JoshC.

The hiring of 300 actors on short term contracts will be the reason.

I don't know if it's still the case (but I expect it is), but theme parks / companies are under no obligation to be truthful to TEA for reporting their attendance figures. Obviously they can't outright lie, but their numbers don't have to be accurate. I've been aware of some parks' TEA numbers being off by 300,000 in the past. So definitely take with a pinch of salt. They'll be good ballpark numbers, but obviously could be off by 10-20% in some instances. In the context of Thorpe, I'm going to outright say I don't believe the 2023 figure. The 2024 figure seems plausible. But just from my visits, I do not see how 2023 ended up being more visited than 2024. I caveat this by saying I'm just going off my experiences, so I could be completely wrong. The big question is - if Merlin haven't necessarily been truthfully accurate with their attendance figures - why have they made Thorpe seem like it's had a big attendance dip when they open a big brand new ride? Surely it would make sense to keep the fabrication alive and make it seem like Hyperia had a positive impact? Few possible factors. Could be that they are now reporting more accurately. Or they could blame 2024's "poor" performance on Hyperia's reliability. Or they could pin it to Hyperia opening in May. It could be part of a narrative they're building that will see increases in 2025 and how Hyperia is a long-term draw. Who knows. As I say, I simply don't believe that Thorpe's attendance dipped from 2023 to 2024. I could be wrong, and I'm no doubt sounding pig-headed stubborn right now, but that's a hill I'm currently going to stand on right now.

The park have released an hour-long interview with Fright Nights management about this year's event. There's some cool insight about things and is well worth a watch. Will share my thoughts about some things discussed at a later point.

Reasonably common for Colossus. They do it just to check for any signs of wear and tear at the joints of the ride. It will be a part of their routine and nothing to be concerned about.

700pph across all attractions is definitely an overestimate. Mazes probably average around 400-500pph. And I can't think of any non-major coaster that would we get above 700pph consistently.

Not sure if it still does, but in the first few days of the event, the park was playing The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony shortly after closing. Apparently the reason is to represent the same feeling you get when the last song plays at the end of a good night out (ie bittersweet). Apparently meant to recreate when the park played Perfect Day in 2013's Fright Nights (which was in the film You're Next). I...don't get it frankly. But I've also seen some really positive reactions online. For me, it just doesn't make sense / fit with Fright Nights. I got why they did it in the exit area of DeadBeat (since it's nightclub themed). But parkwide? I don't know; I just don't get it. Playing other pop music too, again I don't get it. Probably has some 'hidden meaning', but yeah...doesn't do it for me. Really good point, and I certainly didn't think of it that way. Obviously there will be different schools of thought. I do still think there will be plenty of scare actors who would be more than willing to give it a go...even if just as a once off, but there will definitely be people who aren't keen on the idea (or choose to go there and then realise the style isn't for them). I'm very intrigued by how Universal will set up HHN (or whatever they end up branding their Halloween event). The European market is very different and has very different expectations and standards for Halloween attractions. Do Universal stick with what they know, and bring that slice of American culture with them, or do they try to still keep it in the same form, but add the European flair to it. If they can bring on board British / European creatives with experience of creating and running Halloween attractions, they definitely could find a way to make it work. One thing which I've noticed is that it would be very difficult for your average guest on your average night to do everything (ie all Fright Nights attractions and shows and major rides in the dark). There will definitely be many, many people who don't manage that. Whilst the park will have a lot of repeat visitors thanks to Annual Passholders, and I'm certainly all for keeping things fresh, for many people, a show feeling very similar won't have that much impact. I'm sure that there are people who are going "we didn't do X last time, let's do it this time". Equally, people who are going "we did Y last time and enjoyed it, let's do/watch it again". Of course, there will be people on the other side who crave new things / got everything done last time. It is all about striking a balance. I still maintain that one year with no big new things is fine. Equally, I'd have preferred to see some extra work go into things like park-wide theming, themed audio, etc. Doesn't surprise me. The profit in particular makes perfect sense given they're effectively introducing 4 paid attractions now, so they make more money from passholders as well as non-passholders. Halloween events always do well for parks, given the later openings and limited-offering attractions, and that's true anywhere. Equally, for Thorpe, I think it's a telling statistic. It's not necessarily that Fright Nights has become more visited, but that the rest of the year has become less-visited. Obviously both things could be true (and probably are), but I think that statistic is driven by the park being quieter the rest of the year. I'm too lazy to look at what the days were last year, but this year, Thorpe has 207 open days and 24 of them are Fright Nights dates. So they're getting about 20% of their visitors across 11.5% of their open days. Those numbers are pretty meaningless without additional context, but I'd be interested what is was like in past and how important that is.

I don't think the event in its current guise is 'family friendly". It's by no means adult/mature, and has something for everyone, but it's not exactly pushed down to Chessington or Legoland markets. Yes, there's a dance show which is for everyone, and doesn't go hard on scares. Whilst you could argue that the cast for that could be used for a "scare" attraction, it's not guarantee that all the actors involved would want / could be scare actors. Different skill set, backgrounds, etc. So not a straightforward swap. Obviously it won't interest everyone and that's fine. But it does add atmosphere and variety to the event. Lucifer's Lair features some dance shows, but they are certainly geared towards a more mature audience. And that whole zone does encapsulate what previous roamers were like it terms of scare factor. Ultimately yes Fright Nights does still have things which cater to everyone. And part of me expects that that is because regardless of what Thorpe do, families still visit the park. We saw years ago that the park tried catering to just thrills and a slightly older audience, and that just led to less people spending money, and more complaints and bad publicity from families who came anyway. There's still enough to satisfy the 'thrillseeker' audience. Even if the upcharges are too much, or the mazes lack consistency, the quartet of mazes intent is to be scary, and for the wider audience, that is what they acheive. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the park have Fright Nights be more mature, up the age recommendations, become a bit more scary. And that would certainly benefit some of their attractions. But I completely get why they won't do that. And if that's what people are after, I going to an out and out scream park is the best option for them.

I write this on my way to work, as it's raining. I'm tired. So forgive any typos. As always, this is "my" review, not a 'press' review. Trailers My favourite maze of the night. Two new scenes are one inspired by Roots of Evil (in the forest area after the Dolls scene) and an Experiment 10 inspired one replacing Brainsburys. The safety speech is done in the old pre show area, with the screen now having a pre recorded pre show. It's the same basic maze, but with a solid cast and good scares. DeadBeat No changes inside maze. Pre show is slightly different but that's it. Stitches A couple of minor changes, but same idea. It's hard to tell without knowing numbers, but Stitches is either the most popular or has the worst throughput because even at Press Night it gets a longer queue than everything else Survival Games No more splitting up. This is a single route maze. As a result, it is significantly longer. It's also still intense, but definitely less intense than previous years. There's a change in story line about the characters being given a serum to make them more vicious, and so the 'assassin' characters are no more. The maze does feel fresh. For me though, it's my least favourite of the 4. It feels a bit too Tulleys-like in that there's a long maze but a few moments where not a lot happens. It is, like the other mazes, walking through a themed set more than anything else, although it is less like that than the others. I don't know. Maybe actors just need more time to bed in and get in the groove. Maybe I'm just salty because I liked the old Survival Games. Will be interesting to re do it later. Purgatory Town To behonest, exactly what I expected. It's an interactive zone. You get out what you put in. If you seek the actors out, talk to them, you'll get so fun conversations. If you walk through and the actors are already talking, it'll be like the zone doesn't exist. If they're free they will approach you, but if you don't put anything in they'll move on. It's fine for what it is. With mazes becoming more passive I think the jury is out whether this is what Fright Nights needs. And it remains to be seen how it will cope when busy. Creature Campus Another great dance show this year. I get that many aren't interested in it, but it oozes atmosphere. Would recommend. The Crows Longest and possibly best layout yet. It is basically an outdoor maze at this point. Theming and effects are cool. Music is perfect for it. It just works. Lucifer's Lair Say hello to the crown jewel of Fright Nights for the third year running. The area is perfect for what it is trying to be, the hub of the event. There will always be something going on, whether it is demons going round treating it like a scare zone, singing, dance shows, stunt shows or the best version of a Thorpe fire show yet. This is just it. Music is a bit of a mess right now. I'm sad they're not choosing to do more specific stuff for rides. Lighting is great. Stealth has a cool light at the end of the launch track in sync with the launch lights. All in it's another good event. It won't silence critics about the long term direction that FN has gone / is going. I'm less of a fan of the style of mazes Thorpe currently produce, but I'll still give them another go and see what changes. But genuinely, and wholeheartedly, the stuff included in the entrance ticket is worth the visit.

I wouldn't read too much into it. That poster is in a scene with 4 other posters, all of which were designed from the "Make Your Mark" VIP Easter Egg thing. The price included getting your name on a poster which related to an attraction of your choosing. Jake Clarke obviously likes Ghost Train, and The Last Train is a good discourse. There's another next to it which is Creek Freak 2, but don't expect a sequel to that maze. Obviously it's possible that it is closing, and this has been hidden in in such a way that it feels more subtle. But I don't think it's the nod people think it is.

Whilst I don't anticipate there to be significant discourse on here this evening, the Fright Nights Launch Event is this evening, so I'd expect there to be spoilers floating about ahead of the official opening tomorrow. Please share anything that could be considered a Spoiler here. If you want to follow along and get some updates of the event, and insights into what might have changed and the quality this year, follow along with your favourite fansite (that's Thorpe Park Mania, in case it wasn't obvious) on all good (and bad) social media!

I'd be surprised if it's related to the launch cable. They have a good routine for that which has worked for a number of years. My guess at this point is that there's another issue related to the extended closure it had earlier in the year. Hydraulic launch coasters are infamous for having parts or issues which need resolving after a fixed number of cycles. It would seem like this solution is the least worst scenario. I'd be very surprised if it was budget related. It is still such an iconic and well-received ride. If they were really in that position, I'd expect them to open something like Tidal Wave late, given that's a costly ride to operate.

Reviews I've heard from this weekend suggested that - outside of the first hour or two - mazes have been very quiet / practically walk on, despite the park itself being lively. I certainly don't expect that to be the norm - the last weekend of September was inevitably going to be quiet for scare attractions - but it's also possible that the high price point of the mazes in the first place will reduce queue times. Ultimately even paid-mazes will have queues. I don't think Towers (nor Thorpe) is a shining example of how paid-for mazes should operate in terms of queue times, etc. I'm not necessarily against Fastrack being an option for paid-for mazes (after all, I've paid for Fastrack for mazes for my visit to Walibi Holland this year). But having to choose a time slot for your maze and the corresponding Fastrack slot doesn't quite sit right with me either.

There's been no confirmation either way really. Obviously the plan was for it to be this year, but planning delays stopped that. They pushed through and it was approved in Spring. That at least signals intent for them to do it. But whether the plan has changed since then is up in the air. They technically have 3 years from the approval of the application to start the work, so if it doesn't happen for next year it could still happen later. This is a very long-winded way of saying "we don't know". At the same time, I still think the default for now should be to expect it to happen.

To be fair, most of their Halloween days sell out, so it's much the norm. The operations are pretty slick. It was 6 years ago so I can't remember exact timings, but they were very tight with maze slots: if you arrived before your slot, you were turned away. If you arrived after, they would put you in a standby queue and only let you in when everyone from the current time slot was cleared. That meant that realistically you never waited more than 15 / 30mins. But their mazes are HHN/ continuous conga line esque

Plopsaland de Panne recently rebranded themselves to Plopsaland Belgium. This follows suit of the company rebranding other parks, including Holiday Park to Plopsaland Germany. More interestingly, it has been revealed that in 2027, Plopsaland Belgium is getting a Flying Theatre attraction from Mack, called Airific. It will be located near the entrance plaza of the park: https://www.instagram.com/p/DO8LbZ_jH27/?igsh=YWgwcmR4Nndjdmdn