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Experiment 10 at Thorpe Park 2011

Ethan

Strata Poster
SPOILER ALERT

Now as far as I know, no one else has written a report on this attraction here on CF.
Anyway, me and a huge group of friends went to Fright Night last year. I know it's January now and October was many months ago, but a lot of people at school always ask me and my friends what Experiment 10 was like. I'll keep it brief because long reports can be soo boring...

We began queuing before the maze had even opened, so we only queued for around 40 minutes...which was boring. They opened the queue without the maze being ready, so a lot of that time was spend not moving. There were loud speakers near the exit of the maze, at the final container. After around 20 minutes, a few actors in hazmat suit roamed the queue line. We tried to shake their hands but unfortunately, they weren't interested. A pale faced woman was also walking past the queue, with a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. Every so often she would do small 'checks' on us, like placing her finger on our chins and then writing numbers down on her paper. She even asked my friend for her name when my friend took a picture of her (while saying "cheese!")

There was nothing much to look at in the queue, other than the containers we were about to enter, the actors, and a booth painted with fake blood in true Thorpe style.

As you draw nearer to the entrance, half of your group are given white, paper wrist bands, which simply say 'Experiment 10'. These were used later on while inside the maze. You then dump your bags in a wooden box and you are then taken behind the container and told to gather around a member of staff. This person is not an actor, they just inform you of the rules, and also that it is forbidden to hold hands or shoulders with others in your group unless told otherwise. This really shocked us, and it wasn't helping that a large chuck of the group before us had 'chickened' out.

Spoilers start here

As you enter the maze you walk into a dark room with moniters on one wall and a rack of cheap looking toy guns opposite. Greeting you is a man wearing a lab coat and glasses, who is also holding equipment. He told us about how the 'experiment' is a good thing, and will greater the human race. He also checks if we are allergic to any medication and if we can swim.

Another door swings open and you are then violently told by a man in a hazmat suit and gasmask to stand against the walls, with the people wearing wristbands on the right, and those without of the left. The room is FULL of smoke, and it's difficult to see anything around you, no matter how far away or close. While standing there silently, the lights flicker and then dim completely. They turn on again after a few seconds.

Again, you are violents told to head in two directions. My group (of about 5) were told to head right. A woman stood their in the doorway after turning a corner. One at a time, she asked the person next in the line to look up, down, left, right, and to say how many fingers she was showing us. After being 'tested', we were pushed into individual rooms, one at a time, and it was these rooms we would be locked inside. The cell was pitch black, and I could only feel 3 of the 4 walls. I could hear other people being let out, and there was a lot of noise. And although I knew it was all a theme park attraction, I was still stightly concerned that they might forget about me, and leave me in there. Luckily they released me after a minute or so. I than found a few of my friends who had also been let out. And we were then told to climb into a tunnel. This tunnel is very claustrophobic and tight. It makes some turns, changes in elevation and there was also some material hanging down from the top to scare us. We all grabbed eachother's ankles so we were not split up again. When I reached the end of the tunnel, which was about 40 seconds after entering, I was shouted at by another hazmat guy and was urged to move forward without my friends with me. Obviously I waited for them because I hate the dark :(

The rest of the maze follows the usual pattern. Room, after room. There were probably 4 or 5 rooms after the tunnel. These scenes included glass cages with people inside and hopsital beds with actors hiding in them. In the final room, which is still very dark, we heard a loud roar and shortly afterwards an actor jumped out from nowhere and we all fell out of the final door in a large heap. Adding to this, everyone in the queue laughed and pointed at us.

We had to walk all the way around the arena to collect our bags which we had to leave at the entrance. This was annoying, but I dont see how they could solve the problem. If I could change anything about Experiment 10, I would:

- Include more actors, the final rooms were pretty much empty
- Interest us more in the queue. The Asylum (which by the way is epic) has a stage with lights and music etc
- Keep the suprises coming1 The first half of the maze is so original and thrilling, but the remainder is slightly dull in comparison.

I hope you enjoyed this report on Experiment 10. I fully recommend it to anyone, as well as The Asylum, which I think is slightly better (more intense throughout).
 

Lofty

CF Legend
I did enjoy this report, it's great to see an in-depth report on what happened in there. I tried my hardest to get there this year, but sadly couldn't make it, which is a shame. I'm going to try again this year.

Experiment 10 was a whole new concept for Thorpe to deal with, from reviews I've seen, they succeeded. Whilst for the UK, this whole Group Splitting/Alone environment may seem novel, it's been done in the States, Europe, Hong Kong & Japan for quite a while now. It's extremely clever. One of the major phobia's people gain is the fear of being alone. So mix that with the fear of darkness, you're on to a winner. It's very clever. The reason in which there was little actors towards the end? Solely for what I've said above, most people would be terrified by that point after being forced into "cages" alone in the dark, so they don't need extra actors as it wouldn't actually add anything to the overall experience.

As I said, good report. If you've got any Scare Attractions at Thorpe (or anywhere for that matter), I'd be thankful if you post them.
 

Ethan

Strata Poster
Thanks. And yeah I see what you mean. I guess because you are in shock from the cell part near the beginning of the maze, you don't notice the actors as much, and more focused on the exit...

Do you mean other mazes like the Asylum, Se7en and the Curse etc?
 

Lofty

CF Legend
Yes, any in fact. If you've visited any other ones, it would be nice to hear some. You're pretty in-depth which is good.
 
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