Haunt Mazes & Skeleton Key Rooms 2016

[hauntgoer2016]

I'm going to Kings Island on Saturday to attend Haunt for the first time! I am extremely excited to visit what seems to be a great haunt event. I went to Kings Island in August of 2014 during the regular operating season. I was able to ride all the coasters and get a good idea of what the park is like (awesome!!). I wish I was able to come more often, but I life about 6 hours away from the park.   The main draw for me to return is the haunted mazes.  However, aside from the haunt website and a few posts scattered on the KICentral forums, I was unable to find any information on the mazes, and more specifically, the skeleton key rooms found within five of the mazes as well as the standalone room. Is anyone willing to share some of their maze experiences, as well as give me their overall impressions of each maze and the scare factor of each one? How long are the waits for mazes on Saturdays at haunt? Also, can anyone share some information on skeleton key rooms as of the first week of haunt this year (or previous years)? I'm fine with spoilers if it's allowed. I don't want to set my expectations too high/low for Saturday!! THANK YOU  

note: I understand that skeleton key rooms are add ons to fright lane, and I plan on purchasing fright lane on Saturday.

[Gabe]

Searching the forum for Haunt will bring up posts from previous years describing the haunts.  The vast majority of haunts return from year to year, with the addition/subtraction of a couple every year.  Saturdays are usually very busy for Haunt, so Fright Lane is a good bet.  Note that Fright Lane is only for the mazes; if you want to bypass the ride lines, you'll also need to purchase Fast Lane/FL +. 

[Magenta Lizard]

The new standalone Skeleton Key room, The Viewing, in the KI Theater, is apparently an escape room. I would love to try it, but unfortunately it isn't in my budget this year (btw, a $5-$10 ala carte upcharge per Skeleton Key room would be wonderful, although an escape room would probably be worth more than the others I have tried).

The Skeleton Key rooms are a lot of fun, and offer a more intimate interaction between the participant and the performers. The experiences are a little short (2-3 minutes maybe), but I quite liked the ones I've done.

As for scariness, I'm probably not the one to ask because I don't find any of them actually frightening. I probably average about one "startle" response per visit to Haunt, and it's usually the sliders in Rivertown. I've spent a lot of time walking around alone at Haunt, and I've probably inadvertently frightened more people than I've felt the slightest creeped out myself. My favorites, though, are Madame Fatale's and Slaughterhouse. It is always fun to just hang around the gate areas at opening to see the costumes and makeup, and the scareactors "doing their thing," too*.

*edit: actually, since you're going on a Saturday, not Friday, I'm not certain they do this. I've never done a Haunt Saturday so I'm not certain how they handle the changeover to Haunt.

[Tanna]

Saturday change outs are pretty cool, except for parents with their kids rushing towards the gate. The fog starts up, and the monsters start shambling out.

To be at the gate when the Wall of Monsters arrives is cool- I took a lot of pictures of them before they departed to their work stations.

[BoddaH1994]

The new standalone Skeleton Key room, The Viewing, in the KI Theater, is apparently an escape room. I would love to try it, but unfortunately it isn't in my budget this year (btw, a $5-$10 ala carte upcharge per Skeleton Key room would be wonderful, although an escape room would probably be worth more than the others I have tried).

The Skeleton Key rooms are a lot of fun, and offer a more intimate interaction between the participant and the performers. The experiences are a little short (2-3 minutes maybe), but I quite liked the ones I've done.

As for scariness, I'm probably not the one to ask because I don't find any of them actually frightening. I probably average about one "startle" response per visit to Haunt, and it's usually the sliders in Rivertown. I've spent a lot of time walking around alone at Haunt, and I've probably inadvertently frightened more people than I've felt the slightest creeped out myself. My favorites, though, are Madame Fatale's and Slaughterhouse. It is always fun to just hang around the gate areas at opening to see the costumes and makeup, and the scareactors "doing their thing," too*.

*edit: actually, since you're going on a Saturday, not Friday, I'm not certain they do this. I've never done a Haunt Saturday so I'm not certain how they handle the changeover to Haunt.

You can do an escape room for ~$90 at Haunt thrown together by the same people who brought you CornStalkers, or you can follow the link below and do a professionaly designed escape room for as low as $23.

http://www.escapetheroomchallenge.com

The choice is yours.

[pkifreak23]

THIS DOES HAVE SPOILERS
I went on opening night and i can at least tell you about the mazes I went through  I will say i can't afford Fright Lane so I dont know anything about the skeleton key rooms. 

The first maze i went through was Carnevil. This maze isn't scary in my opinion unless you are afraid of clowns. This is a more fun relaxed maze. There is a small mirrored part in the beginning and lots of fun patterns and bright colored rooms. It's obviously just a carnival/circus theme. The end is really fun though because it has a neon tunnel you walk through that spins. 

Next is Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror. This supposed to be a wax museum gone wrong plus oddities and such. This was a cool maze when it started out but it doesn't have enough people in it. There are some cool effects and soundtracks in this maze. This one is darker and actually still has some theme to it still. It starts out like a normal museum setting and then you kinda go and see what really happens to create the museum. 

Next is Slaughter House: This one is really cool theme/ decor wise. This one always scares me at least once. I love the people who are assigned to this house they are always really into character and it just makes it a nicer experience. this is probably my second favorite maze. 

Next is Urgent Scare: This one is a virus broke out and the hospital is full of infected victims. this one starts out decent theme wise but at the end its just kinda like what? This one isn't really scary to me but someone did get me at the end right outside of the maze because i thought it was over. 
Next is Field of Screams: This one is new this year so they always have a longer line then the rest. I Really liked the theme they did on the outside of the maze. the entrance is a worn down red barn and to the left it looks like they have a worn down old country home. then after you get through the little barn entrance its most cornstalks everywhere and some parts with hay. there were a couple parts where it was dark and they got some got scares in. Some people were hidden pretty well. I liked it but since it was mostly just cornstalks everywhere it was plain. I thought it was good for a new maze. 

Last is Blackout: This is my favorite maze here. The soundtrack they have in the maze really plays to your senses especially its pitch black except for a random strobe going off every little bit. although when i went through the idiot didn't listen and wasn't feeling the wall to get through the maze and ruined the whole experience because we kept running into each other and walls. Sorry. SO basically they give each group that goes in a rope to hold on to so they dont get lost. then they tell you to take your other hand and feel the wall until you get to the end of the maze to help you get out. Its pitch black except for strobe lights flashing every 20 seconds i'd say. just enough to realize there is a scare actor right next to you or a huge creepy statue in the middle of the room. Then there are things all over the wall to trying throw you off too. fake bugs, masks, fur, and other weird textures. this one plays with your senses and its cool. the line is a little bit longer for this one too. 
those are all the mazes i did last week. but i have gone through the other ones before and i can tell you what i remember about them from last year. 
Wolf pack: I haven't been in this one for years, but from what I remember a troop of boy or girl scouts got attacked by wolves and you are trying to escape the woods without being attacked too. I remember the maze being dark so that was for some good scares. I always got scared at least once. I remember it also being cramped in the maze. There used to also be a big wolf statue at the very end that made a loud noise at you and that is why I haven't been through it because I have sensitive ears. 

Backwoods Bayou: I can tell you what they had in the previous years that it was a scare zone. There were a lot of statues of huge creatures like spiders, alligators, snake and such. There was always at least one person with a live creature on them either snake or spider. Its like a swamp theme and has lots of ivy and such. I'm not sure what the maze is like but i did peak in before Haunt opened for the season when they were decorating and it looked like it was very similar build wise just now in a maze form. I'm not sure how scary it is or if there are any decent scares in it. 
Sorority House: This is basically a bunch of college girls who want to kill you in a house setting. I was never really a fan of this one but it does have a decent decor set up. I never really got scared in this one.

Board to Death: This one is all of your favorite childhood board games with an evil twist. I think this is another fun maze and isn't too scary. its usually understaffed too. But I do love the theme of this maze and figuring out all the different games. 

Last is KillMart: It's theme is a department store overrun by zombies. The theme is really awesome on this one but its usually understaffed and there aren't a lot of good scared in this one, at least last year. Still I think its worth going though.
As for the rest of the park, there are some new decor things that are really cool and the sliders are really into character this year and its awesome. I hope this helps and you enjoy your visit!!