Blackpool Tower Dungeon 2022
New for Halloween 2022 is Reaper's Retribution, which is a re-purposing of the attraction's usual ghost show. Anyone familiar with Dungeon shows, will know how this works, but when executed well - this scene always manages to pull off some great scares.
Firstly, our storyteller was making great use of the darkness to get multiple jumps around the room, which really put people on edge. Then when the big climax was revealed, the Reaper genuinely appeared to attack from nowhere, which triggered screaming throughout the room!
In fact we had a fantastic group with us who were genuinely scared through most of the scenes, which just made the experience so much more fun. It was also kind of hilarious that one actor played three different characters across our tour, but he handled this so well - doing different accents through each, but still with a nodding wink to the fact that we had seen him before. The other actors in the remaining scenes were also as impressive, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The Blackpool Tower Dungeon may not be the largest of the UK Dungeons, but as the newest, it still remains fresh and fun with a good mix of bawdy humor and scares. If you're in Blackpool then you need to check it out
Firstly, our storyteller was making great use of the darkness to get multiple jumps around the room, which really put people on edge. Then when the big climax was revealed, the Reaper genuinely appeared to attack from nowhere, which triggered screaming throughout the room!
In fact we had a fantastic group with us who were genuinely scared through most of the scenes, which just made the experience so much more fun. It was also kind of hilarious that one actor played three different characters across our tour, but he handled this so well - doing different accents through each, but still with a nodding wink to the fact that we had seen him before. The other actors in the remaining scenes were also as impressive, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The Blackpool Tower Dungeon may not be the largest of the UK Dungeons, but as the newest, it still remains fresh and fun with a good mix of bawdy humor and scares. If you're in Blackpool then you need to check it out
Blackpool Tower Dungeon 2021
Like most attractions, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon was forced to close down during the Covid pandemic, and even once re-opened, has had to work carefully around social distancing rules, and of course the use of face masks throughout. But like the other Dungeon attractions, they have found a workable solution that still provides the fun and fears you would expect when visiting a Dungeon attraction, whilst keeping actors and victors safe.
The latest show is called Escape from the Witch's Revenge, and as is normal for Dungeon shows these days, takes one of its popular show concepts and applies some local legend to the storytelling. Anyone familiar with Witches of Warwick at Warwick Castle or the final scene of the Alton Towers Dungeon, will recognise the format (and a lot of the script) of this show as the narrator tells the story of a witch, and the curse that she has placed on the village.
Although very similar to other shows, this format always provides great tension when the lights go out and the cast move swiftly and silently around the room, creating some great sudden scares. The room is also packed with a number of different effects, as props move, shelves collapse, and curtains blow, which all build up until the terrifying moment when the witch finally makes her appearance.
The show in itself is much stronger than the Viking Invasion show it has replaced (or even the War of the Roses that was there before that). In fact it is easily the strongest show that Blackpool Tower Dungeon have had in this space, and is one of the best parts of the whole experience.
We always enjoy our visits to this regional Dungeon and this new show has really made the experience a must do when you are in Blackpool.
The latest show is called Escape from the Witch's Revenge, and as is normal for Dungeon shows these days, takes one of its popular show concepts and applies some local legend to the storytelling. Anyone familiar with Witches of Warwick at Warwick Castle or the final scene of the Alton Towers Dungeon, will recognise the format (and a lot of the script) of this show as the narrator tells the story of a witch, and the curse that she has placed on the village.
Although very similar to other shows, this format always provides great tension when the lights go out and the cast move swiftly and silently around the room, creating some great sudden scares. The room is also packed with a number of different effects, as props move, shelves collapse, and curtains blow, which all build up until the terrifying moment when the witch finally makes her appearance.
The show in itself is much stronger than the Viking Invasion show it has replaced (or even the War of the Roses that was there before that). In fact it is easily the strongest show that Blackpool Tower Dungeon have had in this space, and is one of the best parts of the whole experience.
We always enjoy our visits to this regional Dungeon and this new show has really made the experience a must do when you are in Blackpool.
Blackpool Tower Dungeon 2018
When Merlin Entertainments took over the running of the Blackpool Tower, it came as no surprise to hear that they were adding a new Dungeon attraction. Now seven years later – The Blackpool Tower Dungeon is still doing well, and in 2018 has seen some new additions to the line-up.
The permanent show for this year is Viking Invasion, which is a fun audience interaction show that replaces The War of the Roses. We felt the Viking show had more impact than the previous show and was very reminiscent of the Viking shows we know and love from York Dungeon (flying arrows, collapsing walls and the Dungeon’s popular “talking head” effect.) It’s a fun show with a couple of good jumps throughout.
But if we wanted real scares – we needed to head to the Corridor of Curses (the seasonal makeover of The Labyrinth mirror maze. The whole attraction took on a much darker and atmospheric ambiance with lowered lighting, a smoky atmosphere, some beautiful set design and one truly terrifying jump scare that had us leaping to get away. Yes, we mean it! One of the biggest scares of our tour of Blackpool events came from inside the Dungeon – which is no mean feat. We would love to see some of the other UK dungeons replicate this makeover in the future.
Of course, the Dungeon is also home to all the usual shows such as The Judge and The Torturer, but all the actors were really giving there all, with over the top performances throughout. Our favourites being the anatomy doctor who gave the whole character a gleeful sense of mischief that left us laughing and squirming in equal measure, and the hilarious “lift keeper” in Descent, who had a wicked sense of humour and a sharp wit about her.
It’s no secret that we love all the Dungeon attractions. Even though they aren’t usually that scary – we enjoy the horror and humour element to all the shows and love seeing the unique different variations at different venues. So, too then have a couple of good scares in the middle of our visit was just the icing on the cake! We stumbled out into the Tavern having enjoyed every minute of the current line-up.
The permanent show for this year is Viking Invasion, which is a fun audience interaction show that replaces The War of the Roses. We felt the Viking show had more impact than the previous show and was very reminiscent of the Viking shows we know and love from York Dungeon (flying arrows, collapsing walls and the Dungeon’s popular “talking head” effect.) It’s a fun show with a couple of good jumps throughout.
But if we wanted real scares – we needed to head to the Corridor of Curses (the seasonal makeover of The Labyrinth mirror maze. The whole attraction took on a much darker and atmospheric ambiance with lowered lighting, a smoky atmosphere, some beautiful set design and one truly terrifying jump scare that had us leaping to get away. Yes, we mean it! One of the biggest scares of our tour of Blackpool events came from inside the Dungeon – which is no mean feat. We would love to see some of the other UK dungeons replicate this makeover in the future.
Of course, the Dungeon is also home to all the usual shows such as The Judge and The Torturer, but all the actors were really giving there all, with over the top performances throughout. Our favourites being the anatomy doctor who gave the whole character a gleeful sense of mischief that left us laughing and squirming in equal measure, and the hilarious “lift keeper” in Descent, who had a wicked sense of humour and a sharp wit about her.
It’s no secret that we love all the Dungeon attractions. Even though they aren’t usually that scary – we enjoy the horror and humour element to all the shows and love seeing the unique different variations at different venues. So, too then have a couple of good scares in the middle of our visit was just the icing on the cake! We stumbled out into the Tavern having enjoyed every minute of the current line-up.
Blackpool Tower Dungeon: War of the Roses
The restricted size and layout of Blackpool’s Tower Dungeon, unfortunately means that an extension of what is already on offer is fairly impossible, without the alteration or replacement of an existing show. However, 2015 has seen a number of changes, both temporary and permanent that we were excited to try out. Firstly, the exterior and queue line music has now been changed from creepy carnival to match London’s dramatic track. It was actually quite peculiar to hear this in a smaller dungeon, given that London is the biggest of the Dungeon chain. Nevertheless, this was only the first change we noticed and looked forward to venturing inside.
New for May half term was ‘The War of Roses’ – which was based on the bloody battles between the houses of Lancashire and Yorkshire. This new show has temporarily replaced the Vikings of the North show, and utilises actors and special effects quite well. One of the key criticisms of the Blackpool Tower Dungeon’s seasonal offerings in the past is that they usually seem to be primarily based in the Descent segment, with little or no follow up throughout the rest of the standard show. However, this time around, we felt that the new show was integrated well into the standard show. Descent began with the Black Jester introducing us to the War of the Roses, and his disdain for ‘Yorkshire Puddings’, before marking this unfortunate reviewer with the ‘White Rose of Yorkshire’, which was not to be removed. After this, the group were separated in to Lancashire and Yorkshire and ushered in to the lifts.
The show continued as normal, with a brilliant Plague Doctor’s assistant who informed me that not only did I have the mark of the plague, but also a mark of Yorkshire, which was much worse! When we arrived at the Torture chamber, where there was more emphasis on the conflict between Lancashire and Yorkshire than normal. The one marked with the white rose was locked in the cage as the torturer demonstrated their tools of the trade. Following being tried in court, we were condemned to the Labyrinth of the Lost. Whilst we don’t like to criticise as such, we felt that the mirror maze was nowhere near as effective as usual. Firstly, in place of the usual eerie and atmospheric track played throughout, was the same queue line music blasted across the maze. We felt that this was unnecessary and ruined any potential atmosphere. Secondly, one of the key scares within the maze was entirely out of sync, and ruined the surprise. Add to that the lack of fog, missing mirrors and very bright overhead lighting; we felt that the mirror maze was unfortunately not up to standard this time around.
However, following the maze was the War of the Roses show, which saw the usual Viking theming replaced by bloody shields and Rose emblems. One of the positives here was that the show used actors throughout, which was a refreshing change to the usual projection screen. the show had elements of both Guy Fawkes in London and Eric Bloodaxe in York. The actors were very enthusiastic, and whilst we will not spoil any of the surprises, one actor stood out due to the restricted, and possibly, uncomfortable position in which he was required to perform. The usual effects in the Viking show were altered to be in sync with the actors’ performances, which seemed to work quite well.
However, there was something about the show that made us feel like there should have been more. We could not fault the performances given, but we did feel that the show was building up to a climax that never arrived. We appreciate that there are limitations to what can be done, but we felt that the show ended fairly abruptly and there was a definite feeling of ‘Is that it?’ across the group. Additionally, we felt that the style of the show was immensely silly and over the top. Whilst silliness has always had a place within the Dungeon’s, we felt that the level employed here was, perhaps, a bit too far. Overall, ‘The War of the Roses’ at the Blackpool Tower Dungeon was a lot more satisfying than some of the other seasonal offerings in the past. There was a fair amount of gore, at least since the gore free rebrand, and the little touches leading up to the show itself were good. However, there was a lot of silliness and a feeling that the show just didn’t cut it (No pun intended), especially when compared to the other brilliant shows throughout.
Another one of the big changes for this year is the new ‘Hangman’s Tavern’ pub which is located at the end of the tour. The tavern takes up half of the original gift shop space, and is reasonably well themed. Speaking to one of the staff members, we discovered that the tavern has only been open for less than a week. After plummeting to our deaths on ‘Drop Dead’, it was fair to say that a stiff drink could well be deserved. We felt that the new tavern fits in beautifully and was a nice addition. Having said that, it is a shame that the original gift shop has lost some of its charm. Once a unique and detailed carnival/funfair themed, it is now quite small and generic. Whilst the show itself remains impactful, engaging and brilliantly played, we can’t help but feel that the Dungeons chain rebrand has seen some of the unique and impressive touches to the Blackpool Tower Dungeon disappear; the imposing Grim Reaper vanished with the new signage, and we have now seen the end of the once impressive gift shop. This is especially disappointing as the Dungeon isn’t even five years old yet!
Overall, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon remains one of the highlights of the UK Dungeons, and is definitely worth a visit. The consistently strong performances and little added extras with the seasonal show warrant a visit this half term. Just make sure you’re not from Yorkshire!
New for May half term was ‘The War of Roses’ – which was based on the bloody battles between the houses of Lancashire and Yorkshire. This new show has temporarily replaced the Vikings of the North show, and utilises actors and special effects quite well. One of the key criticisms of the Blackpool Tower Dungeon’s seasonal offerings in the past is that they usually seem to be primarily based in the Descent segment, with little or no follow up throughout the rest of the standard show. However, this time around, we felt that the new show was integrated well into the standard show. Descent began with the Black Jester introducing us to the War of the Roses, and his disdain for ‘Yorkshire Puddings’, before marking this unfortunate reviewer with the ‘White Rose of Yorkshire’, which was not to be removed. After this, the group were separated in to Lancashire and Yorkshire and ushered in to the lifts.
The show continued as normal, with a brilliant Plague Doctor’s assistant who informed me that not only did I have the mark of the plague, but also a mark of Yorkshire, which was much worse! When we arrived at the Torture chamber, where there was more emphasis on the conflict between Lancashire and Yorkshire than normal. The one marked with the white rose was locked in the cage as the torturer demonstrated their tools of the trade. Following being tried in court, we were condemned to the Labyrinth of the Lost. Whilst we don’t like to criticise as such, we felt that the mirror maze was nowhere near as effective as usual. Firstly, in place of the usual eerie and atmospheric track played throughout, was the same queue line music blasted across the maze. We felt that this was unnecessary and ruined any potential atmosphere. Secondly, one of the key scares within the maze was entirely out of sync, and ruined the surprise. Add to that the lack of fog, missing mirrors and very bright overhead lighting; we felt that the mirror maze was unfortunately not up to standard this time around.
However, following the maze was the War of the Roses show, which saw the usual Viking theming replaced by bloody shields and Rose emblems. One of the positives here was that the show used actors throughout, which was a refreshing change to the usual projection screen. the show had elements of both Guy Fawkes in London and Eric Bloodaxe in York. The actors were very enthusiastic, and whilst we will not spoil any of the surprises, one actor stood out due to the restricted, and possibly, uncomfortable position in which he was required to perform. The usual effects in the Viking show were altered to be in sync with the actors’ performances, which seemed to work quite well.
However, there was something about the show that made us feel like there should have been more. We could not fault the performances given, but we did feel that the show was building up to a climax that never arrived. We appreciate that there are limitations to what can be done, but we felt that the show ended fairly abruptly and there was a definite feeling of ‘Is that it?’ across the group. Additionally, we felt that the style of the show was immensely silly and over the top. Whilst silliness has always had a place within the Dungeon’s, we felt that the level employed here was, perhaps, a bit too far. Overall, ‘The War of the Roses’ at the Blackpool Tower Dungeon was a lot more satisfying than some of the other seasonal offerings in the past. There was a fair amount of gore, at least since the gore free rebrand, and the little touches leading up to the show itself were good. However, there was a lot of silliness and a feeling that the show just didn’t cut it (No pun intended), especially when compared to the other brilliant shows throughout.
Another one of the big changes for this year is the new ‘Hangman’s Tavern’ pub which is located at the end of the tour. The tavern takes up half of the original gift shop space, and is reasonably well themed. Speaking to one of the staff members, we discovered that the tavern has only been open for less than a week. After plummeting to our deaths on ‘Drop Dead’, it was fair to say that a stiff drink could well be deserved. We felt that the new tavern fits in beautifully and was a nice addition. Having said that, it is a shame that the original gift shop has lost some of its charm. Once a unique and detailed carnival/funfair themed, it is now quite small and generic. Whilst the show itself remains impactful, engaging and brilliantly played, we can’t help but feel that the Dungeons chain rebrand has seen some of the unique and impressive touches to the Blackpool Tower Dungeon disappear; the imposing Grim Reaper vanished with the new signage, and we have now seen the end of the once impressive gift shop. This is especially disappointing as the Dungeon isn’t even five years old yet!
Overall, the Blackpool Tower Dungeon remains one of the highlights of the UK Dungeons, and is definitely worth a visit. The consistently strong performances and little added extras with the seasonal show warrant a visit this half term. Just make sure you’re not from Yorkshire!
Blackpool Tower Dungeon - Halloween 2014
It’s time for the Dungeons to become the ‘Home of Halloween’ once again and the team couldn’t visit one of our favourite sea sides without a visit to the Pool that is Black. Although the Dungeons don’t change dramatically during their seasonal periods, it’s always nice to see subtle changes around the Merlin owned mid-way attractions.
Upon entering the Dungeon we were given a hand stamp and greeted by the Witch Hunter, a nice change to the usual Black Jester. We were uncertain to what the new hand stamp was for but intrigued to find out as we delved deep into the Dungeon.
Blackpool Tower Dungeon always boast quality actors with 10 great scenes and we always enjoy our visit, unfortunately though the Dungeons didn’t really live up to their ‘Home of Halloween’ hype. All shows were played out the same as the rest of the year, the only exception being the ‘Pendle Witches’ scene which now is home to Alice Nutter. This new character led show is far better in comparison to the original scene which used a projection screen. We hope the Dungeons keep this character after the Halloween Season as it is such an improvement on the original scene.
We left the Dungeons having a ‘horrible’ (which means fantastic) time but also couldn't help but feel slightly let down at the same time. Halloween is the season where the Dungeons should strive to impress and the changes we saw didn't quite cut it. Although, after speaking to the Management team it would appear that we missed a few more Halloween changes. Two new characters, Master of Tricks and Mistress of Treats had been entertaining the crowds at the Dungeon Entrance, however these characters are easily missed if you enter through the Pre-Booked/Annual Pass entrance like this reviewer. We also learned that the stamps should have been used within the show with one customer being ‘Tricked’ with another receiving a ‘Treat’. It’s a shame the Dungeons didn't use this extra interaction. That being said we still had a fantastic time at the Dungeon but the question still remains, over a year on from the re-branding, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon still seem slightly confused on whether the drop ride is called Drop Dead or still Extremis!
Upon entering the Dungeon we were given a hand stamp and greeted by the Witch Hunter, a nice change to the usual Black Jester. We were uncertain to what the new hand stamp was for but intrigued to find out as we delved deep into the Dungeon.
Blackpool Tower Dungeon always boast quality actors with 10 great scenes and we always enjoy our visit, unfortunately though the Dungeons didn’t really live up to their ‘Home of Halloween’ hype. All shows were played out the same as the rest of the year, the only exception being the ‘Pendle Witches’ scene which now is home to Alice Nutter. This new character led show is far better in comparison to the original scene which used a projection screen. We hope the Dungeons keep this character after the Halloween Season as it is such an improvement on the original scene.
We left the Dungeons having a ‘horrible’ (which means fantastic) time but also couldn't help but feel slightly let down at the same time. Halloween is the season where the Dungeons should strive to impress and the changes we saw didn't quite cut it. Although, after speaking to the Management team it would appear that we missed a few more Halloween changes. Two new characters, Master of Tricks and Mistress of Treats had been entertaining the crowds at the Dungeon Entrance, however these characters are easily missed if you enter through the Pre-Booked/Annual Pass entrance like this reviewer. We also learned that the stamps should have been used within the show with one customer being ‘Tricked’ with another receiving a ‘Treat’. It’s a shame the Dungeons didn't use this extra interaction. That being said we still had a fantastic time at the Dungeon but the question still remains, over a year on from the re-branding, The Blackpool Tower Dungeon still seem slightly confused on whether the drop ride is called Drop Dead or still Extremis!
Blackpool Tower Dungeon - Ghost of Christmas
Having visited the slightly underwhelming Ghost of Christmas show at London Dungeon, the week before, we weren't expecting too much for the Blackpool show. Seems we were wrong!
First of all, the Jester introduction room was filled with detailed Christmas theming that included worn out tinsel, a dying Christmas tree with cobweb ridden presents underneath. The Jester himself was dressed in a red and black costume and his introductory speech consisted of many seasonal references. This set the scene nicely and was very relevant to the Dungeon atmosphere and helped our group get in the mood for what was to come.
The Dark Chapel was altered to tell the story of the Ghost of Christmas. The show was actor led, telling the story of two young lovers. One of them was a sailor who promised to return for Christmas. However tragedy struck and the man died when his ship was wrecked near Blackpool coast. His lover never found out about his fate and she spent her days at the top of Blackpool tower hopelessly waiting her lover's return. One day the town was overcome with fog and the lady wandered towards the sea in desperate search of her love but was never seen again. Legend has it that her ghost eternally wanders the tower and it is at Christmas time when she makes her presence known.
The story created a tense atmosphere and made great use of the chapel setting. The actor warned us that the 'white lady' is angered by intruders and could make her presence known at any time!. After the warning, our group was ushered out into the usual show, a little on edge not knowing what to expect next. However the show continued as normal and, was the usual high quality we expect from the Dungeon.
We had almost forgotten about the White Lady until we arrived at The Labyrinth where she suddenly appeared as we passed through. Using a barrage of strobe lighting, a one way mirror, loud noise and extra mist, this was a very unexpected and well executed scare and each member of the group, jumped or screamed in fright! The scene was great fun and as people run into the next scene laughing it almost felt as if we had just exited Thorpe Park's Asylum!
The Ghost of Christmas at Blackpool worked better than the murder mystery style story at London as the sudden appearance of the ghost during the main show really caught people off guard. Blackpool is often the overlooked show when it comes to seasonal makeovers but for Christmas we preferred this version to the others. It will be interesting to see how this success carries into future shows.
First of all, the Jester introduction room was filled with detailed Christmas theming that included worn out tinsel, a dying Christmas tree with cobweb ridden presents underneath. The Jester himself was dressed in a red and black costume and his introductory speech consisted of many seasonal references. This set the scene nicely and was very relevant to the Dungeon atmosphere and helped our group get in the mood for what was to come.
The Dark Chapel was altered to tell the story of the Ghost of Christmas. The show was actor led, telling the story of two young lovers. One of them was a sailor who promised to return for Christmas. However tragedy struck and the man died when his ship was wrecked near Blackpool coast. His lover never found out about his fate and she spent her days at the top of Blackpool tower hopelessly waiting her lover's return. One day the town was overcome with fog and the lady wandered towards the sea in desperate search of her love but was never seen again. Legend has it that her ghost eternally wanders the tower and it is at Christmas time when she makes her presence known.
The story created a tense atmosphere and made great use of the chapel setting. The actor warned us that the 'white lady' is angered by intruders and could make her presence known at any time!. After the warning, our group was ushered out into the usual show, a little on edge not knowing what to expect next. However the show continued as normal and, was the usual high quality we expect from the Dungeon.
We had almost forgotten about the White Lady until we arrived at The Labyrinth where she suddenly appeared as we passed through. Using a barrage of strobe lighting, a one way mirror, loud noise and extra mist, this was a very unexpected and well executed scare and each member of the group, jumped or screamed in fright! The scene was great fun and as people run into the next scene laughing it almost felt as if we had just exited Thorpe Park's Asylum!
The Ghost of Christmas at Blackpool worked better than the murder mystery style story at London as the sudden appearance of the ghost during the main show really caught people off guard. Blackpool is often the overlooked show when it comes to seasonal makeovers but for Christmas we preferred this version to the others. It will be interesting to see how this success carries into future shows.
The Blackpool Tower Dungeon - Review
We recently visited Blackpool Tower Dungeon as part of our St Valentine's Day Massacre trip and received an extremely warm welcome from the whole management team on our arrival. The mood soon changed once we stepped inside and very soon we were nervously moving from scene to scene, not sure what would come next!
The main entrance is located on Bank Hay Street at the rear of the Tower but gives an imposing and foreboding presence to the thousands of Blackpool Tourists that pass by on this busy shopping street. It creates a great first impression and it was obvious that a lot of time and money had been spent in creating a façade which was both visually impressive and unique to any of the other dungeons, whilst still retaining its brand identity.
After the obligatory photo opportunity, we were ushered into a room with several others and a live actor who really worked the crowd well. He mixed in the usual rules with some great improvisational humour and scares with different members of the audience. We were fascinated with the immaculate theming and attention to detail in here, with cogs which turn as the actor summons the elevators to take you to your fate! The lifts themselves are fantastically themed and feature various effects which build apprehension perfectly, although we felt a few more effects could have helped overall. Saying that - it was a nice touch and did actually give you the feeling that there was no going back.
If you have visited a similar Dungeons attraction in the country you'll instantly recognise some of your favourite scenes awaiting you. This could quite easily make an attraction seem stale but interestingly there's been some careful development to improve each one noticeably, giving it its own identity. In each room it is clear that Merlin have really gone to town on theming, creating one of their most immersive attractions to date.
In particular, the Labyrinth of the Lost is by far the best we've experienced, mixing an abundance of animatronics with detailed scenery and low lying mist. In some of the other labyrinths we've felt like it was fairly easy to find your way around, but here there was genuine confusion with a really well designed layout and a good number of startle scares and effects.
The stories and scenes all seem to flow together seamlessly and it's hard to pinpoint any one particular scene or effect. The Torture Chamber looked incredible with a really aggressive actor who was brilliant in his role and despite the standard script, his sheer energy and vitriolic approach took the experience to a whole new realm. The Plague doctor was also re-invigorated with the incredible use of set design, lighting, impact scares and new effects, breathing new life into what is a tried and tested feature of the Dungeons brand. In a few of the scenes we had some sight problems with smaller guests unable to see the effects but this is more a case of us being a large group and some of the rooms being quite small.
Interestingly, between scenes there were a number of very dark corridors which often had something scary ready to jump out. We would say that the number of good impact scares as well as theatrical scenes would easily match Edinburgh for keeping guests on their toes!
Towards the end of the tour, we felt The Pendle Witches area was lacking in as much excitement. The rich theme and local nature of these characters deserve more than a large area with a video screen and batching area for people boarding Extremis. It's one of the very few niggles we had with the attraction, as it seemed like it could have been utilised in a much better way.
On our way out we visited the Dungeons gift shop which was stocked with some really cool and interesting items for everyone. The gift shop itself is fantastcially themed like a fairground that's gone horribly wrong and feels like it belongs, rather than just being tacked on at the end as an afterthought.
Overall The Tower Dungeon is a welcome addition to Blackpool, a very special attraction where care and consideration have been used to create something unique. There were some genuine jumps and scares in places where new effects had been implemented with some pretty effective impact scares. We look forward to seeing how the attraction fares over the busy tourist season - we think it will be a screaming success!
After our visit the ScareTOUR group were invited for an exclusive chat and feedback session with Gary Blackadder, the manager of the Dungeon. During this time he addressed some of our concerns (especially regarding the Pendle Witches section) and highlighted that long term plans are already being discussed as to how to make certain sections better. The Dungeon attractions are always being refreshed with new shows and attractions and it would seem that Blackpool is no different. We look forward to coming back to experience some of these changes when they are implemented.
The main entrance is located on Bank Hay Street at the rear of the Tower but gives an imposing and foreboding presence to the thousands of Blackpool Tourists that pass by on this busy shopping street. It creates a great first impression and it was obvious that a lot of time and money had been spent in creating a façade which was both visually impressive and unique to any of the other dungeons, whilst still retaining its brand identity.
After the obligatory photo opportunity, we were ushered into a room with several others and a live actor who really worked the crowd well. He mixed in the usual rules with some great improvisational humour and scares with different members of the audience. We were fascinated with the immaculate theming and attention to detail in here, with cogs which turn as the actor summons the elevators to take you to your fate! The lifts themselves are fantastically themed and feature various effects which build apprehension perfectly, although we felt a few more effects could have helped overall. Saying that - it was a nice touch and did actually give you the feeling that there was no going back.
If you have visited a similar Dungeons attraction in the country you'll instantly recognise some of your favourite scenes awaiting you. This could quite easily make an attraction seem stale but interestingly there's been some careful development to improve each one noticeably, giving it its own identity. In each room it is clear that Merlin have really gone to town on theming, creating one of their most immersive attractions to date.
In particular, the Labyrinth of the Lost is by far the best we've experienced, mixing an abundance of animatronics with detailed scenery and low lying mist. In some of the other labyrinths we've felt like it was fairly easy to find your way around, but here there was genuine confusion with a really well designed layout and a good number of startle scares and effects.
The stories and scenes all seem to flow together seamlessly and it's hard to pinpoint any one particular scene or effect. The Torture Chamber looked incredible with a really aggressive actor who was brilliant in his role and despite the standard script, his sheer energy and vitriolic approach took the experience to a whole new realm. The Plague doctor was also re-invigorated with the incredible use of set design, lighting, impact scares and new effects, breathing new life into what is a tried and tested feature of the Dungeons brand. In a few of the scenes we had some sight problems with smaller guests unable to see the effects but this is more a case of us being a large group and some of the rooms being quite small.
Interestingly, between scenes there were a number of very dark corridors which often had something scary ready to jump out. We would say that the number of good impact scares as well as theatrical scenes would easily match Edinburgh for keeping guests on their toes!
Towards the end of the tour, we felt The Pendle Witches area was lacking in as much excitement. The rich theme and local nature of these characters deserve more than a large area with a video screen and batching area for people boarding Extremis. It's one of the very few niggles we had with the attraction, as it seemed like it could have been utilised in a much better way.
On our way out we visited the Dungeons gift shop which was stocked with some really cool and interesting items for everyone. The gift shop itself is fantastcially themed like a fairground that's gone horribly wrong and feels like it belongs, rather than just being tacked on at the end as an afterthought.
Overall The Tower Dungeon is a welcome addition to Blackpool, a very special attraction where care and consideration have been used to create something unique. There were some genuine jumps and scares in places where new effects had been implemented with some pretty effective impact scares. We look forward to seeing how the attraction fares over the busy tourist season - we think it will be a screaming success!
After our visit the ScareTOUR group were invited for an exclusive chat and feedback session with Gary Blackadder, the manager of the Dungeon. During this time he addressed some of our concerns (especially regarding the Pendle Witches section) and highlighted that long term plans are already being discussed as to how to make certain sections better. The Dungeon attractions are always being refreshed with new shows and attractions and it would seem that Blackpool is no different. We look forward to coming back to experience some of these changes when they are implemented.
Links:
The official Blackpool tower Dungeon website - www.thedungeons.com
Other Blackpool Tower Dungeon reviews -
Other Blackpool Tower Dungeon reviews -
You Review
Have you also visited this or any other attractions recently? - tell us what you thought here
Scary - £13 Pound for a 60 minute experience (which felt really quick). The actors did a really good job and told there stories in a terrifyingly funny way. Some sections come across as a bit cheap and don’t really do much but some stick out really strong. You kind of got rushed to each room so it didn’t feel as if you had time to appreciate your surroundings but when you did they were impressive. Overall, great fun and scares, would recommend!
Tickets are quite pricey on the door. Yet using a merlin discount voucher or buying your tickets online saves a lot! I highly recommend it! The attraction lasts a long time, I'm usually used to attractions that last 10-15 minutes each, however the tower dungeons can last up to an hour, it is well worth it but it does take a long time to get through it all, which I was very excited about!
The special effects are incredible! This was my first time on a Dungeons attraction, so I had no idea what to expect! I'm not going to give any of the scares away, but some of the special effects will make you scream, feel disgusted, not be able to understand what is real and not, they will make you feel uncomfortable, uneasy and maybe even sick, but it's all for a good cause!
The use of audience participation is also very fun, if you are are of the lucky (or unlucky!) ones to get picked out to do something for the actors, it's going to be a great laugh and a great memory for you and who ever is with you.
As well as being a scare attraction, it is also historically educational, you will be taken through time periods, and be told in creative, gruesome and evil ways of the dark history of the Pool that is Black! This is great for the audience as it teaches messages and history and at the same time giving you nightmares.
Extremis: Drop Ride to Hell! will also give you the most hilarious ride photo you have ever seen in your entire life.
If I was to criticize and change anything in the Blackpool Tower Dungeons, I would have the Vikings section last longer, with a bit more live action, as nothing much happens in this room. I would also make the Pendle Witches section longer, with a few more scares, and a bit more history on the subject. And also in the Extremis room, instead of having a projector screen 'judge and hang you' I would replace this with an animatronic.. or actors.
Also a 'Traitor Boat Ride' would be nice but maybe I'm being a bit too picky.
The special effects are incredible! This was my first time on a Dungeons attraction, so I had no idea what to expect! I'm not going to give any of the scares away, but some of the special effects will make you scream, feel disgusted, not be able to understand what is real and not, they will make you feel uncomfortable, uneasy and maybe even sick, but it's all for a good cause!
The use of audience participation is also very fun, if you are are of the lucky (or unlucky!) ones to get picked out to do something for the actors, it's going to be a great laugh and a great memory for you and who ever is with you.
As well as being a scare attraction, it is also historically educational, you will be taken through time periods, and be told in creative, gruesome and evil ways of the dark history of the Pool that is Black! This is great for the audience as it teaches messages and history and at the same time giving you nightmares.
Extremis: Drop Ride to Hell! will also give you the most hilarious ride photo you have ever seen in your entire life.
If I was to criticize and change anything in the Blackpool Tower Dungeons, I would have the Vikings section last longer, with a bit more live action, as nothing much happens in this room. I would also make the Pendle Witches section longer, with a few more scares, and a bit more history on the subject. And also in the Extremis room, instead of having a projector screen 'judge and hang you' I would replace this with an animatronic.. or actors.
Also a 'Traitor Boat Ride' would be nice but maybe I'm being a bit too picky.
Having visited all the Dungeons except Blackpool I was looking forward to taking my party of three (mixed ages) for a visit.
I have to say I was disappointed by quite a few parts and the repetitiveness of material and scenes seen in other Dungeons.
As we queued we got our photos taken against a green screen and though I knew what was going on, none of my party did as nothing was explained to us. "Just "hold this" and "look like this" is all we got. Massive opportunity missed to produce some great photos and maybe up sales of them.
The Descent wasn't working so we had to go behind the scenes which to me is bad planning, always have an alternate! It completely spoiled the atmosphere having to go backstage through what looked like the actors makeup area and through a scene backwards in between guests that were already in. We were actually ascending upstairs rather than supposedly descending into the Dungeons.
Then the repetitive feel kicks in. Vikings, Romans, the Torturer (same techniques used, I could even remember the actual tools and what they were used for from York Dungeons), the maze of mirrors, the court room where you are judged on the same crimes as in other Dungeons, the plague and post post-mortems. All been done to the death in all the other Dungeons, it really does feel like none of them have their own unique story to tell despite thousands of years worth of history and documented characters.
My party and I still enjoyed our visit but personally I wasn't scared, excited by or impressed by anything new. There are a few nice special effects and a (very) few different scenes but for me it isn't enough.
I have to say I was disappointed by quite a few parts and the repetitiveness of material and scenes seen in other Dungeons.
As we queued we got our photos taken against a green screen and though I knew what was going on, none of my party did as nothing was explained to us. "Just "hold this" and "look like this" is all we got. Massive opportunity missed to produce some great photos and maybe up sales of them.
The Descent wasn't working so we had to go behind the scenes which to me is bad planning, always have an alternate! It completely spoiled the atmosphere having to go backstage through what looked like the actors makeup area and through a scene backwards in between guests that were already in. We were actually ascending upstairs rather than supposedly descending into the Dungeons.
Then the repetitive feel kicks in. Vikings, Romans, the Torturer (same techniques used, I could even remember the actual tools and what they were used for from York Dungeons), the maze of mirrors, the court room where you are judged on the same crimes as in other Dungeons, the plague and post post-mortems. All been done to the death in all the other Dungeons, it really does feel like none of them have their own unique story to tell despite thousands of years worth of history and documented characters.
My party and I still enjoyed our visit but personally I wasn't scared, excited by or impressed by anything new. There are a few nice special effects and a (very) few different scenes but for me it isn't enough.
We greeted the organiser of the trip Michael outside the intimidating front entrance - he had bagged us some free passes - good work fella! Starting off in a very dark room you instantly feel an atmosphere of foreboding like you've been sent back in time to the victorian era. A jester with a bloodied face appears as if from nowhere. There's somethin genuinely unerving about him. We are led down in a lift and he gives us plenty of nervous laughs as he naughtily exclaims how he enjoys the crush of bodies in the lift. After an intro from a monk reading from a book in a claustrophobicly small room we head on. The highlights are a madman in an old fashioned style operating theatre which includes some great special effects - the madman holding up a still beating heart was clever. I won't give anythin else away ! My girlfriend was plucked from the audience and what happened next I couldnt possibly say. Lets just say I was worried! Another highlight was being led into a dingy seated room and being faced by a gammy teethed maiden. She instantly picked on me and demanded I stand. I did so and she spat at me with real poison 'I dont trust you!' I said back to her , 'well I dont trust you either!' She got irate and threatened me 'dont you DARE back chat me!! What is your name?' So I told her - Kasper. She then refered to me as cocky kasper for the next ten minutes! What followed then were some really effective scares that I wont give away! On the way out as I walked past the grim faced maiden I said to her, 'alright gorgeous!' she replied, 'In your dreams!' I said back 'In my nightmares more like!' Thinkin I'd had the last word I moved on. But she shouted behind me,'dont pretend you wouldnt enjoy it!'. This made me laugh and the reason I mention it is to demonstrate the brilliant way you can banter with the characters in this dungeon. This also ensure no two visits will ever be the same so gives a good reason to re-visit. I should add that my girlfriend wasnt impressed with the gammy faced maiden's advances but it gave her a laugh! Another highlight was the torturer who was great with the kids and made us chuckle. By the way some people brought in very young kids which I thought was cruel and you could at certain points in the dungeon that they were crying with fear. I would reccomend no kids younger than 7. The last feature, the drop, was great and produced some hilarious pictures. Overall, the atmosphere was great with scary sounds effects and nasty smells - I had to convince my girlfriend I hadn't farted! My criticisms would be that the viking scene should have had real actors fighting instead of on the screen, the drop should go more than once as we all wanted 2 go again. Some suggestions: a skeleton jumping out at you when the lift doors open and some scary faces appearing behind the mirrors in the hall of mirrors. Louise my girlfriend also suggests there's more in there that showed how the kids in those days had to suffer with poverty, little clothing and disease. This would show the the spoilt brats of today how lucky they are and appreciate what they've got. Thanks to dungeon manager Gary Blackadder who was very welcoming and interested in all our opnions. All the best for the future blackpool dungeons c u again soon! Kasper Lewis
|
All the latest news, stories, review and gossip can be found on the ScareTOUR social media pages - the hottest presence in the UK for Scare Attractions! |
|
|
|
|