Longleat Halloween Spooktacular
Longleat in Wiltshire has always been famous for its spectacular Lions and even now, the safari park element provides as much fun as it did in the 60's when it first opened. Over recent years, the current Marquis of Bath, who owns the property to this day, has relinquished some of the day to day running to his son and a new management team. Fortunately this new team have recognised that seasonal events are big business and following a successful Christmas event in 2011 have introduced more for 2012, including the first Halloween Spooktacular. The event is focussed primarily at families but does have an extra add-on that could prove very interesting to readers of this site!
The Ghost Train
The park's miniature railway has been converted into a ghost train. With a couple of live actors and a spooky themed tunnel, the ride was just scary enough to make small children nervous but left them laughing when they realised that the "monsters" were only out for a bit of fun (a free lolly always helps as well!) Halfway through the trip the train was stopped for the obligatory trick or treat element which the whole train enjoyed. As adults we had fun on the train (and even jumped when the first skeleton appeared) but for children this was a great introduction to live scare entertainment.
Hocus Pocus House
The regular walk through tour of the impressive 400 year old Longleat house has been upgraded with a couple of rooms re-themed for Halloween with pumpkins and witch's cauldrons taking up the main banqueting suite. Accompanying this, there were three friendly witches who playfully tormented all the children who dared to enter. It was great to see some decoration in the house but it would be nice in future years to see more of the rooms decorated for the season.
Other family events
Around the rest of the park there were a number of family themed events, such as a "live" Dracula in the bat Cave, a pumpkin trail around the estate, a 'Nasty but Nice" animal encounter show and pumpkin carving.
Ghoulish Tours
Clearly the main thing to drag us to Longleat were the Ghoulish Tours that are offered as an additional add on to the normal day's entry. These tours were advertised as not being suitable for children under 8 and ran every hour from the back door of the house. In each tour, groups of 10 were taken into unseen areas, including the dark cellars and the haunted attic, where the guide told us the history and the ghosts attached to this historic property.
As with any good ghost walk we heard stories of murdered man-servants, unfaithful wives, massacred monks and children who had died of unknown illnesses. These stories were told in dark unlit corridors, and with the creaking of the ancient house around us, it was hard at times not to believe that someone or something was watching.
Of course - we didn't have to use our imagination, as throughout the tour a number of actors or effects helped to highlight the story and we kept seeing fleeting glimpses of things in the dark and wondering if we had actually seen something or not. Sounds came from strange places, prams moved on their own and when we least expected it, we had a full on encounter with one ghost that left everyone screaming as it was so sudden and unexpected!
In a way it was a shame that capacity on the tour was so limited, as only 10 people every hour could experience the dark side of the house. If Longleat could find a way to do this tour on a more regular basis, they would be very popular. Certainly on the day we visited, all the slots had sold out before the park had even opened for the day.
Longleat's Halloween Spooktacular provided a full day's worth of entertainment for all of our party and looks set to grow going forward. It's not the most extreme or scariest event out there but it is professionally done and will prove to be very popular for both young and old!
As with any good ghost walk we heard stories of murdered man-servants, unfaithful wives, massacred monks and children who had died of unknown illnesses. These stories were told in dark unlit corridors, and with the creaking of the ancient house around us, it was hard at times not to believe that someone or something was watching.
Of course - we didn't have to use our imagination, as throughout the tour a number of actors or effects helped to highlight the story and we kept seeing fleeting glimpses of things in the dark and wondering if we had actually seen something or not. Sounds came from strange places, prams moved on their own and when we least expected it, we had a full on encounter with one ghost that left everyone screaming as it was so sudden and unexpected!
In a way it was a shame that capacity on the tour was so limited, as only 10 people every hour could experience the dark side of the house. If Longleat could find a way to do this tour on a more regular basis, they would be very popular. Certainly on the day we visited, all the slots had sold out before the park had even opened for the day.
Longleat's Halloween Spooktacular provided a full day's worth of entertainment for all of our party and looks set to grow going forward. It's not the most extreme or scariest event out there but it is professionally done and will prove to be very popular for both young and old!
Links
Official Longleat website - www.longleat.co.uk
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