Doomsday Scream Park
We visited Doomsday on its first official opening night and it's clear that the park wasn't quite ready to open. There were a few indicators such as unfinished walls in the mazes and the lack of any signage around the venue. Based on the local history of Colchester, each maze would reflect a different period of time so we started way back in the past during the reign of the Romans.
Of the three mazes, Tempum Claudii had the most potential for jump scares and the actors throughout felt sparse but were giving great performances to make up for the large areas they had been given to cover. Certainly the very lively (and tall) Roman Centurion towards the end was really making the most of things and made us jump several times. Some of the sets looked impressive and really invoked a Roman atmosphere with pillars and detailing throughout.
All the King's Men was set in a twisted toy museum and hosted a number of freaky doll type creatures. Following a fun introduction, we were stalked through the corridors but probably could have handled a few more scares! Parts of the set were really well decorated, whilst other parts remained blank walls
Hopkins: Witchfinder General was probably the most complete of the three mazes with detailed theming through most rooms and a story involving the UK's infamous Witch Finder. We really enjoyed the interaction with Hopkins himself and the scene with the "pet witch" genuinely made this reviewer jump out his skin! Once released, we were chased through the maze until confronting our fate in The Verdict
Billed as a World's First - The Verdict is effectively a hanging experience. We wont say too much but there is a noose, a trapdoor and a lot of tension as you wait your doom. It genuinely was terrifying standing on the trapdoor waiting for it to drop (especially as the attraction is hosted in a specially built tower, so you know you have a long way to fall!). Personally – the experience didn’t fully deliever the drop impact as (of course) we were safely harnessed up, and had to be stopped from actually plummeting to our deaths. It’s a shame that the suit we were wearing wasn’t part of the preshow and incorporated into the story, meaning we could have just gone straight to the noose to be hung. But saying that- it was a genuinely unnerving experience - especially as the executioner placed a hood over our heads and sent us to hell!
We visited the event on opening weekend and it was clear there were some teething problems and a few things weren't quite ready. We would have loved to have visited later in the run to see if some of these issues were fixed, but didn't have chance. All in - it was a brave move by Colchester Council to create such an event and we hope that for 2017, they allow a little more time to finish building the attraction before letting people in.
Of the three mazes, Tempum Claudii had the most potential for jump scares and the actors throughout felt sparse but were giving great performances to make up for the large areas they had been given to cover. Certainly the very lively (and tall) Roman Centurion towards the end was really making the most of things and made us jump several times. Some of the sets looked impressive and really invoked a Roman atmosphere with pillars and detailing throughout.
All the King's Men was set in a twisted toy museum and hosted a number of freaky doll type creatures. Following a fun introduction, we were stalked through the corridors but probably could have handled a few more scares! Parts of the set were really well decorated, whilst other parts remained blank walls
Hopkins: Witchfinder General was probably the most complete of the three mazes with detailed theming through most rooms and a story involving the UK's infamous Witch Finder. We really enjoyed the interaction with Hopkins himself and the scene with the "pet witch" genuinely made this reviewer jump out his skin! Once released, we were chased through the maze until confronting our fate in The Verdict
Billed as a World's First - The Verdict is effectively a hanging experience. We wont say too much but there is a noose, a trapdoor and a lot of tension as you wait your doom. It genuinely was terrifying standing on the trapdoor waiting for it to drop (especially as the attraction is hosted in a specially built tower, so you know you have a long way to fall!). Personally – the experience didn’t fully deliever the drop impact as (of course) we were safely harnessed up, and had to be stopped from actually plummeting to our deaths. It’s a shame that the suit we were wearing wasn’t part of the preshow and incorporated into the story, meaning we could have just gone straight to the noose to be hung. But saying that- it was a genuinely unnerving experience - especially as the executioner placed a hood over our heads and sent us to hell!
We visited the event on opening weekend and it was clear there were some teething problems and a few things weren't quite ready. We would have loved to have visited later in the run to see if some of these issues were fixed, but didn't have chance. All in - it was a brave move by Colchester Council to create such an event and we hope that for 2017, they allow a little more time to finish building the attraction before letting people in.
Links:
Official Website - http://www.thedoomsday.co.uk/
Scare Review
Have you also visited this or any other show recently? - tell us what you thought here
|
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! |
|
|
|