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I don't know if Ghost Train does close early. However, I'd assume it does, purely because the building isn't the most sound-proofed, and the noise from Lucifer's Lair probably bleeds in. Tbf, I doubt there's much they could do with the space and ride system by adding more actors. The trains will have a maximum number of people allowed, and they can't go for high-intensity scares there. The only place they could realistically do an extreme version for Ghost Train is in the crypt, and even then, extra actors wouldn't add a significant amount there. Better to have 3 mazes and close it early than 2 and keep it open imo. --- It's very interesting to see the early reaction to the time slots. I still expected the later slots to be packed, but the price difference does seem to be swaying a lot of people. Wonder if that will change throughout the event or be a common theme. It is a real shame the park haven't managed to sort out the queueing for mazes yet. I think it's unrealistic to expect no queues, but a minimal wait time is okay. Approx hour queues are too much. It's good to see the park have tried something different, in turn acknowledging the issues that were present, but there's clearly still work to be done.

Nailed it 😎

Last year was the first Fright Nights I hadn't done since 2012, meaning both Survival Games and Death doors were completely new to me. Survival games was my favorite of the mazes. Me and a friend got split up and didn't see eachother the whole time. It was quite funny talking about it after having completely different experiences. This one definitely seemed to get the best reactions of people coming out of the maze too. Trailers was basically the same as when I went on it a couple of years ago. Great sets and a good amount of actors. Stiches was my least favorite of the 3 mazes, which was a shame as I was looking forward to this one. The length of the maze and sets were amazing, but just felt it lacked any sort of scares and lacked actors in places there probably should've been actors. I do think I may have had a particularly bad run through on this so if I get myself to Fright Nights again I'd like to give it another go. I was also at the back of the group which didn't help, as most effects etc happened before I got there. I didn't watch the Creature Campus show as thats not something that really interests me. I thought the Lucifers Lair area was great though. Absolutely packed with actors and just in general a great atmosphere in the middle of the park. Everyone really seemed to enjoy this area, was constantly busy. The Crows scarzone was great, felt more like an outdoor maze than a scarezone. The lighting, audio and smoke was great. I liked that they were sending you in batches as it meant it wasn't too crowded in there but I'm unsure how this will cope on the busier nights. It created big crowds at the entrance with no real queueline. It was impossible to hear what they were saying on the megaphone with Saws area music in the background 😄 I also really enjoyed Death Doors, which was a pleasant surprise. Something completely different and it was a good laugh. Few other points: - The park in general is looking great at night. Would be nice to have a couple smoke machines around though, like Samurai and Colossus has done on previous years. - None of the rides had Fright Nights audio this year which is a shame. Not sure if they just haven't had the time to do it yet or they aren't bothering this year? This really adds to the event normally so I hope they get that sorted. - There really isn't enough time in the dark. The park looks great at night and its a completely different atmosphere. I know the park aren't keen on bringing 10pm closes back due to a number of reasons like staff welfare etc, but it seriously makes such a big difference. I'd much rather them do an 11am-10pm if its the extra hour which is an issue. Bring 10pm closes back!!! - Wasn't a fan of the parkwide Fright Nights audio this year. Overall though, the best Fright Nights I've been too in a long time. They have a great mix of attractions which are all high quality. Its clear they're putting a lot of effort into the event again and the budget it there. Next year id like to see them add a 4th maze to the current lineup. I'm sure they'd like to as well as it will help with queues and its an extra income for them. Not sure if they'll be able to do that though space wise until they get rid of black mirror. If a 4th isn't an option next year then I'd like to see a new maze to replace Trailers.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/968596764375367/permalink/1032895311278845/?app=fbl Passholders group has more photos, seems they’ve got going fairly quickly.

Exciting! I wonder how much will be up by the end of the season...

Sorry to double post, but I’ve managed to find video confirmation courtesy of an Instagram reel from Dominic Gardner: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyLUqY_NUJG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D Interestingly, it looks as though they’re starting with the huge outerbank into an inversion.

I went yesterday and will do a more detailed review in the spoilers thread. I also wanted to echo JohnnyRocket's point above, I was very confused as to why the maze queues between 3-6pm were all a good hour or so long (so I imagine many people did not get them done in their timeslot) but when walking past the mazes at 7/8pm there was a 5-10 min queue. This is with the trio of mazes being sold out in both the afternoon and evening timeslots! Also- Thorpe telling people the maze queues were all 0 minutes on Saturday was definitely a load of rubbish as the app said 0 minutes for all of them despite them being around an hour. We did survival games last and interestingly it had a sign up to say to do it at the end of your slot, as it was 'very busy'. Makes me dread to think how it will cope on busier days assuming once the trio packages sell out more people will book one shots. Overall though despite that I thought it was the strongest fright nights in a very long time and I don't think any element/attraction was bad at all, which is a first, and we managed to do everything pretty much. Highlight had to be the crows, I love the theming and the atmosphere was spot on! But genuinely thought all the mazes were quality this year for different reasons, just a shame about the queueing but hey that's thorpe for you!

I LOVED the strobe section in Stitches. They’re always by far my favourite part when they use these in mazes. Which is why The Freezer/Asylum will always be the most terrifying and intense maze for me. Absolutely loved Stitches, my favourite of the 3 by a mile. Brilliant atmosphere and theming with so many jump scares. The room with the dolls (I think they were?) not knowing which of them were real was a highlight, I know they sort of did that in Trailers but it’s executed so much better here. Really comes down to what you look for in a maze as I really didn’t find Survival Games that intense. The shouting and being shoved takes away the sense of the unknown for me and you can see the actors coming from a mile off. But it’s great we have 2 very strong and complimentary mazes with Stitches and Survival Games. I do think now Trailers is easily the weakest of the three and wouldn’t be surprised to see this one gone next year

Went to Fright Nights yesterday, was a bit busier than expected but then Ride Queue Times site considers it “quiet” at 39% crowd level so really can’t see how it’s worth doing on days that are 80%+! But anyway that’s a whole other discussion. Really enjoyed the day. I think they’ve got the pricing and timeslots wrong unfortunately. We hedged our bets and went for the afternoon slot 3-6pm, we queued over an hour for each maze. We didn’t get into the second maze until 6.10pm so anxious we wouldn’t get into the last maze. We asked a manager on our way in to the 2nd maze if we’d be OK doing the 3rd after the time slot finished. She said lots of people had asked her about this and had radioed ahead to our last maze to allow people in from the afternoon slot. So we got in just fine. But if they’re already getting backlog issues with afternoon people having to be let in during the evening slots on a “quiet” day then I honestly don’t know how it’s going to work on peak days. Also not helped by the queue times for the mazes saying 0 minutes on the app all day so it’s hard to plan Once it got to about 7pm, the queues for the mazes were incredibly short. We kicked ourselves for not just paying the extra £6 for the evening slot. So if you’re going on a quieter day, absolutely do the evening! Trailers was OK, same as last year. Think it’s time for it to change now though. The novelty of the throwbacks was fun but now it does just feel like a bit of a disjointed incoherent maze of random things put together. 3/5 for me LOVED Stitches, definitely our favourite of the 3. Great length, and loads of clever ways of getting a scare (don’t want to give anything away). Theming quality very high, great atmosphere. It’s my favourite type of scare, the unknown and anticipation of something about to happen. Would honestly give this 5/5 - a very worthy and superior replacement for Creek Freak Massacre First time doing Survival Games. Heard so much about how intense this was and how terrifying it is, our group was actually nervous about this one after hearing about being pushed and shoved. Turns out, at least for us, it’s really not that bad. I think for me the actors talking to you and kinda nudging you about takes the scare away from me. But I still thought it was very very fun. We actually did this one again as we found it a laugh, and 2 of us managed to stick together for the first half which to be honest made it even more enjoyable for us. We kinda played hide and seek in there, was in for ages (which I’m sure is frowned upon!). Obviously theming’s non existent which is a shame. Would give it 3.5/5 Now since everyone seemed to be queuing for mazes in the afternoon, it meant short queues in the evening but queues for the scare zones instead! The Crows is brilliant this year. Great use of space. It’s honestly better than some of the outdoor mazes we’ve had in the past. Didn’t bother with Deaths Doors as the queue was so big, did it last year and it’s a fun attraction and can’t complain with it being free. Didn’t see the Amity show but got glimpses of the Lucifers Lair shows. That area’s great, absolutely full of actors from all angles. It’s the best this area has been. All in all, probably the strongest Fright Nights in years! So glad it’s back to its best.

It’s 4am. The park have left the music on load. Nice for the locals.

My issue isn't so much it sounding similar to Hyperion (although I still do think it's a fairly valid point, but nowhere near as big of an issue as people are making it out to be), but that it is just a bit... corny? It's a hypercoaster and just feels like a cheap attempt to cram 'hyper' into the name - yes, members of the GP probably won't know what a 'hypercoaster' is, and yes, I know that 'Hyperia' is a Greek goddess so is fairly clever having those play together - but something about it just makes me cringe a little. All in all though, the bottom line is that Thorpe are getting a new rollercoaster next year, and it's going to be one that rivals big boys from overseas. The name and 'interesting' colourscheme mean nothing whilst you're riding it - I can't wait for next season. Crazy how 2024 is such an insane year for rollercoasters in this country - 30 years on from the notorious year of the rollercoaster, 1994! Let's just hope it doesn't take another 30 years for the next batch of big investment across the country 😂

I cant wait for the next coaster AFTER Hyperia Zadro the long awaited RMC!!

Gonna avoid spoliers as going next Friday, but from posts from earlier today, I just find it absolutely bonkers that on the day of the press night, they are still setting up during the day, including painting fences, putting up signage, finishing stages etc. Same every year. Will no one think of the cast of Love Island Series 3?