Please note: this contains spoilers!
The new attraction is located in the building previously used as The Hideaway and also Studio 13 during Fright Nights. It has undergone a significant makeover, with jungle theming, a mini cooper and camp areas, although the queue area is a standard cattle pen with minimal decoration. Before going in, the first of many camp mates (live actors) gave an introduction to the attraction before picking on a few members of the group of 12 to have some banter with while we waited to be called in.
Contestants (us!) gather at Snake Rock where you sit down for a recorded briefing from Ant and Dec followed by a group photo area before trekking through the Vile Vineyard to arrive at Croc Creek’s 'rickety' bridge. On our visit the bridge wasn't rickety, despite the actors best attempts to suggest it was, which was likely just down to an effect not working. At the other end you walk through the Catacombs of Doom where you face the first Bush Tucker Trial, Holey Moley, split into 2 groups of 6.
The scale and quality of the sets in the attraction are impressive, it's a very immersive experience that does a good job of creating a jungle atmosphere, using sound and light effects. Holey Moley is a rock face etched with cracks, craters and crevices that are filled with jungle 'critters' - contestants must place their hands within the rock’s holes in search of buttons.
Contestants then move into the next challenge, the Chambers of Horror, where you are placed into shower containers to take part in a live game show experience. Above the showers are tanks loaded with ‘critters’ that could drop down on you should you answer a series of quiz questions incorrectly. Don’t look up or you'll see where the 'critters' fall from and be able to avoid them! The exit doors are electronically controlled, but ours failed to unlock at the end, requiring a hefty push to escape.
Contestants then trudge onwards into the darkness of Calamity Caves, where you pass some creepy cobwebs (fortunately there weren't any eight-legged residents!) and through some dense jungle before you pass through the Pipe of Peril tunnel.
Emerging from the tunnel, you get a chance to catch your breath at Cruelty Towers where you receive a 'health check' from a camp mate and a challenge to find the exit from a room before making your way through a claustrophobic passage in the dark.
The final trial, Celebrity Cyclone, involves contestants racing against wind and water jets under a cargo net and up a slope to push a series of yellow buttons. You then wait for your turn to go down an exit slide that comes out in the Nemesis Inferno Shop, which is stocked up with I'm A Celebrity... branded products and where your photos are also available for purchase.
Overall the new I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Maze offers an unusual experience unlike anything that we've had before, and that will appeal most to families. There were some teething problems with the effects and operation of the new attraction during our visit, but this is to be expected and we are sure that the park will iron these out in the coming weeks.
