Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt 2024

[mtorange]

Dorney Park released their Haunt lineup today. Well, mostly.

They announced all of the returning mazes and zones, and now they’re teasing that their new scare zone won’t be revealed until the first week of September.

Tomorrow’s KD Haunt announcement better actually announce everything and not leave any holes in the lists. It’s more than time for the entire lineup to be revealed, especially since BGW’s lineup has been out for quite a while now. I don’t see any benefits at all in holding the new information back at this point.

 

[Theoneandonlyteddy]

The new house this year is titled MonsterCon, which seems to be replacing Condemned. It’s giving similar vibes to Slaughter Sinema at HHN, I’m interested to see how it goes. Every other house and zone seems to be staying this year.

 

[Zachary]

Interesting, novel theme for the area! Never seen anything like that in VA.

Disappointed that the scarezone lineup is stagnant and there aren't any other house renovations that justify a new tag planned. Especially concerned with F.E.A.R.'s return. Hopefully MonsterCon is a return to form and not more of 21/F.E.A.R.

 

[October13]

Very happy to see KD and Valleyfair get new houses that aren’t just recycling themes throughout the chain. I have high hopes for MonsterCon given that it’s going in a relatively large building. Hopefully there’s a story to it cause its website description seems a little chaotic.

 

[Mushroom]

Interesting theme for sure. I love the creativity. Echoing what @Zachary said, MonsterCon is going to be a real test to see if 21/F.E.A.R. was a fluke or the new standard. Holding my breath here.

Obligatory RIP to Condemned/No Vacancy. After 12 seasons, it had more than run its course, but what a great haunted house it was. It certainly ushered in a new era of detail and storytelling at KD, and it remained Haunt's standard-bearer until the end.

Finally, why does KD keep insisting on ruining the atmosphere of Cleaver Brothers with multiple stage shows in the middle of it? The park is full of open areas begging for a show. Stop interrupting the scare zone with the best soundtrack in the park (seriously, the Cleaver Bros music is great) with random dance shows and brass bands!

 

[mtorange]

Very happy to see KD and Valleyfair get new houses that aren’t just recycling themes throughout the chain. I have high hopes for MonsterCon given that it’s going in a relatively large building. Hopefully there’s a story to it cause its website description seems a little chaotic.

From the park’s blog:

“This year’s feature is a new maze called MonsterCon. Something has gone grotesquely wrong during the opening day of a horror convention! Attendees expected to see exhibits and revel in the excitement of all things horror, but the monsters on the exhibit floor have somehow come to life and banded together to ensure that no one will make it out alive.“

I’m a little worried that this one won’t live up to the legacy of Condemned. A monster convention maze sounds like something that could work with a smaller budget, which is going to look super weak compared to No Vacancy/Condemned, which had to have had a very large budget. Regardless, I hope the maze makes use of public domain monsters and doesn’t try to come up with yet another character that doesn’t translate well to the general public (ex. Whatever F.E.A.R. is).

 

[WrierSiamang152]

View attachment 34074
The new house this year is titled MonsterCon, which seems to be replacing Condemned. It’s giving similar vibes to Slaughter Sinema at HHN, I’m interested to see how it goes. Every other house and zone seems to be staying this year.

So I got really confused while reading the websites description for this maze and thought it was an interactive scare zone. Still really excited, but now I'm kinda disappointed. Imagine an actual horror convention DURING haunt.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

The concept does sound strange, but with the reference to movies in the description, my guess is that this maze will be similar to Cinema Slasher at Knott’s Scary Farm.

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[buckler89]

MonsterCon definitely has potential to be cool. I dig the idea, just curious how they will make it work. I have high hopes for it, but like everyone else, holding my breath in hopes that the execution is more in-line with No Vacancy, Blood on the Bayou, and Trick or Treat (design wise) rather than F.E.A.R. No Vacancy acted as the first transition into higher quality designed houses at Haunt, so it'd be a shame if they replace it with something cheaper.

RIP to Condemned. I feel like it was up near the top of my rankings almost every time I've hit it, with a couple misses here and there, of course. It started to show its age for sure and it was time to replace it, but I could pretty much always count on it to be a fun house. Some of my best Haunt scares have been in Condemned / No Vacancy. But looking forward to MonsterCon.

 

[outhikn]

With today being the first operating day after Tuesday's announcement, the first sign for MonsterCon is now up:




And though we're not even to Labor Day weekend yet, the entire Cleaver Brothers scare zone is already setup -- where though I did not look too closely, it appears there may be one or two small, but new props scattered about:

 

[mtorange]

In addition to the pictures above, there are more MonsterCon banners up all around Action Theater. Also, the facade for Blood on the Bayou and a new fence for F.E.A.R. are placed! Credit to the KD Fanatics and Passholders Unlimited page/group for the pictures.

If they market MonsterCon correctly, this has the potential to really become something great.

I also hope the new fence for F.E.A.R. is a sign that the inside has also been improved.

 

[WrierSiamang152]

I also hope the new fence for F.E.A.R. is a sign that the inside has also been improved.

Honestly with this new fence, I have my hopes up that they have improved with the cohesive themeing. The sign gives off dystopian warehouse vibes similar to the movie The Cube.

 

[kdfanatic666]

I don’t understand the point of bringing back big top band and burlesque without also bringing back Burnett the barker. I was so interested in the entertainment when they had icons similar to HHN, but now it’s only the queen played by a different person every year to varying degrees, and a repeat of almost all entertainment (minus some). If they invested into their icons like HHN, and even used them in marketing, they would have more repeat visitors long term

 

[mtorange]

I don’t understand the point of bringing back big top band and burlesque without also bringing back Burnett the barker. I was so interested in the entertainment when they had icons similar to HHN, but now it’s only the queen played by a different person every year to varying degrees, and a repeat of almost all entertainment (minus some). If they invested into their icons like HHN, and even used them in marketing, they would have more repeat visitors long term

It’s very hard to secure the same actors year to year at a local theme park like KD. The queen was actually played by the same person for the past two seasons (and maybe even this year? Time will tell.).

I agree that icons should play a larger role in the marketing. It’s a huge missed opportunity that the park doesn’t rebrand itself as the Queen’s Dominion for Haunt each year.

 

[WrierSiamang152]

I don’t understand the point of bringing back big top band and burlesque without also bringing back Burnett the barker. I was so interested in the entertainment when they had icons similar to HHN, but now it’s only the queen played by a different person every year to varying degrees, and a repeat of almost all entertainment (minus some). If they invested into their icons like HHN, and even used them in marketing, they would have more repeat visitors long term

Wasn't the Overlord their big icon for a while? Honestly they should bring him back instead of the queen. He had a much more sinister vibe for some reason compared to "unhinged queen ruling over KD" as a theme.

 

[Zachary]

A new character every year shouldn't be too much to ask—especially when the rest of the event is moving so glacially. A fresh icon annually would do at least a little make it feel like we aren't attending the same event, basically unchanged, year after year after year.

 

[warfelg]

Wasn't the Overlord their big icon for a while? Honestly they should bring him back instead of the queen. He had a much more sinister vibe for some reason compared to "unhinged queen ruling over KD" as a theme.

A new character every year shouldn't be too much to ask—especially when the rest of the event is moving so glacially. A fresh icon annually would do at least a little make it feel like we aren't attending the same event, basically unchanged, year after year after year.

I think a really cool way they could do both at the same time of carry an icon and have a new one every year would be to do a "________'s Last *something*" on the final night of HH, and on that last night have a huge party with the characters on IS - and have that icon pass on to the icon for the next year so you have a full 10 months of build up of the character to the next HH. Allows you to keep each year fresh by a slightly different feel each year.

I think a really cool thing would be to rotate them based on the different theme areas of the park. Have a Queen for IS, a revolutionary war general for Old Virginia, a ghoul/witch for CAG, and a mythical creature for JungleX.

 

[Mushroom]

I think a really cool way they could do both at the same time of carry an icon and have a new one every year would be to do a "________'s Last *something*" on the final night of HH, and on that last night have a huge party with the characters on IS - and have that icon pass on to the icon for the next year so you have a full 10 months of build up of the character to the next HH. Allows you to keep each year fresh by a slightly different feel each year.

I think a really cool thing would be to rotate them based on the different theme areas of the park. Have a Queen for IS, a revolutionary war general for Old Virginia, a ghoul/witch for CAG, and a mythical creature for JungleX.

I actually like this idea a lot. Maybe they make a big deal out of the reveal for the new character each season — teasers, social media posts, the whole thing. Or maybe, to your point, the new character shows up and “kills off” the previous character at the end of each season.

And, to @Zachary’s point, it seems like a super inexpensive way to drum up excitement for the event and give it a fresh vibe season after season.

 

[outhikn]

Visiting the park on Friday evening, some additions I noticed for Haunt made over the past week...

With the Food and Wine event over, Pumpkin Eater is now setup:



Uprising is also setup, with a couple new minor props here and there:



And if you look close, note how the statue on top has a slightly new location:



...vs last year:



MonsterCon has additional banners:




And for the Burlesque show in Cleaver Brothers, the stage has been expanded:

 

[WrierSiamang152]

I think a really cool way they could do both at the same time of carry an icon and have a new one every year would be to do a "________'s Last *something*" on the final night of HH, and on that last night have a huge party with the characters on IS - and have that icon pass on to the icon for the next year so you have a full 10 months of build up of the character to the next HH. Allows you to keep each year fresh by a slightly different feel each year.

I think a really cool thing would be to rotate them based on the different theme areas of the park. Have a Queen for IS, a revolutionary war general for Old Virginia, a ghoul/witch for CAG, and a mythical creature for JungleX.

I could see this working really well if done right. This would have potential and could even incorporate some of the park's other lore as well.