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Closed season bingo!

Very weird year at Fright Nights this year, on paper it should be very strong. (More scare zones/shows and a new maze). It is not strong and possibly very weak. A good line up has had to come with sacrifices which are: The removal of a free walkthrough which was pretty long in favour of a paid attraction. Tenement is good concept and great to see another scare maze at the event. The issue is its location, it’s used a l good space for a long scare zone. There are a few other places it could have gone but would have required a bit more ground work. More mazes are good but I cannot pay for mazes every visit, so I normally do one visit doing them all once and that’s it. I relied on the crows to give me the scare and in its new location, it’s so so short you just don’t get the same experience. To me the current location feels like it’s just been put there with no thought other than they need less actors. There are multiple pathways they’d could have used as a walk through but they decided to cram it in under nemesis inferno. Deaths doors was pretty short but it was extended by the fact you had to knock on each one. The queue was massively long for a 30 second experience, it was very annoying. Lucifiers lair has had the load split up between it and rebel ball Lucifers lair should have just been moved to the launchpad with the same entertainment and that be it. Not remove the entertainment from lucifers lair and then create rebel ball and I’m not really sure what the show is about or what the actors are??? It’s not really the hub of the event and I thought it would be more scare zone when teased how good the launch pad was for events. It’s just random, Lucifiers lair is very very boring and actors were hardly out. Seperate note, trailers is a shell of its former self. One actor per room and they just have a maze host inside the foyer scene. It just needs to go, it relies on having multiple actors per room

I was at the park yesterday (10/09/26). Stealth had a bad start to the day. Managed 4 laps then one of the trains had to be pulled off. It remained on reduced capacity for nearly the whole day. Engineers were consistently checking restraints each time the ride broke down which would back up that it was the back row restraints causing issues. Also both trains were finding it very difficult to enter the unloading bay. Very very slow to get round the corner and into the unloading bay. Hopefully they get her healthy again soon. The engineering team really are fantastic with Stealth. I appreciate it as it's my number 1 coaster in the UK. Stealth remains very close to my heart for the reason it's launch is something special. And now a world record holder. It'll be a real sad day when Thorpe get rid. I have to drive 3hr 40 mins each way to get to Stealth. But always it's very worth it. Can just about hack it in a day. P.s thanks to the staff for walking us to Nemesis Inferno fastrack for the breakdowns.

On Stealth today and a guy next to me announced that he first rode it twenty-five years ago. What large sticker is on the front of each train? 20 years old. He must have had heat stroke.

I did 6 hours of driving today to get back on Stealth. (3 hours each way and going around the theme park). She really did well. I managed to get 8 rides on her whilst doing the other coasters. No fast track. Really so chuffed with engineering 😀. Great job Thorpe 😀 Just about managed it all in a day. Knackered myself but worth it. It's always a massive gamble with the cost of fuel and getting up at 4am to be home for 9pm.

If anyone’s interested, I have a few throughput timings and insights from my Thorpe visit last Monday: Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains) - 786pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026) Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 770pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026), 763pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026) Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 1,023pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026) Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars) - 854pph (unknown number of cars, average of 8, 13th April 2026) Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 827pph (2 trains, average of 9, 13th April 2026), 860pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026) The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains) - 946pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026), 1,022pph (2 trains, average of 5, 13th April 2026) Overall, then, I would have said ops were pretty good, but perhaps not as high-end as I have seen in a couple of cases. Colossus was doing pretty well in my brief snapshot by that ride’s standards, and Saw was smashing it! Inferno and Hyperia were also doing well. Some others were still good, but perhaps not as high as I have seen. For example, Stealth, consistently attaining slightly below 90s between dispatches, seemed somewhat slower than on my last visit back in September, where the staff were pumping out trains at a rate of knots and attaining nearly 1,000pph. Swarm also seemed slightly less consistent. That is me being persnickety, though; operations were generally good, and ride availability was also strong throughout the day! One thing I did notice is that Inferno was batching at the station entrance, which I found a bit odd… I wonder why they’ve changed this for 2026?

Hello. How was your year? Here's mine- Parks visited Efteling X5 Animal Kingdom X3 Hollywood Studios X1 Southend Adventure Island X1 Chessington X1 Schwaben Park X1 Tripsdrill X1 Legoland Deutschland X1 Hong Kong Disneyland X2 Ocean Park HK X1 Himeji Central Park X1 Parque Espana Shima X1 Nagashima Spa Land X1 Fuji Q X1 Disneyland Tokyo X2 Tokyo Disney Sea X3 Thorpe Park X2 Wiener Prater X1 Fantasiana X1 Epic Universe X2 New Rollercoasters ridden - 62 I'd say my top ten new rollercoasters of 2025 are as follows- Flying Dinosaur - The most intense flyer out there. It is absolutely fantastic. Stardust Racers Green - I love this ride, the flowing elements and air time are excellent and the duelling with yellow is so good. Stardust Racers Yellow - I mean come on, they are both so good and theres very little in between them in terms of quality. Steel Dragon 2000 - Aside from the really frustrating loading, this is a really long ride that does deliver. The air time at the end is also excellent. Pyrenees - An Inverter that sits under the radar, this is a very good rollercoaster, it just has a really odd ending. Hals Uber Kopf - The vekoma STC is so good. Both it and Fienna Force are so class. I thought this was a surprisingly forceful rollercoaster and really enjoyed it. Hollywood Dream - A surprisingly good hyper coaster. I only got the chance to ride this backwards but I thought it was excellent. Harakugei - A very good RMC but I find the loading procedures really take away the fun from a lot of Japanese parks. This is still awesome but its tiresome waiting for it . Diavlo - I don't really care that this is just a batman clone, it really is an excellent version of the ride. It looks a little rusty and run done and its amazing that the park have bothered to keep it running. Glad to have got on it. Zokkon - An excellent Intamin straddle coaster. Full of unique elements and excellent pacing. Landmark moments from 2025 Rollback on Mandrill Mayhem where we were stuck just before the Statue helix. Star of some B- tier tiktok vlogs. Loved it. Evacuated from the break run on Stardust Green. Lots of fun watching Stardust Yellow continue to run. Also managing to get on it after the death in September. Finally making it to Tokyo Disney and getting on all the major rides multiple times. Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Sinbad, Indianna Jones, Winnie the Pooh and Beauty and the Beasts felt like life changing rides in my theme park career Reclaiming the 'ridden all B&M's in Europe' after getting to Legoland Deutschland Saying goodbye to way too many attractions this year. Kingda Ka, Muppets 3D, Six Flags America, Tough to be a Bug, Scorpion Express, Blade. Also our last ever rides on Dinosaur before its closure in 2026. So please share your 2025. We love content.

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 2012.

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 :(

Evening. Been a while. Did Fright Nights today, checked my profile, I've exclusively posted about Fright Nights for the last 3 years and I didn't bother last year, probably because I thought last year was the worst FN I've ever done (going since 2020). So, 2026 Tenement Start on a high note, Tenement is probably the best Fright Nights maze I have ever done. This maze is the only one that holds a candle to Traumatica to me, and is right up there with Studio 13 (The Traumatica version), Compound and The Attic (personal bias) as my favourite ever mazes. Genuinely very scary with some impressive show scenes, Only maze that effectively jumpscares without an actor, just using lights and sound. The ending is a bit naff, a common theme with all of Thorpe's mazes for a while now, but incredible stuff. Stitches & Trailers No point in commenting on these separately because what's the point, they're the same as they have been since 2023. Trailers has a new room again, probably the most substantially changed room in there for a while but still follows the same layout as before and still the same maze. Genuinely cannot believe it is still going, I did my first FN during Covid and I've only been to one event that did not have Trailers. Stitches unchanged for the fourth year running. Both quite light on actors. Time for a change. Is quite funny how similar Stitches and Final Exhibit are, though. DeadBeat Best maze last year and second best maze this year. Again light on actors but they were going for it. It's also just a better layout than any of the others, and got a scare I've never had before (an actor came through the mirror that previously would just have a strobe and sound effect). Also, the preshow was delivered through headphones this year, which was unique and works really well with the theme. Survival Games A genuine insult to what this maze used to be. So, so awful. Does not work at all as a linear maze. The Crows & Lucifer's Lair What will happen first, the heat death of the universe, or The Crows leave Fright Nights? Always preferred them as roamers. The new location is comedically short. No point. Lucifer's Lair is fun, if a bit pointless without the stage. Didn't bother with Purgatory Town, which I'm pretty convinced was supposed to go to Chessington and accidentally ended up at Thorpe somehow. Rebel Ball Someone who has been going to Fright Nights for longer than me may have a better answer, but I do not think there can possibly be a worse Fright Nights "attraction" than this. Utterly pointless. General Park Atmosphere 25 years is a massive milestone that they don't really make any sort of deal of. It's mentioned when the event "begins" at 3, but there's no real "anniversary" attractions like previous years. Nothing from past Fright Nights at all until the park shuts and they play a hilarious end of day playlist that just plays The Big Top announcement and a voice clip of the Director over The Weeknd and Fein. On the bright side, the majority, if not all rides aside from Hyperia have a proper Fright Nights overlay now, which is something I've complained about and I know other people have for years. Nemesis Inferno had a cool dispatch sequence, and The Swarm had a different soundtrack and "Fear" announcement which I don't feel like has happened before? Also VERY cool, at 7pm an announcement from "Fear" plays, and the lights on park change. Hyperia turned red and the lights go out as the train goes down the drop. Lighting is also the best it has ever been this year, every ride is lit up very nicely. Overall Thoughts Thank god for Tenement! Fright Nights needs a massive overhaul next year. I genuinely can't decide which maze needs to go the most out of Trailers, Survival Games and Stitches. All incredibly stale, or in SG's case actively a step back. The Crows need to go or roam again, Creature Campus is hilariously still going despite Amity High being a pre-Covid invention, even the music around park has been the same for years now. I don't think they ever would replace as many attractions as they need to sadly, but I'd genuinely take less mazes in favour of a big shake-up. Had a good day, but more due to the company and Tenement than anything else.

I also visited press night this year - will probably make a video on it at some point but just need a place to yap to compose my thoughts so feel like this is a great place to do so. Rebel Ball It's... fine? Very awkward, but fine. Events are really the magnum opus of Launchpad and Fright Nights has definitely given it some much needed purpose. It's nice to have a bit of a central hub for Fright Nights and Launchpad works quite well for it. The stage should be a permanent thing year-round as well imo as it really does transform that space, but that's a whole other conversation. Lucifer's Lair Now this feels very, very awkward this year. Perhaps it would've worked better at Launchpad and kinda had it revolving between the dance shows at certain points of the day? No stage setup, no real prescence - and especially during the press event where Ghost Train was closed, it felt very dark and almost out of place? No fire, no real lighting or anything from what I can remember. It kinda just feels like having roaming actors based around the food vendors rather than a scarezone. I think Thorpe could've done away with this this year to be completely honest. If it's planned to be the same scenario again in 2027, it's better to just can it imo. The Crows I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on this, but think its new space is really nice. It's really well themed, but obviously much smaller than the old site where Tenement is for this year. From a money making standpoint of course it makes sense for The Crows to be downscaled in place of an upcharge attraction - I really can't fault Thorpe for that. The Crows are still as impactful as ever and they've definitely made the most of the space under Inferno - much moreso than Deaths Doors ever did. As disappointing as it is on a whole to have one of the strongest things in recent years at Fright Nights be downscaled like this (I still think The Crows need a proper maze), I'm just glad that they've returned again this year and I really hope they continue to return indefinitely. Purgatory Town Again, this feels pretty awkward. It's nice to have an open scarezone for free interaction with scare actors, but this year compared to last year you can really tell that cuts have been made. Last year there was various bits of theming scattered throughout Big Easy Boulevard... this year, not so much. I get a lot of the theming last year was moreso to do with IT 4D (which obviously hasn't returned for this year's event, so makes sense to no longer have the Derry theming in BEB), but none of the theming has been updated to be in keeping with the new Conjuring 4D experience this year even. Something as simple as low-laying fog on the ground and a few hay bales would transform this area entirely. Trailers Really, really needs to go. I was a fan of Trailers in its first year, but became real stale real quick. No amount of new scenes will fix the real issue with this maze - the size. It's quite a big footprint, but even so, they're trying to pack waaaaaaay too much into it. You can take in the whole room in each scene the second you step into it, therefore you can easily see where the actors will lurk and jump out at you which makes this maze not even remotely scary. I don't think I jumped a single time this year, despite the actors best efforts. The new scenes stick out like a sore thumb too, because all the old scenes look really bloody tired. If you're going to add new scenes into the maze, spruce up the old ones too. A lick of paint here, a few bits of prop rejigging there. By all means keep the scenes the same if you really have to, but at least move things around to keep things interesting for returning guests. The weakest maze at this year's event - and not even just by a little bit either. Stitches Still pretty good, but missing a few elements this year by the looks of things. On my runthrough at least, the curtains were closed where the old bungee actor was - and there was a distinct lack of smoke/haze throughout the attraction. I say it every time, but it's more of an eerie maze for me personally rather than an overly scary one. A good maze, but not one that I would be particularly interested in queuing any significant amount of time for. Survival Games The second year of the linear version of the maze as opposed to the freeflow maze when it first debuted. Last year Survival Games felt super sloppy and disjointed - lots of the freeflow parts of the maze were still strewn around so it was easy to get lost and accidentally skip parts of the linear maze. This year it feels like it's been tightened a hell of a lot. I didn't get lost once, and the actors inside there are still not opposed to getting hands on whenever the opportunity arises. A bit of an unpopular opinion from me I think, but I personally prefer the medical storyline of new-era SG than I did the social media platform. The social media storyline was hideously cringe and a blatant Hunger Games ripoff, whereas the new version is a lot more typically horror maze themed. Granted, swapping out something unique for something generic is usually a bad thing, but I think it works in their favour in this particular case. I do think Survival Games is nearing the end of its life now though - again, it's a massive space that unfortunately is quite underutilised in this version of the maze. As a freeflow maze it was fine, but does a linear maze really need a space this big? Especially when for the most part the theming inside of there is quite sparce. If it wasn't for the actors making this experience much more intense, it would probably be even weaker than Trailers. Plus it's also a shame to have the cages and splitting up of your group being removed - that was the highlight of Survival Games for me when I first experienced it. Deadbeat Ugh. I feel like I'm in the minority here when I say that I just do not like Deadbeat at all. It's a unique concept and the theming and scale of some of the rooms are impressive, but that's about where my compliments end for this one. Most of the rooms feel like copy-paste duplicates of other rooms previous, and the story is super tenuous. I don't know if Fright Nights have some sort of ban on actors using bungee cords this year, but the crawling actor on the ceiling also wasn't there in my runthrough which was disappointing, because again that was one of the best bits of the maze in previous years. Unfortunately as one of the newest mazes at the park I'm sure it'll continue to appear for at least another 3/4 years, but I wouldn't be opposed to it going entirely. Not a fan of this one whatsoever. Tenement Really, really bloody good. Packed with really cool illusions and effects and the usage of the torches and how they flicker and turn off at various points in the experience is really cool as well. Using audio and lighting triggers (very Halloween Horror Nights influenced, I see you Thorpe Park!!) as opposed to actors adlibbing their lines in this maze is really sweet to see as well and is really well done. The actors weren't 100% on the ball with the lines/timing on my runthroughs... but obviously this was at press night and before the event even began, so I'm certain as the event progresses this will no longer be an issue. I'd imagine the actors are kind of learning on the job with this one rather than being able to fully rehearse it in sufficient time. The exterior absolutely suuuuuuucks though, don't get me wrong. An attempt was made to theme the outside with a scrim, but to be honest it looks really tacky and I think I would've just preferred nothing at all rather than a half-assed inbetween thing. Maybe they're working on a better exterior like the one utilised over at Stitches to be implemented later on in the event - but even if not for this year, I hope we see something like that for next year's event when it inevitably returns. If there's still no proper exterior this time next year, it's just blatant laziness. It's a technologically ambitious effort from Thorpe Park and inevitably had its fair share of hiccups on the leadup to the event as a result, so I'd imagine no time was left to construct a better looking exterior (or to put a ceiling inside of the maze - being able to look up and see the roof of the tent is kinda immersion breaking too). But thankfully what it lacks in exterior theming and a lack of ceiling inside, it makes up for with its great effects, illusions and scares. By far the strongest maze at Thorpe Park (and probably my favourite maze I've ever done at the park!) and I think has significantly better staying power than mazes like Trailers where its age has clearly gotten the better of it. I didn't get a chance to experience the new Creature Campus show or Conjuring 4D experience so far this year, but hopefully I find some time to check it out as some point this season. With the new ents company fully taking over Fright Nights this year, you can really tell which areas feel lacking compared to others. Some areas are really high quality and some areas are the total opposite - opposed to previous years at Fright Nights where everything was sort of just 'alright'. A pretty good event on the whole, but certainly a lot of questionable decisions were made this year where the park kinda just threw everything into the pot when in reality some cuts probably should've been made (such as Lucifer's Lair) and reinvested elsewhere. Sometimes less is more, and I would much rather have not as many attractions but have them all be high quality and actually adding something to the event, rather than a few heavy hitters with some totally mediocre things thrown into the mix.

Today, launch platform smoke was switched on during the afternoon, apparently, the upturn smoke will return for Fright Nights.

Same as above really enjoyed the event - nice to see the park celebrate the ride with its model becoming more and more rare I do hope they do everything they can to keep it going as long as possible. Also bought some of the cable - it’s a lot for what it is but it’s presented really nicely and the little extras were a nice surprise too!

First visit of the year yesterday (10th September) as didn't manage to get a date that worked with my park buddy in April time and once it starts getting busy we CBA with the queues! Anyway, my rambling thoughts Got 3 rides on Hyperia - max queue all day was 50 mins, bottomed out at 15 minutes. We decided to wait for it to open in the morning, it opened around 10.30am. I know that it's an off peak day, but I think it's a valid point to say that as the headline (icon?) ride it really should be open for park opening. I appreciate that problems happen butit seems to happen too often. Our first ride was Row 1, second was Row 2 and last ride of the day was Row 10, so as someone who only visits once or twice a year, I was very happy with that. Row 10 is absolutely nuts. The force of being dragged over the first drop is just ridiculous. I don't care what anyone says, I adore Hyperia - I personally don't want another element, I like the fact it's compact, does just enough (in my opinion) to make it super thrilling without ruining your day. The area is looking far better now that the plants have started to bed in. Good to see station effects are all working too still. Stealth is evidently upset that my love has switched to Hyperia 🤣 Ended up on one train operation, we suspected there must be a train issue from the up and down time (no pun intended) in the morning. Maxed out at a 40 minute queue on one train which really shows how painful it is when it's not at full capacity. Still had 2 good rides, but can I just say - those Stealth birthday flags were evidently bought on the cheap because they are all missing bar one, so you have barrels there with metal poles on and nothing at the top. I say close RIta now and use it all for parts to keep Stealth alive, please and thankyou. Nemesis Inferno was INTENSE, I swear this gets more and more intense every year. Flies up the lift hill every time, and feels faster than ever, if you like that sort of thing. For me, it's a one and done really as I like to keep my stomach contents down. An advertised 15 minute queue ended up being more like 40 minutes though due to loading of guests with accessibility issues, which I understand and appreciate - but the whole thing seemed to take forever with two empty trains sitting there with no guests in sight. Empty trains were sent round also prior to this - not sure of the process they have to go through but I've never seen anything like it before. Colossus was incredibly unpleasant. Ghost Train was closed all day and then opened at 3.30pm approx, so fair play for them bothereing to do that. We didn't get to ride as didn't want to risk being stuck on it if it went down, as that seems to happen to us far too often. Have to wonder how much longer this has left in it, it must cost them a fortune in power and staff. Quantum was shut until late in the day. Samurai was closed all day and advertised as so. Vortex & Zodiac both closed of course. Walking Dead The Ride had a lot of downtime - when we did get on, a lot of the effects in the first half seemed to be inoperable, I'm guessing that's why they didn't bother opening? In the pre-show, they now have a tensar barrier infront of the board with the creator names "easter eggs" on, assume that's to stop people vandalising it but odd that's suddenly been done now as I haven't seen anyone do so prior. The walk through to the station was very dark (too dark?!) - they've turned off that car that honks all the time so that's good, especially when we had to wait to load in the station for 10 minutes or so for reasons unknown. Also, incredibly oddly, you can hear the Nemesis Inferno music INSIDE in parts of the ride?! The Launchpad has all the F&B units there - closed, and the flower entrance sign/portal, minus the central sign - so just some flowers on some wood. There were no staff in the car park directing you where to park, so went and charged my EV on the hotel charge points (as the ones in the "main" car park have a number out of action). The entrance bridge looks tired after it's glow up with the rebrand - specifically, a lot of the flags with the new branding are again missing. Appreciate these are effectively small details, but that's the entrance to start (or finish) your day and to me speaks volumes. We felt the staff in general were pretty downbeat/narked/didn't want to be there (which we totally get tbh, but still) - with the exception of a very cheery chap who was at the queue line entrance on Colossus who wished us a good time and an enjoyable ride (Colossus did not adhere to these wishes) and also a queue batcher on Hyperia who commented on my retro Stealth shirt (Human cannonball one). Tiny details but they help make the day more enjoyable. We spotted a ride op on Inferno leaning on the barrier where the train exits the station whilst waiting... now, I'm sure it's probably safe but I don't think I'd put my trust in that with the drop below and probably not in the ride handbook...! So all in all - the park is tired in places (as are the staff) - will we ever see a relaunch of the Sparkle Project because I feel the park needs it (Whilst I'm here - the Stealth tyre entrance is completely faded and unreadable again...). Hyperia still very good indeed and much needed for the park - getting queues of 40-50 minutes on a "dead day" is impressive. Will be interesting to see what 2027 brings, if anything, but it all just feels a bit stale and stagnant at the moment there, tired is the operative word and the state of the flat ride lineup (not that I really ride them, but they serve a purpose) with increased downtime ahead of the busiest time of the season is concerning, and indicative of the age of them all. It seems a done deal that Zodiac isn't coming back this year... Vortex is more of an issue as this is always popular. Hopefully Samurai is nothing too major considering it's work in closed season. One final thing - we actually saw SAW have a 5 minute queue at one point, which is normally unheard of, but for most of the day that thing still pulled in the crowds. Whoever signed that IP has a lot to be thanked for by Merlin.... PS. I await Parm Pap's thoughts on the above.

now something to replace ready player one PLEASE IT'S NEARLY BEEN THREE YEARS.

It appears they haven't given up with Zodiac just yet - quite surprised to see all the doors from the gondolas seem to have been removed.

shush

Is this 1 foot more than Blackpools ?

The tent has been covered. It is 5 roof panels wide; Stitches is 6, so it's a bit smaller (but still very big).

In addition to the above - I have to say I really do miss the almost obsessive fan culture that used to exist around Thorpe. Not so long ago there would be something to read about online every few days, even if it was just little things like new signage appearing, a change of audio somewhere, things that had been fixed etc. Closed season as well - we would always have detailed updates from many sources (including the park themselves) about what was going on. All that stuff still happens at Thorpe of course - but I suppose we’ve all moved on from sharing about it online! I think for me this sort of thing is what’s missing now. It seems to me that that level of enthusiasm doesn’t exist for Thorpe anymore, or if it does then it looks different now. Perhaps there’s a gap in the market for this since Mr Silkstone has moved on from all that, and the traditional forums are no longer busy. Because actually when you look at other parks, namely DLP and the upcoming Universal UK, there is quite a fan base already following the developments in microscopic detail. Thorpe just doesn’t seem to have that active fan base anymore for some reason outside of big projects like Hyperia.

After last weeks annoyance of the Service, a new cable and train 3 refurbished, yesterday Stealth ran really well and the team were pushing the trains through quickly, even in the high temperatures. Both trains had also been cleaned.

Had my first visit this past weekend. This had become a bit of a bucket list park over the last few years and was glad to finally get out there. Great rollercoaster collection to start off with. I thought Kondaa was fabulous, an outstanding attraction. Intamin were really cooking around this time. I've seen it described as a modern day Expedition Ge Force. Well yeah, it has similarities but whereas EGF always left me feeling underwhelmed, Kondaa was sublime. Also loved Mecalodon. I love family Gerstlauers, there's just a lot of innovation and experimentation with the model. This being the latest one, it just has so much for family groups and is so much fun. Tiki Wawa is okay. It's not an amazing version of the ride type unfortunately. Not worth the regular 45 minute waits. Turbine is amazing. Absolutely loved it. Great theme, great ride. Pulsar also impressed. I didn't think it would be my kind of ride but actually, it was really fun. The backwards air time was lovely and it wasn't too wet. Just enough. Calamity Mine was great, Boomerang was a boomerang. the SLC was fine, I'm now pretty used to riding these defensively so therefore I know when to brace. I still really like the layout on these things, even though the trains really do make them a battle. Loup-Garou was a big reason for the trip, I wanted to get on it before it says goodbye at the end of the year. To be honest, I'm a big defender of these horrible janky woodies. This was hilariously bad. I can see why its being renovated by RMC, but it still has a charm. The dark rides were also of really high quality. I shall be back..

I do agree. The buzz we had with Hyperia and the Passholder Group has certainly gone, and we're technically 2 rides down with Rumba Rapids permanent closure and Zodiac being SBNO for over a year. I'd love to see some new flat rides to bring some excitement back into the park, but there are also some pretty significant issues that need addressing, such as the security/entrance procedure and the Ghost Train. One thing I will say though, is that although we've had nothing new and not much excitement, it's still the best run Merlin park in the UK by far in my opinion, and it continues to have the best opening hours. Operations are always on point whenever I go, and I always have a pleasant day. I can't say the same for most other parks in the country. I usually avoid the park most of July and August but will certainly be going to a couple of the 9pm closes in August.

There's a few contributing factors I think... -Post-big investment lull. As Benin mentioned, there can be lulls after big investments at parks. Not every park, but it is common. It's funny because historically Thorpe was good at avoiding that by having some marketing gimmick for the year after a big investment (Stealth's "upgrade", Saw with Saw Alive, Swarm's Brave it Backwards, DBGT and Rise of the Demon). Hyperia didn't have that, and there's not been anything to follow up. It happens, but it's very bland, yes. -'Time thing'. I assume by this Matt you just mean getting older, and that does play a part of it too I reckon. You get older, and busier, and times just change. And also ties in with what Benin says about the world being general a bit rubbish right now. -Lack of updates. There's things happening at the park, whether it's little touch ups here and there or bigger things behind the scenes. Admittedly right now that is minimal, but it is there. But there's less noise about it all now. The Passholder Group on Facebook closed down. Jack Silkstone, who has been the main source of such things for a few years now, has moved into a more professional capacity so isn't making the little update videos. Fansites (like TPM) have succumbed to the time thing. And there's just very few places providing general updates. -Lack of anything to be excited about. There's no plans to the council for anything new. There's no rumours of anything new coming. Other parks in Merlin are getting things and Thorpe aren't. We're kind of just ticking on by. It makes it hard to have the same enthusiasm. On a personal level, I found 2024 to be such a huge buzz of a year for Thorpe. New coaster, obviously, but the Sparkle Project invigorated lots of other parts of the park. There was optimism for the future and such a positive. Since then, they've followed that up with a much-needed open space by the front of the park (although that execution has split opinion), and nothing else. The park is effectively exactly the same as it was 2 years ago, even down to food outlets. With seemingly nothing new on the horizon, there's only so long one can revisit the exact same place before a bit of burnout hits.

False alarm everyone. Sorry Aerie Force One, into the bin you go.

I’ve returned to Paultons’s Park for the first time since I was a kid, this time with my own toddler who has recently made the magic 1 meter + 4 years old combo, meaning we could go on early everything. It’s probably been over 20 years since I was last there, and the place is now completely unrecognisable. WHAT A PARK. And what a breath of fresh air! I have read reviews and watched videos etc, and had high expectations. But honestly I was blown away by just how good Paultons actually is now, especially when it comes to their newer things. Every expectation I had was exceeded. The rides, theming, food, staff, availability, atmosphere, overall experience, value for money, prices in the park, everything was spot on. Valgard is truly spectacular, and will be unbelievable when the new water coaster opens next year. The back to back large scale additions this year and next are an extremely positive sign of things to come. Can’t wait to see the park continue to grow over the coming years. It’s so encouraging to have had such a positive experience at a UK park, and to see it doing so well. I hope it continues to go from strength to strength as we gain Universal. The future of the UK theme park industry may be shaky across the board, but there are some real positives - Paultons very much being one of them.

Rest in piece. We can scrap it and Thorpe can buy Aerie Force One.

They've done quite a lot in recent years which has collectively improved throughput. - Increased the amount of bag storage - Pretty much always have 4 hosts checking restraints rather than 2 - Pretty much always have someone batching to fill empty seats - Pretty much always on 2 trains - New PLC means all restraints don't have lift all the way up - Queue line announcement with boarding instructions - Boarding instructions/screen before entering the station

I’ve definitely noticed a massive improvement in operations in the last few years. Especially on off peak days (or the season it was on during one train for awhile), throughputs were terrible. They dispatch much quicker nowadays and that queue just keeps moving. In general, Thorpe’s operations are something they should be proud of!

An absolutely crazy day TP has been closed on some recent Wednesdays, but I noticed it was available today and with the weather looking the better option, I went. A staff member who knows me told me that there were maybe only a couple of thousand people attending. oddly enough, I wanted to ride Stealth, and as there were hardly any guests on the ride or platforms, the gate was kept open so that people could re-ride, and that continued to beyond the lunch hour, with so many guests telling me that every ride was walk-on. During the time, some people wlo lived within a few miles had also then attended due to seeing online the short queues. As much as it pained me, I left Stealth and had two walk-on rides each on Nemesis Inferno, Hyperia, Saw, Colossus and Swarm before dragging myself back to Stealth, where the re-ride gate was open and announcements of "re-ride just get on", several were running to get on again, and there were loads of conversations between people and staff, many discussing their crazy ride totals for the day. There really were few guests and no waiting for rides one wanted. Staff were really upbeat and helpful. It really was a crazy day..

Stealth is back open today!

She's had a few test runs today. Looking quite promising. The launch bunker doors were open the other day. Perhaps they've done a cable change too.

Though a different situation to last year (where Stealth effectively opened weeks into the season), it must be a concern for the park that for the second year running they've had early-season issues with Stealth. The issues with hydraulic launches are well documented now. And one as powerful as Stealth will add to that complexity. At the same time, Thorpe are well-versed in dealing with complex, unique and temperamental rides (for better or worse). So hopefully they're not thinking of giving it up yet. But equally, from a purely business perspective, if this keeps happening, one has to expect they'll at least consider changes to it.

I believe it sounds an alarm if the restraint comes down enough to indicate that the person in the test seat would fit. Very annoying I know - would be better to have a green/red light like I've seen at other parks 🤣 At least its working though I guess! SAWs test seat does the same.

And what does Parm Pap like, beyond long-winded ways of saying (I presume) "the water effect won't make a splash back soon"?

Something I've noticed with Zodiac testing is that its actually reaching the full 90 degrees height and staying at full height for a few seconds before it starts to lower again. Haven't seen it reach full height in years! Will be interesting to see if it does that when it opens or if its just engineers running it in manual.

Zodiac has been doing a lot of testing so far this season so will likely re-open soon. I do agree with your point though. I’d love to see Thorpe add some new flats rather than slowly losing them like we’ve seen at other parks.

Fantastic news about Zodiac seemingly making a comeback soon. It seems Thorpe are a lot more prepared for the season ahead than Alton Towers, which has several rides closed for the foreseeable future, and is continuing to struggle to open rides at opening time every day. Hopefully Thorpe will be able to continue with their good operations and availability that they’ve had for several years now. It’s encouraging to see only 2 rides listed to be closed, for just 2 days at that.

Top Spin: The Musical?

Another square for Thorpe Bingo everyone!

I agree it is a huge shame that there is quite literally nothing going on. Although to be fair over the last decade there has been a lot of rubbish advertised as “new” - the various year-round mazes and some of the events for example. The absence of those sort of things isn’t that bad in my opinion, and realistically something new isn’t needed every year. Not many parks do that do they. In recent years they have also made a lot of improvements to the areas other than the rides - the toilets to name one example. Thorpe is probably one of the (if not THE) best Merlin park in terms of general upkeep. I agree though that it is a shame there doesn’t appear to be anything at all happening again. It’s been a few years now since they’ve been able to boast anything notably new. I wonder if Colossus will finally be finished in the next couple of months at least? Despite all the cuts to spending at Merlin I’d at least expect that to be done before opening, as well as Zodoac getting sorted. I wonder if the beach project will ever happen now? I can’t help but think the money would be better put towards a larger project.

Some would say it's the past of theme parks.

Sonic Spinball had to be rethemed for similar reasons, the allegations that Knuckles filed meant they had to quickly drop the brand in closed season so it's definitely possible they could reopen as just David Land and drop the Walliams.

Ah love these. Unfortunately my lists are very short nowadays, but I've had a fair year theme park wise (considering how life is now!) Thorpe Park x1 Alton Towers x1 Legoland Windsor x1 Disneyland Park Paris x3 Walt Disney Studios Paris x2 I do miss the days when I had huge lists, and I was at Thorpe & Towers 10-20 times each! Sad to have not been to any fireworks events or halloween this year, for the first time in... I don't know how long. Still, could be worse. Paulton's next year for the first time in 20 years!

Park Count Thorpe - Loads Phantasialand x2 Towers x1 Legoland Windsor x1 Chessington x1 Efteling x1 Holiday Park (now Plopsaland Deutschland) x1 Walibi Belgium x1 Bellewaerde x1 Gardaland x1 Movieland Italy x1 Walibi Holland x1 Coasters New coasters: 26 New parks: 4 Current cred count: 434 Top 5 new coasters Kondaa, Walibi Belgium. Sitting just outside my Top 10 outright, this is absolutely bonkers in the best possible way. The only mark against it is the double down which starts off the final third of the ride, which just feels a bit unnatural to me. Karacho, Tripsdrill. Gerstlauer with some of their finest work. It sits just outside my Top 10%, is a great deal of fun. If the MCBR was slightly less harsh, this would be a lot higher in my rankings. Expedition GeForce, Holiday Plopsaland Deutschland. It's good. The middle third is a bit boring, but the first drop and finale are fab. It's very classic early 00s Intamin. Raptor, Gardaland. Good, not great. But theming is fab. MecaLodon, Walibi Belgium. The Gerstlauer family triple launch coaster is something which people have raved about. I like it, especially once it warms up, but I'm not as big on it as most. The ride type has buckets of potential though. Disappointments YoY, Walibi Holland. I liked Jersey Devil at Six Flags Great Adventure. I was disappointed by YoY, which didn't offer much even with the duelling. I also have aged and the leg arrangement was uncomfortable for me. Gardaland. It was nice and I enjoyed my day there. But it did feel a bit meh at the same time. Hals-uber-Kopf, Tripsdrill. Unlike Mark, I haven't been blown away by either of the Vekoma STCs. They're fine, I can see why people enjoy them, but they don't click for me. Other Notable Things Danse Macabre, Efteling. This thing is superb. Movieland Italy. What a strange park. But I had an absolute blast of a time. Amazonia, Bellewaerde. A fantastic rapids-esque ride from Intamin with lots of cool quirks. Slaughterhouse, Walibi Holland. I returned to Walibi's Halloween event, and this alone experience is so raw and visceral and just genuinely fabulous. Us vs You, Walibi Holland. An international scare maze which feels like it's slipped under the scare attraction's radar, because this is bloody great.

Marp backwards is Parm.

It has also been announced that Vampire, the SLC, will close at the end of next year. No replacement has been confirmed, but the park have said they wouldn't close it with nothing in works to replace it.

For a non-AI answer, there's no explicit reference. When the ride opened, it did have the "JBS.wrks" sign painted on the building. It was purposefully made to look faded, fitting in with the abandoned warehouse motif of the station and the general Saw storyline. Image from 2009. Back then, there was much less emphasis on Easter Eggs, hidden meanings, etc. It was likely thrown on there just to add an extra layer of 'this is an abandoned warehouse' and 'JBS.wrks' sounds like a plausible thing for a warehouse. The addition of the new signage is a bit unnecessary and doesn't add anything meaningful or worthwhile in my opinion. But equally, for some signs that were probably a couple of hundred quid, it adds another layer for repeat visitors to make things feel fresh. You could even argue that the "JBS.wrks Est 2009" signage goes against the original planned story, as the whole point is that the warehouse was abandoned and taken over by Jigsaw in 2009. But it's not that deep and doesn't matter. So yeah, no real relevance. Almost certainly doesn't actually mean anything. And very much done for the sake of it.