Sunday, 09 October 2016 18:00

Review of Thorpe Park Fright Nights 2016

Thorpe Park celebrates 15 years of Fright Nights in 2016, and we were invited to a special event on 6th October to preview this year's lineup. The new addition Platform 15 joins many returning classics, some with new scenes or improvements.

SPOILER WARNING: our review does contain spoilers, so if you want your experience to be a complete surprise don't read on...

The event is once again aimed at adults and teenagers, and this year the lineup includes three live action horror mazes, two walkthrough attractions and an interactive experience.

When the hybrid escape room attraction Containment opened last year, we immediately loved the challenge of solving puzzles in intense situations and against the clock. It's now back with an improved introductory sequence, updated lighting effects and new puzzles to complete. There are four rooms based on four fears; the fear of blood, the fear of arithmetic, the fear of the dentist and the fear of time. The scare actors are fantastic, doing their best to completely terrify and distract you, but sometimes giving you clues along the way too. We managed to complete all four rooms within the time limit, but only just! It will cost you an extra £10 per person but we think it's definitely worth it.

Last year's other new addition The Big Top looked great from the outside as a collection of carnival style tents around Amity Beach with themed entrances and other props, but it didn't get rave reviews for the experience inside. This year it has moved to a much less appealing location, all in one marquee and with less theming outside, but inside it has been given some new scenes and other enhancements. In addition to the fortune teller, strobe maze, a clown's dressing room and fun house sections there is a new area featuring props from the history of the park and you are still chased out of the maze by a maniac with a chainsaw at the end!

For those of you that remember the Canada Creek Railway, new walkthrough Platform 15 follows the route of the now abandoned loop around the back of Logger's Leap. It's a very long walk, so easily the longest Fright Nights attraction in history, but as a consequence there are long sections where very little happens. You begin your experience on the platform of the former railway station with a photo opportunity by a themed ticket office amidst clouds of smoke. You're then marched off to find out what happened to the train and its passengers and before long you see the train blasting fire in the distance. After a brisk walk you arrive to find it inhabited by a couple of lost souls before walking further on and encountering a few other actors. After passing through a rocky gorge you must navigate a gauntlet of zombies before entering a long tunnel, and after a lot of walking in the dark you reach the end where a seance takes place to communicate with the guard of the train who then appears at the end.

Returning this year, three of the popular live action attractions based on Lionsgate horror movies; Cabin in the Woods, SAW Alive and a re-vamped Blair Witch walkthough. After some disappointment last year when the free flow element was removed, the brilliant Cabin in the Woods is back at its best this year. Our run through featured more actors than ever and plenty of the intimate interactions that make this horror maze so successful. SAW Alive was also on top form as all the iconic scenes from the movies remained but the actors were interacting in new ways so it felt much more intense than previously. Thanks to a heavy dose of smoke, strobes and pitch black moments we were left completely disorientated. With the release of this year's new Blair Witch film, the park's classic walkthough attraction has had a re-vamp for 2016 with a few new scenes and the woodland path continues to get even more overgrown. There was an extra shock at the end, with an actor was waiting to pounce on us after we had exited the attraction!

As part of the event’s 15th birthday celebrations, roaming scare actors will be unleashed on the park after 4pm, so the scares will continue outside the mazes. Guests can choose which characters arrive at the park by voting on Thorpe Park's Facebook page. You will be able to choose from a selection of frightful fiends who have graced Fright Nights mazes over the past 15 years, and bring them back to the park for one last scare.

Thorpe Park Fright Nights continues on 14th-16th and 21st-31st October, with the park open 10am-10pm every day. 

Book now: Thorpe Park Fright Nights Tickets and Thorpe Park Fright Nights Breaks

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