Benenen
Hyper Poster
Hello everyone and welcome to my delayed trip report where I discuss the road trip I took round Europe at the start of November. I don't think I have the commitment to write about all 18 days so this report will focus entirely on the Halloween events and horror mazes I discovered. There will be the odd coaster pic thrown in but I won't be discussing the likes of Fly, RTH, Kondaa, etc. However if you'd like to hear all about the mazes at Plopsaland, Bellewearde, Bobbejaanland, Walibi Belgium, Movie Park Germany and Europa Park please read on! Let's get into it.
The excitement started at home getting the headlight adjuster stickers out the packet, slapping the UK sticker on the back of my car then off I went to the chunnel. First time using it and I was impressed by the efficiency. Queued 45 minutes to get through passport checks but even then it was a quicker door to door journey to get to Belgium than a flight would have been. Rocked up to Plopsaland at 5PM and was guided to the back of the overflow car park for the overflow car park. Foolishly I had chosen day 1 of the trip to be Halloween so obviously the park was rammed but open until 10PM and was buzzing with the expected Halloween-ey atmosphere.
The plan was to nab RTH first but the queue was fully external and spilling all the way down the bridge so I switched gears and decided to focus on the mazes. This was the final night of the Halloween event and I had two full days at Plopsa later in the holiday to whore the rides. Arrived at The Tunnel which was due to open at 6PM at around 5:30 so I waited in the line of people outside for it to open. At 6:10 having not moved into the main queue I rechecked the website and realised The Tunnel wasn't due to open until 7PM, it was the other maze that opened at 6. Defeated and disappointed in myself for the blunder I decided leave the queue to spend some time walking round the park looking at the rides and taking in the atmosphere. The park was lit up beautifully and bizarrely had the Squid Game music played round the castle to a sequence of lights flashing from green to red. 100% they did not have the license to do that payed for which was odd for a park of Plopsas size but I thought it was a cool effect. Had a night ride on Ride to Happiness (waited an hour) then wandered back over to The Tunnel to give it a whirl now it had actually opened.
The queue took place in the Heidi queue line but instead of going into the station you exit out a fire exit the opposite side, down some steel evacuation steps and then meander along a temporary fenced in queue to the start of the maze at the back of the Dino Splash building. It moved painfully slow and took 1 hour 45 minutes, most of which was with this view slowly trundling forwards.
Once at the batching point it was made clear why the queue had taken so long. One group was sent in at a time regardless of size every minute or so. I was by myself this trip so off I went into the maze alone. Straight away I could tell it was going to be awful, just black walls with no theming and no soundtrack. The actors had cool costumes featuring neon masks like in one of the Purge films but unfortunately they stood still not interacting with me as I walked by. Even the inevitable chainsaw man just stood still in a corner, didn't even swing it around or chase me! I jumped at one point when an actor smacked a barrel with a pole right next to my ear (this barrel being one of the only pieces of theming) but other than that nothing scary happened and it was just a series of dark empty corridors. I'd go as far to say it's the worst maze I've done after Vulcan Peak. I felt robbed that I spent nearly two hours in the queue when RTH was next door churning out night rides.
By the time I was out the park had closed so I didn't have time for the other maze which I believe was circus themed so I can't comment on the quality of that one. I noticed later in the trip Holiday Park (run by the same chain) also had a maze called The Tunnel for Halloween so clearly it was thought by the park that The Tunnel was a maze worth cloning but man it was so bad. On my way out the DJ by RTH was still in full swing and creating a wonderful ambience round the ride plaza.
Overall a weird day but I was so excited to finally be abroad again with a huge trip lined up ahead of me. In the five hours on park I managed two attractions but this was mainly due to silly faff on my end and wanting to wander round and soak up the Halloween event vibes which wouldn't be present at subsequent Plopsa days on the trip. I spent the next day fully at Plopsaland which was great but no Halloween stuff so I'll jump into the following day at Bellewaerde.
I really liked what Bellewaerde had done for Halloween. The park had big theming set pieces littered around and it was nice to see it not limited to just one small area. Smoke machines were everywhere. All round the paths and most rides had temporary ones in the station or around the layout. There wasn't a moment in the day I wasn't smelling that distinct horror maze smell from the artificial smoke.
Four mazes up for grabs so I started with Fantasylum. I assumed the name was something horror related in Flemish but no, it was literally just an asylum maze with heavy sponsorship from Fanta. Looked cool from the outside but the short indoor section of queue featured way too much Fanta. Thankfully once the maze started there wasn't a Fanta bottle in sight!
Once again I was batched alone and this time as it was an actually scary maze I didn't like it so ran through the first few scenes to catch up with the group ahead. Unfortunately this became a theme of the trip, I enjoy horror mazes a huge amount but when experienced by myself it takes a lot of the enjoyment out. If you can't laugh about the frights in the comfort of a big group as they happen there's no release, it's all just tension if you're alone. For me the fun of a maze is the switch between tension and relief after a big jump has happened but for a lot of mazes this trip that didn't happen due to the batching. It was just me getting more and more stressed and worked up with each scene and only breathing and relaxing once I got to the end. Which is an interesting experience but not particularly fun.
Fantasylum then, a solid maze. Lots of tight claustrophobic scenes featuring all the classic hallmarks of an asylum maze. You've got an actor behind bars banging on them before escaping out the side towards you, there's a brutally loud electric chair animatronic, there's someone lying on a table being tortured by a man in a lab coat. It's all bog standard stuff but nicely themed and acted out by a lively cast who throw themselves around the maze. An actor with a chainsaw roaming the queue and surrounding area rounds off the experience nicely.
Next up was Voodoo Villians. I assumed this would be a cartooney, bright maze featuring just UV lighted scenes but it was actually a dark and frightening traipse round swamps and huts. My favourite scene involved a room featuring several life sized voodoo dolls with one being an actor in a costume that leapt out while I was trying to figure out which ones were real. I went in alone and it was so dead I didn't bother trying to catch up with the group ahead. Unfortunately I caught a few actors out who were just chatting to each other before leaping into action, I think it must have been 5 or so minutes since the last group had gone through ahead of me.
The last two mazes took place in a separate area located behind the splash boat ride. For a small park I was surprised by how much effort had gone into the mazes. They were low budget compared to ones I did later in the trip but full of actors and even had nice facades. It was half term and the park was busy with long queues for the rides but the mazes were deserted. On 3 out of the 4 I walked straight to the front of the queue and into the maze alone without seeing another guest. Each maze was an upcharge but can't have been making much money. The park demographic that day was almost all families, I didn't see many groups of teenagers or young adults or couples without kids so it seems strange such a family park has these four intense scare mazes. Hopefully they do well enough and the park can keep providing this event in the future as its clear a lot of love is poured into the mazes.
The next maze was Camping Corpse. I assumed this would be an outdoor maze which I'm not a fan of but was pleasantly surprised to see half of it was indoor scenes. You wander through a caravan site absolutely stuffed with props and theming before going through a washblock filled with all sorts of nasty surprises. It's the weakest of the four mazes as I don't think being outside lends itself to intensity but a had a lot of fun in this one.
Finally I went through Mortal Mine. I was relieved to see two people in the queue in front of me and I was batched in with them. Inside the maze it was dark, claustrophobic and full of smoke. It was a series of shipping containers so each scene was more of a tight corridor rather than large themed rooms, much like the old My Bloody Valentine maze at Thorpe. There was one really cool effect I hadn't seen before. One of the group was pulled away, sent through a door alone which then shut and was locked by a magnet only the actors could control. Her partner desperately tried to get through the door to her but obviously couldn't which was quite funny. The actors had fun riffing with this before the door unlocked itself. The costumes were great, boiler suits masks and pickaxes which made the whole thing feel ominous and threatening.
Next up, Bobbejaanland.
The excitement started at home getting the headlight adjuster stickers out the packet, slapping the UK sticker on the back of my car then off I went to the chunnel. First time using it and I was impressed by the efficiency. Queued 45 minutes to get through passport checks but even then it was a quicker door to door journey to get to Belgium than a flight would have been. Rocked up to Plopsaland at 5PM and was guided to the back of the overflow car park for the overflow car park. Foolishly I had chosen day 1 of the trip to be Halloween so obviously the park was rammed but open until 10PM and was buzzing with the expected Halloween-ey atmosphere.
The plan was to nab RTH first but the queue was fully external and spilling all the way down the bridge so I switched gears and decided to focus on the mazes. This was the final night of the Halloween event and I had two full days at Plopsa later in the holiday to whore the rides. Arrived at The Tunnel which was due to open at 6PM at around 5:30 so I waited in the line of people outside for it to open. At 6:10 having not moved into the main queue I rechecked the website and realised The Tunnel wasn't due to open until 7PM, it was the other maze that opened at 6. Defeated and disappointed in myself for the blunder I decided leave the queue to spend some time walking round the park looking at the rides and taking in the atmosphere. The park was lit up beautifully and bizarrely had the Squid Game music played round the castle to a sequence of lights flashing from green to red. 100% they did not have the license to do that payed for which was odd for a park of Plopsas size but I thought it was a cool effect. Had a night ride on Ride to Happiness (waited an hour) then wandered back over to The Tunnel to give it a whirl now it had actually opened.
The queue took place in the Heidi queue line but instead of going into the station you exit out a fire exit the opposite side, down some steel evacuation steps and then meander along a temporary fenced in queue to the start of the maze at the back of the Dino Splash building. It moved painfully slow and took 1 hour 45 minutes, most of which was with this view slowly trundling forwards.
Once at the batching point it was made clear why the queue had taken so long. One group was sent in at a time regardless of size every minute or so. I was by myself this trip so off I went into the maze alone. Straight away I could tell it was going to be awful, just black walls with no theming and no soundtrack. The actors had cool costumes featuring neon masks like in one of the Purge films but unfortunately they stood still not interacting with me as I walked by. Even the inevitable chainsaw man just stood still in a corner, didn't even swing it around or chase me! I jumped at one point when an actor smacked a barrel with a pole right next to my ear (this barrel being one of the only pieces of theming) but other than that nothing scary happened and it was just a series of dark empty corridors. I'd go as far to say it's the worst maze I've done after Vulcan Peak. I felt robbed that I spent nearly two hours in the queue when RTH was next door churning out night rides.
By the time I was out the park had closed so I didn't have time for the other maze which I believe was circus themed so I can't comment on the quality of that one. I noticed later in the trip Holiday Park (run by the same chain) also had a maze called The Tunnel for Halloween so clearly it was thought by the park that The Tunnel was a maze worth cloning but man it was so bad. On my way out the DJ by RTH was still in full swing and creating a wonderful ambience round the ride plaza.
Overall a weird day but I was so excited to finally be abroad again with a huge trip lined up ahead of me. In the five hours on park I managed two attractions but this was mainly due to silly faff on my end and wanting to wander round and soak up the Halloween event vibes which wouldn't be present at subsequent Plopsa days on the trip. I spent the next day fully at Plopsaland which was great but no Halloween stuff so I'll jump into the following day at Bellewaerde.
I really liked what Bellewaerde had done for Halloween. The park had big theming set pieces littered around and it was nice to see it not limited to just one small area. Smoke machines were everywhere. All round the paths and most rides had temporary ones in the station or around the layout. There wasn't a moment in the day I wasn't smelling that distinct horror maze smell from the artificial smoke.
Four mazes up for grabs so I started with Fantasylum. I assumed the name was something horror related in Flemish but no, it was literally just an asylum maze with heavy sponsorship from Fanta. Looked cool from the outside but the short indoor section of queue featured way too much Fanta. Thankfully once the maze started there wasn't a Fanta bottle in sight!
Once again I was batched alone and this time as it was an actually scary maze I didn't like it so ran through the first few scenes to catch up with the group ahead. Unfortunately this became a theme of the trip, I enjoy horror mazes a huge amount but when experienced by myself it takes a lot of the enjoyment out. If you can't laugh about the frights in the comfort of a big group as they happen there's no release, it's all just tension if you're alone. For me the fun of a maze is the switch between tension and relief after a big jump has happened but for a lot of mazes this trip that didn't happen due to the batching. It was just me getting more and more stressed and worked up with each scene and only breathing and relaxing once I got to the end. Which is an interesting experience but not particularly fun.
Fantasylum then, a solid maze. Lots of tight claustrophobic scenes featuring all the classic hallmarks of an asylum maze. You've got an actor behind bars banging on them before escaping out the side towards you, there's a brutally loud electric chair animatronic, there's someone lying on a table being tortured by a man in a lab coat. It's all bog standard stuff but nicely themed and acted out by a lively cast who throw themselves around the maze. An actor with a chainsaw roaming the queue and surrounding area rounds off the experience nicely.
Next up was Voodoo Villians. I assumed this would be a cartooney, bright maze featuring just UV lighted scenes but it was actually a dark and frightening traipse round swamps and huts. My favourite scene involved a room featuring several life sized voodoo dolls with one being an actor in a costume that leapt out while I was trying to figure out which ones were real. I went in alone and it was so dead I didn't bother trying to catch up with the group ahead. Unfortunately I caught a few actors out who were just chatting to each other before leaping into action, I think it must have been 5 or so minutes since the last group had gone through ahead of me.
The last two mazes took place in a separate area located behind the splash boat ride. For a small park I was surprised by how much effort had gone into the mazes. They were low budget compared to ones I did later in the trip but full of actors and even had nice facades. It was half term and the park was busy with long queues for the rides but the mazes were deserted. On 3 out of the 4 I walked straight to the front of the queue and into the maze alone without seeing another guest. Each maze was an upcharge but can't have been making much money. The park demographic that day was almost all families, I didn't see many groups of teenagers or young adults or couples without kids so it seems strange such a family park has these four intense scare mazes. Hopefully they do well enough and the park can keep providing this event in the future as its clear a lot of love is poured into the mazes.
The next maze was Camping Corpse. I assumed this would be an outdoor maze which I'm not a fan of but was pleasantly surprised to see half of it was indoor scenes. You wander through a caravan site absolutely stuffed with props and theming before going through a washblock filled with all sorts of nasty surprises. It's the weakest of the four mazes as I don't think being outside lends itself to intensity but a had a lot of fun in this one.
Finally I went through Mortal Mine. I was relieved to see two people in the queue in front of me and I was batched in with them. Inside the maze it was dark, claustrophobic and full of smoke. It was a series of shipping containers so each scene was more of a tight corridor rather than large themed rooms, much like the old My Bloody Valentine maze at Thorpe. There was one really cool effect I hadn't seen before. One of the group was pulled away, sent through a door alone which then shut and was locked by a magnet only the actors could control. Her partner desperately tried to get through the door to her but obviously couldn't which was quite funny. The actors had fun riffing with this before the door unlocked itself. The costumes were great, boiler suits masks and pickaxes which made the whole thing feel ominous and threatening.
Next up, Bobbejaanland.
