Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt presented by SNICKERS® 2025

[RollyCoaster]

Kings Island only offered the express version as a season long option. There is no standard all season option. You get 1 trip through the Conjuring experiance every visit and unlimited skip the line access on all houses. They marked it "Sold out" and removed access to buy it, leaving only single visit maze access options, then the exact same thing that was sold out came back on sale today at a hefty markup over what is was.

The only annual option at KD is without skip the line access and without some special maze access. I wouldn't put it past them to mark it as sold out soon just to sell the same product a few days later with a markup.

 

[AmyUD06]

The only annual option at KD is without skip the line access and without some special maze access. I wouldn't put it past them to mark it as sold out soon just to sell the same product a few days later with a markup.

In their defense, there is no "special maze" for them to give access to at KD hahaha. And yeah, SFGAdv's all-season HAP went up in price too (but is still cheaper than some of their single-day offerings for some reason?). An increase here is inevitable.

 

[RocketChk]

The add-on pass should have been held off until next season. Have KD/Six Flags scrap every.single.house. and approach it with a 'hey, we've stepped it up, come see" and then...actually step it up. Change the name and start fresh. It's going to hurt their pockets for a minute, but people will pay for brand new and they won't alienate their passholders. They don't even have to start completely brand new, shift the houses around. I'd looove to see some of Knott's past houses come here. I've always supported this idea with the Busch parks too. I don't mind getting some of Tampa's hand me downs. Both Knott's and BGT have to (attempt) to compete with HHN and I'd love to see some new stories.

That being said, I'm a big defender of KD's houses. I always feel uneasy and a bit unsafe, and that's what I want in a haunt. I also think the detail is beautiful in some of them and I'd pay for a lights on tour. I'll pay for the houses this year just because I'm a haunt fan, but this should have been handled way more professionally and just feels slimy.

 

[RollyCoaster]

Wow, that didn't take long...
Kings Dominion raised the price to $69 for the same item that was $45 yesterday.



And Kings Island raised the price AGAIN since YESTERDAY to $99



What a disaster.

 

[warfelg]

 

[CoasterBroCam]

BRUH!
Six flags try not to make bad decision challenge: Impossible

 

[Zachary]

These price hikes are insane. Do we think they're actually selling or do we think they originally put them up for sale at a lower price to quell some backlash before raising them up to the intended price? People are furious, but imagine if from the initial upcharge announcement they were charging $70. That's nearly the price of a KD gold pass—a KD gold pass that was advertised to include this claimed $70 value.

Anyway, they weren't getting my money before and they certainly still aren't getting my money now. Sincerely hope other people follow suit and refuse to buy into this bullshit. Still fuming over here, if it wasn't clear.

 

[Mojosdad]

Are they doing like Carowinds and charging different prices almost every night of Haunt? No more mazes for my family.

 

[MrBradferd]

Whats the problem with just raising season pass costs and re including everything... give some pass freebies like Busch does and be done with it

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Yeah I’ve generally accepted I’m not going into the mazes this season and won’t be for awhile. What a disappointing outcome of the merger.

 

[Mike541x]

It's such a shame it's come to this. I am going twice this year with my best friend, who doesn't do roller coasters due to motion sickness, but like myself, loves Halloween and he goes for the houses and atmosphere. I just don't think it's really fair for someone who can't ride anything, to have to pay park admission and for the houses. A good bit of people usually go exclusively for Haunt and not the rides. Like myself, he wasn't happy when I broke the news about the extra admission, but since he couldn't go last year, he wants to go twice this year to make up for it. If it were up to me, I'd go exclusively just for night rides (which I do plan on doing any of my visits to Haunt). That said, if this extra cost is still implemented into Haunt next year, we already agreed to go to Howl-O-Scream or even Dark Nights.

 

[paintervision]

Whats the problem with just raising season pass costs and re including everything... give some pass freebies like Busch does and be done with it

That's the old way of thinking. The new way is, get them in the door with a cheap pass and then upcharge for things that were previously included.

Maybe they can charge for live entertainment and cups of water next? See also: airlines.

 

[MrBradferd]

That's the old way of thinking. The new way is, get them in the door with a cheap pass and then upcharge for things that were previously included.

Maybe they can charge for live entertainment and cups of water next? See also: airlines.

That's the old way of thinking. The new way is, get them in the door with a cheap pass and then upcharge for things that were previously included.

Maybe they can charge for live entertainment and cups of water next? See also: airlines.

Dont give them any ideas. Those cups of water are a life saver

 

[bill s]

I'm wondering if the prices will get cranked in-park too. Didn't know about the upcharge? Pay twice as much! Security better be on-point.

 

[buckler89]

Can I ask something in case I'm totally misunderstanding? Please tell me if I am, because I'm genuinely asking.

This is strictly for those of us who do not have a season pass. Those of you who do, you're getting screwed here and that sucks.

But for people like me who would just be going to Haunt once a year, this doesn't seem to be a price increase, even with the add-on, right? Looking back at my tickets I got in 2022 (last time I went, it seems), it came out to $55 per ticket for Haunt. That got us into the park and all the Haunt stuff.

If I'm understanding correctly, this year, park admission is $40 and the Haunt add-on is $10, so $50 to go to Haunt one time and do all the houses. You get that Ticket + Haunted Attraction Pass for $50. So actually a little cheaper than I paid in 2022.

I'm asking because I was initially really annoyed when I saw there would be an add-on for houses. But then looking at it, it's no difference in what I would have paid before anyway, so I guess I don't really care. Am I nuts or am I misunderstanding how the add-on works?

Again, those of you with season passes thinking you were getting Haunt as part of your pass deserved to be pissed. This is just meant for those of us (the average park-goer, I would assume) who are just going once and didn't have a season pass.

 

[Mushroom]

Can I ask something in case I'm totally misunderstanding? Please tell me if I am, because I'm genuinely asking.

This is strictly for those of us who do not have a season pass. Those of you who do, you're getting screwed here and that sucks.

But for people like me who would just be going to Haunt once a year, this doesn't seem to be a price increase, even with the add-on, right? Looking back at my tickets I got in 2022 (last time I went, it seems), it came out to $55 per ticket for Haunt. That got us into the park and all the Haunt stuff.

If I'm understanding correctly, this year, park admission is $40 and the Haunt add-on is $10, so $50 to go to Haunt one time and do all the houses. You get that Ticket + Haunted Attraction Pass for $50. So actually a little cheaper than I paid in 2022.

I'm asking because I was initially really annoyed when I saw there would be an add-on for houses. But then looking at it, it's no difference in what I would have paid before anyway, so I guess I don't really care. Am I nuts or am I misunderstanding how the add-on works?

Again, those of you with season passes thinking you were getting Haunt as part of your pass deserved to be pissed. This is just meant for those of us (the average park-goer, I would assume) who are just going once and didn't have a season pass.

I think you’re right, and I think it’s why it was a huge marketing blunder that they didn’t include the mazes for pass members this year while making clear that mazes won’t be included next year. With the insanely cheap all-park pass deal they’re running right now, they had an opportunity to frame this as a pro-consumer move that puts choice into the guest’s hands. They could have said that the alternative was raising pass prices like all the other theme park companies are doing, but instead, they decided to give guests the choice of whether Haunt was something they cared about — that they could pay extra for it if they wanted to, or keep their passes at the same (or lower) great price if they didn’t care much for Haunt. In other words, offer the Haunt upcharge as a more flexible, more digestible alternative to a price hike.

At the end of the day, that would’ve all been marketing spin anyway, but at least it would have felt more like a thoughtful attempt to soften the blow of a price increase instead of the unexpected, middle-finger-to-guests, blatant cash grab that we got. If they’d been transparent about what was happening next year and explained that in the context of the price, I think people would be much more tolerant of this change. But they didn’t, and people rightfully feel like the rug was pulled out from under them.

(Incidentally, I thought they should have taken a similar approach for Winterfest, even before this maze upcharge nonsense was announced. If the park has 25,000 pass members (totally random guess) who would be interested in Winterfest and they made Winterfest just a $10 add-on, that’s literally a quarter-million dollar chunk of change that could have subsidized the event. But we’re so far beyond that at this point that who even cares…)

 

[Mojosdad]

Actually looking at the ticket prices it can be as high as $25 for the haunts plus your admission. So in the case of going n the wrong day could cost you $75 and that would be something to consider.

 

[Mojosdad]

Another thing I just noticed was the lack of entertainment. Has KD never had entertainment for haunt or is this a new change as well?

 

[AmyUD06]

Another thing I just noticed was the lack of entertainment. Has KD never had entertainment for haunt or is this a new change as well?

There used to be quite a few different shows. Now there is their opening ceremony + one recurring show, that has been at the park for the past several years.

If you believe rumors, there was apparently an Instagram post trying to recruit musicians for a rock music show, but nothing is listed on the KD website.

 

[buckler89]

I think you’re right, and I think it’s why it was a huge marketing blunder that they didn’t include the mazes for pass members this year while making clear that mazes won’t be included next year. With the insanely cheap all-park pass deal they’re running right now, they had an opportunity to frame this as a pro-consumer move that puts choice into the guest’s hands. They could have said that the alternative was raising pass prices like all the other theme park companies are doing, but instead, they decided to give guests the choice of whether Haunt was something they cared about — that they could pay extra for it if they wanted to, or keep their passes at the same (or lower) great price if they didn’t care much for Haunt. In other words, offer the Haunt upcharge as a more flexible, more digestible alternative to a price hike.

At the end of the day, that would’ve all been marketing spin anyway, but at least it would have felt more like a thoughtful attempt to soften the blow of a price increase instead of the unexpected, middle-finger-to-guests, blatant cash grab that we got. If they’d been transparent about what was happening next year and explained that in the context of the price, I think people would be much more tolerant of this change. But they didn’t, and people rightfully feel like the rug was pulled out from under them.

(Incidentally, I thought they should have taken a similar approach for Winterfest, even before this maze upcharge nonsense was announced. If the park has 25,000 pass members (totally random guess) who would be interested in Winterfest and they made Winterfest just a $10 add-on, that’s literally a quarter-million dollar chunk of change that could have subsidized the event. But we’re so far beyond that at this point that who even cares…)

That's 100% fair. It's a jerk move on their part how they pulled the rug out from under pass holders. There's no denying that at all. And it's such an own goal on their part, which makes it stupid on top of crappy.

Actually looking at the ticket prices it can be as high as $25 for the haunts plus your admission. So in the case of going n the wrong day could cost you $75 and that would be something to consider.

Ahh, that's the kicker. I missed that, I just thought it was 1 price no matter the day. Once I checked the site after reading your comment, I saw the "From $49." Still wouldn't impact me personally since we are religious about going Fridays and not that week of Halloween. But yeah, that's irritating.

Yeah, alright. I'm with the group now in being mad.