Voted one of the best scream parks in the country to visit during Halloween we just had to oblige, here’s our Xtreme Scream Park 2020 review.
Located in Melton Mowbray lies Twinlakes Park.
A small family-friendly theme park and adventure hangout for the little ones but come fall the park is transformed into a Halloween haunt event where creatures roam the streets and mazes are explored.
Priced at £31.50 per ticket we were a little hesitant about getting these tickets after the extortionate amount we paid for the Spooky World tickets including a wasted fast pass.
Spooky World was sadly the biggest disappointment of this scare season and we felt we had considerably overpaid when we left that venue.
Nevertheless I trusted my gut (and the hundreds of 5 star reviews) and took the gamble.
After walking out of the very first maze of the night we had already received our money’s worth and more!
Xtreme Scream at Twinlakes Park
Upon entering through the theme park styled entrance we were greated with fire torches and scarecrows lining the pavement.
It was Halloween theming galore.
This was a wonderful introduction to the park and it certainly drawed me in as I was increasingly intrigued by what we were going to see next.
The Halloween music was in full swing creating a wonderful ambience and as we ventured deeper into the park the more impressed we were.
A starflyer swing ride was in operation lighting up the night sky and another ride in operation was a spinning teacups style ride.
Both rides were included for free as part of your ticket price which was a nice touch but we weren’t there for rides.
We walked straight past them, down another flame lit path and into the main square.
Lit up like a Christmas tree there were food and drink stalls in addition to an undercover area in case it rained and a photo op area.
With Donuts, Hot Dogs, Burgers and more on offer you certainly had lots of choice for food and drink.
No alcoholic drinks were being served on site which was definitely for the best especially given the sheer number of people who turned up as the night went on.
Large set pieces also filled the area such as a giant pumpkin man animatronic and a full sized apocalyptic bus driven by a zombie.
These set pieces alone were phenomenal and it definitely set the bar for what we were about to experience.
Mazes at Xtreme Scream Park
Consisting of five mazes, Xtreme Scream Park keep their attractions standing all year round.
The park must make enough money at Halloween to justify every maze being a permenant attraction.
Whilst one maze this year was changed for the 2020 season all of the others remained the same.
This was my first time ever visiting Xtreme Scream Park but being the horror nerd that I am i’d watched vlogs from previous years to know the line-up rather well.
The only change for 2020 was a previous maze called the Stilton Hall and Hell Spa that had been revamped (and shortened) to a maze called Belvoir Manners.
Not just one maze but all 5 mazes had detail on levels that i’ve never seen before in this country.
Every prop was real, no fake walls or sets here, everything was solid and built to last.
If you were walking through a living room, you had carpet, the sofas, dining table, TV, pictures hanging up and more.
If you were walking through a prison you’d have bricked walls, doors, railings and even balcony’s above you like a real prison.
Transported into sets that wouldn’t look out of place in a Hollywood horror movie.
We were walking through some of the most detailed sets i’ve ever experienced in my life I was absolutely blown away.
I’m a sucker for theming and not one maze was underthemed, absolutely phenomenal craftsmanship that transported you into the story before the scares begin.
Out of all the mazes The Village was by far my favourite.
All attractions at Xtreme Scream are lengthy attractions, you’re easily in each maze for 10 mintues or longer and The Village was the longest one of them all!
We were going inside a house one minute, outdoors through a forest the next, into a hospital, a classroom and a church.
This complete tour of the village drew me into the story and I wish I could have stayed there all day.
It genuinely felt like I was a character in a Resident Evil game exploring this abandoned and creepy village.
Social Distancing at Xtreme Scream Park
Overall social distancing at Xtreme Scream Park wasn’t great whatsoever.
Masks were mandatory in all mazes which was fine but the second people were inside they were taking them off.
Something that can’t be helped as sadly this country is full of idiots.
That seemed to be the theme of the night as social distancing in queue lines was none existent.
Only areas that had security telling people to keep their distance were socially distant but with one security guard to tend to 150+ guests in any given queueline sadly it was all in vain.
People were huddled up together, on top of one another, right up close to strangers and even some were hugging the character actors for photos.
It really was a shambles when it came to social distancing.
Also, within the mazes they were sending people in at timed intervals.
This was great but unfortunately the amount of time left between groups was 30-40 seconds if most and we were always catching up with the group infront of us.
We caught up so many times we were standing inside the maze waiting for them to hurry up infront.
This somewhat dampened the experience as some actors were out of place when we eventually walked through.
The batching was a serious issue that many people were complaining about on the night.
It’s an issue that hasn’t been resolved what so ever and at most times you felt as though the current pandemic didn’t exist as no one (absolutely no one) was paying attention to the rules.
Being an event that attracts mostly younger visitors this is to be expected as the large majority all seem to share the same brain cell.
Out of all the events we have attended Xtreme Scream had the worst social distancing management (queue and other areas of the park) of any attraction we have attended.
Overall
Batching and social distancing issues aside the mazes are world class.
I’ve seen many Halloween Horror Nights mazes and the detailing at Xtreme Scream Park could match them all.
It was horror escapism of the highest order and a phenomenal park.
From top to toe the park was clean, tidy, well themed and the atmosphere was brought alive with live street theatre including fire jugglers and character actors roaming the park.
Xtreme Scream Park was hands down the best Halloween event we have attended in 2020.
Scare Kingdom had three incredibly strong mazes that I absolutely adore but Xtreme Scream had all 5!
Strong mazes mixed with a wonderful park atmosphere that is unrivalled even by parks such as Thorpe and Alton Towers.
Xtreme Scream not only blows everyone else away for theming but the mazes are better than the big theme park mazes too!
It takes a lot to impress me when it comes to horror mazes and attractions but even 24 hours later my jaw is firmly planted on the floor.
We witnessed something truly special at Xtreme Scream Park and you can see why they’ve won awards for their incredible Halloween offering.
Whilst tickets have now all sold out for this year’s event you certainly need to get yourselves down next Halloween!
Visit https://www.xtremescreampark.co.uk for more information.
