shadowscare

Bingo. If they really wanted to pivot and make it a family event, they would market it as such. I believe it's becoming a more family friendly event because they keep making cuts, not because they decided that's what they want. It's not like they were hurting for guests when the Haunt was more intense. The park was always packed. Shoot, I can recall visiting on a misty Friday night when temps hovered around 40 degrees. Still crowded.

Are they really trying to make it a family event? Then stop calling it Haunt, with a tagline of "fear is waiting for you," calling it a transformed park with big red warning labels that it is intended for mature audiences, and too intense for children, along with intense imagery to advertise it. There is absolutely nothing in the marketing to make anyone think it's even remotely family friendly. I don't believe they're intentionally making it friendlier for families. If they did they wouldn't promote it the way they do, and they certainly wouldn't shut down the kiddie area. They're finding ways to make cuts and still keep people interested.

Alright, here’s my full review from Friday, 9/22. It’s my first Haunt visit in 10+ years and to sum it up… we had a good time, but my how the mighty have fallen. (very minor spoilers ahead) Arrival: At 5:45 we found a mob of people crammed in shoulder to shoulder waiting for the gates to open. Once the gates open, you have to pass through a chaperone check which creates a major bottleneck. They have to find a better way. Back in the day. I still vividly remember the fog building behind the gates, then seeing them open up to a rush of scareactors storming the crowd. It was absolutely epic, and oh how I wish they would bring it back. Instead there is now… nothing. No opening sequence at all. The Haunts: Keep in mind we went straight from the gate to the first maze, and only went on two coasters between he first maze and Cornered, which likely helped with the short waits. Madame Fatale’s Cavern of Terror: Walk on. We were one of the first few people in the maze, and thought it was excellent. Good theming, the scareactors were on point, and a few jump scares mixed in to make it a well rounded haunt. didn’t feel short on scareactors so my hopes were high for the rest of the night. The hostess at the entrance was really into her character, setting the tone for the maze. Slaughterhouse: Near walk on. It was as good as advertised and very gory. Felt like it could’ve used another character or two but by no means sparse. Scareactors were into it and some good jump scares mixed in. But can someone tell me what the point of the air-blown feathers in the glass cases was all about? It was in the middle of the journey and felt out of place. Thumbs up to the shaking bodies on the walls. It’s a simple animatronic but effective in creating an unsettling vibe. Killmart We waiting maybe 20 minutes here. I loved the setting inside but… where is everybody? It was sparse, little to no jump scares and lots of missed opportunities. Thumbs down. Hotel St Michelle Short wait. I liked the theme of it. Felt a little light on scareactors there, and outside of the hallway scene not much in terms of jump scares. We thought it was fine. Cornered Waited around 30 minutes for this one, getting there around 8:00pm after bailing on Alien Abyss. Wow… this one is bad. I guess it’s worth the walk through if the line is short but otherwise, skip it. They’re barely even trying in this one. Alien Abyss Holy crowded line, Batman! This place was packed all night. The queue was nearly full when we stopped by on two separate occasions. After reading on datapoint here of an hour wait with only two and a half rows of the queue filled, we probably would’ve been there 90-120 minutes. We gave it a shot, but the line barely moved, and saw lots of people bailing out. I mean, we have season passes so we figured we’ll visit again and just head straight for it before the crowds arrive. We hit St Michelle, Cavern of Terror and Slaughterhouse a second time later at night. All had short waits of under 15 minutes. Slaughterhouse definitely had more scareactors in it the second time around. The other two lost the effect of jump scares as the folks in front of us were moving very slow. Scare Zones: Coney Maul: So uh… where is everybody? And what’s with the pop music? Pumpkin Eater: Short, but a cool area. But again, pop music? Alien X: Eh.. not much going on here. Costumes feel more UFO encounter and less scary flesh eating alien. Abandoned: The marketing photo makes it look like it’s more than it is. But it’s a fun, though short zone to walk through. Rides The Beast, Stunt Coaster, Drop Tower, The Bat, Banshee, Orion (had the longest wait of the night, though still just 30 minutes), and Mystic Timbers. The Beast is still meh, Mystic still rocks, and the others were as expected. Well, except for The Bat. We sat front row for a ride in the dark. Now, I don’t know if it was the mild, dry air, or perhaps the darkness that enhanced the journey, but holy smokes was that thing hauling like never before. What a rush! Other notes: -Outside of the mazes, and maybe just a couple of the “scare” zones, it felt like any other night at the park. -The ambiance is nowhere near what it used to be. -Fog is limited to the scare zones, and fairly sparse for the most part. -The only chainsaw encounter in the entire park was at Abandoned, which I found surprising. -I was surprised by the number of young kids there. KI makes it VERY clear this is not for kids. I mean, I saw a family with toddlers going into Killmart. An infant, yes an INFANT being carried out of Slaughterhouse. A four year old being forced to go into Cavern of Terror, crying, screaming “I don’t wanna go!” What on earth. I could go on. Did we have fun? Yes, of course. Are there missed opportunities? Yes, many.

I was there tonight. I'll write up a full review later but it can pretty much be summed up like this: It's not what it used to be. Don't get me wrong, we had fun. I mean, it's Kings Island! But this event used to be so much more immersive. Last time I left the Haunt I recall wanting to tell everyone how awesome it is and looking forward to returning. Now? Eh, it's nothing to get excited about. It's a major step down from years past. If I wasn't a passholder and had paid the $45 online price, I would've been very disappointed. And to the poster above that mentioned the Alien Abyss line... holy smokes. That is the longest line I've seen for any attraction all year long. We skipped it and based on your experience with the length, I'm so glad we did. We probably would've been there two hours because the queue was absolutely packed.

Where did you hear this? Given the complaints of the reduced number of scareactors the last couple years, it's hard to imagine they'd continue to make more substantial cuts. I hope this isn't a trend.

Out of curiosity I just looked up the opening ceremony on Youtube. Oy... what a downgrade. The older opening with all the ghouls bursting out of the thick fog through the gates was so freaking cool. Oh well.

Can't wait! Do they still do the opening sequence where all the scaractors come running out of the fog through the front gates into the crowd waiting out front? Like I said I haven't been in several years. That was my favorite part of the event.

I'm taking my son to the Haunt on Fri 9/22. I haven't been in several years, but always enjoyed it. He's 13 years old and fears nothing, but this is his first haunt and first haunted house experience. Any tips on the indoor mazes that would be a good starting point for him? Also, is there any conventional wisdom about where to go first before the lines really start to build? We'll be arriving about 20 minutes before gates open. Thanks, really looking forward to it.

Woke up this morning to rain, and saw it would be ending around 9:00/9:30. PERFECT DAY FOR KI! Place was a ghost town for the first several hours. Anyway... onto The Beast. A couple years ago I swore off ever riding it again. Incredibly rough, and frankly, outside of the first drop/turn and helix near the end, a pretty dull layout. The next year I tried it again, since my youngest two kids were now tall enough. I'll never forget my then 7 year old daughter shouting out mid ride, "WHY. DOES. IT. HURT. SO. BAD?!" Couldn't agree more. Haven't rode it since. After a retrack, I had to give it a try. Wow, what a difference. Silky smooth? I wouldn't go that far but it's the perfect amount of smooth and slight jostle that I love on wooden coasters, if that makes sense. I was no longer bracing myself, and no longer in pain. For once I could just enjoy the ride. We got off, kids giggling with glee, and went right back on again for our second walk on wait. I still don't understand all the hype, I still believe it needs a reprofile, the trims throughout are still disappointing, and it's not even in my top 5 at the park. But, I will say this... it was a fun ride. Saying that is a first for me. Got a third ride in later in the day, so we rode back, middle, and towards the front, and even in a wheel seat. It felt the same regardless. I look forward to the late closings to try this again at night. While I scratch my head at why some hold this ride in such high regard, I will say this: that double helix is so unique. The slight, sideways drop that builds anticipation into that tunnel... makes it look like there's no way the train can make that turn. What a moment.

And that would be fine. But in my experience, that is rarely the case.

If they don't have the equipment to report accurate wait times, then don't bother with it. All that does is leads to guest frustration. Here's what I find so strange though. I've found that when you ask the person at the queue entrance how long the wait is, usually their estimate is reasonably accurate. Am I alone on that? So in my experience the boots on the ground have a good handle on it, they just need access to keep the app updated themselves.

I've never found it to be accurate. I can't tell you how many times it would list a wait time of 90 minutes only to find a 45 minute line, or the other way around.

Sticking with tradition maybe? The wait times feature is absolute trash. I've never experienced it to be remotely accurate. I don't know why they bother with it. Regardless, it wasn't needed today. We arrived at the parking lot at 4:30. Rode Woodstock Express, Mystic Timbers, Racer (twice), bumper cars, Orion (twice, front and back row), Banshee, and Invertigo. Great day to be at the park!

Meanwhile every chiropractor in town is at KI, doing what they can to get the coaster back up and running again.

Park is quite crowded today. Racer wasn't bad with a 20 minute wait due to only the red side running. Blue side was up around 12:15. The wait times in the app are so far off It's ridiculous. Invertigo was posting a 15 minute wait, yet it had a full queue. The Bat posting 10 minutes, but the line was backed up past the concrete tunnel. Banshee at 25 minutes... the queue was completely full and spilling out a little. No idea if that wait time is accurate as I've never seen it that full. On the plus side, bumper cars, scrambler, and Congo Falls were a walk on, and Orion was up and running at 11:05 and we were near the front of long line of people waiting for it to open. My 8-year old daughter finally worked up the courage to hop on and absolutely loved it. Really we just planned on staying for a couple hours and heading home knowing it would get crazy and got 5 rides in, left around 12:45