Phantom Peak: JonaCon Review
My colleagues at ONIN London love Phantom Peak, so last week when I went for the launch of JonaCon, I was excited. I’ve been to Phantom Peak once before about 2 years ago, and my friend had been three times. From 14th February the new season is JonaCon, an exciting celebration of all things JONACO.
Phantom Peak is a unique immersive open-world adventure. This wild-west themed town is a fully realised town inhabited by quirky characters and interactive technology, and full to the brim with mysteries and stories to discover. As it’s a four hour experience you’ll want to arrive at the time on your ticket so you get the most out of it. Upon arrival we were given a coloured wristband and headed into Old Town to await the opening ceremony.
There are several quests you can complete to help you explore the stories of Phantom Peak. I’ve known people complete 8 in a night and some who just complete 1 or 2. We love that as it’s self-navigated you can choose your own pace. After entering the website and passcode on our phone, we selected our style of adventure- mystery for our first trail and adventure for the second. To complete the trail we had to answer questions by exploring both the inside and outside areas of Phantom Peak and speaking to characters. We don’t want to give too much away but some of our tasks included: listening to clues on a video, crawling through a maze, working out the ingredients of a potion, and trying to convince a character to give as a valuable gem.
Phantom Peak runs seasonally with four new shows a year. Each season there’s 10 new quests and new events, and now it’s JonaCon which also has the new Olympics activity. The coloured wristband given at the door denotes what team you are in (yellow, red or blue). At certain points you can join in games such as carry an egg on your hat, and collect tokens for your team. At the Closing Ceremony the winning team will be announced. Phantom Peak’s mayor has also chosen this moment to marry- but will the marriage go ahead?
You know those moments where you laugh at something, and then continue laughing because you just can’t stop? That was us as we navigated the maze. A must do on any visit to Phantom Peak. We also were laughing as we drew an ID badge- we thought Ms Wonder was a pretty clever name if we do say so ourselves, though our drawing skills leave a lot to be desired. We also loved the parody songs of ‘Wicked’.
Phantom Peak really is immersive theatre at its best. Our advice is to get in the spirit and talk to the characters and don’t be afraid to get involved in the action. Every time ONIN goes we are amazed at the actors remembering all the various storylines for the trails. The costumes and sets are fabulous and you’ll want some time to soak it all in and take photos. We headed to the Thirsty Frontier Saloon for some cocktails on tap between trails. They also serve craft beers, wine and speciality cocktails. Food options by Notorious B.R.G include burgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, nachos and fries.
For a fun, adventure filled activity head to Phantom Peak. We had an absolute blast and can’t wait to return. Even if you’re been before, as the experience changes every few months, it’s worth it to go again.
Tickets are £47.50 for an adult at peak times and £42 for off-peak, whilst young adults (17-25) are £30 and children are £30. There’s also a discount for group tickets.
Address: Phantom Peak, Canada Street, Surrey Quays Road, London, SE16 7PJ.
Website: https://www.phantompeak.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phantompeakuk
Written by Caitlin Neal
