The glitch is waiting for you at Thorpe Park Resort, enter Black Mirror Labyrinth and prepare to upload your mind.
"We value your privacy"
Star in your own episode of Black Mirror and try to escape the labyrinth, before being blocked! With moving doors, flashing lights and special effects that will mess with your brain. You will be left confused and wondering what's real and what's not! Will you escape the labyrinth or be tricked into uploading your mind and all of your memories?
On Thursday 20th May, we were invited to the press launch and preview of Black Mirror Labyrinth, before it opened to the public on Friday 21st May. With the guest list full of celebs and bloggers, everyone was hyped and excited to find out what was inside the old Walking Dead Living Nightmare space. With actors located at the entrance to the attraction, we were already feeling on edge and nervous about what lies ahead.
In the past, this space has been used to host Fright Night mazes, such as Hell Gate, The Passing, Cabin in the Woods and Walking Dead Living Nightmare.
Gone is the old small entrance portal for Slammer and replacing it is a huge Black Mirror Labyrinth sign. A small LED board tells guests around the area what time slot is currently being accepted. Using the old Slammer queue line and area music from IMAScore, setting the tone for what you will see inside. We love this new spooky music, we can't help but get a small Halloween Horror Nights vibe from it.
Staff in the queue line were asking guests questions about their day so far and asking what their favourite number was. General questions to unnerve you! All of the staff appeared dazed and emotionless and all had what appeared to be a computer chip located in the side of their head controlling them. We were also a huge fan of the staff uniform, all of the staff were wearing a Black and white jumpsuit with the labyrinth logo embroidered on the back. As with all Black Mirror episodes, this attraction has a twist at the end.
Once batched into the waiting area from the queue line a tannoy asks guests once instructed to remove any mask, glasses or hats for a photo. You're instructed not to smile and a very flattering photo will be taken of you. This photo will be used in the attraction, but for what you will need to read more! Facemasks are currently required throughout the indoor attraction under government guidelines. Guests will experience the maze in groups of 12 however with covid, groups are at a maximum of 6 or one households for now. Once you've had your photo taken type a name to go with it and prepare to experience the labyrinth.
Spoilers can be found from here on in! Be warned...
Stepping foot into the first room you will be greeted by Labyrinth, the artificial intelligence system, which has used photos on social media to learn about humans and how we work. What you didn't know, when you had your photo taken, she used that to learn everything about you. You will notice that your photo will come up during the pre-show and if your name is easy enough to pronounce it will get read out! After a small preshow, you enter a beautiful corridor full of coloured lights and head into the labyrinth where your journey beings.
Through the other side of the labyrinth your greet by a huge head on the wall with your faces dotted around it where the AI explains how it has grown and monitored people over the years. Although the AI looks to be on your side it suddenly turns bad with red flashes lights and scratch masks appear over your eyes and mouth. Flashing lights, lasers and air cannons sound... Panic enters the room, but before Labyrinth gets too evil the scene is interrupted by someone who appears to be helping you and hacks their way into the system and opens a side door to let you through to escape.
You're then left on your own to navigate your way through the corridors of the labyrinth. With lots of dead ends, projections and a moving door you could be lost for hours if you don't find the correct route, and that's just the start of your adventure!
Once you find your way to the sliding door your brain will be disorientated in the strobe tunnel. There's no way back so you have to push on forwards! You then see a selection of bodies and faces which look similar to your apart from this is where the labyrinth is torturing people who look like you. You then notice there are multiple ways to go through the attraction, left, right or forward what way do you go? Featuring dead ends full of easter eggs for Black Mirror fans, you might notice some happy and unhappy faces along with the White Bear logo. The whole attraction is full of easter eggs but our favourite has to be on the screen which says you're blocked and also says XNWO/BML in the top corner.
Your last challenge of the attraction is to find the exit through the huge mirror maze section. Featuring smashing windows and dead-end, you will be left wondering how to escape without losing your mind. With flashing lights, two-way mirrors and seeing your reflection, this section is very disorientating! But we love it. During our first time going through the attraction, we got lost in this bit for around 5 minutes. When you think you've found the exit, a mirror "smashes" and you're left having to almost go back to the start and start all over again.
The use of lights and mirrors throughout the attraction is very simple but so effective. The use of technology is very clever, where your photo and name taken at the start of the is used multiple times. The technology used inside Black Mirror Labyrinth is amazing.
In the biggest plot twist, at the end of the attraction, you find out that the person who hacked their way into the system to help you earlier in the attraction was actually the bad person and could have possibly caused Labyrinth to turn bad. You are then warned that you will have your mind and memories wiped in a 10-second count down where you are told to look closer into the mirror which then smashes and your let out of the labyrinth.
Overall Black Mirror Labyrinth lasts for around 5-10 minutes depending on how lost you get inside! We really liked it and was not what we were expecting. Thankfully, this is an attraction that you don't have to have watched the Black Mirror series/franchise to enjoy it. We think a lot of guests are going to get lost inside, however, this attraction is a lot of fun and we cant wait to see everyone enjoy it. The attraction makes for some great photos especially with the first corridor being so beautiful.
A big thank you to Thorpe Park for inviting us down to the press launch, we cant wait to see what comes next!