Project E20 Review (2026)

Project E20 is located at the ArcelorMittal Orbit and is easily accessed via public transport, there not being much car parking nearby. Be prepared for quite a walk from the station to get here across the well-tended grounds of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. You are checked in quickly by a desk attendant, who explains that you’ll need to watch a safety briefing pertaining to the slide itself, then deposit any bags or larger items in the lockers provided (freely available), and then get kitted up in head protector, elbow guards, and a head camera to record your descent should you wish to purchase it afterwards. The desk staff stay in character, wearing white overalls and glowing contact lenses, which does position you within the world you are about the experience.

This is a professionally run attraction, clearly taking learning from their day to day Zip World operations. There is no entertainment whilst waiting to enter, except for one attack by a balaclava-ed man who tried to jump us, but there is a low soundtrack and red lighting on the Orbit itself. With check in complete and equipment donned, you are ready to tackle the zombie challenge within.

Before entering, desk staff are in character with their white overalls and glowing contacts, whilst an eerie red glow bathes the Orbit in unnatural light. Some music prepares you for entrance, although the theming of this area is not extensive (necessary as it is not acting as a scare attraction during the day). Your quest is to investigate the highly contagious Project E20, the pathogens of which have spread to those working here. To activate the containment system (according to the website, but not explained at the haunt), kinetic energy is needed from 5000 descents down the slide. Once inside the haunt, it is moderately immersive, mainly through lighting, but of course the fact that this is a tourist attraction is evident. Once you have descended the slide at great speed you’re ushered back into the reception area, with a few zombie hangers-on to boot.

The main sensory effect here, of course, is the slide itself, where you rush down all 584 feet of it outside of the structure – a fantastically fun experience. But before you get to that, you travel up to the scare maze above. Within there is an atmosphere built from sound, as the dim surroundings come into focus, eyes adjusting to the light. Scenic design was decidedly simple, consisting of hoardings with some neon graffiti smear upon them (with odd choices of words, such as TACOS), but not much more beyond this. Blacklight was predominantly used to accentuate the glow in the dark and neon accents, both on the sets and upon the actors as well.

More than enough very energetic actors in completely “infectious” roles populate the top of the Orbit. This experience began for us even before we knew it would, with the full possession of one of the workers who was sharing the lift journey with us! Actors were very keen on lunging towards us, sometimes lightly tussling with us if we strayed off course, growling, grunting, and snorting all the way. In a clever piece of physical theatre, some performers are attached to elastic harnesses and swing out towards you, the harnesses keeping them contained just out of reach. Characters ranged zombie types, as well as scientists frocked in white lab coats.

Costuming fitted these roles, on point for the lab gone wrong aesthetic, including workers in overalls. Much more interesting was the makeup and mask application, with fluorescent tones for contact lenses that picked the eyes of the actors out at a distance, snarling half-masks, and at least some claw-like additions to fingers. These were fun actors who really relished the opportunity to scare and harass you as you passed, and give chase when they could.

Some of the best scares here came from the unexpected: we slightly suspected that our companion in the lift might have been a plant, but that didn’t mean him “zombying” out was any less shocking. And scares followed you, such as on the spiral stairs with performers sliding down the bannisters, or leaping at you only to be held back by bungee cord.

Scares were perhaps milder in some segments, with predominantly jump and stalking scares used, with little talking or menace beyond this. By the time we were at the bottom of the slide, we thought perhaps we were free of the danger, only to have one last zombie worker chase us away.