I kinda love Thorpe Park. Sure it’s full of chavs whenever you go to it and it’s not unusual to see someone getting escorted from the park by the police, it’s such a conveniently located fun place! That’s more fun than that sentence makes it sound.
Went there earlier this year and made another trip last weekend. Why? Fright Night! Every Halloween, just before the end of the season, Thorpe Park stays open until 10pm so you can ride the rollercoasters in the dark and try a few horror ‘mazes’ they put on.
Think the best thing about the Fright Night is being able to go on the rides when it’s dark. It’s like a completely new ride. I managed to go on Saw the Ride and Rush when it was actually night. Saw is brilliant at night. It’s not totally pitch black, you can see where you’re going, but it just feels faster.
Rush is so much better in the dark! Being able to look up at a starry sky while you’re swinging on one of the biggest swing sets is incredibly awesome. It also gives you more of a chance to see other rides, lit up in all their glory, in the dark. Stealth looked very pretty while swinging from Rush.
Talking of Stealth, while I didn’t get to go on it in the dark, I’d say it was dusk by the time I did. So fairly dark. Dark enough to be able to have a lovely view of Thorpe Park from the top of the ride, albeit momentarily.
The queues for the horror mazes were immense, so only managed a couple – Hellgate and Seven.
I’ve done the Saw Horror Maze, earlier this year, which terrified and amused me in almost equal amounts. I felt a bit more prepared for these horror mazes. Effectively they’re the same combination actors jumping out at your from dark corners, some weird smells and noises and a lot of darkness. Though that’s not say that they’re not fun. Both were a good laugh. Seven has more of a range of smells. I wasn’t terrified, jumpy maybe. I came out of both laughing quite a lot. They were fun.
What I found a little disappointing was the lack of terror just wandering around the park. I thought that they’d be actors running around being all Halloween-y and scary, not just confined to the horror mazes.
Would I go again next year? YES. It’s too much fun for me not to. Though Thorpe Park need to sort out the whole leaving the car park aspect at closing time! Waited for the car queues to die down which meant not getting out until nearly midnight. CRAZY!