You join a tour to go deep in the Jungle to visit Vulcan Peak. But be warned: the locals don’t like outsiders, and you must wear a blindfold, for if you see them, they’ll kill you…

Vulcan Peak is one of Thorpe Park’s more infamous Fright Nights attractions, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

Making use of the old I’m A Celebrity maze space, Vulcan Peak was a hooded maze. Following a short pre-show, everyone in the group would wear a hood covering their whole face – meaning you could not see – and then be guided to a rope. You would explore blindfolded, holding the rope with one hand, and the shoulder of the person in front with the other.

During the journey, the rope would change height, and there were some actors with feathers and similar who would brush your hands. However, the experience had a loud announcement of “Do not remove your hood” regularly. This was, in story, meant to be a reminder from your tour guide, but felt like a H&S announcement.

What usually makes a hooded maze work is focusing on other senses (touch, smell, sound) and changing flooring / the rope. None of this was present in Vulcan Peak, creating a weak experience. 

The ending saw guests remove their hood, before being met by one of the aforementioned danegrous locals, who would curse you before you left. Unfortunately this didn’t have the desired impact for an ending and the story was very confused.

Thorpe tried their best to improve the attraction throughout the course of the event, but had limited time and resources. Unfortunately, the 2018 edition of Fright Nights saw the park overstretch themselves, and Vulcan Peak’s quality suffered as a result.

It was great to see the park try something new and different, even if it didn’t work out. It was also great to see the park acknowledge it didn’t work and opt to not bring it – or any hooded maze – back in the future.