Halloween Haunt

[mtorange]

With PrimEvil gone last season and Feary Tales gone this season, I hope the new scarezone takes over a larger portion of that whole side of the park. It's unfortunate that the Safari Village no longer has it's own scarezone.

The rumored new scare zone (The Yard) is rumored to be in Safari Village where PrimEvil used to be, so that’s good if it ends up being true. Hopefully it will be spread out in that area rather than in the small walkway PrimEvil was forced into in its final year.

 

[Whaler]

When should they start setting up (in the streets/Facades)? I'd Think that they have at least started to make facades by now.

 

[mtorange]

When should they start setting up (in the streets/Facades)? I'd Think that they have at least started to make facades by now.

You’ll see nothing Haunt related until after Labor Day Weekend. The facades and scare zone props for the new attractions are created months in advance behind the scenes, but they are not usually set up in the park until a couple weeks before the actual event. From what I remember from last season, the scare zone props were set up first with about one or two weeks before opening night and only some of the facades were up (these are usually done last minute to avoid confusion from guests, I’d assume).

 

[jeffh]

You’ll see nothing Haunt related until after Labor Day Weekend. The facades and scare zone props for the new attractions are created months in advance behind the scenes, but they are not usually set up in the park until a couple weeks before the actual event. From what I remember from last season, the scare zone props were set up first with about one or two weeks before opening night and only some of the facades were up (these are usually done last minute to avoid confusion from guests, I’d assume).

Actually this year is a bit different than previous years where they would be closed for private events for a couple days in mid-September, but there were normally 2-3 weekend days when you could see some of the props staged. But this year is different as I just checked calendar and after Labor Day Monday they aren't open to the public at all until the 22nd which is the first night of Haunt.

 

[mtorange]

Saw this post on Facebook from a few days ago, looks like some familiar faces are/were hanging out by the Action Theater! I have a feeling they’ll be “checking in” soon....

EDIT: I feel that this is more of an accidental placement of props rather than a Haunt teaser, but who knows with KD.

 

[belsaas]

Saw this post on Facebook from a few days ago, looks like some familiar faces are/were hanging out by the Action Theater! I have a feeling they’ll be “checking in” soon....

When I first looked at this on my phone, I thought it was Voldemort making moves on Taylor Swift.

 

[bill s]

Running Flight of Fear during Haunt would not work because I’m pretty sure the exit area of the ride is used for backstage stuff during Haunt. That and the ride would be too noisy for the actors in Lockdown... and that maze is already a really loud one!

With that being said, I don’t think it has hit a lot of people that Twisted Timbers will not be operating during Haunt. Same reasons as above but replace Lockdown with Blood on the Bayou.

EDIT: meant to say that TT will NOT be operating during Haunt. Fixed that above.

Do you have inside info that TT won't be running? Seems extremely unlikely. This isn't the coaster that was closed all spring every year for non-discernable maintenance and any other excuse. Of course people going to the maze will have to pass under the track, people are already passing under the track. If that's a problem, they should have kept Blackout there last year so it would be no loss to not have it this year.

 

[mtorange]

Do you have inside info that TT won't be running? Seems extremely unlikely. This isn't the coaster that was closed all spring every year for non-discernable maintenance and any other excuse. Of course people going to the maze will have to pass under the track, people are already passing under the track. If that's a problem, they should have kept Blackout there last year so it would be no loss to not have it this year.

When Hurler was in operation, it was always closed for Haunt due to Club Blood operating within a restricted zone. I’d assume that Twisted Timbers would operate in the same fashion. Now, I don’t remember if Hurler’s queue line went under the track like Twisted Timbers does, but I don’t see a situation where both Blood on the Bayou and Twisted Timbers are running at the same time. I would think that you could hear TT through the walls of the maze, but honestly I don’t know since it’s never running when I’m in the building.

 

[I305Evan]

I would imagine it would be how they designed the fenced in areas when they built Twisted Timbers. This is me being hopeful, but I would like to think that they had this in mind when designing the area to allow for TT to stay in operation during haunt hours.

 

[phurst]

A little URL bashing found me this unpublished page:

https://www.kingsdominion.com/play/haunt/attractions/the-yard

Couldn't find anything for the rumored No Vacancy: Lights Out though.

 

[mtorange]

A little URL bashing found me this unpublished page:

https://www.kingsdominion.com/play/haunt/attractions/the-yard

Couldn't find anything for the rumored No Vacancy: Lights Out though.

I did a little URL bashing myself and found this. Looks like they’re going with the name “Condemned” rather than the “No Vacancy: Condemned” that was rumored. This could easily change though because this page is unpublished.

Also, the plot lines for both Condemned and The Yard sound AWESOME!

https://www.kingsdominion.com/play/haunt/attractions/condemned

 

[wombat96]

Couldn't find anything for the rumored No Vacancy: Lights Out though.

Don’t worry I found the link.

Condemned

Location: Action Theater
Opens at 6 PM

The rumors have been floating around since the 50’s – of a wedding at Darkside Manor that ended in the disappearance of the entire wedding party. After this horrific event, the property was sealed, forgotten and the events of the day quickly turned into legend. Recently a few local teenagers out exploring rediscovered the hotel. They reported hearing strange sounds and made claims that could only be described as supernatural. As their stories about the property spread around the community, a group of local paranormal investigators decided to see if the reports were true.

Everyone agrees that something is odd about the Inn, but we need you on the team to help solve the mystery of what happened to the poor souls that checked in, but never checked out of Darkside Manor.

Looks like they dropped No Vacancy all together from the title to avoid confusion.

Edit: Whoops didn’t see that post.

 

[mtorange]

The Blood Drums link has also been found!

Looks like we got our 2018 lineup (a little early)!

https://www.kingsdominion.com/play/haunt/attractions/blood-drums

My thoughts on the new attractions:

If it stands, I’m surprised to see that the park decided to just go with the name “Condemned” because the other Cedar Fair parks have all kept the old name with it. I would have loved to see “The Inn at Darkside Manor: Condemned”, but nevertheless I’m still really hyped for this maze.

For The Yard, I’ve probably said this before, but I hope they expand the territory where the monsters can roam... PrimEvil was a very small area in 2016 and it took away from the experience. Very excited to see what can be done with this... since it looks like they’re continuing Lockdown’s riot plot line, I hope it’s very loud with lots of fog... but don’t all scare zones have those things, anyway? ?Kidding aside, I hope they utilize the gates near the Flight of Fear entrance... this could end up being a really cool addition to the event.

Blood Drums is Blood Drums... I’m sure it’ll be fine! I’ll definitely try to check this one out, but I usually focus on the mazes and scare zones when I’m at the park for Haunt.

Anyway, this is shaping up to be a VERY cool event and I’m excited... just 24 Days!!!

 

[phurst]

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else that's done one of the interactive mazes (I'm assuming that's what it is based on the description, using the aforementioned remotely controllable flashlights) as to what the experience is like, how effective the gimmick is, how it impacts guest volume, etc. Overall though, yes, I'm quite pleased to have a scare zone back in Safari Village, and even though I dearly loved Feary Tales, The Yard sounds like it has promise, especially if they can have a similar atmosphere to Wendigo Woods.

 

[wombat96]

For anyone curious about the state of Twisted Timbers during Haunt, I recently looked at the Scarowinds site and having to visited during the event I noticed Hurler is open. While the building for Blood on the Bayou isn’t an identical set-up to where Carowinds host there house, both are in the same general area and safely operate. I’m fairly certain Hurler was closed due to staffing during the event as even in 2007 the ride was already brutally rough and suffered from low-ridership.

 

[Zachary]

Great work you guys! Tweeted and Facebooked your posts via KDFans.

Also, in case the pages are pulled, here are screenshots of the two big bits of news:

 

[CastleOSullivan]

I love both storylines. The trouble with a good backstory is that the attraction will have bigger expectations for storytelling. If they have a good backstory without a cohesive narrative inside, that can cheapen the house more than if it had no story and just a theme.

The Yard: Why do I feel like some group will complain about this concept? That seems to happen almost yearly at Kings Dominion: something offends somebody and Cedar Fair forces KD to remove the attraction.

 

[mtorange]

I love both storylines. The trouble with a good backstory is that the attraction will have bigger expectations for storytelling. If they have a good backstory without a cohesive narrative inside, that can cheapen the house more than if it had no story and just a theme.

The Yard: Why do I feel like some group will complain about this concept? That seems to happen almost yearly at Kings Dominion: something offends somebody and Cedar Fair forces KD to remove the attraction.

I hope the storyline for Condemned ends up being very strong. I think the flashlight concept of it will definitely make it a more immersive experience.

As for The Yard, I’m curious to know what part you think could be considered offensive. Perhaps the torture part? This storyline piggybacks a lot off of Lockdown and I haven’t seen anybody get triggered (yet) at that maze. Anything could happen though... it IS 2018, after all.

 

[mtorange]

With Knott’s Scary Farm, arguably the largest Haunt event in the Cedar Fair chain, announcing their new attractions last night, Kings Dominion is now the only Cedar Fair park to have yet to formally announce their new Haunt attractions. Even though the unpublished links were found (and still exist), this feels like an odd move to the park, as the event starts 3 weeks from tomorrow and the majority of park-goers still don’t know what’s coming.

 

[Zimmy]

i desire to visit Knott's for a verity of reasons.