Halloween Haunt 2014
- Thread starter wombat96
- Start date
International Street is a cemetery this year. It's filled with monuments and headstones bearing the names of former rides at the park. That's one clever #KD40 throwback.
To answer a few questions: the basic idea of Overlord did not change. This year, six International Street characters (not sure what to call them) stood on a stage on either side of the Overlord, staying still for the most part but changing poses as the Overload talked.
Blue Ridge Bloodbath seemed much less "empty" this year. There were lots of giant rock structures and mine shafts along the way. Unfortunately, the attraction still was too short-staffed and even though there was almost double the hiding places as in the past, many areas were anti-climatic and didn't lively to their scaring potential. It's still a damn fine attraction, and if they would just put some more actors in it could be fantastic.
Nothing was done with the mushrooms, disappointingly. They didn't seem to be singing at night, though.
The Venetians were replaced with a troupe of people in Victorian outfits that were all white. These people were completely white, from head to toe. There were also some Victorian-era type characters running around International Street. Some of the old Venetian costumes were used as props at the Overlord's Resurrection. Looking back at it, I think the current International Street characters are references to the Black Plague.
Blue Ridge Bloodbath seemed much less "empty" this year. There were lots of giant rock structures and mine shafts along the way. Unfortunately, the attraction still was too short-staffed and even though there was almost double the hiding places as in the past, many areas were anti-climatic and didn't lively to their scaring potential. It's still a damn fine attraction, and if they would just put some more actors in it could be fantastic.
Nothing was done with the mushrooms, disappointingly. They didn't seem to be singing at night, though.
The Venetians were replaced with a troupe of people in Victorian outfits that were all white. These people were completely white, from head to toe. There were also some Victorian-era type characters running around International Street. Some of the old Venetian costumes were used as props at the Overlord's Resurrection. Looking back at it, I think the current International Street characters are references to the Black Plague.
ITS STILL A GIANT SPIDER! WHERE IS THE FLOWER CLOCKS HIDDEN FIRE EFFECTS WHEN YOU NEED THEM! How would you say MOM and the Skelton rooms were?
Skeleton Key downgrades your Haunt experience. Seriously. Don't use it.
Maze of Madness is a disaster. Worst house at the entire event opening night. Performances are off, but the bigger issue is that the house is just flat-out bad. Compared to KD's oldest houses (read: Outbreak), it's poorly themed. Worse yet, there's zero atmosphere to be experienced within. It is, as I said, to put it simply, a really bad house.
Lastly, Outbreak. Outbreak was tonight's best house, bar none. The cast was unlike anything I had ever seen before. My mind was blown... And I've always hated Outbreak. Crazy times...
Many more thoughts coming after I sleep. There were some wildly unexpected high points of the event tonight, but the headlining additions for this year's event (Maze of Madness and Skeleton Key) are just bad.
Maze of Madness is a disaster. Worst house at the entire event opening night. Performances are off, but the bigger issue is that the house is just flat-out bad. Compared to KD's oldest houses (read: Outbreak), it's poorly themed. Worse yet, there's zero atmosphere to be experienced within. It is, as I said, to put it simply, a really bad house.
Lastly, Outbreak. Outbreak was tonight's best house, bar none. The cast was unlike anything I had ever seen before. My mind was blown... And I've always hated Outbreak. Crazy times...
Many more thoughts coming after I sleep. There were some wildly unexpected high points of the event tonight, but the headlining additions for this year's event (Maze of Madness and Skeleton Key) are just bad.
Jonquil said:
I plan to write up some initial impressions today. I won't do a full review this early in the season, however.
Incidentally, there seems to be a huge double standard going on with some ParkFans. I saw and pointed out several strollers and children clearly under 13. No one seemed to care. I guarantee you there would have been a post dedicated to the issue, if that many had been at BGW.
Zachary said:
I definitely agree, Outbreak had a fantastic cast. The actors are pounding against walls, lying on the floor like they were dying, and literally screaming at you nonstop to get out. There was one person in a gas mask who followed us through almost the entire house practically freaking out, that we needed to get out of there. The cast did an amazing job. They vied with Club Blood as my favorite cast of the night.
I was a bit disappointed by how short Outbreak was, though. I realize there's not much room to do much because of its location in the Flight of Fear queue, but the whole maze felt like the "introduction" room to any other maze. When we reached the stairs to exit, I actually thought we were going into another room because I figured there was no way it was over. That was a serious "That was it?!" moment.
I have read in the past that Outbreak is a good concept, with bad execution. I have to disagree. House length aside, the actual house was thoroughly decorated and performed and honestly I thought it was one of the most immersive houses of the night. KD did a great job of creating a tense situation and it really felt like you were in a dangerous toxic-gas outbreak. If it were possible to lengthen the maze (probably not) it could have the potential to be one of the park's best mazes in my opinion.
Last night was my first night ever doing any mazes at KD, and I actually loved them. So all of my reviews are from a person fresh from their first 'real' Haunt experience.
Skeleton Key Spoilers! These are located in the houses, mostly at the start and two in the middle of the maze.
Maze of Madness-
Slaughter House-
Club Blood-
Zombie High-
Cornstalkers-
Overall-
I wasn't constantly being blocked by them in the middle of scare zones.
Other than that, I'll be getting a Feary Tales video up today, it was probably my favorite scare zone of the night.
Maze of Madness-
Your group looks for a diaper with a small plastic key in a tub in a foul smelling room while a man baby eggs you on. I appreciate the idea, but after a few minutes of not being able to find one, it became more irritating than anything.
Slaughter House-
You stick your hand in some cold instant ramen or other gross feeling things and look for a plastic key. It's a classic Halloween gag, but we were given no idea what to do here.
Club Blood-
You get a shot glass with something that tastes like blood and get to keep the shot glass. It tastes as you would expect blood to taste. I didn't hate it as much as people in the group, but totally not worth it.
Zombie High-
You go through a path of inflatable bag halls that does some turns. That's it.
Cornstalkers-
You go through a rope bridge path over some mulch. That's it.
Overall-
I love the idea, but the experiences they offered didn't add anything and even took away from the enjoyment a bit. Aside from the small plastic shot glass, the only thing you're buying the fast pass for is to skip the lines. I can't recommend this for the experience, and I would even go as far as just hiding your badge in the mazes to avoid them if you've already done them and just using it as a flash pass.
One thing I thought was really cool is that the actors in the rooms have the same costumes on, though.
One thing I thought was really cool is that the actors in the rooms have the same costumes on, though.
I wasn't constantly being blocked by them in the middle of scare zones.
Other than that, I'll be getting a Feary Tales video up today, it was probably my favorite scare zone of the night.