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Haunt Expectations


TheBeast54
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On 9/18/2018 at 5:51 PM, AZ Kinda Guy said:

After attending Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando several times, every other Halloween attraction is just meh to me. The plug and play haunt attraction themes that bounce around the Cedar Fair chain are garbage. 

I have been to HHN Orlando a few times myself as well (#22 thru 26).  While I agree, the haunts production level are amazing and longer than the ones at KI.  HHN is just over crowded now to the point that 26 wasn't as enjoyable and i am taking a break from our annual HHN trip.  Express passes sometimes still lead to hour long waits (better than 3 hours though).  I wish KI would embrace the production level of HHN, i know its more expensive but i think 6 or 7 well done houses go much further than 10-12 short houses that are slapped together real fast.  Knotts pulls it off pretty well, the other Cedar Fair properties should get the same love.   All that said, i am still excited for tomorrow!   I hope it is better than last year (last year was a dud).

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2 hours ago, Beerman_IPA said:

I have been to HHN Orlando a few times myself as well (#22 thru 26).  While I agree, the haunts production level are amazing and longer than the ones at KI.  HHN is just over crowded now to the point that 26 wasn't as enjoyable and i am taking a break from our annual HHN trip.  Express passes sometimes still lead to hour long waits (better than 3 hours though).  I wish KI would embrace the production level of HHN, i know its more expensive but i think 6 or 7 well done houses go much further than 10-12 short houses that are slapped together real fast.  Knotts pulls it off pretty well, the other Cedar Fair properties should get the same love.   All that said, i am still excited for tomorrow!   I hope it is better than last year (last year was a dud).

People come to Haunt no matter the production value.

If they cut down to 6 houses in the name of “production value” then you’d still end up with 6 of the same quality houses as we have now by the next year.

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10 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

People come to Haunt no matter the production value.

If they cut down to 6 houses in the name of “production value” then you’d still end up with 6 of the same quality houses as we have now by the next year.

Clearly.  The parking lot is more packed than any other time of year.  I would just personally rather have 6 or 7 houses that take 15 mins or so to get through then 10 houses that average 2 mins each.  But to each his own.  Long haunts have spoiled me.  I still go to KI either way.

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2 hours ago, Beerman_IPA said:

Clearly.  The parking lot is more packed than any other time of year.  I would just personally rather have 6 or 7 houses that take 15 mins or so to get through then 10 houses that average 2 mins each.  But to each his own.  Long haunts have spoiled me.  I still go to KI either way.

Haunted Hoochie is about 30mins to 45 mins long, best house I've been too and I've ran one for the last 3 years. KI seems to have good stuff IMO though.

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^ Yet guests keep coming in seemingly bigger numbers every year.

I tend to think of regional park fall events as the fast food of haunted houses. Not everyone who comes to Kings Island during Haunt wants to be scared out of their minds, and mazes need to pack through several hundred people each hour, so they're not going to be truly "good" from the perspective of genre fans.

Events like Universal's HHN are hard-ticket events, and guests who come definitely want to get scared. I need to plan a trip there one of these days.

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Universal's are top notch because they are able to use their IP, as well as obtain licenses to films/shows such as Poltergeist, Halloween 4, and Stranger Things. Universal is also a theme par and by all means a film studio first, the one that produced some of the most iconic monster movies of all time. So naturally, their theming should be incredible. Disney's too. 

I will say that I have been genuinely unimpressed by KI's mazes the few times I've experienced them. It seems I mostly get the characters during an awkward transition, where they are moving to a different part of the maze or not prepared yet for the next wave. 

But the overall atmosphere in the park, the smoke, the ambience, the music is amazing. Plus, I'm really just there for the rides. 

Last time I went to Land of Illusion, it was still called The Haunted Trail. I enjoyed it back then, but since it's been branded a "Scream Park," the prices have gone up, from what I understand. Since I am already paying for my pass, like $8 a month, Haunt is a considerably cheaper option. 

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Went to Kings Island last night, had bought 2 fright lanes, had to leave due to family emergency.  Didn't get to use a single punch out, does anyone know if they are good for another day if not used?

 

Talked to CS they are letting us exchange for today's Fright lanes

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29 minutes ago, chad_1138 said:

Did anyone else thing the fog was a little thinner than past years?

Yes, I was really disappointed, last year that was the really cool thing as you couldn't seen, so the scare zones were better. I've never been to opening day but it really seemed to lack something. Last year they had the little skit and then the monsters came out, nothing this year. I loved pumpkin eaters, but it wasn't scary. Coney maul I was extremely disappointed in, I saw characters just standing around talking to each other. A gal at kill Mart yelled at my husband because I was having a hard time walking and was trying to get thru, I'm sorry unless you are doing something blatantly out of line, there's no reason to yell at a guest ever. Chaos was not impressive at all, hardly any actors in it. We also had a horrible time w food last night, went to red and my burger was beyond charred, so I hardly ate. Later tried to go to Mac and cheese bar, it was only 1030 and they had already closed it. I'm not going to judge the entire season from last night but as of right now I'm just like eh, it was ok. I know some people said last year wasn't good but just from my impressions last night, last year was much better.

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1 hour ago, harmony29 said:

Yes, I was really disappointed, last year that was the really cool thing as you couldn't seen, so the scare zones were better. I've never been to opening day but it really seemed to lack something. Last year they had the little skit and then the monsters came out, nothing this year. I loved pumpkin eaters, but it wasn't scary. Coney maul I was extremely disappointed in, I saw characters just standing around talking to each other. A gal at kill Mart yelled at my husband because I was having a hard time walking and was trying to get thru, I'm sorry unless you are doing something blatantly out of line, there's no reason to yell at a guest ever. Chaos was not impressive at all, hardly any actors in it. We also had a horrible time w food last night, went to red and my burger was beyond charred, so I hardly ate. Later tried to go to Mac and cheese bar, it was only 1030 and they had already closed it. I'm not going to judge the entire season from last night but as of right now I'm just like eh, it was ok. I know some people said last year wasn't good but just from my impressions last night, last year was much better.

Agree about CHAOS.  After seeing it, I would be happy to have Bored to Death back.  I am wondering if they didn't do the skit because of the rain?  Also, I didn't realize that Hanks was doing the Mac n Cheese bar during Haunt this year.  That will definitely be on my list for next Friday!

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The opening definitely didn't happen like normal because of the storm. About 6:45 we heard the opening over the intercom when the monsters were released. The scare actors in Coney Maul were fantastic both times we were there sitting for over 2 hours combined I'd say.


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4 hours ago, harmony29 said:

Yes, I was really disappointed, last year that was the really cool thing as you couldn't seen, so the scare zones were better. I've never been to opening day but it really seemed to lack something. Last year they had the little skit and then the monsters came out, nothing this year. I loved pumpkin eaters, but it wasn't scary. Coney maul I was extremely disappointed in, I saw characters just standing around talking to each other. A gal at kill Mart yelled at my husband because I was having a hard time walking and was trying to get thru, I'm sorry unless you are doing something blatantly out of line, there's no reason to yell at a guest ever. Chaos was not impressive at all, hardly any actors in it. We also had a horrible time w food last night, went to red and my burger was beyond charred, so I hardly ate. Later tried to go to Mac and cheese bar, it was only 1030 and they had already closed it. I'm not going to judge the entire season from last night but as of right now I'm just like eh, it was ok. I know some people said last year wasn't good but just from my impressions last night, last year was much better.

You didn’t miss the Mac n cheese. It didn’t open last night.

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7 hours ago, chad_1138 said:

Agree about CHAOS.  After seeing it, I would be happy to have Bored to Death back.  I am wondering if they didn't do the skit because of the rain?  Also, I didn't realize that Hanks was doing the Mac n Cheese bar during Haunt this year.  That will definitely be on my list for next Friday!

I wondered about the rain too. I guess the Mac and cheese bar never opened yesterday, somehow that doesn't make sense to me, should they have not been prepared since they announced that would be an option?

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5 hours ago, harmony29 said:

I wondered about the rain too. I guess the Mac and cheese bar never opened yesterday, somehow that doesn't make sense to me, should they have not been prepared since they announced that would be an option?

Today Mac n cheese opened with the park and was closed by 9:30. Thank god the park wasn’t busy tonight. 

Oh, wait...

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18 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Today Mac n cheese opened with the park and was closed by 9:30. Thank god the park wasn’t busy tonight. 

Oh, wait...

Nobody is missing anything - one ice cream scoop size of Mac n cheese - proportion way down from WF or even KD version...no wonder burrito side more popular!

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On 9/22/2018 at 12:13 PM, harmony29 said:

Yes, I was really disappointed, last year that was the really cool thing as you couldn't seen, so the scare zones were better. I've never been to opening day but it really seemed to lack something. Last year they had the little skit and then the monsters came out, nothing this year. I loved pumpkin eaters, but it wasn't scary. Coney maul I was extremely disappointed in, I saw characters just standing around talking to each other. A gal at kill Mart yelled at my husband because I was having a hard time walking and was trying to get thru, I'm sorry unless you are doing something blatantly out of line, there's no reason to yell at a guest ever. Chaos was not impressive at all, hardly any actors in it. We also had a horrible time w food last night, went to red and my burger was beyond charred, so I hardly ate. Later tried to go to Mac and cheese bar, it was only 1030 and they had already closed it. I'm not going to judge the entire season from last night but as of right now I'm just like eh, it was ok. I know some people said last year wasn't good but just from my impressions last night, last year was much better.

There actually is an opening show, it's just at the back of the fountain on the blood drums stage rather than out front. It begins at 630 every night. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
15 hours ago, standbyme said:

I don’t know if I missed it, but is the park still doing the wall of monsters on Friday openings?

Do you mean where they hold everyone outside of the ticket takers, raise the gates, and the monsters and fog all comes out?  They haven't done that for a number of years.  Last Friday they were letting guests all the way up to the Tower before 6.  The "pre-show" was at the band stage rather than up front.

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1 hour ago, chad_1138 said:

Do you mean where they hold everyone outside of the ticket takers, raise the gates, and the monsters and fog all comes out?  They haven't done that for a number of years.  Last Friday they were letting guests all the way up to the Tower before 6.  The "pre-show" was at the band stage rather than up front.

I know the "real" wall is gone...but last year they let you into the main area right at the foot of the fountain by the entrance...then before you were allowed down International Street all of the scareactors would come down each side of the fountain in a parade style to mingle with the guests. (But since the pre-show is now at the band stage I guess you answered my question...thanks. :))

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here are my top worst haunt actuation number 1 black-out i hated it i went though it lastnight didn't like it not scary enough kill mart not scary enough its boring madame fatales dumb. but also here are my best haunt actuation i love chaos urgent scare    slaughter house pumpkin eater backwoods bayou i think Kings Island can do better on the inside haunt actuation's

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