silenthillXD
Hyper Poster
After chickening out of visiting the dungeons at the Tooley Street location a few years back, I thought it was about time I returned to actually visit the new dungeons in county hall. At first I was mildly apprehensive as I have heard it has been toned down for its relocation, and the scare maze section (Bedlam) had been remove. And worst of all I was disappointed to hear Extremis had also been replaced by the less intense Drop Dead. But despite these factors I still thought it sounded fun and wanted to visit anyway. Here's my walkthrough/review of the entire experience. Turn back now if you wish to avoid spoilers!
Queue: When you first approach the dungeons the entrance is rather imposing with the County Hall being transformed into a grim and grotty looking historic dungeon, the torches and the music help build the atmosphere. Once you step inside the theming steps up a notch with the building looking exactly what you’d expect from a castle dungeon, you almost don’t want to touch anything out of fear of its cleanliness. Once you pass the first section of the queue you enter a section that veers of down the side and this section is where the scent pots step into action. If you have been on The Sanctuary maze at Alton Towers you will certainly recognise this smell, it’s not pleasant but really fits the dungeons and just adds to the immersion. The walls in this section of the queue are covered in numerous torture devices with notes explaining their uses; I love how this gives you something to do in the queue as I did notice the queues can be rather lengthy. (Thankfully we arrived at opening and got into the attraction within half an hour. There are also prison doors which have screens behind the bars and locks which rattle as if the prisoner were shaking them, I thought this was a nice little addition to the queue and again gave you something to look at. Next was a really neat part of the queue, they displayed live cockroaches and rats inside display cases, admittedly both are seemingly nocturnal as neither seemed to be lively, but it was a nice addition. Once you had passed this point you were at the ticket booth, then after a final chance to prepare yourself you were off into the dungeons.
The Descent: The opening to the dungeons was rather lacking. The actress who greeted our group was lively and acted out the script brilliantly. And the dialogue was brilliantly humorous; I loved the constant yelling of “Traitor!” So whilst the actor and the script was brilliant, I felt the lift section was lacking. Unfortunately I feel that the section could really make use of some of the effects of the sub terra lift, I would love to see wooden beams cracking and falling out of place and perhaps some smoke machines and strobes. Also I really think they could have used the moving floor better, even the great glass elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate factory exceeded the quality of the shaking floor. Ultimately it was a fun show and could have been a great opening, but the lift was lacking in spectacle.
Henry’s Wrath Boat Ride: Once you had left the lift you were ushered onto the Henry’s Wrath Boat Ride, now I was rather excited about this ride as I was looking forward to the backwards drop in the dark, unfortunately this ride was the lowest point throughout the entire dungeon. Now the ride started of taking you on a tour through what basically amounted to darkness and some crates/barrels. Now perhaps I had my hopes up too much but I expected more from the dungeons, whilst there were water squirts and some barrels fell down, it was just irrelevant to the rest of the experience. The only key piece of theming was the King Henry VIII model, which was mildly impressive, but was ultimately misused. It seemed ridiculous that a model which obviously had a lot of work put into it was just sailed past and vastly ignored. In my opinion they should have used waxworks here and used one of these projection models on Drop Dead. After sailing past the model you engaged with a lift section, which was reasonably jerky, but I did like the gate at the top with the decapitated heads and the blade, but the backwards drop, if it can even be called that, was anticlimactic. I was hoping for a small but steep drop, reasonably similar to say the initial loggers leap drop, but backwards. Unfortunately for me this ride was a waste of time and space and causes a massive hold up whilst waiting for the rest of your group to come off the boats.
City Gates Gong Farmer (Filler): Now this scene was the first filler section within the maze and was certainly the weakest of them all. Now I will say the actress in this scene was amazing and was really lively, but the script was awful. Now I will ignore the level of childishness in this scrip, which isn’t to my taste, but suits the subject matter, but the thing that really ruined this scene was the repetitive nature of the script, the lack of any interesting facts and the fact it lasted far too long.
Conspirators Walk/Guy Fawkes: Once we entered the city gates we were met with Guy Fawkes himself, his little speech was reasonably interesting but again seemed to act as a filler to ensure people had left the Guy Fawkes scene. The rest of the conspirators walk scene was a walk though the darkened underbelly of the city, now there were a few air cannons and effect but ultimately there wasn’t too much to entertain. Now once we had entered the Guy Fawkes scene it was clear this would be a step up from the previous scenes. The room was empty, bar a stage which was heavily themed, with gunpowder barrels, spikes, Guy Fawkes head and also who can forget a long fuse. The scene revolved around an actor portraying the soldier who caught Guy Fawkes exaggerating his bravery and explaining how he caught the famous villain. At this point Fawke’s head came to life and revealed this to be a lie and explained what really happened and how he managed to remain undetected despite the soldier visiting before. Guy then proceeded to trick the soldier to light the fuse which caused the explosion and rocked the floor. I really enjoyed this scene and thought it had a great mixture of humour and knowledge, the fact that the actors playing Guy Fawkes and the Soldier were performing so well really helped this scene. One thing I would say is some fake smoke wouldn’t go amiss.
The Torturer: I must admit the torturer scene is easily one of my favourites. When everyone is in the room the torturer picks out three people from the audience, one who was sent into a cage standing, one (me) who was sent into a cage and told to sit down whilst she locked the door, and one who was to be the main torture victim. The show revolved around the torturer demonstrating and explaining the tools of her trade, with numerous innuendos to be found when the pear device was explained. Like the Guy Fawkes scene this was the perfect mixture of humour and fact and was genuinely interesting. Now whilst this wasn’t the scariest scene, for the two unfortunate people locked in cages there were surprises waiting. Thankfully my cage was the first to trigger, my chair jerked downwards and an air cannon shot off, which was genuinely unexpected from me. The other cage had a hidden door in it and partway through the show an actor would emerge who would provide a jump scare to the audience member inside the cage.
Plague House (Filler): This section of the walkthrough was literally, a walkthrough, there wasn’t much to it, there was a stronger variant of the scent that was featured in the rest of the maze, an animated Plague doctor, a man throwing up into his bucket and a woman throwing waste out of her window (accompanied by a water spurt) Whilst the theming looked reasonably good, some sections just looked empty and needed filling, and I really wish that there were at least an actor in this scene.
Coughing Coffins (Filler): Again this section was simply to allow the Plague Doctor scene to finish for the group ahead. The scene revolved around a couple hiding in coffins in order to see the Plague Doctor sooner. It was slightly better than the city gate section as it didn’t repeat itself too much and was mildly interesting. Unfortunately I feel the space could have been used better for something else.
Plague Doctor: The first thing I will say about this show is how amazing the set is, I found it to be really detailed and atmospheric and was the most impressive thing that had been featured in the dungeon so far. Once you sat down, the Plague Doctor’s assistant introduced herself, by jumping out of the darkness and making people jump, and made a twisted joke about introducing you to the doctor, pointing at the corpse lying on the table. The actress who played this assistant was absolutely amazing, I really can’t express how great she was at this role, she portrayed this dark, twisted character in a fun yet menacing way. She then proceeded to “learn” about the plague, in a rather gruesome scene, by tearing the doctor to shreds by removing all of his internal organs, including a still full bladder which sprayed water over the audience. Once the initial grossness of the dissection wore off she swiftly moved on to explain the plague and what people thought were the methods of curing it, explaining how bloodletting was a popular method of relief. I must admit I loved what followed as I wasn’t expecting this particular effect. Whilst explaining how the poor would slit their wrists and the rich would use leeches, the assistant revealed the leeches had escaped from the jar. The lights proceeded to go off and the benches actually had an effect where it felt like the leeches were slithering around under your cushion. I loved this as it was an effect I had never experienced, I won’t lie I was waiting for a back poker to make us jump. Again when the lights came back on the assistant was waiting in front of her next victim and screamed in his face when the lights came on and jumped back, I love the sinister playfulness of this character as it just works so well within the dungeon. For the final bow of the scene, the assistant picks out a member of the audience, who is infected with the plague and, for lack of a better word, operates on him. This scene revolved around the audience member sitting on an operating chair behind a screen, and us being able to see the hilariously/cringe worthy treatment which involved bashing his head in as anaesthetic and removing body parts as treatment. Again there were water sprays, which acted as the poor victim’s blood. This served as the end of the medieval period, and what a way to send it out, it was a hilarious scene!
Bazalgette’s Sewer (Filler): This filler section was used as a gateway from the medieval period into the final section of the dungeon, the Victorian era. I thought this section worked really well, in reality it was just a tromels tunnel, but it was themed to a brick tunnel with the path through being fenced by gothic fencing. Normally tromels tunnels are hit or miss with me, but this particular one really dizzied me and worked fantastically, it was almost a joy to leave the corridor. One thing I did notice whilst looking was that there was a leg tickler pipe on the doorway out of the tunnel, but unfortunately it either wasn’t working, or just wasn’t noticeable.
Pie Shop (Filler): This scene was easily the best filler section out of the entire experience, whilst it’s arguably a full on show, I would say not enough really happens for it to count as one. One thing that you notice as soon as you step in the shop is the scent of flour and freshly baked pies. It’s a nice change from the revolting variety of smells you get before. The actress who plays Mrs Lovett clearly loves her role and plays it up really well, even to the extent of making flirtatious, yet obviously sadistic moves on her customers. “Oh aren’t you tall and meaty” As shown by that quote, the majority of the scene was filled with cheesy humour, even stealing some lines from the musical, not that that’s bad, as it fits the scene perfectly! After an introductory speech you could hear a customer visiting Mr Todd’s Barbour emporium, the sound effects that followed worked really well. After hearing the demise of the visitor the chute at the back of the store opens and a body comes through, causing hilarity as Lovett hurriedly try’s to keep us from seeing. I love how this builds up decent suspense for the next scene. And as one final laugh as you are leaving, Lovett warns all of the female guests that if they so much as touch Mr Todd, they’ll be dead.
Sweeney Todd: The room you enter in this show is impressively haunting once you enter it as you are faced by numerous empty Barbour chairs all centred on Sweeney’s infamous chair. Here, Mrs Lovett’s sister waits, making jeers at us in the knowledge we will all soon be dead. I particularly enjoyed her jokes asking people where their wallets were, and my particularly favourite one was when she went up to some poor woman and asked her what perfume she was wearing and if she had it on her as she had to grab some! After terrorising more people in a sinister manner, the window in the corner of the room lit up and you could see an ominous silhouette of Sweeney entering his shop. This was a great tension builder, especially as the lights soon went out completely and left us in pitch blackness. What followed was an absolutely amazing assault on you using many special effects including, but not limited to, back pokers, hair ticklers, warm air jets, seats jolting backwards and Sweeney’s voice and breath getting progressively more aggressive throughout the show. I loved how the scene got progressively more intense and how you never actually saw Sweeney anywhere near you, it genuinely struck fear into me! After your chair tips back, Lovett’s sister returns once more to provide one final scare before she leads you out of the Barbour shop.
Jack the Ripper (Filler): Now whilst this scene was only a speech given by one of the Whitechapel prostitutes, it proved to be rather interesting and gave a great introduction to the two scenes that followed. I must say the constant reminder that Jack the Ripper was still nearby worked really well as to build up the tension for the following two scenes. The finale of an offstage voice calling for our actor to come with them was incredibly sinister as you knew for certain it could only be Jack the Ripper. Whilst this scene had a great script and a great actor, the room just felt empty, if only there was heavy smog and some street lights, it might have felt a lot more immersive.
Whitechapel Labyrinth (Filler): Whilst I enjoyed this mirror maze I could list of many a problem with it. I think it was a nice idea to have the exit locked off, but I feel that this lead to the massive group numbers just huddling up in one corner of the maze, as one side of the maze was significantly larger than the other, implying that was where the exit was. Now I am all for a mirror maze being there, but it really did need to be more balanced on both sides and just have mist and actors in it. It may have been great fun and confusing, but it was certainly a moment of downtime in the dungeons.
Ten Bells Pub: So you think Sweeney Todd’s scene was scary? Wait till you take rest from the storm in the Ten Bells Pub. The actress in here gives a great performance as the landlady, explaining how the murders have seemingly come to an end after a year of silence, and haunts the customers with memories of the victims who frequented her pub. One poor woman sitting at the table at the front got picked on, being told she looked just like one of the victims, I must admit I found this really haunting and thought it was a great way to build an uneasy tension in the room. Throughout the speech the landlady wouldn’t stop telling us how he was still out there waiting, and how if most of his victims came from the pub, perhaps he may even be close by. Oh and seeing as it’s exactly a year on from his last murder, wouldn’t it be a great time for a comeback. At this point a small jug fell from the shelf and clanged loudly on the floor. Our landlady proceeded to go out back to fetch something, when the storm suddenly whipped into full force, turning the lights out. At first a shelf breaks with a bang, then the windows fly open gushing wind into the room, all of this I should mention is in pitch blackness. Then strobes come on, and who else is in the room, slashing his knife at one of the front tables? None other than Jack the Ripper himself! Now I loved the gradual build-up of scares in this scene, starting from the relatively unnoticeable jug falling on the floor to Jack attacking the tables. The lights flashed off again and this gave time for Jack to move across to his next victim. After he had attacked them in a similar manner the lights came back on for good and the landlady jumped in front of one of the tables for a final scare. I really enjoyed this scene, Jack was perfectly scary and in all honesty, I was petrified. Sure I can deal with The Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers, but the pitch blackness and the fact you were sitting down really made you feel venerable and I felt made it rather intense.
Court Room Judge: Leaving the most intense scene you move into one of the most hilarious scenes. Now I can’t remember the exact details of the jokes, but most of them seemed to revolve around innuendos and cheesy jokes, which fitted the scene really well. I particularly loved the actor’s rather unique take on a lazy judge that just wants to leave to spend some “time” with a sheep. This was a brilliant scene and was so enjoyable, and from what I hear there are a vast majority of crimes you can be accused of.
Newgate Gallows (Filler): This was the final filler scene and was definitely one of the better ones; it was basically a warm up to the Drop Dead ride. The prisoner here explains to the group how to appease the audience to our execution. It was interesting to see how people put on a show, but the scene got mildly repetitive, again to no fault of the brilliant acting. The audience participation here was rather good resulting in the participant having an accident at the thought of being executed. It was pretty good, but it would have been nicer for a less repetitive script.
Drop Dead: Drop Dead is the final segment of the experience, which you can skip out on if you choose to, but I would really advise not to, not as if anyone on here would have a problem with it. Basically it’s two of the ABC miniature drop towers back to back with a stage facing either one. The room it is set in is rather moody and I love how people are only let into the room once they are about to ride, hearing the screams emerge from the room before is rather nerve wrecking. Although I would say the operator’s cabin is disappointingly obvious, it would have been nice had it been hidden like on Sub Terra. Another minor fault is that there is nowhere to put your bags so you are instructed to put them under the stage, which slows down operation as they have to make sure there’s nothing hanging over into the drop towers path. One the ride sequence starts you can hear the execution drums start and it really does build up great anticipation, especially as you are raised up slightly to face your executors. Now this aspect of the ride really disappointed me, the executors you face are old waxworks, I really think if they had used the same models they used for Henry the VIII and Coughing Coffins here it would have been perfect! Once the models had read you your final rights they pulled the lever and you dropped. I must admit I really enjoyed this drop, whilst it wasn’t too intense it seemed to be a rather long drop (appropriate for the method of execution) and it was just perfect for a mildly thrilling experience. Then to my surprise it launched up upwards to the top with some force, then launched down again, almost like an intense and massive frog hopper. I really enjoyed this aspect; it was a nice surprise and worked so well! Also the bodies on the nooses that flung down once you reached the bottom again were a nice touch. And again, the final launch back to the loading bay was a great experience. It’s easily the best drop tower experience out of the mini ones at Merlin parks.
Overall: Overall it was a brilliant experience, and whilst it started with a fizzle, it certainly went off with a bang from the Guy Fawkes scene onwards. Sorry for that cheesy pun, but that’s the exact kind of thing to expect from the dungeons, awful humour that manages to amuse, disgusting and gruesome scenes, horrific scares and interesting facts. It was a unique experience as I was expecting something like Carnival of Screams, fun but mildly scary. It wasn’t anything like that but certainly didn’t disappoint! I would certainly recommend the new dungeons, it’s brilliant! I would suggest you go for opening as we arrived at 10:15 and were in within about 30 mins. Later on in the day the queue can build up to a horrific length of around 2/3 hours.
Hope you have enjoyed my essay of a trip report, and hope to hear what people think of the new dungeons!
Queue: When you first approach the dungeons the entrance is rather imposing with the County Hall being transformed into a grim and grotty looking historic dungeon, the torches and the music help build the atmosphere. Once you step inside the theming steps up a notch with the building looking exactly what you’d expect from a castle dungeon, you almost don’t want to touch anything out of fear of its cleanliness. Once you pass the first section of the queue you enter a section that veers of down the side and this section is where the scent pots step into action. If you have been on The Sanctuary maze at Alton Towers you will certainly recognise this smell, it’s not pleasant but really fits the dungeons and just adds to the immersion. The walls in this section of the queue are covered in numerous torture devices with notes explaining their uses; I love how this gives you something to do in the queue as I did notice the queues can be rather lengthy. (Thankfully we arrived at opening and got into the attraction within half an hour. There are also prison doors which have screens behind the bars and locks which rattle as if the prisoner were shaking them, I thought this was a nice little addition to the queue and again gave you something to look at. Next was a really neat part of the queue, they displayed live cockroaches and rats inside display cases, admittedly both are seemingly nocturnal as neither seemed to be lively, but it was a nice addition. Once you had passed this point you were at the ticket booth, then after a final chance to prepare yourself you were off into the dungeons.
The Descent: The opening to the dungeons was rather lacking. The actress who greeted our group was lively and acted out the script brilliantly. And the dialogue was brilliantly humorous; I loved the constant yelling of “Traitor!” So whilst the actor and the script was brilliant, I felt the lift section was lacking. Unfortunately I feel that the section could really make use of some of the effects of the sub terra lift, I would love to see wooden beams cracking and falling out of place and perhaps some smoke machines and strobes. Also I really think they could have used the moving floor better, even the great glass elevator in Charlie and the Chocolate factory exceeded the quality of the shaking floor. Ultimately it was a fun show and could have been a great opening, but the lift was lacking in spectacle.
Henry’s Wrath Boat Ride: Once you had left the lift you were ushered onto the Henry’s Wrath Boat Ride, now I was rather excited about this ride as I was looking forward to the backwards drop in the dark, unfortunately this ride was the lowest point throughout the entire dungeon. Now the ride started of taking you on a tour through what basically amounted to darkness and some crates/barrels. Now perhaps I had my hopes up too much but I expected more from the dungeons, whilst there were water squirts and some barrels fell down, it was just irrelevant to the rest of the experience. The only key piece of theming was the King Henry VIII model, which was mildly impressive, but was ultimately misused. It seemed ridiculous that a model which obviously had a lot of work put into it was just sailed past and vastly ignored. In my opinion they should have used waxworks here and used one of these projection models on Drop Dead. After sailing past the model you engaged with a lift section, which was reasonably jerky, but I did like the gate at the top with the decapitated heads and the blade, but the backwards drop, if it can even be called that, was anticlimactic. I was hoping for a small but steep drop, reasonably similar to say the initial loggers leap drop, but backwards. Unfortunately for me this ride was a waste of time and space and causes a massive hold up whilst waiting for the rest of your group to come off the boats.
City Gates Gong Farmer (Filler): Now this scene was the first filler section within the maze and was certainly the weakest of them all. Now I will say the actress in this scene was amazing and was really lively, but the script was awful. Now I will ignore the level of childishness in this scrip, which isn’t to my taste, but suits the subject matter, but the thing that really ruined this scene was the repetitive nature of the script, the lack of any interesting facts and the fact it lasted far too long.
Conspirators Walk/Guy Fawkes: Once we entered the city gates we were met with Guy Fawkes himself, his little speech was reasonably interesting but again seemed to act as a filler to ensure people had left the Guy Fawkes scene. The rest of the conspirators walk scene was a walk though the darkened underbelly of the city, now there were a few air cannons and effect but ultimately there wasn’t too much to entertain. Now once we had entered the Guy Fawkes scene it was clear this would be a step up from the previous scenes. The room was empty, bar a stage which was heavily themed, with gunpowder barrels, spikes, Guy Fawkes head and also who can forget a long fuse. The scene revolved around an actor portraying the soldier who caught Guy Fawkes exaggerating his bravery and explaining how he caught the famous villain. At this point Fawke’s head came to life and revealed this to be a lie and explained what really happened and how he managed to remain undetected despite the soldier visiting before. Guy then proceeded to trick the soldier to light the fuse which caused the explosion and rocked the floor. I really enjoyed this scene and thought it had a great mixture of humour and knowledge, the fact that the actors playing Guy Fawkes and the Soldier were performing so well really helped this scene. One thing I would say is some fake smoke wouldn’t go amiss.
The Torturer: I must admit the torturer scene is easily one of my favourites. When everyone is in the room the torturer picks out three people from the audience, one who was sent into a cage standing, one (me) who was sent into a cage and told to sit down whilst she locked the door, and one who was to be the main torture victim. The show revolved around the torturer demonstrating and explaining the tools of her trade, with numerous innuendos to be found when the pear device was explained. Like the Guy Fawkes scene this was the perfect mixture of humour and fact and was genuinely interesting. Now whilst this wasn’t the scariest scene, for the two unfortunate people locked in cages there were surprises waiting. Thankfully my cage was the first to trigger, my chair jerked downwards and an air cannon shot off, which was genuinely unexpected from me. The other cage had a hidden door in it and partway through the show an actor would emerge who would provide a jump scare to the audience member inside the cage.
Plague House (Filler): This section of the walkthrough was literally, a walkthrough, there wasn’t much to it, there was a stronger variant of the scent that was featured in the rest of the maze, an animated Plague doctor, a man throwing up into his bucket and a woman throwing waste out of her window (accompanied by a water spurt) Whilst the theming looked reasonably good, some sections just looked empty and needed filling, and I really wish that there were at least an actor in this scene.
Coughing Coffins (Filler): Again this section was simply to allow the Plague Doctor scene to finish for the group ahead. The scene revolved around a couple hiding in coffins in order to see the Plague Doctor sooner. It was slightly better than the city gate section as it didn’t repeat itself too much and was mildly interesting. Unfortunately I feel the space could have been used better for something else.
Plague Doctor: The first thing I will say about this show is how amazing the set is, I found it to be really detailed and atmospheric and was the most impressive thing that had been featured in the dungeon so far. Once you sat down, the Plague Doctor’s assistant introduced herself, by jumping out of the darkness and making people jump, and made a twisted joke about introducing you to the doctor, pointing at the corpse lying on the table. The actress who played this assistant was absolutely amazing, I really can’t express how great she was at this role, she portrayed this dark, twisted character in a fun yet menacing way. She then proceeded to “learn” about the plague, in a rather gruesome scene, by tearing the doctor to shreds by removing all of his internal organs, including a still full bladder which sprayed water over the audience. Once the initial grossness of the dissection wore off she swiftly moved on to explain the plague and what people thought were the methods of curing it, explaining how bloodletting was a popular method of relief. I must admit I loved what followed as I wasn’t expecting this particular effect. Whilst explaining how the poor would slit their wrists and the rich would use leeches, the assistant revealed the leeches had escaped from the jar. The lights proceeded to go off and the benches actually had an effect where it felt like the leeches were slithering around under your cushion. I loved this as it was an effect I had never experienced, I won’t lie I was waiting for a back poker to make us jump. Again when the lights came back on the assistant was waiting in front of her next victim and screamed in his face when the lights came on and jumped back, I love the sinister playfulness of this character as it just works so well within the dungeon. For the final bow of the scene, the assistant picks out a member of the audience, who is infected with the plague and, for lack of a better word, operates on him. This scene revolved around the audience member sitting on an operating chair behind a screen, and us being able to see the hilariously/cringe worthy treatment which involved bashing his head in as anaesthetic and removing body parts as treatment. Again there were water sprays, which acted as the poor victim’s blood. This served as the end of the medieval period, and what a way to send it out, it was a hilarious scene!
Bazalgette’s Sewer (Filler): This filler section was used as a gateway from the medieval period into the final section of the dungeon, the Victorian era. I thought this section worked really well, in reality it was just a tromels tunnel, but it was themed to a brick tunnel with the path through being fenced by gothic fencing. Normally tromels tunnels are hit or miss with me, but this particular one really dizzied me and worked fantastically, it was almost a joy to leave the corridor. One thing I did notice whilst looking was that there was a leg tickler pipe on the doorway out of the tunnel, but unfortunately it either wasn’t working, or just wasn’t noticeable.
Pie Shop (Filler): This scene was easily the best filler section out of the entire experience, whilst it’s arguably a full on show, I would say not enough really happens for it to count as one. One thing that you notice as soon as you step in the shop is the scent of flour and freshly baked pies. It’s a nice change from the revolting variety of smells you get before. The actress who plays Mrs Lovett clearly loves her role and plays it up really well, even to the extent of making flirtatious, yet obviously sadistic moves on her customers. “Oh aren’t you tall and meaty” As shown by that quote, the majority of the scene was filled with cheesy humour, even stealing some lines from the musical, not that that’s bad, as it fits the scene perfectly! After an introductory speech you could hear a customer visiting Mr Todd’s Barbour emporium, the sound effects that followed worked really well. After hearing the demise of the visitor the chute at the back of the store opens and a body comes through, causing hilarity as Lovett hurriedly try’s to keep us from seeing. I love how this builds up decent suspense for the next scene. And as one final laugh as you are leaving, Lovett warns all of the female guests that if they so much as touch Mr Todd, they’ll be dead.
Sweeney Todd: The room you enter in this show is impressively haunting once you enter it as you are faced by numerous empty Barbour chairs all centred on Sweeney’s infamous chair. Here, Mrs Lovett’s sister waits, making jeers at us in the knowledge we will all soon be dead. I particularly enjoyed her jokes asking people where their wallets were, and my particularly favourite one was when she went up to some poor woman and asked her what perfume she was wearing and if she had it on her as she had to grab some! After terrorising more people in a sinister manner, the window in the corner of the room lit up and you could see an ominous silhouette of Sweeney entering his shop. This was a great tension builder, especially as the lights soon went out completely and left us in pitch blackness. What followed was an absolutely amazing assault on you using many special effects including, but not limited to, back pokers, hair ticklers, warm air jets, seats jolting backwards and Sweeney’s voice and breath getting progressively more aggressive throughout the show. I loved how the scene got progressively more intense and how you never actually saw Sweeney anywhere near you, it genuinely struck fear into me! After your chair tips back, Lovett’s sister returns once more to provide one final scare before she leads you out of the Barbour shop.
Jack the Ripper (Filler): Now whilst this scene was only a speech given by one of the Whitechapel prostitutes, it proved to be rather interesting and gave a great introduction to the two scenes that followed. I must say the constant reminder that Jack the Ripper was still nearby worked really well as to build up the tension for the following two scenes. The finale of an offstage voice calling for our actor to come with them was incredibly sinister as you knew for certain it could only be Jack the Ripper. Whilst this scene had a great script and a great actor, the room just felt empty, if only there was heavy smog and some street lights, it might have felt a lot more immersive.
Whitechapel Labyrinth (Filler): Whilst I enjoyed this mirror maze I could list of many a problem with it. I think it was a nice idea to have the exit locked off, but I feel that this lead to the massive group numbers just huddling up in one corner of the maze, as one side of the maze was significantly larger than the other, implying that was where the exit was. Now I am all for a mirror maze being there, but it really did need to be more balanced on both sides and just have mist and actors in it. It may have been great fun and confusing, but it was certainly a moment of downtime in the dungeons.
Ten Bells Pub: So you think Sweeney Todd’s scene was scary? Wait till you take rest from the storm in the Ten Bells Pub. The actress in here gives a great performance as the landlady, explaining how the murders have seemingly come to an end after a year of silence, and haunts the customers with memories of the victims who frequented her pub. One poor woman sitting at the table at the front got picked on, being told she looked just like one of the victims, I must admit I found this really haunting and thought it was a great way to build an uneasy tension in the room. Throughout the speech the landlady wouldn’t stop telling us how he was still out there waiting, and how if most of his victims came from the pub, perhaps he may even be close by. Oh and seeing as it’s exactly a year on from his last murder, wouldn’t it be a great time for a comeback. At this point a small jug fell from the shelf and clanged loudly on the floor. Our landlady proceeded to go out back to fetch something, when the storm suddenly whipped into full force, turning the lights out. At first a shelf breaks with a bang, then the windows fly open gushing wind into the room, all of this I should mention is in pitch blackness. Then strobes come on, and who else is in the room, slashing his knife at one of the front tables? None other than Jack the Ripper himself! Now I loved the gradual build-up of scares in this scene, starting from the relatively unnoticeable jug falling on the floor to Jack attacking the tables. The lights flashed off again and this gave time for Jack to move across to his next victim. After he had attacked them in a similar manner the lights came back on for good and the landlady jumped in front of one of the tables for a final scare. I really enjoyed this scene, Jack was perfectly scary and in all honesty, I was petrified. Sure I can deal with The Sanctuary and Terror of the Towers, but the pitch blackness and the fact you were sitting down really made you feel venerable and I felt made it rather intense.
Court Room Judge: Leaving the most intense scene you move into one of the most hilarious scenes. Now I can’t remember the exact details of the jokes, but most of them seemed to revolve around innuendos and cheesy jokes, which fitted the scene really well. I particularly loved the actor’s rather unique take on a lazy judge that just wants to leave to spend some “time” with a sheep. This was a brilliant scene and was so enjoyable, and from what I hear there are a vast majority of crimes you can be accused of.
Newgate Gallows (Filler): This was the final filler scene and was definitely one of the better ones; it was basically a warm up to the Drop Dead ride. The prisoner here explains to the group how to appease the audience to our execution. It was interesting to see how people put on a show, but the scene got mildly repetitive, again to no fault of the brilliant acting. The audience participation here was rather good resulting in the participant having an accident at the thought of being executed. It was pretty good, but it would have been nicer for a less repetitive script.
Drop Dead: Drop Dead is the final segment of the experience, which you can skip out on if you choose to, but I would really advise not to, not as if anyone on here would have a problem with it. Basically it’s two of the ABC miniature drop towers back to back with a stage facing either one. The room it is set in is rather moody and I love how people are only let into the room once they are about to ride, hearing the screams emerge from the room before is rather nerve wrecking. Although I would say the operator’s cabin is disappointingly obvious, it would have been nice had it been hidden like on Sub Terra. Another minor fault is that there is nowhere to put your bags so you are instructed to put them under the stage, which slows down operation as they have to make sure there’s nothing hanging over into the drop towers path. One the ride sequence starts you can hear the execution drums start and it really does build up great anticipation, especially as you are raised up slightly to face your executors. Now this aspect of the ride really disappointed me, the executors you face are old waxworks, I really think if they had used the same models they used for Henry the VIII and Coughing Coffins here it would have been perfect! Once the models had read you your final rights they pulled the lever and you dropped. I must admit I really enjoyed this drop, whilst it wasn’t too intense it seemed to be a rather long drop (appropriate for the method of execution) and it was just perfect for a mildly thrilling experience. Then to my surprise it launched up upwards to the top with some force, then launched down again, almost like an intense and massive frog hopper. I really enjoyed this aspect; it was a nice surprise and worked so well! Also the bodies on the nooses that flung down once you reached the bottom again were a nice touch. And again, the final launch back to the loading bay was a great experience. It’s easily the best drop tower experience out of the mini ones at Merlin parks.
Overall: Overall it was a brilliant experience, and whilst it started with a fizzle, it certainly went off with a bang from the Guy Fawkes scene onwards. Sorry for that cheesy pun, but that’s the exact kind of thing to expect from the dungeons, awful humour that manages to amuse, disgusting and gruesome scenes, horrific scares and interesting facts. It was a unique experience as I was expecting something like Carnival of Screams, fun but mildly scary. It wasn’t anything like that but certainly didn’t disappoint! I would certainly recommend the new dungeons, it’s brilliant! I would suggest you go for opening as we arrived at 10:15 and were in within about 30 mins. Later on in the day the queue can build up to a horrific length of around 2/3 hours.
Hope you have enjoyed my essay of a trip report, and hope to hear what people think of the new dungeons!