Thorpe Park Trip Reports

[Deleted Users]

Basically doing this in the hope that someone at Thorpe reads it and takes the points into consideration. So me, Ellie, Dan and Tommy went to Thorpe yesterday and for three of us it was the first trip since the infamous AP day this March. While, the park was being run better than that day, I still basically only enjoyed the day because of the people I was with.The Good:A great operator on Detonator who was getting us to do the Mexican wave and other antics on the ride before he would drop us. We went to Guest Services to give him positive feedback. This a great thing to do, especially when the queue is short.There is now someone batching people into rows on Inferno so there are less empty seats going round. The water effect by the loop was working as well.There is a new system for online photos. Rather than paying £2 to 'unlock' the download for a photo, you can download any photos you have bought for free and can buy other stuff. Extra prints are 15p I think.The Bad:The music throughout the park is an utter state. Chart music is fine at the entrance and bridge but the fact it's now past the dome and in the beach is just ridiculous. Even if it was themed music, to have it playing that loudly in the dome at the end of day when most people have had a long, tiring day just isn't going to be appreciated. Also, having Flying Fish playing the same music is just insane. I am sure parents love taking their kids on a ride blaring rap and drum and bass music. The new Creek soundtrack has some pretty ridiculous songs as well. Seeing as how compact and bare some of the areas of the park are (and with Sunken Gardens closed off), I really got a Six Flags vibe which is a road the part really do not want to be walking down. The park's iconic ride down all day again. It's not really surprising anymore which kind of shows its terrible reputation. The staff at the entrance to the area really need a new line. ‎"I have been told it will definitely be open today" just isn't suitable.The X changes have just made it even more of a mess. The inside queue is silent apart from one random corner and the ride area only seems to have one large speaker. Nice idea but that and a few lights on on MCBR don't really cut it. Being able to see all the track just sort of takes away from the experience. Also, one guy was trying to batch people into rows and check bars (once again, nice idea but the batching actually just confused people and slowed down the throughput instead of speeding it up) while there were two people at offload, one of which seemed like they were doing very little.Inferno lights and smoke are fixed... in about a quarter of the tunnel. I'd rather have an effect that works 99% of the time rather than something which just seems to fail over and over.There was one member of staff who completely lost it at someone who jumped over the front row queue fence and into the normal queue of Colossus. A telling off is fair but she went berserk which just set the massive group the guy was with off, resulting in security having to be called.

[Tom]

And an entire Colossus train being sent empty ;)To be fair about the off loaders, they may have been switching positions, but were having a nice long chat and not paying attention to people exiting to the wrong side of the platform!And bless the guy trying to batch trains on X when it had a 10 minute queue, but yeah the trains were stacking like crazy in the pyramid - We were stopped on the last block for about 3 minutes.

[Fred]

There could've been any reason for Colossus train being sent empty though!I'd imagine the two people on offload would be.. one shadowing the other? Something I'm sure Rattlesnake1 has heard about before

[Deleted Users]

There could've been any reason for Colossus train being sent empty though!

Well one was due to getting us off the ride while the attendant and queue jumpers were having an argument (we were in the station waiting to be dispatched when it kicked off). There were quite a few empty trains throughout the day though and I didn't see the ride go down. Weird.

[Tom]

one shadowing the other? Something I'm sure Rattlesnake1 has heard about before

Clearly not! ;)Booooooooooo to you.

[Mark9]

If its quiet they won't load one train as the effort to get all the bars up and down again is to much hassle. You consolidate all the work onto one train and leave the other empty and locked off.

[Tom]

It had an '120' minute queue at the time apparently, although it looked more like 45!

[Mark9]

It had an '120' minute queue at the time apparently, although it looked more like 45!

The other answer is.. It's Thorpe and it was broken.

[Fred]

Still could be anything - from guest illnesses... to a repeating minor technical issue with ride or that train, leading to it being sent empty for test purposes.Air does that thing all the time...

[Tom]

Okay well to better explain - We jumped aboard a train as a women on dispatch started shouting at some queue jumpers to get back where they were, our train was dispatched after about a minute (presumably as there was another train behind our stuck on the break run). As our train finished its run, an empty train was sent so our train moved into the station, the queue jumpers were still arguing and security was called.So yeah could've been sent empty for another reason, but we thought it may be because they didn't want our train waiting for minutes whilst security sorted out the issue.

[NathP]

Went to the Fright Nights yesterday (6th) and oh my god never seen the park soo empty in all my years of going to Thorpe Park!Upon arriving Colossus, NI and Stealth were running 2 trains and were walk on! :)All the mazes were walk on for most of the night, the longest I waited was 10 minutes for The Curse as its at the front of the park. Experiment 10 is definitely the best maze, very unique and the most scarey!Colossus, NI and Stealth went down to 1 train between 6-8pm as it got to the point that there was hardly no one around! We could just stay in our seat on Colossus and NI and Stealth had that middle gate open all night so we didn't have to walk around! All rides had some sort of Fright Night music playing. Stealth was playing the "its only a dream, its only a dream" line like last year :PThe Swarm station frame work looks complete and the track brake run and a turn around before looks done.Only Slammer was down the whole night and all in all this has got to be one of the best visits that I can recall. Well done TP!

[StevenVig]

Went to the Fright Nights yesterday (6th) and oh my god never seen the park soo empty in all my years of going to Thorpe Park!Upon arriving Colossus, NI and Stealth were running 2 trains and were walk on! :)All the mazes were walk on for most of the night, the longest I waited was 10 minutes for The Curse as its at the front of the park. Experiment 10 is definitely the best maze, very unique and the most scarey!Colossus, NI and Stealth went down to 1 train between 6-8pm as it got to the point that there was hardly no one around! We could just stay in our seat on Colossus and NI and Stealth had that middle gate open all night so we didn't have to walk around! All rides had some sort of Fright Night music playing. Stealth was playing the "its only a dream, its only a dream" line like last year :PThe Swarm station frame work looks complete and the track brake run and a turn around before looks done.Only Slammer was down the whole night and all in all this has got to be one of the best visits that I can recall. Well done TP!

You've hit the nail on the head right there NathP, cant put it in better words myself. I specifically chose to go on the 6th as I knew there would be no school children. Probably my last Thorpe Trip this year, which is a shame because ive only done 4. But it was most certainly a fantastic way to end my Thorpe Season! I had an absolutely brilliant day, Experiment 10 (X-10 as I like to call it) is by far one of the best moves the park has made in a long while.

[thorpeparkjack]

Right. Cheeky trip to Thorpe on Thursday. Arrived at just after 3pm, to a dead park. As expected. After nomming McDonalds Drive-Thru, we found just how dead the park was. There were NO queues, and it got even quieter as the evening went on. Overall, I was really impressed with the park. Operations were really smooth, staff were friendly and the mazes were good. The one thing I will say is that the problem with visiting on 'dead' days is that no atmosphere is created. I think this is a key component of the Fright Nights experience and was severley lacking on Thursday. This is not the parks fault, just something that happened. Furthermore, I HATE the new PA system for the Aslyum. The H&S briefing cuts into the music, totally killing one of the best atmospheres in the park, I used to love queuing in that last cattle pen, watching the groups head up to the platform, but oh well. Now for the new Maze E-10. Totally caught offguard. Thought It was gonna be the standard maze experience, but for those of you that have been on it you will know this is defo not the case! First time, I was seriously scared, more than any scare attraction before. It is simply world class from Thorpe, the real gem of Fright Nights. This is without a doubt one of the best things Thorpe have done. After a couple more goes, the experience was not the same. But as a first go, it really is fantastic, great job from the Park. Will defo be heading back to the park, where hopefully there will be more atmosphere. Media from the visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlBgZpnZSCwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf61_Tqq6Cghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfbaqU7mLsM

[Mattgwise]

Great trip to Thorpe Park today. See some photos at the bottom.The day started off very busy and the queue outside the park was insane and we arrived to the sign saying Slammer and Saw The Ride would be unavailable. Slammer of course was closed all day, it must be still awaiting a part as all was dead over at the ride. However Saw - The Ride opened around 11:30am.Once inside the park I was greeted to an exciting sight of a large support for The Swarm being put into place (couple of poor pictures in Swarm construction topic and facebook for those who can find it!!!!!Had a quick go on Depth Charge which had no queue (mainly because I wanted to see The Swarm sight. Then headed to Storm In A Tea Cup and had a tea cup that wouldn't turn much. Is it me or do these cups get stiffer every year? Next up was Rumba Rapids. Got soaked by the tunnel waterfall. Stealth was next which was advertised as 40 minutes but loading was extremely fast and trains were launched the fastest I have seen this year. We were on within 25 minutes.Next headed to our longest coaster wait of the day which was Nemesis Inferno at 45 minutes. (queue started just at the start of the cattlepen in the extension queue). Again must say dispatching was very quick with many trains dispatched before the other train reached the final brakes. Then had 12 slices of pizza at the Pizza Hut buffet.We decided we would head to Storm Surge but it was down and was for the next hour or so and had about 6 engineers at the top of the lift hill for about half hour, so decided to go on X:/No Way Out and within 5 minutes of queueing in the 15 minute or so queue they announced it would cease operation to clean up sick. Next headed to Vortex, which was very slow loading, a very short ride and had a member of staff who loved the sound of her own voice over the PA. Also worth noting that this has new queue line speakers which play the annoying lost city ambience (bird sounds). Then headed for Samurai and had a long 45 minute wait and was on one of the short and dull ride cycle (same every time). Next went for a beer as it was getting dark and noticed Vortex had a smoke machine this year which made it look awesome.Then headed for The Curse which I enjoyed more this year and it had a fair amount of actors in it. Next I wanted to try Experiment 10. We had our longest wait of the day of about an hour and ten minutes. This is such a cleverly done maze, actually has a plot to it and the way the maze operates is very different to the rest of the mazes. Well done Thorpe Park an excellent attraction. Seven was next and had a much shorter queue than previous years and like The Curse a fair amount of actors, although the smell in the second half of the maze is too much. Sadly did not go on Asylum as I was with a friend who had a bad experience in 2006 and refuses to go on.After that we went on Rush, Quantum, Saw - The Ride, Stealth (again) Nemesis Inferno (again), detonator, Storm Surge, X:/ No Way Out and Colossus all of which had 15 minute queues or less. I must add that the Dispatching on Colossus was very slow.This left 5 minutes to go so had a second go on Rush.I was not impressed with Audio this year as I personally found a lot of it more of a rock style than a Spooky style. Some of the tracks they used to play way back in around 2004 were much better. Also most of the flats were playing the Fright Nights music all day. From what I remembered the last three or four years most rides have had their usual themes during the day and changed in the evening, but only Stealth, Tidal Wave, Colossus, Nemesis Inferno and Saw seemed to play normal music during the day and then Fright Nights music from 4pm.Edit: Actually it wont let me add photos for some reason. Anyone know why as it lets me in the Swarm topic???...... ... But please click link to see them on my facebook profile. Sorry for poor quality I am hopeless with photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150406888230342.405186.701145341&type=1

[Luke_A]

Brilliant trip to Thorpe Park yesterday for Fright Nights. We arrived at the park at about 9:50, as me and my sister had to collect annual pass tickets from the advance ticket collection booths. A slow-moving 25 minute queue later and we were in, and the park was stil fairly quiet, I was also pleased to notice how all the major coasters started out on full capacity, not 1 train etc... oh and Inferno still has wheel covers missing, makes me wonder if it will ever get some of them back...We ended up staying until about 7:30, and no I didn't do any of the mazes, they're just not for me, unless I'm with friends who force me in haha Anyway, queues for rides weren't too bad all day, 40 mins was the max for Stealth and Inferno, Colossus had 70 mins at one point and Saw: The ride had 80 mins. Ended up buying a couple of fastracks for Saw, Colossus and Stealth front seats. Ride Count to follow...

• Stealth-5, 1 front with fastrack (single rider queue all the other times, it was being managed very well, with me waiting no more than 10mins each time!)
• Detonator-5 (Mainly to look at the Swarm's site… but today I had a thing for Det, Looove it!)
• X:\NWO-1 (first ride of the day… and I got a train all to myself Lol)
• Colossus-1
• Nemesis Inferno-3 (all back seat rides… it's actually pretty intense in the back!)
• Saw: The Ride-1
• Flying Fish-1 (with 5 circuits!!!)
• Depth Charge-1
• Loggers-1
• Rumba Rapids-2
• CCRailway-2
• Rush-1

Slammer was in a sorry state, one of the motors doesn't have it's belt which turns the gearbox below. I'm not sure... but the cables weren't visible at the top either!? It had this outside it's exit anyway. As Matt said above, the ride teams really were despatching quickly, except for on Colossus that is, why do they have to recheck the restraints so many times!? Samurai was operating with a dance track playing on about a 5 second loop I do know the song, but can't think of it's name right now Lol. The park's atmosphere is so good at night, especially with all the lights on lift hills illuminating the rides, and the park lighting with the green/blue/red flood lights. All the major coasters had a really good rock/drum style music track playing, and I've found that it's actually the first half or so of this Stealth 2009 FN plaza music:

http://content.maniahub.com/audio/Thorpe/Fright%20Nights%202009/FN09%20-%20Stealth%20Plaza.mp3

Upon leaving the park, The Swarm's advertising board and Tank were nicely illuminated. Unfortunately, Les Coogan was nowhere to be seen all day.Well done if you read to here, Luke.

[dragon2000]

Also popped down to Thorpe for a visit yesterday. Like everyone has said, it's great to see The Swarm's construction ramping up. Good atmosphere in the park in general, and was nice how it got a lot quieter (seemingly) in the last few hours. Just a couple of points to add on to your report Luke...

I was also pleased to notice how all the major coasters started out on full capacity, not 1 train etc...

Apart from Colossus - which disappointingly only had 1 train on track at the start of the day, opened 10mins late and then managed to operate for all of 2 cycles before breaking! I was literally gonna be on the next train which was frustrating. None of the staff seemed to know what the problem was (all harnesses were locked but the ride was refusing to dispatch) and even the engineer looked a bit perplexed to start with. Took 25mins to fix with trains being shunted backwards, forwards, backwards, and forwards again! Thankfully they also used this time to put it on 2 train operation...Although they seem to be doing better this year, Thorpe really do still have a problem with breakdowns. Aside from the Colossus incident we were also witness to technical difficulties on Storm Surge (twice), SAW, Stealth, plus of course Slammer being in pieces.At least Samurai was open for a change (and though a short cycle, we had a decent enough ride).Spotted 'Les Coogan' hanging out by Stealth around 9pm, also a police officer by the Swarm fencing. Disappointed not to have seen any roaming actors in the 12 hours we spent at the park - though apparently there was at least 1 in the park as I saw someone's photo Very minimal halloween themeing (a few nooses and barrels?) - aka if the mazes weren't there you wouldn't know it was Fright Nights... Though the park lighting is pretty good after dark as usual, and the smoke machine on Vortex is great! Can we also have the one on Samurai back though please??

[Mattgwise]

Spotted 'Les Coogan' hanging out by Stealth around 9pm, also a police officer by the Swarm fencing. Disappointed not to have seen any roaming actors in the 12 hours we spent at the park - though apparently there was at least 1 in the park as I saw someone's photo Very minimal halloween themeing (a few nooses and barrels?) - aka if the mazes weren't there you wouldn't know it was Fright Nights... Though the park lighting is pretty good after dark as usual, and the smoke machine on Vortex is great! Can we also have the one on Samurai back though please??

If you have a look on my trip report a couple of posts back and go to the facebook link (have made album public) then you will see the actors that were roaming the park. I bumped into them on about three occassions. They were also pushing a massive Fright Nights birthday cake which was brilliant. This can also be seen in my pictures.Totally agree with you about the themeing. Aside from what you mentioned there was nothing. We have had in the past cobwebs in a couple of places, a dummy under Nemesis Inferno, Chalk on the floor of Rush. Fire effects at the entrance, Saw and the Arena, but this year just a few barrels. I thought there would have been a little more to celebrate the tenth anniversary.

[JackR]

Great day at Fright Nights yesterday. Arrived 20 minutes before opening to an empty park and got on 16 rides and all five mazes!The day got progressively more and more busy and despite the roaming actors, the atmosphere was ****. Maybe a few smoke machines would have improve it, but nooses and barrels scattered around didn't do the trick for me. All of the mazes were very good (The Curse was substandard) and Other than E 10 we had no queues for them. One of the roaming actors stood on the barrels under the Colossus sign by the over banked turn after the barrel rolls and hit his head on one of the hanging balls :PThe day was very good in all, and after getting on a lot of rides and all four mazes, I look forward to getting back there again in the holidays.

[Smidget]

I went yesterday, the park was pretty busy right from opening! Stealth wasn't open, so queued for Inferno and got the front. Then we decided to go on Rush, only for it to break down when we were near the front of the queue! Queued for Colossus instead, took about an hour (we were there for my sister's bday so had to do whatever she wanted, hence staying in a long queue for what is a pretty rough ride). Whilst in the queue we saw that Saw The Ride wasn't working and and some work was being done on the lift hill. After Colossus we tried Rush again (which was successful) we noticed Stealth was up and running so did that, and the rode whatever whenever. Got absolutely drenched on Storm Surge, but did get a nice view of The Swarm I'm not sure what time Saw actually opened but it did eventually :PAs for the atmosphere of the park, despite never going to a Fright Night before I thought it was pretty bad. The decorations were sparse, I saw barely any actors and it just didn't scream Fright Night. I didn't do any of the mazes cos they really just don't appeal to me in the slightest, but riding the coasters and flats in the dark is amazing, especially Samurai, which delivered one of the best rides of the day (I was genuinely scared for my life on it)Ride Count:Nemesis Inferno: 2 (front and back)Colossus: 2 (1 front, other row behind)Stealth: 2Saw: 2Samurai: 1Rush: 3 (despite it breaking down twice)Vortex: 1Quantum: 1 (once again, there for sister, had to do what she wanted ...)Detonator: 1X://NWO: 1Storm Surge: 1Loggers Leap: 1That just about sums it up.

[JoshC.]

As promised, my Fright Nights 2011 PTR! This is from the first night (6th October), but due to the length, and being busy, that's how long it has taken me to write! :PSo, to set the scene. I knew a couple of weeks ago that college closed at 1 for open-day preparations, but it meant I finished at 9:40. So, theoretically, I could've got to the park just after opening. However, seeinghow my friends weren't able to go till half 1, I decided to go then - after all, Thorpe by yourself is no fun.It was very sunny when I arrived!The recurring theme of the day - it was 'dead' quiet!One-day-only AP offer. £90 - very good price really.Anyways, I arrived at half 1, but due to a punctured bike tire, I was by myself till 2. I took the chance to take some photos of The Swarm site and then a ride on an empty Depth Charge. It was here that I had 'that feeling' that the trip was going to be a good one; FN music was already playing. Compared to the chart music, and considering last year FN music inly started playing at 4, I was jolly-well pleased that this was the case. After that and a bit more hanging around, I was met by the rest of my group.Fright Nights theming. I got so excited, I pointed for the camera.. XDSaw was the first ride for the group, to get it out the way. We must have queued about 15 minutes for it. We were all shocked by the lack of queue there. Staff were very good, and all effects were working too - pleased I was.Samurai. The queue was about 10 minutes worth. However, due to the stupidity of how the one bloke was batching and checking bars, batching people into rows directly, not into the lanes (meant we were directed to row 6, where people decided 'oh, this seat is free, lets go here' meant we missed out on a ride, and the platformer having a go at us!), the queue ended up being about 20 minutes. The ride was, however, going strong. Another good point was FN audio playing, again, already. Anyone who knows of the 'It's only a dream' audio will be pleased.. A quick walk around the park led us to a walk-on Inferno. There was a constant stream of people though, enough to mean that we didn't get a reride. Ah well. Didn't hear any audio being played, though I wasn't paying attention in honesty. No extra theming though, which disappointed me. I mean, come on, how hard is it to stick that 'When hell froze over' cloth up!?Rumba Rapids featured a nice remixed audio of the usual track, mixing together normal audio and FN audio. Big thumbs up from me there. Also got caught by the pre-tunnel waterfall, which was humorous, yet a bit annoying, as the other 2 in my group stayed more-or-less dry... Grrrrr Now, for a twisted tale on Storm Surge. It was around half 3, and Storm Surge has a 5 minute or-so queue. As we were planning to queue up for Experiment 10 before 4, we thought it was the perfect to do. We also felt that, as the queue didn't go anywhere near the water canons, and that the shower is now hit-and-miss (though, for me seemingly, miss), we'd stay dry. My oh my how we were wrong. We were batched together with another group of 3 (which included the Marc Simpson), which, with a 5ish minute queue, I see as unnecessary to be honest, and then directed to our boat...which was ANKLE DEEP in water. Yes, ankle deep. We put our feet up to stop shoes and socks being ruined, but after being instructed to have our feet on the floor for the ride to start, we 'dived in'. It was ridiculous in honesty. The looong lift hill was so uncomfortable and, being at the back of the dingy, even my bum was getting wet. The slide was not at all spinny either, though there was a sprinkler added to the circuit, which is a nice touch. To top this all off, when we splashed down into the water, the water splashed into out boat, and with me being closest to the water, I got the full blast of it. To say I was drenched was a bit of an understatement. I felt almost like I'd gone on Tidal Wave... Nonetheless, I was very disappointed by water-in-boat situation, especially as there was a 'water vacuum thing' (name?) on the platform. Later, we complained to GS and were given Fastrack tickets. As to be explained later, we didn't use them and can instead use them at a later, un-expiring, date. Hovering over water.We headed to one of the heat-wave driers, and paid £4 for two circuits. In honesty, it was worth the money to dry off that little bit. Fortunately, it started to rain as we were in there, and the short shower deterred loads of people from staying - we saw a good hundred plus people seemingly going to leave, using Tidal's bridge as a short-cut. However, by the time we were all set and done, the rain had finished.. YAY.It was ten to four, so just in-time to queue for Experiment 10. I was expecting loads of people to be there, but there were barely a dozen hanging around. To say I was happy is about right. I think the general consensus with my friends and I was that we were looking forward to trying it out, but weren't expecting anything overly special. Staff were going in, and noises could be heard. 4 came and the arena gates opened... Banner.Side of container.After winding through the queue, we got to the front (near enough) and waited a little more. I was expecting a minute for staff to get ready then we'd be off. Ten minutes later, the first group was being briefed. I dunno what the delay was for, however, I didn't mind, it gave a chance to listen to some of the pre-recorded audio, which is interesting. Basically, just your expected laboratory announcements, which work well. There was also some really bad acting from one line, with the announcer saying something, then going 'no, no, noooo'. Ah well, gave us a bit of a chuckle really.Control box. I guess this is where staff can keep an eye of the going ons in the maze.Hazmat suit actor.These guys were really good too. 'Quizzing people' and such. My review of Experiment 10 can be found in the Experiment 10 [spoilerS] topic.However, if you don't want it spoilt, find that too long, or just want a one line summary - Experiment 10: 9/10.After a exited, I had to get a photo of me with one of the actors round the queue line, who, as said, did a brilliant job!This guy was a bit more 'friendly' too compared to the other actors... hahaSo, we had experienced Experiment 10 and it had shocked us all to be honest. Needless to say we had all liked it. Now, we were only planning to do one maze (mainly because rides in dark would take priority), but as it was rather quiet, we checked out the other mazes. We wandered over to Se7en, and this is what greeted us:This was Se7en at it's busiest...So, we tried it out. Now, a lot of enthusiasts don't seem to be the biggest fans of the maze. I don't see why really. Granted, I can't comment on earlier years, but since 2009 (my first time in it), I've enjoyed it. It's been good fun, well themed and produces chances for good scares. The only trouble I've ever really had with it is sometimes it is hard to tell which sin is which (though, I now know). Even with signs, they're sometimes hard to tell. It also seems to have improved this year, being taken to a new level. For example, in one scene, there's a chance for the person at the end of the group to be taken away, and to have rejoin the new group - brilliant stuff. Despite being my favourite for the past 2 years, the originality of Experiment 10 pipped it for top spot for me! Still, a solid 8.5/10.With the queues so quiet, we ended up doing The Curse. Literally, there was no queue. I'll keep this review short - simply because, the less said, the better. There was a serious lack of actors, real predictability in the jumps and scares, and no real chance for the actors to add anything to the theme other than going 'BLERURGH!' at you. Also, the tent is set up so poorly that you can literally see outside this year. VERY disappointed, and should be the next maze to bite the dust. Unrated for being so blooming well poor. The Curse doesn't even deserve a photo of its tent it was that poor.Now it was time to take advantage of the time. It must have been about half 4 by now, so a lot of people were over doing Asylum and Experiment 10 (well, I say a lot, enough for there to be a queue by the looks of things). So, as the plan was, it was time to hit the rides. Rerides on Rush, followed by X:\No Way Out were enjoyed. That, along with general enjoyment was had. It was time for food, so we went to Pizza Hut (which was quite literally the emptiness I have ever seen; they were literally throwing away whole pizzas!). After nearly an hour of slow eating and chatting, we decided to pop down to Guest Services following our adverse experiences on Storm Surge earlier. We took diversions on the way: I got another photo with an Experiment 10 researcher. I questioned her on what Experiment 10 was, after 'not understanding' it following my experience earlier. Her response was that it was a personal reflection experiment, designed with the aim of improving humans. She was unable to tell me what her experience was, how it changed her, and what side effects would be in store for me following being experimented upon... I must commend this actor greatly, for the way she stayed in character following such a tricky question, as well generally keeping up the monotone voice.Looks as if the queue was given up with for Se7en!After registering a compliant in a dead Guest Services, we were given 3 Fastrack tickets, which we felt was fair enough. We planned to use them for Saw in the dark, if we needed them.. Speaking of Saw, that's the direction we headed to. However, we got sidetracked by an empty Asylum queue, and go in we did. Now, much like how I seem to have a differing view to the norm of Se7en, my view on Asylum differs to the norm. I get the whole idea of how it is disorientating and that, I get how it works well, I get why people enjoy, but it's just not that great of a maze in my mind. You go into a hospital corridor, and then walk around what is basically a long corridor with chain-link fencing. You become confused where you are going, follow some people that are screaming and shouting, begin to get a headache, then go into another hospital corridor for a good ending. It's just not that great really. I grant you, the actors do brilliantly (especially the chainsaw actor this year, very active!), and is certainly better than The Curse (or Hellgate, if you really want to throw that in there), but it's nothing special by itself really. 6/10.One thing I did like were how the roaming clown actors stayed outside the exit of Asylum, and when people came running out, give them a little extra scare. Nice little extra ending really. Of course, I got a quick photo with one of them.. All roaming actors are brilliant when it comes to playing for the camera.Now who's creepier - me or the clown? ;)After this little sidetrack, we made our way over to Saw, with the darkness looming..A noose. Unfortunately my camera, even in it's night-vision mode, isn't a fan of the dark, hence the poor quality.Again, can't make it out, but it basically says: 'Queue time: 00 minutes'...We got an ORP on our final go on Saw. All three of us decided before riding to 'act dead' (expects some joke on the word 'act' to come from this, due to the roughness and all). Much love to the single rider guy on the left oh the photo who joined in as to not spoil the photo (again, expecting some joke of 'joining in' and 'acting' ). After two goes, both at the front following two walk ons, we did some more rides. I was keen on doing a maze (well, E10 or Se7en) again, for the sake of it, but my friends are of the thinking 'After you've done it once on the night, you've done it a thousand times'. To be fair, I wasn't really that fussed, as it meant more rides in the dark. Loads of repeats on Stealth were had and some more things were done as well. I will also say that the operator on Stealth was epic - brilliant guest interaction, rotated the way the launch occurred (no audio, 'It's only a Dream' audio, talking, etc.). He did a brilliant chav impression and picked a verbal fight with me for 'disrespecting him', and his version of 'The Final Countdown' over the launch was one of the scariest things all night. Probably his best quote was 'If you think this is ride is scary, I've gotta do this for another 2 hours'. I hope to catch him on my final visit to the park this year to find out his name and give him the praise he deserves at Guest Services! We called it a day round about half 8, as some were getting a little bored in honesty. I'd have loved to stay till 10 and get loads of rerides, but not by myself. In what is a tradition for some trips, after my friends had left, I wandered over to KFC to get some food for the family for when I got home (benefit on living 5 minute drive from the park hehe). I, however, detoured over to Experiment 10 and saw that there was no queue - so I thought oh why not, and had a go. There was 6 in the group, so that, along with basically no queue, I thought, would mean a better experience. However, the opening scene felt rushed, and there were seemingly less actors. Still a great experience, but not as good. I was however told by a staff member that the number of actors was due to increase as FN got busier - here's hoping. I got the KFC, and wandered out the park, but here's a couple more snaps I took (again, poor quality):LITERALLY empty Se7en queue.A group of 5 was the queue for The Curse.Gargoyles on the drinks machines by the turnstiles. As I've probably missed out on some rides, somewhere, here's something that I don't normally do, my ride count:Nemesis Inferno (Nominated coaster) x3 (x1 back)Saw x3 (x2 front)Stealth x4 (x1 back)X:\NWO x1 (x1 front)Rush x2Samurai x1Rumba Rapids x1Storm Surge x1Depth Charge x1Experiment 10 (New for 2011) x2Se7en x1Curse x1Asylum x1Certainly one of my better ones! I think that's about it, sorry that it's somewhat late, but I hope that you enjoyed reading! I'll do another one for my final trip of the season for Blow it Up, so look out for that one!

[Ryan]

Now, for a twisted tale on Storm Surge. It was around half 3, and Storm Surge has a 5 minute or-so queue. As we were planning to queue up for Experiment 10 before 4, we thought it was the perfect to do. We also felt that, as the queue didn't go anywhere near the water canons, and that the shower is now hit-and-miss (though, for me seemingly, miss), we'd stay dry. My oh my how we were wrong. We were batched together with another group of 3 (which included the Marc Simpson), which, with a 5ish minute queue, I see as unnecessary to be honest, and then directed to our boat...which was ANKLE DEEP in water. Yes, ankle deep. We put our feet up to stop shoes and socks being ruined, but after being instructed to have our feet on the floor for the ride to start, we 'dived in'. It was ridiculous in honesty. The looong lift hill was so uncomfortable and, being at the back of the dingy, even my bum was getting wet. The slide was not at all spinny either, though there was a sprinkler added to the circuit, which is a nice touch. To top this all off, when we splashed down into the water, the water splashed into out boat, and with me being closest to the water, I got the full blast of it. To say I was drenched was a bit of an understatement. I felt almost like I'd gone on Tidal Wave... Nonetheless, I was very disappointed by water-in-boat situation, especially as there was a 'water vacuum thing' (name?) on the platform. Later, we complained to GS and were given Fastrack tickets. As to be explained later, we didn't use them and can instead use them at a later, un-expiring, date.

I complained at the exact same thing to gs at the beginning of the season and they just laughed at me, how annoying.Great trip report though!

[Valentez]

Now, for a twisted tale on Storm Surge. It was around half 3, and Storm Surge has a 5 minute or-so queue. As we were planning to queue up for Experiment 10 before 4, we thought it was the perfect to do. We also felt that, as the queue didn't go anywhere near the water canons, and that the shower is now hit-and-miss (though, for me seemingly, miss), we'd stay dry. My oh my how we were wrong. We were batched together with another group of 3 (which included the Marc Simpson), which, with a 5ish minute queue, I see as unnecessary to be honest, and then directed to our boat...which was ANKLE DEEP in water. Yes, ankle deep. We put our feet up to stop shoes and socks being ruined, but after being instructed to have our feet on the floor for the ride to start, we 'dived in'. It was ridiculous in honesty. The looong lift hill was so uncomfortable and, being at the back of the dingy, even my bum was getting wet. The slide was not at all spinny either, though there was a sprinkler added to the circuit, which is a nice touch. To top this all off, when we splashed down into the water, the water splashed into out boat, and with me being closest to the water, I got the full blast of it. To say I was drenched was a bit of an understatement. I felt almost like I'd gone on Tidal Wave... Nonetheless, I was very disappointed by water-in-boat situation, especially as there was a 'water vacuum thing' (name?) on the platform. Later, we complained to GS and were given Fastrack tickets. As to be explained later, we didn't use them and can instead use them at a later, un-expiring, date

I agree too! I couldn't quite believe the amount of water in the raft, my feet and ankles were soaked and all for a quick credit before heading home! That hoover on the platform still looks boxfresh to be honest...

[Mattgwise]

I can safely say I have never seen them use it, they will probably say it is too costly to run! At BPB they continuously hoover the water out of the boats, fair enough a lot more water is involved but seriously is it that hard to hoover even just a couple of times an hour or say every 5 times a boat goes around the circuit. There is nothing worse than wet feet when walking around a theme park.

[stealth888]

Hey guys!!Havent done a trip report in a loooooong time, but after an inspired look back at this website from my trip 2 weeks ago, and feeling inspired by all these awesome reports from Fright Nights 2011, I’m gonna tell you guys all about my time there on 14th October :DWell, for a start it was a Friday (Friday, gotta get down on Friday) (I'm sorry) so that meant I could go earlier in the day as I have the whole of Friday afternoon off college. I met 2 friends of mine and we headed off around 2 o’clock. I was absolutely buzzing as it was my first visit since the beginning of the season (annual pass expired).We arrived at a surprisingly empty car park, and as we walked over the bridge we noticed construction was in progress for The Swarm-it looks incredible. At this point in time the lift hill had just been built, the barrel roll had not yet been placed but I’ve seen recent pics on the web and I cannot wait to ride it.After visiting the loos below the dome, we headed for Saw to get ‘pumped up’ as Zoe put it. We were in for a treat- we were greeted by a 15 minute queue and 2 members of staff to ‘welcome’ us to the ride-a nice touch. But, unbelievably, we made it inside the warehouse in less than 10 minutes and I don’t know why, but the atmosphere felt a little different, a bit more spooky. FRIGHT NIGHT VIBE lol.After admiring ourselves on-screen, we headed over to Samurai and then to Nemesis, which was a walk-on. Now, I will remember that as my best ever ride on Samurai as it has, how do you say-‘upped the intensity’ a little more than previous rides. It was much longer too- I was help upside down for a good 20-30 seconds which in ride terms, is pretty damn long. The staff made a good effort to make us feel welcome and shared banter with all the riders.We excited the Nemesis shop and saw a 0 minute queue for the Banana Boat, so we just couldn’t resist our inner children to take over. With excitement in our eyes, we ran into it and expected it to be the best thing ever.It was rubbish, and when the host offered us another ride, we said no :LBy this time our other friends had arrived at the park, so we met them at the Dome and decided to have dinner in Pizza Hut. But remember that ride opposite Pirates 4-D, the ride right next to Nemesis which kills you? My good friend Sarah wanted me to ride it with her before supper. So walking under the Detonator entrance sign in the first time in ages was a pretty big deal for me. In that I nearly pooed myself. BUT. It was amazing, and the view you get of The Swarm and early evening sun shining onto the park is second-to-none.I don’t remember much of the next 2 hours, but I remember we spent about an hour stuffing our faces with good ol’ pepperoni pizza and just having a good time.But what I do remember are the short queue times of 7pm. All 5 horror mazes under 30 minutes and none of the big 4 coasters exceeding 20 minutes. We snatched this opportunity to ride Nemesis in the dark (excellent atmosphere in queue line and the ride itself, all effects working in the tunnel) and made the most of the 30 minute Asylum queue. The Asylum actors had really upped their game for this year’s fright nights. Actually, not just the Asylum actors, the roaming clowns and Saw Alive actors were incredible and genuinely frightened me and my friends, and made the evening quite special and unique. The music was also a big thing that night. Everywhere in the park (apart from a select few queue lines) was playing the ‘Happy Birthday’ Fright Night music and very creepy music was being played around Amity Cove near Seven and the Curse. A very good atmosphere which outdid previous years’ Fright Nights by miles.A few rides later we called it a day, and headed home very happy indeed.RC:Saw (x2)Samurai x1Banana Boat x1X: No Way Out (in the light) x1Detonator x1Nemesis x2Asylum x1Saw Alive x1Colossus x1 (Walk-on at 8.30pm)Zodiac x1Vortex x1Quantum x1P.S. Another thing was that I think Stealth wasn't open at all all day. It might have been open early in the afternoon, but we didn't see it launch at all later on.

[JoshC.]

So I visited Thorpe again today, so here's another PTR! Basically, the reason for me making 3 FN visits this is, what with me starting uni next year, and with my uni choices being a fair way away from Thorpe, the chances are that this will be my last Fright Nights visit for at least 4 years! Anyway, this'll be one of my briefer PTRs, but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless. :)After collecting our pre-paid tickets (which we bought this morning, considering we wouldn't have been able to buy them at the gate - silly, eh?) we got into the park just after 11. As expected, it was busy.It was sunny, which was better than the past couple of days of rain.Busy car park! MAHOOSIVE queue for Advanced Tickets! Much like most fanboys would do, I decided to do a bit of Swarm spying...Certainly makes an impact.Sorry about the appalling quality, but Swarm banners in the dome. Don't remember these being up on my last visit..Okay, I'm not going to go through 'We did this, we did that' all the time now, but instead just a nice general overview. I was glad that I wasn't stuck in a boat ankle deep in water this time on Storm Surge. However, it seemed as if there was a boat in a similar situation and when the operator says you're feet need to touch to floor and 'It's only a water ride, you're bound to get wet' in response, it is a bit poor really. Also disappointed by the lack of any spin I seem to get now... Guys up the top of Swarm, probably taking photos for the Developer Diary.Liking the views of Swarm you get on Flying Fish. Of course, no photos from on ride itself, but instead a selection of photos from around the general Fish area:You can just imagine the trains elegantly flying down that now..Me taking a photo of a guy taking a photo. Why does roller coaster construction always make me feel a bit perverted? Work on THAT trim!The Missing Wall near Stealth.FN theming. *Shock, horror*Another necessity of the day was a couple of goes on the beloved CCR. Of course, my last go will come next Saturday, but a couple of goes now can't hurt, right? (No photos, for a reason, which I'll reveal at a late date - the suspense! )Now, for critics of the lack of FN theming (basically everybody, me included):Decapitated body bags. It's a nice touch, but this should be a park-wide minimum in my eyes.A quick mention of my visit into Saw Alive today. It has really improved, with actors doing incredibly well. There was one actor who literally appeared from no where, and seemingly disappeared - kudos to her. In general, though not a scary experience, it was an enjoyable one. 3:30 had came, so we decided to do Experiment 10 for one last time as well. We started queuing up and gates opened at 5 to. At about 10 past-ish, when we were near the front, something happened inside the maze. What exactly I have no idea, but considering the queue was evacuated, it must have been something of importance. I really have no clue as to whether it was a technical issue or to do with a guest / actor, but there you go. Fastrack was given to all those who waited the 10-ish minutes before the queue was evacuated, valid for Asylum or Experiment 10. We decided to get some donuts, and wait a bit for the Barry and Stuart show. Couple of blokes went through that door; didn't see them come out. Like the little details such as a bit of 'blood' on the side of the door. (Also, some may find interesting, just as you go in that door, there's a sign saying ear protection must be worn. Lil' bit of trivia I guess).Queue evac. Notice the police? hmmBarry and Stuart sign.As we were queuing to get into the theatre, the roaming clowns came around. Photo times were had of course!I ask for photo; he just gives me a stare as if he's about to cry. Love how well he stayed in character.Evils?THIS GUY! <3 He had the highest, squeakiest voice I've heard and was absolutely hilarious. I was genuinely laughing with him; he deserves tonnes of praise!Some girl wanted a photo with him, but when she gave her friend her phone, it stopped working. The clown started telling her to hurry up and such, before going in a 'strop' and saying he had enough - more a 'you had to be there' moment; hilarious nonetheless!What you lookin' at?Hurry up!He gave up...Anyway, Barry and Stuart were great. I didn't get the chance to see them last year, so really did not know what to expect. They were a good laugh more than anything, with their slightly twisted, low-brow humour. Some of their tricks were quite 'simple' shall we say, but they pulled them off beautifully, so I don't really care about that. As many have probably said, the ending is rather weak, predictable and does not do the show, nor Barry or Stuart, justice. Shame really. However, a solid 7/10.By this time, we went over to Experiment 10, and as the queue wasn't too long, we just queued up for it, rather than using Fastrack. SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD: It has changed a little now, in the sense that the groups you are dispatched in are HUGE - like 24 people huge. How does that work you may ask? By putting people the little rooms in twos. Personally, I don't think it is as effective, but ah well. Also, another bug-bear of mine, the actor who puts you in the cell talks too much really. That experience should be brash and in your face, not 'Put your hands on your head, quickly, in here, don't come out, don't take your hands off your head'. It doesn't work as well that way; it should just be 'IN HERE - NOW!' like how I experienced it on the AP preview night. The lack of actors in the second bit disappoints me still - as I said on my previous visit, more actors in the second half. As Fastrack was not used, and we didn't want to do Asylum, I got them put under my name on the system - aww yeah. That concluded in evening really, just around six-ish. I feel in the three FN visits I've done this year, I've certainly done the event justice and have been left with a brilliant vibe from them. Now all that is left is to wait to see how big Thorpe 'Blows it up' next Saturday, for my final visit of 2011!