I'll be going on 10/5 for my birfday! (which really isn't until the 16th, but shh)
KD's Haunt is my favorite!
KD's Haunt is my favorite!
Halloween Haunt 2013
- Thread starter ZebraShoes
- Start date
Just got home and have to say it was an amazing night! I only saw Blood Drums and didn't do one of the mazes , Blue Ridge Bloodbath, mainly because of the friend that I was with. But I did some mazes twice and have to say it was a really nice opening night! The cast could use some work in some of the Mazes on how they approach some of their scars, but overall did well. I don't expect them to be perfect their first night anyway.
I don't know when I will be back just yet, but my full review pertaining my overall thoughts.
Anyways, I will do a little trip report here once I can acess a computer again.
If you want to read some of my thoughts, then check out our twitter page (@KDFansOnline) for some quick thoughts as I left each house.
I don't know when I will be back just yet, but my full review pertaining my overall thoughts.
Anyways, I will do a little trip report here once I can acess a computer again.
If you want to read some of my thoughts, then check out our twitter page (@KDFansOnline) for some quick thoughts as I left each house.
I was there as well. Crowds were surprisingly light. I thought they did a great job for opening night. Anyway, here are some thoughts:
Overlord Resurrection - This wasn't much of a show, but one of those little performances put on before the park opens. It was short, but very cool. Lots of the scare actors gathered at the front of the park as his minions before they were sent off into the park. Great effect! I would like to see Busch Gardens do this, too--or maybe have some type of show like this when the park opens up every day during the main season at KD (not sure how that would work, though).
Edge of Darkness - Not a bad show, but I personally didn't think it was very good, either. For one thing, there was almost nothing Halloween-y about it except for the painted faces of the performers and a giant target in the middle of the set. There were some good moments, like when one of the characters "possesses" another character into dancing. There was also a song in Spanish, which didn't make sense, but it was cool. On the other hand, the talent was great--I was very impressed by their skill and singing ability. I would not be surprised to see a few of the performers trying to make their way to Busch Gardens and beyond sooner or later. But as far as the show goes, it was a much more typical Cedar Fair show than what I'd like to see at Kings Dominion, which surprised me because of the successful On Broadway show earlier in the season. Overall, I thought the Night Shift was better, but the performers are still great!
Note: The scheduled 10:00 showing of Edge of Darkness (second performance) was cancelled at the last minute due to technical difficulties. I was just worried there was something more to it, but the reason for those thoughts it Mix It Up's fault.
Blood Drums - Performing on the new Grove Stage with lots of cool set pieces, these guys were awesome! I managed to catch (and record most of) the first performance. The cast was full of energy, in to what they were doing, and very talented. There also seemed to be a larger cast than I expected. A few songs went a little too long and got a bit repetitive, but it was otherwise an awesome show. It actually reminded me a lot of a mini Monster Stomp. Very cool!
Expect to see my recording up soon!
Blue Ridge Bloodbath - The only "maze" I did last night. We did it first thing to avoid long lines, so I ended up being on the very first ride of the night. I really like the concept, and they had some great hiding places. However, the first half of the ride was horribly understaffed. It was still fun, though. More of a pass than a fail.
The Lair - I could have spent all night walking through this scare zone. I think the scare actors in here were by far the best: they had lots of energy and worked hard. When one scare actor came up to me and said "I smell fresh blood...", I responded mockingly by saying, "Thanks for noticing! I just showered." What I didn't know is that two more actors had come up behind me while I said this! This scare zone, which is in the covered ivy path in Old Virginia, was just so much fun. It almost felt like a maze, since you were closed off from everything else in the dark, but there were no lines! Kudos to the actors here for making this my favorite scare zone, even though it wasn't very long. I must have gone through at least six times last night! Did I mention that I liked this scare zone?
Other Notes
Cleaver Brothers Carnival scare zone in the Grove and PrimEvil in the Congo were both horribly understaffed. I didn't think they did Cleaver Brothers Carnival (clowns) very well, but that's probably because I'm comparing it to my all-time favorite Halloween event maze, Fear Fair at Busch Gardens. Music choices were great, especially with the creepy, but not overdone, entrance music on International Street. The Scare Zone in Old Virginia between the Action Theater and the General Store was also very good, and really long. I also took a fantastic picture of Anaconda, Drop Tower, and Windseeker in the sunset, emerging from the fog from Intimidator's line, but it got deleted! SO mad! Stupid phone!
Anyway, I thought opening night went very well. A few areas were lacking in decorations, though, and they need to increase staffing in the scare zones. And give some kind of award to The Lair. That thing is great! One final note: the scare actors became noticeably tired as the night went on. I did every scare zone except Feary Tales early on, and again around 11. While every actors was full of energy at the beginning, many just sat and stared at me toward the end. Nowhere near as many fun scares later on (except The Lair, again. Since they didn't give up as much, this may be why I like this scare zone so much). I will say that this caused me to let my guard down, so I give kudos to the actors who were still working hard and gave me a good scare! The guy disguised as a planter on International Street made me jump twice: entering and exiting. Ha! Great job on the event, though, Kings Dominion!
Overlord Resurrection - This wasn't much of a show, but one of those little performances put on before the park opens. It was short, but very cool. Lots of the scare actors gathered at the front of the park as his minions before they were sent off into the park. Great effect! I would like to see Busch Gardens do this, too--or maybe have some type of show like this when the park opens up every day during the main season at KD (not sure how that would work, though).
Edge of Darkness - Not a bad show, but I personally didn't think it was very good, either. For one thing, there was almost nothing Halloween-y about it except for the painted faces of the performers and a giant target in the middle of the set. There were some good moments, like when one of the characters "possesses" another character into dancing. There was also a song in Spanish, which didn't make sense, but it was cool. On the other hand, the talent was great--I was very impressed by their skill and singing ability. I would not be surprised to see a few of the performers trying to make their way to Busch Gardens and beyond sooner or later. But as far as the show goes, it was a much more typical Cedar Fair show than what I'd like to see at Kings Dominion, which surprised me because of the successful On Broadway show earlier in the season. Overall, I thought the Night Shift was better, but the performers are still great!
Note: The scheduled 10:00 showing of Edge of Darkness (second performance) was cancelled at the last minute due to technical difficulties. I was just worried there was something more to it, but the reason for those thoughts it Mix It Up's fault.
Blood Drums - Performing on the new Grove Stage with lots of cool set pieces, these guys were awesome! I managed to catch (and record most of) the first performance. The cast was full of energy, in to what they were doing, and very talented. There also seemed to be a larger cast than I expected. A few songs went a little too long and got a bit repetitive, but it was otherwise an awesome show. It actually reminded me a lot of a mini Monster Stomp. Very cool!
Expect to see my recording up soon!
Blue Ridge Bloodbath - The only "maze" I did last night. We did it first thing to avoid long lines, so I ended up being on the very first ride of the night. I really like the concept, and they had some great hiding places. However, the first half of the ride was horribly understaffed. It was still fun, though. More of a pass than a fail.
The Lair - I could have spent all night walking through this scare zone. I think the scare actors in here were by far the best: they had lots of energy and worked hard. When one scare actor came up to me and said "I smell fresh blood...", I responded mockingly by saying, "Thanks for noticing! I just showered." What I didn't know is that two more actors had come up behind me while I said this! This scare zone, which is in the covered ivy path in Old Virginia, was just so much fun. It almost felt like a maze, since you were closed off from everything else in the dark, but there were no lines! Kudos to the actors here for making this my favorite scare zone, even though it wasn't very long. I must have gone through at least six times last night! Did I mention that I liked this scare zone?
Other Notes
Cleaver Brothers Carnival scare zone in the Grove and PrimEvil in the Congo were both horribly understaffed. I didn't think they did Cleaver Brothers Carnival (clowns) very well, but that's probably because I'm comparing it to my all-time favorite Halloween event maze, Fear Fair at Busch Gardens. Music choices were great, especially with the creepy, but not overdone, entrance music on International Street. The Scare Zone in Old Virginia between the Action Theater and the General Store was also very good, and really long. I also took a fantastic picture of Anaconda, Drop Tower, and Windseeker in the sunset, emerging from the fog from Intimidator's line, but it got deleted! SO mad! Stupid phone!
Anyway, I thought opening night went very well. A few areas were lacking in decorations, though, and they need to increase staffing in the scare zones. And give some kind of award to The Lair. That thing is great! One final note: the scare actors became noticeably tired as the night went on. I did every scare zone except Feary Tales early on, and again around 11. While every actors was full of energy at the beginning, many just sat and stared at me toward the end. Nowhere near as many fun scares later on (except The Lair, again. Since they didn't give up as much, this may be why I like this scare zone so much). I will say that this caused me to let my guard down, so I give kudos to the actors who were still working hard and gave me a good scare! The guy disguised as a planter on International Street made me jump twice: entering and exiting. Ha! Great job on the event, though, Kings Dominion!
My first upload is up!
So this is the new style of theme park shows?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR66S_-lEs0&feature=youtu.be
Seem familiar? Haunt's Uprising show at the Grande Bandstand seems to be a miniature (and equally awful) version of Killarney Kommotion. The horror! I guess failure really can spread...
Anyway, enjoy the video! And don't forget to subscribe!
So this is the new style of theme park shows?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR66S_-lEs0&feature=youtu.be
Seem familiar? Haunt's Uprising show at the Grande Bandstand seems to be a miniature (and equally awful) version of Killarney Kommotion. The horror! I guess failure really can spread...
Anyway, enjoy the video! And don't forget to subscribe!
^It's different at KD, because BGW is KNOWN for having top-notch shows, not ^!!
I think this is a dramatic overreaction. Parks across the country have had songs that use/d current pop songs. Many shows have done this. It is nothing new. The only thing new is that BGW covered up part of their theater with scaffolding. Otherwise, its been done before many times.
Hoopla said:
Pretty much this. KD hasn't had a history of great shows like BGW has, so KD can get away with that crap and nobody will bat an eye. Something on this level at BGW (aka KK) should be rather alarming.
To be fair, KD has had shows like that for some time. I doubt it's stolen from BGW, more of the opposite if anything.
I'm not saying that, either. I just thought it was funny how both shows seemed somewhat similar. That's all. Not that KD's shows are all as good as what Busch Gardens' shows should be like. Not that they "stole" the idea.
On a somewhat related note, could we create show-specific threads for Haunt?
On a somewhat related note, could we create show-specific threads for Haunt?
Pretzel Kaiser said:
Your Statement above is very wrong.
Kings Dominion had excellent live entertainment during the Family Leisure/Taft/Keco years of management (1975-1992). Kings Dominion and Busch were on par with each other in that area of the amusement business during those years. Kings Productions, the park chain entertainment division, created, designed and produced all live entertainment for all the parks. I know some things were outsourced (Costumes were designed in-house and those designs were then sent to be fabricated in New York city by companies that create costumes for Broadway shows. I believe the same was done for set pieces).
Bill, aka KDFanPre91, shot video of the last three shows in the Mason Dixon Music Hall 1990-1992(now the Kings Dominion theater). These are in multiple sections. I am just including one each as a sample).
"Live At the Palace" (1990). Story line of performers in a current show in an old Broadway theater and depicting the history of the shows performed over the different eras of time in that theater. Video clip below shows the last 3 sets (solo, 1940's Big Band era, Finale).
"Live at the Palace" 1990
"Dancin' in the City" (1991). An "Around the World" trip of song and dance. Opening number.
"Dancin' in the City" Opening Number
"It's Magic" (1992 - final year of Kings Production show before Paramount takeover). Co-Production with magician Mark Wilson (Productions). Magic, song and Dance.
"Its Magic" Opening Number
This is just a sampling of the indoor shows at what is now the Kings Dominion theater; Most of which ran for for just one year before rotating to another park in the chain. (Keep in mind that ALL parks in the former Taft/KECO park chain had at least one indoor theater that had the exact same stage dimensions (H x W x D) as the theaters in all the other parks; therefore, they could breakdown the raised stage, set pieces & scrims, and light rigging, ship them to the next park for setting up to perform the next season). These shows would cost 3+ million in today's dollars to create, fabricate, and produce. The park chain got a good ROI by having these shows run 3-5 years, in several parks, before retiring them.
Some of the outdoor shows featured 6 to 10 performers along with a LIVE band to accompany the performers (6 to 10 musicians). There are some snippets of those shows in Bill's general park history videos.
There is some rare footage of an earlier show called "Gotta Dance" that played at KD in the mid-80's (either '84-'85 of '85-'86 - maybe the only show that ran 2 years in a row). This video was shot at Carowinds and Great America (exact same show performed at KD though). Look it up bad quality video back then compared to the HD recorders of today).
For fun and giggles, here is a video Bill shot of BGW's show "Rockin' the Boat" from 1998.
"Rockin' the Boat" Opening number
My apologies, I've only been to KD during the paramount days and later. If KD's shows were better quality before that then that's fine and I'll concede to the fact that paramount ruined quite a few things about KD. I do want to thank you for showing me these clips.
I can only go by what I've seen at KD and in the past few decades, it's been rather uninspired. The fact remains that BGW had quality shows (I'll admit, there were a few flops pre-Scott) for a bit longer than KD. Not to mention that as far as pop music in the park, KD has been doing it quite a bit longer than BGW, a trend which is still happening after Paramount. I'll admit that pop music actually fits like KD so it's not as bad (a bit annoying personally) as BGW though.
I can only go by what I've seen at KD and in the past few decades, it's been rather uninspired. The fact remains that BGW had quality shows (I'll admit, there were a few flops pre-Scott) for a bit longer than KD. Not to mention that as far as pop music in the park, KD has been doing it quite a bit longer than BGW, a trend which is still happening after Paramount. I'll admit that pop music actually fits like KD so it's not as bad (a bit annoying personally) as BGW though.
It's (a)live! My recording of Blood Drums' first performance of the season!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLH6gHCHpE&feature=youtu.be
Sorry about the shaky video at the beginning. I'm still getting the hang of theme park photography. Anyway, enjoy! I actually thought this was a fun show. There was lots of energy, and it actually reminded me of a mini Monster Stomp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYLH6gHCHpE&feature=youtu.be
Sorry about the shaky video at the beginning. I'm still getting the hang of theme park photography.
Anyway, enjoy! I actually thought this was a fun show. There was lots of energy, and it actually reminded me of a mini Monster Stomp.
Dr. Felix Freakenstein said:
I will talk with Zachary in a bit and see what is best. Hopefully something will be done by the end of the day.
Show threads have been made and they can be found here.
I'm not the best with history, so if someone does know the year that each of the shows premiered, please leave a comment in the designated thread! Thanks!
I'm not the best with history, so if someone does know the year that each of the shows premiered, please leave a comment in the designated thread! Thanks!