Haven't been up there yet but one thing I have to say is I really like the idea of this guide and I think this is something that all pakrs could benefit from: Hersheypark Halloween 2022 Guide for Families
Event Hersheypark Dark Nights: New Halloween Event for 2022
- Thread starter CoasterTalkBob
- Start date
I attended the event Saturday night. There were a lot of things to love, but the growing pains facing the park were pretty glaring.
The mazes were well done for what they were. Set pieces were elaborate in spots, but there was a lot of dead space in many of the mazes. Actors on the other hand were basically on their A-game. So much energy!
Scare zones basically don't exist. Each Midway has 1-2 actors. The carnival one in the back of the park has a few more, but 4 actors vs 2 doesn't make much of a difference.
There were a lot of issues with the wristbands not scanning or trying to attach passes. Fortunately most were resolved before the end of the night, but I had trouble scanning my band at 3 of the 4 mazes.
There wasn't much queue organization, so lines were a mess in spots. Fastpass and standby lines should be marked but weren't.
Merch game was excellent. The park has merch for all the mazes, scare zones and the entire event. It was a tad expensive, but we'll worth it.
Maze rankings
The Descent. This maze would be much better if the line didn't move at a snail's pace. I ended up giving up on this the first time around because the line moved so slowly. Second go around ran slightly smoother, but you're not pulsed through the maze properly at all
Creature Chaos. The beginning of this maze was really strong. Unfortunately the maze comes to a halt about halfway through and becomes devoid of actors and sets towards the end.
Twisted Carnival. While the maze isn't too elaborate in spots, it does pull enough gimmicks to put it head and shoulders above the lower two mazes. Actors are very high energy here. It helped immensely that I had a solo run through this, but even with a conga line, it was still solid enough.
Mineshaft. The mine one was definitely the best of the four. Most elaborate, best gimmicks, and it was a decent length. I can't spoil too much here, but I know HP did a phenomenal job with this one. Easily one of my favorite theme park mazes of all time.
I'm so glad HP has decided to put their hat into the haunt ring and it's a pretty strong start despite the many hiccups that occurred.
Huge shout-out to the slider in the carnival scare zone. He was amazing.
The mazes were well done for what they were. Set pieces were elaborate in spots, but there was a lot of dead space in many of the mazes. Actors on the other hand were basically on their A-game. So much energy!
Scare zones basically don't exist. Each Midway has 1-2 actors. The carnival one in the back of the park has a few more, but 4 actors vs 2 doesn't make much of a difference.
There were a lot of issues with the wristbands not scanning or trying to attach passes. Fortunately most were resolved before the end of the night, but I had trouble scanning my band at 3 of the 4 mazes.
There wasn't much queue organization, so lines were a mess in spots. Fastpass and standby lines should be marked but weren't.
Merch game was excellent. The park has merch for all the mazes, scare zones and the entire event. It was a tad expensive, but we'll worth it.
Maze rankings
The Descent. This maze would be much better if the line didn't move at a snail's pace. I ended up giving up on this the first time around because the line moved so slowly. Second go around ran slightly smoother, but you're not pulsed through the maze properly at all
Creature Chaos. The beginning of this maze was really strong. Unfortunately the maze comes to a halt about halfway through and becomes devoid of actors and sets towards the end.
Twisted Carnival. While the maze isn't too elaborate in spots, it does pull enough gimmicks to put it head and shoulders above the lower two mazes. Actors are very high energy here. It helped immensely that I had a solo run through this, but even with a conga line, it was still solid enough.
Mineshaft. The mine one was definitely the best of the four. Most elaborate, best gimmicks, and it was a decent length. I can't spoil too much here, but I know HP did a phenomenal job with this one. Easily one of my favorite theme park mazes of all time.
I'm so glad HP has decided to put their hat into the haunt ring and it's a pretty strong start despite the many hiccups that occurred.
Huge shout-out to the slider in the carnival scare zone. He was amazing.
Can't talk about the mazes but Storm Runner was the long of a wait last night but was partially because they only had one side open and it went down a couple times while we were in line. I got there at 4:15 and the season passholder lot was full as was basically the entire arena lot (where passholders park for overflow).... took me a half hour to find a spot clear out by the road. I honestly don't know when I saw Hershey so busy. SkyRush was moving though.... only took me about 35mins in that line... Most rides were about an hour though.
It’s been like that since 2018. Hershey needs to badly raise rates and stop the Giant/Turkey Hill discounted passes. Regular tickets are what, $77? King size passes $24/month ($288/year)? Heck their Halloween tickets are $54 for single day and $45 for 2 day.
Hershey is not always that busy..... The goal of preventing certain people from being able to afford going to a park is not the solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Hershey's King Size pass is $216 which is very close to the price of a Cedar Fair Platinum. Hershey has some stuff they need to work on but raising admission/passes isn't it.
Also, Dark Nights is $90 for the combo on a Saturday..... cheaper on Friday and Sunday which are both less crowded days.
Honestly, this is tiring.
True.... poor people shouldn't be able to have a good time..... they should work harder. After all, it is their own fault that they aren't as wealthy as those that can afford to do whatever the hell they want. God forbid we ever let them on a high end golf course -- that's what driving ranges are for, right? Relegate them to the carnivals where they belong.
Yea, pointing out the the demand is high, so they should charge more because there’s a high demand clearly means all of that. Seriously tired of hearing “you hate poor people” as a response to comments that relate to supply/demand issues.
Stop bringing it up then. The context had absolutely nothing to do with anything -- even though it got moved to the Dark nights thread it started in another thread where we were talking about this last Sunday being busy at *ALL* parks. It had absolutely nothing to do with Hershey, what they were doing as a park, etc but somehow you had to find a way to bring up raising ticket prices because YOU KNOW that it bugs me. You twisted a conversation about parks being busy the Sunday before Columbus day into a direct attack at Hershey's ticket prices..... If this had been a conversation that somehow related to money then it probably wouldn't have bugged me so much but you just pulled it out of the air.
Yea, pointing out the the demand is high, so they should charge more because there’s a high demand clearly means all of that. Seriously tired of hearing “you hate poor people” as a response to comments that relate to supply/demand issues.
EDIT: If I'm incorrect and you didn't bring it up to target me please let me know why it was relevant.
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While I’m not inside @warfelg’s head, none of his comments appeared to me to be targeted at you, personally. He presented a reasonable possible solution to the problem of large crowds. You disagree with it. That does not mean his suggestion was intended to offend you. We know that you disagree with that approach. That does not mean that discussion is off-limits, especially when it makes sense in context.
And in my opinion addressing the causes of overcrowding, regardless of the day of the week is a logical place for the conversation to go. I don’t think everyone agrees with the premise that parks should function over capacity, simply because it is a weekend night during a popular event. I think many people believe the parks need to find ways to limit the number of guests to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone in the park. So, I’m not sure why his comments would not be seen as relevant.
And in my opinion addressing the causes of overcrowding, regardless of the day of the week is a logical place for the conversation to go. I don’t think everyone agrees with the premise that parks should function over capacity, simply because it is a weekend night during a popular event. I think many people believe the parks need to find ways to limit the number of guests to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone in the park. So, I’m not sure why his comments would not be seen as relevant.
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Well, we took our 9 & 12 yos to BGW HOS this past weekend (4/5 houses Sunday night) and they enjoyed their first time doing the houses after years of only experiencing the scare zones on our way out of the park. We have season passes for Hershey and are really trying to get out there this month, but it looks like we can only go on Saturdays until the last weekend in Oct, where we could do Friday or Sunday as well. Any suggestions on the best night to try to go?
Based on Facebook groups, Sunday generally looks like the better day to go. DN has generally been busier from what was in the past with HPITD. This weekend had the added crunch of Kevin Hart in town (cheap hotels were going for $300-400 a night!) which likely added more people than they were ready for.
I personally haven't been but like said, Facebook groups seem to think Sundays are best. But be prepared for some rides to be closed too (potentially).
It was the context which is no longer reflected because the post had been moved. The cause of the crowds was already to be decided that it was the day before Columbus day..... In fact, I was actually posting in support of what he was saying in regards to Hershey be yet an additional park that was crowded on that specific day. It's absolutely not the content of the message but that there was no reason to even bring it up.
I totally agree that right now, where these posts live, it looks very different. I don't fault that the messages were moved but seeing everyone else suddenly pile on me with reactions after the post was moved adds to my frustration. I feel like I was attacked and then the entire context shifted and made me the singular bad guy here.
I don't respond like this and I'm usually frustrated by this type of thing but words can't explain how badly this personally hurt me. I REALLY enjoy ParkFans but a single topic with a single person really has me considering if it's worth it -- especially when it's a topic that I've been trying to avoid with said person only to get slammed with it later.
We knot it's disruptive when we move posts and we know it sucks. It's just also disruptive for a multi-post Hersheypark discussion to emerge in a currently-important BGW thread. It's all a game of weighing the pros and the cons for the health of discussion as a whole. Sometimes someone will get the short end of the stick and their post will end up moved and, hence, unintentionally recontecturalized. It sucks when that happens and we apologize.
The best solution is basically to always just make sure your post is actually centered on the topic of the thread you're posting in. If it's not but you have something to say, just quote the post that triggered your response and copy it over to another existing, relevant thread.
Anyway, the meta-discussion is pretty off-topic too so we should probably get back to Hershey.
The best solution is basically to always just make sure your post is actually centered on the topic of the thread you're posting in. If it's not but you have something to say, just quote the post that triggered your response and copy it over to another existing, relevant thread.
Anyway, the meta-discussion is pretty off-topic too so we should probably get back to Hershey.