Camelot Rises is a brand new event that takes place at the derelict Camelot Theme Park in Lancashire and we were invited down to experience the event AND the entire theme park!
Equipped with high-vis vests we entered Camelot Theme Park and were basically told to meet back up with members of staff in a few hours time.
Our journey of daytime exploring (photos in this article) before the nighttime event begins.
Before us was this entire Camelot Theme Park hunting ground, home to many a YouTube video of people climbing over fences (without permission) to explore the lands for a few clicks, likes and subscribers.
Naturally, we took it upon ourselves to sneak through a fence or two but it just wasn’t the same.
Seeing some of the drive-thru experience in the day certainly didn’t spoil it as all the smoke machines, lighting and more littered some of the paths.
It did however give us a great opportunity to see the abandoned buildings up close and personal and other areas that the general public doesn’t have access or permission to explore.
Debating which buildings looked safe or not to explore we walked around this abandoned wonderland were not much still stands.
Rewind five years ago and many more buildings and even rides were still standing including the Knightmare rollercoaster which was eventually demolished in 2020.
The park officially closed in 2012 and has remained derelict ever since but this new zombie experience is making use of all that abandoned space.
Combining a drive-thru horror experience with a drive-in cinema is a great use of the space as cars drive through a section of the abandoned park and are greeted with smashed up vehicles, soldiers and more.
Camelot Rises Drive-Thru Experience
A tight journey down a country lane had us encountering checkpoints held by numerous members of the military.
The military costumes were 100% official, nothing cheap about the camo suits whatsoever this was full military attire and costuming was certainly a highlight of this drive-thru experience.
With the windows down we navigated the park and was met with abandoned burned-out cars, more soldiers and zombies with such beautiful make-up and costumes.
These weren’t your bargain bucket zombie masks, oh no, these were full head silicone zombie masks, contact lenses and more as the zombies ran Train to Busan style towards your car.
Grabbing you, tugging your seatbelt and generally making things a little uncomfortable on your drive around.
The atmosphere of the drive-thru was spot on but there was certainly a lot of empty spaces of driving around the eerie set.
Yes, empty spaces certainly build the tension but there was too many of them. This could have easily been solved with more actors but those masks and costumes certainly aren’t cheap!
If that was me I’d have hired another 10-15 actors and dressed them up as background actors. Hid them in a dark area of the drive-thru next to a soldier checkpoint.
You’re asked to turn off your engine and await instruction as this shadowed horde of zombies approach from a distance.
Just seeing a big number of bodies coming towards your car is enough to scare anyone! The soldiers could dispatch of the zombies as all around you are dead zombies and you’re asked to drive off to safety.
A grand finale if you will.
Other areas of the experience could also be improved upon with jump scares rather than any additional staff hiring. Car alarms that are triggered via a sensor when you drive past or similar are all simple and effective ways of getting those jump scares in.
All in all, the venue is absolutely perfect but I felt the experience just needed that extra shot of adrenaline and scare factor pumped into it.
Check out the full nighttime POV drive-thru experience below:
The guys have done an incredible job regardless and as the experience concludes you enter the main event, the drive-thru cinema.
Camelot Rises Drive-Thru Cinema
After our one mile drive-thru we entered the drive-thru cinema consisting of 3 big screens, toilets and numerous food stalls.
The film of the evening was 28 Days Later, a film I’ve seen numerous times so we were just there to record some footage and get outta there.
The company let us into the park at 2pm and the film didn’t start until 9pm we had been on-site for 7 hours exploring all that Camelot Rises had to offer.
Whilst waiting for the film there’s a DJ on hand providing entertainment as guests can tune in to the show via their in-car radio.
There was also a monster dancing in a cage and numerous photo opportunities to grab a souvenir photo.
There’s a little surprise during your experience which has you on edge whilst innocently waiting for your film, that was a nice touch but I must mention the food.
From tacos to burgers and more the food actually looked delicious and the prices weren’t too bad whatsoever (most things were under £10).
I highly recommend the beef tacos as they were absolutely incredible.
Attractions and good quality food never go hand in hand so I was very surprised with the quality of the food on offer.
With a great atmosphere around the food and drinks area and enough toilets to satisfy the weakest of bladders, this was a cool ending to a wonderful event.
Overall
The event is priced at £50 per car which instantly did have me choking on my tongue for a second until I realised that the event is certainly targeting a full car of 5 people which makes this event a bargain.
I’d highly recommend getting that car of yours filled as £10 for a film and drive-thru and the unique experience is a bargain.
If there’s just two of you it’ll be much harder to justify what you’ve just paid.
We attended on opening night which is usually the breeding ground for teething problems but everything seemed to run smoothly and we didn’t encounter any issues whatsoever during our experience.
Camelot Rises is showing new films every single day and the event is running until March so grab your tickets today and experience something unique and well worth a night out!
Camelot is back from the dead! Quite literally.
CLICK HERE to book your tickets to Camelot Rises today!
Check out our abandoned theme park walkthrough video below:
