Haunt Report for Friday, October 3

[gabelogan99]

So I haven't done a trip report in a long time because I've felt like my trips, while good, were only just average. (Does that make any sense?) But the time that I had at Halloween Haunt last night was possibly the best time I've ever had at the park. There was just something about it... everything was on... everything was clicking...the atmosphere was to die for (ok pun intended on that one), and, possibly best of all, there weren't very many people there. There are five key points I would like to make and I will bold those and go into detail on them.

We left Jamestown (Ohio, exit 58 if you're traveling north on 71, it's where my aunt, who went with me, lives) around 5:30. It's 45 minutes on a good day, and yesterday was a good day. So we got to the park fairly early because I figured they'd open the gates at 6 and start everything at 7...I thought that I had remembered that from last year. Anyways, of course, I was wrong and we waited around a little but it wasn't that bad whatsoever. The sun was starting to set, and it was getting cooler, but it still never got quite as cool as I figured it would. So as the sun was getting ready to go down, we were getting ready to go in. This brings me to...

Point #1: The opening song to the haunt was a brilliant pick. Of course, this is the same song from last year that I'm referring to: The Automatic Automatic's (or, as they're known in Europe, The Automatic) song "Monster" has a great opening few seconds with the strange little eerie guitar parts, and, of course, the song has a very catchy chorus. So catchy, in fact, that it could get stuck in your head for the entire night if you're not careful. I don't think I'll make another Halloween Mix ever again without including it. But, the point that I'm making about the song was something that I discovered last year.

Point #2: The opening few minutes of the haunt are incredible. Ok, so 7:00 rolls around, the chorus to the song kicks in, and there it is: the wall of monsters. And yes, my first two points come before I even enter the park. I really think that the great song choice combined with all of the great monsters is just such a nice touch and really sets the pace for the rest of the night.

So, I had a little bit of a snafu when I was about ready to walk in because I had forgotten, with all of my pockets, what pocket I had placed my pass in. So quite strategically I placed it in the back one but I forgot that when I got up in the line. Thinking I forgot it in the car, I just started walking and, after already doing an initial search that failed, searched again while walking. After I had passed security, I remembered what I had done with it and had to walk through security again but it didn't put a damper on things very badly. I wasn't even going to mention this, however this set up one of the funnier events of the night when my aunt had already had her pass scanned and walked in and was waiting for me. You guessed it: she pretty much got fed to the wolves. "I was attacked by fifty monsters while you were gone," she told me after we met up in Girl Space after our brief separation. I thought it was pretty funny, but she said that nothing really scared her or made her jump. And by the way, not all the monsters that are in the park are up front, but from what I've discovered from last year and this year combined, most of them are.

Our strategy was to hit Massacre Manor first since we missed that last year due to the line being backed up all the way to the bumper cars. We pretty much walked right onto it, or into it rather. I really thought this was a great haunt. The people that were in it were all eager to scare and they did a good job with their parts. I have to give major props to them in fact. They were possibly the best I'd ever seen in any of the houses.

Our next move was also a strategic one: hit the new haunt before it gets crowded. So we did just that, heading a considerably short distance from Massacre Manor to Action Theater, or Urgent Scare. (Any of you find it weird that what you're walking in is action theater? How do they do that?) This was pretty much a walk on to, I mean there wasn't anybody in line. I got to thinking that this haunt is hidden pretty well, but the die hards know where it is. Or anybody with a map. The people outside of Urgent Scare were all really good. The people inside were equally as good. I loved how, according to the storyline, it is "our" fault that they are all infected. This was a bigger maze than I had anticipated. I had no idea where it ended either, but I loved how it kind of turned into a little bit of an outdoor scare zone after you were actually out of the building. Now this may have been a little better if it was completely dark by then, which it wasn't, but that's hardly anybody's fault. Of course, I understand why things like the Cemetery don't open until 8. Hadn't thought about it before.

Point #3: Urgent Scare and Massacre Manor (respectively) are the best two haunted mazes in the park. Now, of course, this is just my opinion. I know most everyone puts Club Blood in their top two, and we didn't do Club Blood, CarnEvil, or Redbeard's Revenge, since we did them last year. If I go again this year, I may change my mind and decide that Club Blood is better than Massacre Manor, but for right now that's just where I stand. Between this year and last year, I've done all of the indoor mazes and those are my top two. The two mazes we did really impressed me this year. I thought they were fantastic and it certainly turned my opinion around of them after almost deciding that it wasn't worth going into either one of them. (The explanation for my logic on this is long and actually pretty faulty, so I won't go into details. Bottom line is I was wrong and was proven wrong and had a great time in Massacre Manor and Urgent Scare.)

After that, we walked right to Vortex which is great for night riding and conveniently placed at the exit of our last haunt. So we had a good ride on it and we got cooled down after being sweat out of the hospital. So we did two mazes and rode a ride. What time was it when we exited Vortex? 8:00. We were doing great on time, better than projected. (OK, it was a little after 8, but we certainly would have made it without my little pass debacle to commence the night.)

We walked out of Coney Maul and into Oktoberfest and I couldn't hardly pass up Adventure Express without riding it. So, of course, it was practically a walk on and we made our way into Action Zone after that.

We decided that it wasn't too cold for ice cream. In fact, as I mentioned, I'm not sure if it ever dipped down to 60 which is what it was expected to do. So we got some blueberry ice cream and had a seat at one of the tables near Ice Cream Zone, if that's what it's still called. I knew not to let my guard down even when I was eating because I knew some terrible, scary monster would get me if I did. In fact, I was right. About the minute that I did let my guard down and had turned my head, there was a monster sitting right next to me with a big grin on his face. I thought it was funny more than anything, and to my surprise I didn't even jump. Props, though. The same monster came back a few minutes later and got my aunt really good. I thought that was funny. I got chastised a little bit because I could have warned her if I wanted to. But I obviously knew it would be funnier to, well, not. We decided to catch a show but there wasn't one playing so we figured we had time to get on a coaster first and we made our way to...ugh...Invertigo. (The ugh is for the name change not for the ride itself.)

Invertigo is hardly ever a walk on and tonight was no exception. However, while I was in line I got pretty excited when the video for Mudvayne's song "Death Blooms" came over the TVs in line. Of course, I'm sure the majority of the people there don't even know who Mudvayne is anyway. Excellent choice by the park, though, and really for all of the music that I heard. Anyways, we got on Invertigo and had a good, smooth ride. Then we headed back towards the front of the park and walked down International Street. I made it a point to check out all of the displays in the windows, all of which I thought were pretty good except I didn't really get the superheroes one. But hey, it's not like it ruined my night. In fact, what I was about to stumble on next, the display at the bandstand, would improve my night tremendously. Not only are my favorite characters from Phantom Theatre on display, but they're actually playing the soundtrack to the entire ride. Awesome. I got to thinking that I hope they have enough backups and fail-safes so that soundtrack always remains in tact in some way, shape, or format.

We were running right on schedule to catch the 9:30 showing of Dead Awakening. I used the excuse that my aunt didn't see it last year in order to justify seeing it again, but the truth is I would've saw it anyways even if I was there by myself. I can't rave about it or say that it's the best thing I've ever seen, but it is certainly entertaining, interesting, and worth the time that it takes to watch it, which is about 25 minutes. This gave us just enough time to go over to Festhaus to catch the 10:00 showing of "Ghouls Gone Wild". Now, if you're like me and you go into this expecting something even remotely similar to Dead Awakening, you'll be disappointed. That being said, it's not a bad show. I didn't stay until the end of it, though. We got some pizza and ate and watched and then when we were done eating we decided it was time leave--Festhaus, not the park.

We had decided to check out the line for...ugh.. Backlot Stunt Coaster and if it wasn't long we would ride it. So we started out at Festhaus and walked towards the Tower and then I realized we couldn't go that way. (Still getting used to it.) So we had two choices and I figured it would be fun to walk through Coney Maul again, this time with it being dark--and that's what we did. So we walked down the Midway and made the turn at the eatery, whatever it's called now, and walked into Rivertown to the Coaster. There was hardly a line and so we rode it and had a good ride on it. I then made the navigatory decision to just do an entire circle and walk past the Coaster into the heart of Rivertown and look at the construction of Diamondback along the way, and or course take in the spooky atmosphere.

After a brief stop in a shop on International Street, we left. I really felt like we did a lot even though we really didn't. But I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me because I had an excellent time and I really felt like the things that we did were awesome. If I go again, I will probably do more of the haunts. And the only reason I didn't want to go for a night ride on The Beast was because I was feeling really good and I wanted to stay that way. I just had such an incredible time that I'm already cooking up plans for another trip, either this coming up Friday, or the next one--which brings me to my fourth and almost final point:

Point #4: If you're going to Halloween Haunt, go on a Friday and get there early Last year we went later in October which I think contributed to the big crowd on the Friday that we went. The week before that, I had went on a Saturday but only mostly rode rides during the day and opted out of the long lines that I saw at the haunts and ended up seeing Dead Awakening and that was it. The thing I did like about Saturday is seeing the transformation of the park. On Friday, no transformation occurs. It's Halloween Haunt 100% of the operation hours on Friday. But then I rethought it and decided that I liked how it was last night better. I liked the wall of monsters. If you're already in the park, you don't necessarily get to witness all of that. So, you've got three Fridays left, and four if you include Halloween, which I wouldn't even consider but that's just me. I anticipate an even bigger crowd for next Friday than what was seen this past Friday, and then an even bigger crowd the next Friday. Halloween is unfathomable. None of the lines were anywhere near as long as what I witnessed on the Friday I went last year, even later on in the night.

Point #5: The entire atmosphere is the single best aspect of Halloween HauntThe fog machines are fantastic, the decorations are fantastic, and the roamers are fantastic. I would almost contend that you don't have to have a good time at Halloween Haunt by doing a couple of the haunted mazes or scare zones, just walk around the park. The keyword there is almost. I wouldn't have had as good of a time if I didn't start of the night by doing two incredible mazes. I can't stress enough how good of a job the park did with the atmosphere, though. It isn't even fair to compare it to FearFest, which seems like it took place on another planet in another galaxy somewhere.

So, just to wrap things up, I may not have done everything but I really had a great time. I was like a kid last night because I couldn't sleep thinking about all the cool stuff I had done. The best part about it is, I've got time to sqeeze another trip in and I can get in for free--so what's the downside? If I do go again, it might have to be by myself, but I don't consider that a downside so much. A solo trip to The Haunt could possibly be in store in the near future.

...And they said a Trip Report with zero complaints was impossible.

[Ki Man]

Would you humor me and give a review of the Cemetery? =)

[Karen]

Would you humor me and give a review of the Cemetery? =)

How about I give one???? OMG As soon as I got into that haunt it was monster after monster. It was really neat how I could not tell what I was looking at was a monster or a statue! Boxes with people making noises, roamers following you or coming up behind you and saying things! Thick smog that made it difficult to see what was around and as it seemed to clear getting the wits scared out of me!!! There are things coming out from all over that place!!! Then as you think it is all over and head out the exit............well you can find that out for yourself!!!

The Cemetery is a definate one to check out!!!! I wanted to go to it again Saturday but URGENT CARE line was so long we could not make it.

I love the front of the park from 12:30am on as the roamers/creepers are all up front and it is like another wall of monsters!!!

[gabelogan99]

Unfortunately KI Man, I didn't do The Cemetery, although I almost did last year when I went. The only reason I mentioned it is because it's outside and it's not dark outside until 8 so that's why it and what I'm guessing is the vast majority if not all of the scare zones don't even bother opening until 8. However I will say that, especially after reading Karen's review, I will definitely have to do when I go again some upcoming Friday. Sounds like I might get a good scare!

[Ki Man]

Yeah, no more scare-zones. All the outdoor mazes open up at 8. I'll see you Friday then!!!!