Yes, last Saturday was crazy busy. I mean it was like 1 &1/2 hours for I305 not to mention the waits on the houses
Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt 2023
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
Yeah honestly that might have been the worst Haunt crowd I have seen in the dozen years I have been going and I been on some bad nights before.
Went to HAUNT on Saturday. I hadn't been to the park in two years so it was rather nice to see the place again. All and all, I was very impressed. Mind you, I hadn't been to HAUNT since 2013. So one particular thing that stood out to me was how light the crowd was for a Saturday. The park had it's fare share of people, but it was not as congested as 2013 HAUNT that I remember. Maybe this had a lot to do with it being the last weekend of it. Also, they don't do as many mazes as they use to, which is fine because not all of them were good. Themes were really cool. BLOOD ON THE BAYOU was one of my favorites.
There are a few direct questions I have about HAUNT:
1. Why doesn't KD pack their mazes with more scare actors?
2. Why aren't mazes more jump scary?
3. Does anyone know the ambience tune playing inside TRICK OR TREAT AND CONDEMENED?
There are a few direct questions I have about HAUNT:
1. Why doesn't KD pack their mazes with more scare actors?
2. Why aren't mazes more jump scary?
3. Does anyone know the ambience tune playing inside TRICK OR TREAT AND CONDEMENED?
Final opnions on haunt.
FEAR: Fear was the best house of the night, very good campy fun. I really like the idea of only having one character that follows you through the house. The actors were actually acting and in character here, which was a lot of fun.
Grimmwood: I belive I have expressed my opnions on grimmwoods in this thread enough. I always walk out of this house confused and mad. Feels like I am trying to find where the scares are every time I walk through.
Blood On The Bayou: This house was fun! I like how connected the sets are, but some parts were very dark and I was struggling to see. The atmosphere is fantastic, but the scares are not.
Condemned: It's fine. Too many long boring hallways where nothing happens. Actors weren't interested in acting, and the story here made no sense. Is it a zombie wedding? Where was the wedding? Why am I in the laundry room? Where are the actors?
Trick or Treat: I didn't realize how much I enjoyed seeing until I went into this house and had one of my five sense ripped away from me. I always bump into the walls and what I am pretty sure is other people. The actors here just stare at you. Not fun.
The scarezones on the other hand, were much more fun. All the actors interacted with me and seemed like they were having fun, something I can't say about the houses. Haunt is a disapointing event, and I would be very mad if I had to spend extra money on a seperate ticket for this.
FEAR: Fear was the best house of the night, very good campy fun. I really like the idea of only having one character that follows you through the house. The actors were actually acting and in character here, which was a lot of fun.
Grimmwood: I belive I have expressed my opnions on grimmwoods in this thread enough. I always walk out of this house confused and mad. Feels like I am trying to find where the scares are every time I walk through.
Blood On The Bayou: This house was fun! I like how connected the sets are, but some parts were very dark and I was struggling to see. The atmosphere is fantastic, but the scares are not.
Condemned: It's fine. Too many long boring hallways where nothing happens. Actors weren't interested in acting, and the story here made no sense. Is it a zombie wedding? Where was the wedding? Why am I in the laundry room? Where are the actors?
Trick or Treat: I didn't realize how much I enjoyed seeing until I went into this house and had one of my five sense ripped away from me. I always bump into the walls and what I am pretty sure is other people. The actors here just stare at you. Not fun.
The scarezones on the other hand, were much more fun. All the actors interacted with me and seemed like they were having fun, something I can't say about the houses. Haunt is a disapointing event, and I would be very mad if I had to spend extra money on a seperate ticket for this.
It would be nice to see KD really go all out with one of their HAUNT mazes. BLOOD ON THE BAYOU seems the ideal one to do this with. The old zombie high building is now dormant. Wouldn't it be cool to see them enhance BOB by using two buildings and then continuing the story, when you walk down towards the actual building where BOB is? I've always enjoyed the half indoor/outdoor mazes.
This brings me to an idea. I've always been a man of quality, not quantity. KD has something special going for them with only doing 5 or 6 mazes. It would be rather nice to see them combine two themes in the future. I am happy Flight of Fear stays open, but I do miss having aliens. I've always said that ALIEN OUTPOST/OUTBREAK could have been much better if it had more space. If Grimm Woods were to ever leave, I would be all in favor of them using that space to make a more improved version of OUTBREAK. They would need more walls and props to make it scary. I truly believe KD could pull this off if they had the staff.
This brings me to an idea. I've always been a man of quality, not quantity. KD has something special going for them with only doing 5 or 6 mazes. It would be rather nice to see them combine two themes in the future. I am happy Flight of Fear stays open, but I do miss having aliens. I've always said that ALIEN OUTPOST/OUTBREAK could have been much better if it had more space. If Grimm Woods were to ever leave, I would be all in favor of them using that space to make a more improved version of OUTBREAK. They would need more walls and props to make it scary. I truly believe KD could pull this off if they had the staff.
I think the lighter crowds compared to past years may be due in part to Haunt becoming an up-charge this year. That means fewer day guests staying for the event, and the park can make more money from fewer people attending Haunt.
To answer some of your questions:
- The labor market is so tight right now that KD is probably putting as many people into the mazes that they can budget for. When you last visited in 2013, the scare actors were making around $8/hour. Now the scare actors are paid $20/hour starting. That means the cost of staffing Haunt is 2.5 times more than it was in 2013. So between the intense labor market and more than doubled labor costs, staffing probably won’t reach 2013 levels any time soon.
- KD heavily emphasizes atmospheric acting to its actors. In fact, actors go through intensive training and are given packets with a detailed backstory of their attraction (more detailed than any public-facing backstory we see) and even a detailed description of their individual character, and they’re taught how to bring that character to life. Personally, I think over-relying on jump scares is cheesy and gets old quickly — which incidentally is why I dislike how BGW’s mazes usually perform.
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I like when they play some of the soundtrack from the 1977 Rollercoaster movie that featured KD.
I thought the seperate event thing was hurting them the first 2 weekends, but the weather was also much cooler than usual. After that I really didn't think so. If there are fewer people, it's entirely young kids and the groups thereof. Also, no overlapping of day people leaving with those coming in Sat./Sun.
One thing people that complain don't seem to understand is that this is performance art. It's different every time, its highest points are made possible by that but obviously there will be many misses. However I think that it's become even more important to go through when not so packed with with guests. In the old days the sets and acting were cruder, but more actors were just intent on scaring you.
One thing people that complain don't seem to understand is that this is performance art. It's different every time, its highest points are made possible by that but obviously there will be many misses. However I think that it's become even more important to go through when not so packed with with guests. In the old days the sets and acting were cruder, but more actors were just intent on scaring you.
I guess in an upside to the Upcharge event is there were less reports of incidents.
Just editing I forgot to mention I actually went this year. Had some free tickets.
I need to preface that I grew up going to Jason’s Woods and Field of Screams which - haunts are the only thing they do.
I think all the mazes were good for a theme park. I was able to prep myself for jump scares because they were kinda predictable. I unfortunately was there one of the days where 2 of the houses were basically a conga line.
My $0.02 - I’m glad my tickets were free. After being a pass holder the SZ’s and Mazes were all that was new to me and they didn’t feel like they were worth the Upcharge over what I would have lost ride wise if I still had my pass.
I wish they could do a few happy compromise things like utilize SC for a SZ and 2 mazes to expand it some to spread out. Especially for the SZ’s, it would take people and spread them out on the paths giving the actors some more freedoms. The no boo necklace ruined some things for me. At one point an actor jumped out to slide in his knees, but did it near someone with one on, and his “zinger” was ‘got to tie your shoes or a troll will get ya.’ They should do PS as a no scare zone and have some areas where the no-boo necklace doesn’t apply (and have them well marked.)
Just editing I forgot to mention I actually went this year. Had some free tickets.
I need to preface that I grew up going to Jason’s Woods and Field of Screams which - haunts are the only thing they do.
I think all the mazes were good for a theme park. I was able to prep myself for jump scares because they were kinda predictable. I unfortunately was there one of the days where 2 of the houses were basically a conga line.
My $0.02 - I’m glad my tickets were free. After being a pass holder the SZ’s and Mazes were all that was new to me and they didn’t feel like they were worth the Upcharge over what I would have lost ride wise if I still had my pass.
I wish they could do a few happy compromise things like utilize SC for a SZ and 2 mazes to expand it some to spread out. Especially for the SZ’s, it would take people and spread them out on the paths giving the actors some more freedoms. The no boo necklace ruined some things for me. At one point an actor jumped out to slide in his knees, but did it near someone with one on, and his “zinger” was ‘got to tie your shoes or a troll will get ya.’ They should do PS as a no scare zone and have some areas where the no-boo necklace doesn’t apply (and have them well marked.)
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My personal opinions on the upcharge is that Cedar Fair will try it maybe one more year. If they see a significant downside to KD's HAUNT attendance, they will probably change it back. Other parks were doing this long before KD did it. I don't think it will work well for KD because KD's supporters are not use to it being separate. I'll make a fair comparison. In 2013 I went to HAUNT all four Saturdays in October. During this time, I got to compare weather impact on attendance. The first Saturday of October of 2013, was a warm 80 degree day. The park was packed. Second Saturday of October 2013, was cool and rainy. Park was less packed. Third Saturday of October 2013 was moderate but a little chilly. Park was packed. Final Saturday of October 2013, was cold; but wit it being the last weekend, everyone showed up. If it's an unfair comparison, please forgive me. But, this past Saturday has to be a result of it being separate from park admission.
I'm thinking it's a question of profit margins between each type of operation in addition to a presumably better product (jury still out on that, may take a few years to see if it happens).
Yes, separate paid events may discourage some guests from attending, but they may still end up making more money from it.
Yes, separate paid events may discourage some guests from attending, but they may still end up making more money from it.
More money? Do you remember the 2012 and 2013 crowds for HAUNT? The park would get flooded at 6:30 or 7:00pm and stayed pack clean up till 11:00pm. You'd think you'd stepped into the twilight zone, because the place transformed into something entirely different. With that being said, I would say that this is a risky experiment. How do we find out what HAUNTS average attendance was for 2023? Aside from that, Cedar Fair quickly saw that operating year around wasn't going to work in certain parts of the country.
My guess is that Cedar Fair will most likely try doing HAUNT as a separate event for another year, before they decided whether it works or not.
I went at least one day every week of Haunt this year and crowds did seem to be down a little but I think it's important to remember that industry wide there appears to be a down trend in park numbers. So the question isn't how was attendance compared to 2013 or even 2022 but how does the percentage up or down for KD 22 vs 23 compare to other parks that already had a history of separate admission event? I would guess that CF will likely compare what increase or decrease there was to what increase or decrease Carowinds saw from the same time frame and use that to decide how successful the change was financially.
Don't forget to pair that math with the notable decrease in operating cost due to having to deal with lower crowds levels.
No one will know whether or not it has worked until we see if KD continues the formula next year.
My understanding is that reducing crowd sizes is one of the reasons to make it a separately-ticketed event.
Really felt like that park was staffed about the same as it was the last couple of years. That coupled with how much increase we've seen in the cost of every other aspect of business, not just labor burden, I don't think they would really see that much difference in operating costs.
CF has already shown us recently they are looking hard at profitability right now by discontinuing year-round operations at several parks. They gave it a half-assed attempt for one season and when it didn't work like they wanted, CF pulled the plug rather than attempting to fix.
As we're just a couple of days from the start of 2024's Haunt, I (once again) remembered I had not shared my favorite photos I took from last year's event.
The ambience that KD creates for most -though in honesty, not all- days of Haunt is truly outstanding!
So hopefully these photos help capture (and do proper justice) to that general park mood/atmosphere, which helped make Haunt 2023 so great (as usual), and that we see more of the same here in 2024.
The ambience that KD creates for most -though in honesty, not all- days of Haunt is truly outstanding!
So hopefully these photos help capture (and do proper justice) to that general park mood/atmosphere, which helped make Haunt 2023 so great (as usual), and that we see more of the same here in 2024.
