Stuntman707

I'd like to suggest doing a meet to Tulley's Shocktober Fest along-side Fright nights. The event in general is much bigger than Fright Nights with 9 mazes this year which are at least 10 - 30mins (Colony) long. There is a direct bus there and back from Three Bridges station. If enough people are interested in going, they do offer a group discount.

Same here!

They can give me the most comically small plates all they want, I'll just start stacking it up.

So when are they going to burn the boats to match the forest fire theme they’re going with? Those new boat flaps are going to be a pain for loading / unloading though. Wonder if Towers is doing the same with theirs? I suppose they can’t add seatbelts incase of another Dreamworld type incident.

Great, Inferno will smell even more garlicy. As long as we still get another season without Merlin taking over all food outlets with the generic burger kitchen full menu consisting of burger, burger with cheese slice, burger with cheese slice and wafer of bacon. Or the fried chicken co.

I'm so torn between this refurb. Sad to see the X name go and the fact it's another run down "theme" with fake razorwire queuelines. But it would be good to see the ride have a strong, new identity and a proper refresh. Exciting to see what they do inside but at the same time, concerned there will still be minimal / no theming given Merlin's track record. If they just paint fake grime over the real grime and call it a horror ride, I'll be quite annoyed.

It won't happen but I'd like to see a Mack coaster, just something to compete with Icon at BPB. Preferably something on the new xtreme spinning coaster platform like Time Traveller would be amazing.

I'm sure you don't have to repeat yourself. I've never been on a Mack Mega but I can't describe how excited I am to be able to ride one next year and amazed that it will be in the UK! I thought I would have to wait until I could get over to Europa Park to ride one.

Didn't the trains used to stop completely on each brake run and restart when it was X:\NWO? I'm sure they could still do that with the front facing trains and it wouldn't be as vomit inducing.

I can't see it being changed (or having the blades repaired) next season. It shall be left to accumulate grime like the rest of Merlin's major ride investments.

I wonder if the ride itself will have any actual theming for a change? Also a good point is that the ride has brake runs throughout which could be re-activated to enable slower themed experiences during the ride. It would be a unique and cool idea but I won't hold my breath for Merlin to go that far until I see it happen.

I always wondered why they built the new hotel at Alton Towers to just close one of it's exisiting ones. What a waste of money. Merlin is failing to do well because it doesn't maintain the up-keep of it's theme parks. When money is invested in new rides, they are left to rot in a layer of grime such as the Smiler pit and Colossus for example. Reducing the parks opening hours, removing most the flat rides from Alton Towers and replacing well known food brands with generic, lower quality food with less variety while slowly increasing entry prices and passes does not help to bring in more guests. I agree splitting the invetment between midways and international projects is not going to suddenly fix the loss of income from the main theme parks. Fastrack may provide extra short term sales, but in a busy park it doesn't work and leads to further complaints from all guests enough to put people off returning. Social media posts are often plagued by complaints by guests who have had poor experiences.

Great blog, I went to Tulleys the first time this year too and the difference between this and Fright Nights is night and day. I loved it. Only downside is it did make Fright Nights worse for me this year. The only maze which came close was Platform 15 with the unique theme and effects, use of audio and being the longest one there. The Fastrack queue was dreadful though, glad we didn’t pay! Did feel like it had only been 2 mins and I was already out the exit of the other mazes, they felt so short after Tulleys. I know this is primarily a forum for Thorpe Park, however Fright Nights is such a small and overcrowded event in comparison to Tulleys (Offering NINE at least 10min long mazes next year) I would be much happier if we held the official meet at Tulleys in protest! As you described, I just left Tulleys feeling joyful and like I had got more than the entry prices worth of entertainment. It’s open later with more time in the dark, the whole atmosphere is superb and the intensity of the mazes is exponentially higher when there’s so many actors in each one too.

I’m not thinking of renewing my pass next year as I don’t think I would get as much value out of it. Thorpe which I’d mainly visit is not offering enough to keep me coming back as frequently next year. The entrance and getting in is worse than the previous season (I know not entirely their fault but I can’t see it being any better next year), the events I went to this season were completely disorganised and poorly managed, there are more sbno attractions at the end of this year than in the previous season and no signs that the recent announcement will be a new attraction or just a botched ride facelift. (Do NOT touch the Swarm! All it needs for next year is that out of place American dispatch voice to be deleted) Finally, either I’ve done recently or am not as interested in Merlins other attractions. I can see how Merlin have balanced the price increase for premium with more value over peak season. Equally the price freeze for standard is also justified by excluding entry during this time. They could have just increased the price of both passes by a tenner but this will encourage those who can afford it to upgrade to premium while keeping the standard pass more affordable for families and individuals on a tight budget.

Can’t wait to ride Icon next year. First on my list!

I’ll be there, still haven’t done the Alien escape at Tussaud’s yet.

For me, it all depends on the cause of an accident as to whether I would consider going on certain rides in the future. I have no problem going back on the Smiler as the ride has always been mechanically safe and was an operational failure. As for KMG Afterburners, the picture is pretty condemning for me. It wasn’t even a joint, to see the structural steel beam torn off like a baguette, and the fact they can’t be easily inspected is very concerning. I certainly won’t be going on the one at Winter Wonderland this year.

It’s a shame Hollenblitz won’t be coming but still glad Olympia Looping is returning. It’s enough to draw me back this year. Got to do the Alpen Hotel too!

I think Thorpe Shark is really going to suffer when Premier Inn in Staines upon Thames is completed. Arguably superior purpose built spacious double rooms and unlimited breakfast at literally half the cost of Thorpe Shark a stones throw away from the park with restaurants around the corner is a no brainer for people looking to stay for a few days at Thorpe.

I think the problem is that Merlin see themselves being on par with Disney and therefore justify the very high hotel prices for their respective areas. In a way, they are the biggest amusement operators in the U.K. But in direct comparison, Disney has way better and much bigger parks, theming and rides.

Surely it’s clear evidence shutting Splash Landings that Towers have too many hotels now. Technically 4 if you count the lodges.

A world first could literally mean anything with Merlin. A re-theme, VR retro-fit, new IP etc. I know DBGT is still a new attraction. It’s just quite depressing when you think what kind of coaster Thorpe could have built on the same budget. It was a bold move to make an attraction built around VR and it’s a nice experience. I just don’t think VR works in a theme park. I go for the thrills and rides I can’t replicate at home. This is a good watch about what makes rides thrilling: Then you look at Towers which has a new hotel this year and a new ride next year. And Legoland which also has a new hotel and a new ride this year. Thorpe is still stuck with a temporary hotel and no new rides to know of yet but multiple rides left SBNO at the end of the season.

It would be good for Thorpe to announce some kind of plans for the near future. Also they need a TLC project like Towers. Just something to get the hype going for next season. If all they offer is closures and ‘world first’ announcements which is already a complete joke now to be honest, people will lose interest. I’m not sure about renewing my pass next year. There are better, more exciting things happening in 2018 outside of Merlin and Thorpe is offering nothing so far to compete for my money. I’m most hyped about Icon at Blackpool, never been on a full sized Mack coaster and very exciting to finally get one in the U.K. Tulleys was amazing this year and far supassed Thorpe’s Fright Nights. I will definitely be going there in 2018. Also next year, they will have NINE scare attractions and didn’t have the crowding and e-stop issues Thorpe really suffered from this year. I will still visit Thorpe but I don’t think I’d get the value next year out of an Annual Pass Renewal Unless they have a compelling new attraction or event.

In regards to the Thorpe Park Annual Pass, they are really cheap, practically the price of a day ticket when they’re on sale. So IMO, there is no dilemma. If you want all access all the time, pay more for a Merlin Premium Pass. They always have a new year and summer sale.

That’s why the standard pass is cheaper than the premium. If you want to visit the London attractions over the summer and visit Fright Nights without the extra costs, you should get a premium pass.