Fright Nights 2016 introduces the park’s longest maze to date, Platform 15, a daring new outdoor maze, following the old Canada Creek Railway route. The Big Top makes an explosive return, completely reimagined and quickly cements itself as an all time fan favourite!

Fright Nights 2016 also sees a trio Lionsgate-themed films return, and Containment returns for a second season!

Saw Alive

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Review

Fright Nights has now begun, and we were fortunate enough to attend the preview night for this year’s event!  Though officially the event only features one “new” attraction, Platform 15, both The Big Top and Blair Witch are advertised as featuring new scenes! On top of this, Cabin in the Woods, Saw Alive and Containment return.  With multiple tweaks in store, the event sounds promising, and by and large, it delivers!

Platform 15

Announced early into the 2016, Platform 15 is arguably the park’s most ambitious Fright Nights attraction to date. The maze starts at the old Canada Creek Railway station (to the left of Blair Witch), and then circles around the Loggers Leap ride area, along the old CCR route, ending by Samurai. This is by far the park’s biggest maze ever, in terms of physical area and length of the attraction.

The maze starts off with a walking pre-show, delivered by a guide from Creek Tours. Here, they talk about The Sleeper Express, the last train to leave Platform 15, but mysteriously did not return. It is said the passengers haunt the route, but the train conductor’s whereabouts are unknown.

The tour guide becomes spooked, leaving your group alone. You carry on and see The Sleeper Express – an old CCR train – which has a cool flamethrower effect now attached! The maze then becomes very open; it is the old CCR route just without the train tracks. This means that you can see the actors (called Sleepers) from a great distance, and it doesn’t have quite that much impact. However, it should be said it is very cool and creepy being outside in an isolated part of the park

The final third takes place in a pitch black tunnel, which is very unnerving. At the end of this tunnel, the group – led by an actor – conduct a seance to contact the conductor, who appears above you for a finale chase out.

For all of Platform 15’s promise, it does miss the mark a bit, being a bit too open for large parts of the maze, with the tunnel section dragging on too long. The maze would benefit both from more actors and more hiding spots for actors. The park are aware of this though, and have a long-term plan for the attraction!

The Big Top

Wow. Just, wow. 

Last year, The Big Top was a mixed bag of an attraction. It had a lot of potential, but that potential didn’t translate through into the final product. This year, the park have taken the core concept of the maze and realised that potential…and then some!

Now solely inside one tent, next to Rush, The Big Top is effectively another new maze. The park have kept many scene ideas from last year’s version (the fortune teller, the dungeon, the funhouse and, most importantly, the chainsaw run out), but turned it into a slick and cohesive experience. 

Perhaps most excitingly, the first third of the maze is a multi-route mesh maze, with intense strobes, paying slight homage to the park’s iconic maze of yesteryear, The Asylum. This section features multiple routes (we haven’t found them all year!), with opportunity for you to double back and get lost, and actors with incredibly high energy. 

Throughout the maze, a bespoke soundtrack from IMAScore blares out, and suits the frenzied chaos of the maze perfectly. 

The Big Top is definitely the top dog this year!

Blair Witch

Blair Witch returns for its 4th year, with the notable name change (having originally been called Blair Witch Project). This is to coincide with the recently released reboot of the 1990s film, unsurprisingly called Blair Witch.

Here, the park promised “new scenes”. Unfortunately, this isn’t to the level of The Big Top, but rather some changes to the scripts for the actors (to match the new film), and some slight tweaks to the layout. However, the layout remains dense with shrubbery, long and winding. It is certainly not as intense or scary as other mazes on park still, but the ‘alone in the woods’ feeling will still certainly leave people feeling very much on edge.

Cabin in the Woods

Also back for its fourth season, Cabin in the Woods hasn’t seen any changes this year. That is by no means a bad thing, but this means if you’re familar with the multi-route start of the attraction, there are no surprises for you this year.

The maze does remain consistent, with a fun and original start to the maze that slowly descends to a fast-paced finale, matching the film’s speed!

Saw Alive

It’s strange to think Saw Alive has now been running for 7 years…it doesn’t feel that long! Again, this hasn’t received any changes, but is strong and dependable, with a great cast this year.

Containment

Containment is back for a second year, remaining an upcharge attraction. The attraction remains effectively the same, but due to being an escape room, the park have introduced new codes / clues, keeping it fresh and allowing for visitors to return this year even if they experienced it last year.

Roaming Actors and the 15th Anniversary

Thorpe Park like to celebrate milestones for Fright Nights, with the park making note of the 10th and 13th anniversaries of the event in the past. This year, they of course named Platform 15 in line with the 15th anniversary, but they also introduced roaming characters from previous mazes.

The roamers are inspired by three mazes: The Freezer, The Curse and Studio 13. Which group you get will depend on the day. This is a fun nod to the past, and we like what the park have chosen to do with this!

Bottom Line

Whilst Platform 15 might fall short of the expectations some have for it, Fright Nights is still a fantastic event this year. With 5 mazes and an escape room, plus rides in the dark until 10pm, it’s a great, well-rounded event, and we’re already itching to go back again!