We went Friday night and had a blast. Seemed to me like the crowd was maybe a little bit bigger than a typical Haunt Friday, but it was still not really a big deal. One weird thing was the amount of little kids and strollers. I will never understand why this is a thing, but I learned long ago not to question people. You'll drive yourself freaking crazy.
The longest we waited for a house was Condemned, which was around 30 minutes, while Twisted Timbers was our longest wait of the night at around 45 minutes or so I would bet. I ended up splitting from my group to go off on my own to knock out all the houses while they focused more on rides after they hit a few of the houses with me. I was able to hit all the houses and all scare zones except Site X.
Houses are listed by my favorite this year. I will say, I didn't get as many scares as usual, with 1 house being particularly disappointing. But again, still had a great time just walking through the houses, getting a couple scares, and enjoying watching others get scared.
Houses
Grimmwoods - This is my favorite and I don't think it's even close. The atmosphere is just unlike anything else at Haunt with the woods, the lighting, the music, fog, and everything else. They really outdid last year's setup with larger and more detailed sets, along with more actors out on the trail. The first time was just me and my girlfriend, and that was pretty fun anyway. But I went back right before closing while my group was getting a couple rides in. I ended up being pretty far behind a group and had nobody behind me, so I got to just walk through the woods alone and it was a blast. Most of the actors interacted with me, saying things like "It's not smart to walk alone in the woods" or "Went wandering and got lost by yourself?" If you get a chance to walk through alone, I definitely recommend it. I can understand if some find it boring, but I love the creepiness factor and just the whole atmosphere of Grimmwoods. Easily my favorite.
Blood on the Bayou - Man, I really didn't like this house much the first couple years it was here, but this year and last, it's been awesome. Love the detail, the actors have a ton of energy, and the set design is awesome. If not for Grimmwoods, this would've been my favorite of the night.
Condemned - Not much to say considering this is probably still the most popular house in the park and has been for so long. Awesome as always, plenty of actors, good use of the environment, and it seemed like some of the lighting has been changed a bit to hide the fact that the set is showing its age. After so long, you'd think this house would be ready for a replacement, but to me, it's still one of the best.
Cornstalkers - Always hit or miss, but I'd say it was a hit this year. Such a long maze, the actors were hidden very well., and there were plenty of them too. They could probably use a bit more energy to amp up the fear factor, but I do love a good haunted corn maze.
21 - I see what people mean by this house being a letdown. The set design felt like a step back from the last 5 years or so. I actually kinda like the elevator bit since it was something new and interesting. I thought maybe that would set the tone for a really cool, innovating house. However, the rooms just seemed a bit rushed and kinda cheap. A bad KD house design is still pretty good, but it just seemed like a house from like 2015 or so rather than KD's 2022 standard. Got a few decent scares, so still had fun, but it was definitely a misstep. With it being an anniversary house, that's a big shame.
Trick or Treat - This was super disappointing to me, but I was also annoyed throughout the whole house, which I'll explain. This was after I had split from my group and I was in the front of the line, thinking "Awesome, there will be a ton of scares." Nope. Had a couple, but I was definitely disappointed by the number of times I came through a room and saw nobody. Kind of a letdown. The actors themselves are great, just like everywhere else in the park, there just didn't seem to be many of them. However, I also had a group of college kids behind me and they completely ruined the experience anyway. One of them was that stereotypical jackass going into every room like "Oh, yeah, there's one there and one there. There's another in the corner there, yeah I see you. Uh huh, ya got me. Oh there's another over there." Literally, I'm not exaggerating, he did this the entire time, in every room, around every corner, to every actor. I ended up basically speed walking through the house to get away from them, which probably lead to the house being disappointing too since I kinda breezed through every room. People like him ruin the whole thing and it's such a shame. I also feel bad for the actors when people do that crap. Listen, Thad (I don't know his name, I'm just guessing by his overall demeanor). If you're gonna be a tough guy - I promise, this guy isn't - then don't go through the houses. Just stay outside and hold the coats.
Scare Zones
Pumpkin Eater - Far and away my favorite scare zone and I think it's my favorite scare zone KD has ever done. The props, costumes, makeup, lighting, it's all stunning to me. It leans in so hard to Halloween and I just love it. I passed through 3 or 4 times, the last time being by myself, and like Grimmwoods, the actors targeted me. I came around a corner of some hay and a girl on stilts scared the hell out of me. I yelled out the F-word and within seconds, I was surrounded by 4 or 5 other actors, all giving me crap for walking alone, including one saying "Ohhh, alone? Somebody doesn't have any friends!" which made me laugh. Love this scare zone so much.
Cleaver Brothers - Walking through Cleaver Bros is awesome. I'm not sure I had any scares the 3 times I went through, but it didn't matter. I don't even go through it for scares, it's just really fun to walk through. The carnival theme is just perfect for that spot and it really does feel like you're going through a carnival. Going at the end of the night was very cool since it was pretty empty, so I got to just take my time, take in the sets and enjoy the scenery. Always a big fan of Cleaver Bros.
Uprising - This is basically just Necropolis with a different name, right? That's not a bad thing, I always loved Necropolis and I get the same vibe from Uprising. Something about the blue and green lighting really makes this stand out for me, I don't really know why. Good amount of actors with a lot of places for them to hide. Didn't disappoint, just Necropolis never did.
Masquerade - KD can try to sell me on this being a scare zone all they want, but I'm not buying it. It's a fun little area, but no, it's not a scare zone. I don't hate it or anything, I just wish they wouldn't call it a scare zone. I didn't even notice sets, though maybe I just missed them as we passed through. Nothing against the actors, they were all interacting with people, including us. They just don't have a ton to work with.
For what it's worth, we had no problems from the crowds. A few annoying people (looking at you, Thad), but that'll happen with any big event. There's a difference between being annoying and being a problem and we didn't see any problems. I say it every year: If you can, go on a Friday.
As always, it was a great night. Nearly every inch of the park has some kind of spooky feeling to it, whether it's lighting, fog, props, wandering actors, etc. Special shoutout to International Street, which is awesome. It's so much fun to just walk around the park, take everything in, and get wrapped up in the Halloween feel of everything. KD does such a great job every year and didnt disappoint.
