The York Dungeon, Merlin Entertainments Reviews

Having just returned home from York, I feel compelled to write this review, we visited the dungeons on Wednesday the 23rd of September for an afternoon performance, there were three couples and a single person in our group. When we reached the part of the tour that shows the torture instruments, a volunteer was requested from the group. The gentleman that volunteered was then asked to place his hands face down on a chair which he did leaving a small gap due to the COVID fears, the actor then proceeded to scream and shout at this poor man to put his hands on the chair properly. The man eventually said no and refused understandably to do so. The male actor then threw a hissy fit screaming at us all to get out, and telling the poor chap who had tried to participate that he had spoiled it for everyone. This was excruciatingly embarrassing for the whole party, and spoiled what should have been light entertainment. Having said all that, the other actors were superb. It just felt like a relief to get outside and away from the atmosphere created by one actor.

Great tour. Mostly great acted, though some were hard to hear. Really good interaction with the audience. Not 5 stars as it was so expensive for a family of 5, other than that, all very good quality.

Really good..the staff stay in character and lots of surprises when you enter the different zones give it a go and you will have a good laugh..well worth seeing.

Great overall experience, very entertaining, suitable for children aged 10+, we all had a great time!

Too much audience participation and quite scary for younger children.

Its was amazingly fun. It came with funny jumpscares and history lessons. the timing was perfect for everything, and the courtroom was hilarious. I will definetly be back!

In my wife's words ''' Scary!!!!! ''' it lives up to the advertised material, be prepared to be chilled & thrilled in a good way, the actors are very good at what they do, in all the different scenarios the laughs and arm gripping show it succeeds, also use the book online to get a reduced entry price and timed entry

Absolutely 1st class entertainment! Laughed a lot, learnt a lot and was scared a fair bit too. I would strongly advise that you book online for a bit of discount and buy your parking in advance for online discounts on city centre parking. Great day out.

Nice place to visit in York, unfortunately I couldn't take any snapshot inside but I enjoyed it

It was ok. We were expecting to be "frightened" or "jumped" but not to be. The overall experience was ok though. We managed to get discounts from the tour bus. We wouldn't have been happy paying the full price for the dungeons that's for sure. Worth a visit if you're in York but look for discounts. The lady at the beginning and the judge were great though!! Good job guys!!
This is my opinion only!!

Entertaining and scary ! Not for the faint hearted - enjoyable couple of hours

Great fun and good laugh, nearly knocked out two members of staff who jumped out on me, so be warned lol

Boo! A brilliant place with some really great actors and plenty of fun moments. Perfect for any time of the year with family, friends or the other half. Don't be scared if you get asked to take part, just do it. Adds to the fun experience for you and everybody else. Would highly recommend visiting this fun place to be.

Brilliant experience. Fantastic actors! A real step back in time with a twist. If you like a fully immersive experience, then this I would definitely reccomend.

Amazingly funny and scary. Felt very safe with the covid procedures in place

Was scary, funny and worth a visit. Great actors throughout

If you like to jump...and laugh, this is the tourist attraction that will do both.
You walk through a series of settings (mostly in the dark so no good if you are in any way unsteady on your feet) led by actors who bring some of the goriest and scary parts of Yorks history to life.
Horrible Histories for grown ups lol.

Good fun and scary bits plus love the interaction with public

Had a great time being entertained by the actors who were depicting torture through the ages.
For a couple of hours in your day, it is well worth a visit.
The humour shown was excellent.

The gift shop has quite a few peculiar items on sale to remember your visit by.

Great fun for the whole family. But the script needs a bit of updating as we saw it a few days earlier before at another touristy place

This was quite a good experience but would definitely say it s aimed more for families with young kids.
The actors were great and the area was very effective with following the covid regulations. I felt very safe during the whole experience.

UPDATE: Great staff with costume doing acts. Two of staff is using their finger to point at me twice. I want to go back there again. I'm strongly recommended that you go to York Dungeon. (go to Blackpool Dungeon too)
Also it reminds me of my favourite childhood tv show called Horrible Histories.

A fantastic experience. Went with my GF and we had so much fun. Be prepared for a little Audience Participation. All the characters we met were well acted... Well at least I hope they were actors.... Our personal favourites were the Courtroom Judge and the Plague. Sadly no cameras allowed inside, but to be fair, it would ruin the experience for others if there were flashes going off and would ruin the experience for you if you looked at everything through a phone screen.

Second time we've visited. First time was two years ago and they've added another 'room' since then. Took our 10 year old daughter who also loved it (although dont think i'd take younger kids or those easily scared). Quite costly but very entertaining. We were in for around 1.5 hours so also felt like i'd got my money's worth. Would definitely recommend.

As crazy as this sounds I booked this for a surprise date day for my girlfriend we really enjoyed every aspect of it, so jumpy in parts loads of unexpected things, the smells are so surreal in some parts it really enhances the whole experience and the actors are absolutely fantastic. Will definitely be visiting the other dungeons when we are out and about on day trips.

Lovely meal but the steak was dry and burnt black around the edges

It s true a great experience and will shake you to the core if you are a scary cat ;D

Loved the experience all really well done and great participation with the dungeon visitors. The torture chamber and court were particularly good!

third time I have done this visit but I can honestly say it has more of a family theme, a few year back you had the 11th century burning of Cliffords Tower, The Roman leigeon, and the gruesome hanging of Dick Turpin,and they have dissapered,,, and the prices are ridiculously HIGH,,,

Great fun and informative for older young people and adults 11+ not for the faint hearted.

Excellent Halloween visit with friends and 12 year old son. Actors very convincing and, at times, menacing! Good range of historical subjects, quite informative. Wasn t particularly long, maybe an hour and a quarter. More theatrical effects in the first half, second half was a little heavy on dialogue. Would recommend to families with children around 8 years of age or older.

I just went to the dungeon today with a friend who's been before, it was my first time and I had an absolutely great time! There was a ton of audience participation, plenty of the crowd joking with the staff and having a laugh, the actors constantly having to go off script to react to the audience but they improvised fantastically, especially the executioner. All around a great time though, the price is a tad steep but for what you're getting definitely worth the money.

Absolutely Amazing, some parts use make me jump tho!

Highly enjoyable, well worth a visit. Book in advance or get there early.

Great dungeon theme adventure, with an interesting story brought to life by an excellent cast of villains.

A great overall experience. Great actors, good scares and surprises.

Great way to learn history of York. Be prepared for a few shocks and laughs

Great time and a really good experience. Defo would recommend this

Amazing day out, actors are really great and it was so fun

Great shows and immersive experience! Maybe a room on the Harrying of the North? Loved it

Disclaimer - we visited in the middle of the covid-19 restrictions and as a result some of the experiences we had would not represent the full experience normally on offer. We felt that what we had was a bit overpriced. A couple of the the actors were speaking too fast for us to understand them, especially with the masks that they were wearing. The best room was the Witch and we also enjoyed Guy Fawkes and the hangman rooms as well. The others fell a bit flat and at times over-acted.

Fantastic. Excellent actors. Funny and frightening . Not for the very young or someone who is frightened of the dark.

Great fun. Be prepared to get picked out of the crowd for some treatment from the actor. Not to be missed.

Brilliant place to visit and very informative, also gets everyone to interact, great fun would go again

Love the dungeons in my opinion better than the London equivalent.

Very immersive and knowledgeable actors. Great time for all the family.

If you go to York this is a must visit. The actors were great. Lots of surprises. Even the toilets are scary.

Great fun, not for children though! Takes around an hour and involves real actors making you jump a lot. Also gives a good history lesson of the area.

It was fun, it was scary and it was comic. all the performances were brilliant, and the actors/actresses did an amazing job.

We thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Well worth a visit

Absolutely loved the tour. The actors are so immersive and definitely know their stuff. As a massive wimp, I was suitably entertained and terrified

Hahaha what a laugh. Spooky at the right times. I whent as part of a hen party and would 100% go again

Very good experience, good history and professional people.

Extremely engaging actors. You should have one more star to evaluate it. Probably the best attraction in York !!!

Absolutely fantastic day out. Whole family loved it. Staff where amazing highly recommended.

Lovely time spent. Staff seems to work really hard to entertain everyone. Only giving 4 star because I liked London's dungeon a lot more , which was more scary and more effects added.

Good fun, staff/ actors were all good, bit of scare factor but not too much for the younger ones, bit of comedy, bit of history well worth a visit

The show was fantastic and acters were superb some scary moments and some laughter worth doing

Fantastic, well worth a visit ,very friendly and funny

Pretty poor for 25 quid per person on the adult only tour..

Very similar to the London Dungeons as they're owned by the same company. Really funny, the actors are all stay in character very well. Would be great for children!

A very enjoyable experience filled with thrills and humour

An wonderfully entertaining visit, well worth the money