Roll up, roll up, the Figaro Bros. circus is in town
Roll up, roll up, the Figaro Bros. circus is in town
| Theme Park | Thorpe Park |
|---|---|
| Park Area | Lost City |
| Type | Scare Maze |
| Audience | Thrillseekers |
| Season | Fright Nights |
| Debuted | 2015 |
| Retired | 2017 (replaced by The Walking Dead: Do or Die) |
| Extras | Fastrack |
The Big Top entrance at night
First appearing at Fright Nights 2015, The Big Top was a clown themed scare maze styled around the twisted Figaro Bros circus.
In its first year the maze was housed in three tents on Neptunes Beach, but subsequently for Fright Nights 2016 and 2017 it was moved into a much more substantial single tent next to Rush in Lost City.
From the outside it was similar to Alton Towers’ Carnival of Screams, but it followed Thorpe Park’s usual approach to scare mazes of less storyline and more scares. Having said that, it was nicely executed, particularly in its final two years.
Guests entering the maze encountered a number of circus characters and scenes, including a clairvoyant at the start and a chainsaw wielding clown finale. Between these were clowns, a “fun house” section, strobe maze and some freaky life-sized jack-in-the-boxes.
Twisted circus music played throughout the maze (composed by IMAScore for Fright Nights 2017), which added to the bizarre maniacal feel.
Sadly The Big Top was retired after Fright Nights 2017, although there was a small tribute paid to the former maze at Fright Nights 2018 in the form of The Big Top: Showtime show.
The circus themed entrance to The Big Top
The Big Top was a popular maze and queues could get long
Themed Fast Track entrance
Queueline theming
More queueline theming
Roll up, roll up
One of the former Figuro Bros. performers
The maze entrance was through a giant clown face
Preparing to enter through the clown's mouth
Exiting the maze
Running out ...
... chased by a clown
The entrance at night time
The Big Top tent
Setting up The Big Top for Fright Nights in 2016
