Kids at HOS

[Nicole]

I think there are other reasons to have the lights-on, daytime walk-throughs; the ability to test houses out on kids is only one of them.

I also would question the effectiveness of using a scare zone as a test for a maze. Even when the terror-tories are fully staffed and operating as intended (a rare condition), there is a world of difference between a busy park path with a few actors and some decorations and a dark, fully-immersive house full of monsters. Generally, you can avoid the actors is a scare zone and I have rarely felt that build-up of anxiety in a terror-tory. The houses are designed to make a guest feel trapped and the intensity is designed to increase as you proceed forward.

 

[ludmarco]

I saw a woman at Kings Dominion the other week walking into a house with her 4 year old literally hanging on her leg (arms and legs wrapped around it) screaming. Who is going to enjoy that one?

My heart goes out to the 4 year old, but this mental image is hilarious

 

[warfelg]

Personally I think they should do something like near the gate have your "lesser" level scares, and increase the level as you keep going back. Additionally I think having a "no scares" path through the park would be great. I'm trying to remember where it was I encountered this but it was GREAT as someone who does not enjoy jump scares. I knew if I walked between the red lines I could enjoy the Halloween atmosphere without walking constantly looking over my shoulder for the next jump scare. Of course if I went in any house that was on me.

I think this could be great for parents of mixed aged kid families to go, keep the younger ones near the front of the park, if you do want to go back stay between the lines, and you can take the kid anywhere in the park without worrying about them being too scared.

 

[warfelg]

Some are as you said, ignorant, but for others they may be visiting from out of town for BG and don't have child care. This is another reason I love the idea of the parts being atmospheric but scare free and the houses being no holds barred and as intense as people want. Parents could take turn experiencing them while the kids stay out of the scary parts, which improves that experience for those who want it too. I think if you went that way then you could even put an age requirement on houses.

Moving this over here:
This is what my take, somewhat, for how you can "improve" HOS. I think though that these out of town groups that have no child care are in a lose lose situation. They don't have someone to watch their kids, and it's hard to trust someone these days. So other than a kid handoff area (who wants to go through a maze/house alone?) it's kind of difficult to really do HOS.

If they can correctly communicate to "batch" send a group with kids that the scare actors know to hold back that would be fine, but it seems as though they just slam groups through and you often enter rooms as a group is leaving ruining the illusion.

 

[MIKEYT67]

I was there on Sunday for my company picnic and I had my 5yo grandson with me.Before we got there we told him wewould be leaving early because of the scary monsters that they had atnight.
5:00 rolls around and we are, menbers So I asked him if he wanted to try a haunted house. Without hesitation he said yes so we went to INFERNO
After ythe fisrst 2 scare actors he started crying so I picked him up and carried him the resat of the way
I told him when they jumped out just tell them hellnce he did that he was fine > I would also like to thank the actors for playinmg along. When we finished their was asherrif sytanding there and asked if he liked it he said yes and got a high 5 .BTW I let everyone in the group go ahead of us so as not to ruin their time
My grandson did say when we were done Pop Pop That was sacary and fun but Ill wait until im bigger for another one
SO I GUESS THAT MAKES ME 1 OF THE IGNORANT PEOPLE
FYI WE LEFT BEFORE 6

 

[Nicole]

I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that anyone would consider your actions "ignorant," given that story.

Many of us have a huge problem with parents who force scared children to be at HOS and even go through mazes. We also object to strollers in mazes and scare zones, as there is simply no way that a baby or toddler is emotionally ready for an adult haunt.

There are also objections to the No Boo necklaces. If anyone of any age is frightened (in a bad way) of an adult haunt, they really shouldn't attend one. It ruins everyone else's experience by forcing the actors to stop scaring everyone in the vicinity.

I'm not sure what those objections have to do with the situation you described..

 

[warfelg]

I would also very much applaud the way that was handled @MIKEYT67

 

[Crunchewy]

I must confess that I like the no boo necklace equivalent at KD because... I'm a bit of a scaredy cat, yet I do like Haunt a lot. So if I see a no scare necklace on a group, sometimes I will tag along close to avoid some jump scares. I do one or maybe two mazes and that is enough. I like those 2 or so, and I like the shows and the atmosphere, just not some of the jump scares while just walking about. At the same time I do like the threat of them to an extent. It's a conflict. So in a way I'm part of the problem, but I'm also not because I don't actually get one of the necklaces, I just "borrow them" from others. Haha.

 

[horsesboy]

I had two mothers with at the oldest 3 to 4 year olds in their arms in front of me Saturday night at Bloody Waters. The kids were literally SCREAMING and crying all the way through. I had enough people behind me that I couldn't really slow down to get distance from them. It was an utterly horrible experience. I commend the actors who stopped trying to scare and were trying to be as comforting and helpful to the moms and kids as possible but yeah it ruined the maze and with a large crowd and over an hour long line I wasn't getting back through it that night.

 

[warfelg]

I must confess that I like the no boo necklace equivalent at KD because... I'm a bit of a scaredy cat, yet I do like Haunt a lot. So if I see a no scare necklace on a group, sometimes I will tag along close to avoid some jump scares. I do one or maybe two mazes and that is enough. I like those 2 or so, and I like the shows and the atmosphere, just not some of the jump scares while just walking about. At the same time I do like the threat of them to an extent. It's a conflict. So in a way I'm part of the problem, but I'm also not because I don't actually get one of the necklaces, I just "borrow them" from others. Haha.

There’s a haunt in PA that does a “every 5th group” rule for kids, as well as a color code system. The ticket encourages you to wear read for no scare and yellow for light scare, everything else for full on. I think that’s a great way so house/hayride operators can bunch those groups together and the whole acting team knows the group coming through gets a lighter scare.

 

[MIKEYT67]

I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that anyone would consider your actions "ignorant," given that story.

Many of us have a huge problem with parents who force scared children to be at HOS and even go through mazes. We also object to strollers in mazes and scare zones, as there is simply no way that a baby or toddler is emotionally ready for an adult haunt.

There are also objections to the No Boo necklaces. If anyone of any age is frightened (in a bad way) of an adult haunt, they really shouldn't attend one. It ruins everyone else's experience by forcing the actors to stop scaring everyone in the vicinity.

I'm not sure what those objections have to do with the situation you described..

Read the post abovemine

 

[Nibbins]

To be fair, it is sometimes hard to predict how kids will react.
They might even react differently in different houses, dependent on what their triggers are.
Or they might be fine at first and then actually have one of the actors get a good scare in and suddenly freak out for the rest of the house or even the night.

IMO:
-A parent dragging their kids through all houses even though they are screaming and crying is an asshole.
-Taking your kid in to test the waters is fine if they are brave enough to walk in by themselves, even if it doesn't work out.

 

[Nicole]

Read the post abovemine

I have no idea which post you mean, since the posts above yours don’t say anything about being ”ignorant.” My guess is that you are referring to this post from an entirely different thread:

I don’t understand why ignorant parents bring their little kids to Halloween events that feature mature content/subject matter/themes. It’s obviously inappropriate for them.

Assuming that is the post that you are responding to, my position remains the same. Nothing in your story would lead people to categorize you as someone who brought a little kid to HOS. You said you were there for a separate event and even planned to leave before HOS started. Your circumstances are completely different than what people are objecting to. You sound very defensive and angry and I honestly find it puzzling, since literally no one has attacked you.

 

[WDWRLD]

Sadly you can clearly see the difference in BGT HOS and BGW HOS and I blame our watered down shows and houses on the number of members and families that complained because it was not kid friendly enough. People had a fit at the nurses costumes here at BGW even though the BGt shows go was over the top
as far as adult content. Then let’s talk about HHN where I watched a scare actor chase a stroller out of a scare zone opening night.

 

[Coasternerd]

I've seen Haunt Monsters chase people through a scare zone before- and out of a maze as well.

 

[mikes]

Many parents suck. As a parent of an 8 and 4 yo, I know their limits. Not only do I not want them to be so scared that they are scared for life, they just don't need to be exposed visually to this stuff yet. Maybe when my oldest hits double digits we'll try something.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

I was there on Sunday for my company picnic and I had my 5yo grandson with me.Before we got there we told him wewould be leaving early because of the scary monsters that they had atnight.
5:00 rolls around and we are, menbers So I asked him if he wanted to try a haunted house. Without hesitation he said yes so we went to INFERNO
After ythe fisrst 2 scare actors he started crying so I picked him up and carried him the resat of the way
I told him when they jumped out just tell them hellnce he did that he was fine > I would also like to thank the actors for playinmg along. When we finished their was asherrif sytanding there and asked if he liked it he said yes and got a high 5 .BTW I let everyone in the group go ahead of us so as not to ruin their time
My grandson did say when we were done Pop Pop That was sacary and fun but Ill wait until im bigger for another one
SO I GUESS THAT MAKES ME 1 OF THE IGNORANT PEOPLE
FYI WE LEFT BEFORE 6

This is exactly why I don't like the idea of people that promote hard age limits on different types of events. Some kids will love this stuff a lot younger than other kids will. The key is to know your kid and act appropriately -- you did that but many other parents don't.

Let's be honest..... I'm 42 years old and I think if anyone pulls me into most mazes I'll come out in tears so I tip my hat to your grandson.

 

[Nicole]

Apparently, taking babies to Halloween Horror Nights is a new, appalling Tik Tok trend. I really hope HOS guests don’t decide to try it at BGW.

 

[warfelg]

I was at Field of Screams this past weekend, which is literally just a haunt and 0% of it is kid friendly, but I still so no less than 20 kids. This included our friends, who we told to leave, that are in their 40's with 4 kids between the 3 couples that are all 7-12.

We were disappointed in the one couple because they should know better since they worked there. But there was another one we were disappointed in because they are helicopter parents who let no one babysit their kid, mostly because they complained that they don't get to go out with us anymore. I sounded harsh, but I said "I'm sorry but that's the price you pay for the choice of not even letting family babysit."

 

[horsesboy]

Saw a complaint posted on FB that diaper bags were not exempt from the bag policy apparently security told the woman "There isn't an exception for them cause you really shouldn't be bringing kids that young to the event"