2017 Halloween Haunt
- Thread starter Wooemwoemeht
- Start date
The Hessian said:
It doesn't take alcohol. KD has had unruly guests in the past to the point where some incidents (besides fighting) has led to gun shots. So what happened earlier tonight really isn't a surprise.
I don't know what was in the water today, but the crowds were horrible—rowdy, rude, agressive, you name it. Honestly some of the worst I've ever seen.
What is really tragic is that the event was performing brilliantly tonight. Seeing the shit the actors and staff had to put up with on their first day on the job is just really disheartening.
What is really tragic is that the event was performing brilliantly tonight. Seeing the shit the actors and staff had to put up with on their first day on the job is just really disheartening.
I left around 9 as I the event felt to unruly to me at that point. I gad already witnessed security handling two significant issues at that point. The crowd for Overlord was insane with tins of pushing and shoving I was actually affrais I or someone else was going to get knocked over and hurt when mosters went through.
I have to agree, the crowds were extremely rowdy and rude. I saw people running up and trying to scare the actors, grabbing them, literally grinding on some and just plain being an asshole. Really makes me upset and feel for the actors, they have my respect. Also all of my maze groups had people filming with flash lights and grabbing and taking props with the actors trying to stop them but to no avail.
Anyways on a brighter note, blood on the bayou was simply amazing! I loved the 'multi level' layout and the detail. Definitely one of my favorite maze. Everything else was also very good, the actors did an amazing job, well what they could do because of the crowds...
Anyways on a brighter note, blood on the bayou was simply amazing! I loved the 'multi level' layout and the detail. Definitely one of my favorite maze. Everything else was also very good, the actors did an amazing job, well what they could do because of the crowds...
My thoughts on Bayou are complicated. It's an amazing looking maze with lots of cool effects. The actors were really trying to get into character, but they weren't trying to jump out and scare you that much. On one level I don't mind that since I love a good atmosphere. However, trying to get a good jump out of you is important as well. I feel that if more of the actors tried to hide and jump out more, it would improve the experience a lot more.
In addition to experiencing the very rude, very large, and very aggressive crowds last night, we tried all of the houses. Unfortunately, we will not be able to go through the Skeleton Key rooms, until later in the event.
Since it was opening night, we expect everything to improve over the coming weeks, but here are my initial impressions. I have ranked the houses from best to worst. While none of them were bad, the top two were significantly better than the other five.
1. Zombie High. I have always loved this high-energy maze. Last night was one of the best experiences I've had in it, however. There were tons of monsters, and the house lights had been dimmed. The actors were creepy and creative, rarely relying on hiding spots to frighten us. I've always thought KD was great at physical intimidation scares, and last night Zombie High served those up from begining to end, blocking doorways, invading personal space, and stalking people from room to room. The principal, as ever, provided cool atmosperics. I loved every second in this house, from the time I entered, until moment I was chased out the exit by a teen-aged zombie.
2. Lockdown. This low-budget, prison-themed maze was a very close second to the fully-themed Zombie High. Both seem to rely more on the skill of the actors, than the design of the house to scare guests. I don't know if that if that is because of a bias of mine or a a specific strength of KD's showing through, but I do know that I found both fantastically terrifying. Lockdown also used actors placed in plain sight incredibly effectively. I was seperated from the rest of my party several times, and monsters followed us around in several rooms. The feeling of chaos and danger throughout the maze was amplified and maintained by the loud sirens and inmates' screams. The whole effect was "exhilarating anxiety."
3. No Vacancy. This house varies significantly from year to year for me. It is, of course, incredibly well-designed and capable of being the most frightening maze at the event. Last night, however, this hotel was noticeably understaffed. The actors, who were there, were trying very hard, and I was caught by a few very-well timed distraction scares, but there simply weren't enough monsters to maintain my anxiety throughout.
4. Blood on the Bayou. I was told by Zachary that KD's newest house was "innovatively laid-out and immaculately-themed." I assume he is correct, but I have no way of verifying his observation, because the house was so dark that I saw almost nothing. In fact, heading for the correct exit from one of the rooms, I actually banged my shin on part of the wall. For now, I am choosing to believe the problem was that I went through the maze before 7pm, and my eyes simply didn't adjust to the dark. I was a bit surprised by the costumes and theming that I could see. I was expecting a voodoo house like Busch Gardens Tampa's Death Water Bayou. Instead, I found myself interacting with "swamp people" out of some Deliverance-like nightmare. I really believe this maze has a lot of potential, but for now I honestly can barely remember being scared. I fervently hope that when I go back KD will have added staff, and I certainly plan to try it at night, so I can see the "gators" one of the actors warned me about.
5. Trick or Treat. I really wanted to enjoy this house. Unfortunately, I walked through almost entirely unmolested. A few of the very limited staff said some creepy things to me, and I believe a few of my friends were startled. Overall, however, it was more like a tour of the house of a witch with a hoarding problem, than a haunted maze.
6. CornStalkers. Of all of the houses last night, this one is the most difficult for me to rate. My impression was that the second half was better than the first. I'm pretty sure I saw a lot of actors, as I hiked through the seeming miles of dead corn. It is also worth noting that CornStalkers is the only house last night that stacked for us. A couple of my friends seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. Unfortunately for me, my emotions ranged from bored to annoyed. I believe that part of my problem was that a supervisor/stage manager/uniformed staff person jumped in front of me for a large section of the maze. I think she had been helping out one of the actors. Regardless, I believe her close proximity probably prevented the corn people from stalking me, or whatever it is that they do. No one really scared me in the rest of the house either, however, which is why I am comfortable rating it so low.
7. Blackout. I want to be clear right from the outset that I enjoyed this house last night. My anxiety and confusion increased as I navigated the dark and empty hallways. I felt tense the entire time. The strobe room very effectively prevented my eyes from ever fully adjusting to the maze's signature darkness. All of that said, there simply were not enough actors. Sustained anxiety is great, but if there is no one to exploit it, the house becomes nothing more than an interesting alternative to more traditionally themed attractions. I really love "gimmick houses" and I really want Blackout to be great, but it needs to be fully staffed to induce terror.
I am choosing not to include Tollway Terror in my house rankings, as it feels more like a scare zone to me. While I still believe that a drive through attraction is simply not able to create the same levels of fear as a normal house, last night the actors were able to startle us more than once with distraction scares. Perhaps more notably, I have never seen that many monsters along the roadway, and they all found a way to interact with us, as we drove by.
The scare zones seemed to have a moderate number of actors, but I was unable to interact with any of them, because of the size (and the tone?) of the crowds.
I think it is worth noting how great most of the groupers were last night. I saw some of them dealing with very belligerent guests, and they all seemed calm, assertive, and professional. Additionally, despite the crowds, the small, well-timed groups of guests kept almost every house from stacking.
My last thought is on the overall atmosphere of the event. While I still miss the creepiness that the park used to achieve with their music and sound effects, I believe they have restored most of the darkness to the event. What light there was flickered in dark hues, rather than brightly illuminating the paths. My only wish is that KD would turn the sounds down and kill the party atmosphere that has emerged over the last few years.
Overall this was a great event, and the only negative last night was how rude, aggressive, and sometimes violent the other guests were. I really believe KD in on a path to have a great Haunt season.
Since it was opening night, we expect everything to improve over the coming weeks, but here are my initial impressions. I have ranked the houses from best to worst. While none of them were bad, the top two were significantly better than the other five.
1. Zombie High. I have always loved this high-energy maze. Last night was one of the best experiences I've had in it, however. There were tons of monsters, and the house lights had been dimmed. The actors were creepy and creative, rarely relying on hiding spots to frighten us. I've always thought KD was great at physical intimidation scares, and last night Zombie High served those up from begining to end, blocking doorways, invading personal space, and stalking people from room to room. The principal, as ever, provided cool atmosperics. I loved every second in this house, from the time I entered, until moment I was chased out the exit by a teen-aged zombie.
2. Lockdown. This low-budget, prison-themed maze was a very close second to the fully-themed Zombie High. Both seem to rely more on the skill of the actors, than the design of the house to scare guests. I don't know if that if that is because of a bias of mine or a a specific strength of KD's showing through, but I do know that I found both fantastically terrifying. Lockdown also used actors placed in plain sight incredibly effectively. I was seperated from the rest of my party several times, and monsters followed us around in several rooms. The feeling of chaos and danger throughout the maze was amplified and maintained by the loud sirens and inmates' screams. The whole effect was "exhilarating anxiety."
3. No Vacancy. This house varies significantly from year to year for me. It is, of course, incredibly well-designed and capable of being the most frightening maze at the event. Last night, however, this hotel was noticeably understaffed. The actors, who were there, were trying very hard, and I was caught by a few very-well timed distraction scares, but there simply weren't enough monsters to maintain my anxiety throughout.
4. Blood on the Bayou. I was told by Zachary that KD's newest house was "innovatively laid-out and immaculately-themed." I assume he is correct, but I have no way of verifying his observation, because the house was so dark that I saw almost nothing. In fact, heading for the correct exit from one of the rooms, I actually banged my shin on part of the wall. For now, I am choosing to believe the problem was that I went through the maze before 7pm, and my eyes simply didn't adjust to the dark. I was a bit surprised by the costumes and theming that I could see. I was expecting a voodoo house like Busch Gardens Tampa's Death Water Bayou. Instead, I found myself interacting with "swamp people" out of some Deliverance-like nightmare. I really believe this maze has a lot of potential, but for now I honestly can barely remember being scared. I fervently hope that when I go back KD will have added staff, and I certainly plan to try it at night, so I can see the "gators" one of the actors warned me about.
5. Trick or Treat. I really wanted to enjoy this house. Unfortunately, I walked through almost entirely unmolested. A few of the very limited staff said some creepy things to me, and I believe a few of my friends were startled. Overall, however, it was more like a tour of the house of a witch with a hoarding problem, than a haunted maze.
6. CornStalkers. Of all of the houses last night, this one is the most difficult for me to rate. My impression was that the second half was better than the first. I'm pretty sure I saw a lot of actors, as I hiked through the seeming miles of dead corn. It is also worth noting that CornStalkers is the only house last night that stacked for us. A couple of my friends seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. Unfortunately for me, my emotions ranged from bored to annoyed. I believe that part of my problem was that a supervisor/stage manager/uniformed staff person jumped in front of me for a large section of the maze. I think she had been helping out one of the actors. Regardless, I believe her close proximity probably prevented the corn people from stalking me, or whatever it is that they do. No one really scared me in the rest of the house either, however, which is why I am comfortable rating it so low.
7. Blackout. I want to be clear right from the outset that I enjoyed this house last night. My anxiety and confusion increased as I navigated the dark and empty hallways. I felt tense the entire time. The strobe room very effectively prevented my eyes from ever fully adjusting to the maze's signature darkness. All of that said, there simply were not enough actors. Sustained anxiety is great, but if there is no one to exploit it, the house becomes nothing more than an interesting alternative to more traditionally themed attractions. I really love "gimmick houses" and I really want Blackout to be great, but it needs to be fully staffed to induce terror.
I am choosing not to include Tollway Terror in my house rankings, as it feels more like a scare zone to me. While I still believe that a drive through attraction is simply not able to create the same levels of fear as a normal house, last night the actors were able to startle us more than once with distraction scares. Perhaps more notably, I have never seen that many monsters along the roadway, and they all found a way to interact with us, as we drove by.
The scare zones seemed to have a moderate number of actors, but I was unable to interact with any of them, because of the size (and the tone?) of the crowds.
I think it is worth noting how great most of the groupers were last night. I saw some of them dealing with very belligerent guests, and they all seemed calm, assertive, and professional. Additionally, despite the crowds, the small, well-timed groups of guests kept almost every house from stacking.
My last thought is on the overall atmosphere of the event. While I still miss the creepiness that the park used to achieve with their music and sound effects, I believe they have restored most of the darkness to the event. What light there was flickered in dark hues, rather than brightly illuminating the paths. My only wish is that KD would turn the sounds down and kill the party atmosphere that has emerged over the last few years.
Overall this was a great event, and the only negative last night was how rude, aggressive, and sometimes violent the other guests were. I really believe KD in on a path to have a great Haunt season.
We didn't get to very many mazes last night (will reply to the ones we did see, as below), as we had the 11 y/o daughter of a friend (who doesn't go to haunt) who said she was very eager to go to haunt with us, but then without her mom along she was much more hesitant. So that may have been a factor in how the actors interacted with us last night since there was an 11 y/o clung to my wife and a definite attraction to the actors.
This was the first one we visited and I always look at this one as the "little engine that could" maze due to the very limited space with which they have to work, now that they stopped routing guests up the stairs under the big spaceship (or down another hallway to a dead-end of cells as they had a couple years ago). Without a large amount of props and with pretty much a basic zig-zag pattern of the maze, the actors really outdid themselves trying to interact and scare the guests.
I liked the decor of this one with the bayou theme, however there seemed to be plenty of recycled body parts from Slaughterhouse hanging in the walkways. This one didn't have a lot of actors present when we went through, and the ones that were there didn't really try to scare us very much and tended to walk along mumbling to themselves (maybe those were voodoo chants, who knows).
We really liked this one last night, the original decor from last year is very good, and the actors were very interactive with us, with several getting very close and trying to entice our scared 11 y/o to stay there with them.
It took two tries to get through this one, as we waited through the long line (but still only about a 10 minute wait) only to get to the entrance and have our 11 y/o guest chicken out. But giving it another try a couple hours later was successful.
I think Nicole's observation of the supervisor being so close by must have been a factor, as we had plenty of actors all over us, which again was probably due to our young girl walking along with death grip on my wife's arm. I also like the layout of the maze and the smell of the cornstalks, adds to the sense of wandering through a cornfield.
We wanted to ride this, but the line was way too long, maybe next Friday.
I guess we missed that, as I saw the above comments on the really crowded Overlord show (I walked through there about 6:45 and it was already crowded then, so lucky we didn't stay) and the incident around 10pm in the clown area that needed security response (we were in Victoria Pizza from 10:10 to about 10:30 so I guess we lucked out with timing as all was normal when we walked out), but it was really crowded.
I agree, but without the scare zone over near the Crypt and Volcano the park seems lopsided with Lockdown isolated from everything else that is haunt-related. I'm also looking forward to visiting for Haunt on Friday nights, as the crowds are generally (in my estimation) about 1/3 of what they see on Saturday nights.
Nicole said:
This was the first one we visited and I always look at this one as the "little engine that could" maze due to the very limited space with which they have to work, now that they stopped routing guests up the stairs under the big spaceship (or down another hallway to a dead-end of cells as they had a couple years ago). Without a large amount of props and with pretty much a basic zig-zag pattern of the maze, the actors really outdid themselves trying to interact and scare the guests.
Nicole said:
I liked the decor of this one with the bayou theme, however there seemed to be plenty of recycled body parts from Slaughterhouse hanging in the walkways. This one didn't have a lot of actors present when we went through, and the ones that were there didn't really try to scare us very much and tended to walk along mumbling to themselves (maybe those were voodoo chants, who knows).
Nicole said:
We really liked this one last night, the original decor from last year is very good, and the actors were very interactive with us, with several getting very close and trying to entice our scared 11 y/o to stay there with them.
Nicole said:
It took two tries to get through this one, as we waited through the long line (but still only about a 10 minute wait) only to get to the entrance and have our 11 y/o guest chicken out. But giving it another try a couple hours later was successful.
I think Nicole's observation of the supervisor being so close by must have been a factor, as we had plenty of actors all over us, which again was probably due to our young girl walking along with death grip on my wife's arm. I also like the layout of the maze and the smell of the cornstalks, adds to the sense of wandering through a cornfield.
Nicole said:
We wanted to ride this, but the line was way too long, maybe next Friday.
Nicole said:
I guess we missed that, as I saw the above comments on the really crowded Overlord show (I walked through there about 6:45 and it was already crowded then, so lucky we didn't stay) and the incident around 10pm in the clown area that needed security response (we were in Victoria Pizza from 10:10 to about 10:30 so I guess we lucked out with timing as all was normal when we walked out), but it was really crowded.
Nicole said:
I agree, but without the scare zone over near the Crypt and Volcano the park seems lopsided with Lockdown isolated from everything else that is haunt-related. I'm also looking forward to visiting for Haunt on Friday nights, as the crowds are generally (in my estimation) about 1/3 of what they see on Saturday nights.
I arrived about 9:00 and didn't notice any problems, probably went right around it. I only did 3 houses due to avoiding longer lines. Safari Village seemed odd with no scare zone, maybe just have some fog and creepy lights to go with the scary noises? At the same time, the mix of riding and haunt stuff seemed less disjointed that way, so I have mixed feelings.
Are the no boo necklaces back this year? I haven't seen anything about them. That's been a common complaint from pretty much all of us on the forum the last couple of years, so not seeing anything about them at this point gives me hope that they've been scrapped.
Also, anyone from last night have any thoughts on the Grave Walkers and the Coven?
Also, anyone from last night have any thoughts on the Grave Walkers and the Coven?
buckler89 said:
They are still there, but are green (I saw many of them last night) instead of last year's orange -- a kid in front of us in line for a maze last night had one on, the door attendant asked him to turn it off before entering. Which made me wonder if the kid has a no-boo necklace then what is he doing in a maze anyway.
We saw entire families with No Boo necklaces, which I found odd. If no one in your party wants to be scared, why go to a haunt?
I heard that No Boo lanyards are allowed in the Skeleton Key rooms, as well.
Zimmy said:
Gonna go with Option C.
The lanyards being allowed in the skeleton key rooms somehow feels even dumber than going through a maze with the lanyard. I'm not even sure why.
Did they do anything to cover up and/or take down the Winterfest decorations?
I think I just processed this, myself. People with No Boo lanyards spent $65-85 for front of the line passes that they couldn't use?
I have a strict "do not go to kings dominion on a Saturday" rule and I'm happy I stuck with it. Looking forward to checking Haunt this Friday when hopefully the crowds will be low and the riffraff will stay home.
I typically have they policy as well, but since it was the only day open the first weekend, it was necessary for coverage.