Amid a scene straight out of an ’80s action movie, ordinary people climb up old freight containers before crawling through small vents and then gliding on zip lines over obstacles of fire and ice – but this is no blockbuster, this is Zip City. A newly opened urban adventure park in District XIII, this is a comprehensive obstacle course complete with harnesses, pulleys, and helmets, where guests traverse cableways meters above the ground with some real-life special effects thrown in just for fun.
The two owners of Zip City are actually quite creative – most obstacle courses like these are set up in forested areas, using trees as the platforms for various challenges based around suspended-rope gangways and zip-line cables. Instead of such natural surroundings, Zip City is Budapest’s first urban adventure park, set up in a former parking lot.
Upon entering, we are faced with two big robots grinning down on us, as if we were in the
“Intergalactic” video starring the Beastie Boys. As it turns out, the robots also appeared at the Sziget Festival – but while they do enhance the action-movie spirit of Zip City, these massive machines are only here for decoration, so we cannot play on them.
The obstacle course consists of 19 colorful freight containers connected by small holes to create a winding passageway – naturally, there are emergency exits as well, in case someone panics midway through. The creeping and crawling happens mostly on all fours, and players are aided by headlamps and flickering strobe lights here and there. At the same time, the game is made difficult by a variety of barriers made of wood and mesh – at some points, players must crawl like John McClane through the ventilation system of Nakatomi Plaza (fortunately without the terrorists). The course can be completed in about 20-25 minutes, given that we do not get lost at the halfway point where the organizers hid a little twist to confuse the players.
The most spectacular part of Zip City is the 125-meter-long cableway, which starts from a 12-meter-high platform. Three unexpectedly timed effects enhance the exciting gliding – right at the beginning, a fireball shoots up toward you, followed by a carbon-dioxide ice cloud with powerful sound effects, before a powder cloud greets gliders at the end of ride. Of course, none of these effects are actually dangerous, but we preferred to pretend that they are...
As we found out, the course’s most popular part is the trap door at the top of the launch tower, which players can fall through – an experience almost as tempting as the zip line. (The five-meter fall is coordinated with various instructions and we land on sponges, so it is safe.) The course also includes a 15-meter-tall climbing wall, which might be considered a record height in Budapest.
Zip City is an ideal place for team-building excursions, or even stag parties (while everyone is still sober). The basic ticket costs 2,990 forints, for which we enjoy unlimited use of the adventure park and the climbing wall, selfie opportunities with the robots, one glide down the cableway, and one fall through the trap door.
Zip City (closed)
Address:
1134 Budapest, 20 Szabolcs Street
