Halloween Haunt 2019
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
YES! To be clear, each showing of Blood Reign is completely different. I myself have not seen all of the showings yet, but I hope that I can accomplish that feat soon enough.
My personal favorite so far is the clown that is beheaded at the 10pm hour... I won’t spoil it but it is definitely worth checking out.
The Overlord’s beheading is also worth sticking around for... especially because of the special surprise at the end!
That sounds really neat!
I'm sad there is no way I'll be humanly capable of staying up that late.
I'm sad there is no way I'll be humanly capable of staying up that late.
I really liked the music and lights on I Street, great use of their lighting package. All they need now are those theatrical lighting rigs that depict ghosts and spider webs and they're ?
I didn't notice that last night so I'm glad you pointed that out. Friday they still had the old soundtrack and it was hilarious. Every time they played Sweet Caroline and it came to that DA-DA-DAAH instrumental reply to the vocal lines I'd hear someone go DA-DA-DAAH and when they played it right after the final stage act it seemed like half of everyone did it and lots of people singing along. Terrible soundtrack for scary but I must admit lots of people were finding it great for acting silly!
Alright, I am waaaaayyy late to this, but had a pretty busy weekend, so just now getting around to providing my own review of Haunt. I went Friday (10/11) with my girlfriend and a friend of hers and we had a great time overall. Up front, we did skip a few things due to running out of time from focusing a bit more on rides than we usually do, so waiting in line for coasters cost us time to do Blackout, Tollway, and IronWorx. If I'm being honest, I wasn't bummed about skipping those and we decided that if we were to have to miss out on Blackout / Tollway or Twisted Timbers / Initimidator, we were gonna sacrifice the two mazes. We also didn't do any shows, which isn't new for us.
We got there close to 8 and were able to hit 5 mazes, 5 scare zones, and 4 rides (Dominator, Intimidator, Backlot, and finished the night off with Twisted Timbers). For those wondering if Friday crowds are lighter, yes, they always are and that's what we do every year. If we hadn't hit as many rides, we would have easily gotten through all the mazes. I think the longest we waited for a maze was maybe 20 minutes for Condemned. We also didn't run into any issues with crowds acting like jerks or any of that crap from opening night.
I will say, I HATE the music on International Street. Agreed with most of this forum, the music ruins that part of the park's usually awesome atmosphere. Stay creepy, KD. This isn't a party. If I want a party - which I never do - I will go to a party. Not much else to say there that hasn't already been said. The rest of the park still looks and feels good though.
This list is in the order we went through the houses. Granted, this isn't super fresh in my head after a few days, but here we go...
Cornstalkers - When this first debuted, it was my absolute favorite. Since then, it's had ups and downs for me. Sometimes it's a blast, other times it's lacking in actors, and every now and then I just get stuck near the back of a big group, which takes away scares. This year, even though we were near the back of a large group, we had a pretty fun time. Personally, I thought it was really well staffed and the actors were pretty into it when we went through. All 3 of us got a few good scares each and one on me was really good, with one guy coming around a corner in my face, which caused me to jump back into the corn, resulting in a good laugh from some of the people ahead of us. The bungee actor at the end got a great scare on my girlfriend's friend, which was amazing. Overall, it was a good way to start the night.
While we had a good time in Cornstalkers, I do wish the actors could blend in more with the corn. Don't get me wrong, there were a few good jump scares on me, but it was more because I came around a corner and couldn't see them or they got me after I had already seen them and walked past. The actors did a good job with it, I just wish they could maybe blend in with the corn a bit more so they can really surprise you. Maybe even just making it darker would help. Not sure, but that's always one thing I really wanna see KD do with Cornstalkers.
Condemned - I love how they've refreshed No Vacancy with the lights out. I loved No Vacancy every year, but you could argue it started to get stale since not much changed. However, going in the dark is a blast. It really did put our group more on edge than any other house, even when we weren't getting scared. We definitely didn't benefit from being in the middle of a group, but again, we had a handful of good scares and I thought the actors were doing a great job. The guy in laundry room actually managed to get a few scares on our group just by himself... in an open room... that's impressive. One of my favorites of the night.
One really funny story involving the actors, and I've never seen this happen before. I don't remember which room, but I had hung back a bit to get some separation from the group in front of us. Coming into one of the rooms, an actor came running damn near full speed through the room, yelling something at me (which did get me to jump). But since it's, ya know... dark... he didn't see a girl actor on the floor in the doorway who was crouched down and ready to scare me too. He ran into her pretty hard and both of them immediately broke character, both laughing (she was clearly okay, don't worry), and him saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!". A third actor was also laughing and checking on the girl, realized they had - understandably - broken character and was like "You killed her again!!! I'm so proud of you!!!" It was really funny. Glad the girl was okay, but one of the funniest moments of the night.
Blood on the Bayou - This house looks amazing. The sets, the props, the actors, they all look great. Add in the different levels that they manage to use and the house is just an absolute treat to look at. But damn it, they just can't seem to figure out to make it scary. For one, there was nobody at the front to break up the groups, so it was just a congo line, which I've never seen on a Friday. It really wasn't needed and it ruined the whole experience. Again, the house is awesome to look at, which gives it a few points alone, but it feels wasted with a light staff. The actors we did see were kinda just lurking, which to be fair, could have been because of the congo line and they needed a chance to reset. Such a shame.
Trick or Treat - Another house that is awesome to look at, yet I was a little worried about based on previous year experiences with lack of scares. But I was wrong. Being in front of the group made all the difference in the world, I'm sure, but this house gave us the most scares of the night. Actors were jumping at us everywhere and there weren't a ton of "lurkers", which was nice. There was one point where an actor scared me as I came into a room, which made me jump back and scream a certain four letter F word, and as I turned 180 degrees, another actor got right in my face for another great scare, leading to another of that aforementioned F word (I tend to yell that a lot. Weird instinct).
This house looks amazing and if you get the chance to take in the details, do so. It's so cool to look at and the actors are ready for it because every time I started focusing more on the details of the house, an actor was there to scare the crap out of me. I think for all 3 of us, this was easily our favorite of the night.
Lockdown - Last year, this was my favorite house, with really energetic actors all over the place and a really chaotic environment in general with all the noise and visuals. After reading reviews from this year, I was nervous about this one being a dud, but while it wasn't the top house of the night, it was solid and better than I had expected from reading those reviews. It still felt pretty chaotic, which put me on edge throughout the house, and the actors we came across were pretty into it. There probably could have been a few more actors, but it was still a solid, fun house.
So the houses were in general a really good time. For the most part, staffing was pretty good across the houses and they were mostly into it. Each house gave our group at least a few scares - some more than others - and a fun time, which is all you can ask for, right? I rarely come out of a house thinking "Man, that sucked" and that didn't happen tonight. Here is my ranking of the houses:
1. Trick or Treat - Great atmosphere, awesome sets and props, and actors all over the place. Also had the best scare of the night.
2. Condemned - So tense going through with a flashlight and it really reinvigorates an older house. A lot of actors clearly having a great time.
3. Cornstalkers - Always up and down, but this was more of an up year for us. A handful of good scares for each of the 3 of us.
4. Lockdown - Chaotic environment, which was cool. Solid house overall.
5. Blood on the Bayou - Beautiful house, but the congo line ruined it. Needed more actors and less "lurkers".
As for a ranking of the scare zones (minus IronWorx since we didn't go through it):
1. Pumpkin Eater - If this is the future of scare zones at KD, holy crap am I excited. I loooooved the look and the atmosphere of this thing. The props are absolutely amazing to me and there were more actors than I expected. The woman on stilts got my girlfriend really good and wouldn't leave her alone, which was impressive on stilts given how fast she was walking. Granted, we went through twice, one of which was at the end of the night, so there were less people for them to scare, so they ganged up on us. My girlfriend took off running from one actor, who of course chased her, and then as she turned the corner around the house, two other actors got her on separate scares (we could seriously hear her screaming) and also chased her through the other end of the scare zone. I loved the new addition and can't wait to see how the scare zones evolve over the next few years to match the quality of Pumpkin Eater and the newer houses' set designs.
2. Necropolis - I always forget how big this one is, and every year, I have a blast in it. The actors are always high energy and were on top of their game. Absolutely loved it. One very large actor got me by standing behind me while grabbing a drink from a vending machine. He must have been there for a while and I just didn't notice till I turned around and ran into him. Scared the hell out of me. Always one of my favorites and it didn't disappoint this year.
3. Cleaver Brothers - Another one of my favorites every year. The atmosphere is always great and the actors energetic. Fortunately, both times we walked through, Blood Drums was not playing, so it didn't screw up the atmosphere. We had a couple of good scares here, but not a ton. With it being so large and open, there aren't many places for the actors to hide, so most of the time, they kind of have to rely on sneaking up on you. That didn't happen much this year with us, but it is still a fun one to walk through for the atmosphere alone. The actors also tend to be funnier, obviously, than the other zones and houses, which always makes for a good time.
4. The Yard - Odd one for me this year. It was well staffed and I really like the set up. The low ranking is a bit deceiving because I do think it is a great scare zone, we just happened to not get really any scares, unfortunately. It's chaotic and the actors are into it, we just got unlucky in a decent sized crowd both times. Not so much a knock on the scare zone itself, just bad luck on our part.
5. Masquerade - Much like everyone else, I don't get calling this a scare zone. I won't repeat what everyone else has said since I agree with it. Though I will say, there was one guy walking around the edge of the zone, off to the right of the tower, that was having a good time and got our group once and I saw him scare a few other groups too. His main tool was snapping his fan, but he was clearly having a lot of fun with his character and kind of heckling the guests too. Credit to him, but otherwise, I get why others didn't like this zone.
Overall, we had a great time, as we always do. I never leave Haunt disappointed and always recommend it to my friends. The houses were mostly well staffed and the actors were having a blast with their characters. When the actors have fun, guests will have fun. Looking forward to see what new house(s) we get next year and can't wait to see the evolution of the new scare zones. Hopefully they'll be more Pumpkin Eater than Masquerade.
We got there close to 8 and were able to hit 5 mazes, 5 scare zones, and 4 rides (Dominator, Intimidator, Backlot, and finished the night off with Twisted Timbers). For those wondering if Friday crowds are lighter, yes, they always are and that's what we do every year. If we hadn't hit as many rides, we would have easily gotten through all the mazes. I think the longest we waited for a maze was maybe 20 minutes for Condemned. We also didn't run into any issues with crowds acting like jerks or any of that crap from opening night.
I will say, I HATE the music on International Street. Agreed with most of this forum, the music ruins that part of the park's usually awesome atmosphere. Stay creepy, KD. This isn't a party. If I want a party - which I never do - I will go to a party. Not much else to say there that hasn't already been said. The rest of the park still looks and feels good though.
This list is in the order we went through the houses. Granted, this isn't super fresh in my head after a few days, but here we go...
Cornstalkers - When this first debuted, it was my absolute favorite. Since then, it's had ups and downs for me. Sometimes it's a blast, other times it's lacking in actors, and every now and then I just get stuck near the back of a big group, which takes away scares. This year, even though we were near the back of a large group, we had a pretty fun time. Personally, I thought it was really well staffed and the actors were pretty into it when we went through. All 3 of us got a few good scares each and one on me was really good, with one guy coming around a corner in my face, which caused me to jump back into the corn, resulting in a good laugh from some of the people ahead of us. The bungee actor at the end got a great scare on my girlfriend's friend, which was amazing. Overall, it was a good way to start the night.
While we had a good time in Cornstalkers, I do wish the actors could blend in more with the corn. Don't get me wrong, there were a few good jump scares on me, but it was more because I came around a corner and couldn't see them or they got me after I had already seen them and walked past. The actors did a good job with it, I just wish they could maybe blend in with the corn a bit more so they can really surprise you. Maybe even just making it darker would help. Not sure, but that's always one thing I really wanna see KD do with Cornstalkers.
Condemned - I love how they've refreshed No Vacancy with the lights out. I loved No Vacancy every year, but you could argue it started to get stale since not much changed. However, going in the dark is a blast. It really did put our group more on edge than any other house, even when we weren't getting scared. We definitely didn't benefit from being in the middle of a group, but again, we had a handful of good scares and I thought the actors were doing a great job. The guy in laundry room actually managed to get a few scares on our group just by himself... in an open room... that's impressive. One of my favorites of the night.
One really funny story involving the actors, and I've never seen this happen before. I don't remember which room, but I had hung back a bit to get some separation from the group in front of us. Coming into one of the rooms, an actor came running damn near full speed through the room, yelling something at me (which did get me to jump). But since it's, ya know... dark... he didn't see a girl actor on the floor in the doorway who was crouched down and ready to scare me too. He ran into her pretty hard and both of them immediately broke character, both laughing (she was clearly okay, don't worry), and him saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!". A third actor was also laughing and checking on the girl, realized they had - understandably - broken character and was like "You killed her again!!! I'm so proud of you!!!" It was really funny. Glad the girl was okay, but one of the funniest moments of the night.
Blood on the Bayou - This house looks amazing. The sets, the props, the actors, they all look great. Add in the different levels that they manage to use and the house is just an absolute treat to look at. But damn it, they just can't seem to figure out to make it scary. For one, there was nobody at the front to break up the groups, so it was just a congo line, which I've never seen on a Friday. It really wasn't needed and it ruined the whole experience. Again, the house is awesome to look at, which gives it a few points alone, but it feels wasted with a light staff. The actors we did see were kinda just lurking, which to be fair, could have been because of the congo line and they needed a chance to reset. Such a shame.
Trick or Treat - Another house that is awesome to look at, yet I was a little worried about based on previous year experiences with lack of scares. But I was wrong. Being in front of the group made all the difference in the world, I'm sure, but this house gave us the most scares of the night. Actors were jumping at us everywhere and there weren't a ton of "lurkers", which was nice. There was one point where an actor scared me as I came into a room, which made me jump back and scream a certain four letter F word, and as I turned 180 degrees, another actor got right in my face for another great scare, leading to another of that aforementioned F word (I tend to yell that a lot. Weird instinct).
This house looks amazing and if you get the chance to take in the details, do so. It's so cool to look at and the actors are ready for it because every time I started focusing more on the details of the house, an actor was there to scare the crap out of me. I think for all 3 of us, this was easily our favorite of the night.
Lockdown - Last year, this was my favorite house, with really energetic actors all over the place and a really chaotic environment in general with all the noise and visuals. After reading reviews from this year, I was nervous about this one being a dud, but while it wasn't the top house of the night, it was solid and better than I had expected from reading those reviews. It still felt pretty chaotic, which put me on edge throughout the house, and the actors we came across were pretty into it. There probably could have been a few more actors, but it was still a solid, fun house.
So the houses were in general a really good time. For the most part, staffing was pretty good across the houses and they were mostly into it. Each house gave our group at least a few scares - some more than others - and a fun time, which is all you can ask for, right? I rarely come out of a house thinking "Man, that sucked" and that didn't happen tonight. Here is my ranking of the houses:
1. Trick or Treat - Great atmosphere, awesome sets and props, and actors all over the place. Also had the best scare of the night.
2. Condemned - So tense going through with a flashlight and it really reinvigorates an older house. A lot of actors clearly having a great time.
3. Cornstalkers - Always up and down, but this was more of an up year for us. A handful of good scares for each of the 3 of us.
4. Lockdown - Chaotic environment, which was cool. Solid house overall.
5. Blood on the Bayou - Beautiful house, but the congo line ruined it. Needed more actors and less "lurkers".
As for a ranking of the scare zones (minus IronWorx since we didn't go through it):
1. Pumpkin Eater - If this is the future of scare zones at KD, holy crap am I excited. I loooooved the look and the atmosphere of this thing. The props are absolutely amazing to me and there were more actors than I expected. The woman on stilts got my girlfriend really good and wouldn't leave her alone, which was impressive on stilts given how fast she was walking. Granted, we went through twice, one of which was at the end of the night, so there were less people for them to scare, so they ganged up on us. My girlfriend took off running from one actor, who of course chased her, and then as she turned the corner around the house, two other actors got her on separate scares (we could seriously hear her screaming) and also chased her through the other end of the scare zone. I loved the new addition and can't wait to see how the scare zones evolve over the next few years to match the quality of Pumpkin Eater and the newer houses' set designs.
2. Necropolis - I always forget how big this one is, and every year, I have a blast in it. The actors are always high energy and were on top of their game. Absolutely loved it. One very large actor got me by standing behind me while grabbing a drink from a vending machine. He must have been there for a while and I just didn't notice till I turned around and ran into him. Scared the hell out of me. Always one of my favorites and it didn't disappoint this year.
3. Cleaver Brothers - Another one of my favorites every year. The atmosphere is always great and the actors energetic. Fortunately, both times we walked through, Blood Drums was not playing, so it didn't screw up the atmosphere. We had a couple of good scares here, but not a ton. With it being so large and open, there aren't many places for the actors to hide, so most of the time, they kind of have to rely on sneaking up on you. That didn't happen much this year with us, but it is still a fun one to walk through for the atmosphere alone. The actors also tend to be funnier, obviously, than the other zones and houses, which always makes for a good time.
4. The Yard - Odd one for me this year. It was well staffed and I really like the set up. The low ranking is a bit deceiving because I do think it is a great scare zone, we just happened to not get really any scares, unfortunately. It's chaotic and the actors are into it, we just got unlucky in a decent sized crowd both times. Not so much a knock on the scare zone itself, just bad luck on our part.
5. Masquerade - Much like everyone else, I don't get calling this a scare zone. I won't repeat what everyone else has said since I agree with it. Though I will say, there was one guy walking around the edge of the zone, off to the right of the tower, that was having a good time and got our group once and I saw him scare a few other groups too. His main tool was snapping his fan, but he was clearly having a lot of fun with his character and kind of heckling the guests too. Credit to him, but otherwise, I get why others didn't like this zone.
Overall, we had a great time, as we always do. I never leave Haunt disappointed and always recommend it to my friends. The houses were mostly well staffed and the actors were having a blast with their characters. When the actors have fun, guests will have fun. Looking forward to see what new house(s) we get next year and can't wait to see the evolution of the new scare zones. Hopefully they'll be more Pumpkin Eater than Masquerade.
One thing ablut Condemmed that I wish they would do is give everyone a light, and if needed make them dimmer. I always end up in a group of like 6 and only one light. By the 3rd peoson you dont get to see anything but the exit signs lit up in red. I can feel the people moving around me but no Idea what they look like. Heck I get to see more in blackout.
The new, darker music playing on International Street and in the Twisted Timbers plaza makes a world of difference for improving Haunt’s atmosphere. It felt like Haunt’s dark, sinister mood was finally back on Friday.
Also, Masquerade was actually performing thanks to a few scare actors who were really trying - especially one guy who seemed to absolutely love his job, literally running from group to group and snapping his fan behind them and then offering a sarcastic quip. There’s still zero atmosphere in this “scare zone” to speak of, but at least it’s making up for the Venetian characters that International Street lost.
The rest of the event was performing beautifully on Friday, the best I’ve seen it in a long time probably thanks to the smaller crowds, especially Tollway Terror, Necropolis, and Pumpkin Eater. Pumpkin Eater seems to have benefited from even more props and a stilt walker whose massive height combined with the confined space of the arbor tunnel makes him a great scare.
Also, Masquerade was actually performing thanks to a few scare actors who were really trying - especially one guy who seemed to absolutely love his job, literally running from group to group and snapping his fan behind them and then offering a sarcastic quip. There’s still zero atmosphere in this “scare zone” to speak of, but at least it’s making up for the Venetian characters that International Street lost.
The rest of the event was performing beautifully on Friday, the best I’ve seen it in a long time probably thanks to the smaller crowds, especially Tollway Terror, Necropolis, and Pumpkin Eater. Pumpkin Eater seems to have benefited from even more props and a stilt walker whose massive height combined with the confined space of the arbor tunnel makes him a great scare.
Kind of bummed I didn’t get to experience Haunt without Sweet Caroline.
Went tonight, absolute dead tonight. Did not wait more than 2min for anything. Trick Or Treat not a single soul was in the line so me and my fiance went through alone. And i have no idea what yall are talking about blackout being to bright. I couldnt see a damn thing
It's still partially stuck in my head. Not as bad as the first week.
I think it's somewhat appropriate they changed music instead of starting with the real stuff. Beginning of Haunt it gets dark too late and is too warm to get the full mood anyway.
I find blackout is such a hit or miss house in terms of darkness. :/ But over the years the house has been there, I've been through it once maybe twice where it gives you the promised darkness.
But earlier in the season this year, it was definitely too bright, if I can see the actors and the walls it's too bright for a house based in darkness. It's sad when Condemned was a significantly darker house.
But I'm glad that it was dark for you at least. It means they adjusted it finally
The 1st half was terrible. I honestly dont want it literally pitch black. I dont want people running into me, me running into walls. Its just not fun in my opinion. I have no idea how the actors work in darkness all night. Condemed was just the right amount of darkness
Well from what I understand/been told, which this could be wrong, the first year or so the actors had night vision, so they could see you. That clearly isn't the case anymore however.
That's kind of the point of the house though, is for it to be as close to pitch black as possible. It's the reason for the strobe at the beginning, to disrupt your night vision. If you can see the walls it's too bright, because as you made have noticed the walls have textures and stuff on them. You're kind of supposed to go in blindly and follow the walls as best you can with extreme minimal light. Unfortunately, bumping into others and such is par for the course with Blackout. In previous years I found more guests get scared bc of other guests rather than the actors doing a good job. This isn't like an endorsement for people bumping into you or touching you on accident or on purpose. (Because I definitely had another guest grab my ass in the house. And it was definitely a purposeful grab :') ) but it's definitely... A normal occurance.
It's always been a house that works in theory but not in practice. And it's really why I want the house gone. :/
I cant believe they got rid of doll house for it. I loved that maze so much
I loved Dollhouse. It was usually one of my favorite houses every year and that final room with the mannequins was my favorite scene of any house at the park.
That being said, it was starting to show its age, especially with the other new houses having such high quality sets. Kind of a shame because the premise of the house with the higher quality sets of Trick or Treat and Blood on the Bayou would make for a pretty incredible house, I would think.