Marhelorpe

Hmmmmmm. From a distance, this looks promising if it means more open days compared to 2018. But hours however...
 
10:30am park openings year-round perhaps this time?

Who needs themed facades and shrubbery to conceal a ride building, when you can just put bats and cobwebs there instead.
 
Better than nothing I suppose.

So after the disaster that was Fright Nights 2018 something really needs to be done for 2019. What I want them to do and what I think they'll do however are VERY different. 
 
What I want them to do
 
Make it a separate ticketed event - I genuinely think this is one of the most crucial things Thorpe need to do to get Fright Nights up to the standard it should be at. First off, it would give them time to transform the park, it would also hopefully address some of the queue problems, then it would add an extra level of income from the tickets. Sure it's a risky move but I am sure it could pay off if done correctly. In my opinion the more Thorpe can do to emulate HHN the better.  Cut the crap and put some budget behind the event - So Merlin's excuse for Big Top not returning is due to the cost of the tents? Yeah sorry not buying it. If Dr Frights a small independent event can build their entire event inside tents I refuse to believe Thorpe can't invest in just one. The simple answer is Merlin got lazy and thought they could get away with a skin and bones event. If they want it to grow into the successful event it should be (and has been in the past) they need to stop lying to us and put some budget in the event.  Cut the number of outdoor mazes - Sure Thorpe is tight on space, but having 4 full on outdoors attractions with very little variety absolutely killed the event this year. It's hard to tell the difference between the four as there's very little theming in most of them (excluding Platform). Sure Do or Die had containers, but even they felt empty and pointless. It all felt like a very last minute event this year with the lack of effort that was put into the design of these attractions.  Get rid of the IP's - All of the best mazes at Thorpe have been non-IP based. Big Top 2017 was an absolute blast, and I hear classics such as Experiment 10, Cursed and Seven were fantastic too. While the creative team behind all of these classics have gone, I think Thorpe needs to find some fresh young talent to reinvent the entire event and yes that does mean removing Saw Alive and both Walking Dead attractions. Get an external team to work on the event - Considering rumours state the creative team at Thorpe is a little bare bones at the moment wouldn't it be a good idea if Thorpe got in an external team to rework the event? There's quite a few teams who would be more than happy to work with Thorpe. AtmosFear and Tulleys seem like obvious choices, but my personal preference would be Unlocked Vision Entertainments the fab team behind FEAR Avon Valley and Tayto Park's Halloween event. They've worked with Thorpe before on the campfire stories show, so it seems like a perfect fit. Their mazes are unique and have some great intensity to them. I think they could deliver exactly what Thorpe need.  
What do I think will happen?
 
Nothing - Call me pessimistic, but I doubt we're going to see some big reinvention of the event next year. If we're lucky Vulcan Peak won't return and Blair and Dead Creek might merge into one maze, but otherwise I can see very few changes coming. Shame really, I genuinely don't think I can be bothered to make the effort to visit next year if nothing major changes. Why put more effort into visiting than the creative team put into designing the mazes. 

Figured I'd reignite this topic slightly and confirm something suspected for a while.

Some may have noticed for a few years now that there is always a single entire row of empty seats on Quantum which are never used during operation and at first, I always believed they were broken restraints, but after the experience I had on 31st October, the staff operating it confirmed after I pointed it out they were closed off to allow themselves to cross from one side of the platform to the other. Since only two operate the either ride now instead of three usually, the batching area is left unmanned during the ride's operation, hence why they are never used anymore these days.

Usually I've had no problem with this and realise of course more staff = more costs, but given it reeeeeeealy slowed everything down and there was so much faff involved that evening, it's times like that I wish the batching gates were used once again with an additional staff member to speed things up on both sides of the platform during loading/unloading. Once can hope it can be run like this once again!

Apologies for the long pedantic post, but to save misunderstanding, here's the full story behind Vampire's audio over the years!

Obviously all the following is more technical info, no guests are gonna go in Vampire thinking 'hang on this is the wrong mix' – but the point is for the music to sound good and have good effect, and clearly this is not happening today. The ride currently sounds awful.

Here is where it gets pretty complicated and you need to consider how technology has changed massively over time to get your head around it.

Let's break it down to:
Production tapes (pre dubbing, pre downsampling)
1990 Ride 'dual zoned' mix
1990 stereo cassette mix
2016 Smart mix

The original music would have been produced from tapes as a high quality production master by the composer in 1990.

A standard mix for listening would have been in stereo obviously, but for use in the ride it was mixed differently. Theme park audio is usually always in mono mix, or 'multi mono' if its a score for a whole ride that changes as you move through it. This is because a stereo image requires a left and a right speaker, but in an attraction you're constantly moving around space with usually multiple speakers playing the same track, so it makes more sense to have it in mono.

Vampire actually had a 'dual' zoned effect where the same music played throughout the station, where the organ stage played the organ instrument, and the backing track played through the rest the station (guitar in both). This opened up the sound a bit more and gave the effect of the organ playing the actual organ part.

To do this effect, a mix with split organ and backing was sent to Sparks (who produced the Vampire station), with one on the L channel and other on R. This wasn't a traditional stereo mix, it was more of an installation mix, so would sound great standing in the station, but would sound bizarre played on a home stereo. Sparks also dubbed it with the familiar screams and thunder sounds. This mix was unique to any other mixes, which is why all other versions sound slightly different.

However, because of the technical limitations of the time, the ride track needed to be downsampled to play on solid state EPROM chips, which could only hold a certain amount of memory. The downsampling means it's lacking bass, but otherwise is good and wouldnt have been noticeable on the big station sound system – as anyone who went in Vampire in the 90s would remember it still sounded great! However, in mono, it wouldnt sound so good in isolation on a home stereo.

This zoned effect was lost in Vampire around 2000 when the sound system was changed. From then on it played as one zone throughout the station, but was the same 'mix'.

Then there was a souvenir cassette that was sold in the Chessington shop in the 90s, this was a very different mix to the ride version – and was in stereo (for listening). This is the one more commonly heard online. Although a more polished mix, the sound quality has always been dire, because the same warbly digital transfer has been passed around since forever (the original cassettes are hard to come by).

Somehow this was the track that Chessington replaced the original with in 2014 when the sound system was changed to mp3 playback. What! It sounds awful due to the poor quality of the transfer from cassette and is not edited to loop correctly.

Then a few years back the composer put up his own version (the Smart mix), from his own tapes, pre-downsampling... BUT it was actually yet another mix, half the 'cassette' version and half the 'original' version. This is the best quality version of the track available, but doesnt have the zoned effect or the 'rawer' guitar.

After years of trying to find the original track, I first found just the backing part on its own, which only had the guitar and organ on it faintly. This is what's on Soundcloud, edited to sound less 'mono' and with the organ part turned up a bit. More recently I finally found the organ track to go with it, so will update the Soundcloud track soon. Have sent this to Chessington.

These are the downsampled, dubbed tracks that played in the ride from 1990 to around 2000. So, not full listening quality and would sound weird played on a stereo, but would sound good restored in the dual zones in the station. Much better than the current dodgy mp3 being played.

Ideally, a brand new mix should be struck from the original master tapes (if they still exist with the composer) to recreate the dual zoning and the more 'raw' original mix – but without the downsampling, since this is no longer necessary with today's playback technology. Combine this with a repaired sound system and it would sound amazing. However, the original composer seems to be completely uncontactable.

So, there's the saga of Vampire's audio! Once sounded classic, now sounding very lame with the poor recording they're using at the moment. But, simply putting back the orginal mix on a broken, mono system probably wouldnt make much difference. What it needs is a new, overhauled sound system and a full quality zoned mix.

Pleasure Beach's marketing on top form again... ?
 

Figured I'd reignite this topic slightly and confirm something suspected for a while.

Some may have noticed for a few years now that there is always a single entire row of empty seats on Quantum which are never used during operation and at first, I always believed they were broken restraints, but after the experience I had on 31st October, the staff operating it confirmed after I pointed it out they were closed off to allow themselves to cross from one side of the platform to the other. Since only two operate the either ride now instead of three usually, the batching area is left unmanned during the ride's operation, hence why they are never used anymore these days.

Usually I've had no problem with this and realise of course more staff = more costs, but given it reeeeeeealy slowed everything down and there was so much faff involved that evening, it's times like that I wish the batching gates were used once again with an additional staff member to speed things up on both sides of the platform during loading/unloading. Once can hope it can be run like this once again!

I have...
 
But of course, you'd never get anything wrong. ?

Quality.

We love interacting with our followers! Especially when they're extremely annoyed by the park!! And we love them so much we give copy and paste responses! These don't always answer their problems! Sorry if you feel disappointed by this! - CC

The major issue I see is the lack of foresight from the park.
 
It was known that the weather would be cold. Thorpe know that they have these restrictions about rides not being able to open in cold temperatures. Yet they probably had somewhere between 16-18k people come through, knowing that sooner or later a good proportion of major rides would close. And their response on social media boils down to 'Fright Nights is popular, the weather is cold, not our fault, soz m8'.
 
The park have taken zero responsibility for this. And yes, weather is out of their control, but they can control communication. A forewarning on Thursday/Friday about the weather, giving guests tips on how to make the most of their day, etc, advising people the park will be busy and consider alternative days if possible (the latter of which they did at 2pm yesterday..). The attitude of the park stinks in this situation. Then telling guests 'you couldn't possibly do all Fright Nights attractions in one day, you'll have to come back to experience them all' is a disgrace.
 
And when they only have 3 indoor mazes (5 indoor attractions if you count Screamplexx 2D and upcharge-Containment), it screws the park up even more. People are told to wait till night time to do those ones as they're scarier, do some coasters in the evening as their quieter, etc. But when it's cold, and the coasters aren't open, indoor attractions are no doubt more preferable over outside ones.
 
The park were able open the 3 indoor mazes at 12pm yesterday, which shows they at least had some thought go into yesterday - "oh, Saturday will be busy, let's open 3 mazes early to increase the park's overall throughput per hour and give people more chance to go through the mazes". But in some ways, it's worse, because it makes it seem like they thought that would be enough to compensate for everything else that could go wrong.
 
The kick in the teeth for people will also be how the park said "we are not at capacity". Given the numerous complaints, it's clear the park did not handle the numbers yesterday. Imagine having a terrible day at park, and being told 'sorry, but the park can be even busier than this, so it could be worse'.
 
 
On top of a lackluster maze selection, the park have - arguably, once again - screwed up Fright Nights again from a customer service / satisfaction perspective. 

Little bit late to post, but went on Sunday and did the full 12 hours and managed to do all of the mazes. Day started being in the queue for Colossus and then nemesis, both of which had a delay in operation before we got there . Overall the park seemed to have a couple of reliability issues, saw a few tweets where someone said “Everything they seem to walk up to closes down”. Queue times app showed a lot of rides were down at times but wasn’t down for too long. This excluding SAW, which closed from around 5pm onwards for the night.
First off, the roaming actors; these were great!! Really nice touch, had a couple come and sit at our table at the pizza pasta buffet and a mime proceeding to sit with us for 5 minutes pretending to eat  learnt to just run whenever you heard ‘that’ whistle!
Agree with a lot of the posts about audio/lighting/general theming. Really lacked this year to make it seem like it was a ‘Fright Night’. I did think at times if I hadn’t gone on the mazes whether I’d have even known it’s October! (especially with how great the weather was).
Now the mazes, in MY order of best to last on the night:
TWD: Living Nightmare – ended up doing this twice, the first run through of which was FANTASTIC. Probably was on one of the first 5 groups of the day for this, was put at the front and found it brilliant. Great amount of actors and got a couple of really decent scares from it. Second run through not as great and was in the middle of the group, but still better than others which says how poor they were!
SAW Alive – before we went in I said “can I do it alone?” to which they said “oh you won’t want to, it’s probably the scariest one here” hmmmmm well if this is the scariest then that tells you what they class as scary! Not a lot. Saw is just saw really, and has been for a long time. Nothing new really, had a couple of jumps but nothing fantastic. Still second
TWD: Do or Die – well this is very much improved on last year! At least the actors seemed like they actually was trying this year, last I did not have a great run through. Did this at night but to be honest don’t think it makes a difference even being outdoors because of the bright lighting!! Very average really, but enjoyed none the less.
Platform 15 – just wasn’t great. Felt like a prolonged walk through the woods at night and a couple of rattling pieces of metal (granted it made me jump). The conga, sorry tunnel just too long. That sounds like a broken record the amount of times it’s been said but it just is! There was a couple of actors there which did make it better but just very average.
Dead Creek Woods – just a casual walk through the woods really. Mist effects were really great though, they really flooded the area with it. Had about 5 actors on the whole run through, no chainsaw which I previously have seen mentioned! But to be fair to them they got a good scare out of us and was in no way the worst of the day.
Vulcan Peak – well I can safely say I did NOT expect the bum prodding at the start and made me sharply hop out of my seat Definitely was sat in THE worst position I could for that. Just seemed a bit pointless really, nothing really happened and if this is the ‘improved’ version I honestly dread to think what it was like originally.
Blair Witch – what a disappointment. Was over before I could even blink. Two actors through the whole thing and when we got into the exit by nemesis there was about two other groups there saying “Well where do we go now?? That CANT be it”. Just disappointing and probably says something that I have put it below Vulcan peak and last in my list! Just must have had a bad run through on the day.
Overall as much as this Fright Nights hasn’t been the best of the bunch, it still makes for a really fun day/night out and one which I thoroughly enjoyed. It definitely needs a lot of improving next year but I’m sure Thorpe can pull it out of the bag (maybe that me just being too optimistic)
Sorry if this was long and well done if you got all the way through it

Shots fired from tulleys ?

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes.
 
2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on...
 
As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days.
 
For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison.

Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013.

I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation.

Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes.
 
2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on...
 
As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days.
 
For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison.

Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013.

I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation.

Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

Alright, I have now had two visits to this year's Fright Nights, the first on the preview night and the second last Saturday (13th October) and have finally tried almost the entire lineup minus Fanta's Twisted Carnival and the Screamplexx Cinema. I said a few weeks ago I predicted this was going to be the worst Fright Nights ever and 2 weeks later, I still stand by that statement as the entire thing has become a former shadow of itself and quite honestly, a joke. How can an event reach such a low after having some fantastic years and attractions in the past? Everything this year screams "quantity above quality" around every corner now where the mazes themselves were average at the very best, the audio management was incredibly inconsistent, the park lighting looks horrendous and there was virtually no atmosphere at night anywhere across the park.
 
Here are my mini reviews for each of the attractions Fright Nights have this year which I've tried. These are my honest thoughts and I'm not holding back exactly what went through my mind when experiencing each of them. Spoiler tags used not to hide what happens, but to reduce the size of this post as I've got a few things to say about this year other than the mazes:
 
Saw Alive: 4/10
 
Platform 15: 4/10
 
Dead Creek Woods: 3/10
 
Living Nightmare: 3/10
 
Blair Witch: 3/10
 
Sanctum Do or Die: 2/10
 
The Big Top: Showtime: 2/10
 
Vulcan Peak: 0.00000000001/10
 
So yeah, as you can see from the above reviews, all of the mazes were awful this year with some being so bad it makes 2010's Dead End Terror Zone look scary. As for other parts of the event, the park lighting this year was absolutely horrendous with bright white lighting everywhere across the park from Inferno, to Old Town, Dead Creek Wood's entrance where you can't read the flipping sign and Stealth. There were temporary lights installed in a few places, but unlike last year's nicely coloured stencil-shaded ones, these were all multi-colour changing LEDs going through all colours of the rainbow, similar to those approaching Swarm's area. It looked horrendous, and the ones used across the bridge were even worse, reminding me of the inside of X. Since when were disco lights associated with Halloween?!
 
As for the audio, I was optimistic about this year after hearing some of the preview clips found online from Nick Hutson as I was hoping we would see each and every ride having their own theme like it used to be when Midnight Syndicate ruled the park. Whilst some rides sounded great, Colossus' station especially which was my favourite, I noticed it was only some the coasters which had theme changes, no other rides across the park had them, so every single flat ride like Rush, Samurai, Vortex etc were playing their regular themes all day and night. As for Amity Cove's playlist across Tidal Wave and Stealth, it sounded identical to the regular one and did not work well at all in my opinion, especially at night. I understand the intentions behind why a FN dedicated playlist was made, but it failed in my view. I could also hear the director voice overs a few times across the park too in a few places. Why is he still being played across a Walking Dead themed Halloween event?
 
I keep on stressing this every year but Thorpe, for goodness sake, can you just bring back the Midnight Syndicate tracks used in 2007-2009 when the whole park used to sound amazing at night? This was what made you stand out from Alton and Chessington years ago during Halloween. Give every ride and area a consistent audio track to play, play themed announcements once again and less manual ones, only use the linked park-wide audio system for opening/closing nothing else and most of all, sort the damn system out. There are so many inconsistencies across the park with the audio this year that it's a joke. Are you all-in with regular audio like in 2010, or all-in with Fright Nights audio like in 2007-2009 Thorpe? Make your mind up.
 
Last comment to make is the park-wide theming. It's nice to see it in some areas like the entrance, Saw and Swarm but again, it is still not at the levels this event once used to be a while ago and likely never will. Just hoping one year we can see park theming being a priority for this park once again, but realise it's never gonna happen. Won't stop me calling them out on it every year though.
 
Last year, I wrote these comments for 2017's Fright Nights:
It took a lot for me to attend this year's event as I was adamant about not going after the poor experience I had last time, but decided to give it a try anyway in the vain hope something has improved, but no. Nothing this year is better than last year and has solidified my opinion about this event - I'm done with it. I'm honestly done. I cannot cope with seeing what this event has now become after knowing and experiencing it during a different era in the late 2000's when it used to be a fantastic event. Back then, the event and park used to pride itself as being one of the best, if not the best Halloween attraction in the country, but now it's just a commercialised piece of rubbish where sticking a famous IP on the name with poor marketing saying there are "6 new attractions" and making each and every maze a botch job seems to be enough to please guests these days just to they can get a few cheap scares. What happened to originality, dedication, imagination and effort?
 
It's now become painfully obvious that whilst Merlin and Thorpe are capable of turning out a product for guests at this park, they are not capable of turning out a product that is well done anymore. The fit and finish this event once had is now dead and is just a distant memory for those that remember and indeed experienced it during that time. I've given Thorpe 5 years now ever since the Lionsgate takeover in 2013 to get their act together with this event and whilst during that time a few little gems like Big Top and Cabin in the Woods were made, the rest of the other attractions made ever since that year have frankly sucked and none of them have ever reached the levels of Asylum, Experiment 10, Se7en, Hellgate and even The Curse. The focus of this event between 2013-2017 was all about the IP and the mazes nothing else, so audio, park theming, lighting and other factors started to degrade gradually, but 2018 has shown the park don't seem to give a damn about the quality of their mazes anymore either. It feels as though they believe only putting an IP on their product and having the biggest number of attractions is enough for guests to be happy these days, when in truth, it is not.
 
I've documented problems this event has had over the last few years in posts on this forum and are honestly tired of talking about it now by repeating the same things over and over again constantly, because it seems to be an endless battle I am fighting for here. I genuinely really want this event to be brilliant for all guests, so new ones can experience the delights and thrills of what this park is capable of during Halloween for those of us that remember how amazing this event used to be, but cannot do that right now. People deserve a great product when they are forking out good amounts of money to attend this event and currently, they are not.
 
Understandably, I know I rail on against Merlin and Thorpe an awful lot on this forum and are probably boring many readers with it by now, but want to establish I am not a hater and are not "bitching" for the sake of "bitching". I say these things because I care and believe people deserve a better product from the park, whether they know it or not and I want people to speak up about problems they are seeing or experiencing to let the park know when something isn't right. I commend the reviewers above for voicing their concerns about this year's FN and encourage others thinking similar to do so as well, as this year is an embarrassment on many proportions.

In my opinion, they need to start thinking long-term and not just short attention-grabber IPs hashed onto existing attractions.
 
Priorities, IMO, should be;
 
1 - Complete the necessary work to get Loggers Leap back open, aiming for Easter 2019 reopening.
 
2 - Either reopen Slammer, or take it down so that a replacement can be installed.  No point leaving it sat there when it could be replaced, something like Loke for example would fit in well.
 
3 - Park entrance procedure reviewed and major changes to efficiency, they have had these issues during busy times for years and 90 minutes to gain access to the park is frankly ludicrous.
 
4 - Vast improvements to Fright Nights.
 
5 - Build on last year's late night openings but no need to open horror mazes during the summer, put the budget into ensuring ride operations and availability remain good.
 
6 - Install permament lighting to enable night operation on Rumba and Loggers.

Thorpe Park could take so many directions as a park but it needs to stick with it. Chessington is something of a wild adventure park and Legoland is, erm, well Lego.
 
There are so many different ways and styles the park could develop in the coming years if they kept with it. Sure, there will always be people unsatisfied with things, but pleasing a majority is the important thing. 
 
1/ The Cedar Fair Style,
Attractions with appropriate style, but not necessarily theming. This doesn’t however mean attractions can share similar styling if in the same area of the park.
 
The park is mainly based for Thrill seekers, but families are not forgotten either. Cedar Point for example still have areas clustered with family attractions, plus several less thrilling coasters with lower height restrictions.
 
2/ The Phantasialand Style,
Different themed areas and segments with a selection of attractions. Really make the areas diverse and feature suitable attractions. Unfortunately due to space and the water table, we would never see any thing terrain like such as Taron, but if they build things upwards nothing is impossible. 
 
3/ The Port Aventura Style
Lush areas, bring back some entertainment, clean up things and give it an Island feel. The only thing notbto do is make the food or operations like it either though. 
 
These are just ideas the park could develop in, which may suite it’s style. I don’t think an Efteling or Europa type of style would fit Thorpe in any way, but that’s not to say it can take some of it’s elements from either.
 
Back into reality now. I want the park to:
Deep clean areas- including jetwash, repainting, rebuilding, tidying and restoring different places. I’d love to see Universal rocks replace the rockwork on Inferno like they did for Mamba, however they probably don’t have the budget and it’s likely low down on their list.
 
Redevelop or Restore Canada Creek- I want to see Loggers either reopened or just demolished for redevelopment, the park need to now make a decision as it’s getting a little out of hand now.
 
Continue with events- Keep the Summer lates, just drop the Love Island stuff, the park has a good vibe late at night. Fright Nights needs seriously reviewing with a potential refresh and the return of Big Top.
 
I know they are limited with with they can do here, but I would like the Car Park to see some improvements as it can take in excess of an hour to leave in super peak days. Plus £10 to park is crazy. Yes Disney charge like $25 (around £19), but at least they keep theirs in spotless condition. 
 
Wow, that was long!

As others have mentioned, here are main priorities Thorpe need to work on over the closed period:
 
1. Set up a TLC programme.
Jetwashing, repairs, painting, restoration. Relatively low cost but makes a huge difference to the presentation of the park. The sort of things that top parks worldwide do every year.
 
2. Motivate the staff. They deal with the guests and keep the rides going. When they are unhappy, it directly affects guest experience. A cheerful interaction can really make someone’s day but find a way to keep it going throughout the season. 
 
3. DIGITAL TICKETS! You already have the technology, Make it happen. Reduce the strain on the ticket office. Put NFC payment on the busses.
 
4. Remove SBNO attractions.
Communicate a decision on what’s happening with the Loggers Leap site. Dismantle and remove the Slammer. 
 
5. Make Summer Nights a bigger and better event. Use the chilled Island theme to your advantage and make it a parkwide event. Live music, party lights, roaming entertainers.
 
6. Relaunch Fright Nights. Start planning next year’s event in November. Look at why the independent farm events are so popular and at least create an event to compete with them. Focus on Quality.
 

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes.
 
2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on...
 
As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days.
 
For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison.

Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013.

I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation.

Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes.
 
2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on...
 
As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days.
 
For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison.

Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013.

I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation.

Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

Not saying Fright Nights pre-2013 was perfect in any way, as between 2006-2012 there were a few duffers and questionable decisions thrown in the mix and I remember 2010 being quite a naff year. Sure, Dead End Terror Zone and The Passing were both pretty awful, but it cannot be denied this event during the late 2000's/early 2010's was in a completely different and indeed far better mindset compared to today, and I'm not referring just to the mazes.
 
2009 to me was the golden year for Fright Nights, as this was when the park really took a great amount of effort at giving the park an electrifying atmosphere at night past 4pm as soon as the mazes opened. I remember every single ride had its own character and theme such as Hell freezing over for Inferno (blue lighting used in the tunnel and mist), the children's playground swing theme for Rush (miss that audio so damn much it used to play), Humpty Dumpty for Detonator (very scary theme played) etc. Every ride, and I mean every ride had brilliant theming decorations in and around the areas, and Saw had some awesome fire effects in the plaza on the shop's roof which were very loud and effective at making people jump. Certainly worked on me! Smoke machines were present everywhere at night from Inferno's loop, Samurai's platform, Saw's police car, Colossus' final inversion etc. The park lighting looked awesome at night with lots of green, blue and red filters everywhere with very little use of generic white floodlighting too. All the rides were open until 10pm, including Loggers Leap, Tidal Wave and Rumba Rapids. The park audio was also superb with Midnight Syndicate everywhere along with Charlie Clouser, and the list goes on and on...
 
As for the mazes between 2006-2012, yes, The Passing in 2012 and Dead End Terror Zone in 2010 were both rubbish. However, to accompany them, we had Experiment 10, The Asylum, Se7en, Hellgate and The Curse - all 5 of which I truly miss and were brilliant attractions in different respects. And notice something they all have in common? Not one of them was an IP. Not one, and this leads onto my biggest gripe with the event these days.
 
For me, the biggest problem now ever since 2013 is the focus of this event has become more centralised on the use of commercial IP's, beginning with Lionsgate and now presently AMC's The Walking Dead and as a result, the quality of the product has been diminishing gradually year-on-year quite noticeably with basic areas overlooked. The park lighting has gotten worse, the park audio has become very inconsistent, there's scarcely any park theming and loads of smaller details are now left out. Through my eyes, the focus has shifted more on trying to sell guests on the fact they have mazes and an event themed on either horror movies or a famous TV show and frankly, 2018 has shown that idea has now run it's course. A few gems like Big Top were generated during this period which I loved, but they are all gone now sadly and instead, another IP-focused maze has replaced it which honestly sucks in comparison.

Some may say using an IP for a Halloween event helps boost the numbers through the gates and sure, in the short-term it might do that, but I disagree with the principle wholeheartedly. Alton Towers' ScareFest does not use an IP for their event or any of their mazes, nor does Chessington, nor does Tulleys Farm etc and look at how successful and praised they become with guests. Partly the reason I adore visiting Tulleys Farm ever since the first visit I made in 2017 (cheers for that trip @Martin Doyle!) was because the attractions remind me of what Thorpe used to be during the best years of Fright Nights - original, imaginative, unique, IP-less and very well-done. This is what Thorpe used to be before the whole commercialised IP approach began starting in 2013.

I'll conclude by saying if Thorpe are indeed thinking of reimagining what Fright Nights is in 2019 (frankly, I'll believe that when I see it), they need to start fresh and take inspiration from successful attractions in their past and other attractions out there such as Asylum, Big Top, Experiment 10, Se7en, Chop Shop, Coven of 13 and The Cellar to name a few, as well as look in the archives into what this event was like previously and learn from it. They need to begin building a great reputation with this event once again, as that's how many smaller attractions out there are so successful during Halloween, the best example being Tulleys Farm. Who would have thought a remote, small farm in the middle of West Sussex could deliver what many regard as the UK's best scare attraction and attract visitors all across Europe as a result? The answer - reputation.

Build a great reputation again, scrap any use of an IP, create a great experience for guests, deliver excellent mazes and focus once again on quality and originality - that's the key to "save" Fright Nights in my view.

So tonight I decided to bite the bullet and give fright nights a chance. Before I say my own thoughts, I would just like to mention a brief chat I had with a couple I met in the Do or Die line. This years fright nights was the first year they went since 2008 (the best year in the events history) and the first thing they said to me was “what happened?? I remember this used to be so good!!”
 
So this couple has not seen the decline of fright nights since 2008, they have seen the then and the now and that to me must be even worse than the decline that I’ve seen year on year. Without mincing my words, this years fright nights is EASILY the worst fright nights I have been too and I have been going since 2004!!. Vulcan peak is an absolute insult to the space that once occupied The Freezer/Asylum. It really is not only comfortably the worst horror maze in the events history, it is the worst horror maze I have ever had the displeasure of going through!! Honestly want to know who thought that maze was good enough to open to the public some of whom
are paying good hard earned money to attend. The other new “mazes” to me also felt cheap and last minute.com and as a whole it just all felt rushed together this year. Next year, the event needs a major overhaul as far as I’m concerned as it really has now turned into a laughing stock in relation to both other events in the country AND what the event used to be back up until the damn Lionsgate IP’s came in. The event now lacks a “go to” maze that you know would salvage the event no matter how bad everything else is thanks to the absolutely ludicrous decision to not bring The Big Top back and that has always been something fright nights has had since the start of the event (Freezer,Asylum,Studio 13, Cabin In The Woods and Big Top) so now there is absolutely nothing in my opinion that saves this event.
 
For those of you who are reading this who never got to see how great this event once was, I truly am sorry!! 
 

Just leaving this here...
 


 
The park map/guide from what was, in my opinion, the best year of Fright Nights.  Experiment 10 was truly Thorpe at its best, when they led the scare industry and were able to be innovative with original themes, and it was a different approach to any scare maze the UK had seen before.
 
Of course, who could forget the roaming clowns (and the massive cake) to celebrate 10 years of Fright Nights!
 
Compare that to what we have now