Fright Nights 2023

[Park Addict 93]

Seems to be some confusion here, general maze fast track includes access to the special rooms. That wasn’t exclusive to the ultimate package.

Whilst the package is now listed as sold out in the T&Cs I honestly doubt it would have been overly popular considering all aspects are still available separately. 
 

Possibly they simply wanted to change the allocation of fast track with the package to general fast track sale.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Park Addict 93

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, themagician said:

They are proving that they can (almost) charge and offer what they want at Fright Nights and people will pay.

Like the rest of the Village Roadshow offering - despite all the social media commentary (and also the Village discussion here) about the increasing prices and declining standfards (just speaking generally) people keep lining up to fork over their money, and so long as the money continues to roll in, they will not see any issue with the product offering or the price they charge for it. 

 

8 minutes ago, Park Addict 93 said:

Whilst the package is now listed as sold out in the T&Cs I honestly doubt it would have been overly popular considering all aspects are still available separately. 
 

Possibly they simply wanted to change the allocation of fast track with the package to general fast track sale.

Everything i've seen and heard, the ultimate package has exhausted its allocation. While pretty much everything is still available to purchase separately, it will cost you more. If anyone was looking to get that package, and missed out, they can weigh up whether they want to pay the additional fee (and in the future, they learn a lesson to buy the package sooner, which creates a faster demand cycle). 

I would suggest they haven't reduced the allocation to the ultimate package to sell it separately, but there is zero reason for them to increase the allocation of a bundled package that is cheaper, if its possible folk will still buy it at the higher price. 

End of the day, the discounted bundle pack selling out means they've covered their costs, so everything else is gravy.

[Gobbledok]

Anyone know what this underground club actually is

[themagician]

14 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Like the rest of the Village Roadshow offering - despite all the social media commentary (and also the Village discussion here) about the increasing prices and declining standfards (just speaking generally) people keep lining up to fork over their money, and so long as the money continues to roll in, they will not see any issue with the product offering or the price they charge for it. 

I think it comes down to memories that people have. MW is known for having the best thrill rides in the country. They have the reputation of creating awesome rides like Scooby, WWF, Superman and DC Rivals, so if you ask (most people), which park they would prefer to go to if they had a choice, they would most likely pick MW. They’ve built this massive reputation and people will again (almost) pay whatever VRTP charge because people want to experience those rides again. And I think it’s the same with Fright Nights. It was/is the event to go to at Halloween, and the event built this massive reputation that started probably around 10 years ago, so now people will pay (almost) whatever to go to the event again.

[downunder]

2 hours ago, Park Addict 93 said:

Seems to be some confusion here, general maze fast track includes access to the special rooms. That wasn’t exclusive to the ultimate package.

Whilst the package is now listed as sold out in the T&Cs I honestly doubt it would have been overly popular considering all aspects are still available separately. 
 

Possibly they simply wanted to change the allocation of fast track with the package to general fast track sale.

Thanks for that. I could have sworn previously when I was weighing up Underground Package versus fast track, the extra rooms were exclusive to Underground. Maybe I missed this or it changed, but cool, even more incentive to get fast track now.
 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

2 hours ago, themagician said:

They’ve built this massive reputation and people will again (almost) pay whatever VRTP charge because people want to experience those rides again. 

You're absolutely right, but there is a break point. You can't ride that reputation forever because reputations change with each visit, each bad review and negative news story. If you don't live up to your reputation, that cashflow is short lived. 

We're seeing Universal making gains on the Mouse in Florida at present, while Disney continues to show contempt for their guests - and there is already a notable shift as a result. 

While a lot smaller, the shift locally is also apparent, albeit starting slowly - purely from my own observations i've seen more people start to give real consideration to visiting dreamworld over village. This could be for many reasons, but one of the biggest has been the focus the park has had on trying to attract visitors to come back to the park post-incident.

I think once the Dreamland \ Ocean Parade \ Flyer additions are complete, and you can walk back into a park that isn't shrouded by hoarding everywhere you turn, they're going to really accelerate, and this summer may be their *(long LONG overdue) comeback.

I'd love to see a competitive edge on the coast again, like we saw in the mid-2000's. Village are still out in front - but if they keep going the way they are currently, that may not last.

[TBoy]

I think it is a similar version down here to Universal vs. Disney, only with Dreamworld as Universal and Village as Disney. Universal is trying to create many new rides and improve guest experience to get guests to come back. Disney however, knows no matter how long construction takes on their rides or how good or bad guest experience is, people will still come because of the number of parks and things to do, as well as Disney being more well known.

This is why Village still gets more visitors than Dreamworld from my guess. In winter, if an interstate visitor buy a Dreamworld pass they only get Dreamworld and Skypoint, while if they buy a Village pass they get Movie World, Sea World, Wet n Wild and Paradise Country. People would think “Why go to Dreamworld when there is so much to do down the road?” 

Yes Dreamworld is introducing a Dreamland/Ocean Parade/Rivertown/Flier, but most people won’t go for a kids land/kids rides, I would expect more people to wait for Rivertown. And even then, Village is introducing WoO/Surfrider, so in this case I feel new additions wont matter if both are doing the same thing. 

[themagician]

A major issue DW have had since 2016 is a lot of rides were removed and the rides that were removed where what put the park on the map. And when so many closed so quickly, they get the reputation that there was nothing to do. And now with so much work going on throughout the park this year, to some it will still feels like that because there are so many construction walls. And this will be even more evident during the school term four period because ABC Kids about to close, the DF is still under constrcution and parts of Dreamland are fenced off. At least by the peak summer holidays all of this will be done and construction walls will be in the one (large area) that is ABC Kids World.

[downunder]

Village will keep pushing the envelope until they hit a tipping point as people have observed previously in the thread. Speaking purely as a customer, I'm really not seeing value this year, and would have given Fright Nights a miss it if I hadn't made plans with other people prior to knowing the offerings for this year.

I'm going to Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood and Knott's Scary Farm the week before, ignoring the exchange rate, they are much better value and have unlimited express.

What's interesting about Universal in Orlando, is that two parks combined have less capacity than any one of the Disney parks yet they are doing comparable attendance numbers to 3 of their parks if you believe TEA. It's quite striking - Islands of Adventure has 29K capacity and Studios 27K. Disney on the other hand Animal Kingdom and their Studios are 60K a piece, and Epcot is 110K and Magic Kingdom 100K.

I guess time will tell with Village. I also see anecdotally on every village post on facebook an avalanche of complaints. And I think a lot of parents just want to keep their kids amused so why not head up the road to a better value option.

 

 

[Erathix]

I'm just going to repost this as I'm not sure it was taken any notice of on the last page and I kind of do what an answer by those with more experience attending Fright Nights. 

Are the Panic Rooms at Fright Nights worth it? Can't find much details on them online from anyone, has anyone who has attended Fright Nights in the past and gone to these able to provide me with some details on them? Are there scare actors in any of them? Are the rooms detailed and high quality like the photo's or are they just sort of cheap and middling? 

Just wanting to know if any will be worth doing on the night. Also, what do the "bonus rooms" consist of in the mazes? Are they exclusive and scary or are they also sort of just there and uninspired? Have no idea what to expect as this will be the first Fright Nights I attend with my partner since 2014 Fright Nights. 

Thanks! 

[kujotess]

I don’t believe this year will sell out. The only nights that might sell out will be the first couple that they offer 50% off to all VRTP employees. Other than that who can afford $100 in this economy? The main IP maze is not exciting, nor does it seem to have people talking like previous years. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 hours ago, kujotess said:

I don’t believe this year will sell out. The only nights that might sell out will be the first couple that they offer 50% off to all VRTP employees. Other than that who can afford $100 in this economy? The main IP maze is not exciting, nor does it seem to have people talking like previous years. 

I don't think nights will sell out (unless artificially limited to encourage panic buying) but I think we already discussed that strategy ad nauseum. We didn't think they would sell out this year but the increased price point was meant to substitute that - the park still makes similar money, but the overall park attendance numbers are lower, making it a more enjoyable event for those willing to pay for it.

A lot of people are still spending "in this economy". While tales of woe are out there, and money is getting tighter, we are not in recession and the financial stresses spruiked in the media are not universal. They're real, they're out there, and they're affecting everyday people... just not everyone at all times.

[TBoy]

Looks like the Intensity/IT maze is getting repainted for DCeased, but unfortunately they are making it a white shed. Hopefully the Arkham building isn’t repainted with “Stage 10” on the side during the WoO transformation.

 

(Thanks to TPSN)

Edited September 22, 2023 by TBoy

[themagician]

I don’t mind it because it matches all the other white sheds in the park, at least they’ve slapped a stage number on it 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

13 minutes ago, themagician said:

at least they’ve slapped a stage number on it 

If it's got a number on it, we can pretend it's themed!

Like honestly - did Disney not teach everyone about studio parks in Paris?

[themagician]

I do wish they kept going with the corrugated sheeting, rather than sticking a print of block work onto the wall.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yeah the building is fitted with the aluminium framing to hold the wrap. While a genuine 'soundstage' look would be better than the wrap, at the end of the day the wrap makes it very quick and easy to change the look of the building to suit the latest offering. 

I don't like the look, but I do like that they're set up to be able to change it regularly to suit.

[New display name]

First Fright Night tonight and MW still has tickets for sale.

[Tricoart]

9 minutes ago, New display name said:

First Fright Night tonight and MW still has tickets for sale.

They’ve discounted first-day tickets by 20% and people still aren’t buying them. When will they get the message that what they’re offering is just not worth it to most people?

Edited October 5, 2023 by Tricoart

[New display name]

45 minutes ago, Tricoart said:

When will they get the message that what they’re offering is just not worth it to most people?

I hope they don't.  It's going to be a great night with less people tonight.

[themagician]

Well it will be great for those who are willing to spend that much on a ticket (I'm not one of them), because the queues should be much shorter so you can do more. Even when tickets were cheaper, lines were crazy long and people complained they couldn't do everything, but they still sold out every night most years.

For comparison (maybe an unfair comparison, but I'm doing it anyways), here's what Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando offers for their cheapest ticket (I've converted it to AUD and included tax).

 

           FN                                HHN

          $89                               $150

      5 Mazes                        10 House

    4 Precincts                  5 Scare Zone

        6 Rides                        5 Rides

    5 Hour Event               7.5 Hour Event

            -                         6mth Peacock Sub

 

Now I understand the budget for HHN is on a whole other scale and staff are paid slightly less (based off my findings, scar actors at HHN are paid around $25/hr, while at FN it's around $30/hr.

But... I would say at $150, HHN would be worth it (for anyone who's been I'm interested to hear your thoughts). And while every other category is roughly the same, with double the amount mazes/house, should be the price be half? 

Around 10 years ago I believe the cheapest ticket was around $30-$40 and I'd agree that is too low. But maybe that $60-$80 is a better price range?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

opening nights are never as popular as those later in the month - those who visit regularly know the actors take at least the first night to hit their groove. if you're only going once, later is the better experience for sure. 

It will be telling what they do with the later nights - whether they sell out, or whether those nights get heavy discounting as they get deeper into the month. 

We all discussed the big jump in price \ removal of membership freebies to fright nights this year, and there were questions over whether the price jump went too far. If the park is not as busy, and the night is enjoyable and you get everything done, AND the park makes a profit from it, then I think the pricing might be hitting the right spot - happier guests are going to give good reviews and return - something that has often been somewhat foreign to the company of late...  

If they have a fire sale on the later nights it will probably indicate they missed the mark...

Wait and see.

[themagician]

23 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

If the park is not as busy, and the night is enjoyable and you get everything done, AND the park makes a profit from it, then I think the pricing might be hitting the right spot - happier guests are going to give good reviews and return

And to add to this, if reviews are good and the event is getting good feedback, then people might decide that the price is worth it and then nights do start to sell out.

[STRAWS]

18 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

opening nights are never as popular as those later in the month - those who visit regularly know the actors take at least the first night to hit their groove. if you're only going once, later is the better experience for sure. 

It will be telling what they do with the later nights - whether they sell out, or whether those nights get heavy discounting as they get deeper into the month. 

We all discussed the big jump in price \ removal of membership freebies to fright nights this year, and there were questions over whether the price jump went too far. If the park is not as busy, and the night is enjoyable and you get everything done, AND the park makes a profit from it, then I think the pricing might be hitting the right spot - happier guests are going to give good reviews and return - something that has often been somewhat foreign to the company of late...  

If they have a fire sale on the later nights it will probably indicate they missed the mark...

Wait and see.

Personally, as someone who brought fright night tickets already for one of the later ones I will be pissed off if they discount the tickets when other people had to pay full price.

I hope I don't come across as selfish but if people have paid for it already for them to do this would basically be ripping off the people that paid for it by decreasing the offerings as it would get busier and making the value, we paid obscene.

I hope people understand what I mean.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Totally understandable. It's unlikely unless it is an absolute disaster for them to just discount the prices. What they may do is start offering bundles, buy one get one, or other combos that make it a much more attractive price.

They won't offer anything more to existing ticket holders if that occurs, but they almost certainly will offer to compensate you if you complain