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I visited earlier today. It feels that the park is lacking capacity. Vortex, Quantum, Zodiac and The Swarm were closed all day. Depth Charge was only open until 2pm. Hyperia hit 190 minutes. Even Tidal Wave was up to 30 mid afternoon. All the ride staff were trying their very best to keep throughputs up. Lighting has improved over the years. For me the bottom line is that the park feels stale and is crying out for some major hardware investment. Apart from GT, Hyperia and some bumper cars the park is no different to 2009.

Woo, its nearly that time for the best part of the year, UPDATED TOP TENS. I'll start with my 'best of newly ridden in 2026' list. There was only 24 new rollercoasters added to the count this year, a lot of my visits being re-vists such as Magic Mountain and Knotts Kondaa - What an incredible ride. Absolutely loved it and an utter joy to ride. X2 - An iconic ride and I'm very thankful that I managed to get on 6 weeks before its final rides. Lasso of Courage - A surprisingly intense and good RMC. it's bare bones queue and station leave a lot to be desired but it is a really good ride. Turbine - Absolutely loved this. Very disorientating and fun. Twisted Colossus - A really good but also a frustrating ride. If they got lockers at the entrance and actually shared basic information to guests before they ride it could be really good duelling each time. But every single time you don't duel so its gimmick is wasted. Mahaledon - I'm a sucker for Gerstlauer family coasters and this one is a very long, fun ride and perfect for Walibi Belgium. I'd love to see one of these in the UK, maybe Paultons. Pulsar - I was a little surprised by this to be honest, I didn't expect the powerful launches and the fantastic air time. The turntable really helps its capacity too and it was very well operated. I like Ghost Rider - It was a really good ride but the operations are so frustrating. Where is the third train! It's a really long solid ride though and recently retracked. Journey to Atlantis (San Diego). This was a very pleasant surprise with lots of little tricks to make it more memorable then the Orlando version. Anubis - Solid little Gerstlauer. Relatively compact, forceful launches, not too rattlly. Nice. And the other 14 Electric Eel, Manta (San Diego) Arctic Rescue, Emperor, West Coast Riders, Revolution, Hang Time, Drakon, Taka Wawa, Pilot, Cobra (Walibi Belgium), Calamity Mine, Loip-Gaoru, Vampire (Walibi Belgium),

I was there - well, I arrived at 4ish, announcement came at about 4.45. I'd planned to go for a couple of hours. Wasn't fussed by rides really, hoped to do a couple of scare zones / shows. I noted Survival Games, Stitches and Tenement never opened. When I arrived, Rebel Ball was deserted, not even any guests in the Launchpad. No actors in Lucifer's Lair or Purgatory. Shortly after 4 I noted that the other two mazes closed. When I got on park, no one mentioned about poor ride availability, which was surprising and disappointing. I saw the announcement on the screen by Inferno. Inferno was running, but they made an announcement to the queue telling them to leave the queue and the park. Guest Services had a queue back to Launchpad. I get the decision to close. On park communication could have been better though. I'm also a bit surprised they had close...I have had lots of visits to the park where the weather was worse. Again, I get it, I get that this where the park and industry are at. The park's current operating conditions likely meant rides would have kept opening and closing and it would have been annoying. And it's likely best for staff. But still, just surprised me.

Having now done a few visits to Fright Nights this year, I thought I'd share my thoughts. I decided not to bother with any of the mazes last year, mainly because they were all the same as previous years, so this was actually my first time doing them in a couple of years. After seeing quite a lot of negativity following the press nights, I went in with fairly low expectations. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the mazes. Certainly not the strongest year for Fright Nights, but still an enjoyable one. Overall thoughts / Park atmosphere For me, one of the biggest highlights this year has actually been the general atmosphere around the park. The lighting is honestly looking the best I've ever seen it, and they've added quite a few extra smoke effects around the park which make such a difference. Nemesis Inferno now has two smoke machines in the station which go off on dispatch, Samurai has two smoke machines coming out of the floor multiple times throughout the cycle, Detonator has one, Colossus has its smoke back, Stealth smoke is back, and there are a few additional smoke machines dotted around the pathways too. Really good to see and it makes such a difference to the atmosphere, especially after dark. Another thing which has been disappointing the last few years was lack of ride music being changed, so it's great to see they've finally done this from the start of the event this year. It makes such a difference. Admittedly, I do find them all a bit samey and preferred it years ago when each ride had something quite different, but overall I'm just glad they're back. The general park wide music also seemed to have a bit more variety this year? Not sure if that's just me, but I thought it was decent. Still really not a fan of the music change from around 9:15pm though. Some of the songs they blast out are questionable, and I really don't understand what relevance they have to Fright Nights. But overall, the atmosphere around the park at night has been fantastic. Walking around with all the lighting, smoke, music blasting and rides going really does make the place feel completely different. Definitely one of the strongest aspects of the event this year in my opinion. The Mazes Below is my ranking for the mazes: 1. Stitches Really strong maze this year and easily my favourite of the night. Had some really good scares throughout and a decent number of actors who seemed to be putting a lot of effort in. The actor on the swing/bungee seems to be missing this year, which is a shame, but apart from that I didn't really notice any major changes from previous years. 2. Survival Games This was previously my favourite maze at Fright Nights, so I was interested to see how it would compare now it's been changed to a single route. Unfortunately, I'm really not a fan of some of the changes they've made. For me, one of the best parts of Survival Games was always that intense opening where you'd get split up, put into cages and dragged out. Even watching people being dragged in from outside the maze was great entertainment and really set the tone before you'd even entered the maze. Removing all of that is such a shame. It was something different from the other mazes and gave Survival Games its own identity. The same goes for the multiple routes. What made Survival Games so good was that it actually felt like a maze, with different routes and not knowing where you were going to end up. Now it's just another maze where everyone follows the same route. That being said, I did still enjoy it. There were some decent scares, a good number of actors and it's still a decent length. It's just frustrating because I think they've taken away the two things that made this maze stand out from the others. Still strong, but nowhere near as good as it used to be in my opinion. 3. Tenement This one was just okay for me, although I do think I got quite unlucky with my run through. I was at the back of the group so had a torch. I'm not entirely sure what was supposed to happen at the ending? By the time I entered the final room, everyone else was already there and we pretty much just walked straight out. Overall it felt pretty weak, although I can imagine it working much better in a smaller group but that is never going to happen unfortunately. Would like to do it again but I wasn't willing to spend another £12 to give it another go. It seems to be getting very mixed reviews so I think they need to find a way to make it more consistent. 4. Trailers Trailers is a maze I've never particularly enjoyed, if I'm honest. It was alright this year and there seemed to be a decent number of actors, so I wouldn't say it was a bad run through. However, it just felt quite low energy to me and I didn't really get any scares. I think I'm just done with Trailers now. It's been around for long enough and I'd really like to see something fresh in this space. 5. DeadBeat This was my biggest disappointment of the mazes. I was a big fan of DeadBeat previously and thought it was a really strong addition when it first opened, but this year it felt quite weak. One of my favourite parts previously was the actor flying over your head. The first time I experienced that it really got me, and I thought it was such a good effect. Unfortunately, that seems to have disappeared completely which is a massive shame. The rest of the maze just didn't really deliver for me either. Not particularly intense and very few scares. This one seemed light on actors. Unfortunately, the weakest maze of the night for me, which is a shame as I know how good it can be. The Rest / Scare Zones This is where my opinion of Fright Nights this year becomes quite a bit more negative, and where I think some of the cuts are really noticeable. Creature Campus Not a bit of me personally, but I do understand having something a bit different at the event. It clearly seems to have an audience and people enjoy it, so fair enough. Not everything needs to appeal to everyone. Lucifer's Lair A shadow of its former self. This area used to have a really good atmosphere, but now it just feels completely lifeless. There didn't seem to be much music or anything really going on. Just groups of people awkwardly standing around with very little atmosphere. Really disappointing considering what this area used to be like. The Crows I actually think bringing the crows back was a mistake if they weren't able to do so properly. Nothing like its former self and is over far too quickly. I appreciate it's a free scare zone, so can't complain too much, but it really is far too short and feels like a very watered down version of what it used to be. Purgatory Town Pathetic excuse for a scare zone in my opinion. Every time I've walked through, there seems to be very little happening, and the majority of the time I've barely noticed any actors there at all. Most of the time you could walk through and not even realise you’re in a scare zone. To me, this is the sort of thing I'd expect to see at Chessington rather than Fright Nights. Really weak. Rebel Ball I didn't spend a huge amount of time here, partly because I do think it's a little out of the way, and partly because its just not a bit of me. But from what I did see, I really don't understand how this fits into Fright Nights. Again, it just looks like something that belongs at Chessington rather than Fright Nights. Really disappointing, and I don't think Fright Nights needed another dance show. Scare Zones overall For me, all of the above is easily the weakest part of Fright Nights this year. A couple times now I’ve seen creature campus lot walking around with a portable speaker, heading over to Lucifer's Lair and having some sort of dance off. Why? This is Fright Nights? I appreciate some people might enjoy that sort of thing, but personally I just don't understand what it's supposed to add to a Halloween event. I'd much rather see actors running around with chainsaws, chasing people through the pathways and generally creating that unpredictable atmosphere seen at other Halloween events. I'd honestly rather they scrapped most of the current offerings and just focused on having two genuinely strong scare zones instead. Quality over quantity. Give us two proper scare zones with plenty of actors, decent theming and some actual scares. I really think that would make a massive difference to the event. Overall So overall, despite quite a few criticisms, I have enjoyed my visits to Fright Nights this year. It's certainly not my favourite year and I don't think there's anything particularly special about the lineup. Some of the mazes are still really enjoyable, but there's also quite a lot that feels watered down compared to previous years. I honestly can't praise the lighting enough this year. The whole park looks fantastic after dark and all the additional smoke effects, ride music and lighting have made such a difference. Love the addition of Hyperia changing to purple now too, think it looks even better than red! There's something about walking around Thorpe Park at night with everything lit up, the music blasting and rides flying around that I love. The park just feels electric, and that's been the biggest highlight of Fright Nights this year. Having also done Scarefest and the mazes at Alton Towers this year, I do think Towers has the stronger Halloween event overall. Four mazes and two strong scare zones feels like a much better balance. I really hope the scare zones are the next big focus for Thorpe, because for me that's where Fright Nights is seriously lacking at the moment. Still an enjoyable Fright Nights, and I'll always love Thorpe at Halloween, but I do think there's a lot of room for improvement. Best flat at the park still looking good even though its closed :(

Looks like it reopened this morning. Was quite impressed to see them hoisting it back up so quickly. Must’ve been a tough few days for them operationally but hopefully that’s the end of bad weather now!

It's a tricky one. If they chose to keep running it, it adds mixed signals - "the weather is bad enough to close the park, BUT we'll keep running this ride here because people are in the queue". And if the ride has to then temporarily close for weather, how long do they make people wait? It had a very full-looking queue too at that point, a good couple of hours. Very much feel for anyone who was near the front of the queue. Hope they get more compensation than just a return ticket.

And it's "uncomfortable" for loading staff, glaring.

Hmm, as last Saturday was to be the better weather for a while, I popped to TP. sadly Stealth was late opening and then went faulty again. After noon she was running, for a short while, before requiring more attention. All seemed good as it was running for quite a good session, queues for all rides were at least an hour and a half due to park attendance being just short of capacity, then about 4.15p.m., we came over the brake hill, I thought I was a tad too fast, and we came to a halt on the bottom straight. With some strange noises when trying to get the drive wheels to pick it up, and failing, they had to close the ride, emptying the queue line and platform. they then had to conduct a "manual evacuation". Health and safety requirements meant that trained management had to do that, and it involves full procedures as if we were suspended on top of a high structure, using harnesses and cables. One person at a time. The whole thing took up to another hour and a half for some. The weather was not warm, nor sunny, and we were also treated to a steady shower, which meant that some people were shivering with cold, all the time with restraints on, though those who needed them were supplied with thermal foil blankets. the "rescuing" staff had to use the electric power pack to release each four seat section, to then secure and assist off the emergency platform, each rider, one at a time, using cables and harnesses. A very difficult task for the staff, and one which they all carried out professionally, but not one I want to repeat.