The door shuts and we find ourselves in an elevator. It jerks, jolts and shakes with the fury of an angry beast before it stops. A blue door creaks open on its own. At first, all you can see through the crack is a dark passage. We step in and an announcement tells us Dr. X has been killed in his lab by a mysterious creature. Not the best thing to hear when you are in the doctor’s laboratory. Fear grips us.
As our eyes get accustomed to the dim red light, we make our way through various doors; behind each lies an element of suspense and thrill. At one point, we walk right into the doctor’s photo and his face starts inflating. Spooky sounds, menacingly swinging lights, jumping boxes (containing dangerous creatures), and unexpected movements form part of the experience at ‘Thrill Adventure’ that launched last week at I Play (Phoenix MarketCity). “It’s Chennai’s first automated walk-through attraction and combines cinematic theme skills, complete automation and modern animatronics. The props are from the U.S. and the theme has been sourced locally and created by art director Janakiraman,” says Rave Shankarr, CEO, I Play. “We allow groups of up to six people at a time. Anybody above the age of four can try it out. We certainly don’t allow the faint-hearted,” he adds.
Annie Smriti, the event manager at I Play tries to look fearless as she embarks on this adventure with me. “I tried this last week, it was fun,” she grins. Three minutes into the walk and we are both holding hands and nervously looking around. At every door, we slyly try to push each other ahead, and when nothing spooky happens, we let out a relieved giggle and then screech when something unexpected takes place. “Children love it,” she says, adding, “It’s most popular among the five to 12-year-olds. Kids come with their families to take it up as a family-bonding exercise.”
At the end of the nerve-wracking walk through the laboratory, just when we think it’s over, we are back to the lift from where we entered, it starts moving again. It stops and immediately another door starts making sounds. We suspiciously push it open and a snake comes right at us. Shrieking wildly, we try to escape… apparently, you can’t get out till you finish the walk through this jungle. A crocodile, bats and strange insects hover around us as we keep ducking. And just when we think it’s safe, the floor beneath us starts quaking… running faster, we reach the door and finally escape.
We walk out trying to look relaxed but there really is no point because those waiting outside could hear us scream. But don’t be embarrassed if you find yourself shrieking, it’s all part of the excitement.
