Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt 2024

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horsesboy

horsesboy

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I know Haunt 2023 is just starting but we have the first bit of news on Haunt 2024 and it's one that is going to be met with great enthusiasm by members here. Per the linked bellow post in the Kings Dominion Pass Members group on FB it's now officially listed that Pre K passes WILL NO LONGER BE VALID FOR ADMISSION to Haunt! starting next year.

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I guess the separate entry was a fail?

I HOPE they decide to cut midnight closes on Sundays. That couldn’t have been a success, either. I never stayed that long to know for sure, though.
 
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^^-- I wouldn't be surprised if the midnight Sundays not only will be gone, they were one reason to quit the seperate ticket thing. However, why would you want that to happen? I stayed for it a few times, maybe didn't even get there until 10. ;)
 
bill s said:
^^-- I wouldn't be surprised if the midnight Sundays not only will be gone, they were one reason to quit the seperate ticket thing. However, why would you want that to happen? I stayed for it a few times, maybe didn't even get there until 10. ;)
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How were crowds? Was the park busy enough to justify staying open until 12 on a Sunday night? I just felt bad for the performers who had day jobs the next morning… many of the monsters work other full-time jobs.
 
I’m kind of craving haunt already lol. Only a short 7 month wait. What do y’all hope Haunt 2024 is looking like? First, I hope CornStalkers and 21 or whatever they named it this year gets the boot. I think it’s also time we throw in an additional scare zone in the mix. I would say get rid of masquerade but i feel as if it was well done this year with the relocation. Lastly, I can always pray for the overlord to come back… but I think we all know how unrealistic that is lol .
 
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wickluvshaunt<3 said:
I’m kind of craving haunt already lol. Only a short 7 month wait. What do y’all hope Haunt 2024 is looking like? First, I hope CornStalkers and 21 or whatever they named it this year gets the boot. I think it’s also time we throw in an additional scare zone in the mix. I would say get rid of masquerade but i feel as if it was well done this year with the relocation. Lastly, I can always pray for the overlord to come back… but I think we all know how unrealistic that is lol .
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As gimmicky as it was, I'm hoping they bring back the flashlights for Condemned: No Vacancy this season.
 
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Wondering if the 2025 coaster will get its own house similar to Ghost in the Machine at Dorney. Would be cool if they also brought back Blackout since it’s cheap
 
I thought FEAR was a strict improvement over 21, but it still felt like a house that had been initially been hastily thrown together with too small a budget, and with enough band-aid fixes in its sophomore year to make it halfway acceptable at best. And, based on my understanding, that’s exactly what the house was: the fallout of a number of avoidable and unavoidable circumstances that befell Haunt in 2022, and a somewhat clever but still too-little-too-late revamp in 2023.

The park was smart enough to realize that 21 needed serious work after Haunt 2022. Hopefully they realize that FEAR needs similar scrutiny after Haunt 2023 too.

Anyone know if Lockdown is still standing inside the FOF building? At this point, I’d prefer that they just dust off that maze, maybe giving it a minor revamp like Cornstalkers got last year, than spend another penny trying to fix FEAR. Or, better yet, let’s just get a new maze in the same quality vein as GrimmWoods or Blood on the Bayou again.
 
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Mushroom said:
I thought FEAR was a strict improvement over 21, but it still felt like a house that had been initially been hastily thrown together with too small a budget, and with enough band-aid fixes in its sophomore year to make it halfway acceptable at best. And, based on my understanding, that’s exactly what the house was: the fallout of a number of avoidable and unavoidable circumstances that befell Haunt in 2022, and a somewhat clever but still too-little-too-late revamp in 2023.

The park was smart enough to realize that 21 needed serious work after Haunt 2022. Hopefully they realize that FEAR needs similar scrutiny after Haunt 2023 too.

Anyone know if Lockdown is still standing inside the FOF building? At this point, I’d prefer that they just dust off that maze, maybe giving it a minor revamp like Cornstalkers got last year, than spend another penny trying to fix FEAR. Or, better yet, let’s just get a new maze in the same quality vein as GrimmWoods or Blood on the Bayou again.
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My understanding is that many parts of Lockdown were gutted and reused as part of 21/FEAR. It looked like the first room in FEAR had many parts of facades from Lockdown’s jail cell rooms, and many of the mannequins were former prisoners.

Real-life events around 2020 (BLM-related) made the park want to get rid of Lockdown and The Yard entirely. You’ll never see a prison-themed haunt in the Cedar Fair chain ever again.
 
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mtorange said:
My understanding is that many parts of Lockdown were gutted and reused as part of 21/FEAR. It looked like the first room in FEAR had many parts of facades from Lockdown’s jail cell rooms, and many of the mannequins were former prisoners.

Real-life events around 2020 (BLM-related) made the park want to get rid of Lockdown and The Yard entirely. You’ll never see a prison-themed haunt in the Cedar Fair chain ever again.
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Oh shit I forgot about all that. Yeah, it would be very poor taste to bring those mazes back any time soon.
 
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Is there a chance they could ever bring back a maze? I don’t know if its ever happened before, but if they still have some set pieces from past mazes, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard. I could see Blackout, Club Blood, Toxic, or Doll Factory coming back
 
Theoneandonlyteddy said:
Is there a chance they could ever bring back a maze? I don’t know if its ever happened before, but if they still have some set pieces from past mazes, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard. I could see Blackout, Club Blood, Toxic, or Doll Factory coming back
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I could see Club Blood or Doll Factory come back because they’re essentially classics mazes to the part at this point. Would love to just see something change up this year and if bringing a old maze back that some people haven’t experienced is the change then so be it.
 
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Theoneandonlyteddy said:
Is there a chance they could ever bring back a maze? I don’t know if its ever happened before, but if they still have some set pieces from past mazes, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard. I could see Blackout, Club Blood, Toxic, or Doll Factory coming back
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I wouldn’t be opposed to Blackout returning if it is put in a building where no light can be seen at all. The first year it was in the old Club Blood building (before Blood on the Bayou was built) was its best year by far. I’m not sure why they moved the maze, as it was never the same again.

The only time an old maze was brought back was when Maze of Madness returned in 2014 as part of the park’s 40th anniversary celebration. I’d love to see an old maze come back for the 50th in 2025. If that were to happen, I’d say the most likely candidate would be Doll Factory. Though, Club Blood would be a fun one too, especially because the park doesn’t have any vampire attractions right now.
 
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mtorange said:
I wouldn’t be opposed to Blackout returning if it is put in a building where no light can be seen at all. The first year it was in the old Club Blood building (before Blood on the Bayou was built) was its best year by far. I’m not sure why they moved the maze, as it was never the same again.

The only time an old maze was brought back was when Maze of Madness returned in 2014 as part of the park’s 40th anniversary celebration. I’d love to see an old maze come back for the 50th in 2025. If that were to happen, I’d say the most likely candidate would be Doll Factory. Though, Club Blood would be a fun one too, especially because the park doesn’t have any vampire attractions right now.
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Would Zombie High School’s old location work for Blackout? I hadn’t been attending Haunt yet when it was around, and I think it was by where Blood on the Bayou is now?
 
I, personally, prefer that they focus their limited resources on new mazes.

Houses need to be replaced fairly regularly, in part, because the industry evolves and innovates. Nostalgia aside, a great maze from 5-10 years ago won't have the current "technology" (for lack of a better word). Part of what made mazes like Bayou and No Vacancy so popular when they first opened, was that they were novel and cutting edge.

It is bad enough that both Virginia parks have been keeping old mazes open well past their prime and that they have also been adding unimaginative houses that lack up-to-date concepts. Going back to an old house, in my opinion, would just compound the problem of both haunt events feeling stale and uninspired.
 
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