Cal

Yesterday there was less smoke from the "fright night" addition, than coming from the smokers and dummy suckers in the queue line.

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!

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),

It's a tricky one. If they chose to keep running it, it adds mixed signals - "the weather is bad enough to close the park, BUT we'll keep running this ride here because people are in the queue". And if the ride has to then temporarily close for weather, how long do they make people wait? It had a very full-looking queue too at that point, a good couple of hours.

Very much feel for anyone who was near the front of the queue. Hope they get more compensation than just a return ticket.

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.

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

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 :(

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 :(

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

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.

Good show, it's very good watching from behind the launch as the train blasts into it.

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!

So I've taken some time to think before I do my write up. I usually do one the night of (or morning after) the Launch Event on Thursday. My schedule meant I didn't have the opportunity. I then did mazes again on Sunday. So I've got a good vibe for Fright Nights now.

I think the headline is, unfortunately, simple. Fright Nights isn't as strong as it has been the last couple of years in particular. For those who maybe have only done Fright Nights, say, in the 2020s, I could understand if their view was it was their weakest Fright Nights yet. That wouldn't be something I'd necessarily agree with. But I could understand.
I'll get into ins and outs of that later. For now, let's get into the attractions.

Tenement
I've done this a couple of times now. The maze is very consistent, in that it is very story-driven and has the same scares designed into it. Lots of show scares, and perhaps slightly HHN in style.
There's a lot of tech inside too. There's a reversing wall, doors opening by themselves, lights, audio, etc, plus the torches of course.

My runs during the Launch Event weren't as good. The maze was light, the torches added little. On Sunday, it was better: very dark, the torches added more, etc.

There's a couple of good scare moments throughout, but it is a lot more atmospheric then jump scary. There's a few scenes which are passive in that you watch stuff happen to actors. It works for some, but not others.
One thing I don't like is that actors lip sync to audio. It creates an awkward experience at times. It also means actors can't direct guests appropriately - I've yet to go through the crawl tunnel because everyone goes through the wheelchair route. So that could have been better designed.

The best thing about Tenement is that it is very different to the other Thorpe mazes. That's what Thorpe needed, and something I was crying out for. It needs tweaks and fine tuning, but hopefully it will work out.

I'm concerned by the amount of tech involved and if it'll last. I'm unsure if the style will hold up each time and if actor numbers will continue to hold up. On top of that, the story is a little lost and confused, and the Luxivora concept is missed a bit as a result. Some of the masks for them don't look great.

DeadBeat
A surprise favourite for me this year.

There's no changes beyond the scrapping of the flying actor.
I'm still not big on the pre-show, but the maze is 'fun scary'. It's got a decent cast. I think the fact that I've never rated this one but it is my favourite speaks a lot though.

Trailers
You know what, people moan about how long this has been around. But it still does the job. Over half the maze has, slightly, changed. It's a good starter maze and works. It's a shame they can't have chainsaws in the building anymore.

The new scene is themed to MBV. It's a missed opportunity as it could be more claustrophobic and the miner could have more props to bang on.

Survival Games
No real changes, beyond new videos.

This is a shell of its former self. The current set up is too long and repetitive, with not enough actors. It verges on boring.
It's time for this to go. The space could be used much more effectively. In fact, I'd argue it could have been a great place for Tenement to go.

Lucifer's Lair
I've seen a lot of people talk about how this area has suffered from "cut backs". I think the actual fact is a lot more nuanced.

What has effectively happened is Lucifer's Lair has been split into two, with the stage moving to the Launchpad for Rebel Ball. I'll get there later.

But last year, if you removed the main stage from Lucifer's Lair, you'd have the small stage with cages, some flame poles and the actors. This year, the flame poles haven't returned. So in some sense, there is very minimal cut back (in theory).

But the trouble is, the stage was the focal point of Lucifer's. Lots of shows, from Lilith, the stunt show, the live band and, of course, the mega fire and dance show. Even between all that, the speakers from the stage would play music. But now, there's nothing. It's just the actors roaming around with nothing to work with.

The actors work their socks off and are brilliant, mind you. I feel for them so much when they have so little to work with.

But yeah, Lucifer's has gone from the crown jewel of Fright Nights (for the past 3 years running), to a floppy pancake.

Rebel Ball
This is frustrating. The idea isn't bad, using the Launchpad as a central hub and having something a bit more friendly than Lucifer's for it (meaning that people who dislike scares can still use it as a relaxing spot). But it misses the mark a lot.

No mega dance and fire show. Big fire shows have been a thing at FN since 2021, so they have lost that. Yes, they have dance shows with fire, but they're shorter and minimal. The opening ceremony largely being based are the promo video feels a bit lazy. The other small dance shows have AI videos in the background.

There are other shows there - fire performers, dancers, etc. But there's no times listed, so complete potluck if you see it. Sometimes the Wolf DJ is out with dancers, other times, not at all.

This could have been so much more.

The Crows
There's no getting round it, it's a lot shorter than before. And they could have made it more twisty and maze-like. Perhaps they wanted to keep it open to reduce the need for plain-clothed staff / security, which had been a bugbear for some from previous years?

It's fine and does the job. It's nicely done and the Crows as characters are brilliant. But it simply doesn't hit the same highs as previous years.

Creature Campus
Another fun show.

They dialled back the storytelling elements this year compared to the last two. To be honest, it's too dialled back as they basically completely ignore all the previous story (if all the other characters were defeated / killed, how have they come back for a 25 year reunion?). But heyho, it brings it all back I guess.

It does very much feel like the end of road for this now. It's been at the park as a dance show since 2019, and I think they've milked the story enough. With Rebel Ball being more family friendly, I think that can replace that gap now.

Purgatory Town
Aside from the Tarot Desk (which was added later in the event), I think the amount of theming is the same here? It's as it was last year, so it does the job and will get some viral TikToks.

Conjuring 4D
Good to have a new film. Maybe not as good as the IT 4D highlight reel, but still the perfect add on to Fright Nights. The screening I watched on Sunday (6pm) was completely full with people turned away.

As a side note, though, it is rated 15. WHY was there multiple children clearly under 15 in there? They'd get turned away at an actual cinema. Why were they not turned away there? At least two of them also left mid-way through the screening too...

25 Years of Fear
Big issue number one. The park made a lot during marketing about it being 25 Years of Fear. There were lots of high expectations as a result. On park, you wouldn't know that the park were celebrating a self-proclaimed anniversary (is 25 really a big deal?). Does feel like they set themselves up for a fall.

Buying Tickets
If you're on park and want to buy a ticket for a maze, what do you think you should do? Scan a QR code? Go to the app?

Nope, both of those options don't exist. You have to either:
-Go to the Fastrack kiosk (not clear at all, and can get busy)
-Go to the Thorpe Park website on your phone, and click through christ knows how many screens

Why is it so difficult? Don't you want to sell tickets?
Speaking of the app, it's a shame there's no FN overlay this year.

RWS
Now this is the big talking point. Ents has been outsourced to RWS. They're a huge company. They do stuff all over the world, including Disney. It's meant that Tenement was designed and built/contracted out by them (I believe one of the main designers for Tenement is based in the US). Lots has been made of Merlin's decision to outsource that, and the job changes it's made for people.

Ultimately, though, it shouldn't really have affected the guest experience. But it has.

First one to note, and it's minor, is that the maze hosts are employed by RWS. They have their own uniforms. Or at least, they're meant to. Apparently they hadn't arrived last weekend, so they were dressed in black and with RWS lanyards. Some staff were wearing black clothes with logos on, such as HHN merch.

It just didn't scream professional. I don't see why they can't just wear Thorpe uniform (like Aramark and OCS do).

On that note too, on Sunday, there was an actor stood outside the exit of Survival Games who was talking with the chainsaw actor in between groups. If it was an important conversation, at least go into the exit? Hugely unprofessional, and something I've never witnessed before anywhere.

Next thing to talk about is actor numbers. There are less of them this year. That's caused some mazes (SG, Trailers in particular) to suffer. I expect there will be more issues as the event progresses. It's a real shame.

Simply put the transition between Fright Nights being done by Thorpe to being done by RWS hasn't been smooth. Which is a shame, as the event has suffered as a result. Hopefully things improve.

Bottom Line
Fright Nights is still good. I think there's been some over-reactions floating about online about it's huge dip in quality. But it's definitely not lived up to the highs it's had the last few years, or the push the park put out there. It's a shame. I really hope it is just a blip and not a sign of things to come.

I'd still recommend going, but set expectations accordingly.

Yes - there has been no movement on Vortex since that last picture I took in August, so looking like it won't be back till next year unfortunately.

Apparently it has a structural issue, which makes sense seeing as its just been sat there.

I’m avoiding any spoilers till I have a go myself, but I think it’s clear if it’s struggling on press night it’s going to really struggle when the crowds hit.

This was only going to ever work in much smaller groups.

Lucifers lair and the Crows also look like a huge downgrade, as expected.

Doing the rounds on X, looks terrible and plastered all round the park.


I know its likely outsourced, but do these not have to get checked and signed off?

I enjoyed the event, was great to see them offer something like this.

Whilst I don't want to be negative, I think it is worth saying there was room for improvement. Communication and organisation was pretty poor, from entering the event, to having to literally read out 250 numbers, and whilst the reason for it was clear, holding a 2 hour ride time but closing the queue after 90mins isn't ideal.

But these are things that come with experience, and can be ironed out. The enthusiasm was there. The idea is there. It was an enjoyable event with a great, positive vibe and I really hope they look at doing more of these things in the future.

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

It was an amazing event for sure, I was on the final train of the night and the vibe was immaculate, especially with Amir (operator) paying homage to some of the other Accelerator coasters by riddling off their announcements.

It just goes to show how much people love this ride and it's legacy.

10/10 event and I would love to see something like this again soon!

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.

I came across this which I found quite interesting https://creativepool.com/merlinentertainments/projects/hyperia-experiental-award-for-merlin-entertainments?utm_source=chatgpt.com

It’s Merlin’s entry for Hyperia in the 2025 Creativepool Awards, a few things I found particularly interesting:
Hyperia was specifically designed with teenagers in mind, with Merlin saying one of the aims was to 'reignite the passion' of teenagers for Thorpe Park
Within just a few months, Hyperia had achieved a 9.6/10 Product Score, while Thorpes Net Promoter Score increased by 12% year on year
46,154 Hyperia merchandise items had been sold, with the shop generating £698k. This was £385k more than expected
The queueline shop generated £240k, making it the best performing queueline shop on site
Merlin says Hyperia directly contributed to increased visitation, with many guests specifically saying Hyperia was the reason for their visit

Seems as though you're right Cal, though nothing officially confirmed...

Couple of extra bits:
Only available as a one shot ticket (£12-£14, so £2 more expensive than the other one shots) or VIP packages
Actors will touch you and you will be split up.
It's a cool concept and I'm intrigued by it. It feels slightly...un-Thorpe like? Which I mean in a positive way. That probably makes sense given RWS are more in charge this year.

Throughput will be an interesting one. Lots of darkness, being split up, plus the presumed torches. Some mazes that have used Haunted Lantern have gone for very small groups (eg Purgatory at Tulleys), others keep group size the same. But I'm not aware of any that have split groups up before.

So yeah, intrigued and excited.

Hyper Coaster is probably not talked about much as it isn't that ridden. Looks like a solid ride all round though.

I really enjoyed Batman GCE, but it didn't hot the upper echelons of my list. I can't describe why really, as it has lots of what I like. I'd love to have ridden it more, but my god the throughput is rubbish.

Updating my 10 top as I don't currently have any more trips planned this year, new entries in bold.

1) Batman Gotham City Escape
2) Toutatis
3) Untamed
4) Kondaa
5) Shambala
6) Hyperia
7) Ride to Happiness
8) Taron
9) Balder
10) Hyper Coaster
Helix and Zadra now both fall out of my top 10.

Batman has always intrigued me, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Every element hits no matter what seat you're in. The tophat works, the ejector airtime is insane, and it's easily my favourite stall I've done on a coaster.

I never really see Hyper Coaster talked about, but it's a solid coaster. Pretty traditional hyper layout with an insane first drop and a crazy zero g roll.