Are they seriously charging for mazes again after last year’s fiasco? Did they learn nothing?
Halloween Haunt 2026
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
I hope this is someone forgetting to edit last years T&C’s.
If this is real, please no one buy them. Vote with your dollar.
The only way they could get away with reinstating something that failed horribly last year is with an all-new house lineup, but we know that's not going to happen. So, I hope this is some type of error or misinformed assumption.
I'm torn on this. If they refuse to charge what they should for season passes and continue to give away the gate, and also make improvements to the mazes and/or fully staff them, I have no issues with them charging for them. I am not opposed to the park making money. I would always buy the Fright Lane anyway, and this (if priced like last year) is substantially cheaper than that.
That said, by the time I got to KD last year for Haunt, they weren't charging for the mazes, but some of them had minor improvements and about the same staffing levels as in previous years. My biggest disappointment with their Haunt was that the entertainment offerings were completely slashed.
Dorney, on the other hand, had improvements in every maze, more staffing than previous years, and a consistent entertainment schedule. Same thing at Cedar Point (which was charging substantially more for the Haunted Attraction Pass) - improved masses, improved staffing, and some of the best shows I've ever seen at the park.
If KD can put the money to use improving Haunt like the other parks did, I'm all for it. If they're going to charge and let the event stagnate, as they did in 2025, then yeah that's not good.
But at the end of the day, you're spending approximately $100 for a pass and you're now getting access to the every park in the chain from NJ down to Georgia. If you bough the pass last fall, you get the entire country for $100. A decade ago, approximately $100 would only buy you a pass to a single park. We are literally robbing them blind on season passes, and they know it. I don't fault them for trying to make up some of that difference. I just wish they'd do it in the right way (by raising pass prices and eliminating meal plans).
Edit: Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that changes like this should absolutely only be announced when people haven't already paid for it and not implemented until he following year.
That said, by the time I got to KD last year for Haunt, they weren't charging for the mazes, but some of them had minor improvements and about the same staffing levels as in previous years. My biggest disappointment with their Haunt was that the entertainment offerings were completely slashed.
Dorney, on the other hand, had improvements in every maze, more staffing than previous years, and a consistent entertainment schedule. Same thing at Cedar Point (which was charging substantially more for the Haunted Attraction Pass) - improved masses, improved staffing, and some of the best shows I've ever seen at the park.
If KD can put the money to use improving Haunt like the other parks did, I'm all for it. If they're going to charge and let the event stagnate, as they did in 2025, then yeah that's not good.
But at the end of the day, you're spending approximately $100 for a pass and you're now getting access to the every park in the chain from NJ down to Georgia. If you bough the pass last fall, you get the entire country for $100. A decade ago, approximately $100 would only buy you a pass to a single park. We are literally robbing them blind on season passes, and they know it. I don't fault them for trying to make up some of that difference. I just wish they'd do it in the right way (by raising pass prices and eliminating meal plans).
Edit: Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that changes like this should absolutely only be announced when people haven't already paid for it and not implemented until he following year.
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I get what you’re saying, but for me the bigger issue is their messaging and consistency. Like you mentioned, last year I paid for the houses early in the season, only for them to become free later on.
That felt like a huge slap in the face to the people who paid up front. If they were planning to exclude houses this year, that needed to be clearly communicated from the start - when passes first went on sale - not after a bunch of people had already bought them.
That felt like a huge slap in the face to the people who paid up front. If they were planning to exclude houses this year, that needed to be clearly communicated from the start - when passes first went on sale - not after a bunch of people had already bought them.
Oh, I absolutely agree on the consistency front. Between the charging-not-charging for maze access, to especially the (to put it nicely) idiocy they're doing with changing pass conditions while they're live, the park is acting like the hand isn't connected to the head.
Changes like this should absolutely only be announced when people haven't already paid for it and not implemented until he following year.
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I think it's a simple consumer psychology problem. People hate feeling nickle-and-dimed. It's the same thing with free shipping when you shop online -- the shipping fee is really still there (it's just baked into the cost of the product), but it feels cleaner and more transparent. You feel like you're getting more value.
Talking to friends, some of whom skipped out on going to Haunt when they found out about the upcharge mazes, I got the sense that people would much rather pay $55 for a ticket with mazes included than pay $45 and then have to pay $10 for mazes.
Talking to friends, some of whom skipped out on going to Haunt when they found out about the upcharge mazes, I got the sense that people would much rather pay $55 for a ticket with mazes included than pay $45 and then have to pay $10 for mazes.
Actually Gold passes are on sale now for Silver price of $89. So MVP *wasn't* the lowest price of the season.
I may be in the minority, but I prefer they charge for mazes, at least on busy days. Often during that period, the only day we can visit is on Saturdays, and the mazes just aren't fun when they are overcrowded. If they make Fridays and less busy Sundays free, that's a good balance.
There is currently a survey going around that is asking guests about what franchises they would like to see used at Haunt, and whether or not people are willing to pay for mazes.
If you happen to get the survey, please let me know what’s on it!
If you happen to get the survey, please let me know what’s on it!
*sigh* Despite how much I love Halloween season at parks and haunted-walkthrough attractions in general, I loathe horror movies. Am I alone in not wanting any known IP-based things in the park? I mean, The Conjuring experience at Cedar Point last year was awesome, but not because it was themed to the series (of which I knew absolutely nothing about going in), but because it was a well-put together, interactive experience. If anyone else remembers the Skeleton Key rooms at KD's Haunt, those were a great interactive feature that was completely original. I don't think you need to tie things like that to an IP.
Completely agree @AmyUD06—and I have yet to see any evidence that people are drawn to regional haunt events because they license an IP.
I'd much rather parks stick to the proven formula—put money and effort into house design and staffing to create a good event. Parks don't have any problem bringing in the crowds when they do that. IP licensing outside of huge, flagship, iconic events like HHN feels like the result of a bunch of suits trying to figure out how to improve these events from a boardroom when, in reality, these events take actual creatives and actual craftspeople on the ground making immersive art. Attempts to run these haunt events from a more top-down POV will fail as good houses don't come out of conference rooms and video calls, they come out of groups of enthusiastic creatives solving a million problems on the ground as they go to create a novel piece of location-specific, walk-through theater.
I'd much rather parks stick to the proven formula—put money and effort into house design and staffing to create a good event. Parks don't have any problem bringing in the crowds when they do that. IP licensing outside of huge, flagship, iconic events like HHN feels like the result of a bunch of suits trying to figure out how to improve these events from a boardroom when, in reality, these events take actual creatives and actual craftspeople on the ground making immersive art. Attempts to run these haunt events from a more top-down POV will fail as good houses don't come out of conference rooms and video calls, they come out of groups of enthusiastic creatives solving a million problems on the ground as they go to create a novel piece of location-specific, walk-through theater.
Okay so I’ve done some sleuthing. Allegedly some of the IPs being floated for Haunt this year are Luigi’s Mansion (which is what my post earlier was referencing), Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Ghostbusters.
My guess is that some of these would be part of a kids event? I don’t see how they can make Luigi’s Mansion into a scary house like Blood on the Bayou, for example.
My guess is that some of these would be part of a kids event? I don’t see how they can make Luigi’s Mansion into a scary house like Blood on the Bayou, for example.
Nintendo has extremely high standards. There is no way Six Flags will be able to meet their standards. I highly doubt we'll see anything from Nintendo at a Six Flags park.
Despite my general opposition to parks licensing other IPs in any way, I will say this: Luigi's Mansion or Ghost Busters would be a decent overlay for Boo Blasters (the "shooting at ghosts to capture them" mechanic of the game translates well), or even a permanent change, only because the Boo Blasters theme badly needs something done. That said....
Agreed 100%. I don't see Nintendo licensing any key property involving a major character to anyone other than Universal; same goes for Capcom/TriStar/Columbia/Sony Pictures being cool with licensing out GB, RE, or SH branding.
