Scream Park UK, Manchester Review
Scream Park UK
Event City, Manchester
Reviewed by Louisa Nashir
Being a fan of all things scary I was over the moon to be asked to attend the opening night of Scream Park UK held at Event City Manchester.
I checked the website for Scream Park UK and thought it looked brilliant but didn’t give a lot away.
My friend and I arrived at Event City and parked the car in the very busy carpark and walked the short distance to the entrance. A clown was outside with a chainsaw and it made us both laugh!
Upon entry we were asked for our tickets but as we didn’t have them the military police officer complete with rifle pointed us in the right direction and we collected our tickets from the VIP hut.
We made our way into a holding pen which was smoky and dark and we were quite excited about what lay ahead.
We were then scanned by people dressed up in costumes and allowed to enter…
The indoor space was huge! It looked very atmospheric with the smoke machines, zombies and the darkness and we had a giggle at being followed and sniffed by the ‘undead’ occupants.
The first thing we spotted was a special effects make up tent with blood covered nurses applying scars and bullet wounds to customers.
I decided to have a scar on my cheek and paid £3 which wasn’t a bad price but they seemed to have some difficulty with the wax as it was too warm so it took a good while for it to be applied but the nurse was very apologetic.
My one gripe was there was no queuing system here so it was a free for all with people pushing in much to the annoyance of the quite frankly fed up looking customers.
As you can see though the scar did look good…
We then made our way over to the bumper cars and enjoyed bumping into everyone who crossed our path.
The rest of the indoor attractions included a food stall selling some delicious smelling noodles, a fair game, an army exhibit and a zombie scanner which went off of you had scars! You were then dragged in to a zombie holding pen by the police (I was one of these people) and sniffed and groaned at by the zombies.
We made our way outside to the funfair which had some good rides and a few not so great ones. The queues were quite large at first but soon died down as it began to rain and people heading home.
I think the rides are a good thing but they could be manned by a zombie to add to the atmosphere as a staff member in a purple fleece really didn’t seem right.
I cannot fault the actors as they did work hard to make it fun and even posed for a few photos!
My friend and I had a great time on the rides but both agreed that the scary atmosphere wasn’t enough and didn’t seem to continue outside which was odd!
The website states that if you are anxious or of a nervous disposition then to avoid it but we saw children around the age of 5 there this evening which tells you something.
After about an hour we had used most of the rides and seen everything Scream Park UK had to offer and we left quite disappointed!
To me a Scream Park should be a place that makes your scream in terror but this attraction was sadly lacking any wow factor and we didn’t seem alone in thinking this as the busy car park was a lot less busier when we left.
I enjoyed my time at Scream Park UK but felt it was missing the point a little as it is meant to be scary but we found it funny and left anything but terrified!
I very much doubt I would return again as I was left disappointed and feel the website holds back from what the attraction is actually like.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed by Sophie Knight
I was very excited at the prospect of going to the opening night of Scream Park UK, at Event City near the Trafford Centre in Manchester, as I am a big fan of zombies and horror movies. We had no idea what to expect as the website didn’t disclose information about the event.
We parked the car in the easily accessible free car park next to the event and walked the short distance into the building. On arrival, we were greeted by a guard who pointed a gun at us and directed us to the VIP area, where we quickly obtained our tickets. We were then shown into a large dark foggy room, crammed with people where we were individually checked for zombie infections. We found this quite amusing!
The first thing we noticed were people getting realistic wounds and scars applied by zombie nurses, really getting into the spirit of the event. There was a small reasonable charge for this service, but I decided not to go ahead with it as I was excited about the other attractions.
We saw a zombie held captive in a cage with people being invited in to join him. Guards with guns and zombies with axes and chainsaws were walking round the building scaring people.
There were other attractions including a food and drink stall, a hook-a-duck and ball throwing games, which incurred an additional charge.
There were bumper cars, a ghost train and other fairground rides which were included in the admission fee. When we went on one of the rides we were joined by a scary clown who made everyone laugh. I was slightly disappointed as the queues for the rides were so long. It was very crowded to begin with, but after a while people seemed to leave as there wasn’t enough to keep them occupied for the full four hours.
I was rather disenchanted by the whole experience as I thought it was supposed to be scary, but it was more amusing than frightening.
Overall I enjoyed the fairground rides, but then I was underwhelmed by the so-called scary aspect.
Rating: 3/5
For more information or to book tickets visit www.screamparkuk.com or call 0844 8154866.
Scream Park UK, Event City, Manchester, M41 7TB | 0844 8154866