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This is what I'd like to see! Replace the passing with big top and you've got a solid line up. But in reality I guess we'll see an almost identical line up with some small improvements to the likes of dead wood creeks and Vulcans peak!

I have... But of course, you'd never get anything wrong. ?

I didn't visit any events last month due to work but I have to say from reviews/povs this year seems like one of the most shambolic years to date. I think its a shame considering Fright Nights pre 2015 was considered a huge name and a trailblazer in the industry, sure a lot of people blame 2013 for bringing in IP's but Cabin and MBV were still pretty decent experiences that successfully worked the free flow concept that is now becoming more popular across mazes in the industry. I think with Thorpe perhaps it is just competition rising across the industry? 2015 was a dreadful year for FN, but that was only amplified by Tulleys upping their lineup to 8 that year, Alton introducing one of their best lineups to date, or Xtreme Scream introducing the amazing looking Ash Hell. I think post 2015 the event has somewhat been a few steps behind the other big events, sure Big Top (2016-2017) and Platform (2017) were amazing but the rest of the lineup were generally mixed.. This year I think sees an all time low for the event, sure some of the roamers look great but there is no maze that looked like a "go to" this year, which I think is really depressing in a event that on some years had 2-4 mazes on that par! I think next year the event needs some fresh concepts, something unique that is just different to anything currently on park. I also hope they add some extra scare zones and keep a good atmosphere across the park.

What I'd like to see next year: - The Big Top. Removing this maze was a huge mistake. The show wasn't bad, and the roamers were fantastic, but the maze was the best I've experienced at Thorpe in the 5 years I've been doing Fright Nights. - Platform 15. Despite the mixed opinions, I really like this maze. It's a great attraction. Go back to the 2017 storyline (it was far better), fix up the broken effects. The ending also needs work. - Living Nightmare. Not a fan of it personally but I don't see them removing it for a good few years. The theming is the best at the event. - Saw Alive. Sure, it'll be 10 years old next year, but it's still a good maze with some great theming that always seems to be popular. - Scrap Do or Die, Dead Creek, Blair Witch and Vulcan Peak. - If a second Walking Dead horror maze has to happen, have it down the DC/BW path and in the IAC area. The Terminus cannibal theme is a good one it just hasn't been done properly yet. - One/two brand new, preferably original, indoor horror mazes. - Amity High returning with more theming about the Stealth plaza. - Containment gets scrapped/updated with new rooms and puzzles. - A show in the Dome. A Studio 13 themed one could work; the director and his cast and crew filming a scene for his latest feature. Have some audience participation, humour, make it more a fun experience than a scary experience. Realistically... P15, LN and Saw will all return. Containment will remain unchanged. If the park have any common sense Big Top will come back too. Vulcan Peak could stay and get an upgrade and Dead Creek could be extended down all the way through Blair Witch. I don't think anything major will happen, as much as I want it to. Fright Nights needs to have a huge revamp at some point in the near future. Maybe for it's 20th anniversary, preferably sooner. But it really needs a huge shakeup if it wants to compete with other major events in the country. Hell, it needs a shakeup to compete with some smaller events in the country!

Aha I remember when they reduced fright nights till 9pm! For me: Saw Alive - solid maze, well themed and still draws the crowds. Living Nightmare - it’s not going to go anywhere, to be fair to it it’s probably the best themed maze Thorpe have had, it needs some serious work on its ending though. Platform 15 - this is again a good attraction when the actors are on form, but like living nightmare it needs work on its ending which has always been inconsistent at best. Blair Witch - This year Blair witch wasnt bad IMO, they got it much more “forestry” than it was in the past and that worked well, merge this with Dead Creek, and it’s back to a decent length too. New: Big Top - this is probably one of the parks best mazes they’ve had - would really like to see this return. New concept - preferably not an IP, an original concept maze (inside) be that on the beach or over behind swarm in a Marquee New maze in IAC - with some work they could make a pretty decent jungle themed attraction, no need for the hoods but it would take some work to certain parts to work as a fright night attraction.

Me, when the Merlin parks get everything done they planned to.

Thorpe have launched details of their 2019 season pass which looks to be replacing the TP annual pass. £55 for the season with normal summer weekend / Fright Nights exclusions, they are also selling a parking pass for £21 which is decent value too but has the same exclusion dates. https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/annual-passes

If I had a quid for every time Chessie had PLANNED to do something etc...

Couple of renderings of the RMC, who's name isn't necessarily Zadra, but that is just the project name: (Pictures from looopings)

I've watched a couple and have to agree. The new doctor doesn't seem able to switch from light and kooky to any level of drama or seriousness, which is needed if you are going to care about what the characters are doing. The result is something that doesn't really hold my attention, or want me to come back for more to find out what happens next. So I haven't, and hadn't given the program a second thought until you posted here.

What on earth has happened to this show? I never thought I'd see it get worse than the "look how clever we are" Smith era, but the new series is (IMO) terrible. Where's the alien threat? Where's the (proper) humour? Where's the dramatic chase scenes, the drama and fantastic soundtracks? Whittaker shows signs of promise but the overall package feels so stripped back and devoid of... anything.

It sure was but it did offer completely different views which could be a preference factor in some peoples eyes.

Apologies for the long pedantic post, but to save misunderstanding, here's the full story behind Vampire's audio over the years! Obviously all the following is more technical info, no guests are gonna go in Vampire thinking 'hang on this is the wrong mix' – but the point is for the music to sound good and have good effect, and clearly this is not happening today. The ride currently sounds awful. Here is where it gets pretty complicated and you need to consider how technology has changed massively over time to get your head around it. Let's break it down to: Production tapes (pre dubbing, pre downsampling) 1990 Ride 'dual zoned' mix 1990 stereo cassette mix 2016 Smart mix The original music would have been produced from tapes as a high quality production master by the composer in 1990. A standard mix for listening would have been in stereo obviously, but for use in the ride it was mixed differently. Theme park audio is usually always in mono mix, or 'multi mono' if its a score for a whole ride that changes as you move through it. This is because a stereo image requires a left and a right speaker, but in an attraction you're constantly moving around space with usually multiple speakers playing the same track, so it makes more sense to have it in mono. Vampire actually had a 'dual' zoned effect where the same music played throughout the station, where the organ stage played the organ instrument, and the backing track played through the rest the station (guitar in both). This opened up the sound a bit more and gave the effect of the organ playing the actual organ part. To do this effect, a mix with split organ and backing was sent to Sparks (who produced the Vampire station), with one on the L channel and other on R. This wasn't a traditional stereo mix, it was more of an installation mix, so would sound great standing in the station, but would sound bizarre played on a home stereo. Sparks also dubbed it with the familiar screams and thunder sounds. This mix was unique to any other mixes, which is why all other versions sound slightly different. However, because of the technical limitations of the time, the ride track needed to be downsampled to play on solid state EPROM chips, which could only hold a certain amount of memory. The downsampling means it's lacking bass, but otherwise is good and wouldnt have been noticeable on the big station sound system – as anyone who went in Vampire in the 90s would remember it still sounded great! However, in mono, it wouldnt sound so good in isolation on a home stereo. This zoned effect was lost in Vampire around 2000 when the sound system was changed. From then on it played as one zone throughout the station, but was the same 'mix'. Then there was a souvenir cassette that was sold in the Chessington shop in the 90s, this was a very different mix to the ride version – and was in stereo (for listening). This is the one more commonly heard online. Although a more polished mix, the sound quality has always been dire, because the same warbly digital transfer has been passed around since forever (the original cassettes are hard to come by). Somehow this was the track that Chessington replaced the original with in 2014 when the sound system was changed to mp3 playback. What! It sounds awful due to the poor quality of the transfer from cassette and is not edited to loop correctly. Then a few years back the composer put up his own version (the Smart mix), from his own tapes, pre-downsampling... BUT it was actually yet another mix, half the 'cassette' version and half the 'original' version. This is the best quality version of the track available, but doesnt have the zoned effect or the 'rawer' guitar. After years of trying to find the original track, I first found just the backing part on its own, which only had the guitar and organ on it faintly. This is what's on Soundcloud, edited to sound less 'mono' and with the organ part turned up a bit. More recently I finally found the organ track to go with it, so will update the Soundcloud track soon. Have sent this to Chessington. These are the downsampled, dubbed tracks that played in the ride from 1990 to around 2000. So, not full listening quality and would sound weird played on a stereo, but would sound good restored in the dual zones in the station. Much better than the current dodgy mp3 being played. Ideally, a brand new mix should be struck from the original master tapes (if they still exist with the composer) to recreate the dual zoning and the more 'raw' original mix – but without the downsampling, since this is no longer necessary with today's playback technology. Combine this with a repaired sound system and it would sound amazing. However, the original composer seems to be completely uncontactable. So, there's the saga of Vampire's audio! Once sounded classic, now sounding very lame with the poor recording they're using at the moment. But, simply putting back the orginal mix on a broken, mono system probably wouldnt make much difference. What it needs is a new, overhauled sound system and a full quality zoned mix.