“You have to put a pound in, sir.” I step back from the steering wheel and almost apologetically feed a £1 coin into the slot. A light on the dashboard in front of me turns green and I push on the throttle.

In front of me, a small remote-control boat packed full of migrants starts to make its way across the water in front of the white cliffs of Dover. Their faces are permanently turned towards me as I clumsily ferry them across the pond, dodging floating bodies and steering around aimlessly until my money runs out.

The experience is deeply unsettling, yet bizarrely entertaining. And that is exactly the feeling that visitors to Dismaland, a dystopian “bemusement park” contained within a derelict lido in Weston-super-Mare, can expect when it opens to the public tomorrow.

The migrant boat pond piece (PA)

The 2.5-acre park is the most ambitious project to date by the graffiti artist Banksy, who described it as “a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism”. Peering through a gap in security fencing in January, he decided that the faded seaside glamour of the site provided the perfect canvas for his latest work.

For the next five weeks, around 4,000 people a day are expected to pass through the gates of the park, formerly the Tropicana lido, paying £3 to enjoy such entertaining exhibits as the Jeffrey Archer Memorial Fire Pit.

Best of Banksy Show all 68 1 /68 Best of Banksy Best of Banksy Westwood, California A Banksy piece in California depicting a child wielding a machine gun, in black and white surrounded by colored flowers AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Manhattan, New York A rat on the clock of an old bank building Getty Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London Near the Oval Bridge PA Best of Banksy 'Sweeping It Under The Carpet' The piece, commissioned by this newspaper, is intended to represent a metaphor for the west's reluctance to tackle issues such as Aids in Africa Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Di Faced Tenners' In 2004, Banksy printed ‘one million pounds’ worth of his 'Tenners' PA Best of Banksy 'Love is in the Bin' During Sotheby's Contemporary Art Sale on 5th October the Banksy artwork 'Girl with Balloon' shredded through the bottom of the frame as it was sold. Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Urban decay' Seen on the side of building on Wilder Street in Bristol PA Best of Banksy 'Glory' Previously on view at Sotheby's New Bond Street, London PA Best of Banksy 'Balloon Debate' Banksy headed to Palestinian territories and created images on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier Getty Best of Banksy 'Kissing Coppers' Pictured on display in Lazinc Gallery in London in 2018 AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Spy Booth' On the side of a house in Cheltenham. PA Best of Banksy 'Escape' A Banksy artwork piece on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier in Abu Dis Getty Images Best of Banksy 'The Son of a Migrant from Syria' Artwork representing Steve Jobs, founder and late CEO of Apple, at the migrant camp known as the "Jungle" in Calais, northern France AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' Banksy launched a hotel in Bethlehem. The rooms of the hotel were filled with the artist's work, much of which being about the conflict Getty Images Best of Banksy 'One Nation Under CCTV' In the yard of a Royal Mail depot in Newman Street, central London PA Archive/PA Images Best of Banksy 'Brexit' A painted mural depicting a workman chipping away at one of the stars on a European Union flag in Dover Getty Best of Banksy 'Art Attack' Seen on Israel's highly controversial West Bank barrier Getty Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' A piece of artwork in Banksy's 'Walled Off Hote'l in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem Getty Best of Banksy 'Let Them Eat Crack' A large mural of a rat wearing a tie and carrying a briefcase on a wall on Howard St and Broadway in New York PA Best of Banksy Artwork in 'Walled Off Hotel' An installation hanging inside one of the rooms Banksy's 'Walled Off hotel' AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Paris Napoleon Bonaparte wearing a headscarf inspired by the original painting by Jacques-Louis David AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Burning Tyre' A Banksy mural which was painted on the side of one of the classrooms at Bridge Farm Primary in Bristol during a half-term PA Best of Banksy 'Les Misérables' Artwork depicting the girl from Les Miserables affected by tear gas, opposite the French embassy in Knightsbridge, London PA Best of Banksy Zehra Dogan Banksy's 70-foot-long mural in New York, made to draw attention to the imprisonment of Zehra Dogan, a Kurdish painter from Turkey AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy Paris A girl painting over a swastika cross AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Girl with Balloon' Originally on the stairs to Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank, London AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Cardinal Sin' On display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2012 Getty Best of Banksy Rage, Flower Thrower Painted on a wall of a gas station in the West Bank city of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy "Madonna with a pistol" In Naples AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'No Ball Games' In Tottenham, North London PA Archive/PA Images Best of Banksy 'Cash Machine Girl' In Finsbury, North London PA Best of Banksy 'Peckham Rock' Installation of Banksy's at the British Museum in London. The artist secretly placed the mock historical piece in a gallery at the museum in 2005 and it went unnoticed for three days PA Best of Banksy Stained Window' A collaboration between Banksy and the City of Angels public school in Los Angeles AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Barbican Centre, London One of two murals near the Barbican Centre in London PA Best of Banksy Clerkenwell Green, London Described by its creator as "a monument to liars, thieves and bullies" Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Civilian Drone Strike' Capstan House in East London PA Best of Banksy 'Armoured Dove' In West Bank town of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'The Painter' Portobello Road, West London PA Best of Banksy 'Yellow Lines Flower Painter' Pollard Street, London Getty Best of Banksy "Kids on Guns" An employee of Bonham's auction house examines "Kids on Guns" by Banksy during a press preview in London on June 27, 2014, ahead of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale on July 2, 2014. Banksy's "Kids on Guns" and "Winnie the Pooh" have a collective value estimated to be in excess of Â£ 100,000 GBP (125,000 Euros, $ 170,000 USD). AFP PHOTO / NIKLAS HALLE'N -- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE, MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION, TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION -- (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP/Getty Images) NIKLAS HALLE'N AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Barbican Centre, London The second of the two murals painted by on the Barbican Centre, London PA Best of Banksy "Cans" London AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Sorry' East London AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Napalm, (Can't Beat That Feeling)' Displayed in an unauthorised 2006 retrospective in London Getty Images Best of Banksy Calais, France A child with a suitcase looking through a telescope with a vulture perched on it, in tribute to migrants and refugees on a beach in Calais AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Banksus Militus Vandalus' Displayed in an unauthorised 2006 retrospective in London Getty Images Best of Banksy London Artwork depicting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill AFP/Getty Best of Banksy 'Donkey Documents' Moved from Jerusalem PA Best of Banksy 'A Girl with a Pierced Eardrum' A defaced piece of art on a wall in the city of Bristol, at Hanover Place PA Best of Banksy 'Sperm Alarm' Banksy's name is reflected in the glass covering his piece. 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Getty Best of Banksy 'Art Buff' In Folkestone, Kent PA Best of Banksy 'The Mild, Mild West' Stokes Croft, Bristol PA Best of Banksy Paris A man holding a handsaw behind his back and offering a bone to a dog which leg has been cut off AFP/Getty Best of Banksy Peeing Dog Los Angeles PA Best of Banksy Bethlehem Painting on a wall in Bethlehem in the West Bank Getty Best of Banksy 'Slave Labout' A poor child making Union Jack flags on a sewing machine, located on the wall of a Poundland discount shop in the Wood Green area of north London Getty Best of Banksy Lower East Side, New York Painted during Banksy's month in New York Getty Images Best of Banksy 'Jay Zeavis' Glastonbury, Somerset PA Best of Banksy Paris Banksy said that he "blitzed" Paris with up to a dozen murals as a tribute to the May 1968 uprising and even took aim at the French government's hard line on migrants AFP/Getty Best of Banksy "I Love New York" A large mural of a rat wearing on Wooster and Grand Street in New York PA Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London A piece under Camden Street Bridge, almost directly behind the British Transport Police building in Camden Town PA Best of Banksy 'Very Little Helps' A child raising a Tesco's plastic bag as a flag in London Getty Best of Banksy 'I Don't Believe in Global Warming' Camden Town, north London PA Best of Banksy Camden Town, north London A new Banksy piece has appeared under the Oval Bridge in Camden Town, north London. Zak Hussein PA Best of Banksy Bataclan concert hall, Paris Artwork on a side street to the Bataclan concert hall where a terrorist attack killed 90 people in 2015 AFP/Getty Best of Banksy New Orleans, Louisiana NEW ORLEANS - AUGUST 28: Graffiti by the illusive artist Banksy adorns a building August 28, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New works by the artist, whose paintings are also sold in galleries, have been popping up throughout New Orleans coinciding with the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) Sean Gardner Getty Best of Banksy 'Christ with Shopping Bags' Lazinc Gallery in London AFP/Getty Images Best of Banksy "Stop and Search" Shown at Artcurial French auction house sale in Paris AFP/Getty Images

“Warm yourself around an authentic real open fire ceremonially lit each day by burning one of the famed local perjurer’s novels,” explains the helpful annotated map handed to each visitor, which also advertises the park as “the UK’s most disappointing new visitor attraction”.

The park has three art galleries in addition to a series of immersive experiences and twisted fairground rides. Banksy is showcasing 10 new sculptures, paintings and installations, but more than 50 artists from 17 countries contributed work to the project, including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, David Shrigley and Jimmy Cauty.

The weirdness begins before you even get inside. “Have a dismal time,” a woman wearing Mickey Mouse ears says without a trace of a smile as she ushers me into a small entrance hall. Here, I am confronted by “security staff” who apparently delight in humiliation. “Stand on one foot for me, sir,” an officer instructs me. I oblige. “Touch your nose for me, sir.” OK, I get it.

Out of the security gauntlet, visitors pass into the park’s main central courtyard, which is dominated by a huge, ruinous Disney-style castle skirted by a stagnant litter-strewn moat. A Banksy sculpture of the Little Mermaid, her face and body distorted as if through television interference, sits on a rock gazing over the water.

“Step inside the fairytale and see how it feels to be a real princess,” the park’s brochure says. Inside, I walk down a darkened corridor where Disney’s Cinderella is being screened on a loop, before I am stopped by a photographer who backs me up against a green screen. “Pose for a photograph, sir?” he says, innocently. I smile awkwardly, the flash goes off and I move on.

In the main room, it is so dark that it takes a while for your eyes to readjust. When they do, a life-sized Technicolor horror scene emerges. Cinderella, it seems, has had a nasty accident in her horse-drawn coach, which has been smashed open and lies on its side. The princess’s lifeless body is hanging out of the window. Beside the carriage is a crowd of paparazzi photographers, their flashbulbs strobing incessantly as they record every gory detail. It is Disney reimagined for the Princess Diana generation, as unpleasant to view as it is difficult to look away.

Cinderella’s coach crash (PA)

And there is another, even darker twist. As you exit the castle, you can buy the “souvenir picture” taken at the beginning, at “just £5 for a 6x8-inch photograph complete with Dismaland display card”. The catch? The background of the picture shows Cinderella’s fatal accident, with you grinning in the foreground. Gotcha.

Dotted around the park are works of remarkable ingenuity and equally biting satire. A cabin beside the children’s play area advertises “Payday Loans 4 Kids: get an advance on your pocket money today”. The only way to catch a glimpse of the company’s punitive interest rate is by bouncing on a trampoline.

A merry-go-round in one corner looks normal – until you notice one gaudily painted horse has been strung up by its hind legs by a man wearing white butcher’s overalls, perched on a cardboard box marked “LASAGNE”.

“I guess you’d say it’s a theme park whose big theme is – theme parks should have bigger themes,” Banksy said of his new creation.

A Dismaland piece featuring David Cameron (PA)

The three galleries, described as “the finest collection of contemporary art ever assembled in a north Somerset seaside town”, are worth double the modest entrance fee on their own, but the park’s immersive nature is what makes it memorable.

Staff stay admirably in character at all times and are resolutely depressed about their duties. Some spout twisted platitudes intended to poke fun at the have-a-nice-day friendliness of American theme parks: “Welcome to Dismaland. Get rich or try dying. Enjoy!”

In his written foreword to Dismaland’s brochure, Banksy suggests that in the face of “global injustice”, “climate catastrophe” and “a lack of meaningful jobs”, today’s children should be taught that “maybe all that escapism will have to wait”.