Halloween Haunt - October 8th

[Delirium13]

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.

[jdawg1998]

I am glad someone finally agrees with me that Massacre Manor is awesome. Did somebody try and stop you from leaving at the end? That's what happened to me. I freaked out!

[Guest PizzaBaby027]

Dick Kinzel, I sure do hope he is here tonight. I had the pleasure and honor of meeting him April 24th this year. He was just taking a look around the new "Planet Snoopy" and, I was working at Ice Cream at the time, while cleaning tables I glanced over by the Snoopy Boutique and saw the man I have always wanted to meet along with other managers I knew. It was the greatest moment I experienced at Kings Island, I got his autograph, don't judge me, and he wrote, "Rick keep up the great attitude and have fun working at Kings Island this summer" with his signature. I am ever so blessed.

[Delirium13]

I am glad someone finally agrees with me that Massacre Manor is awesome. Did somebody try and stop you from leaving at the end? That's what happened to me. I freaked out!

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