Monsters and Magic Halloween offers visitors a chance to ride some of the roller coasters after dark, go trick or treating in the Monster Castle and take a trip on The Haunted Express all culminating in a brand new water, light and fire spectacular on the lake.

There are pumpkins and spooky flourishes across the whole park – suitable for all ages – and it felt like a real treat to be in the park after hours, away from the crowds, walking on to some our favourite rides.

As part of the preview, we rode Gold Rush, Thor, Jormungandr and Accelerator and we loved that the longest we queued was around five minutes. To ride at speeds high up across the park with the cold Autumn breeze in your face is A LOT of fun, and on several occasions – as is the norm at theme parks – my teens reminded me to calm down and keep the screams and hysterical laughter to a minimum.

We were so interested in the rides we didn’t make it in time for trick or treating at Monster Castle but by the mini buckets full of sweets being swung about delightedly by younger visitors it is a good bet for ensuring a huge confectionary haul. We were also gutted to miss The Haunted Express but from a distance it looked excellent so visitors should perhaps plan their time better than us!

Post rides we were distracted by the lovely food on offer, we enjoyed spicy chicken strips and waffle fries and a mushroom and halloumi burger, of course followed by muffins that offered a surprise centre… we were told it could be a trick or a treat, but we must have struck lucky as we all thought they were delicious!

The End of the Day Show is pretty spectacular, across the middle of the lake it choreographs water, light, projection and flames to music, billed as the first in the UK it definitely offers something new and different to your visit the perfect way to bring the thrills of the day to end and send you off into the night.

Tailor your visit to suit either with a daylong visit culminating in Monsters and Magic or just treat yourself to some night time scares on the rides and in the End of the Day Show. Find all details and prices here.