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Since several people apparently want trip reports from last night, I'll go ahead and write one. My posts are usually much more concise, so I apologize in advance for the excess length of this one. (I'm sure ohiocolts will be posting a much better trip report shortly ) Several people from KICentral met up last night for the planned "KIC Haunt Night". I really didn't know what to expect, since prior to last night I had been to neither a theme park enthusiast meet-up nor any theme park Halloween event. Save for the weather and me not being dressed appropriately for it, it was a great experience. Before the night began, I met Jonathan (jcgoble3) at Outback Steakhouse near the park. I got there early, so I walked from there to behind Great Wolf Lodge for a few Son of Beast shots. Sadly, even though I had a decent camera with me all night, these were the only pictures I took. After dinner, I drove over to the park, did a final check of the forecast, and headed towards the front gate wearing shorts and a lightweight t-shirt - without my jacket. Even though I'm quite tolerant of temperature extremes, this was a big mistake. KI security was set up outside the entrance plaza inspecting items and using hand-held metal detectors to check each guest. At 5:10, this process was very quick and there were no lines. By 5:30, Jonathan, Lucas (ohiocolts), his mom, and myself were waiting at the front gate with a "KICentral" sign I had printed. Shortly thereafter, we were found by Melissa (Beastie1980), her parents, and Joshua (stashua123). We played phone tag with TheCrypt and Coasterfanatic2012 throughout the night, but we never managed to meet either of them. (Next time, hopefully!) Just before the park opened, Gordon Bombay found us and took our group picture. (Thanks!) The forecast was truly dreadful, with rain likely all night and a "definite" chance lasting from 10pm-3am, so I was glad that at least some people showed up! We got lucky on the rain front with only a few periods of heavy showers, but evening temperatures were at least 10°F lower than forecast. Combined with wind and rain, this turned out not to be pleasant at all without a jacket. Especially at 80mph. After the park opened, we waited for a few minutes near the fountains to catch anyone who missed us at the gate. Lucas decided that he wasn't ready for mazes yet, so the rest of us headed to Wolf Pack while he and his mom went to do some rides. Joshua separated from us to find us later, but unfortunately he never did. Melissa was scared of the Haunts, but she wanted to do Wolf Pack to be in Son of Beast's station before the coaster is completely gone. Jonathan, her, and myself headed there and did the maze with absolutely no wait. The actors were doing a great job, but we had to be one of the least fun groups to go through there all night. Jonathan went first, barely reacting to each "scare". After Jonathan got startled, Melissa cheerfully greeted each one with a "Hi!". I was last, apologizing to each actor for our lackluster reactions. Melissa enjoyed Wolf Pack, but she had enough scares for the evening. We briefly separated as Jonathan and I went to the nearby Slaughter House, where we got special greetings from XGatorHead and rotag. (Thanks! It was great to meet you, even extremely briefly!) We then went to Club Blood before rejoining Melissa for a ride on Invertigo. By this time, it was shortly after 7:00, so Jonathan and I decided to separate again to see Madam Fatale's Cavern of Terror. The line here was only about 10 minutes. There were some great props here, and it was interesting to be in the Crypt ride chamber, but the acting seemed a bit weaker than some of the others. By this time it was around 7:30 and starting to get dark. Lucas and his mom wanted to meet us for Tombstone Terrortory at 8:00, so we had time to meet up with Melissa again for a ride on The Beast. Since there was only a station wait and we had extra time, we waited for the front two rows to let it get darker. We rode just after dusk, but unfortunately it had just started raining. Temperatures weren't too bad yet, so I had a pleasant first-ever night ride on The Beast. Melissa wanted to head home after this, so her family left while Jonathan and I headed to Tombstone Terrortory to meet Lucas. His dad had joined them by this point, so the five of us boarded the train and did the maze with almost no wait. The train operator did a spiel beforehand, presumably explaining the storyline of the maze, but the audio was too jumbled to understand anything. There were some good "startles" here, and Lucas's mom had a few good scares (and screams). This Haunt provided enough scares for Lucas, so we headed to Diamondback for a night ride in light rain. By this point, I started to regret that I decided not to wear a jacket, as temperatures were falling much lower than had been forecast a few hours earlier. Jonathan wanted to do all the Haunts, so Lucas and his family separated while I joined Jonathan for mazes. We did Holiday Horror, Cornstalkers, Carnevil, and Boo Blasters. We were a bit tired and cold by this point, around 10:30pm, so we decided to meet Lucas and his family in the Festhaus. Jonathan and I caught up with them there after catching the end of "Graveyard Shift". We then decided to try to meet Coasterfanatic2012 in Planet Snoopy, but we missed them - as we would continue to do the next 2 times we tried. Lucas's dad parted ways at some point, and both Lucas and his mom were getting ready to call it a night. Lucas's mom wanted to do Carnevil, even though Lucas had had enough, so I accompanied her as Jonathan waited outside with Lucas. Jonathan and I then went through yet again, in a last attempt to find Coasterfanatic2012 and TTD-120-420. There were about two hours of park operation left at this point, and only Jonathan and myself were left. We rode Racer in the front seat (the train had been sitting there 5 minutes waiting for riders to show up), rode Flight of Fear 2 times with minimal/no wait, and went through a couple more mazes (Mysteria and Massacre Manor). By this time, there were absolutely no guests at the mazes, and several actors were out-of-character. We called it a night around 12:50am. Overall, I was much more impressed with the acting than I was with the props, although there are some very good props. If you go, definitely hit the haunted attractions early in the day, before the actors get tired after 7 hours on the job. Most of the actors did a great job and gave an entertaining performance. Again, I apologize for not being more 'fun' with respect to the scares, though I was in my 32nd hour of not having any sleep. (But that's another story.) Going to KI alone to meet people I had never seen before was a new experience. It was really enjoyable to meet some of the people behind the posts here, and I realized that there are people here that know a whole lot more about KI and theme parks than I do. Hopefully I'll get to go to such a meet-up again. Thanks for reading this excessively long account of our night. Hopefully those who couldn't come are able to attend the next meet-up!

Great report! I think Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror was the best one; it was the only one to actually make me nervous at times. Slaughterhouse was a good one as well. I will admit that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the look on ohiocolts's face every time we suggested taking him through another maze (my, what big eyes you have!), as well as his mom being just as scared as him going through Tombstone Terror-tory. I also got an Xtreme Skyflyer ride in after dark; the wind was blowing me around as I was being raised to the top, so I came down sideways. Anyway, my shoes are still wet inside from all the rain and puddles, so I've been lounging at home today waiting on them to dry. I had plenty of fun last night, certainly more fun than if I had gone by myself.

Really? Must this be brought up every time someone jokes about burning SOB? I think it is known.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! You all enjoy the lunatic crowd sizes and silly mazes. I'll wait for the day of the week when they are non existent. October is the month when one can get so many rides it hurts. Of course, now that I wrote that, the Sunday we go will actually have a large crowd.

Did you not find us at the park, or were you not able to come? Either way, don't be sorry! Theme park visits are hard to fit into schedules, and it can be hard to find people in a large park. Thanks for the effort, in any case! I really would like to thank everyone who showed up, whether they found us or not. A theme park visit represents a substantial time and money investment for many, so thanks to all for coming on a day with disagreeable weather and sharing your visit with the rest of us!

How's the crowd forecast for Oct. 19th? I've decided on going there for my birthday. I can't commandeer the Dinosaur Birthday Booth, but I can have a funnel cake with a match stuck in the middle for a candle.

The bigger problem isn't what's causing these rides to malfunction, but rather how the guests are to be evacuated and how long that takes. California has ordered this question be answered and answered reasonably. It is totally unacceptable that the planned method of evacuation takes hours, not minutes. I cannot see these rides opening ever again unless and until that problem is solved.

Oh yeah: The two mazes malem and I didn't do were Cut-Throat Cove (which had closed down for the night due to the rain by the time we got to it) and Urgent Scare (which I just plain forgot about). Guess those will have to wait until next year, assuming they return.

I believe this is a pretty big animal....

For the first couple of hours, we were carrying around the "KICentral Haunt Night 2012" sign in case late arrivals ran into us. (A special thanks to Beastie1980's parents for helping with that!)

my heart goes out to that person who died and his familiy..

I think it is great that you all got together for a KIC Haunt night...it shows great spirit. Thanks for the report!

The phoenix has already risen. It lives happily in Elysburg. Especially today.

Far, far far away from here. THANK GOD. Nothing against short people.

Meanwhile, a kingdom near Louisville remains under lock and key by a quite nasty Fair Board for the past several. We would have had bluegrass playing amidst its boardwalks, but alas, the only sound the board wants is that of bills flapping near their ears.

The actual quote was by sections, not piece by piece. If you're going to quote someone, let's try and get it right.

Great trip report Matthew! Glad I got to meet you all!

Well ya, but I'm just saying. These Halloween Events bring in Large crowds.

Hey, isnt that this little guy??

Sorry I wasn't able to meet you guys!

No doubt they were near Son of Beast.

Very disresecptful in my mind.

I never had ANY desire to see a real midget bleed. And you know what? I didn't. Terp, who acts consistently with his beliefs.

No one would show up. That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard next to the shake weight.

And staplers everywhere are happy not to have their dignity besmirched. Especially red ones. Terp, sorry about the swing line.

"Where are the midgets?"

Wow, they aren't playing around. That wood is in shreds, lol. I can just imagine the big wigs doing their best "Office Space" impressions on parts of the ride.

^I was confused for a moment until I understood that it was people in your history class. I thought that was a true statement for a moment and was making a very confused face.

I'm glad it was only a one year hiatus.

http://www.bing.com/...mod&form=msnrll Opps sorry. I didn't read. Video already posted.

For all of those that are wanting a piece of SoB. Watch this video and pay close attention to the end. http://www.wlwt.com/...wz/-/index.html Sounds like KI might (keyword on might) be selling some mementos.

It's been explained several times. Static pictures issued by the park are far safer than a live feed of a process that sometimes doesn't go as planned.

Ok. we all know we're going to get scared..... but the question is how? The parking price?

Ok. Mysteria is just guys in spandex and the train doesn't really break down.

I don't know why all of you are so uptight. Some of us have mentioned that we won't get to go over there this season, and we asked (politely) a breakdown of the haunts.... There's even a freaking topic saying HEY THERE ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERS DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW. Sigh.

I heard somebody jumps out at you, but I can't remember which house it's in... Just be ready for it, I guess.

I couldn't help myself when I read this. When you used insurance with all upper case letters, I felt like it was a scrambled word game, as a mystery on why it would be not running for a while. I came up with these: SAUCER INN - Flight Deck is being rethemed to a hotel for aliens? CANE RUINS - new disaster theme, referring to a hurricane, like from the coaster SOB's second trains came from...obviously in ruins. I CARE NUNS - new theme where the jets are changed to flying nuns that are rescuing you

Ok great, so the reason is for security. Since I've never been to "Haunt", I'm unfamiliar with the kind of crowd it draws. I can see how these types of people could get drunk and carried away. That answers my question. Thanks!

Another pic from the twitter page.

I'm sure it is because they don't want 1,000 people out in the parking lot, tailgating, going back and forth, drinking their own beer and liquor, and, repeating said process 4-5 times during the evening.

I belive they have people going out to the parking lot and drinking. They then come back in rowdey and a nuisance to others. Why couldn't that person have just left the park an hour eariler?

I miss this topic so here is a good comment.

With or without SS rumors, I'm curious as to what's going to happen to that area of the park. Seeing SOB go down so quickly, it's only making me wonder more. Look at how quickly the park has changed for the better in such a short time, with pavers and menus and morale and more; It leads me to think they have something unique and spectacular in mind for the future.

My mom still calls it the "new" rollercoaster .

Don't go to either parks on a Saturday. This Sunday CP was empty. 3MF, 1TTD, 2Mag in 30min....

I'm kinda new. How do I change the name? And sorry if you like the original better, I just thought since KI is completely different during haunt we should have a separate topic for it.

The other topic is Guests Say The Darnest Things. Darnest. Not Darndest. No second d. It's a KIC tradition. Perhaps you could edit your title? Terp, who imagines some users decrying, BOO!

I realize I'm gonna be way off topic, but I first read this thread while at work and therefore couldn't get to my pictures on my laptop at home, lol. All the talk of the Timberwolf Amphitheater reminded me I had a couple old photos my dad took back in 1982, when the Beach Boys were there in concert. The most memorable part of that particular trip (besides being able to hear the Beach Boys from International Street)? The group of 3 or 4 guys in line ahead of us for The Beast with about 3 buckets each attached to their belts. These buckets were from the Bucket o' Beer you could purchase once upon a time in Kings Island. You got a metal bucket filled with beer. I would guess they were between 16 and 24 ounces maybe, I was 10 at the time so my ability to guess liquid volume was not well developed and memories tend to be distorted. Anyway, these guys were definitely showing signs of drinking 3 Buckets o' Beer each and singing Barbara Ann at the tops of their lungs while in line for The Beast. Quite entertaining, we were all having a good laugh. So I mentioned pictures, didn't I? Below is a picture, taken from the Eiffel Tower, of Timberwolf, full to bursting with Beach Boys fans. Note the Festhaus, under construction at the time, and the top of the Viking Fury, brand new that year (oh, the chants of "Less filling!" versus "Tastes Great!" lol). You can also see the (Screamin') Demon and the monorail. Below it is a picture taken opening day this year, so you can see how much that area changed in 30 years. (In my opinion way too much cement there now.) Enjoy! 1982 2012

Kings Island Halloween Haunt Opened September 23, 2011 There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Screams of pure panic pierce the night. There’s nowhere you’re safe in the most immersive horror experience in the Midwest – Halloween Haunt at Kings Island! <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.phanfare.com/embed/1009485-5100347-139268845-fa2b54c5a38b601d267bcee915c902e3" frameborder="0"></iframe> This year, the bloodcurdling horror and nightmarish madness of Halloween Haunt will feature two new thriller mazes, Holiday Horror and Mysteria, and an all-new fear zone, Nightmare Alley. Returning haunted attractions include CarnEvil, Club Blood, CornStalkers, Cut Throat Cove, Massacre Manor, Slaughter House, Tombstone Terror-Tory, Urgent Scare and Wolf Pack. Also back by popular demand for a third season is the Hot Blooded live stage show in the Showplace Theatre <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.phanfare.com/embed/1009485-5100347-139272345-9e3ced89a2ef671c131539db6c574740" frameborder="0"></iframe> Midget wrestling with the Half Pint Brawlers in the Festhaus. Kings Island’s favorite thrill-ride attractions are open during Halloween Haunt. Favorites include The Beast, Diamondback, Firehawk, Vortex, Drop Tower, Invertigo, Delirium, Flight Deck, The Racer, Flight of Fear, Adventure Express, Backlot Stunt Coaster, Monster, Zephyr, Scrambler, Shake, Rattle & Roll, Dodgem, The Crypt, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill and WindSeeker. The event dates for Halloween Haunt are Friday and Saturday nights from 7:00pm until 1:00am on September 23, 24, 30; October 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29. Friday nights feature the ‘Wall of Monsters’ when the gates to the underworld open at 7:00pm. Only the bravest of souls will make it past the vast array of vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, undertakers, clowns and assorted ghouls and monsters they’ll encounter on their way into the park. On Saturdays, the park opens at 11:00am with everyone’s favorite rides and attractions. All eight indoor haunted mazes open at 5:00pm. The full Halloween Haunt experience begins at 7:00pm. Monster savings on tickets for Halloween Haunt are available online at www.visitkingsisland.com/haunt. Discount tickets are just $24.99 on Friday nights ($12 savings off the regular price at the park of $36.99) and $29.99 on Saturdays ($23 savings off the regular price at the park of $52.99) when purchased in advance. Kings Island Halloween Haunt has something to offer all levels of haunt interest. Be it wondering International Street spooky atmosphere Including new spruced up displays Or spending time admiring the spectacular store front displays along International Street. While shopping for a wide variety of Halloween Haunt souvenirs If you come hungry there any many guest favorites available around the park such as Hot Chocolate and freshly grilled hot food item of fresh corn and turkey legs. May it be taking a ride on of a favorite ride attraction with fog and scare in the air to gain a unique ride experience that can only be enjoyed during Halloween Haunt evenings. It seems the the biggest draw to Halloween Haunt is to test ones fears by entering the many haunted theme houses and areas. The scareactors are fun to watch as they walk around looking for unsuspecting guests to frighten Many guest return night after night to quench their cravings for a night of frights while others try to do it all in one night. Fright Lane is a great way to ensure you can experience everything Halloween Haunt has to offer or to be able to keep the haunt experience going without much delay between houses. Fright Lane offer guest to enjoy 10 theme haunt houses for a one time use per lanyard and a special seating for Hot Blooded show. For those who wish to purchase a Fright Lane pass they just look for the lighted green spider outside a participating attraction to gain frightening quick access. Come early and stay late take pictures with your favorite display or scaractors The only thing more frightening than going to Kings Island Halloween Haunt is missing it altogether!!! Hope to See You There Scared!! Avatar/Jesse

Everytime I go on the train, I see a giant Black bear standing up. I never see it move though.,