors and excessive crowds at times.
So, with an open mind and one of uncertainty, we made our way to the event on 1st November, having paid our €24 (£20) admission. Ostensibly, the area used for the event these days is quite large, with the bulk of Greece and parts of Switzerland used. Yet, with narrow pathways, I was all too aware that over crowding was a possibility, especially after we learnt that the event was sold out. We started with a 10 minute queue to enter, just after 8pm, when the event started. We had a plan of action, in order to make the most out of our time. Hence, we headed straight to one of the main attractions. What was immediately apparent, was 5 or 6 roaming actors in the pathways - chainsaw wielding maniacs, clowns - a real assortment, with plenty of smoke and booming Benny Richter soundtracks - which started us off pretty well.
We arrived at our first maze, in the well themed central arena (China Town), and joined the queue, which took 15 minutes (throughput was good). Take Away, is a heavily themed experience into a Chinese Take Away - however at this particular outlet, things aren't running smoothly. It's pretty much the same as the maze from 2012. The theming inside is great - scenes including caged cats preparing for slaughter, a rather disgusting backroom featuring a blood stained bra and knickers, crazy chefs and more. Unfortunately, I didn't really get many scares on this one, and there didn't seem to be many actors. If anything, it was a little overrated. But that said, it was alright, but we were ready to move on. Take Away: 6/10.
The second maze we did was The Villa, which had a 20 minute queue. Throughputs were again very good, and the pre show in the queueline set the scene well. I was towards the front of the group and thought it was fantastic. What Europa-Park do really well in their mazes is the 3 point scare. Rather than the Alton Towers approach where the actor simply lunges at you with a noise, here we have 1) The Actor appearing out of nowhere, for example, bursting out of a grandfather clock which doesn't look like it could ever have an actor inside it 2) a smashing sound effect as the clock opens out and 3) light effects. This means that the full effect of the scare is felt, for maximum impact. This was common across the main 4 mazes. At one stage, myself and Kaycee (who as at the front) were split entirely from the rest of the group and ordered to march into a room, where we were subjected to a very intense scare. Lots of scenes of old mansion memorabilia and other items, a laundry room (which was really cool) and other areas left us with a great impression and high enjoyment of the maze. The Villa 8/10.
Following this, we headed to Snow White, which was located in the queueline for Matterhorn Blitz. The queue was 30 minutes. I was expecting this to the lowest quality of all the mazes, and I was right. There were some decent scenes here and there, and the actors were very interactive, but the scare rating was less here. One actor followed me around for nearly the entire maze, constantly asking me if I needed to "s**t my pants". Obviously, this added to the amusement. There were various snow effects and again, some use of the 3 point scare, but overall, it felt much cheaper in quality than the other mazes and therefore I didn't rate it as highly. A bonus point however for a ride on Matterhorn Blitz at the end, but how the rollercoaster fits in to the theme I have no idea. Surely a sinister swiss farm house theme would work much better? Snow White 4/10.
We went for food next, which was excellent. Lots of selection: In Greece there were kebabs, in the China Town tent there were various Oriental specialities, and in the Hex Kitchen there were hot dogs, chilli con carne or hot meat sandwiches. Beer and spirits were flowing, too and the tents were warm, loosely themed and comfortable - with candles on all the tables. Food and Beverage 8/10.
Whilst walking around, Horror Nights did have several areas with roaming actors. I would estimate that in 2012, there were only 4 or 5 of these, but this year this was easily 15-20 - many of which were located within the well themed End of Days or Zombie Arrival Scare Zones. But not all, which was great. Some of the tactics used were hilarious - you could tell that many of the actors were professionals. Roaming Actors 7/10.
Following food, we queued for The Crypt, which took 30 minutes. Once again, I was towards the front of the group. This was for me, by far, the darkest and most sinister of the attractions. It was genuinely scary in several places. the beginning was a steady walk through an Ancient Egyptian tomb, with some actors located here and there, it was very dark - with very eerie music. An actor wearing a giant 7 foot Anubis costume was absolutely horrendous, and this got one of the greatest scares of the night. It was hideous - and the actor would open the wings of the costume and block your path through the maze. Very scary. Towards the end, it got worse again, with a section overrun with giant spiders. Hideous spider sound effects, bodies hanging wrapped in silk, an actor trapped shouting HELP - and then, the finale. First, what looked like a modestly sized spider lunged at the group, an impressive costume to hide the fact it was a human - absolutely grotesque - more 3 point scares. At this point, we thought it was over, as there was an exit sign and arrow. Cue slight relief. However, the ordeal was not over. Upon moving towards a dark corner, something huge lurched out of the darkness towards us. A giant, hideous spider outfit. I almost fell backwards at this point, before basically deciding to run out past the beast. Everyone ran out screaming. A truly grotesque and terrifying maze experience and one which I will not forget in a hurry. The Crypt 10/10.
A quick ride on Pegasus took us to 11.30pm, and time to join the final maze of the night - DEAD Inside, which was themed to Zombies. It was loosely similar to a maze last year, but this was much bigger. Sadly, this was the longest queue of the night at 1 hour, but we could see why, as this was a very long experience. Much of it is located in the lower parts of the Poseidon queueline. It was fantastic. The 3-point-scare technique was used to the maximum. An example? Imagine walking through what you assume to be a corridor, it's pitch dark. Suddenly, cue a massive noise, alarms, bright white lights, and several zombies banging against clear perspex glass right at you. Youw alk past what you think is just a crate. But no. Cue a Zombie bursting out of it, with a loud sound effect and lighting. This sort of scare tactic was used constantly in the maze, and many of the group were genuinely terrified. There was a tight tunnel, similar to one Carnival of Screams, and a finale which involved 'pushing a button', which released Zombies and meant you had to run out. A fantastic experience, which left many people quite shaken. DEAD Inside 10/10.
Which brings us to around 12.45am, and the end of the event. Overall? The best since 2008. I am really pleased that the park have set about improving every element, and ensuring that crowding doesn't spoil the evening too much. Whilst some attractions could have been improved, there were sufficient high quality mazes to make the £20 worthwhile and some excellent scare tactics. I am looking forward to seeing further improvements next year, and seeing what the partnership with Jora can bring moving forwards. With Horror Nights added into the wider Europa-Park Halloween product, it is one of the best in Europe and comes recommended. After the awful times in 2011, Horror Nights is finally on the up.
