I am expecting giant announcements within the next 10 days. Typically the occur about a week after Busch. But HOS announcements are taking longer this year. Typically they occur August 8th-10th and with less then 30 days before the event starts I am hoping that they are announced by the end of the week.
Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt 2023
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
The park hours also changed for haunt again. They will be opening at 6 p.m. each night that haunt is running.
https://www.kingsdominion.com/calendar-and-hours
https://www.kingsdominion.com/calendar-and-hours
My thoughts from the thread activity from the past couple of days:
1. Very glad to see that No Vacancy: Condemned is coming back! It’s not very surprising though, as they did a lot of work on it last season.
2. The repainting of Cornstalkers leads me to expect a major update this season. Very much needed and welcome.
3. I’m VERY surprised at the change in hours. I’ve never seen the Haunt event begin so early before (6pm). Wouldn’t that mess up the spookiness of Blood Reign if monsters are coming out at broad daylight? I know Howl-O-Scream has done this every night for years, but… yeah I won’t go there.
4. I hate to say this, but I have a feeling that we won’t hear anything concrete until early September. That’s been the trend the past couple of years, and the news about Dorney Park’s Haunt leads me to believe that Cedar Fair as a whole may hold back their Haunt announcements until then. Like I’ve done in past years, I’ll be surveying for Haunt news across all park websites in the chain to see if there are any particular trends (like in 2017 where most parks added a flashlight maze to their events).
1. Very glad to see that No Vacancy: Condemned is coming back! It’s not very surprising though, as they did a lot of work on it last season.
2. The repainting of Cornstalkers leads me to expect a major update this season. Very much needed and welcome.
3. I’m VERY surprised at the change in hours. I’ve never seen the Haunt event begin so early before (6pm). Wouldn’t that mess up the spookiness of Blood Reign if monsters are coming out at broad daylight? I know Howl-O-Scream has done this every night for years, but… yeah I won’t go there.
4. I hate to say this, but I have a feeling that we won’t hear anything concrete until early September. That’s been the trend the past couple of years, and the news about Dorney Park’s Haunt leads me to believe that Cedar Fair as a whole may hold back their Haunt announcements until then. Like I’ve done in past years, I’ll be surveying for Haunt news across all park websites in the chain to see if there are any particular trends (like in 2017 where most parks added a flashlight maze to their events).
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Okay, just noticed something nuts that deserved it’s own post. In addition to the earlier opening time every night (assuming this is not a typo), Sunday hours are dramatically different than in the past. Assuming this isn’t a mistake, on the first three Sundays, the park will close at 11pm. The last three Sundays of Haunt will see midnight closes. There’s no way…
EDIT: Yes way… many other Cedar Fair parks are closing at 11 or 12 this season on Sundays (Carowinds, Dorney Park, Kings Island). Wow.
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I was there tonight too. Not only are they painting it, but there’s a bunch of fresh wood piled up and construction tools behind the fence. Is Cornstalkers getting a revamp this year? At the very least, its entrance is getting a new look.
Don't want to sound too confident here because I'm not positive on all of this yet. Just wanted to clue people into what I'm hearin' at the moment on the house front for Kings Dominion's 2024 Haunt:
All but one of last year's houses seem likely to return—Blood on the Bayou, Condemned, Cornstalkers, GrimmWoods, and Trick or Treat will all probably return. I'm sure we'll see some year-over-year updates to these returning attractions, but I guess none of the changes are planned to justify a formal retheme, name change, or branding update. The only "new" house sounds like it will be an updated and rebranded 21—this year, at least right now, it sounds as though they're rolling with the name "23."
Even if this information is correct right now, we're still a little ways out and things could technically still change. No idea when KD is planning to officially announce.
I'm very much hoping that this attraction list isn't correct. Feels like Haunt development has been incredibly slow for years now and, especially on the debut year of the first-ever upcharge Haunt for Kings Dominion, it feels like this woulda been the year to invest—if only with some significant house updates that would at least justify some tags being added to the names of some of these increasing ancient mazes. Even that would go a long way to at least make the event look kinda new and fresh on paper, you know?
I love Haunt, but I very much hope that the years of recent stagnation aren't set to continue in 2023.
All but one of last year's houses seem likely to return—Blood on the Bayou, Condemned, Cornstalkers, GrimmWoods, and Trick or Treat will all probably return. I'm sure we'll see some year-over-year updates to these returning attractions, but I guess none of the changes are planned to justify a formal retheme, name change, or branding update. The only "new" house sounds like it will be an updated and rebranded 21—this year, at least right now, it sounds as though they're rolling with the name "23."
Even if this information is correct right now, we're still a little ways out and things could technically still change. No idea when KD is planning to officially announce.
I'm very much hoping that this attraction list isn't correct. Feels like Haunt development has been incredibly slow for years now and, especially on the debut year of the first-ever upcharge Haunt for Kings Dominion, it feels like this woulda been the year to invest—if only with some significant house updates that would at least justify some tags being added to the names of some of these increasing ancient mazes. Even that would go a long way to at least make the event look kinda new and fresh on paper, you know?
I love Haunt, but I very much hope that the years of recent stagnation aren't set to continue in 2023.
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I’ve heard rumor (one person not supported by a second yet) that the change to Upcharge for Haunt has more to do with them trying to reduce fights and incidents in the park.
I believe that is playing a large part in it. Still, to the average consumer, they're being asked to pay for something they used to get for free. If they look at the event and it looks even remotely as stagnat as it has past years, that ain't good if you ask me. Haunt has a reputation for qualiy and innovation to uphold and it hasn't been upholding it recently due to a repeated failure to invest in new attractions.
Cornstalkers debuted in 2011. No Vacancy opened in 2012. No Vacancy has changed a lot over the years, but even so, the continued existence of houses that are a decade old is just unacceptable. I'd even say that the next "era" of current houses are probably at or nearing their expiration—both 2016's Trick or Treat and 2017's Blood on the Bayou.
For a while there, Kings Dominion was on a nice pace building one entirely new house every year. This pace was often notably slower than Busch Gardens Williamsburg's, but Kings Dominion took their time and built absolute top-notch houses. The quality over quantity approach is a good one and I support it. That said, if they're only replacing a house a year, they have to actually replace a house a year. Additionally, preferably, with a pace like that, they'd also do a substantial update to an existing, aging house each year—like No Vacancy to Condemned.
Even more concerning to me than the timelines though is that, as 21 showed, something has gone seriously sideways with Kings Dominion house design. The quality dive from Trick or Treat or Blood on the Bayou to 21 was so far above and beyond alarming. On the bright side, it sounds like Kings Dominion agrees and have opted to funnel their money into that location again this year. On the flip side though, doing so means they're, again, letting the rest of their event rot on the vine—an event full of houses that NEED replacement.
Maybe I'm wrong and maybe Kings Dominion has large renovations planned for their older houses this year—but if they do, I beg Kings Dominion to add tags to the end of their names—make it known on paper that there's something substantially new to experience. This is a turning point year for the event, please set it up for success.
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Oh I definitely agree with this. Just wanted to share some of what I heard might be behind the Upcharge. I feel they should do something to show value other than just the potential for safety. I don’t go to these events but it sounds like all of them have been stagnant for a while. You’d figure with HP jumping into this game they’d want to do more to improve but sadly they may have taken away the wrong thing.
I was hoping KD would get a brand-new house this year. Especially because SCarowinds doesn't seem to be getting a new house (though a year to redo our current scare zone situation would be welcomed). Hopefully, Haunt receives something epic, it deserves it.
For what it’s worth, Dorney Park will be revealing their new Haunt attraction (and probably everything else along with it) on September 7th.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Really hoping for a Twisted Timbers haunted house here soon. Bayou would be perfect for it. Would make an awesome house if they followed some of the lore from the ride.
I'd just like something new. I don't mean version three of an existing house. I mean a ground-up new maze.
In my perfect word it would be a creepy funhouse, like Uni's Asylum in Wonderland (Asylum in Wonderland 3D).
In my perfect word it would be a creepy funhouse, like Uni's Asylum in Wonderland (Asylum in Wonderland 3D).
That would be cool, but... they should do what Universal is doing.
Get nostalgic with the park fans and make a Volcano The Blast house.
And here I was thinking I was the only person who liked Asylum in Wonderland 3D.
At the risk of going far off topic, it is in my top five houses. The Haunting of Hill House was another excellent Uni maze and great example of updated techniques I'd like to see KD employing. The nearly black hallway with the scary audio created more sustained anxiety in me than anything I've experienced at a haunt in ages.
halloweenhorrornights.fandom.com
The Haunting of Hill House (Haunted House Orlando)
The Haunting of Hill House (a.k.a Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House) was one of the ten haunted houses that were featured during Halloween Horror Nights 30. It was based on the Netflix show of the same name and was located in the Second Parade Warehouse. For their 30th Halloween Horror Nights...
I don't want to get off-topic, but I was at Carowinds today and noticed the tent they use to store parade floats was still up. Thought it was odd so I checked it out on my way out. Imagine the surprise that ensued when it was full of Halloween floats clearly made by Kern. They even used similar molds and setups to the floats from Sweet Revenge at HHN last year. Maybe some parks aren't getting new mazes but getting a parade. My big question is if it would run at night or day. I tried to get pictures but security was nearby and I didn't want to get in trouble. Anyways…I cannot imagine Carowinds being the only park getting the parade. Maybe KD is too.
Edit: I want to add that the parade tent and floats were in the middle of the parking lot and very visible from public view.
Edit: I want to add that the parade tent and floats were in the middle of the parking lot and very visible from public view.
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I’m gonna say it and hope I’m not wrong, but the only addition is year being 21 becoming 23 just sounds like a really really bad decision in many ways, and I don’t see it happening. It was no secret last year that 21 was not a well received house, both in the theming and the execution. I just simply cannot see how the people in charge would think that’s a good idea
This is the first I’m hearing of any potential Halloween parade at any Cedar Fair park. Do you happen to remember what any of the float designs look like?
If they do in fact have a parade, I would imagine that it would be part of the daytime festivities. I don’t see how they could do a parade during Haunt without completely ruining the atmosphere. I know Cedar Point had done a Great Pumpkin parade in the past.
Also, with budget cuts looming across the country, I find it hard to believe that CF would invest money into another very expensive parade (unless this was decided as part of their ongoing contract with Kern when it was signed back in 2018/2019).