Whilst I don't anticipate there to be significant discourse on here this evening, the Fright Nights Launch Event is this evening, so I'd expect there to be spoilers floating about ahead of the official opening tomorrow. Please share anything that could be considered a Spoiler here.

If you want to follow along and get some updates of the event, and insights into what might have changed and the quality this year, follow along with your favourite fansite (that's Thorpe Park Mania, in case it wasn't obvious) on all good (and bad) social media!

Tidal Wave fire effect is still not working, in case anyone didn't know.

Wild 2026 prediction for the press event. Anyone will be allowed to go if they pay £300. It’s the only upsell they have left right?

2 hours ago, MattyMoo said:

Tidal Wave fire effect is still not working, in case anyone didn't know.

Confront russ on this if you see him.

Is there something in the invite to say that all posts have to be tagged with the words VIP? Congratulations to all the influencers who made it. To the rest of us the real proof will be in the pudding. Will those who went tonight be returning to the park to pay £40 to do these mazes again and have the privilege of queueing an hour to do so? Probably not…..

3 hours ago, Glitch said:

Confront russ on this if you see him.

He no longer works at the park unfortunately

I write this on my way to work, as it's raining. I'm tired. So forgive any typos.

As always, this is "my" review, not a 'press' review.

Trailers

My favourite maze of the night. Two new scenes are one inspired by Roots of Evil (in the forest area after the Dolls scene) and an Experiment 10 inspired one replacing Brainsburys. The safety speech is done in the old pre show area, with the screen now having a pre recorded pre show.

It's the same basic maze, but with a solid cast and good scares.

DeadBeat

No changes inside maze. Pre show is slightly different but that's it.

Stitches

A couple of minor changes, but same idea.

It's hard to tell without knowing numbers, but Stitches is either the most popular or has the worst throughput because even at Press Night it gets a longer queue than everything else

Survival Games

No more splitting up. This is a single route maze.

As a result, it is significantly longer. It's also still intense, but definitely less intense than previous years.

There's a change in story line about the characters being given a serum to make them more vicious, and so the 'assassin' characters are no more. The maze does feel fresh.

For me though, it's my least favourite of the 4. It feels a bit too Tulleys-like in that there's a long maze but a few moments where not a lot happens. It is, like the other mazes, walking through a themed set more than anything else, although it is less like that than the others.

I don't know. Maybe actors just need more time to bed in and get in the groove. Maybe I'm just salty because I liked the old Survival Games. Will be interesting to re do it later.

Purgatory Town

To behonest, exactly what I expected. It's an interactive zone. You get out what you put in. If you seek the actors out, talk to them, you'll get so fun conversations. If you walk through and the actors are already talking, it'll be like the zone doesn't exist. If they're free they will approach you, but if you don't put anything in they'll move on.

It's fine for what it is. With mazes becoming more passive I think the jury is out whether this is what Fright Nights needs. And it remains to be seen how it will cope when busy.

Creature Campus

Another great dance show this year. I get that many aren't interested in it, but it oozes atmosphere. Would recommend.

The Crows

Longest and possibly best layout yet. It is basically an outdoor maze at this point. Theming and effects are cool. Music is perfect for it. It just works.

Lucifer's Lair

Say hello to the crown jewel of Fright Nights for the third year running.

The area is perfect for what it is trying to be, the hub of the event. There will always be something going on, whether it is demons going round treating it like a scare zone, singing, dance shows, stunt shows or the best version of a Thorpe fire show yet. This is just it.

Music is a bit of a mess right now. I'm sad they're not choosing to do more specific stuff for rides.

Lighting is great. Stealth has a cool light at the end of the launch track in sync with the launch lights.

All in it's another good event. It won't silence critics about the long term direction that FN has gone / is going. I'm less of a fan of the style of mazes Thorpe currently produce, but I'll still give them another go and see what changes.

But genuinely, and wholeheartedly, the stuff included in the entrance ticket is worth the visit.

Think my issue is the family friendlificiation of the event. Chessington and Legoland are just down the road but yet Merlin have opted for dance party shows at Thorpe. I guess that family money can’t be beaten but why can’t we bring back some sorta scary roamers….. Nowadays it’s bring your whole family to the event, I remember being scared as a kid of even seeing the banner for the freak show outside the cinema and really making sure I was out of the park before 3pm why can’t we bring back that vibe. There’s 2 family friendly parks down the road.

I don't think the event in its current guise is 'family friendly". It's by no means adult/mature, and has something for everyone, but it's not exactly pushed down to Chessington or Legoland markets.

Yes, there's a dance show which is for everyone, and doesn't go hard on scares. Whilst you could argue that the cast for that could be used for a "scare" attraction, it's not guarantee that all the actors involved would want / could be scare actors. Different skill set, backgrounds, etc. So not a straightforward swap.

Obviously it won't interest everyone and that's fine. But it does add atmosphere and variety to the event.

Lucifer's Lair features some dance shows, but they are certainly geared towards a more mature audience. And that whole zone does encapsulate what previous roamers were like it terms of scare factor.

Ultimately yes Fright Nights does still have things which cater to everyone. And part of me expects that that is because regardless of what Thorpe do, families still visit the park. We saw years ago that the park tried catering to just thrills and a slightly older audience, and that just led to less people spending money, and more complaints and bad publicity from families who came anyway.

There's still enough to satisfy the 'thrillseeker' audience. Even if the upcharges are too much, or the mazes lack consistency, the quartet of mazes intent is to be scary, and for the wider audience, that is what they acheive.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the park have Fright Nights be more mature, up the age recommendations, become a bit more scary. And that would certainly benefit some of their attractions. But I completely get why they won't do that. And if that's what people are after, I going to an out and out scream park is the best option for them.