Cal

I can't help but feel its just in the wrong location. I never bother going over there and feel its just a bit out the way, but maybe thats just cause I haven't had good enough reasons to go over there. If only they had an arena in the centre of the park... feel like that location would've worked perfectly for something like this. Also, in my opinion the food options there have been pretty dire and think theres much better options elsewhere on park. Was a big fan of Cargo at Towers but don't think anything they brought in for launchpad have been good at all unfortunately.

Well that's the 2026 season done then. Overall I think it's been a good season. No idea on actual figures, but the park has certainly felt busier this season, which can only be a good thing. The lineup is starting to feel a little stale, and Fright Nights felt quite stale overall, but the park has continued to operate very well in my opinion. I do feel like the park is crying out for a new flat ride, but unfortunately it doesn't look like that'll be happening for next season. The only actual new ride hardware we've had since 2014 are Dodgems, Ghost Train (less said about the better) and obviously Hyperia. As we've seen this season, the flats are certainly showing their age now. There are rumours going around that Huss are coming in over closed season to work on Zodiac, so I'm hoping Zodiac and Vortex will both be back for the start of next season. But I do desperately think a new flat is needed to keep things fresh. I also think sorting out the entrance needs to be a priority. Seeing reports of people waiting 70 minutes just to enter the park is crazy. I personally can't think of another park that has a similar issue. It's a terrible first impression. A couple of other things I'd like to see: • Build on the 9pm closes over summer. They seemed well attended and a success overall, so I'm hoping the park can build on them next year. • Fright Nights 10pm closes. I know I say this every year, but Fright Nights feels busier than ever and I think the park needs to be doing what it can to help with capacity. Opening an extra hour would surely help with that, as well as enhancing the guest experience. The park looks SO good at night and deserves to be seen more in the dark. • Finish the Colossus repaint, although I can't see that happening with it being left untouched last year...

Very unfortunate timing. I agree, would’ve thought capacity would be lower than usual with Swarm down and 3 flats closed. Apparently there are over 15k booked for today, tomorrow and Friday. Not sure what the usual capacity is.

It seems today and tomorrow have sold out with no tickets available to purchase on the website. The Swarm has been updated this morning to show as closed all day, which if so is very unfortunate timing, being one of the highest throughputs on park.

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

Looks like another tough day operationally today due to the winds - the only thrill rides which have been open most of the day are Rush, Inferno and Walking dead. SAW has valleyed so is done for today at least. Quantum has been closed for a couple days and now has scaffolding so is closed for the short term at least, meaning there are now 3 flat rides closed in that corner of the park.

Does seem like it was quite poorly organised from some of the posts I've seen online. Even this seems odd. If Inferno was running, why not run off the queue. Just adding further to a poor guest experience and creating a bottleneck.

The park have now announced on social media that they’re closed for the rest of the day due to the storm. Looked like they’ve struggled to keep anything open so makes sense. Don’t think I’ve ever known them to close due to the weather though. Big blow for them closing during the busiest period!

Not a fan of the new camera on Stealth. It no longer flashes when taking the photos but has a bright flood light on which lights up the whole station for the duration of the launch (and a bit before and after) which is a shame

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 :(

That is a good point, I have noticed they've been using the headsets less. I've just noticed them doing this since the 'more cautious' restraint checking so assumed it was linked.

The smoke at the end of the launch is back today!

Engineers have been busy over the closed days it seems - Zodiac has now been completely stripped and gondolas removed. https://ibb.co/KxHgrmKN

The last few visits I’ve noticed new procedures on Hyperia. They seem to be strictly enforcing hands up now when checking your restraint, and doing visual checks on every seat to ensure you’re sitting back in your seat. The operator is now saying along the lines of ‘all clear ready for dispatch’ down the PA before dispatching every train. This is not in response to the Goliath incident as they had started doing this a couple weeks ago. Not sure what’s caused this change but it’s certainly slowing down dispatch times.

Hello, the park was closed today so I assume you meant yesterday? There is a lost property page on the website which should be able to help - https://thorpepark.com/about-thorpe-park/contact-us/lost-property/ Good luck!