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Shots fired from tulleys ?

Doesn't need a world's first, it's a quality long-term ride which is the most important thing. IMO.

The first thing that caught my attention with that sign is that it looks like, again, there will be a focus on events in 2019. No mention of a new attraction. So there's a decent chance there could be nothing 'new' in terms of rides, mazes, etc for next year. Also going to address 2 points which keep bugging me... Loggers Leap. If this thing was going to be opening next year, we'd have seen some work to it by now. We'd have heard something. Anyone saying, thinking, wishing, whatever that it'll open next year is living in dreamland at the moment. And it's still very much a case of 'if' it will open again, and not 'when'. We need to be realistic with expectations there. I agree they need to make a decision and stick to it though. Slammer. Slammer is gone. Dead. Finished. It ain't coming back. I agree it would be nice for them to dismantle it. But, realistically, it won't be dismantled until something replaces it. What do I want for 2019? -Thorpe to start truly focusing on presentation. Having a proper budget to fix and maintain stuff, repaint things and make the park look and feel good. This shouldn't be part of an advertised 'Thorpe TLC' programme like Towers do. By all means call it that behind the scenes, but don't advertise it - just do it. -A solid event line up. It's scary to think it was 10 years ago, but in 2009 and years around then, the park had a solid events line up. You would have a big buzz for opening. Easter holidays had something. May half term had something different. Summer had something. Then you had Fright Nights. They tried that this year, but it fell flat due to the Year of TWD being advertised poorly, the conflict with that and Love Island, and scary stuff not working outside of the Halloween period in theme parks (shock horror!!!). They need to bring back a solid, varied, events line up, to give people reason to visit. Hopefully this is on the cards. -Fright Nights. Fright Nights is poor this year, but it shouldn't be. It is the park's headline event and should be their best time of year. Go for quality over quantity. Actually spent time designing mazes, putting a budget in to build them, rather than just giving actors a space and hoping they can scare people. -A vision to go forward on. Once again, we find ourselves asking "Who does Thorpe Park cater for?". They've had The Year of TWD, Love Island Lates and the scariest Fright Nights ever. Yet families still come to visit, Thorpe push families a lot. They've got out of their way to keep Timber Tug and Lumber Jump open during Fright Nights. They kept the beach open till the end of September. If Thorpe are ready to accept that families will always visit, show that in the brand, attract more in and make them welcome. -Signs for the future. Related to the above really. The park needs a new roller coaster. It's what Thorpe do best, it's what everyone expects from Thorpe. We need to know that it's going to happen, and that it's going to happen soon. If they don't want a coaster just yet, get a log flume (confirm what's happen with Loggers) or a shooter dark ride. Just something big, substantial and good. Please

You know, I’m sensing a BIT of a vested interest with this one ?

Sadly there’s a better chance of me becoming divisional director next season than there is of Loggers ever reopening and Slammer being removed. The park really need a good look at what they are offering and how they can be different from other attractions. A new attraction would be nice but is somewhat unlikely. If it means giving them more time to make their next big thing special then so be it. It’s sad but no surprise that despite the theme park division doing well, the park is by far the worst performing in the group on both attendance and positive feedback. Sadly the staff don’t have enough motivation as many either leave or lose any form of initiative as a likely result of lack of morale. Oh and £15 for parking won’t improve Park incentive for anyone.

I bet Merlin/Thorpe are kicking themselves now since they are the ones that claimed that the fake train section (Middle Section) was the main reason that the ride was breaking down all of the time...

Legoland says Hello.

Chessington says hi

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes. 2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on... As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days. For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison. Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013. I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation. Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

I'm sure the event will be back to 2010 era soon, it will still make money this year, but I sense movement back to years past. On that note, I'm off to create the 2019 FN rumours/discussion topic.

They are leaving Rumba Rapids empty of water for 2019, adding a rope to the side and re-opening it as a year-wide "Vulcan Peak II" due to the resounding success of the groundbreaking, immersive maze "Vulcan Peak". Source: Lord Sanbrooke

Hey all, Due to the change in leading these meets this has obviously meant a change in the calendar for 2018. As a result of the change the calendar will also change: September abroad trip will no longer take place (this year anyway) October - TPM Fright Nights Meet December - TPM Christmas Meet A provisional 2019 calendar will come around November time. In the meantime keep your eyes peeled for information on the Fright Nights meet. Matt