I guess this is something... but I really miss the dueling organs from years past. It's also not a part of the wristband for houses, same as other shows and scare zones.
Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt presented by SNICKERS® 2025
- Thread starter mtorange
- Start date
I guess this is something... but I really miss the dueling organs from years past. It's also not a part of the wristband for houses, same as other shows and scare zones.
They should put one of the C-suite guys in that thing. Same name. Now that would make them some money.
I have several thoughts.
I am disappointed that the attempt to make Haunt an upcharge event failed. I think that was the best solution to their recurring problem with violent crowds.
I also like upcharge houses, because they tend to have fewer small children and people who don't actually enjoy haunted mazes. That said, given the usual crowds at Haunt, I worry that preventing people from queueing for and experiencing the houses will make the crowds on the paths larger and probably more bored. This seems like a recipe for chaos.
I don't believe any of this matters in this specific case, however. Since the 2025 passes were sold explicitly with Haunt included, experiments with paywalls should only include people with single day passes this year.
If they price passes not to include Haunt in the future, in my opinion they are welcome to do whatever they want to manage crowds and lines with cost.
It is also worth noting that in my experience charging for house entrance is not always an adequate substitute for front of the line passes. (But I have a 20 minute max limit on standing in a queue. Friends also claim that my 20 minutes is actually closer to 10 minutes on a normal clock.)
I am disappointed that the attempt to make Haunt an upcharge event failed. I think that was the best solution to their recurring problem with violent crowds.
I also like upcharge houses, because they tend to have fewer small children and people who don't actually enjoy haunted mazes. That said, given the usual crowds at Haunt, I worry that preventing people from queueing for and experiencing the houses will make the crowds on the paths larger and probably more bored. This seems like a recipe for chaos.
I don't believe any of this matters in this specific case, however. Since the 2025 passes were sold explicitly with Haunt included, experiments with paywalls should only include people with single day passes this year.
If they price passes not to include Haunt in the future, in my opinion they are welcome to do whatever they want to manage crowds and lines with cost.
It is also worth noting that in my experience charging for house entrance is not always an adequate substitute for front of the line passes. (But I have a 20 minute max limit on standing in a queue. Friends also claim that my 20 minutes is actually closer to 10 minutes on a normal clock.)
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Charleston SC is a no man’s land for parks as well. The closest park is 2 hours away for Family Kingdom, 3 hours for Carowinds if you want an actual full scale park, and beyond that it’s 5+ hours. I love it here, but one of my biggest hobbies requiring full on travel makes me wonder just how many years I’ll stay.
I moved here from Indianapolis and wasn’t a fan of everything but Indiana Beach being 2+ hours away, but I’d take it back in a heartbeat. I was definitely spoiled by living an hour away from Great Adventure and working 30 minutes away from it.
Yea, I miss my time in Central PA with Dorney, Hershey, GAdv, SFA all witching 2 hours; then RVA with KD and BGW inside 45 minutes.
These no mans land is what made this merger suck IMO.
They could give full house access to all existing 2025 passholders (not new people who bought a cheap 2026 and get the rest of 2025). They certainly know who these folks are, and that could be shoehorned into existing passes as a benefit. Maybe if they want to be picky about it, don't include Saturdays as a "excluding peak nights" or something - to further spread crowds.
Then they can change it next year, and hopefully they'll have something new to make it worth the extra cost. At least that would explain the cheap passes with plenty of upcharges.
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Busch Gardens just announced their second new maze/house for this year and while their quality has been a bit lacking in recent years I think between the upcharge and same mazes at KD I feel like most people will end up going to Busch.
Ultimately this decision fucks over the passholders and the value they had way more than someone who just buys a ticket. I feel like people who just want to do haunt will buy a ticket or just skip the event entirely. I have some friends who love to go to Haunt but at the upcharge on top of the pass they’re probably just gonna go to a local haunted house rather than pay for the same ones we’ve been doing since forever.
I mean shit we got the 14 year old Cornstalkers, 9 year old trick or treat, and 8 year old blood on the bayou. Most the scare zones have been around similar amounts or longer and they have two shows that aren’t new either. I just don’t see the value in paying to do things I already have done multiple years in a row and honestly I don’t see the logic in doing this. It’s been shown time and time again that if you nickel and dime everything rather than charging a bit higher up front people feel scammed and those people will not be repeat customers
Ultimately this decision fucks over the passholders and the value they had way more than someone who just buys a ticket. I feel like people who just want to do haunt will buy a ticket or just skip the event entirely. I have some friends who love to go to Haunt but at the upcharge on top of the pass they’re probably just gonna go to a local haunted house rather than pay for the same ones we’ve been doing since forever.
I mean shit we got the 14 year old Cornstalkers, 9 year old trick or treat, and 8 year old blood on the bayou. Most the scare zones have been around similar amounts or longer and they have two shows that aren’t new either. I just don’t see the value in paying to do things I already have done multiple years in a row and honestly I don’t see the logic in doing this. It’s been shown time and time again that if you nickel and dime everything rather than charging a bit higher up front people feel scammed and those people will not be repeat customers
That would have been a good idea if they would have advertised it with the sale of the 2026 passes. It would have been a good ETHICAL way to implement this. But that word is missing from Six Flags management vocabulary.
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Not much of a scare zone either. Just that little area around the Tower.
And the scare zone isn’t even an upcharge lol, the only new thing is included
The new scare zone is actually on Center Street (The long walkway between the Eiffel Tower and The pit/flower clock)
Maybe relevant beyond King's Dominion but Coaster101 has a good breakdown of all the 2025 changes and costs here: Legacy Cedar Fair/Six Flags "Halloween Haunt" Now Has A Cost...How Much? - Coaster101
I saw on Facebook yesterday they are advertising for performers for a metal band and another act, probably for main stage. Can't find it again though.
It's disappointing there isn't really anything new regardless of the upcharge or not. I must mention though that I don't recall anything about the upcharges when I bought my first Six Flags pass over 10 years ago, found out about it when I got there like everyone else. Only the precedent of never charging for houses before really said they wouldn't now. That and slippery lines like "unlimited Haunt access" which indicates you need a lawyer to buy a pass without just taking what you get.
Looking at the schedule, we're also losing the other "too good to last" as Sundays have been rolled back to 10 PM close. Also no Haunt Sunday 9/21.
It's disappointing there isn't really anything new regardless of the upcharge or not. I must mention though that I don't recall anything about the upcharges when I bought my first Six Flags pass over 10 years ago, found out about it when I got there like everyone else. Only the precedent of never charging for houses before really said they wouldn't now. That and slippery lines like "unlimited Haunt access" which indicates you need a lawyer to buy a pass without just taking what you get.
If we're clear you're using "Decimated" in the sense of losing 1 out of 10 I agree. Winterfest fans are taking this more like a loss of 90%-100%. Right now it seems to me more like Pantherian closed for 4 months is at least as large a loss, but maybe not come this December. Haunt upcharge is a cost and maddening but still will be there. Have thought "this is too good to last" at Haunt before, however that was pre-2020 and it didn't, except for one other thing....
Looking at the schedule, we're also losing the other "too good to last" as Sundays have been rolled back to 10 PM close. Also no Haunt Sunday 9/21.
I know of two separate people that have canceled their 2026 purchased pass over Haunt changes and both received full refunds so if you have purchased and are now bummed out there is an option that exists.
The bandstand show will be called Terror Rising, but casting is being handled by an outside entity called Windish Entertainment. Completely unsure why this was excluded from the show lineup, as the loss of a show (or so we thought) was one of the reasons people are upset at the event lineup.
Something of note—this company has completely taken over the hiring for Dorney Park’s fall entertainment offerings, which I have heard may be the plan for other parks in the SF chain in the future.
PLEASE keep in mind that the employees and management at the park have had zero say in decisions involving Haunt this year. Corporate has taken control of every single creative decision, and I know that the people who (used to) make decisions about Haunt are very disappointed in these changes this year. Those at the park are trying to make the best out of an insanely shitty situation.
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It would be very stupid to bring a new show to the event this year without any new haunted houses in addition to now upcharging for the houses. There is going to be more vandalism and more pissed off guests this year and very bad timing. With that said I would be very surprised if they do have a new show. Maybe they might want to try doing better next year. Worst 50th anniversary celebration event ever.
For anyone that is considering buying the all season haunted attractions pass, I'd act quick. Or don't, and support a local haunt this year.
Some of you know that Kings Island posted that they "Sold Out" of them the other day. Unsurprisingly, not only are they no longer sold out, but the price has been raised to SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS. $75.....
Kings Dominion currently has it priced at $45. Definately something to keep an eye on.
At Kings Dominion, there are very few days at the $10 price to add singe day maze access. Most Saturdays are now $25 per person. Twenty.... Five.... Dollars.... To go through the same houses as last year. Not new news, but the reality of seeing that on the website is appalling.
Some of you know that Kings Island posted that they "Sold Out" of them the other day. Unsurprisingly, not only are they no longer sold out, but the price has been raised to SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS. $75.....
Kings Dominion currently has it priced at $45. Definately something to keep an eye on.
At Kings Dominion, there are very few days at the $10 price to add singe day maze access. Most Saturdays are now $25 per person. Twenty.... Five.... Dollars.... To go through the same houses as last year. Not new news, but the reality of seeing that on the website is appalling.
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It’s a marketing tactic. They aren’t putting a cap on how many of those they sell 
The “sold out” move on the KI site is doing exactly what they wanted it to do. It’s like those mattress stores that are always having “Going out of business sales” every weekend for 25 years,
The “sold out” move on the KI site is doing exactly what they wanted it to do. It’s like those mattress stores that are always having “Going out of business sales” every weekend for 25 years,
I’m confused, is there a difference between the all-season maze pass and the all-season express maze pass? I’m vehemently opposed to just a straight maze pass on principle, but an all-season express pass seems like an entirely different concept entirely. That sounds like an all-season version of the Fright Lane passes, which seem like a nice benefit for anyone who’s a Haunt fan and wants to pay to skip the lines all season. And it would make sense that that would sell at a higher price and with some sort of quantity cap.