On Monday, I went to Thorpe Park for Fright Nights, and it was amazing.
Just saying that alone makes me sound like an enthusiast generated by AI, given that everyone and their nan has been posting about Thorpe Park Fright Nights. So, I won’t go over everything that’s already filling thoosie ‘For You’ pages this month. But here’s a short blog with my experience and to be honest, I think this event might even be better than Scarefest…
Although I didn’t do any of the paid-for scare mazes, but I thought Thorpe Park’s Free experience ‘The Crows’ was great fun. A few days before I’d done a maze at the Black Country Living Museum which scared the bejesus out of me. So having planned to do ‘Deadbeat’, I gave it a miss (Hyperia calling me from across the park may have played a part too).
Crows is extremely short, but if you hang around long enough, it can be very funny. A pumpkin-headed actor jump-scared me so badly that I literally ended up on the floor! He briefly broke character to apologise, so it’s all good!
Ride queues were the longest I’ve experienced all year, and for the first time this season, we actually invested in some Fast Track tickets. Our queue strategy at Theme Parks is usually all about carefully picking the right days to visit, but making an exception for Fright Nights was absolutely worth it.
As we all know, night rides are absolutely elite. Riding The Swarm in the dark with the lights on was awesome. It’s known for great theming but it works even better during Fright Night.
After valleying just the day before - Saw the Ride was running surprising smooth, I took my little sister on Inferno for the first time (which she loved) and a Stealth night ride just had to be done too.
But Hyperia is always a priority for me (obviously), and we managed three rides: daytime, dusk and night. The night ride was particularly special because, for the first time ever, I finally got the front row!
Getting allocated rows on Hyperia this year has been soooo frustrating. I was honestly starting to think I was cursed, having been placed in rows six or seven (don’t you dare say it!) again and again. I’ve even tried letting people go ahead of me in the queue in the hope of somehow gaming my way into the front row, only to end up somewhere in the middle of the train anyway.
But this Monday at Fright Nights, it finally happened. Front row. Hyperia. At night. The view was unreal. Looking across the park, with Stealth in the distance and lights glowing all around Thorpe Park, was one of the best theme park views I’ve ever experienced.
But for me, the main reason I loved this night so much was the overall atmosphere while walking around the park.
The actors in Lucifer’s Lair are on another level, getting right in your face and making their presence felt. If you’re not too keen on being scared, you might not enjoy it quite as much, but I think most enthusiasts would absolutely love it.
There’s something special about being in a theme park at 8pm, hearing the roar of a B&M coaster, seeing colourful lights glowing all around you, spending the evening with your friends and having Lucifer scare the life out of you. That atmosphere is unmatched.
It’s the perfect way to end the theme park season. The rides, the darkness, the actors and the crowds all come together to create something that feels completely different from a normal day at the park.
And honestly, isn’t that what Fright Nights is all about?
So, could Thorpe Park Fright Nights actually be better than Alton Towers Scarefest?
I’m not sure I’d make that call, especially when I didn’t experience Thorpe Park’s full paid maze line-up. And my Wicker Man, back row night-ride at Scarefest is still my favourite of this halloween season. But when it comes to the atmosphere, the night rides and the feeling of being immersed in a theme park after dark, Thorpe Park has a seriously strong argument.
And after Monday night, Scarefest might have some competition.
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