Halloween Haunt 2022

[KIghostguy]

I got the chance to visit Haunt this past weekend for my first time this year. 

Pros:

• Hotel St. Michelle had great set design and the actors were all very enthusiastic. I was impressed! Some really great scares in here.
• Lots of sliders out and about on the midways. I definitely jumped a couple times!
• Slaughterhouse, Madame Fatale's, and KillMart were "the usual"--that is, all really good.
• Cornered is much improved in its new location over last year. Still nowhere near as good as Field of Screams, but definitely an improvement over when it was in Tower Gardens.
• Night rides! Everything was running really well this weekend, particularly on Sunday night. I had my best ride ever on Orion.
• Wasn't able to catch the full lightshow, but from what I saw it looked great.

Cons:

• CHAOS was really good its first year, but I think the past two years it's been the weakest maze by far. The mirrors are all smudged now and the path is obvious, which really weakens that final act.
• The loss of Blackout and Wolf Pack without replacements is not good...I understand staffing is an issue, but it's hard for me to fathom that we went from 9 mazes in 2019 to almost half of that with 5 in 2021. I'm really glad that Kings Island replaced Urgent Scare this year, though!
• The dance party in Coney Maul has got to be a new low for this event. I'm sorry, but there is nothing scary or creepy or eerie about the Cupid Shuffle--unless you have traumatic wedding and/or school dance memories. It doesn't fit Haunt at all.
• Less decor than in years past. For instance, anyone remember the severed heads in the giant pumpkin in Pumpkin Eater's old location? What they had out this year looked really good, I just wish there was more like in the past.
• Lack of fog has already been pointed out and discussed on here many times.

Overall, I felt that Haunt just didn't have that immersive Halloween spirit that it had in years past. There's still some fun to be had--you can't ever go wrong with The Beast at night!--but I was disappointed. The Coney Maul dance party in particular just totally kills the mood and atmosphere. Cedar Point really elevated HalloWeekends this year, and while I felt that Kings Island had a much better event in 2021, I don't think Kings Island's Haunt touches Cedar Point's this year. 

[MDMC01]

Good stuff (I too love Slaughterhouse and thought Killmart is good this year), but let's agree to disagree on the dance party! While it may seem out of place on paper (doesn't match Haunt's "scary" atmosphere) I think it's cool and something different! Looking forward to spending more time on the dance floor tomorrow night.

EDIT: I would also (partially) agree on CHAOS... it had a very strong theme its first year (as a sleep experiment gone wrong!), but it's kinda devolved into a "Sci-fi/aliens" theme this year (however, apparently there is some semblance of the original theme as one of the scareactors's lines said "ready to sleep?" when he popped out Sunday). That being said, I still enjoy Chaos for the cool sci-fi theme it does have (even if that goes by the wayside the deeper you get into the maze...).

[robintodd]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:25 AM, BoddaH1994 said:

@robintodd I did see it without the screens. I think they were having issues again. While I do prefer having the screens, I think this is proof that the show can handle its own. 

Had another thought about NyteWalkers.  This is driven by the main demon and her screams. 

I think if they bring it back next year they should call the show "Night of the Banshee". A guy and his girlfriend are in line for the ride/walking through the park, etc.. and he keeps talking about how much he loves it.  She quips something like "I think you love Banshee more than you love me" he says "That may be true" or something like that and cut to a hard blackout and thunder/lightning and the ghouls come out and the show almost runs the same way it does now.  He has released the Banshee, who can be released from her curse with one kiss.

You could even use the Banshee scream from the ride for her screams at the end.  Just think it would be great to tie it to a KI IP and make it unique to the park.  The tricks resemble cars on a coaster and would (in my opinion) be a fantastic tie in.

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, robintodd said:

Had another thought about NyteWalkers.  This is driven by the main demon and her screams. 

I think if they bring it back next year they should call the show "Night of the Banshee". A guy and his girlfriend are in line for the ride/walking through the park, etc.. and he keeps talking about how much he loves it.  She quips something like "I think you love Banshee more than you love me" he says "That may be true" or something like that and cut to a hard blackout and thunder/lightning and the ghouls come out and the show almost runs the same way it does now.  He has released the Banshee, who can be released from her curse with one kiss.

You could even use the Banshee scream from the ride for her screams at the end.  Just think it would be great to tie it to a KI IP and make it unique to the park.  The tricks resemble cars on a coaster and would (in my opinion) be a fantastic tie in.

That's  a really great idea!  Being the fan of Phantom Theater: Encore, I would like to see that premise, but instead of Banshee, Hilda is the object of his love. 

 

 

[BoddaH1994]

6 hours ago, robintodd said:

Had another thought about NyteWalkers.  This is driven by the main demon and her screams. 

I think if they bring it back next year they should call the show "Night of the Banshee". A guy and his girlfriend are in line for the ride/walking through the park, etc.. and he keeps talking about how much he loves it.  She quips something like "I think you love Banshee more than you love me" he says "That may be true" or something like that and cut to a hard blackout and thunder/lightning and the ghouls come out and the show almost runs the same way it does now.  He has released the Banshee, who can be released from her curse with one kiss.

You could even use the Banshee scream from the ride for her screams at the end.  Just think it would be great to tie it to a KI IP and make it unique to the park.  The tricks resemble cars on a coaster and would (in my opinion) be a fantastic tie in.

Love it! They could even make it a frame story where he and/or she imagines the Banshee coming to life, only to come to their senses at the end.

[robintodd]

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Love it! They could even make it a frame story where he and/or she imagines the Banshee coming to life, only to come to their senses at the end.

I can see the t-shirts and posters now (which would be a must for those who love to show to purchase and have signed!!).  And after a year or two run we can have a male lead in the show for "Night of The Beast"  

[Taylor.B03]

A few questions for any sliders here on the forum.

(If you know) What metal is used to make the sparks? I was thinking flint or iron

Does the metal get hot after awhile?

Who do you primarily go for? (If you're allowed to say)

Is there any lore?

[silver2005]

All 3 RT coaster crews are in YOLO mode and they're doing really strange things line barely filling trains or sending lots of empty rows on trains.

[silver2005]

Apologies for double posting, but some observations from my visit last night-

- Haunt didn't really feel like Haunt.  The elements were all there, they just didn't blend very well for the typical kind of atmosphere that Haunt usually provides, the lazy music selection was the big factor, it felt like a typical night at the park that just happened to have Haunt elements present, lights also randomly shut off and came back on all through the park

- Area 72 is way too cluttered with the Haunt decorations with the amount of foot traffic it gets with a maze and 2 popular coasters all back there

- Ride crews need work, particularly in RT.  Not good at filling trains efficiently (even going by a low bar here) and some handicap group came in and filled an entire DB cycle which is highly sus, DB had a VERY weird crew last night, MT was weird with the way they used (or didn't use) the FL line

A good night, but some weird operations going on. 

[MDMC01]

Speaking of last night, I had a great time! It was good to catch up with you @silver2005; glad you are feeling better (also, we must have visited Diamondback on two separate occasions as they were hauling when my friend and I rode)! My first run through of Slaughter House (a few minutes after open) was amazing... EVERYONE was on their A-game and it was probably one of the scariest visits ever (and SH doesn't usually scare me)! That being said, I still love Slaughter House; what a great crew! Also did Xtreme Skyflier for the first time at night. While it wasn't much different than during the day, it was a lot colder due to the speed my friend and I were going. I also enjoyed saying hey to people I knew working at the park. I got the full Coney Maul dance party experience and it was epic! Of course I breakdanced... "Funhouse" by P!nk was a perfect song for that area... that section of the park really is "filled with evil clowns" lol. Speaking of scarezones, I once again loved the green face paint of the hooded aliens in Alien X! I think my favorite mazes overall thus far are still Slaughter House (for the people) and Chaos (for the theme). And speaking of mazes, this week I realized that perhaps the walk down stairs to get to the main level of Madame Fatale's is intentional as it reminds me of the walk to exhibits like the cave at the museum (or at least, how it used to be; I haven't been since they re-did Union Terminal). If so, this is genius!

EDIT since I didn't see a specific thread dedicated to NyteWalkers...: Saw the 10:30 show last night and I was not a fan. The talent was great, but there was barely a storyline. Also, how does Doja Cat's song "Vegas" have to do with Halloween? Maybe that had to do with the story because...

Spoiler

I know the girl broke up with the guy towards the end. I mean, I get the inclusions of "Enter Sandman" and "Good for You" for the creepiness/evilness, but "Vegas"? Really?

On the other hand, my friend loved it precisely because there was no story to follow.

EDIT2: The only other maze I did last night was Chaos, and that was interesting. Oddly enough, one of the places I got scared was in the same place I did Sunday lol Also, we had a bit of a logjam towards the end of the mirror maze, so I started dancing along to the music with all the strobe lights going!

[Snowball]

On 10/14/2022 at 7:47 PM, Taylor.B03 said:

A few questions for any sliders here on the forum.

(If you know) What metal is used to make the sparks? I was thinking flint or iron

Does the metal get hot after awhile?

Who do you primarily go for? (If you're allowed to say)

Is there any lore?

Slider here!

The metal is Ferrocerium, there’s small cylinders/rods of it embedded into a plastic/rubber piece, which is attached to my glove with epoxy.

The metal on my boots and fingers can certainly get warm if I do a long slide. The worst is when the sparks burn my glove, at one point tonight my glove was smoking after I made a ton of sparks haha.

I mainly go for anyone who looks spooked, and people who aren’t paying attention.

No lore that I’m aware of.

[robintodd]

On 10/9/2022 at 11:25 AM, BoddaH1994 said:

@robintodd I did see it without the screens. I think they were having issues again. While I do prefer having the screens, I think this is proof that the show can handle its own. 

Saw Nyte again last night with screens and I'll give you there is some validity to it.  The two things I would change is the flashing abstract section suring "Ghost Town" (love that song, it fits the action so well).  Would probably rather see some kind of POV running through woods/etc.  Or if we are going to go by the Night of the Banshee theme a POV of Banshee   

The second is, once again, the curtain call with the bald guy and 14-pac devil.  Once I realized this was actually during the curtain call where each performer does their bow it bothers me even more.  People I talked to also were confused by what the video had to do with the story (which it doesn't) and had no idea it was the curtain call for the show.   Here is where I think the screen should show each performer's name and hometown.  Since they each do a certain amount of counts it may even be possible to time the video with the music.  Otherwise they could have the tech switch the screen appropriately for each performer.

All in all still a fantastic show and one I hope to see a couple more times before the season is over.

[BoddaH1994]

3 hours ago, robintodd said:

Saw Nyte again last night with screens and I'll give you there is some validity to it.  The two things I would change is the flashing abstract section suring "Ghost Town" (love that song, it fits the action so well).  Would probably rather see some kind of POV running through woods/etc.  Or if we are going to go by the Night of the Banshee theme a POV of Banshee   

The second is, once again, the curtain call with the bald guy and 14-pac devil.  Once I realized this was actually during the curtain call where each performer does their bow it bothers me even more.  People I talked to also were confused by what the video had to do with the story (which it doesn't) and had no idea it was the curtain call for the show.   Here is where I think the screen should show each performer's name and hometown.  Since they each do a certain amount of counts it may even be possible to time the video with the music.  Otherwise they could have the tech switch the screen appropriately for each performer.

All in all still a fantastic show and one I hope to see a couple more times before the season is over.

During the Ghost Town section I’ve totally had the thought, “oh, so this is what a stroke feels like.” I’m not sure if I’d change it, but I can totally see why it bother people. 
 

This is the way I interpret the story:

Cheerleader and Man Bun (along with a tourist?) are accosted by zombies.

Banshee lady tries to seduce Man Bun

Man Bun does his slack line to impress Banshee lady

Cheerleader dresses like Sandy from Grease as an allegory for anger and depression

Man Bun decides to go with Cheerleader instead 

Banshee lady screams in range

Everyone walks away sadder but wiser

No one ever sees the tourist guy again

 

[jimlaheyscar]

You're Too Old to Trick or Treat is really good. I don't recall seeing much talk about this. The cast is great. 

[robintodd]

On 10/16/2022 at 12:03 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

During the Ghost Town section I’ve totally had the thought, “oh, so this is what a stroke feels like.” I’m not sure if I’d change it, but I can totally see why it bother people. 
 

This is the way I interpret the story:

Cheerleader and Man Bun (along with a tourist?) are accosted by zombies.

Banshee lady tries to seduce Man Bun

Man Bun does his slack line to impress Banshee lady

Cheerleader dresses like Sandy from Grease as an allegory for anger and depression

Man Bun decides to go with Cheerleader instead 

Banshee lady screams in range

Everyone walks away sadder but wiser

No one ever sees the tourist guy again

 

Exactly !  

 

11 hours ago, jimlaheyscar said:

You're Too Old to Trick or Treat is really good. I don't recall seeing much talk about this. The cast is great. 

I keep forgetting it's over there.  I'll make sure to catch it next weekend but yes it is a gem.

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

On 10/16/2022 at 12:03 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

During the Ghost Town section I’ve totally had the thought, “oh, so this is what a stroke feels like.” I’m not sure if I’d change it, but I can totally see why it bother people. 
 

This is the way I interpret the story:

Cheerleader and Man Bun (along with a tourist?) are accosted by zombies.

Banshee lady tries to seduce Man Bun

Man Bun does his slack line to impress Banshee lady

Cheerleader dresses like Sandy from Grease as an allegory for anger and depression

Man Bun decides to go with Cheerleader instead 

Banshee lady screams in range

Everyone walks away sadder but wiser

No one ever sees the tourist guy again

 

I think that this woman is a Necromancer

[MDMC01]

Haunt was fun tonight! I started with Madame's as I had never done that first before and I pretty much went through by myself. It was dark and I had trouble figuring out where to go at times. Though there didn't seem to be many people, I did get a few scares. I always love Slaughter House and enjoyed going through twice.  I also went through Chaos (I love the theme/scenery - it would be so cool to be able to take my time and absorb all the cool sci-fi theming, but with the maze running as it normally would (as in, not lights on)) and Killmart. Saw Terror Rising and it was not good. I left halfway through the show as it was getting risque for me (I liked the guitar guy, though! ). I think the real strength of Haunt this year are the mazes and scareactors as I was not a fan of both of the new shows this year. Also rode WindSeeker, and it was cold.

[DoomPlague]

Was there tonight (10/23/22) and had a good day thanks to the free FLP given with early renewals. I did Hotel St. Michelle (my only maze this year). The exterior obviously looks pretty cheap and they clearly use the "maintenance entrance" labelling to try to excuse that. But the scenery inside, for the most part, works pretty well.

Still disappointed in the overall lack of fog in the park during haunt.

Also had the best ride I've had on The Beast all season. Just felt faster than it had earlier during the daytime. We were in row 13 which was shakier than I expected but that just gave it more bite.

Tried the Notorious P.I.G. (I wonder if the staff calls it the Piggie Smalls) from Potato Works. It was decent.

It was my first time using Fast Lane anywhere. It feels weird (ie: guilt) walking by people waiting in the standby line, especially when riding multiple times in a row. I do feel like they need a better solution for FoF's Fast Lane setup too. And I don't get why they haven't created a fastlane path for The Beast next to the Slaughterhouse path instead of creating traffic jams in the exit, though the current setup is at least nice for re-rides.

[MDMC01]

Went to Haunt last night and had a great time! It was super crowded, but I did all the mazes (Slaughter House and Chaos are still my favorites!) and rode The Bat. Also saw the "You're too old to trick or treat" game show and was disappointed as it was so short. As I've said before, I've not been impressed with the new Haunt shows this year (though I do love the addition of the DJ in Coney Maul!). That being said, I still love the event itself as I enjoy interacting with the Scareactors and going through the mazes. Started with Hotel St. Michelle (which was really scary as I was the first one in and also it was dark in there!) and ended the night with back-to-back trips through Slaughter House!  

[brenthodge]

Well it kind of limped to a close tonight with no outdoor shows, no one in any scare zone and no fountain. Guess I have no real way of truly evaluating Haunt 2022 other than from my actual experience. So based on that-it sucked. I totally get that Rain screwed it all up, but people always say “don’t form you opinion without actually going” unfortunately tonight was the only night I could go, so it was what it was-a very lackluster event that is majorly affected by weather.   Oh, and food ops were a mess all 3 places I went with the staff more involved with taking down fall decor (why is that their job and why are you pulling it down at 6:30?) than taking orders-weird! Ride lines were great though so there is that. 

[MDMC01]

8 hours ago, brenthodge said:

Well it kind of limped to a close tonight with no outdoor shows, no one in any scare zone and no fountain. Guess I have no real way of truly evaluating Haunt 2022 other than from my actual experience. So based on that-it sucked. Rain screwed it all up, but people always say “don’t form you opinion without actually going” unfortunately tonight was the only night I could go, so it was what it was-a very lackluster event that shouldn’t have even happened tonight if weather affected everything that much.  Oh, and food ops were a mess all 3 places I went with the staff more involved with taking down fall decor (why is that their job and why are you pulling it down at 6:30?) than taking orders-weird! 

Were you able to go through any of the mazes?

[brenthodge]

I personally don’t care for the mazes. I go for the overall, park-wide experience. That’s where I feel like events like this can, and should be different than other offerings out there. I can go to individual indoor haunted mazes other places. The ability parks like KI have to build extended “worlds” beyond those is what I enjoy. Again, I can only evaluate the product I experienced, and I understand weather constraints, but the event is marketed as an immersive event. That’s what I was reviewing. If a light rain impacts their ability to deliver on that, then it illustrates the need to develop better outdoor venues to deliver on that. I have season pass, so outside of gas it was no loss to my wallet, but if I had been paying (as I ran into a few friends who did) I would’ve been disappointed I paid full price when the diminished experience wasn’t disclosed at the gate or on the ap. No love loss, just wish I had a better opportunity to review the overall intended experience. 

[robintodd]

Went to Haunt about 8 time and it was great.  Once again the shows department hit it out of the park with Nightwalkers (even though iI still think t should have been called Night of the Banshee but I spoke to that in a different post ).  The extra food offerings were exceptional especially the cabbage rolls!  Kudos to the culinary team for pulling off the extended menu and I'm looking forward to the special offerings for Winterfest.

Got a lot of good scares in the mazes (Hotel St. Michelle is a great addition) and the scareactors did a great job.  

Couple of my thoughts.  I much preferred Pumpkin Eater where it was last year in the back of the park.  Where it was in Action Zone it was easy to miss the experience unless you moved to the left when entering, which you would have only done to eat a chicken shack, ride Invertigo or find cornstalkers.  Those going to Banshee, bat the ice cream most likely missed the heart of the experience.  

I would love to have a cornstalkers in white water canyon the way it is at CP.  Wife and I went to CP the last weekend (like we have for the past 20 years) and cornstakers 2.0 was amazing (It's done in Thunder Canyon).  It is a very intense maze, single file in some sections.  It's truly hard to see where and when they are going to jump at you.

Actually went to the final night of haunt after getting back from CP.  (Rode front seat of Millennium Force at 11am Sunday and front seat of Beast at 9pm  )  Fog last night was off the chain with the weather.  Also even though the outdoor attractions were closed they move the scareactors from those mazes to the indoor ones making them more intense!  My biggest disappointment was the weather did keep Nightwalkers from performing (was wanting to see the last show like I did Phantom and FF50).  Not sure what was up with the fountains but had they been on I would have stayed for the last closing ceremony.

Overall with the staffing challenges I found Haunt to be enjoyable.  Great shows, food and employee interactions.  Kudo's to all who work the event your efforts are truly appreciated.  Here's looking forward to Winterfest and closing out what has been by far the best season I have ever experience at my home park!!!

[MDMC01]

39 minutes ago, robintodd said:

I would love to have a cornstalkers in white water canyon the way it is at CP.  Wife and I went to CP the last weekend (like we have for the past 20 years) and cornstakers 2.0 was amazing (It's done in Thunder Canyon).  It is a very intense maze, single file in some sections.  It's truly hard to see where and when they are going to jump at you.

That would be really cool. I feel like Cornered was meh opening night, but got better and better as the season went on. I appreciated that some hid in the corn Saturday night, which reminded me of Field of Screams. Also, the fog was heavy at times, so that was great. Though I prefer Field, Cornered was good in its own way. 

[KIfan73]

[MDMC01]

That's really cool; thanks for sharing! Though I never rode the original ride (I was too scared...), I did catch some references to props used in mazes (boiler in Slaughterhouse, Sarcophagus in Madame's) as well as the show that was in the (Kings Island) Theater over the summer. That is really cool concept art; didn't realize how much detail was put into the queue line and exit as well as why that random curtain (that Maestro opens) was still there some time after PT had left the building (and/or maybe there was a curtain to the left when entering the loading platform too, I'm not sure; I will have to check that out during Winterfest)- I think that was the area that acted as the on-ride photo for Scooby Doo and possibly early Boo Blasters.

[brenthodge]

2 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

That's really cool; thanks for sharing! Though I never rode the original ride (I was too scared...), I did catch some references to props used in mazes (boiler in Slaughterhouse, Sarcophagus in Madame's) as well as the show that was in the (Kings Island) Theater over the summer. That is really cool concept art; didn't realize how much detail was put into the queue line and exit as well as why that random curtain (that Maestro opens) was still there some time after PT had left the building (and/or maybe there was a curtain to the left when entering the loading platform too, I'm not sure; I will have to check that out during Winterfest)- I think that was the area that acted as the on-ride photo for Scooby Doo and possibly early Boo Blasters.

Not all of that detail from the concept art made it into the final project. It was definitely a bit more bare bones than the concept art makes it look. 

[brenthodge]

13 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

That's really cool; thanks for sharing! Though I never rode the original ride (I was too scared...), I did catch some references to props used in mazes (boiler in Slaughterhouse, Sarcophagus in Madame's) as well as the show that was in the (Kings Island) Theater over the summer. That is really cool concept art; didn't realize how much detail was put into the queue line and exit as well as why that random curtain (that Maestro opens) was still there some time after PT had left the building (and/or maybe there was a curtain to the left when entering the loading platform too, I'm not sure; I will have to check that out during Winterfest)- I think that was the area that acted as the on-ride photo for Scooby Doo and possibly early Boo Blasters.

The curtain in the load area is not the red curtain in the concept art. That actually never made it into the finished attraction. The black panel to the right when you enter the load area is there to block sight lines into the actual ride. Feels like it was maybe an error that was caught during test/adjust and that was the solution. It’s not really needed now as nothing you could see from that spot would spoil the ride. If it wasn’t there you’d be able to see where the phantom with the curtain was from load. 

[MDMC01]

1 hour ago, brenthodge said:

The curtain in the load area is not the red curtain in the concept art. That actually never made it into the finished attraction. The black panel to the right when you enter the load area is there to block sight lines into the actual ride. Feels like it was maybe an error that was caught during test/adjust and that was the solution. It’s not really needed now as nothing you could see from that spot would spoil the ride. If it wasn’t there you’d be able to see where the phantom with the curtain was from load. 

(Re: info in bold) Good to know!
And never knew that the red curtain from the concept are was not present in the final ride.

[David Ellis]

Well, I'm familiar to Halloween Haunt at Kings Island......definitely like this kind of nighttime Fall event.....really fun but that event doesn't bother me at all....thank goodness that the scare actors weren't going to scare me or doing anything crazy.....  I can enjoy the rides during HAUNT which is what I like best.