Halloween Haunt
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
While I'm happy for you guys, keep your private life private.
I haven't consented to being exposed to any of this.
On a different note someone posted these to a FB group I am apart of..I must give credit they are not mine.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100451327@N06/sets/72157701551989241
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100451327@N06/sets/72157701551989241
Wanna know the one thing that can balance out an insanely early speculation post? An even LATER review of last year's event!
Midway through the day, I realized that the self-proclaimed "Grand Carnivale, Haunt, and WinterFest Aficionado" himself hasn't actually posted a Haunt review! Well, here we go. Good thing I still remember what I liked and didn't like about 2018's Haunt. I will list mazes and scare zones in random order.
Mazes
1) No Vacancy: Condemned - This maze was a so-so experience for me. I was SUPER hyped to get into the maze and look around at all of the new changes to the maze... but I didn't really see too many at all. It was pretty dark, but not pitch-black like I thought it would have been; I'm not sure if my eyes just adjusted to the maze quicker than they should have or if the flashlights were just too bright. I think the main changes were just painting much of the hotel grey to make it look older and gutting the TV room (which was arguably the coolest part of the maze) for a new ballroom, which was actually really cool to see. I was sad to see that many of the cool effects from the original maze were taken out (the moving frames, especially). I thought the ending was too similar to Zombie High's Homecoming gym room, but the quality of the actors made up for the lack of concrete changes. I could tell that the actors were trying their best to scare people, even though I'm sure there was much retaliation with flashlights being shone into their eyes. Oh, and another thing... those mannequins were CRAZY realistic, and it was very hard for me to tell which were mannequins and which were actual monsters. One of the best memories of this room is when I entered the maze and my eyes had not adjusted quite yet. I'm about five steps in the maze and there are two mannequins that look the exact same... or so I thought. I stare at one of them to see which one is real and unfortunately the one I stared at was the real deal. This monster tag-teamed with the mannequin so well, and it was definitely one of the best scares I've ever experienced at the event. Overall, while I was sad to see that the maze got rid of some of its cooler aspects, they definitely made up for it in the scare department.
2) Blackout - I'm not going to bother writing an in-depth review for this one. I've never really been a fan of it, and it seems that every year, they try something different that doesn't really work. The stuff on the walls was cool, but other than that this maze fell flat once again. I also really didn't get why there was a random monster with a wig at the end of the maze (on the bright side, this monster did scare very well... it was just out of place). I wish this maze would leave and a higher-quality maze is put in this place. Very sad that Doll Factory had to leave to make place for this. It's never actually pitch-black and I tend to always leave with disappointment. I remember how hyped I was for this when it was announced in 2016. That feeling has never been reciprocated since then.
3) Trick or Treat - I have never really thought that this maze was meant to be insanely scary. As others on the forum have said, I think this maze is meant to be a "starter" maze... and I'm okay with that. This maze is so beautiful, and because I can mostly see the monsters before they scare (except for the mirror witches, now THOSE are scary!), I like to interact with the characters and I get a good sense of satisfaction from their characters alone. I did notice that a rotating chandelier was added to one of the rooms towards the end... and it is mesmerizing! I always feel so immersed in the setting of this maze, and I can see why the easily-distracted can be scared pretty well. I hope this maze stays for a long while, it is an underrated gem and it needs to stay the way it is now. Overall, not too scary, but strong character interactions help to make up for it.
4) Blood on the Bayou - I absolutely love this maze. As a KD Haunt geek, I love how KD tried to implement a lot of older mazes into this one. Yes, there are obvious SlaughterHouse props and throwbacks, but did you know that the Madame Olga sign after the cemetery was from Cleaver Brother's Carnival's Skeleton Key room? Did you know that Madame Olga's entrance was either taken or based on Medieval Macabre's outside walls? The little things like that really help to make this maze so cool... and I don't mean in the climate sense, as this maze is HOT! That's the only thing I don't like about it. It's hard to imagine how monsters can work in that environment for 6 hours... they need to add AC units to all indoor mazes. Outside of that, I like how they added some new props to the maze as seen in that lights-on tour video earlier in the thread. Actor-wise, the scares needed a little work, but I could tell as the season went on, they had a better sense of what their characters were. This will always be a favorite maze of mine, and I will be sure to make Volcano-style memorials for it when it is removed far into the future. Oh, and NEVER FORGET that Frostbite at BGW and Blood on the Bayou have the same animatronic (or at least they did in 2017, I was not able to see Frostbite's 2018 reincarnation, probably for the best)!!!
5) Zombie High - From an acting standpoint, the zombies did a GREAT JOB! Even though the maze is older and I'm used to the setting, the monsters have a ton of energy and I got scared more than a few times in this one. It was actually one of my friend's favorite mazes of this year, which caught me by surprise, as most would say that maze is pretty stale and aged. Even though I enjoyed my walkthrough, I think that it is time for Negan to whack this maze with his barbed-wire bat. I think they need to either gut it completely ortry something new with it for 2019...a laserquest type of attraction would be cool! Nevermind. Just get rid of it completely.
6) Lockdown - This maze is often overlooked because in past years, it was all by itself due to there being no scare zone to accompany it. This year, however, I think The Yard brought some well-earned attention to it. Even though this maze premiered in 2015, the quality does not live up to Blood on the Bayou or Trick or Treat, which I think is why it usually is lower on some peoples' rankings. It's a fun environment to be in; similar to Zombie High, the cast is energetic and CRAZY! The only problem is, like Zombie High, they seem to all do the same stuff. I think the acting needs to be diversified a bit, but it is still a rather strong maze for the park. I know there were rumors earlier on that there would be some updates to the maze, but I don't recall any changes being made. Please point them out if I'm wrong, but I usually am able to notice changes pretty quickly. I'll go over this a bit more in my review for The Yard, but I think the new scare zone brought some cohesiveness to Lockdown's story. Overall, another good maze that I believe was enhanced by the presence of The Yard.
7) Tollway Terror - This was definitely an oddball. Usually all of the reviews I read of this maze are pretty negative, but I think I was caught in the perfect storm. When I rode through this maze, the fog was really dense, so it was much easier for the monsters to hide. I also did this earlier in the night, so the monsters had a lot of energy in them. I had a BALL going through this one like I had never experienced before. I had a lot of good jumpscares and the characters seemed to be on point (at least what I could hear, those cars are loud). I don't even think anything was changed from last year, but whatever they did, KEEP IT UP! I'd be shocked if this is axed next year (even though a retheme would be nice, I don't see it coming just yet).
8) Cornstalkers - There's not really much to talk about here. Same old corn maze with the same old hiding spots. The actors weren't really that into it. I don't even know if the animatronic was working in the queue. I hope this maze leaves next year.
Scare Zones
1) The Yard - This was definitely an interesting choice for the first new scare zone at the park since 2012. I thought that the actors were SUPERB with the limited amount that they had to work with. I'm happy that this zone was at least extended up to the pavers so that the guards had a little more room. I found it interesting how the costumes were just about all the same (there were black guards that were sliders and regular grey guards) and the soundtrack was the exact same from Lockdown's with the sirens. There's something really cool that went on here that I'm not sure a lot of people noticed. Storywise, there was a giant contrast to The Yard and Lockdown; while The Yard was insanely clean and orderly, Lockdown was a complete mess and crazy. I think KD took a huge risk in having two similarly-themed attractions because once Lockdown goes, The Yard will probably have to go, too, unless they decided to put prisoners in The Yard. For now, I think that risk is paying off. I wonder if we'll see more cohesive storylines like this in the future.
2) Cleaver Brothers' Carnival - Okay, so I got scared a grand total of zero times in this zone, but this has to be my favorite scare zone of the year! How does that make sense? Well, while I appreciate a good scare, I pay even closer attention to the way the characters are acting and interacting with guests. I am not scared of clowns at all, but I LOVE carnival-themed haunted attractions and this one delivers in a different way. Similar to Trick or Treat, I love going around in this zone and interacting with the characters to see what they can do. My friend and I got some HUGE laughs at some of the stuff that the clowns were doing. One was in a ticket booth and trying to start a show with guests while other stilt-walking clowns were going absolutely ballistic running around the zone and loving every second of it. Other clowns were just stalking guests and we got laughs watching others' reactions. It was such a fun time and I want to see that quality of guest interaction in every zone and maze. My only thing is that I wish there were more circus freaks like there were in Carn-Evil. If this zone goes anywhere next year, I'll be very upset. It's seriously my version of Volcano. The only way I won't be upset is if it is replaced by an even better carnival area.
3) The Lair - I don't have too much to say about this one as I only went in there once. I like the scenery a lot; the park utilized the plant tunnel very well and I have a hard time seeing anything else occupying this space anytime soon. My only thing is that when I went in this area, it was really packed and really foggy. Not a good combination. I like my fog for sure, but only in wide open areas. I don't see this going anywhere anytime soon because the vampires need somewhere to reside after they were evicted from Club Blood, right?
4) Ironworx - I don't really understand this scare zone that much to be honest. Yes, it has its great actors, but I really don't think it's that scary at all. Playing around with the actors is somewhat fun in this zone, but it's nothing compared to the fun that I experienced in Cleaver Bros. The props are cool and all, but I think Jack Frost has made the odds of this zone returning pretty slim. I think it's time for the park's oldest scare zone to go.
5) Necropolis - I love the eerie feeling I get when I'm walking through this zone. Someone listened in to a conversation I had while going into this zone and caught my name. Using my name and calling for me to join them in the graveyard helped to make the zone feel more immersive. This zone performed a lot better than it had in recent years, probably because there isn't a show right in the middle of it this season. I'm curious to see what happens with this scare zone next year now that the Parched Pig is inside this zone...
Halloween Haunt performed very well this season, and I can't wait to see what happens with it in 2019! I hope the park learned from the issues of opening night and hires more security. I also hope Haunt gets a lot more love this time around!
Midway through the day, I realized that the self-proclaimed "Grand Carnivale, Haunt, and WinterFest Aficionado" himself hasn't actually posted a Haunt review! Well, here we go. Good thing I still remember what I liked and didn't like about 2018's Haunt. I will list mazes and scare zones in random order.
Mazes
1) No Vacancy: Condemned - This maze was a so-so experience for me. I was SUPER hyped to get into the maze and look around at all of the new changes to the maze... but I didn't really see too many at all. It was pretty dark, but not pitch-black like I thought it would have been; I'm not sure if my eyes just adjusted to the maze quicker than they should have or if the flashlights were just too bright. I think the main changes were just painting much of the hotel grey to make it look older and gutting the TV room (which was arguably the coolest part of the maze) for a new ballroom, which was actually really cool to see. I was sad to see that many of the cool effects from the original maze were taken out (the moving frames, especially). I thought the ending was too similar to Zombie High's Homecoming gym room, but the quality of the actors made up for the lack of concrete changes. I could tell that the actors were trying their best to scare people, even though I'm sure there was much retaliation with flashlights being shone into their eyes. Oh, and another thing... those mannequins were CRAZY realistic, and it was very hard for me to tell which were mannequins and which were actual monsters. One of the best memories of this room is when I entered the maze and my eyes had not adjusted quite yet. I'm about five steps in the maze and there are two mannequins that look the exact same... or so I thought. I stare at one of them to see which one is real and unfortunately the one I stared at was the real deal. This monster tag-teamed with the mannequin so well, and it was definitely one of the best scares I've ever experienced at the event. Overall, while I was sad to see that the maze got rid of some of its cooler aspects, they definitely made up for it in the scare department.
2) Blackout - I'm not going to bother writing an in-depth review for this one. I've never really been a fan of it, and it seems that every year, they try something different that doesn't really work. The stuff on the walls was cool, but other than that this maze fell flat once again. I also really didn't get why there was a random monster with a wig at the end of the maze (on the bright side, this monster did scare very well... it was just out of place). I wish this maze would leave and a higher-quality maze is put in this place. Very sad that Doll Factory had to leave to make place for this. It's never actually pitch-black and I tend to always leave with disappointment. I remember how hyped I was for this when it was announced in 2016. That feeling has never been reciprocated since then.
3) Trick or Treat - I have never really thought that this maze was meant to be insanely scary. As others on the forum have said, I think this maze is meant to be a "starter" maze... and I'm okay with that. This maze is so beautiful, and because I can mostly see the monsters before they scare (except for the mirror witches, now THOSE are scary!), I like to interact with the characters and I get a good sense of satisfaction from their characters alone. I did notice that a rotating chandelier was added to one of the rooms towards the end... and it is mesmerizing! I always feel so immersed in the setting of this maze, and I can see why the easily-distracted can be scared pretty well. I hope this maze stays for a long while, it is an underrated gem and it needs to stay the way it is now. Overall, not too scary, but strong character interactions help to make up for it.
4) Blood on the Bayou - I absolutely love this maze. As a KD Haunt geek, I love how KD tried to implement a lot of older mazes into this one. Yes, there are obvious SlaughterHouse props and throwbacks, but did you know that the Madame Olga sign after the cemetery was from Cleaver Brother's Carnival's Skeleton Key room? Did you know that Madame Olga's entrance was either taken or based on Medieval Macabre's outside walls? The little things like that really help to make this maze so cool... and I don't mean in the climate sense, as this maze is HOT! That's the only thing I don't like about it. It's hard to imagine how monsters can work in that environment for 6 hours... they need to add AC units to all indoor mazes. Outside of that, I like how they added some new props to the maze as seen in that lights-on tour video earlier in the thread. Actor-wise, the scares needed a little work, but I could tell as the season went on, they had a better sense of what their characters were. This will always be a favorite maze of mine, and I will be sure to make Volcano-style memorials for it when it is removed far into the future. Oh, and NEVER FORGET that Frostbite at BGW and Blood on the Bayou have the same animatronic (or at least they did in 2017, I was not able to see Frostbite's 2018 reincarnation, probably for the best)!!!
5) Zombie High - From an acting standpoint, the zombies did a GREAT JOB! Even though the maze is older and I'm used to the setting, the monsters have a ton of energy and I got scared more than a few times in this one. It was actually one of my friend's favorite mazes of this year, which caught me by surprise, as most would say that maze is pretty stale and aged. Even though I enjoyed my walkthrough, I think that it is time for Negan to whack this maze with his barbed-wire bat. I think they need to either gut it completely or
6) Lockdown - This maze is often overlooked because in past years, it was all by itself due to there being no scare zone to accompany it. This year, however, I think The Yard brought some well-earned attention to it. Even though this maze premiered in 2015, the quality does not live up to Blood on the Bayou or Trick or Treat, which I think is why it usually is lower on some peoples' rankings. It's a fun environment to be in; similar to Zombie High, the cast is energetic and CRAZY! The only problem is, like Zombie High, they seem to all do the same stuff. I think the acting needs to be diversified a bit, but it is still a rather strong maze for the park. I know there were rumors earlier on that there would be some updates to the maze, but I don't recall any changes being made. Please point them out if I'm wrong, but I usually am able to notice changes pretty quickly. I'll go over this a bit more in my review for The Yard, but I think the new scare zone brought some cohesiveness to Lockdown's story. Overall, another good maze that I believe was enhanced by the presence of The Yard.
7) Tollway Terror - This was definitely an oddball. Usually all of the reviews I read of this maze are pretty negative, but I think I was caught in the perfect storm. When I rode through this maze, the fog was really dense, so it was much easier for the monsters to hide. I also did this earlier in the night, so the monsters had a lot of energy in them. I had a BALL going through this one like I had never experienced before. I had a lot of good jumpscares and the characters seemed to be on point (at least what I could hear, those cars are loud). I don't even think anything was changed from last year, but whatever they did, KEEP IT UP! I'd be shocked if this is axed next year (even though a retheme would be nice, I don't see it coming just yet).
8) Cornstalkers - There's not really much to talk about here. Same old corn maze with the same old hiding spots. The actors weren't really that into it. I don't even know if the animatronic was working in the queue. I hope this maze leaves next year.
Scare Zones
1) The Yard - This was definitely an interesting choice for the first new scare zone at the park since 2012. I thought that the actors were SUPERB with the limited amount that they had to work with. I'm happy that this zone was at least extended up to the pavers so that the guards had a little more room. I found it interesting how the costumes were just about all the same (there were black guards that were sliders and regular grey guards) and the soundtrack was the exact same from Lockdown's with the sirens. There's something really cool that went on here that I'm not sure a lot of people noticed. Storywise, there was a giant contrast to The Yard and Lockdown; while The Yard was insanely clean and orderly, Lockdown was a complete mess and crazy. I think KD took a huge risk in having two similarly-themed attractions because once Lockdown goes, The Yard will probably have to go, too, unless they decided to put prisoners in The Yard. For now, I think that risk is paying off. I wonder if we'll see more cohesive storylines like this in the future.
2) Cleaver Brothers' Carnival - Okay, so I got scared a grand total of zero times in this zone, but this has to be my favorite scare zone of the year! How does that make sense? Well, while I appreciate a good scare, I pay even closer attention to the way the characters are acting and interacting with guests. I am not scared of clowns at all, but I LOVE carnival-themed haunted attractions and this one delivers in a different way. Similar to Trick or Treat, I love going around in this zone and interacting with the characters to see what they can do. My friend and I got some HUGE laughs at some of the stuff that the clowns were doing. One was in a ticket booth and trying to start a show with guests while other stilt-walking clowns were going absolutely ballistic running around the zone and loving every second of it. Other clowns were just stalking guests and we got laughs watching others' reactions. It was such a fun time and I want to see that quality of guest interaction in every zone and maze. My only thing is that I wish there were more circus freaks like there were in Carn-Evil. If this zone goes anywhere next year, I'll be very upset. It's seriously my version of Volcano. The only way I won't be upset is if it is replaced by an even better carnival area.
3) The Lair - I don't have too much to say about this one as I only went in there once. I like the scenery a lot; the park utilized the plant tunnel very well and I have a hard time seeing anything else occupying this space anytime soon. My only thing is that when I went in this area, it was really packed and really foggy. Not a good combination. I like my fog for sure, but only in wide open areas. I don't see this going anywhere anytime soon because the vampires need somewhere to reside after they were evicted from Club Blood, right?
4) Ironworx - I don't really understand this scare zone that much to be honest. Yes, it has its great actors, but I really don't think it's that scary at all. Playing around with the actors is somewhat fun in this zone, but it's nothing compared to the fun that I experienced in Cleaver Bros. The props are cool and all, but I think Jack Frost has made the odds of this zone returning pretty slim. I think it's time for the park's oldest scare zone to go.
5) Necropolis - I love the eerie feeling I get when I'm walking through this zone. Someone listened in to a conversation I had while going into this zone and caught my name. Using my name and calling for me to join them in the graveyard helped to make the zone feel more immersive. This zone performed a lot better than it had in recent years, probably because there isn't a show right in the middle of it this season. I'm curious to see what happens with this scare zone next year now that the Parched Pig is inside this zone...
Halloween Haunt performed very well this season, and I can't wait to see what happens with it in 2019! I hope the park learned from the issues of opening night and hires more security. I also hope Haunt gets a lot more love this time around!
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