Am I the only one who is let down by Haunt?

[4runneradam]

I don't know if I had too high of expectations or what, but I went to Haunt a few weeks ago and was really let down. It seems to me that they were going for quantity over quality on the haunted attractions. There were so many of them, and the ones I saw werent really any good. Mysteria was dumb, just a few guys in tights staring at you while you walked through a giant cage filled with fog, holliday horror wasnt scary at all, urgent scare was so-so, the props were cheap looking, carnevil was OK. None of the "mazes" were "mazes". There was no way to get lost as your supposed to in a maze. You know, take a wrong turn and end up at a dead end. It was all just a quick run through with no thought as how to go through. and the midgets were boring! They talk about watching a midget bleed, but I did not see one drop of blood. I was expecting them to smear it all over each other or something. And they went about their show very slowly, each move was setup extremely slowly which made it seem even more setup than it really was, and they warned of curse words and what not, I diddnt hear them hardly speak at all, I was expecting loud profanity and flying blood. It was weak. The commercials and website hype everything up to be so scary and gory, but I diddnt see that at all.

Also, I was very let down with the trick or treat with the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were pretty neat, but the trick or treat part was a big let down. Again, the commercials and site hyped up the trick or treat with the exact phrase "Your kids will collect a t-rex sized bag of candy". There were maybe a dozen or less trick or treat stations, and my daughter got probably 4 or 5 pices of candy. One station gave out a cardboard flyer for the movie terra nova. Another station gave a pin with terra nova on it. Another station gave a haunt souviner cup which was nice, one gave an apple which was OK i guess. And half way through it my daughter wanted to leave because she was tired of walking and a little scared (shes 4).

Am I expecting too much, or does anyone else feel the same way?

[bkroz]

I think the "maze" thing is a misnomer. Haunted houses is more appropriate. Some parks sometimes have actual mazes (usually made of chain link fence, or mirrors) but its a much different experience than a themed haunted house. Half the problem is that you need to get a group through, in order, together with their friends. Take those 2 hour lines and imagine how long they might be if people were just running wild inside, getting lost, backtracking, running into eachother, becoming disoriented, etc... An actual maze would be a logistical nightmare at a high-traffic park, I think.

A lot of it is for marketing. "Come get a half-dozen airheads" doesn't sound near as enticing. I guess "midget blood" entices some people, too. Takes all kinds!

[CedarPointer]

Was it the green Haunt souvenir cup? Those cost more than the trick or treating does...

[Titan]

I found a couple mazes to be rather boring, but it was still a fun time. And about the midgets, they're no ECW or WWF, so you shouldn't come expecting much. But they still are pretty entertaining to watch, no matter how much they "exaggerate" the show.

[KIfan73]

For me, I'm just glad KI is open, and the fog is neat....

For the park, not all the rides are open, they put up some haunted attractions, and they have huge crowds...some pretty easy math right there.

[TombRaiderFTW]

I have to agree with GoodYellowKoRn. "Maze" is a bit of a misnomer that's been applied out of habit by the GP. That being said, Mysteria is a bit of a maze. At the very least, the groups I've gone through with have had some trouble getting out the first time. It seems like the scareactors like to hide deep in the fog at the dead ends, which, to me, is a really cool idea.

[sheikra_rocks]

I wouldn't call Mysteria a "maze" though. It is more of a "scare zone"

I think the park should have more scare zones that you have to walk through to get to where you want to go. For example, if they stationed scaractors between beast and Vortex along that path, between beast and ET.

In 2001, I went to Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa. The Nairobi Train station area was transformed into "Inferno Express" The train itself was not haunted, just the area around the station. You had no choice but to walk through it if you wanted to get to Timbuktu.

Kings Island seems to have toned it down since recent years. I would like to go in and design an actual scare zone for Coney Maul. Not the whole area, just about a 50 yard by 50 yard section of it. That is enough to get the blood pumping as people pass through. Can make a more authentic scare as you would not know where the scare would be coming from, unlike a "maze"

[standbyme]

and the midgets were boring! They talk about watching a midget bleed, but I did not see one drop of blood.

I was expecting them to smear it all over each other or something. And they went about their show very slowly, each move was setup extremely slowly which made it seem even more setup than it really was, and they warned of curse words and what not, I diddnt hear them hardly speak at all, I was expecting loud profanity and flying blood. It was weak.

This will probably come off as insulting...but what has gone wrong with our world when someone is upset that they didn't get all the blood and profanity that they felt was coming to them?

[RingMaster]

I think the park should have more scare zones that you have to walk through to get to where you want to go. For example, if they stationed scaractors between beast and Vortex along that path, between beast and ET.

They've tried that several times in past years, but the amount of complaints have restricted how the "fear zones" work up until now. It used to be that CornStalkers didn't have a line and that you could just walk through at your own pace, much like how Nightmare Alley and Necropolis is set up. But of course, families complained that they were somehow being forced into going through a haunted attraction without having a choice. That's potentially one of the reasons why CornStalkers never went back to its original location after Diamondback opened, and why there wasn't an attraction built in the same spot that the worksite was after it left.

Of course, this year changes all that as now there are two large zones with a heavy concentration of monsters roaming around. Hopefully they expand on this and not get bogged down by those who will inevitably complain that they're being forced into a haunted attraction without a choice...

[4runneradam]

This will probably come off as insulting...but what has gone wrong with our world when someone is upset that they didn't get all the blood and profanity that they felt was coming to them?

I understand what your saying, but the reason I "felt" this was coming to me is because it was advertised in exact words by Kings Island themselves.

What if KI advertised a roller coaster to be one of the fastest and wildest around, but you get there and its no faster or calmer than The Beastie?

[jdawg1998]

I am also somewhat disappointed with Haunt this year, but it is not a high budget thing, like Universal Studios' Horror Nights (or whatever they are called).

They could add more scareactors in the mazes, such as Club Blood, Slaughterhouse, and Urgent Scare, and scrap mazes that are just plain bad (Mysteria, Cut Throat Cove, CornStalkers, etc.). Like you said OP, they are going for quantity not quality.

Instead of adding mazes that stink (except I loved Holiday Horror), they need to spend time on designing a great maze that will blow everyone's minds and do this once every two years so it is more quality, not quantity.

Also, the lack of fear zones don't bother me. There is still a ton of fog and scary music playing around the park, along with Halloween decorations - too many people scaring guests would drive them out of the park!

[BoddaH1994]

Also, I was very let down with the trick or treat with the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs were pretty neat, but the trick or treat part was a big let down. Again, the commercials and site hyped up the trick or treat with the exact phrase "Your kids will collect a t-rex sized bag of candy". There were maybe a dozen or less trick or treat stations, and my daughter got probably 4 or 5 pices of candy. One station gave out a cardboard flyer for the movie terra nova. Another station gave a pin with terra nova on it. Another station gave a haunt souviner cup which was nice, one gave an apple which was OK i guess. And half way through it my daughter wanted to leave because she was tired of walking and a little scared (shes 4).

Am I expecting too much, or does anyone else feel the same way?

I think the issue might have been that the Dinosaurs area just wasn't for your daughter. I brought a six year old and a two year old through it (as seen in this thread) and they were both on Cloud 9. You have to remember that they aren't adding any cost to the dino park for the trick or treating, so any candy or prizes they may get is a bonus.

[4runneradam]

OK, but again, they advertised a " t-rex sized bag of candy " and all we got was a Chiwawa sized one. This, along with all the other overhyped attractions, has left me dissapointed in the whole experience.

[RingMaster]

If it's your first year experiencing Haunt, then it's understandable to be let down by the amount of hype that goes into promoting the event. But if you're a seasoned veteran that's been going for several years, you should know by now not to let their marketing tactics get the best of you.

That said, this is by far the best year of Halloween Haunt, and second best year of a Kings Island haunted event (2006 still takes the top spot for me). I joked earlier about KI's Haunt not making this year's Golden Ticket list for Best Halloween Event; now I'll be mad if our Haunt doesn't make the list next year.

[kicarnevil]

I work in carnevil. I may not be right about this but the reason why it's not like get lost for 20 minutes in each room maze is because it's not privately owned. We have rules we have to follow, we cant touch you, cuss at you unlike other haunted houses like dent schoolhouse and land of illusions which are privately owned. Also, it's probably also for fire regulations. And the mirror room it's pretty easy to get lost, i get lost in it a couple times when we have the lights helped.

[Jeorby Nanpa]

I thought this was a bit odd last Friday, Oct 21. We're in line for Beast, about 7:20PM. It's still a walk-on at this point and somehow there's nobody in line! It's 3-4 cycles to get in the front seat, so we go there. A ride operator gets on the PA, says "we're temporarily shutting down the ride so we can add the third train." This is 7:20. Friday.

No sour grapes here, we rode and it was awesome. It seemed like a bit of an odd time to add a third train. ???

When we exited, the line was amazing.

[Tanna]

I work in carnevil. I may not be right about this but the reason why it's not like get lost for 20 minutes in each room maze is because it's not privately owned. We have rules we have to follow, we cant touch you, cuss at you unlike other haunted houses like dent schoolhouse and land of illusions which are privately owned. Also, it's probably also for fire regulations. And the mirror room it's pretty easy to get lost, i get lost in it a couple times when we have the lights helped.

Two people in front of us disappeared into the world of Club Blood. I guess they took a wrong turn. They exited behind another group of about ten people.

When I'm going through a maze, and see a scaractor escort a person back out through the entrance, what's that all about? The guests are usually guys that are well past the age of being frightened they can't go on. Do they get sick, or what?

[RingMaster]

I work in carnevil. I may not be right about this but the reason why it's not like get lost for 20 minutes in each room maze is because it's not privately owned. We have rules we have to follow, we cant touch you, cuss at you unlike other haunted houses like dent schoolhouse and land of illusions which are privately owned. Also, it's probably also for fire regulations. And the mirror room it's pretty easy to get lost, i get lost in it a couple times when we have the lights helped.

You'd be surprised at how many haunts both across town and across the country follow the same rules and guidelines when it comes to interacting with guests. The only haunts that can bypass the "no touchie" rule are the ones that make their customers sign a waver...and Dead Acres. Also, I've heard more swearing and foul language from Club Blood alone than at other attractions like Dent Schoolhouse and Land of Illusion.

[kingsrattler]

I thought this was a bit odd last Friday, Oct 21. We're in line for Beast, about 7:20PM. It's still a walk-on at this point and somehow there's nobody in line! It's 3-4 cycles to get in the front seat, so we go there. A ride operator gets on the PA, says "we're temporarily shutting down the ride so we can add the third train." This is 7:20. Friday.

No sour grapes here, we rode and it was awesome. It seemed like a bit of an odd time to add a third train. ???

When we exited, the line was amazing.

Probably the best time to do it. Before it gets busy, and you have a station full of people complaining.

[HTCO]

To whoever suggested the idea of more scare actors: good idea, but good luck.

[XGatorHead 8904]

When I'm going through a maze, and see a scaractor escort a person back out through the entrance, what's that all about? The guests are usually guys that are well past the age of being frightened they can't go on. Do they get sick, or what?

Those are people who can't follow the rules and need to be taken out.

[Creed Bratton]

I work in carnevil. I may not be right about this but the reason why it's not like get lost for 20 minutes in each room maze is because it's not privately owned. We have rules we have to follow, we cant touch you, cuss at you unlike other haunted houses like dent schoolhouse and land of illusions which are privately owned. Also, it's probably also for fire regulations. And the mirror room it's pretty easy to get lost, i get lost in it a couple times when we have the lights helped.

You'd be surprised at how many haunts both across town and across the country follow the same rules and guidelines when it comes to interacting with guests. The only haunts that can bypass the "no touchie" rule are the ones that make their customers sign a waver...and Dead Acres. Also, I've heard more swearing and foul language from Club Blood alone than at other attractions like Dent Schoolhouse and Land of Illusion.

I think it adds to the scare...if used right. Obviously would not work at KI or other Cedar Fair parks...but works at places you all have named. Another place that I got to this year that they were allowed to touch you was Lewisburg Cave...it seriously added to the scare and was amazing...I usually don't like the touching when trying to scare but it made it pretty sweet.

[jcgoble3]

I thought this was a bit odd last Friday, Oct 21. We're in line for Beast, about 7:20PM. It's still a walk-on at this point and somehow there's nobody in line! It's 3-4 cycles to get in the front seat, so we go there. A ride operator gets on the PA, says "we're temporarily shutting down the ride so we can add the third train." This is 7:20. Friday.

No sour grapes here, we rode and it was awesome. It seemed like a bit of an odd time to add a third train. ???

When we exited, the line was amazing.

Probably the best time to do it. Before it gets busy, and you have a station full of people complaining.

If they're going to do it that early, then why not just add the third train a half hour earlier before the park opens? That way, they don't have to shut the ride down while people are waiting.

[kingsrattler]

My guess is it is a lot easier to run the tests with 2 cars on the train. But that is just speculation.

[Jeorby Nanpa]

Beast down tonight, 10/28/11 from about 7:15 to 8:00. I'm beginning to question if this ride is actually safe. I question the people operating it.

/sorry to sound like such a downer

//really KI, we're better than this, ya?

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

^ Rides go down, it happens not much anyone at Kings Island can do.

Look at Mean Streak, Kingda Ka, SoB?

At least it reopened unlike the others mentioned will this season.

[standbyme]

I'm beginning to question if this ride is actually safe. I question the people operating it.

I question if you really mean a lot of the things you post.

[Dalefan]

Beast down tonight, 10/28/11 from about 7:15 to 8:00. I'm beginning to question if this ride is actually safe. I question the people operating it.

/sorry to sound like such a downer

//really KI, we're better than this, ya?

The ride is safe. Otherwise, the state won't let the park open it. Trust me, Ohio is very strict on ride rules.

When I'm going through a maze, and see a scaractor escort a person back out through the entrance, what's that all about? The guests are usually guys that are well past the age of being frightened they can't go on. Do they get sick, or what?

Those are people who can't follow the rules and need to be taken out.

Oh trust me, some of the supervisers will do more then just say they will have you taken out. They do alot more. Lol.

[Jeorby Nanpa]

I question if you really mean a lot of the things you post.

Ya, looking back, that was a bit of a harsh criticism of the ride ops and that chafes some of the hardcore KIC fans. The thing broke and the workers walk around like zombies. It's their right to withhold information from the guests, but they seem befuddled by how the thing operates. It's sensors, motors, wires, computers and physics that makes the thing work. It's not an animal that wakes up at 7PM. When the ride is down 45 minutes and there's ten workers standing around, it's upsetting not to get a straight answer from any of them. I'm blaming this on ignorance, not malice. It's this ignorance that doesn't give me a good feeling. I ask questions because I'm genuinely curious, but also because it may be worth waiting around for a minor repair to complete.

[The Interpreter]

It was at one time Cedar Fair policy that specifics as to why a ride is down were not normally to be released to guests, who would often misunderstand or misinterpret the information and over-react. Far better to just say technical difficulties. The average guest wouldn't know a proximity sensor from hydrogen peroxide, blonde, blond or not.