If You Had Creative Control Over Haunt, What Would You Do?

[BoddaH1994]

Here's a good questions for topical discussion:

If you got a call tomorrow saying that you would have full creative control over Haunt 2010, what would you do?

Which mazes would change? What would stay the same? What original maze ideas would you implement?

What would you do with the environment? The roamers? The displays? The fog?

What kind of live entertainment would you have?

I look forward to reading your responses.

[StalkerChick]

If you got a call tomorrow saying that you would have full creative control over Haunt 2010, what would you do?

be ecstatic lol

Which mazes would change? What would stay the same? What original maze ideas would you implement?

cornstalker outfits would be scarier/creepier (kinda like the guy at the start of ToT) and would blend in A LOT more making it a better scarezone. Better more random animatronics (see Land of Illusions for starters) More pop out areas in pirates, US, CB, Manor where people are literally coming out of walls and dark corners

we need a doll factory end of story. and an alien themed house back between racer and fof would fit nicely. Maybe work with Cemetary more making it more zombie/undead theming. maybe some headstones that are all toppled and wrecked/old. working with the headstones to ppl can pop out of them instead of behind them. and some more of a drop box type. and on that subject! making drop boxes not look so much like giant boxes! the ones in cornstalkers stick out like a sore thumb. but if they had crating around them making them blend in more, or corn stalks even! and the ones in urgent scare now have pictures on them this year, but only on the drop boxes. why not make a whole hallway of pictures so you never know exactly where the drop box is. same with the book shelves in pirates. they're starting to get the idea there!

What would you do with the environment? The roamers? The displays? The fog?

1. making sure the foggers actually work/are turned on. and changing some placement. theres a lot of places where theres foggers on top of each other and others where theres nothing. have some foggers around the rides (like Beast and DB)

2. More roamers. Pretty sure i've counted 20 or less this year. it'd be nice to have like 5-10 in each section of the park. And i mean as much as i'm up for the demented story book/fairy tale creatures we really need a lot more variety.

3. we have plenty of skeleton displays. that really seems to be all we have are skeletons. CP does a good job of putting random pumpkins around. and maybe scarecrows and more zombie looking displays.

What kind of live entertainment would you have?

I think it'd be neat to have wandering side shows. like the big signs in coney maul show, but that don't actually exist. have a fire eater or twirler walking around. they guy in Kings Island theater that basically beat himself up i think 07 year? would be neat like that, but either wandering around, or in little side stages. crowd pleasers by the bigger attractions so ppl aren't so ****y when they actually get in line (US is the first thing that comes to mind) thats all i hear out front is "we waited an hour for this. i see you you're not scary" yada yada. guests are in a crappy mood. and even roamers randomly around bigger lines would help. I hear of roamers in Action Zone and i think i saw 2 in coney last year, but never down past the x-base sign minus one that chased a group of girls to US. this is where we need more roamers/better placement of roamers.

[CedarPointer]

I haven't been to Haunt and probably won't be going, but I'd change the displays so no extension cords were showing (for example, the display across from the KI Theater), and cover up Club Blood's exterior during regular season. Oh, and remove the huge skull in front of the KI sign and move it somewhere where it could still be a photo spot, without blocking the sign photo spot.

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

I like a lot of Stalker Mole's ideas, especially about the side-show wanderers. Like a fire breather and a knife juggler or something. I see the signs in Coney Maul and think, 'why are they only signs?'

I'd like to incorporate some of Cedar Point's ideas.

The biggest would be their Scare Zones. I know that KI had what they considered Scare Zones (and some would say the whole park is one, though it's not nearly as concentrated.) Perhaps make the area between the Crypt and the Diamondback entrance a Scare zone with a huge concentration of fog, strobes and 30 or more scareactors. No lines to walk through, it's like an on-going Haunt. You could still have Tombstone Territory in there as well, you just have to go through that open Haunt to get to the train Haunt.

Or make the path between the Tower and the bathrooms by The Beast entrance (Where corn Stalkers once was) a Scare Zone, though I like the above idea better since it is longer.

I'd like there to be a magic show. I like shows, but they all don't have to be centered around music.

I also LOVED Cedar Point's scary ghost stories which had actors telling Edgar Allen Poe stories in a small intimate setting. KI could do something like that in an area (I would say in the old lazer tag building but it's gone now) or somewhere out in the park with a small bonfire. People could gather around and hear a great story teller give them a ghost story.

I'd also put a Haunt in Scoobydoo's Haunted Castle. You could put a few people in every other car and get some actors to jump out at them in scenes or put some good scary animatronics in there.

And if SOB isn't being used, I'd put a Haunted trail through the base of the supports for it. The story would be focused around the skeleton of an abandoned dangerous ride that's haunted by the ghosts of its victims.

[XGatorHead 8904]

I'd also put a Haunt in Scoobydoo's Haunted Castle. You could put a few people in every other car and get some actors to jump out at them in scenes or put some good scary animatronics in there.

They did that in Phantom Theater during one of the first years of FearFest.

[Jasper]

First and foremost, I would bring back Dead Awakening, don't yell at me as I have not seen Hot Blooded yet. Then I would put a lot more fog as you enter Coney Maul and have tons of ScareActors roam the midways.

I would add more of the guys with the knee pads on that slid around the midway and scared the daylights out of people.

As stalker said, a doll factory would be perfect.

Maybe make FoF's queue into like an alien haunt. You could have people enter through FoF's exit to get to the actual ride perhaps, just an idea.

Have a maze dedicated to old movie characters, i.e Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Scream, and Leatherface.

Have line roaming ScareActors so that the guests waiting in line did not get overly bored and begin to lose interest in Haunt.

Have more pop-out scares in mazes.

Bring back Maze Of Madness and Curse Of The Crypt.

Have more ScareActors in X-Base and all around the park in general.

For my last idea bear with me here. Where The Beast's walkback area is, make that a haunted trail with some kind of lore of The Beast playing a role. I know it sounds dumb and it probably impossible, but I think it would be quite entertaining.

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

I'd also put a Haunt in Scoobydoo's Haunted Castle. You could put a few people in every other car and get some actors to jump out at them in scenes or put some good scary animatronics in there.

They did that in Phantom Theater during one of the first years of FearFest.

Do it again!

[Jasper]

I'd also put a Haunt in Scoobydoo's Haunted Castle. You could put a few people in every other car and get some actors to jump out at them in scenes or put some good scary animatronics in there.

They did that in Phantom Theater during one of the first years of FearFest.

Do it again!

Then wouldn't you have to put up scenery in there and close down a major kid ride during the day?

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

Only during the Haunt.

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

How about they bring back the smurf ride but make them little zombie smurfs?

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

:lol:

[alluna]

Which mazes would change? What would stay the same? What original maze ideas would you implement?

What would you do with the environment? The roamers? The displays? The fog?

What kind of live entertainment would you have?

1. I would instruct the scare actors to do something besides jump out and scream. We need more who silently approach with that blank stare in their eyes and just won't leave you alone. Once I was at a haunted corn maze where the scare actor was somewhere on the other side of the row of corn. I could see an evil eye every now and then and hear him following me back and forth on the other side. Creepy.

A maze where people are exclusively sent in one at a time and have to choose their own paths to get through the maze. Meaning it would be a maze...not a run. All points would ultimately lead to the same exit, but there would be some choice involved.

A haunted trail like the one up here at SIlver lake. You have to crawl through spiderwebs and a 'mouse hole' made of different sized crates. There is a 'junkyard' area and at one point the trail ends at a school bus. Guests have to get on the bus and walk through to the emergency exit at the back. Trail of Terror was alright, but it couldn't compare to this.

Also, interactive mazes. For instance, you have to push a button to open a door. Wouldn't have to be mechanical, it could simply set off a loud buzzer which alerts an actor to open the door from the other side. This kind of voluntary button pushing and waiting for the door to open can build the anticipation.

2. Full-blown Thriller reenactment down International street. More roamers scaring people in line. Turn the televisions on to show horror movie clips (wasn't this done one year?) Random street events where a horde of zombies flood (slowly) down the street, then dissapates. Magic is a GREAT idea and could work for a small witch/sorcerer sketch on the street.

I'd also have projectors that gave the hint of ghosts around the park. Namely a shadowy Tower Johnny falling every hour or so. That would probably be offensive to someone, though.

Less store bought masks...more makeup.

Scream contest on the International stage. Prizes for best screams, werewolf howls, zombie moans and cackles. The more interactive stuff the better.

I wish there was a single night for a costume contest, but I can't see how this could be done. Everyone would have to come in early, do a costume party, then exit to change into street clothes for riding/entering haunts. Maybe a huge party one night in Boomerang Bay around the empty wave pool area. Lots of Halloweeny drinks and only non-costumed patrons allowed to enter the rest of the park after the party.

3. I'd do away with those Top 40 music montage stage shows. Must all our stage shows at Kings Island be music montages!?? 'Ghouls Gone Wild' was pretty entertaining, but you could have a much more original and engaging show. If we can get away with the steamy scenes in 'Hot Blooded', then a truncated production of Rocky Horror could be done (music montage!).

I would have a sideshow experience, but in the theater. Roamers are cool, too, but it sounds like a liability, and lots of people would sit down and attend a freak show on a main stage. I've seen side show tricks on a main stage happen lots of times and it's always a huge hit on it's own.

[standbyme]

This may be considered a “cop out” answer…but if I did indeed get the call that I was in charge of Halloween Haunt I know what I would do…I would simply delegate authority.

The first thing I would do is hire TombraiderTY…why, because he appears to be the kind of person that the park can’t seem to find…or at least enough of. He has an obvious love of the park and a respect for it’s history…I know that I could trust him not to harm the park’s image. (Put in your own derogatory comment here.)

Even though he does not (yet) work for the park, I have seen him go to the trouble of typing up massive ideas on either how to re-work an existing ride to improve it or what kind of an addition the park could use…and the majority of them are feasible....although every now and then I would probably have to say things like “Whattaya think I am…made of money"!

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

Those are some great suggestions, alluna. Really like the idea of a choose your own adventure haunt. Also like having a random zombie rampage.

[TylerRider]

I would have foggers all over The Beast. There would be monsters on the lift hill, and red eyes in the tunnels.

[Jasper]

The red eyes in The Beast tunnel would be a very nice addition.

[rotag]

If you got a call tomorrow saying that you would have full creative control over Haunt 2010, what would you do?

be thinking of ideas {as if i wasn't already }

Which mazes would change? What would stay the same? What original maze ideas would you implement?

i would amp up cemetary drive to be more like dawn of the dead {b/w version} instead of it bein like a stroll thru the normal cemetary that has bums. carnevil needs to stay the same, just rotate the rooms around so its more of a suprise every year. add a house of mirror and glass, mix in strobes while using those color changing effects on the strobes, randomly add low lying fog into it, and while were at it lets throw in some scareactors wandering the maze actin all confuzid; name for that maze would be somethin along the lines of schitzophrenic or deminsia. i would also like to see a maze in total darkness and would only light up when triggered by a motion beam {kinda like how the clowns in carnevil jump at you. and when the light does come on for a few seconds, you are greated by terrifying displays of unrealistic poportions. i would call that one ethier lightning storm or bumps in the night.

What would you do with the environment? The roamers? The displays? The fog?

not sure how, but make the park feel like you are more secluded instead of surounded by masses of people. i would create more variety of roamer outfits that would sucessfully require more roamers, and have them more spread out thru out the park and allowed to go into the attractions, cause less people would expect a roamer to follow them into/exiting an attraction. we have enough skeletons, we need more of a variety {i really like jack who is stationed over by one of the arcades in coney maul. add twice as many fog machines, some areas are barren of fog machines and those are the places that need it the most, in some cases if positioned properly, roamers and sliders could cause hysteria, wide spread panic, and utter chaos.

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

The red eyes in The Beast tunnel would be a very nice addition.

You could put a couple of chopped off arms on the front of the tunnels for the final helix so that everyone keeps their hands down.

[rotag]

wow, i just realized i was repedative & redundant.

[12dropzone34]

well if money wasnt important...

first off, alot more roamers in broader areas

in places youd never imagine

more advertisements about NOT bringing children

either that, or id get rid of club blood entirely

hiring more makeup people and getting those masks out of cut throat cove

a few more haunts, with more original thought...a haunted janitors closet perhaps?

id redo cut throat cove ENTIRELY and maybe in a bigger area, either that or get rid of it

a spider, or maybe king kong on the Eiffel Tower... for added affect

a "no slip grip" on the slippery attractions

more of those ever-loving classic characters (anyone up for the headless horseman, or a freddy krueger?)

a few monsters hanging around in the turnstiles

all themed foods and games

much more fog everywhere (well, ALMOST everywhere...)

change the rides names to maybe something more halloween themed...

thats all i got lol

[kjkjkj]

Well first I'd jump up and down because that would be awesome!

Then for actual maze ideas:

Claustrophobia Cavern- This maze would themed like a musty old cave. For the Haunt you would get those head lamps you wear while caving. However the ones for this Haunt are extremely dim and occasionally flicker out. You start out in a normal size room, with stalagmites, bat noises, dripping water sounds, and fog. This room is lit fairly well. The next room is not lit at all, so you must use your special headlamp.The tunnels from here on out would not be lit, you would only have your dim headlamp, that occasionally flickers out! As you move through the tunnels and rooms themed to a cave, the rooms keep getting tighter and smaller. You wouldn't be able to see around the next corner at all. Emergency exits would be placed along the way for people who can't fit into the next section. The rooms would eventually get so small that you have to lay on your stomach to slide though. One tunnel would also feature very thin plexiglass walls between you and the real walls. In the space between the plexiglass and the real walls would be tons of cave crickets and spiders. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that there would be scary cave creatures, that look similar to the cave monsters from the movie "The Descent" in it?

Here is a example of the creatures from The Descent

http://blog.filmjabber.com/wp-content/uplo...t-2-picture.jpg

I would definitely add a Doll Factory.

That's all I can think of right now, I am sure I'll have more!

[StalkerChick]

I like a lot of Stalker Mole's ideas, especially about the side-show wanderers. Like a fire breather and a knife juggler or something. I see the signs in Coney Maul and think, 'why are they only signs?'

I'd like to incorporate some of Cedar Point's ideas.

The biggest would be their Scare Zones. I know that KI had what they considered Scare Zones (and some would say the whole park is one, though it's not nearly as concentrated.) Perhaps make the area between the Crypt and the Diamondback entrance a Scare zone with a huge concentration of fog, strobes and 30 or more scareactors. No lines to walk through, it's like an on-going Haunt. You could still have Tombstone Territory in there as well, you just have to go through that open Haunt to get to the train Haunt.

Or make the path between the Tower and the bathrooms by The Beast entrance (Where corn Stalkers once was) a Scare Zone, though I like the above idea better since it is longer.

I'd like there to be a magic show. I like shows, but they all don't have to be centered around music.

I also LOVED Cedar Point's scary ghost stories which had actors telling Edgar Allen Poe stories in a small intimate setting. KI could do something like that in an area (I would say in the old lazer tag building but it's gone now) or somewhere out in the park with a small bonfire. People could gather around and hear a great story teller give them a ghost story.

I'd also put a Haunt in Scoobydoo's Haunted Castle. You could put a few people in every other car and get some actors to jump out at them in scenes or put some good scary animatronics in there.

And if SOB isn't being used, I'd put a Haunted trail through the base of the supports for it. The story would be focused around the skeleton of an abandoned dangerous ride that's haunted by the ghosts of its victims.

hahah @ StalkerMole and the sob comment. I like the scare zone ideas a lot and the magic show! demented magic maybe? O:) and the story telling bonfire idea would kick @$$!!!!

How about they bring back the smurf ride but make them little zombie smurfs?

only you.... *sigh*

A maze where people are exclusively sent in one at a time and have to choose their own paths to get through the maze. Meaning it would be a maze...not a run. All points would ultimately lead to the same exit, but there would be some choice involved.

Also, interactive mazes. For instance, you have to push a button to open a door. Wouldn't have to be mechanical, it could simply set off a loud buzzer which alerts an actor to open the door from the other side. This kind of voluntary button pushing and waiting for the door to open can build the anticipation.

I'd also have projectors that gave the hint of ghosts around the park.

Less store bought masks...more makeup.

3. I'd do away with those Top 40 music montage stage shows. Must all our stage shows at Kings Island be music montages!?? 'Ghouls Gone Wild' was pretty entertaining, but you could have a much more original and engaging show. If we can get away with the steamy scenes in 'Hot Blooded', then a truncated production of Rocky Horror could be done (music montage!).

ok i totally second the Rocky Horror show haha!! we just need more masks like that the Uncle Henry has in his avatar where it fits the whole head/shoulders/chest/ and looks real and moves with your face. not so much the chintzy cheapo looking masks

and the projector thing would be awesome! or random things that go flying by on ziplines over the fountains or midways! that could be fun too!!

Well first I'd jump up and down because that would be awesome!

Then for actual maze ideas:

Claustrophobia Cavern- This maze would themed like a musty old cave. For the Haunt you would get those head lamps you wear while caving. However the ones for this Haunt are extremely dim and occasionally flicker out. You start out in a normal size room, with stalagmites, bat noises, dripping water sounds, and fog. This room is lit fairly well. The next room is not lit at all, so you must use your special headlamp. As you move through the tunnels and rooms themed to a cave, the rooms keep getting tighter and smaller. You wouldn't be able to see around the next corner at all. Emergency exits would be placed along the way for people who can't fit into the next section. The rooms would eventually get so small that you have to lay on your stomach to slide though. One tunnel would also feature very thin plexiglass walls between you and the real walls. In the space between the plexiglass and the real walls would be tons of cave crickets and spiders. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that there would be scary cave creatures, that look similar to the cave monsters from the movie "The Descent" in it?

I would definitely add a Doll Factory.

i love that everyone is loving the doll factory!! and kyle thats a totally creepy idea. altho with the disibility laws we have to follow it might be difficult. but the total claustrophobia thing is a total trip. especially that plexi glass idea *shudders*

[kjkjkj]

i love that everyone is loving the doll factory!! and kyle thats a totally creepy idea. altho with the disibility laws we have to follow it might be difficult. but the total claustrophobia thing is a total trip. especially that plexi glass idea *shudders*

Yeah that's true, they could have an alternate tunnel that people needing to use wheelchairs, could go through. It would still be themed to a cave, and still get pretty tight, but still big enough for a wheelchair to navigate through.

But just going through a Haunt that makes you feel claustrophobic, with the only light source being a dim headlamp that flickers on and off occasionally, would be scary! You would never know what is coming behind you in the shadows, and the fact that the only light you would have is the headlamp, would give you very limited views. You wouldn't be able to see all around you, all at once.

[StalkerChick]

^^ i love it!

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

Yeeeeeah, I totally wouldn't be able to do that. I got freaked out just watching the scene in the Decent when the girl was stuck in the tight space. I cannot handle claustrophobic areas. If I was the size of a Smurf, I would do it.

[kjkjkj]

I got freaked out just watching the scene in the Decent when the girl was stuck in the tight space

Yeah, same here. Which is why I would want something like that. Something that would make people freak out. I am slightly claustrophobic, and I would make myself go through it, just so I would truly be afraid lol. It wold be fun!

[Justin_M17]

Well, I'm posting from my Blackberry and can't quote people for some odd reason, but that's an epic idea Kyle. Despite my terrible case of claustrophobia I'm sure I'd have a blast going through something like that.

[Dvo]

Okay, here we go. I've got a few ideas...

1. Move Trail of Terror from X-Base to Rivertown. The trail would go back around The Beast and then return along the Diamondback course, exiting through The Crypt's exit. And load it with fog, thus providing a fun haunt, and phenomenal rides on both Beast and DBack with the fog.

2) Take the chain-link fences out of Death Row's building and use them to create additional path out the rear of the building. Then build an entirely new haunt utilizing both the inside of the building and the newly-created path on the back. Themed to zombies a la "28 Days Later."

3) Remove The Cemetery completely, and just use that area as a general fright zone, similar to Cedar Point's Frontier Trail.

[StalkerChick]

2) Take the chain-link fences out of Death Row's building and use them to create additional path out the rear of the building. Then build an entirely new haunt utilizing both the inside of the building and the newly-created path on the back. Themed to zombies a la "28 Days Later."

LOL have you gone through Urgent Scare at all?! Cuz it's pretty much exactly like "28 Days Later".... but chainlink maze with chainsaw ppl running around like at Haunted Hoochie/Dead Acres hahaha

[gigacoaster2k]

I would definitely leave Urgent Scare, Cornstalkers, and Club Blood the way they are.

I think it would be interesting to have (don't laugh, yes, I work at one) a maze themed to a gas station. Something with robbers holding up the cashier and threatening the people who walk through, scareactors jumping out of cooler doors, gas hoses spraying in spots, people screaming and dying in bloody flaming pools of gasoline, hobos eating out of the wreckage of the shelves, maybe a car accident.

I would have more people jumping out in the ends of the mazes. I noticed some of them didn't jump out until after we had walked by, and no one was behind us.

Hide some of the roamers in the dense fog clouds on the midway. I walked through them expecting to be scared to death.. not once did that happen.

As far as fog goes, use a LITTLE less in the mazes. I understand that it's meant to be creepy and scary, but not to the point where scareactors have to point us in the right direction because we can't see 2 inches in front of our face.

I'd also use the fog around the rides. Action Zone looks TERRIFIC in the fog, especially at night, and made for an amazing ride experience on Drop Tower. I also overheard people raving about their foggy night rides on Skyflyer. I'd use the fog on AE, Beast, and DB.. I imagine they would all be fantastic foggy night rides!