Water World
Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong

A Haunting Look at Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2018

2018-09-12

High-tech multimedia experiences to provide guests with hair-raising scares

Ocean Park Halloween Fest, Asia’s largest Halloween celebration, will be using the latest technology to scare visitors at this year’s annual event. From 5 to 31 October, the Park will offer 11 haunted attractions and 13 unique experiences. Newly themed haunted attractions featuring multimedia and interactive elements are sure to put the frighteners on visitors looking for the ultimate haunted experience.
 
Today, Ocean Park previews Hospital of Horrors presented by MoneySQ.com, a torch-in-hand walk-through experience at an abandoned hospital which has a bone-chilling surprise twist; the ghoulishly delightful Halloween Mine Train presented by SAMSUNG GEAR VR and VR Morgue; visitors should also check out the Park’s first ever underwater themed attraction, the spook-takular Dark Waters; Circus of the Damned presented by Blue Girl Beer, with its creepy circus theme.
 
Hospital of Horrors: Putting Your Faith in a Ghost Detecting Torch
At Hospital of Horrors, guests will be given a ghost detecting torch as they explore the wards, clinics and operating rooms. While finding their way out, the guests’ torch may flash, vibrate and make sounds to hint at nearby spiritual activities as the scenes and pneumatic devices respond to the torch to create sudden spine-chilling encounters with the dilapidated hospital’s dead patients. Unexpected technical difficulties created by the design team – for example a flickering torch – only make it harder for guests to escape the dark and gloomy hospital with a malfunctioning torch in hand!
 
Eva Au Yeung, Events & Entertainment Director, Ocean Park, said, “Ocean Park applies new elements into Halloween Fest every year as we look to take our guests’ experience to the next level. This year we enhance our attractions with the incorporation of more hi-tech and interactive elements. The design team was very excited to discover a whole range of new ideas, and we are introducing them this year to enrich guests interactions especially during their eerie walk-through experience in the pitch dark. We hope that by adding classic horror elements and interactive technology to Hospital of Horrors, the guest experience will be further enhanced with a series of new twists to create a haunted memory they will never forget. Guests may think that holding a torch will reduce the scare levels, but the scenes will in fact respond to the torches, providing an ultimate dark exploration experience for them. A little hint for guests is to point the torch at every corner in the haunted house. They’ll be surprised by what happens!”
 
VR Morgue and Halloween Mine Train: Experiencing Multi-sensory Stimulation
Ocean Park continues to up its game offering interactive VR experiences. The Park’s popular ride and the first VR rollercoaster in Hong Kong, Mine Train, receives a one-time upgrade during Halloween Fest. As guests strap on their special VR headsets, the hair-raising journey on the Halloween Mine Train begins with guests turning into hunters, flying over graveyards, and looking through abandoned cowboy towns and a giant circus tent, as they look to chase down monsters with their VR headsets.
 
Johnny So, Park Operations Director, Ocean Park, said, “Since the Park upgraded Mine Train with cutting edge virtual reality technology last year, there has been a near 10% increase in the number of guests taking the ride in the first half of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017. Additionally, the number of times that guests  redeemed their Ocean FasTrack pass for the Mine Train ride saw an over 40% increase. Thus we have never stopped thinking of more ways to deliver new and even more exciting sensory experiences to guests.”
 
At another unique VR haunted attraction VR Morgue, guests are transported to a room where dead bodies are kept. By putting on VR headsets guests will be able to feel the multi-sensory and full surrounding horror as cold air brushes against their skin, and bloody corpses suddenly come back to life and attack them from all sides.
 
Visually Shocking Scenes to Immerse Guests in Cinematic Nightmarish Experiences
A brand new themed attraction for this year’s Halloween Fest, Dark Waters will see guests travel to the deepest parts of the ocean to explore a mysterious laboratory as they search for missing scientists. Joel Brett Talacko, Halloween Show Director of Ocean Park, said, “It is challenging for the team to create different scenes within a limited space. Take Dark Waters as an example, the team introduced special lighting and mirrors to create optical illusions including a larger sense of space, where guests will feel like they are falling into deep water. To make the deep sea scene even more realistic we also added pools, leaking pipes and a large water tank. Guests will walk through a foggy pathway full of clammy seaweed, so be prepared that you may slightly get wet.”
 
Circus of the Damned, has a clown’s sinister laughter filling the circus tent and freaks and ghouls waiting to feast on guests’ blood whilst hiding in dark corners and behind iron cages. Both Dark Waters and Circus of the Damned will present visually shocking scenes to immerse guests in cinematic nightmarish experiences. However,  during day time, Circus of the Dammed transforms into a fantastical carnival Circus of Wonder for guests to enjoy magic shows and take photos with circus performers.
 
The general public can experience the Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2018 attractions and shows with their admission tickets on 16 selected dates from 5 to 31 October, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Premium Halloween tickets will be available for guests to enjoy unlimited priority access to designated Halloween attractions. For more details on Ocean Park Halloween Fest 2018, please visit https://www.oceanpark.com.hk/en.

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