I strongly agree about last year. Minimal effort seemed to have been put into the scarezones and the number and variety of scare actors. This year is definitely a step up, especially with the new music and props throughout the park.
I've always been a fan of Kings Island's Halloween Haunt, and my favorite year of it being open has been 2012. This is because it was my first year experiencing anything like it. And Blood Drums had some of my favorite performances that year.