Review- Fear At Avon Valley- Bristol’s Scariest Attraction this October

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Want to get super scared this Halloween? Then get yourself down to Fear at Avon Valley as this is the scare park for you.

I am one of the biggest scaedy cats there ever was.. Or so I thought!

We had the opportunity to visit Fear at Avon Valley last week for their opening night and I can tell you that I’ve not jumped out of my skin so much in a long time. There were frights galore!

Fear at Avon Valley just outside of Bristol is a Scare Park. Scare Park’s have been gaining momentum across the UK and based on the screams and sqeuals we heard all night it seems as scary as they are people love them!

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Celebrating their 5th birthday Fear at Avon Valley have got bigger, better and scarier than before. They have grown over the last 5 years and developed their mazes to further shock, scare and spook the living daylights out of its patrons. They have even travelled over to the U.S to get inspiration and ideas on how they can continue to up the anti and finds new ways to scare people.  With 4 mazes, a live-action shooting range, 2-minute escape room challenge, a very scary clown name Frank overseeing the area, fairground rides, fire show, yummy food trucks, bars with some spooky cocktails and creepy characters wandering around (note chasing you!) it’s a great night out this October.

The 4 mazes (Phobia, Anarchy:Live, X4 and House of Clowns) all feature their own storylines as you make your way through them. Phobia is what it says on the tin. It covers most people’s phobias from claustrophobia to bugs. Anarchy: Live is the oldest maze and is reinvented every year. This year it’s a zombie film set gone wrong. House of Clowns is exactly what you think with some hella creepy clowns hiding in a cute little of ladies house, ready to do the creepiest laughing you ever did hear! X4 is military based and there has been an outbreak and you’ve got to escape.

They are an assault on all your senses with strong smells, strobe and disorientating lighting, twists and turns, people jumping out on you, clever use of darkness and making the silence even creepier than a clown evil laughing in your ears.

They are cleverly planned out and designed even the start of Phobia has you (and your partner) standing in a coffin in the dark for a good 10/15 seconds before someone screams at you and drags you into the maze. This was the first maze we did and it 100% set us up for a night with us on edge.

Out of the four mazes, my favourite was  Anarchy: Live mainly as there were parts of this that I felt so lost in and literally like I wouldn’t find our way out. The fact that you also get chased out by an axe-wielding zombie was a nice touch.

We had a VIP ticket which meant we could jump the queues, had an unlimited entry into all attractions and a special bar area complete with popcorn and sweets. If anything the VIP is most worth it for being able to jump the queues and I would recommend on busier nights. This is worth its weight in gold. I can imagine queuing up hearing people squealing and screaming probably adds to the anticipation but it could also grow quite tiresome. It was £45 which is a jump up from the standard ticket at £17 but if you wanted to go into the mazes more than once and don’t like queuing then I would recommend it.

Would we do it again? Yes of course! It was a really fun night and whilst I’ll probably regret saying it – it was nice to been spooked leading up to Halloween. We were way braver than I thought.

There are only limited dates remaining with the final night of the event falling on Halloween so you want to get your tickets quick. To book and find out more click here.

 

Featured Image courtesy of Fear at Avon Valley. All other images our own.

Disclaimer:

Fear at Avon Valley kindly invited us to enjoy the VIP experience in exchange for an honest review and mentions on social media. We would of course only recommend places/attractions/products that we personally enjoyed. We had the best night and thoroughly recommend you go experience it for yourself. If you do then let us know what you think!

Ballooning In Bristol- Why you need to visit Bristol

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon FiestaI’ve long loved a hot air balloon. Floating through the sky, slowly gliding and following the wind as it blows.  Pretty damn magical.

When I saw the film UP it showed that sense of adventure teamed with a few thousand balloons. I didn’t exactly run out and buy a few hundred canisters of helium and loosened the footings on my house but I did always have a romantic notion that you could get to travel to far off lands in a wicker basket and some hot air.

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
So with that in mind, one of the best thing about moving to the West Country was that in Bristol every year in August they hold the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. 4 days of ballooning fun and the city becomes like a picture perfect postcard.  Bristol is synonymous with balloons just like it is with Banksy, Ribena, Aardman Animations and Isambard Brunel. Creativity and Engineering greats!

Bristol is located in the South West of England and is a beautiful and colourful city. It has its own culture which I’ve not like I’ve ever seen anywhere it else. Bristol loves everything and everyone and has a small town feel but in big city scope. It’s only an hour and a half away from London by train and once you get off at Temple Meads everything you could need is literally a walk away. The harbour, the history, the street art, the parks, the bars and the shopping it makes it an ideal destination for all.

I’ve heard recently that Bristol produces more hot air balloons than anywhere else in the world so it seems only fitting that it is also home to one of the largest hot air balloon events in Europe. I mean Cameron Balloons has been based in Bristol since 1971 and the main man behind Cameron’s Balloon, Don Cameroon developed the first hot air balloon and aptly called it the Bristol Belle.  Cameron Balloons are said to be the largest maker of hot balloons within the world and have been pushing boundaries ever since by focusing on creating new and creative ways to travel through the sky be it with funny shapes to more technical features of aerodynamics.

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Cameron Balloons

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta was first started in 1979 and is always located at the Ashton Court Estate. The timings have changed over the years and it is now always in August and runs over 4 days. As with anything in England you can never rely on the weather, however, August is generally a more favourable month with less rain and wind. The best part of the fiesta is that is a free event. Yes, you heard right FREE. Sure you have to pay for parking and for any food and drinks but you can attend completely for free. Trust me Bristol does love a free festival (you should come in July for the Harbour Festival- yep you guessed it also FREE)

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Every day during the fiesta there is a mass ascent in the morning and again in the evening.  These mass ascents can include over 130 balloons all taking flight at the same time. Depending on the wind sometimes this can take the balloons right over the city centre. Night glows are on the Thursday and Saturday nights when the balloons are tethered and lit up dancing to the music also. There is also usually a firework display after the night glow on saturday.  There is also festival feel at Long Ashton with fairground rides, food stalls and a whole lotta balloons.

Over the years there has been all sorted of balloons. All the colours of the rainbow and also lots of creative shapes from a Sky Whale, a minion, a kiwi bird, the house from Up to a Bertie Bassett.

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Balloons and the Clifton Suspension Bridge

This year was the first time,  in the 11 years that I got my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn (5 am!) to go and watch to the morning ascent. My gosh was it a good decision.

We opted to watch from the Observatory in Clifton. This way we had balloons, Bristol and the Clifton Suspension Bridge all in our eye line. A few 100 people had the same idea. Some in their PJs, some hadn’t made it home from their Saturday night yet, breakfast picnics, balloon inspired sweaters and mugs of tea. All there to just watch some balloons. And when I say a ‘some’ balloons I mean like at least 100 balloons.

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Calming, simple fight but with such beauty

It was a beautiful way to spend a Sunday morning. We’ve previously watched the night ascent from another vantage point in the city. On Bedminster Downs, you have the perfect view of the festival and can see the balloons being inflated and ready to launch. There are lots of grassy areas where you can sit and have a picnic and in recent years food trucks have also been showing up there so you don’t even need to bring your own.

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta
Obvs our favourite one was the Thatchers Balloon

No matter whether you watch the fiesta from the higher vantage points of the city to low on the ground at the fiesta it is well worth treating yourself to a trip to Bristol in August just to witness this truly spectacular display.

Bristol is a great city to visit and even outside of this festival. Surprisingly I’ve not blogged too much about my home away from home (which I will rectify) however in the meantime if you want to read some more reasons to visit Bristol check out the blogs and websites below.

https://apostcardhomeblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/9-bristol-festivals-you-need-to-attend/

https://wandereroftheworld.co.uk/25-ways-to-have-the-best-summer-in-bristol/

http://visitbristol.co.uk/

http://www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk/

The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon FiestaThe Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon FiestaThe Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon FiestaThe Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta

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The Wandering Darlings- Bristol Balloon Fiesta