The reviews below contain spoilers for the mazes, if you do not wish to know what happens in the mazes then we suggest you don't read on! The reviews are solely based on our experience of the mazes during our visits over the opening weekend.
The Big Top - 7/10
The Big Top is the newest maze at Thorpe Park, there has been plenty of effort gone into the advertising for it and it was certainly billed up to be something special. The overall look of the attraction is pretty big and impressive and looks as though there is a lot to do, including an outdoor section. It definitely had the feel of a carnival from the outside. We entered the maze and were immediately greeted by a Fortune teller, she told us to pick 1 of 2 paths and to make a decision quickly before the clown appeared. We chose a path eventually but there were no sightings of the clown. After walking through a path doing some tight turns within a small enclosed black cloth we had finished the first tent – no scares involved in this tent which left us a bit disappointed. We then entered the second tent which had strobing lights and loud music playing. Down the end of the tent we could see a mime inside, as we approached nearer they turned around and started following us, we went towards the next corridor before another actor burst through a wall causing a fairly big jump! Continuing through the tent we saw another actor that got in our faces a little bit before we exited the tent. Outside we were greeted by two actors, one dressed as a ringleader and one with a wooden mallet and his mouth being stretched open. We were directed straight into the last tent without any interaction with them although the actor with the mallet did follow us in and chased after one of the members of our group. Inside the last tent there were a few more actors in there jumping out. As we approached the final room we were finally greeted by a clown, he was calling us forward and then getting us to stop, he did this a couple of times before disappearing and then we heard a chainsaw starting up before we knew it we were being chased out by this same clown and the maze was then over.
The concept of The Big Top boasted lots of jump scares and carnival characters which unfortunately our experience seemed to lack. The whole maze came across as a little disorganised and we were disappointed that the characters from the promotional adverts didn’t really feature at all. There was an awful lot of potential for this maze especially with it centering on clowns, but regrettably this didn’t shine through and we were left feeling a little deflated after our experience.
My Bloody Valentine - 6/10
Based on the Lionsgate film, My Bloody Valentine returned for its third run at Thorpe Park this year. Approaching the maze you can often hear loud banging and there is a lot of smoke rising from the centre of the makeshift building which adds to the overall effect. Upon entry, our group was split up by a very frantic actor who advised us that we needed to hurry as Harry Warden had been killing people in the mines. Three of us went right and the other three went left. On the right hand path we were quickly greeted by a deranged miner running down an extremely tight corridor who pushed us towards another miner creating a couple of jump scares. The only way to get past the second miner was to try and shuffle past him due to the narrowness of the walkway which pushed the boundaries of personal space. In the second room we were directed through a tunnel, only accessible on your hands and knees with an actor banging around on the other side. Once we’d managed this, we met up with the rest of our group and wandered into a room with two balloon-like walls that we had to push ourselves through into Harry Warden’s lair. There were lots of actors dotted about in this area waving pick axes in our faces and banging them against the walls. The final section of the maze had a few more pickaxe wielding actors to chase you towards the exit of the mine, through the mist and into the open.
The actors have a lot of hidden areas to jump out of providing several good jump scares throughout the maze. We did do a second run of this maze later on in the evening which compared to the first experience was quite simply abysmal. The few actors that were actually present in the maze rushed us through and the whole thing was over and done with in about 2 minutes. All in all, My Bloody Valentine is probably not ideal for those who don’t enjoy tight spaces and suffer from claustrophobia as the majority of this experience was very dark with not a lot of room to move without a serious breach of personal space. It’s just a shame that depending on the time you choose to put yourself through Harry Wardens mine seems todepict the intensity of your experience.
Saw Alive - 8/10
Also back for 2015 is Saw: Alive. Situated next to Saw: The Ride and based on the popular Saw franchise this this is only non free flow maze in the park. The first room is based in a control room from the movies with TV sets and buttons on one side. There was some interaction with us as the actor in this room asked one of the group to press a button which started the TV screens. This nicely introduced the maze with the Billy puppet explaining that the games were just beginning as if we were in a Jigsaw trap. Moving into the next room, all hands on shoulders, we entered the bathroom scene from the first film where there were a couple of actors making loud noises with chains and banging about. Room two introduced a couple more actors creating jump scares with pig masks on, one of which followed our group putting his hands on the last person in our chains shoulders and whispering in others faces. Rooms three and four were a little lacklustre with only two actors and only mild references to the Saw movies. Things picked up a little in the next room with an actor lying on a bed before suddenly leaping at us before proceeding to crawl around grabbing peoples ankles and making most of us fear we were going to step on him in the dark. The finale, based on the sixth instalment of the Saw franchise was by far the best part of this maze. Focusing on the shotgun carousel, the atmosphere was very tense as the lights went off with occasional strobe lighting and only the reassurance that your hands are gripping onto someone else’s shoulders. There was another pig mask here that suddenly jumped at you and also an actor urging you to hurry on out back into reality.
For hardcore Saw fans, this maze is perhaps not quite what you would expect but still has a good amount of jump scares and plenty of tension that builds up due to the darkness. The only other stipulation is that this is by far the shortest maze so it’s likely you’d feel a little put out if you had queued for a long time.
The Cabin in the Woods - 9/10
The most unique maze at Thorpe Park comes in the form of The Cabin in the Woods. The experience begins in the queue line before you have even reached the first door due to the corridor being almost pitch black with only hints of the force field from the film dotting the walls. There are also several security cameras scattered about in this section giving the extra element that you’re being watched. After the safety briefing we were given the go ahead to enter the Cabin and choose any door we wanted in the first room. With four doors to choose from we opted for the door immediately opposite us which lead us into a ‘wooded’ area. Here we met our first actor who leapt out of the shadows blocking our path and giving us our first jump scare of the maze. We then headed back into the cabin and through another of the doors in the main room. In this room we were greeted with the Wolf head from the film mounted on the wall, before an actor slammed the door in front of us. Intrigued, we headed through this door where that actor then jumped out at us. We explored a few more rooms including a pitch black section that appeared to have white masked faces attached to the wall, suddenly these faces moved and started coming towards us which was particularly disconcerting! We then ended up in the Control room based on the film where we could see other people on a screen exploring the different areas of the maze. There were buttons connected to the screen with labels such as ‘lights out’ and ‘create smoke’ but unfortunately these buttons didn’t seem to do anything. We left the control room after a short period and headed back the way we had come from however taking a different route. In one room we were met by an actor chained to the floor slamming the chain against the floor and getting up into our faces. Moving forward, our group had to crawl through a small tunnel where yet another actor came leaping out of nowhere and invading our personal space as we shuffled through the tunnel. After this we entered a room where an actor was sliding along a rail whilst screaming at us as we walked past before blocking the way and then screeching once more. Following on from this, we headed down a corridor where another prop from the film appeared in the form of the whiteboard that was used for people placing bets on what creature would kill the characters in the film. After walking past this another actor was blocking our way and shouting stuff in our ears as we tried to creep past him. We then entered a larger corridor lit only by a strobing red warning light. The atmosphere here was very tense as there were several actors in this room writhing on the floor or jumping onto the low wall in the centre of the corridor before jumping at us. Walking down the slope towards the exit of the room we saw a black hole in the corner, as we tried to sneak past it another actor shot out and caused quite a severe jump scare. Finally escaping, we wandered down the next corridor before another actor jumped out at the last minute creating one last scare before we fled the cabin.
Ultimately, The Cabin in the Woods is a fantastic maze with the free flowing element making it a much more thrilling experience. The fact that we had no clue where we were going along with the sheer darkness made it all the more disorientating, creating the most intense, confusing yet entertaining maze in the park. Also the idea that we had to make our own choices regarding which door we wanted to go through next was fun. With lots of links to the film and plenty of actors we had best experience out of this maze. The entire maze seemed to last a lot longer than any of the others in the park with the added element that you could explore every crevice of the maze without being rushed through.
The Blair Witch Project - 5/10
The Blair Witch Project was our final maze of the night, mainly due to the fact that this one does not open until 1900 but also because we wanted to experience it in complete darkness. Beginning in the old Canada Creek Railway Station, we headed towards a very dark, fairly wooded area where we were warned of the Blair Witch and to beware of what we might find. It was quite a tense walk as we wandered down the path with twigs and leaves brushing past us with only a couple of small lights guiding the way. There were several actors dressed in black hiding in the shadows leaping out at us with one waving something large around, though it was unclear what it was exactly due to the darkness. After a few minutes of slow but steady pacing down the path we reached a small shed. Expecting something big for the final scare we entered somewhat cautiously but were left feeling more bemused than terrified as the two actors in the first chamber banged the floor and what we suspected was the Blair Witch made some noises in the second.
Overall, the majority of the maze was quite good playing on the common horror movie fear of the woods in the dark. Many times you’d be wondering if there was actually someone hidden in the trees or whether paranoia was getting the better of you, until of course you dismissed this thought and suddenly there was an actor in your face. However, what should have been a really tense and creepy experience was massively let down by the finale, ultimately leaving us with the thought ‘was that it?’