Fantasy Island is a sea side theme park which is based in the north east of England. Over in Skegness, Fantasy Island has a selection of rides and other attractions which is open throughout the year for famalies to enjoy. Mainly known by most people for having the ride The Oddessy, Fantasy Island is fairly hidden and out of the way for most people based in the UK and even tourists.
Fear Island II is the second ever Halloween event Fantasy Island has put on. After a successful first event of Fear Island in 2017, they have launched with a bigger and better lineup for 2018. This included three scare attractions and a circus of screams. As we heard promising things, we took our first ever visit to Skegness to see Fantasy Island presenting Fear Island.
We visited on a wet and damp Sunday which left the park being quite empty and quiet for what would usually be a peak time for most theme parks and resorts. However, Fantasy Island did not dissapoint with opening most attractions on time and throughout the day. The staff were jolly and were a pleasure to come accross. The park has multiple rides with the main ones being The Oddessy, The Beast and The Millennium. On top of all the rides, they had the large Pyramid structure; this being a large inside area which contained enbough entertainment to fill the day alone! Rides, attractions, minigolf, arcades and food & drink places filled the pyramid with most visitors hiding away from the weather. The great thing about Fantasy Island is you can just visit for this element alone! You don't have to pay to enter into the park grounds, and can pay per attraction or get a wristband for better value!
Fear Island II is scattered across the park. The mazes were located in different areas with Psycho Mansion 2: Posssessed being located towards the front of the park, Temple of Terror being located within the pyramid whilst Carnivhell was located towards the rear of the park. The Circus of Screams was also located at the front of the park in a clown themed tent, using what seemed to be some of the car park!
Fear Island II mazes and attractions are paid for on a seperate wristband system than a normal day at the park. You could either pay for each attraction seperately which costs £5 per maze per person, or you could select the Fear Island wristband option at Fantasy Island or through the website. The Fear Island wristband gave you unlimited access to the rides whilst giving you one run through on all the mazes. The Circus Of Screams is a seperate paid for experience, which was priced around £7 per person.
The Circus Of Screams is an hour long show. A vareity of actors performed in the circus styled tent whilst seating around 150-200 guests per viewing. The shows were on from 12pm, 3pm and 5pm on our day of visit which gives plenty of options to fit it in. We believe this is one of the best Halloween & circus shows we have ever watched which was genuinally enjoyable for the whole family. The show had us belly laughing from the get go and as a family show, really surprised us with the standard of the acts and comedy coming from the circus. As our viewing sadly only had 11 guests, the show become more personal and allowed us to have more enjoyment for the adult audience. We would like to thank the cast for this brilliant performance they put on, espically when there was more of them, than us! Overall, we recommend this is a must watch show if you vist Skegness / Fantasy Island this Halloween.
Now onto the mazes...
Carnivhell
Something wicked this way comes as Carnival Diablo rolls into town, bringing a sinister spectacle to Fear Island. Freak out as you come face to face with a hoard of cannibal carnies and ghastly freaks. Guaranteed to wipe the smile off your face, Carnivhell presents ‘the gravest show on earth’ – the admission price is your soul…
Carnivhell was another classic clown maze and we really did not know what to expect for a theme park which has only ran it's second Halloween event. The entrance looked pretty simple but definitely implied we were going into a clown type maze. The scares weren't too intense however, the scares we did get were high quality and interesting with the sets and scenes they incorporated into Carnivhell. The themeing and storyline flowed from start to finish and was more theatrical than scary and intense. This left an enjoyable experience whilst having some scares implemented throughout.
Scare: 5/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 5/10 - Actors: 6/10 - Overall: 16/30
Temple Of Terror
Temple of Teror was based inside the pyramid and upon entry, left us intrigued with what this maze would be. The first thing you would notice when entering this maze is that floor is covered in sand and it would seem like this throughout most of the maze itself, which is really unique and not really seen in any other attraction we have visited this Halloween. The maze was again very story based and included many scenes with the actors telling a story throughout. The scenes were incredible with a high use of UV paint & lighting along which was used throughout the experience on the walls, props, costumes, and the actors themselves. Overall, they used some stunning and well placed effects and really did something different with the Temple of Terror than any other attraction we have experienced through Halloween.
Scare: 5/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 8/10 - Actors: 8/10 - Overall: 21/30
Psycho Mansion 2: Posessed
The power of Christ compels you to step into the eerie aristocratic estate of the legendary Psycho family. But beware, the mansion has become plagued by the paranormal… Meet Father Abner Black, the Exorcist, as he casts a divine ritual over the mansion, in a vain attempt to dispel the insidious Phantom that lurks within Psycho Mansion 2 – Possessed!
A continuation from the first maze they opened in the original event Fear Island, Psycho Mansion 2 continued the story on. Based in what seemed like a fairground fun house building, we loved the exterior of this attraction alone. The entrance sign along with the incredible facade, really left us in awe before even getting inside. They had a waterfall coming from the upper levels and even a talking face on the front of the house, which really made it something else to most entrances into a horror attraction. Inside the themeing wasn't too amazing with a lot of dead spaces however, the scenes in which the actors performed in and told a story really did have some significant effort put in. A lot of stairs within the attraction did take away from the actual experience but it was great to see a maze use a fun house style layout in a different way. Our favourite part of the maze must of been the use of psychic magic which was very cleverly used within one of the scenes. If that wasn't good enough, the ending of the attraction gave us a unique fright!
Scare: 6/10 - Themeing & Storyline: 6/10 - Actors: 6/10 - Overall: 18/30
Overall, we loved our first ever visit to the Fear Island II event at Fantasy Island. The event really showcased a strong lineup for a sea side theme park compared to most other places open this Halloween. We had such a fun time regardless of how the weather was and we believe that each year this event opens, it's only going to get stronger!
If you wish to get your visit in this year, head over to the Fantasy Island website to grab your ticket now! We highly recommend it wherever you are in the UK and can't wait to hear what is in store next year.....