My first Haunt experience

[timfsu2k]

Being a longtime Kings Island fan, I have always wanted to visit the park during Haunt.  Until this year I never had a chance.  We go at least once per year in the summer, but fall always is packed with other things we have to do.   Yesterday my wife, 14 year old daughter, and I drove up to see what it was all about. 

 

 

First off, we got to the gate at around 6:30 and I thought we were in for a bad night.  The line just to get through bag check was insanely long.  Nearly out into the premium parking area.  It seems like there could be a more efficient way to get the guests through the security checkpoint, but I am no crowd management expert.  

 

Once we got into the park we headed to Picnic Grove for the buffet.  The food was pretty good and we liked that they had self serve fountain drinks.  There weren't too many people there and the employees were courteous and kept the food bins full.  The only negative to this part of our visit was the lighting.  We literally could not see some of the food in the serving area due to lack of lights.  We had to ask what the macaroni was!  Also, the restroom area is woefully dark.  My wife came back from the women's room saying that she felt a little bit unsafe due to how dark it was.   On to the actual park!

 

We hit Adventure Express first as that is our KI tradition.  Short wait as usual and also as usual AE did not disappoint.  Love riding that night in the rear train.  Next up was our first maze, Kill Mart.  We loved the atmosphere and decorations inside the maze.  The separate little departments were awesome.  The actors were really good as well, eliciting several shrieks from my wife and daughter!!  

 

Sorority House was next.  Another nice maze in our opinion.  I was a bit surprised at the fact that the first actress actually ran her fingers through my beard and my hair!  Again, nice setting and the actresses all did a good job. 

 

Corn Stalkers really made my daughter nervous walking up to it.  She is terrified of corn mazes!  Very short wait for this one.  It was really too dark to see the props, but it is a corn maze so probably weren't that many to begin with.  The big guy dressed up like basically a corn stalk himself REALLY freaked out my wife!  Great job with that one!  Also, I watched an awesome scene unfold with the actor at the very end of the maze.  A woman came out carrying her small daughter, maybe 4 years old.  A bit too young for this I would think, but I digress.  The young girl was terrified of the actor, and he immediately saw her discomfort.  He quickly took off his hat and smiled at her and showed her that the wounds on his face was simply makeup.  She reached out and touched his face and calmed down quickly.  He gave her a nice smile and went back to his post.  I was really impressed by this.  

 

 

We rode a couple more regular ride, Backlot Stunt Coaster and Shake, Rattle, and Roll before heading off to Tombstone Terror-Tory.  I must admit that the very long walk for this maze seemed to take some of the wind out of our sails.  The maze itself was okay.  The actors put on a good show and did provide some good screams.  Just seemed a bit lacking after our first two mazes.  

 

 

Slaughterhouse was our next destination, but unfortunately we did not get to go through.  Right outside of the queue, my wife had a small episode and passed out.  Within seconds there were three park employees by her side checking on her.  They called for someone to come take her to the first aid station, but she insisted that she was okay and we walked there ourselves.  The ladies in the station were very nice and provided some items to help her clean up.  Great job by the park employees in helping her all around.  Thankfully this was not a major incident, she has issues with low blood pressure and sometimes "bottoms out" for no reason, usually ending up on the ground.   

 

 

After my wife felt better we hit Board to Death for our last maze.  It was very cool and the actors did a great job.  The decorations and settings were all amazing!  I also wanted to note that the actors running around the scare zones were very cool as well.  One guy had some sort of mechanism that produced a "clicking" sound that seemed to come from his mouth.  This guy terrified my wife and actually ran into her a couple of times!  The last time she hid behind me but when she saw he wasn't going to leave here alone she ran away yelling "OH NO OH NO OH NO!!"  Priceless.  

 

 

On the way out, my daughter and I rode Delirium with no wait at all.  First time riding at night and it was awesome.  Loved how you felt like you were going to crash into Banshee.  

 

 

Did not get to ride Diamondback or Banshee due to line length.  

 

 

We were very glad that we decided to hit Haunt this year for the first time.  Had a wonderful trip.  And as tradition, we hit the IHOP in Florence on our way home!  

 

Thanks to anyone still reading, I know it was long but wanted to get this all down before I forgot anything!

 

 

Can't wait for spring.