Re: Thorpe Park
I do agree with this, Asylum is for sure a bit stale now, the thing is its the parks most popular and headline attraction, what still draws huge queues now, i think making a big change to it could be quite dangerous in some respects.
SAW: Alive and Experiment 10 are both by far more popular in terms of the scare attractions, based on my experience. The Asylum was, indeed, the shortest scare maze queue for the entirety of Friday, and I could see why.
As far as I was concerned, Fright Nights was very good. However, the [not so] festive atmosphere on park was less than impressive. Loud pop music seems to have replaced spooky Halloween soundtracks, and seasonal theming was literally non-existent. The roaming actors were a good idea, but sadly not enough.
Also, fastracks. Massively oversold; the main queues for the mazes barely moved. I waited 45-50 minutes for Curse, Asylum & SAW... this on one of the quiet days of Fright Nights (being a Friday).
As for the mazes:
Experiment 10 - Completely and utterly insane. It seems to be receiving a bit of negativity from those who went in it last year but, as a newcomer, it was perhaps the scariest thing that I've ever experienced. It's utterly bizarre, but being split up totally from the group automatically makes the entire attraction far more scary. Being trapped in a dark, confined space is absolutely guaranteed to worry people, especially when it's such a long time. Even being completely used to scare mazes and very difficult to intimidate, I couldn't help but worry "this has gone on for a while now... has everybody else been moved on and me forgotten about?" and the number of people who ran out of the briefing crying is unparalleled to anything I've ever seen. The remainder of the maze is very well themed, and I enjoyed how there were multiple routes, though the finale is poor.
8/10
The Asylum - Bland. Very, very bland indeed. The first corridor is effective and very aesthetically pleasing, but the neverending strobes and wire which follow quickly become tiresome and headache inducing. Though this owes itself to a couple of decent scares, and the finale is as good as it gets in terms of scares, I can't help but feel that this should be replaced in time for Fright Nights 2013.
6/10
The Passing
Whoever came up with the 'bags on heads' thing wants shooting. They're just inconvenient; not tight fitting enough and so constantly falling off, unhygienic and not adding to the scare factor whatsoever. Other than that, this is a fairly decent maze. Again, Thorpe were trying something different and it has partially paid off. In here the actors are very, very aggressive. They were pretty much attacking the group, grabbing people by the collar and shoving them into walls et cetera. Not to the point of injury, but severe intimidation certainly, causing a heck of a panic. The finale scene is also a highlight, though I have no desire to spoil that.
6/10
The Curse
Very well themed and there are some decent scares in there too. Mist / smoke effects and strobes are used very cleverly here and the set pieces are effective. Just a bit of a shame about the narrative here, or lack thereof, give this maze a proper storyline and you're onto a winner.
7/10
SAW: Alive
I was more interesting in the mock sets here than in the 'scare' side of things. Which is a damn good thing because, despite actors aplenty, this maze failed to provoke a single jump scare or have our group even mildly intimidated. The theming, however, is absolutely fantastic, and as a fan of the SAW franchise, this pleased me.
5/10
Overall, I thought Fright Nights was a better event than Scarefest. Though perhaps due to sheer quantity of maze experiences, rather than quality. The park is also utterly gorgeous in the dark, and The Swarm is definitely one for nighttime riding.
(For the sake of comparison:
Terror of the Towers - 8/10
The Sanctuary - 8/10
Carnival of Screams - 5/10)
