Glitch

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.

Confront russ on this if you see him.

He no longer works at the park unfortunately

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.

Tidal Wave fire effect is still not working, in case anyone didn't know.

Depends. Given most will work in and around Midlands, you'd have to move closer to Bedford, and would the wages be better or as good as anywhere you could get nearby?
 
Universal have their own creative team. They don't need the minds behind Hyperia.

The sources in that BBC article just sound like people who they probably found lurking around the fence trying to get first glimpses.
 
Feel sorry for the security if/when construction gets started. Having to deal with certain influencers appearing almost daily.

Why would you be nervous? If it doesn’t open you’d be entitled to compensation in the form of a free fast track and the right to complain on Twitter

Thought I would celebrate the arrival of the 2025 season, by recording and arranging the ride’s theme.
 
 

The quotes were from Abdab of Terror Tomb fame.
 
It made as much sense as most of the posts. But doesn't look like Thorpe are going for the speciality car for Hyperia this season. Otherwise they'd have gone on about it by now.

100%. You have to take a step back from being an enthusiast and see what the public see. Nemesis is still Nemesis, as good as it is.

Find it fascinating how the GP are going oh it’s just ripsaw and the enthusiasts are trying to fight back saying it’s a newer model!

Find it fascinating how the GP are going oh it’s just ripsaw and the enthusiasts are trying to fight back saying it’s a newer model!

So thoughts and notes from yesterday, which was a "VIP preview" for the season, where the park was open 10-3.
 
-We're light on changes. A couple of tweaks to F&B is really all that is "new"
 
-Repaints for part of Colossus and Depth Charge look nice. The small side of the Beach looks nice, also repainted, but it highlights the grime of the large side.
 
-Hyperia grass is nice. Could be extended more. They've added benches to the plaza which isn't a bad idea, but they're atop the wings on the ground, which irks me a bit.
 
-Many new pieces of merchandise, which are the usual high quality we've come to expect 
 
-Hyperia had issues yesterday, in large part due to the cold. Hopefully better today. Stealth had an issue during testing and didn't open.
 
-The park usually stumbles during first day or two of opening, and yesterday wasn't any different, with the cold affecting weather, and reliability being a bit on the weak side, but it did improve. I've been to significantly worse first days. 
 
-There's a few other bits and pieces around the park. Solar panels atop Ghost Train (but you only see them if you look for them on other rides). Walking Dead has had creative tweaks to the post-ride section. Some speakers seem to have been fixed. Tweak to end of day of audio.
 
If 2024 was Thorpe's year of improvement, 2025 is their year of stability. That's not a bad thing. But after a couple of years of multiple changes, it will have a different 'new season' vibe to it. 
 
The kicker for the park this year will be the quality and reach of marketing. That will be what makes or breaks them this year, with little to shout about in the way of new things 

I’m very glad to have got on it this year - even 19 years on the speed and height of this thing was still incredible and very grateful to have got on one of the 2 most iconic hydraulic launch coasters.
 
I do think the way they’ve handled this is a complete joke, as mentioned already this is a iconic ride known all across the world, to just close with no warning is pretty shocking, had it been opening next year for a “final year send off” I’d have renewed my pass, made the trip over. In some ways I can almost understand the other rides closing which were less well known to close, but to close a ride of this stature with a little press release a few days after it closed just seems wrong to me.

This is a very interesting topic, which has many layers and many moving parts.
 
In short though, I don't think Merlin is a company in trouble. I do think it's a company which is going through many changes, though.
 
Merlin Magic Making
There's been a lot of misunderstanding going on about the MMM redundancies going around. 
 
What is happening is that Merlin Magic Making Studio North is closing down. Studios North is a studio which produces / builds things for Merlin, located by Alton Towers. It was effectively Merlin's own theming production company. But...Merlin don't use them much. For whatever reasons, it would regularly be cheaper to hire and work with external companies for those things. I don't really understand why. But it's been that way for years.
 
But from small scale things (Alton Towers using Leek Signs to print larger signs) to medium things (Thorpe work with UVE to build Fright Nights mazes) to larger things (the Wicker Man statue for example), Merlin were using their own design studio less and less. There had to come a point where it became questionable for it to exist.
 
It's of course incredibly sad for the staff involved. 
 
However, it should be stressed that Merlin Magic Making continues to exist, being the team that is involved in designing new rides for the parks, new experiences for the smaller attractions, etc. Those redundancies aren't making "creatives" (people who design rides) redundant. 
 
Another thing: very few theme parks have large dedicated teams to producing theming internally. It's almost always done externally for larger things, or done only for smaller things. Merlin was pretty unique in that. So it's not like they are falling behind or becoming worse compared to other parks / companies.
 
Bear Grylls Adventure
 
Bear Grylls Adventure is an interesting one.
 
It had a good hook and idea, and when I went shortly after it opened, I was impressed with the experience. I do think it struggled to be marketed correctly though.
 
Another thing, which most are likely unaware: Bear Grylls is incredibly popular in China. His 'brand', for lack of a better word, is huge. And, as we know, 10 years ago, Merlin was significantly interested in the Chinese market.
In short, Bear Grylls Adventure opened in Birmingham as a tester attraction, so Merlin could learn how to operate it and maximise money in the Chinese market. The UK is a safer bet for the company to test things out, and easy for them to get people through the door (thanks to the Merlin Annual Pass). They did similar with Shrek's Adventure in London, and the Peter Rabbit Play experience in Blackpool.
 
That does mean, however, the Merlin experiments with their "Gateway" (new name for "Midway") Attractions are clear to see for the UK market, including the associated failures.
 
Gateway Closures
In terms of closures of other Gateway Attractions, I'm aware of the following:
-Little Big City Berlin and SeaLife Berlin
-Madame Tussauds San Francisco
 
I can offer a little bit of insight here.
Little Big City is in a prime real estate position, located at the Berlin TV Tower. The rent is astronomical. It has done well for a number of years. However, it will struggle in Berlin in the current economic climate (where people are spending less). Berlin has lots of free sight-seeing things you can do, and many people will visit for the historical value of the city, or for the nightlife. With people spending less, LBC is a lot lower down on people's lists. 
 
Sea Life is located just round the corner, so again, hugely expensive, and again, will suffer the same issues as Little Big City.
 
Berlin Dungeons will be attractive to people who visit Berlin, though, so that should be safe.
 
San Francisco is a difficult market, and was interested at a time when Merlin were really pushing their expansion plans. It was seen as a risk, in the sense of "let's try, and if we fail, oh well, at least we've tried". That's the level of power and money Merlin have to play with.
 
It should be said as well that there have been new Gateway Attractions that have opened in recent years too. Peppa Pig Theme Parks (which are more like big theme park areas) are doing well. Legoland Discovery Centre Brussels opened in 2022 and has been one of the most successful LDCs to date (possibly the most successful, I'm a little out of the loop there).
 
Of course, the closures of attractions are awful for the staff that work there, but on the topic of Merlin as a company, I don't think it's as bad as it sounds when you just list out all the closures.
 
Sea Lifes
There are rumours - and I stress, just rumours - that the new CEO of Merlin is not a fan of zoos and aquaria. Those rumours don't make it clear whether that's from a business standpoint or a personal/moral standpoint. Regardless of the reason why, if that rumour is true, we could well see more Sea Life Centres close / be sold out of the Merlin estate.
 
Two Big Issues
This ramble about closing attractions has highlighted two major points which are very relevant to why Merlin are in the position they are currently in:
1. The economic landscape / the cost of living crisis, giving people much less disposable income 
2. Merlin's shift in strategy and having to make large changes
 
To address the second point first: as said, Merlin wanted to become the most visited theme park company in the world. To do that, they were expanding and expanding, and trying new markets, seeing what was happening and what would work. Inevitably, some would work, some wouldn't. And the ones that wouldn't, would have to close. San Francisco is a key example. Some of their Chinese ventures is another.
 
But of course, dealing with those closures has financial implications which will be felt.
 
On top of that, Merlin spent a long time looking into expanding in China. The Covid pandemic put a huge dent into those plans actually. On top of that, some of their early ventures out there stumbled through, meaning they had to spend longer sorting that out. However, they still have Legoland parks opening out there, with Legoland Shanghai opening next year
 
Legolands
The Legolands around the world have had mixed success.
-Legoland Malaysia (opened in 2012) has done pretty well
-Legoland Dubai (2016) does well in context of the UAE (and is technically owned by another company)
-Legoland Japan (2017) opened in a poor location and has struggled.
-Legoland New York (2021) was another poor location, and opening post-Covid and in a cost of living crisis has meant it's done poorly.
-Legoland South Korea (2022) I know the least about, but again I imagine struggles right now because of the worldwide landscape.
 
The Chinese Legolands (Shanghai and Sichuan) have been under development for a long time, and are in good locations. There's been a thirst and demand for Legolands in the country for a long time, and I believe Merlin learnt many lessons from Japan and New York, along with their previous ventures in China. From my understanding of those projects, I genuinely believe they have a huge chance of being very successful.
 
But, there is a chance that the theme park boat has sailed in China now...certainly the expansion of parks, and attractions within parks, has slowed post-Covid. We will see.
 
Cost of Living
This is the big kicker. The entertainment and visitor attraction industry is being hit hard right now. Some parks are doing better than others, of course. But everywhere is feeling the squeeze. That should be acknowledged.
 
 
Aramark
 
I obviously can't provide any evidence, but I am under the impression that despite Aramark being a thing, Merlin are still very happy with the amount of money they get via Aramark. And it comes at the added convenience of not having to deal with that industry directly, so I think it is a win-win in their eyes.
 
I completely agree that the price of food has spiralled and is too much in many - but not all - instances. At the same time, many theme parks have very expensive food options (Plopsaland and the Plopsa parks have more expensive and worse quality food than anything I've had at Merlin parks, for example). Compaigne des Alpes parks (Walibi and Parc Asterix) are quite expensive too, but broadly has the quality to much. 
 
The quality is a mixed bag. Thorpe's food offering is, in my opinion, better and more diverse now than it was in the years preceding Aramark coming in. Towers has gotten noticeably worse. Chessington and Legoland roughly the same. I'd say they're mostly all worse than, say, 15 years, but I wonder if that's a general industry trend.
 
I do hope that Merlin/Aramark can address the cost of food. I appreciate it is hard to do so when prices are going up everywhere, but it is too much now, and I know plenty of people who bring their own food to parks these days.
 
Universal
 
I think I'm in a minority with this opinion, but I think that Universal coming to the UK will do nothing but good things for Merlin. I think that Legoland Windsor and Thorpe in particular will reap the most benefits.
 
Universal, in all of its locations, is a premium product. As such, it comes at a premium price. Day tickets in the triple digits. I wouldn't be surprised if Universal GB has an Annual Pass costing £700. Compare that to Merlin's Annual Pass costing £200ish for multiple parks and loads of other attractions, and people will go "well, that's not bad". People will still visit Universal, of course, but they will see the value in Merlin when they can get an Annual Pass for the same price as a 2-3 day ticket.
 
Yes, Universal's premium product will outshine Merlin's products. But people maybe won't mind that if the price is noticeably cheaper?
 
And, plenty of people will come from abroad for Universal. Europeans will rather go to the UK than Orlando I'm sure. Plenty will fly into Heathrow and travel from there. I can certainly see people be happy to "add on" a day or two into London/Windsor, and potentially Legoland as a result. Those interested in theme parks more particularly will see Thorpe and consider that too. Obviously, that depends on how Thorpe play their cards with marketing, but they can definitely try and capitalise.
 
I think the biggest issue will be in the short term when Universal look to hire staff. Not necessarily Creatives / Directors, as they'll come from people within the company already, but your Upper Managers, Engineers, Department Managers Team Leaders, etc. Heck, even your hosts. I'm sure there's plenty of staff within Merlin who are looking at Universal and going "I'd be happy to move towards Bedford and work for Universal. Even if I get paid the same, I'll get free tickets to Universal". And Universal will be happy to have people from within the UK with that experience come work for them.
 
It will balance out, but could hit hard as it opens up.
 
I'm making an assumption here that Universal will be a premium park with a premium price tag. Maybe they'll change for the UK market and offer something more in line with Merlin parks in terms of price. But when they've got a huge name to uphold, maybe not.
 
But yeah, I genuinely think that Universal opening in the UK will offer nothing but good things for the UK theme park industry and for Merlin.
 
Are Merlin in trouble?
I think Merlin are going through many changes and have issues. That comes from the economic climate, the recent changes at the top and more. And there are a lot of changes behind the scenes (I'm aware of some redundancies that happened at a corporate level over the summer). I don't think it spells bad news for the wider company right now though. 

That's mad. I don't even recall RAP being a thing on the Blue Light day I went to.

I visited a few weeks ago on a Monday and Last Night (The 3rd) and here is my honest thoughts. No holding back here lol.
 
Stitches:
This is my favourite maze of the 4. I find Stitches very eerie to walk through and both run throughs I had were both very lively. I love some of the disgusting costumes like the oversized teddy bear, the puppet doll, and the gorilla. The actors also seemed more than happy to play off the already creepy vibe and give great startle scares. I found the scares varied and energetic on both runs, and the finale seemed a lot better than last year and managed to really work on both runs. Stitches is a long, well themed, and unique maze that should be kept for longer. 
 
Survival Games:
I had one run with no separation and on my second I was alone for the first half. In the arena on both times I found myself in a conga line of people and no actors in sight. The conga lines slowly lingered towards the exit, the conga line on both runs meandered to the end casually strolling through the equally flat finale. P*ss poor. I hope it goes next year as this year it just felt dead. The arena on both times just felt stuffed full of people and no actors to cause chaos- the arena is bloody lifeless now and it completely makes this maze a disaster.
 
Trailers:
This maze has grown on me over the years. It is not the scariest maze but I feel it has a nice variety of scares, mostly good theming, and the casts do really shine in here.
Even though we caught up with the group in front the actors still managed to power their way through our group. The acting quality was really high and I liked the new buckwheat scene. The new scenes are honestly a bit lacking in theming but the Platform and Creek actors both were totally great in their rooms which helped me forget. My conclusion is Trailers is a good maze that belongs in the line-up even if just for being a fun concept with some cool ideas.
 
Deadbeat:
Deadbeat is a frustrating mess of an attraction. I like the idea of the theme but I feel the design really is a let down with this one. The concept is cool but walking through it just doesn't make much sense? I find it is a little hard to follow and some rooms I wonder why they are there? It also is strange with the multiple slot machine rooms where not much happens, the room with a dancing girl?
 
I think where DeadBeat feels weak for me is seemingly the design for actors. The actors we saw were brilliant but with the loud dance music it made their great scares fall flat. A noise for an actor really I think is an important tool for grabbing those scares but all the actors are fighting against an overly loud soundtrack. I think a more sinister lowkey soundtrack after the initial rooms would be so much better. The maze also seems to lack much in the way of hidey holes, actor runs, and honestly it seemed not very actor friendly. A lot of the actors still made it work but even with brilliant efforts we still walked out thinking it was terrible, and quite frankly I would say it just feels poorly designed. I hope they "Big Top" this as like Survival Games, it was pathetic. To think I paid £10 for either makes me feel sick.
 
Lucifer's Lair/Creature Campus:
Great talent here with the shows. Both bring a lot to the park and the atmosphere, and I hope both of these are here to stay. I like the variety that Lucifer brings, and I feel like it gives Fright Nights a real meaty catalogue of stuff to see. Bored? Head to Lucifer's Lair there probably is something going on now or soon.
 
Crows: 
Though not too long and not many actors, The Crows were enjoyable. I do think a full scale maze would be really brilliant if it brought back. I do think it is worse than last year for sure in regards to amount of actors.
 
Overall: Good event with honestly very mixed opinions on mazes. Stitches and Trailers I feel like gives me hope but if DeadBeat is the new style we are getting, I want to get off the train lol!

I personally don’t mind its design and feel. Reminds me a lot of the Barbican and those are some sought after houses. 
The thing is with Thorpe having a hotel is tricky especially in the off season, with Heathrow so nearby and lots of places avalible for conferences etc it was always seen as a major risk to build a permanent hotel structure. If this does go ahead I wonder if a midway attraction will be built in one of the car park areas or the old farm to make it feel more resorty.

To put more in there they'd have needed to bin Depth Charge as well. Which isn't happening. 
 
The park needs more spaces to breathe and has done for years. Might even be something they can offer for evening entertainment in summer months for hotel guests.
 
I've always felt that this was the best solution for the area. Better than a beach that is never used.

Appreciate it thankyou for the insight.

There's plenty of things to say about how the park operates when it's that busy, but from a purely numerical business perspective, it is so good to see the park hitting capacity numbers.

Queue closed at 9.05 last night.
 
Seems the information about early queue closure has now been removed from the app now too, so think its safe to say it'll close at 9 every night for Fright Nights. 
 
Hopefully that'll be the end of it and we won't see the return of the early queue closures next season  

Appreciate it thankyou for the insight.

Getting caught between the external shell and internal seat mechanism. Bit of something breaks loose after suddenly moving for first time consistently all year and right in the way.
 
Incident many years ago (think Japan) where a person got caught between the 2. Didn't end well.