Delirium13

I did not enjoy Mantis when I rode it on Halloween this year, it wasn't terrible, but it seems like less is more when it comes to stand ups (in my extremely limited experience on stand ups, which only includes King Cobra and Mantis )

^^When I went on Spongebob this summer they moved.

Please do! I always love looking at pictures of the park's past and would greatly appreciate seeing them, as would many others here I'm sure. Thanks!

^^Thank you! For some reason I cannot remember it at all, and it's not that old of a commercial, 2003 at the oldest. I like it a lot better than the "Fun and Only" commercials, does a nice job of showing off the thrill side of the park and the family/kiddie side of the park.

I was on YouTube when I randomly came across this video: I don't recall ever seeing this before and I don't think they ever used the slogan, "Choose Your Adventure." Does anyone know if this was ever used by the park or if this group, Holland Advertising, who posted the video, just make it as a suggestion? Either way I like it.

I guess looks can be deceiving, wasn't trying to attack the poster, just read the post and remembered seeing those pictures and wondered. Thanks for clearing that up.

Not sure how long of a wait it was but the line certainly was quite long on opening day... (Courtesy of kiDiamondback.com) Looks longer than 2 1/2 hours to me...

Why not explain then?

I went on Friday two weeks ago, and it was crowded, but not really that bad. There was a long line for The Beast, but most of the other rides had small lines. I'd assume it's probably getting more crowded as Halloween nears, but it shouldn't be too bad. Make sure you stay for the last hour, we got more done from 12-1 than we did in the first 4 and half hours.

^ This is not something Cedar Fair changed. The photographers were there during the Paramount Parks days, and they weren't much different. All you have to do is politely decline or simply keep on walking and you'll be fine. It takes less than 30 seconds anyways.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything but it's really annoying when you post your "wanting Cedar Fair to stop Halloween Haunt" rants in a bunch of threads Again, not trying to be mean or rude. This was only the 2nd time I brought it up. But, it wasn't a Haunt rant. It was an overall rant about how upset I was that the park was over crowded again for the 3rd week in a row, when I expected differently. I didn't expect it to be totally dead, but I did NOT expect a 3rd week in a row of over crowdedness that we got today. And also, I just mentioned Halloween in passing. And to finish it, I meant it for ALL Halloween everywhere. Not just Cedar Fair. That goes for Six Flags, and Universal, too! You're ridiculous, you're mad at the parks because they are attracting larger crowds than you expected? You want all the parks everywhere to cancel Halloween events just because you don't like them? You really just come off as a selfish person. Sorry not everything in the world is going to cater to your wants and interests. Welcome to life.

I think this is a smart and pretty fiscally responsible way to take the coaster crown, they're really only putting in two smaller coasters, and reworking Superman and voila, you can market 3 new coasters! I have always thought Six Flags Magic Mountain seemed like a fun park, I hope to make it out there some day. And as for Cedar Point countering, I don't care when or how they do it, as long as Kings Island gets something awesome for the 40th.

Not positive, but I want to say the launch... Edit: It was, here's a picture:

I said it once in my October 8th trip report, and I'll admit it again, though I was not too heavily involved in the debate, I did voice some concerns when the announcement was first made. When I saw the show on the 8th, I learned that I was wrong. This is the type of case where I am happy to be wrong, the crowd was tame and into the show. I'm still not a huge fan of the show, but the worrying was for nothing. Kings Island has handled the event well and will continue to do so. Next time I'll have more faith, they're the pros, I am not.

They did stop us at the end, it was awesome!

After missing out on Haunt last year, I was really eager to get back to it this year, and tonight was my lucky night. My girlfriend and I arrived at the park at around 8 o'clock, just as it was getting dark. The park was more crowded than I was expecting, but not overwhelmingly so. Eager to try out the maze I had heard many good things about, but hadn't done yet as it was new last year, we headed over to Slaughterhouse. Slaughterhouse - 15-20 minute wait - The talent was there, and the Scaracters seemed to be very into their roles, but I didn't really get scared in this one. I know I'm not exactly one of their main targets being a tall guy. I put the blame solely on the group we were sent through with being too big, definitely not the actors and actresses faults. 7/10 - Good acting, great intensity, but too big of a group. After Slaughterhouse we decided to head over to Urgent Scare, on the way over I noticed someone who looked familiar from pictures, and surely enough Mr. Dick Kinzel was standing outside of Attitudes, with who I assumed to be Greg Scheid and someone else. Nothing else to really report on that, just thought it was kind of cool, wish I could've talked to him, but he seemed preoccupied. Urgent Scare had a long line so we ended up heading over to The Beast. Halloween Haunt Beast - 40 minute wait - The Beast at night is awesome enough, but adding the fog was a great idea! I wish that could be a permanent thing. Loved the surprise, glad to see they were taking advantage of The Beast's great setting for Haunt this year. 10+/10 After The Beast we headed over to Trail of Terror. Trail of Terror - 30-40 minute wait - I always read great reviews of Trail of Terror, but every time I go through it I am disappointed. In years past that was due to when they would do the continuous line. This year was slightly better than my other experiences, but I still came away disappointed. 5/10 - Great setting but this is another maze that was ruined by a huge group. After Trail of Terror we headed over to Urgent Scare to give it another shot. Urgent Scare - 20-30 minute wait total for both lines - While waiting in the first line, one of the actors was blowing spit bubbles, drooling, and at one point picked his nose to gross out a group of girls. He then chased a couple people around with his hand, covered in spit outstretched. It was really disgusting and not scary or funny. After that little incident we were let in to the actual queue line area and got a few good scares on the way down, the actors in the line were doing a good job and made the wait seem shorter. I really enjoyed Urgent Scare when I first did it in 2008, this year it was alright, but nothing special. 6.5/10 - Would've been a 7, but that picture thing should be before the maze, not at the end. After Urgent Scare we grabbed a bite to eat in the Festhaus, I really like the new flags. It's nice to see the Festhaus get a little attention and some additions that actually fit with its intended theme. While eating my pizza, I saw Puppet walking around and could've help but notice a few scars on his head from the stapling. After eating, we headed to one of my personal favorite mazes, CarnEvil. CarnEvil - 15 minute wait - CarnEvil didn't disappoint, it is definately one of the more fun mazes to go through. Got a few startles and was very disorienting. Such a good time. 8/10 - Never disappoints. After CarnEvil it was about midnight so out of curiosity we headed over to the Festhaus to check out the Half Pint Brawlers. The crowd seemed really into the show and was cheering loudly, but was not at all rowdy or out of control. Based off tonight I'll admit I was wrong in assuming it would bring in a bad crowd. The show itself seemed very fake and I only saw about 5-10 minutes or so. It seemed entertaining enough, but I wanted to hit up a few more mazes so we headed over to Wolfpack, got our picture taken and got in line, but got out because we didn't want to waste the rest of our time in the long line when the other mazes lines were getting short. So instead we headed over to Massacre Manor. Massacre Manor - <5 minute wait - Massacre Manor, another favorite of mine, had a very very short line and as luck would have it we got to go through in a group of 2. Massacre Manor was AWESOME! Many scares and the set was great as usual. Really had a great time in this one and the actors were very in your face. 10/10 - A great classic. At this point the park was clearing out so we got Cemetery Drive and Cut Throat Cove in with virtually no waits. Cemetery Drive - <5 minute wait - Another group of 2 maze and it definitely benefited from that. The maze was a lot better than I expected, but I don't know how much I would've liked it, had I waited in a long line and gone through with a big group. All in all it was a good time. - 7/10 - Exceeded Expectations. Cut Throat Cove - No wait - Last minute decision to go through this one and I am happy we did, another maze that we got to go through with only 2 people. I really like it's new location and the actors were also very good. I had heard this one was not too scary, but I guess being the only ones in the whole maze got us special attention and we got a lot of good scares in here. 8/10 - Very, very fun. It was about 12:50 so we rushed back over to the new kid on the block, Wolf Pack. Wolf Pack - 15-20 minute wait - The line was shorter now so we got in line for Wolf Pack. It felt great to be in Son of Beast's queue line again, brought back many memories. Long story short though, I am glad we chose not to wait in the long line earlier in the night for this one. This one was really disappointing. The set was pretty good. But the actors definitely were not into it and showed. Only scare was an animatronic. 2/10 - It only gets 2 because it was nice to be back by Son of Beast again. After that it was time to leave, but all in all it was a great night at the park! Observations: -The crowds for the most part were very well behaved, better than most summer days. The biggest difference was that they seemed to be enforcing the rules more strictly. It was very refreshing. -Every employee we talked to tonight was extremely polite. -The Phantom Theater characters have seen better days, but it's always great to see them, wish the Maestro was out. -I really did not find anything at the event to be objectionable and for the most part, many of the decorations were light-hearted. I did not find blood and gore to be too over the top. -I wish they would put as much of an emphasis on theme and atmosphere during the summer as they do during Haunt. -Fog was definitely not in short supply. -The set at the entrance was very cool and the blood red fountains looked really cool as well. Thank you to everyone at Kings Island for a great night! Thanks for reading, sorry if I made any typos, I am extremely tired.

^ I agree, you're still comparing apples to oranges. I think the point that they're trying to make is that there are more worthy causes to donate to then trying to save a roller coaster that pretty much has its fate set in stone, as sad as that may be. There was a better way to go about it, but the site was somewhat humorous for the minute or so I took to look at it. It's not fraud, it's not a reason to cut all ties with Theme Park Review, nor is it equivalent to making fun of a mentally challenged person. Lighten up. It would be nice to see this effort work out, but there are more important things in the world to donate to. It's a shame what's happening to the ride, but this website probably won't do anything to save it, sorry to say. And so far the most offensive thing I have seen written so far in this thread or in the websites being mentioned is your comment about not wasting your time to spit on him if he were dying in the street. Over a parody of a website trying to save a rollercoaster? Really? That's sad.

Thank you for these updates! I follow Halloween Horror Nights every year, and hope to get down there to actually experience it sometime in the next few years. It seems to be a very well put together event, deserving of all the praise it gets.

I'm really pumped to ride The Beast when I finally get out to Haunt, probably not till the 8th unfortunately. I really want to find out what the "surprise" in the woods is. The fog also seems really cool and I think it would be neat for it to stay as a permanent kind of theming for the ride all year long. It'll be interesting to find out if the Son of Beast display is alluding to its future. Also, is the "surprise" in the woods real noticeable or is it something that you have to look for?

Did they light up the side of the tower facing the fountains at night?

-A redo of the park (painting, up-ing attractions) -A expansion of the waterpark -A haunted mansion (no kiddie shooting guns) -A New Woodie "Return of The Beast" -A record breaking floorless coaster -X-Base Expansion (3 New Flats) I know I'm going to be in the minority on this one... I'd really love any of those things, but since I have a soft spot for Phantom Theater I chose a haunted mansion type of dark ride, or basically a return of Phantom Theater. It would be great to have another dark ride in the park.

^^You're right no one is forcing anyone to watch the shows or go through the haunts, but the point is that people should want to watch the shows and go through the haunts. From what I've seen, the edgy, "adult-oriented" shows at Halloween Haunt have not gone over well, but that's just my observation. I am a big fan of Halloween events, I love haunted houses and the park's atmosphere this time of year. But I don't think constantly going out of their way to shock people is a good strategy for the park. I wish they would try and take a more creative approach getting scares. Like I said, I don't mind the blood and gore all that much, but why does that have to be the main theme throughout the event? Remember when Paramount transformed Rivertown into Sleepy Hallow? What are we getting this year? Midget wrestling in the Festhaus... I think a more light-hearted Halloween show would be a perfect fit for the stage. I am optimistic about Wolf Pack and am curious to see how it turns out, but I still do not like the direction our Halloween event has taken since it's name changed to Halloween Haunt. I think there are more creative ways to scare people, that it is ok to have some light-hearted shows that showcase the fun/spooky side of Halloween, and that there is a better way to decorate the park then just to have skeletons on metal poles everywhere...

Nice pictures, thanks for the report! It's a shame that the event seemed disappointing overall. Back in the Paramount days I used to look over all the different Fear Fest websites and always wanted to make a trip down to Scarowinds as it seemed like a really great event. In regards to the show, it seems like Cedar Fair thinks that going out of your way to offend people is part of Halloween. Rather than focusing on making an event scary in a creative way, they think that if they just pile on the blood and gore (which I think is ok in moderation) and throw in a few shows that push limits, that they will have a good event. That is simply not true. The last time I can say I thoroughly enjoyed a Halloween event at Kings Island, was 2006 the last year of Fear Fest. I did not go in 2009, and hope this year is a good one, Half-pint Brawlers already has me shaking my head though. But 2007 and 2008 were disappointing for me, I did not enjoy the extreme, no-limits approach of Halloween Haunt as much as I enjoyed Fear Fest. I have witnessed what you said about the Fangs show, about people getting up and walking out during the show. I stood outside of Dead Awakening and watched as the International Showplace slowly emptied out. One need only read the comments on Kings Island's video they posted of to know that it went over the same way. It's almost like they're experimenting with their guests to see how long they'll last before they finally have enough and walk out.I second what Terpy said, I miss Paramount more and more everyday... Now that my rant is over, I'll just end by saying I'm looking forward to getting to Haunt this year after missing last year, I hope it's better than my past two experiences, I'll just have avoid the Festhaus it seems.

I wonder what Gary Wachs (Kings Island's first General Manager) would think...

Always nice reading trip reports like these! Very nice, glad to hear you had a great time at the park! It would be nice if Cedar Fair converted Action Zone back into a more "woodsie" type area, like Adventure Village, perhaps for the parks 40th in 2012??? And Interpreter, maybe I need to give it another shot, but I tried seat 5-1 back in July and came off the ride saying I'd never ride again. Perhaps I just had a bad ride?