Sensory Guide

The York Dungeon is a highly sensory experience with dark spaces, loud noises, flashing lights, pungent smells and jump scares.

We recognise this total immersion may be difficult for people who are Neurodivergent or have additional sensory needs.

Please note that some areas of the attraction will be themed differently depending on the season/time of year. For more details please get in touch with our guest experience team ahead of your visit – yorkguests@merlinentertainments.biz

To help you be prepared for the experience, we have put together the following sensory journey which describes each different area of the attraction....

There is low lighting throughout the attraction with some tight spaces and narrow corridors.

Throughout the tour, audience participation is incorporated in each show to immerse guests in York’s gruesome past. Staff are trained to select guests at random, so if you do not wish to participate, please let the admissions team know and they will issue you with a glow in the dark non-participation sticker.

Please note, staff are trained to recognise the Hidden Disabilities sunflower lanyard here at the York Dungeon and we have ear defenders/sensory toys, should you or your fellow guests need them. Please talk to a member of staff at any point during the tour should you require any assistance.

Should you wish to enter the York Dungeon but later feel that you need to leave, please just speak to a member of staff or an actor and they will assist, and a manager will be called to facilitate your exit. All Duty Managers are trained on exiting guests out of the attraction with ease for the guest.

In this section of the attraction, you will:

Show or purchase your tickets
Have an opportunity to ask questions regarding the tour
Have an opportunity to use the toilets
Have a picture taken (this optional)

At peak periods you may need to wait for a short period outside the attraction and before photography. For this reason we ask all guests to arrive 10 minutes before the time stated on your ticket.

Here you will enter and show or purchase your tickets. It can get quite busy in this area and sometimes there might be a queue to get in. If you need assistance at any point when queuing, then please speak to a member of the guest experience team.

See: Staff, guests, queueing barriers, ropes, low lighting, lanterns, TV screens, signs, tills, books and drinks.

Hear: Background music, loud noises in the soundtrack to jump scare, staff, guests and outside noise.

Feel: Wood doors, wooden counter, themed walls, bannisters and rope.

Smell: General smells from outside and general attraction smells.

Before you enter admissions or once you have entered the admissions area and need to use the toilets, you can find the toilets within the York Dungeon building but in a separate entrance.

We have toilets that all guests can use prior to the tour; please ask the admissions team for the access code.

Our accessible toilet is located within our attraction (Dick's Back). This is the only toilet on the tour and so it is highly recommended to use the main toilets before your tour starts. Our toilets are unique and not like other toilets, keeping with the theme of our attraction. Please speak to our admissions team if you require our accessible toilet.

See: Dark theming and low lighting, entrance to toilets: male and female, mirrors, hand dryers, sinks, staff and guests.

Hear: Sound effects, character voice effects, background music, guests and hand dryers.

Feel: Wooden doors, handles, soap and taps.

Smell: Cleaning products

Here you will have the chance to get your photo taken before heading into the depths of the Dungeon. If you wish to skip this part, then please speak to a member of our photography team.

See: Staff, guests, queueing barriers, ropes, low lighting, lanterns, chains, pillory, swords, an axe, curtains, theming, photographs being taken, camera flashes, green light and green screen.

Hear: Background music, camera clicking, sound effects, staff and guests.

Feel: An axe, wooden pillory, themed walls, chains, rope and photo card given by staff.

Smell: General attraction smells.

Here you will see the Jester character and await your time to enter the Dungeon. You will hear the rules of the tour. This is a holding area so all guests enter the Dungeon together and for your eyes to be adjusted to the darkness. In peak times this area can get quite busy, please speak to a member of our guest experience team should you need any assistance. This area will go dark for 30 seconds for the safety briefing.

See: Props, projection of the Jester, Roman ghosts, theming, low lighting, flashing lights, torches, wooden doors, wooden benches and an extended blackout.

Hear: Jester character talking, voice overs, background music, loud sound effects, loud sound sting, thunder, guests and actors.

Feel: Wooden walls, benches, gradual ramp decline as you walk through area and wooden doors.

Smell: Wood Smoke.

In this section of the attraction, you will:

Meet the first character (Father or Sister Abostus) and other of York’s infamous characters like the Plague Doctor, Torturer, Guy Fawkes, Isabella Billington and Dick Turpin
Join the adventures of the Vikings and listen to ghost stories
Walk through the Mirror Maze (seasonal shows only, subject to date of visit)
Experience a carriage ride

Here you will meet Father or Sister Abostus who will shelter you from the Vikings in York Minster but be careful as the Vikings are coming. Heed all words and warnings and above all else watch out for those named Eadwig!

See: Props, theming, low lighting, flashing lights, sudden blackouts, wooden doors, moving door and windows.

Hear: Actors, thunder, bells, loud sound effects and other guests.

Feel: Walls, wooden doors, air canon, gradual ramp decline as you walk through area and rope.

When you move into this room you are greeted by Mildred or Cuthbert, a Saxon slave and you will meet the fearless Viking King Ivar the Boneless. You might just come across some flying arrows or an axe. This show includes some frighteningly funny special effects.

See: Viking battles, barrels, plants, wood, Saxon slaves, arrows, shields, an axe, projections, torches and a blackout for 7 seconds.

Hear: Norse language, actors, voice overs, loud sound effects, horns and other guests.

Feel: Soft ground below you, animal fur, wood and wooden doors.

Smell: Burning Witch.

The Plague Doctor’s Assistant is on-hand to show you the full effects of the Plague, even without the help of the Plague Doctor. This is one of the funniest shows here at The York Dungeon. But beware as no one is safe from the effects of the plague.

See: Body, guts, benches, leeches, blood, chair, curtain, hammer, lighting stings, blackouts for 5-10 seconds and long periods of eye contact that some may find triggering.

Hear: Leeches, sound effects, loud sound sting, bells, speaking and air cannon.

Feel: Leeches under the benches, leather benches, air cannon and water squirt.

Smell: Rotting Flesh.

Head down to one of York’s most famous streets - Shambles, but watch out we think a storm is coming. Continue onto Stonegate, this street has plenty of turns and will you find shelter before the rain comes? Here you might potentially experience a jump scare.

See: Stairs, stair lift, shop windows, candles, torches and doors.

Hear: Sound effects, music, voices, horses, storms, jump scare and guests.

Feel: Shop fronts, wind machine, rope, wooden doors, bannisters and uneven flooring below you.

Walking through the narrow and windy Shambles has made you want shelter and some warmth. Enter 35 Stonegate, and come face to face with the troubled housekeeper, who will tell you the tragic tale of the previous occupants of one of York’s most haunted buildings.

See: Chairs, table, shelves, record player, theming, character, lighting, candles, flashing lights and blackouts.

Hear: Sound effects, clock chiming, loud bangs, church bells, thunder, rain sounds, air cannon and record player.

Feel: Table fabric, wood door, curtains and air cannons.

Smell: Attic.

This is a bonus, seasonal show and might not be available during your tour. The current show, Body Snatchers, is showing daily until the 31st August, and then on selected peak days such as Saturdays and some school holidays.

Enter the graveyard and meet a Victorian Body Snatcher, they hunt in dark graveyards, searching for the recently deceased to dig up and sell to the highest bidder. You will enter the disorientating mirror maze, will you make it out? Once you enter, the only way out is with the help of a character who will come and get you. If you want to skip this section, then please speak to the Body Snatcher who will be able to assist in showing you an alternative route.

See: Mirrors, people, models, coffins, skeletons, candles, lanterns, walls.

Hear: Doors opening, loud sound effects, a jump scare, crows, thunder, sounds and voice overs.

Feel: Mirrors, chains, rope, columns, gradual ramp decline as you walk through area.

That was close! You’ve made it out of the mirror maze, off you go to see some dirty traitors but before you do, you must head down the undercroft. A dark, lowdown, rat infested alleyway. So, watch out as it might get a bit narrow, best keep a low profile then. There are traitors everywhere…

See: Low ceiling, barrels, lanterns, brick walls, hanging fabric and very low lighting.

Hear: Air cannons, music, drums and sound effects.

Feel: Air cannons, gradual ramp decline as you walk through area and brick walls.

Smell: Gunpowder.

Guy Fawkes might have been caught underneath the Houses of Parliament, but his story began in York, where he was born in 1570. You will have the chance to meet him… well, what’s left of him! The Gunpowder plot was a foot… until we took that foot away.

See: Barrels, projection of Guy Fawkes, projection of John Wright, shop front, candles and wooden boxes.

Hear: Drums, Guy Fawkes, John Wright, crows and sound effects.

Feel: Wood, rope, chains, walls, gradual ramp incline as you walk through area and hessian fabric.

Smell: Gunpowder.

You now find yourself in the Torture Chamber beneath York Castle. The Torturer is looking for ‘volunteers’. Prepare to be delighted and repulsed in equal measure as you learn about the Wars of the Roses.

See: Cage, torture instruments, chair, stone walls, flags, doors, fire pit, stage, torture wheel, skeletons and guests.

Hear: Sound effects, torturer speaking, screams, banging and metal clanging.

Feel: Chair, cage, chains and wooden doors.

Smell: Old Blood.

Guilty or not guilty? Whatever you plead to find yourself in this court room and Lord Chief Justice Venables Vernon Pollard IV is the greatest/worst Judge in all of York. The Lord Chef Justice will pick the unluckiest peasants in the group to stand trial and be sentenced under the Bloody Code for some truly awful crimes. Experience one of our most famous and funniest shows - you are encouraged to join in as much as possible.

See: Courtroom, candles, Judge, dock, books and curtains.

Hear: Judge, banging, drums, music and sound effects.

Feel: Wood, dock, gradual ramp decline as you walk through area and wooden walls.

You find yourself at the front of Micklegate Bar. The Executioner will be there soon, so practice your boos and cheers, after all, no execution is complete without a good baying mob. There’s even more audience interaction: plenty of shouting, booing, laughing and a few surprising screams.

See: Halifax Gibbet, pikes, axe, stocks, executioners’ assistant character, skeleton, model heads, rope, chains, stone walls, doors, steps and blackouts for 1-7 seconds.

Hear: Cattle, audience sound effects, booing and screaming.

Feel: Walls, rope, wood and water squirt.

You are off to see a hanging in the morning! But first you need to spend a night in York Caste Prison and who you are sharing with is no other than Isabella Billington. Who claims she is not a witch but then again, what do we know? This is our scariest show within the attraction and may be too intense for some guests.

See: Cages, witch, benches, walls, flashing lights, painting, books, chains, keys and blackouts for 5-7 seconds.

Hear: Music, witch talking, voices, audience, loud noises, thunder and banging.

Feel: Wooden benches and bars of the cage.

Smell: The Dungeon.

Next stop Knavesmire! Time for a hanging and you’ll meet the local Stagecoach driver who will make sure you are completely safe. But the infamous Highwayman on the run, will you bump into Dick Turpin? But take our advice, hold on to your valuables. Oh and keep an eye on the Mayor’s Mace, we don’t want that going missing now do we?

See: Carriage, Betty/Samuel, seats, mace, lanterns, rope, blackouts and lighting stings.

Feel: Leather, doors, air cannon and water squirt.

Hear: Horses, Arthur, whips, gun fire, bells, animals, sound effects, sound sting, and soundtrack.

Smell: Horse stables.

In this section of the attraction, you will:

Depart the stagecoach
Exit via our Dungeon tunnel
Buy photos and merchandise
Leave through the gift shop

Well done, you have made it out alive, here you can buy a souvenir and have a look at the photos taken at the start of your tour. This area might get a bit congested, please speak to a member of staff if you require assistance upon leaving.

See: Gifts, tables, barrels, props, shop, counters, iPad and drinks.

Hear: Music, guests, staff and tills.

Feel: Counter, items in the shop and gradual incline as you walk through the tunnel leading to the gift shop.

Smell: General attraction smells.

The York Dungeon strives to provide a warm welcome and safe, memorable experience for all peasants entering its doors. For full details on our facilities and accessibility, please review the following information to help visitors with a disability make the most of their trip.

CLICK HERE