Movie World's Fright Night 2012

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Ok so I finally had the time to get the fright nights - here are my thoughts: Overall park atmosphere - Now I think Movieworld has truly exceeded themselves this year. The amount of smokefog, lighting, and the sound effects played everywhere was truly their best effort yet. Those paying attention to the music will know what i mean when I say - the Billy Ray explosion was hilarious. I really don't think I can say any more about it - the theming around the park was just incredible. The in park scare actors (such as down the Arkham Alleyway) were really good. My only complaint there is that some of the scare actors could use a little more deodorant. Film Vault - Concept was good, although there weren't really any major scares to be had. The maze was distinctly lacking in scare actors. The smoke was incredibly thick in there (a vast improvement on last year where you could see across half of the sound stage), however it did become a little difficult to breathe. The petrol powered chainsaw didn't help that, with petrol fumes hanging within the fog. Although this maze was missing a lot of scare actors that could have lifted the maze to the next level, I think the anticipation of when the next scare would come was an effect in itself... and being blinded by strobes everywhere also aided that. Whoever was playing Jason was stupidly tall - which did manage to scare the girls in the front of our line. The Walking Dead was incredibly well themed. My partner wanted to know how they got the food in the 'dining hall' to look so real - thought it'd be an interesting occupation. There were a number of well timed scares to be had, and the overall 'guts hanging out everywhere' and 'inmates eating them' worked well. The shower scene was nicely done too. I think this was actually better than Saw was last year. Only real complaint I had here was the last 'dark tunnel' area before the final scare actor was a door that had exit on it - being pretty dark it was hard to see, but the door had an auto-closer on it. In keeping with the 'hands on shoulders' mentality, i tried to hold the door with my elbow, rather than let go and hold it with my hand, and managed to get bolts screws something that was sticking through the door scrape all the way along my arm. SAFETY FIRST movie world.....? Hillbilly Slasher - the doorways gave a nice opportunity for some scares as people went through - unlike the first two, these had dark little corners that the actors could hide in - rather than doors or windows. There was a nice older lady near the start of the house who did very well (and actually had a decent hillbilly accent unlike some of those in the 'forest' area). I know this is being fussy - but the 'hillbilly doctor' was wearing a brand spanking new 'energizer' head lamp, on an elastic band. When such efforts have been gone to to theme this maze so well, it just seems a shame that someone couldn't have taken a few minutes to make up some leather-band and bare light bulb contraption for him to wear that would fit in better with the overall theme. This one actually seemed to be over too quickly, whereas the other two were more a bit of a drag towards the end. Although we made it through JL, and the front two mazes relatively quick, we decided we didnt want to queue for Psycho. We caught death derby - I realise that many have said it wasn't as good as circus of the damned, but it appeared to me to be fully in house, and for that i'll give them credit. The storyline and the news crosses etc were good too. The only fault I could pick with this as a show was that the music was far too loud - bordering on uncomfortable - and whether or not it needed to be that loud during the fight scenes and such, it should have been lowered whilst anyone was speaking (host, news cross, video screen etc)... as towards the end, a lot of talking was happening, but we couldn't understand it over everything else. Not a badly put together show in house, and something to build on for next year. I thought the creatures of rock had a nice stage set up - nicely themed and the fire bursts added a nice touch too. We didn't stay for the Burlesque show. We did manage to get a couple of rides on JL whilst we were there, and saw the GL queue extending all the way out of the queue line. We didn't ride anything else - i don't see a point queueing for something for an hour that i can ride mid-week as a walkon. Overall i'm very impressed with what MW have done this year. I got the impression (both from reading and what i saw) that most if not all of Fright Nights were done without external input, with almost everything being done in house. Fright nights had a different feel this year, and theres always going to be something we can pick on, or find room for improvement in. At the end of the day, for the price they were charging, I think the whole crew involved has done spectacularly, and while there are many things for me to pick about, they're all relatively small, minor issues, that hopefully the park has already identified and will work to fix for next year. As a quick disclaimer - I know that there are some people on these boards who may have had some involvement in some aspects of fright nights that I may have cast in a negative light. Please understand that I don't mean to cast disparaging comments on your work, but rather my own views on how i felt it came across. Everything else aside i think they've done bloody good work, i'm extremely impressed, and I can't wait to see how they beat this next year.

[westical]

Yep, couldn't have said it better, I was very impressed.

[Brad2912]

Can someone give me a quick rundown of which location each maze is in? I know Psycho is in Scooby queue, but which ones are in the studios & which in the show building?

[Linus1995]

Went last night as well, I have been every year since its inception and this year MW has outdone itself again! Atmosphere - As AlexB said, the park had a different feel to it this year... Much more sinister and creepy. The lighting was done better and there was much more smoke around most areas of the park, but the big thing that did it for me this year was the music. Instead of playing the 'theme' song of popular horror movies, MW used really creepy and weird songs and noises and sound effects which scared the shit out of me. Actors - I found all the scare actors (in the maze and around the park) amazing! Everyone stayed in character and did an excellent job. I want to give a little mention to two scare actors in particular. Leatherface on main street did an excellent job in getting people to come close for photo opportunities, and then at the last second ripping his chainsaw on and scaring the shit out of everyone! Very well done. The second mention I'll talk about in my maze review. Psycho 3D - Same as last year, cool idea and a fun time waster, but not really that scary anymore compared to the other top notch mazes. The Walking Dead - My first run through was crap, we must of gone through on the reset and I felt that our group was way too big! We had barely any scares. The second time was absolutely amazing. Our group was the front three of our line, and the rest behind us slowed down and disconnected. This didn't bother me as I knew we would get the scares because the actors would enjoy picking on a group of three. The theming was top notch, and EVERY room we walked through, we had every scare actor ready to scare us. The group in front of us had gone through very quickly so it was just us three, with all the scare actors waiting. This allowed them to set up really nicely and meant we were in for some scary times. It almost felt like a private tour of the maze just for us! Really great, and my second favourite maze of the night. FIlm Vault - They did well to build on the smokey/chain maze of last year and I liked the idea of using famous horror movie characters. I also liked that at the end they added extra sections to last year, instead of having fences for the whole maze. I felt that there was a lack of scare actors in this maze, but nonetheless it was a fun and disorientating experience. Hillybilly Slasher - By far the standout maze for me, as it was the best themed and I felt the most realistic and just downright 'creepy'. There weren't as many scares in this maze as the others, but the actors did a really great job, and I was just so impressed by the theming. In particular the little 'house' they built! The second special mention goes to the actor who was a guy, dressed as a hillbilly girl. As we entered the house he came around the corner and asked us to play hide and seek. He/she then disappeared off while counting to 10, and at random intervals scaring us from all different places! This game of hide and seek continued through the rest of the house section, I thought it was amazing and SUCH a good scare tactic. I was so impressed! Fright Night was amazing this year, and as always I walk away SO impressed and a very happy customer! My favourite time of the year at the parks by far. Kudos MW, job well done!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Film Vault is in the sound stage (1 or 2) closest to the highway. Walking Dead was in the other one (which I think was '2'). Hillbilly Slasher was in the showstage and of course - Psycho was in Scooby's Queue. An interesting challenge for those drawers amongst us (such as Gazza) - can anyone do a bit of a drawing of hillbilly slasher - and how it winds through the show stage? I get the feeling that it circled around the actual stage, and then into back of house, but can't quite get the idea of where it sits through the rest of it...

[Brad2912]

Just back from fright nights. Agree with most, a massive improvement on last year, which was impressive in itself. Solid rain from 5:30-6:30 meant nearly everyone was drenched, so not the best start to the night. Film Vault - was in the First group of the night to go through and thought it was probably lacking a little in scare actors. What the had was great, but there were long periods of nothing. The strobes worked really well with the increased fog. 7/10 Walking Dead - theme wise amazing. Very impressed with the detail and the gore. Scares were few and far between as by the time we got to the cafeteria area we'd caught up to 2 other slow groups and saw there scares before our turn. Theme wise along gets this 8/10 Hillbilly Slasher - and thought it was themed very well, the did a great Job of making you feel 'outside' at the beginning. All in all probably my fav maze 8/10 3 mazes completed by 7pm - we were very happy! Skipped Psycho as we did it last year and the line wasn't worth the wait for a repeat viewing. Rides: Superman Escape was non-operational when we went to ride it at 7:30. The line was out the door still though, and at about 8 it started running again but not worth the wait by then Got of GL after a 1 hour wait. Moron teenagers were climbing the statues & purposely trying to break them, which pissed me to no end. No audio again which makes 0/6 rides. JL - my first ride on it. 15min wait from the internal switchbacks. Themed amazingly. Guns seemed a bit hit and miss and one entire scene no targets were active to shoot. Decent family ride though. All up, barring the rain - a great night out!

Edited October 27, 2012 by Brad2912

[rappa]

Oh AlexB couldn't agree more, the first time I heard the little Billy Ray part of the soundtrack I lost it and I've pretty much laughed my ass off every time since. I can't say enough for the park atmospheric music this year, it's what really 'sold' the quality of the event for me.

[MickeyD]

I went last friday night. very impressed by the atmosphere and overall show. I thought walking dead was a tad too brightly lit. Plenty of actors tho but for me more fun than scary. That was my 1st visit. Next I went on JL - only because it was a 10 minute wait while other ride's queues were stupidly long. Seriously, Arkham was out the door and around a corner. Operations are doing an outstandingly fucked up job of running things at the moment - does anyone on here care to agree? MOVIEWORLD, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR RIDE CAPACITY, IT's PISSING PEOPLE OFF!!! The film vault was my next favourite by virtue of the lighting however, better signage is needed to warn ppl of the excessive strobe lighting used in this maze. I wouldnt be surprised if they have had issues with seizures. Personally I loved the effect - very disorientating! We arrived at 7 and with these 3 things done it was almost 10 already :-( just enough time to visit the slasher maze. I am so glad I saved the best for last!!! VERY impressed! The detail, set design, props, audio and lighting in here really blew me away. It was a genuinely creepy and all round pretty fucked up experience.. Well done movieworld!!! I hope hillbilly slasher comes back next year - almost 100% sure it will! my standing ovation goes to Technical services. Its gotta be one hell of a job setting up for fright nights and this year they have truly outdone themselves. These guys are the true heros of this show:-D. Operations on the other hand, well let's just say im going to start a new topic re this

[westical]

I noticed they must have recycled last year's map as JL still had the old Wayne Manor façade.

[kujotess]

I noticed they must have recycled last year's map as JL still had the old Wayne Manor façade.

That map didn't have the big shade thing down main street either.

[westical]

I can sorta understand that given there were attractions underneath it.

[pin142]

I was there and had a really enjoyable night even with the rain at the start of it (was a nice change from being so damn hot!). The stand out for me along with many other people was the Hillbilly Slasher maze. The effort and work done with it made you feel like you were actually walking through the woods and house. First part where you were "outdoors" even smelt like you were. The show in the arena this year I felt wasn't as good as the circus last year but still a good show. The dancing by the performers made up for the Nickelback soundtrack (even if it was one of their better songs). It was a good idea but I didn't expect the show to end what felt suddenly to me. One thing I will say is the queues for the mazes whilst looking long were short. The ride queues were on the long side but if you are doing the night for the rides you are doing it wrong (especially Scooby!). For something the park has done themselves all the crew behind the scenes should be proud of what they have achieved as it is nothing short of amazing. The atmosphere in the park was great as were the scare actors. Also liked in some of the queues the actors walking up and down keeping people occupied whilst waiting. Given the numbers in the park overall it was a very enjoyable and relaxed night with no rushing to do mazes. If there were rides involved it would have been a different matter but I feel the rides are just a sideshow to the main event.

[westical]

What's so bad about riding a spooky coaster at a Halloween event?

[Brad2912]

The experience doesn't change as the coaster is indoors. There also isn't anything really spooky about it, despite its name. Much rather wait for SE, GL, AA where you're getting a new experience in the dark

[westical]

So you shouldn't ride Space Mountain or Haunted Mansion after dark?

[joz]

You can ride what ever you want to, there is no problem. However, people are saying there's little point spending the time in line given the experience is the same as always, and you can ride it without the queues and not at the expense of unique experiences during normal operation. Having said that though if you want to go on Scooby, feel free, it's there, it's open and day or night it's still fun.

[Gazza]

Basically, Scooby Is open 364 days per year, excluding annual maintenance. On the other hand mazes are only open 6 or so days per year, and only 5 hours each night....and you are paying extra in some way to have the experience of them. Why bother with it on the night? It takes away time from the Halloween only stuff. To me it's like going to SFMM on a holiday, but spending your day on the pirate ship, bumper cars etc rather than riding the B&Ms and other coasters we don't have in Australia.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Personally agree with the whole 'not riding scooby' mentality - Gazza summed it up perfectly... however, in my opinion, this is a wasted opportunity - an attraction within the park that's namesake implies something hallowe'en related, and nothing is really done to try and feature this attraction for the event. I don't know that there is much that they could do - and a lot of safety and other factors to consider - but i'd like to see MW pay some special attention to Scooby for next year's Hallowe'en - the same way Disney overlays a lot of their attractions for holiday seasons...

[pin142]

To be honest I would like to see something done to Superman pre-launch to fit in with Halloween. Bring zombies to the subway section, change the green light to red for the plant water. No reasons why zombies and earthquakes can't co-exist. You can still use the launch as Superman getting you away to safety.

[kujotess]

Wouldn't that be really dangerous? I don't think it's built for scare actors to roam for 5 hours a night.

[rac2703]

They would never allow scare actors (or anyone) in that area while the ride is in motion, its basic health and safety to ensure the "ride path" is clear during operation.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I'm sure theres a few animatronics they could chuck in there too - even simple 'BOO!' style jack in the box ones. Even just some cobwebs and a few spiders, change the pre-show video (Gazza's proven that can be done easily enough) as well as the voiceover announcements 'tremors in the tunnel' etc. It'd take a little work, but it wouldn't be hard to overlay superman.

[pin142]

Yeah, I was thinking more of static props/animatronics than actual people. No way would they be able to have people in that area outside of adding/removing trains.

[Jacob29]

Also, one thing I recognized is that on the Fright Night map, it has the old entrance to Lethal Weapon.

[westical]

With no access on the side of Superman. Must have been a really old map.