Blackout Reviews

[Dane]

Having just gone through Blackout I'm curious to hear your feedback on this new Haunt attraction.

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[The Interpreter]

I'm in the dark about it.

And will probably stay that way.

Terp--near Foggy Bottom.

[upstop]

Me too cause I'm, in fact, only at KI .....in spirit, no less.

Posters, please use "Spoilers" tab for those who can't help but read the posts....lol (I know I would, but knowing its a spoiler I wouldn't) ....lol

[TombRaiderFTW]

Really interesting idea, really bad execution. I spent good half of my time standing still until the line ahead of me decided to move. In my opinion, it will be one of the better houses once they work the kinks out. The props and lighting are simple but very, very effective, but the talent is unfortunately wasted on convincing the hordes to keep moving. Until it improves, it earns its 1-star rating.

[upstop]

I'm in the dark about it.

And will probably stay that way.

Terp--near Foggy Bottom.

Foggy Bottom always sounded more like a condition than a place. I think I was in Foggy Bottom after a Friday night binge in college....several times actually ....lol

[Infinity]

All I've gotta say about Blackout is that it was done very well, but needs to somehow be guided by someone. Also BEWARE: Very slow lines, plan on visiting Blackout first thing before crowds start shifting towards it.

[upstop]

All I've gotta say about Blackout is that it was done very well, but needs to somehow be guided by someone. Also BEWARE: Very slow lines, plan on visiting Blackout first thing before crowds start shifting towards it.

I bet the process adjusts over the next few weekends to speed things up....I'm actually looking forwards to going just for that attraction ....I'll probably wait for that one more than I would wait for the others.

[BoddaH1994]

TombRaiderFTW nailed it.

 

Great idea, horrible execution.

 

The idea is really neat.  The effects are really neat.  The people in the maze do a great job.  

 

The problem is when there are 50 people essentially waiting in line to get scared by an effect it simply doesn't work.  Groups need to be MUCH smaller - no more than about 6, and they need to be spaced out quite a bit more.  If this can't be done with the lines that they had or are going to have then they need to take into consideration that mazes like this simply aren't viable.

 

Regardless, hats off to them for trying something new.  If you haven't tried it yet then you need to give it a shot!

[The Interpreter]

If they take their hats off, they could enter them into the hat festival. But alas, the deadline has passed, and reports are the first round of judging was yesterday. The successful contestant will then be judged for a developmental four moons.

There will be an eclipse Sunday evening.

A shot? A bit early for full winter flu protection.

Terp, lunatic or cross threading?

[BoddaH1994]

If they take their hats off, they could enter them into the hat festival. But alas, the deadline has passed, and reports are the first round of judging was yesterday. The successful contestant will then be judged for a developmental four moons.

There will be an eclipse Sunday evening.

A shot? A bit early for full winter flu protection.

Terp, lunatic or cross threading?

Drinking and posting: it can wait.

[The Interpreter]

There is a fine line between brilliance and insanity.

And dawn beckons.

It's darkest before the dawn.

[Delirium2018]

I liked the concept and idea of it. Didn't like how slowwwwww the line moved. If the line were for Club Blood from where the line was for Blackout I could've gone through 3 times! If planning to go through Blackout tonight I strongly advise you go right when it opens. Or right before it closes at 1 am. Otherwise I suspect at most a three hour wait and I'm not exaggerating.

[The Interpreter]

I think you mean at LEAST a three hour wait?

[BoddaH1994]

I liked the concept and idea of it. Didn't like how slowwwwww the line moved. If the line were for Club Blood from where the line was for Blackout I could've gone through 3 times! If planning to go through Blackout tonight I strongly advise you go right when it opens. Or right before it closes at 1 am. Otherwise I suspect at most a three hour wait and I'm not exaggerating.

Which means they'll send larger groups through...

[TombRaiderFTW]

In retrospect, I almost wonder if Blackout would be better functioning as either a Fright Lane-only house or with a reservation system of some sort. You can't position scareactors so that their scares encourage people onward--it wouldn't be safe. Heck, at one point near the old Club Blood toilets, I ended up with a pretty solid wall of people on all sides of me. If someone fell down in that much people density, they could be trampled. They were already letting huge groups in at a time very frequently last night and the line was longer than the queue, so I don't think smaller groups are realistic to expect.

Perhaps it would be better served with a "tour guide" for each group. Someone who could help guide groups through the maze more quickly but whose existence could be explained via some story that intertwines with the house. It would make the experience more thematic and increase capacity to an extent.

[upstop]

Im in line right now and it is moving quickly. Line is long and crowd is massively huge!!! Im pretty impressed with the park decorations so far too! Hmmm maybe this year will finally impress me....so far I'm impressed.... not bad.....not bad at all!

[Magenta Lizard]

If you have personal space issues, Blackout can be pretty creepy (but not in a good way in my opinion). It wasn't as bad because I was with people I know so running into them wasn't as bad, but if it was entirely strangers it would be a bit of a nightmare feeling around in the dark and constantly running into people.

One of the only times of the night I was actually creeped out did happen in Blackout, but not by design. About a minute into the maze, a person ran into me from the front as she was backtracking through the maze and asked me if I worked there. I said I didn't and she apologized that she needed to get through because she "had a child throwing up, here." Which made going forward after she got past me feel a lot more dangerous...

[The Interpreter]

In a country where school administrators don't want kids playing tag due to "touching issues," total darkness with strangers in a park...

Oh, my.

[upstop]

Just got out.... it was a three out of five. So much potential for scares ... we were given a rope and all of us felt out way along the wall. I lead the group and got lost one time. It was disorienting and It would have been extra creepy totally alone, otherwise....it was ok. I wouldn't wait 1.5 hours for it next time. Add more props and feely stuff. Only saw/sensed one scareactor. I would do it again with a short line.

[Gordon Bombay]

Walked through it a few times. 

Couple of actors jumped out from corners, slightly startling me and they said variations of "boo," "what are you doing here," and "get out."

[upstop]

Also the groups were narrowed down to 6/7 people. The lines would move ok as long as the leader keeps the process going. There were times when the line outside dragged and other times the line sprinted.

[NoChickens]

  My review, and just my opinion, complete waste of time and space. 

[marlfox_21]

I've been busy. This is my 1st post this season. Blackout was enjoyable. It's a unique concept, primarily playing with your senses. But, sadly, it depends on a certain level of intelligence. Follow the walls...sounds simple enough, and is simple enough, unless of course it's not. The group ahead of me kept walking away from the intended path, getting confused, stopping, turning back and running into me, and One woman scratched me after turning herself into the wrong direction. They were a very annoying group of people. That is obviously not the parks fault. Not sure how to counter that One. While I'm talking on Haunt..kinda off topic, I had yet another odd experience at Slaughterhouse. It was late, and we were the only people in the line. An associate ran out "We have a situation!" he yelled. Next thing ya know the associate is arguing loudly with a guest..."you were grabbing my chainsaw" he yelled. We enter the maze, and truth be told, Slaughterhouse had the best and most energetic group in any maze. And yes, we had time to do them all. Anyways, we exited and I think I counted over 20 members of security with this group of people and passed 10 more on the way out of the maze area. Not sure what happened, but the associate screaming could not have helped the situation in any way possible. Enough said.

[The Interpreter]

^

And situations like that, and guests like those, are among the reasons I put most Boo Fests in the same category as waterparks.

For other people, not for me.

Oddly, I've been to many at Kings Island in my younger days, Camden's Spooktacular (which I still like), the ones at Kennywood and Dominion, and even to a north central Ohio haunted school attraction (now long gone).

Once 9/11 hit, my interest in such declined, at first slowly, then markedly.

As for Blackout, having lived in Atlanta and now DC, my street smarts tell me to use every ounce of strength I have to avoid situations like that. If I got scratched in such a setting, someone might get badly hurt.

[James78]

I've been busy. This is my 1st post this season. Blackout was enjoyable. It's a unique concept, primarily playing with your senses. But, sadly, it depends on a certain level of intelligence. Follow the walls...sounds simple enough, and is simple enough, unless of course it's not. The group ahead of me kept walking away from the intended path, getting confused, stopping, turning back and running into me, and One woman scratched me after turning herself into the wrong direction. They were a very annoying group of people. That is obviously not the parks fault. Not sure how to counter that One. While I'm talking on Haunt..kinda off topic, I had yet another odd experience at Slaughterhouse. It was late, and we were the only people in the line. An associate ran out "We have a situation!" he yelled. Next thing ya know the associate is arguing loudly with a guest..."you were grabbing my chainsaw" he yelled. We enter the maze, and truth be told, Slaughterhouse had the best and most energetic group in any maze. And yes, we had time to do them all. Anyways, we exited and I think I counted over 20 members of security with this group of people and passed 10 more on the way out of the maze area. Not sure what happened, but the associate screaming could not have helped the situation in any way possible. Enough said.

I must have come out of Slaughterhouse around the same time. The girl that was with them was yelling right in the Officer's face. I don't know what started it, but before I walked away he was put in cuffs, and the back of a Kings Island Police cruiser.

[KingsIsland1972]

Blackout will only get better with age!  Keep coming back each weekend to get drunk in the fright of what lurks in the shadows of your fears!  I'll keep you in the Dark with that!

[Delirium2018]

I should have posted this here first instead of the other thread. My bad, but anyway.

 

I was lucky enough to be able to make it to Haunt both Friday and Saturday night. Friday night Blackout's line reached to the peak of about an hour. I loved it! I thought it was very creepy, and the uncertainty of where you were going made it even more exciting. Now on Saturday night I went again luckily my friend and I had Fright Lane, but I asked the worker and they said the stand-by line reached to about 3 hours. I was completely doubtful on this, luckily I had other friends there who did not have Fright Lane and I told them to tell me when they enter the line and when they get to the very front. It turned out the line was actually about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The line itself was not too long. It's just the capacity and how long it took the visitors to get through the maze. It made the line move extremely slow. 

 

Also I did notice, that the scare actors inside, did not do much to scare you. They simply just guided you in the right direction. It kind of disappointed me, I was expecting some real good scaring in there.

[Magenta Lizard]

I went through Blackout again last night, and it was a lot better than the first time through. The ropes are helpful, and there were actual scareactors in the maze this time. The arrows seem to be replaced with much brighter ones, or they just weren't "charged" up the first time I went through.

The best change was that they were allowing more time in between groups, and with the ropes to keep groups together, we weren't piling up so much anymore.

[DiamondAceExpress]

I went last night. I got the tail end of the rope but mainly held onto my husband's shoulder. I'm a big scaredy cat. There was the occasional flashes of light and if I figured if I kept my eyes closed it would be a little less scary. If I had been at the front of the group I wouldn't know which way to go and would probably still be in there today.

[diamondhawk]

Do they alternate between which side of the wall you put your hand on? Last week it was the right side, this week it was the left side. Are they planning to randomly switch the side used?