Phantom Peak - immersive experience

[partytentdown]

Has anyone been to this? Interested in hearing thoughts...

www.phantompeak.com

[fiyero]

I have and enjoyed it. It is kind of like a really spready out escape room with lots of different stories overlapping. You get your 'story' from a mobile website so can give up and start a new one if not your thing. Lots of props and actors to interact with, the actors are great!
It took a little while to get going with an opening ceremony and I didn't finish the last trail as it wasn't clear that the time limit wasn't closing time!
It would work best in a group of 2-4, I was solo but did link up with a couple when it was obvious we were were on the same story.
The food is pretty decent but get it as soon as they open so you aren't wasting 'task' time. There are bars and snacks too.

I really enjoyed it, but was there at seat-filling rate. If there are a few of you going normal rate would add up fast!

[meister]

I too have been on seat filler rate which was a bargain. I felt it started to drag after the 3 hour mark as you are basically repeating the same experience over and over. I also thought the payoff for each trail of a card was a bit weak and could have been developed further. It is just an extended escape room and having been once don’t feel the need to go back, particularly at full price. Interesting they are papering as it is so out of the way there isn’t going to be any passing trade - I do wonder how long it will last.

[kit66]

FYI Phantom Peak opened in August, 2022 so it's had a good run so far - much to my surprise being a local and it being rather niche and out of the way*- although there is currently an audience for all things immersive and escape roomish.
*FYI Its behind where Ralph Fiennes' Macbeth was in Canada Water.

[hoopoe]

I also went at seat filling rate, in a group of 6. This was really too big for everyone to be very involved, but 4 of the group weren't really keen on talking to actors anyway so were happy to take a back seat. To be honest, that's not the kind of thing I particularly enjoy either, but there's very little to get out of being there if you don't throw yourself into playing along, so I just went with it. I could feel myself getting quite drained from doing that for hours, but credit to the cast, everyone played their parts very well and was enjoyable to interact with. At one point a less comfortable member of our group was nudged by her partner to try asking a townsperson for something in our quest, and I got the impression the actor could tell she was a bit nervous and toned it down accordingly, which was pretty nice.

There were some really fun moments e.g. learning a secret handshake then waiting in a specific spot, hand outstretched, for the person we needed to get info from to pop up out of nowhere and initiate the handshake. There are 10 quests every season and we only did 2 on our visit, though I think 3 or 4 would have been easily doable if we didn't have a long-ish lunch and take some time to just explore. I thought the food offering was pretty good though, so would recommend taking a break from quests to eat.

Some friends are very keen to go back for Hallowed Peak, so I think I'll join them if we can get the seat filling rate again. It's a bit of a shame because I actually think the usual price is perfectly reasonable for how many hours of entertainment you get, and I think what they've achieved is impressive, but I just don't feel driven to go back. It also takes me a little over 3 hours to get there though, so I might feel more inclined to return if I lived in London.

[khiar]

I went as a couple and both of us were too timid to really make the most of it. It's not spoon-fed to you, you really have to be an active participant in order to make your own experience. But with a group that included some more outgoing folk, or with some booze, I can see it being a fun time. I really enjoyed the environment, and the performers I saw were all wonderful.

I didn't like how simplistic the missions were, at least the bits that I saw (go to point A to collect a word, put the word into the website, go speak to a character who gives you a video code, put the video on, etc), and I really didn't like seeing AI-generated "art" included in the videos. I understand they have to refresh the missions at quite a pace because they're constantly putting out new 'seasons', but once you notice the AI, it's hard to un-notice it, very tacky.

[fclou]

I've been three times. Seat filling rate. First time there were 6 of us but we split in to two groups of 3 (3 old, 3 teen), second there were 3 of us but I was not well and sat out of a couple of the trails, the 3rd time there were just two of us.

It is a giant treasure hunt really. follow the clues on you phone to get somewhere to get the next clue and so on. All fun and different enough with each re-theme that you don't get bored or rely on what you learnt the first time.

Each time we went it was a different season and actors and stories changed The teenagers loved it - they tore around interacting everywhere they could, getting baptised, playing extra games and generally loving it - we enjoyed it too. As I mentioned second time I was not well but the games felt better than the first time. 3rd time I enjoyed the most, maybe because there was just the two of us and we did everything, but also the engagement with actors was better - seemed to work better. Might have been my mood or something but just all seemed more fun. I did rather love the undertaker though.