Haunt - Tricks & Treats Reviews 2023

[Ymous19]

If y’all have any legitimate complaints, PLEASE send them to Cedar Fair corporate. KI has absolutely been kneecapped by budget cuts. Every single issue goes back to the cuts. It’s horrible. I say this as an employee who is a scare actor.

[Benjamin22]

The clientele that this event attracts is so trashy. The amount of homophobia and sexism I witnessed tonight made me feel like I was living back in the 50s. I saw at least 4 groups of women getting cat called and harassed, mostly by younger & teenage males. Not to mention as I was driving away from the park some crazy chick tried to road rage on me. I think there’s two solutions here, either rise the prices to help keep these types of clients out of the park or just stop haunt all together. Horrible horrible experience today.

[Timchat2]

We were waiting for KillMart when it hit midnight when a supervisor associate announced to the line that the park was closed and no more groups would be admitted. Have the houses always closed exactly at midnight? We assumed they would have closed the queue early if getting the house clear by park closing was the priority.

[WoodVengeance]

1 hour ago, Benjamin22 said:

The clientele that this event attracts is so trashy. The amount of homophobia and sexism I witnessed tonight made me feel like I was living back in the 50s. I saw at least 4 groups of women getting cat called and harassed, mostly by younger & teenage males. Not to mention as I was driving away from the park some crazy chick tried to road rage on me. I think there’s two solutions here, either rise the prices to help keep these types of clients out of the park or just stop haunt all together. Horrible horrible experience today.

That's more-so an issue with Kings Island in general, not just Haunt. I can't even begin to describe the amount of sexism, racism and other derogatory behavior that I've seen teenagers take part in at Kings Island, and apparently it's still an issue even after the chaperone policy has been in-effect.

[brenthodge]

7 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I think this is why I think they should relocate all scareactors to mazes/scare zones. With the number of monsters you take off the pathways, you could open up one or two more mazes or scare zones. In my opinion this would fix some issues with the event. I understand people miss being scared and having things be more adult oriented but with the way things appear to be heading with chaperone policies and more parents bringing their little ones, I think opening up more haunts at the expense of relocating scareactors would be a fair compromise for people who still go for the Haunt element.

I’m switching to your camp here. And make the scare zones more focussed so they can do less with more. Then really push the limit with 2-3 “adult” mazes and 2-3 “pg-13”. Make 1-2 more intense scare zones with live actors you can bypass and 1-2 “spooky” but just props, music and lighting -like  IStreet and Coney being great theming and save the live actors for other areas.  Maybe make I street into Planet Snoopy a pumpkin luminights type area like Dollywood to give a place for the families with younger kids to hang if they have to be in the park for the older siblings. At this point I think they’ve got to give up the park-wide haunted aspect since it seems like they basically have anyway. 

[robintodd]

8 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I think this is why I think they should relocate all scareactors to mazes/scare zones. With the number of monsters you take off the pathways, you could open up one or two more mazes or scare zones. In my opinion this would fix some issues with the event. I understand people miss being scared and having things be more adult oriented but with the way things appear to be heading with chaperone policies and more parents bringing their little ones, I think opening up more haunts at the expense of relocating scareactors would be a fair compromise for people who still go for the Haunt element.

Once again, why are parents bringing little ones?  Back when I was young we had these things called babysitters.  I knew some teens in my neighborhood that would make some good money babysitting.  Don't parents have "date night" anymore?  

Also, it's ok to tell little Johnny he has to wait to experience some things in life.   (they have to wait for a license, etc).  oing to KI for Haunt should be an experience you do once you have reached a certain level of maturity (actually now that I think of it going to KI alone should have the same criteria.)  I don't blame the kids, I blame their parents.  We are practically forcing these kids to grow up faster than they should.  They are missing (in my opinion) crutial parts of their childhood necessary to become a well rounded, thoughtful, mature and kind adult.  I feel the past couple of generations have had a hard time telling their kids NO.  To me it was a vital part of my childhood.  Understanding to be patient and good things come to those who wait and if you break an expensive toy you don't automatically get another one is, in my opinion, crutial to becoming a well rounded person.  Obviously you were too irresponsible to have the expensive toy in the first place and should do without to make you appreciate what you had (and people wonder where this "entitled" mentatlity comes from, It's a learned behavior.).

Look I understand especially with the cost of living that it takes 2 parents working to raise a child and I hate that.  Gone are the days when wages were such that a family could have 1 bread winner (wife or the husband) and I think childeren in the end has suffered because of that and it's more a product of our society rather than the fault of the parents.  But in the end having a child is a responsibilty and sacrifices are to be made.  If you only get to go to Haunt once a year when you can afford a sitter instead of every weekend then so be it.  Eventually your child will be grown and out of the house and you'll be able to go when you want again.  But those years you have with your child are you raising the next generation slip away far faster than you can ever imagine.  Before you know it you'll have grandchildren and hopefully you'll be able to watch them while your adult kids get to have a "datenight" off and go to Haunt while you experience the wonderful time of letting your grandkids eat what they want, have tons of sugar and stay up late.  As a grandparent of 4 myself I can truley say those times are ones I cherish much more than any Haunt, and in the future when I'm gone and my grandkids look back I hope they cherish time spent with me and my wife more than time at an amusement park. 

As a society I hope we get back to focusing what's really important before it's gone.  After all once you loose your parents/grandparents you don't get to go on Amazon and order another one.  The fact that you can't is what makes them so precious in the first place.

Thanks for hanging on till the end, this really went in a different direction than I though it would when I started.  But hopefully some out there can read this and it will make a difference.

We're all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.

 

[brenthodge]

14 minutes ago, robintodd said:

Once again, why are parents bringing little ones?  Back when I was young we had these things called babysitters.  I knew some teens in my neighborhood that would make some good money babysitting.  Don't parents have "date night" anymore?  

Also, it's ok to tell little Johnny he has to wait to experience some things in life.   (they have to wait for a license, etc).  oing to KI for Haunt should be an experience you do once you have reached a certain level of maturity (actually now that I think of it going to KI alone should have the same criteria.)  I don't blame the kids, I blame their parents.  We are practically forcing these kids to grow up faster than they should.  They are missing (in my opinion) crutial parts of their childhood necessary to become a well rounded, thoughtful, mature and kind adult.  I feel the past couple of generations have had a hard time telling their kids NO.  To me it was a vital part of my childhood.  Understanding to be patient and good things come to those who wait and if you break an expensive toy you don't automatically get another one is, in my opinion, crutial to becoming a well rounded person.  Obviously you were too irresponsible to have the expensive toy in the first place and should do without to make you appreciate what you had (and people wonder where this "entitled" mentatlity comes from, It's a learned behavior.).

Look I understand especially with the cost of living that it takes 2 parents working to raise a child and I hate that.  Gone are the days when wages were such that a family could have 1 bread winner (wife or the husband) and I think childeren in the end has suffered because of that and it's more a product of our society rather than the fault of the parents.  But in the end having a child is a responsibilty and sacrifices are to be made.  If you only get to go to Haunt once a year when you can afford a sitter instead of every weekend then so be it.  Eventually your child will be grown and out of the house and you'll be able to go when you want again.  But those years you have with your child are you raising the next generation slip away far faster than you can ever imagine.  Before you know it you'll have grandchildren and hopefully you'll be able to watch them while your adult kids get to have a "datenight" off and go to Haunt while you experience the wonderful time of letting your grandkids eat what they want, have tons of sugar and stay up late.  As a grandparent of 4 myself I can truley say those times are ones I cherish much more than any Haunt, and in the future when I'm gone and my grandkids look back I hope they cherish time spent with me and my wife more than time at an amusement park. 

As a society I hope we get back to focusing what's really important before it's gone.  After all once you loose your parents/grandparents you don't get to go on Amazon and order another one.  The fact that you can't is what makes them so precious in the first place.

Thanks for hanging on till the end, this really went in a different direction than I though it would when I started.  But hopefully some out there can read this and it will make a difference.

We're all in this together, keep your stick on the ice.

 

Wow. You did get deep! LOL. I was just trying to think logistics since it seems like the park is trying to make a fully immersive experience on a $1.25 budget these days. It seems they aren’t even sure what HAUNT is anymore and I agree it should be a different-adult focussed event, but if they are trying to be all things at once- then I think they need to be all of those things well instead of a shell of an event just trying to be what it “always used to be”

 

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, robintodd said:

Once again, why are parents bringing little ones?  Back when I was young we had these things called babysitters.  I knew some teens in my neighborhood that would make some good money babysitting.

Someone on here pointed out that the chaperone policy might make that difficult. If these people already have passes, they’re going to bring their little ones vs paying a babysitter.

[brenthodge]

3 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

Someone on here pointed out that the chaperone policy might make that difficult. If these people already have passes, they’re going to bring their little ones vs paying a babysitter.

Right. So that’s why maybe it’s time to retool the entire event and make it all a more family friendly with certain “adult oriented” areas. Provide activities for younger while the more intense events are going on and set a hard age minimum for being in certain areas. 

[SonofBaconator]

I don’t see why the goals have to be mutually exclusive: make the mazes and scare zones for adults and older teens and make the pathways more family friendly.

[chad_1138]

Just saw on the passholder FB page, the special food offerings at Grain & Grill and Chicken Shack have been removed from the Dining Plan.  More tricks from KI…

[disco2000]

2 minutes ago, chad_1138 said:

Just saw on the passholder FB page, the special food offerings at Grain & Grill and Chicken Shack have been removed from the Dining Plan.  More tricks from KI…

Wow they really want G&G to fail lol

[disco2000]

Who is enjoying the patriotic music they are playing in Coney Mall today lol.  Feels like 4th of July weekend

[Benjamin22]

The burnt end mac sucked, 0/10 would not rbe recommend  

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

Who is enjoying the patriotic music they are playing in Coney Mall today lol.  Feels like 4th of July weekend

I don’t know why it’s so hard to make the event atmospheric. Playing fall music isn’t hard.

[Tr0y]

I noticed yesterday at Haunt that a lot of vinyl is missing or in disarray. They hate them because they hate you. Remember this when they are begging for your votes. 

[BoddaH1994]

2 hours ago, Tr0y said:

I noticed yesterday at Haunt that a lot of vinyl is missing or in disarray. They hate them because they hate you. Remember this when they are begging for your votes. 

I know you’re mocking, but they put out damaged and defaced props assuming that most are too stupid to realize it. There’s always going to be a few people who prove their point. 

[FUN&ONLY!]

31 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I know you’re mocking, but they put out damaged and defaced props assuming that most are too stupid to realize it. There’s always going to be a few people who prove their point. 

I am not going to go on a rant about it (I have before), but Kings Island needs to start paying attention to detail when it comes to props and theming. It’s pathetic that Kings Island invests in custom soundtracks and theming props only to not maintain their investment. I wish Kings Island would care more about that.

[PKIDelirium]

A lot of the Haunt tombstones and whatnot are quite old now, although I'm surprised to see the Area 72 van peeling like that.

[Tr0y]

57 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I know you’re mocking, but they put out damaged and defaced props assuming that most are too stupid to realize it. There’s always going to be a few people who prove their point. 

Yeah, except that wasn’t the rhetoric you were trying to convey. Let’s not backpedal now.

 

Don will be missed but this is a golden opportunity for the forum to hit the reset button and rekindle a relationship with the park. Unfortunately there are people like you who are holding onto the past and getting in the way of any future progress.

The members of this forum deserve better.

[BoddaH1994]

4 minutes ago, Tr0y said:

Yeah, except that wasn’t the rhetoric you were trying to convey. Let’s not backpedal now.

 

Don will be missed but this is a golden opportunity for the forum to hit the reset button and rekindle a relationship with the park. Unfortunately there are people like you who are holding onto the past and getting in the way of any future progress.

The members of this forum deserve better.

Literally the park has pulled bait-and-switch strategies on myself and countless others. This continues up to and including today when Mr Selfie, who you think is doing such a bang up up job despite getting zero coverage for Haunt’s opening weekend, put out the list of dining plan options for Tricks and Treats only to have several items quietly removed. This is after selling the daily meal plan to several guests. As with Prestige Passes, terms are subject to change. No refunds. 

You may think what they are doing is just dandy, but the paying customers of Kings Island deserve better.

[Tr0y]

46 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Literally the park has pulled bait-and-switch strategies on myself and countless others. This continues up to and including today when Mr Selfie, who you think is doing such a bang up up job despite getting zero coverage for Haunt’s opening weekend, put out the list of dining plan options for Tricks and Treats only to have several items quietly removed. This is after selling the daily meal plan to several guests. As with Prestige Passes, terms are subject to change. No refunds. 

You may think what they are doing is just dandy, but the paying customers of Kings Island deserve better.

I know the truth in my last post makes you uncomfortable.  But let’s stay on topic.  
 

Being angry for your friend is okay. It’s apart of the 5 stages of grief. However it isn’t doing anyone any good here.

Now is the time to build bridges, not burn what is left down. 

[disco2000]

[DJSkyFoxx]

On 9/24/2023 at 12:55 AM, Benjamin22 said:

The clientele that this event attracts is so trashy. The amount of homophobia and sexism I witnessed tonight made me feel like I was living back in the 50s. I saw at least 4 groups of women getting cat called and harassed, mostly by younger & teenage males. Not to mention as I was driving away from the park some crazy chick tried to road rage on me. I think there’s two solutions here, either rise the prices to help keep these types of clients out of the park or just stop haunt all together. Horrible horrible experience today.

And THIS right here is exactly why special events such as Pride Night are so special. 

It sickens me to hear this kind of garbage. I know this unfortunately exists everywhere but I really hate it when people simply can't just mind their business. We're all just out here trying to have fun, not be harassed and made to feel less than. 

And as for the more "family friendly" Haunt, I have a lot of feelings about this. Like most of you, I am truly not a fan of the watered-down Haunt we have today. Fear Fest is deep in my memory as an experience that was truly dark and had a real creepy feel to it. Long gone are those days it seems. I wish they felt they could keep it on high. Its not like there isn't a family friendly event during the day and its not like there aren't warnings about the event not being recommended for those under the age of 13. If your 5 year old gets the crap scared out of them and parent takes issue with the scare actors or the scenery/music/atmosphere that completely falls on them for having said child there in the first place. You don't get to be upset when you have been warned. And because of this the scare actors don't feel like they can turn up the heat and truly create a scary experience. Not to mention the No-Boo necklaces. If you wish not to get scared, don't come! That's like going to a rock concert and not wanting to listen to it because its too loud even though you know with it being a concert it will be loud so you ask the board operators to turn down the amps to a dull roar thus making the experience less immersive for everyone else. Maybe I sound too brash but I just want to see Haunt be what it used to be when it was Fear Fest. 

[brenthodge]

21 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I don’t see why the goals have to be mutually exclusive: make the mazes and scare zones for adults and older teens and make the pathways more family friendly.

Right? It seems like the ship has sailed on the all out adult focussed event of days gone by. Why not make a few more intense experiences that are really “R” rated. A few PG13 scare zones and the rest PG “spooky” with lighting, in great shape props and creative ride overlays that cost almost nothing extra to run yet give a whole new, marketable experience from 7-12am. They are trying to do so much with less and no one is happy. And why in gods name when they have drug out tons of Dios de los Murray props and randomly plopped them for years, when we have a Latin themed area , they don’t use them there and make a fully integrated area - sane with pirate ship stuff -put it over by Viking. 

[BeeastFarmer]

41 minutes ago, brenthodge said:

Right? It seems like the ship has sailed on the all out adult focussed event of days gone by. Why not make a few more intense experiences that are really “R” rated. A few PG13 scare zones and the rest PG “spooky” with lighting, in great shape props and creative ride overlays that cost almost nothing extra to run yet give a whole new, marketable experience from 7-12am. They are trying to do so much with less and no one is happy. And why in gods name when they have drug out tons of Dios de los Murray props and randomly plopped them for years, when we have a Latin themed area , they don’t use them there and make a fully integrated area - sane with pirate ship stuff -put it over by Viking. 

Because the people will come for haunt, seemingly no matter what they do...and vote in a poll for it!  

I swear they could do a "pull the trash" contest or a " clean up the fountain goose poop" contest for haunt attractions and people would show up by thousands.  

Edit:  theyve already cleaned the goose poop this year, it will have to be modified into a bleach the goose poop stains out of the fountain contest. 

[Kifan91]

4 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Because the people will come for haunt, seemingly no matter what they do...and vote in a poll for it!  

I swear they could do a "pull the trash" contest or a " clean up the fountain goose poop" contest for haunt attractions and people would show up by thousands.  

Edit:  theyve already cleaned the goose poop this year, it will have to be modified into a bleach the goose poop stains out of the fountain contest. 

Why do others enjoying Haunt make you so upset?

[Kenban]

I went to haunt on Saturday.  Frankly, not impressed by most of the event.  It feels inappropriate to have the really young kids even in the park, let alone the parents who were taking children in strollers through the houses.

The roaming scare actors feel more like photo opportunities than something to scare the guests.  The lack of fog, the park has gone over board in the past, but it was almost nonexistent this year.

While in line for Cornered guests found several extremely rusty nailed and screws sticking out of the fence.  They proceeded to try to break them off and successfully did so to at least 2 or 3, but someone should have checked before the event.

I understand the desire to pulse the line, sending guests through the house in groups, which lets the actors reset.  This works to a point, and frankly several lines reached the point where they should have moved to bigger groups or at some point just conga line the guests.  It’s not uncommon for groups to bunch up already anyways.

Repeatedly while I was walking around close to a house, person after person was leaving a house and trying to warn other guests near the entrance it’s not worth it.  Proper line management, would have done a lot to help guest satisfaction.  They might be even more disappointed by the house itself, but with a reasonable wait they are more likely to enjoy the night overall.

The best part of the event was the live entertainment.  I watched both Nyte Walkers, and Monster Rock, plus about half of Dr. Nightmare.  Not really a fan of Dr. Nightmare, I like the host but it feels like it was not a good use of his talents or of the stage.  The other two shows were fantastic and both are a much better use of your time than the houses.

The event just does not feel big enough, 6 houses are not enough, there are not enough scare actors.  Personally I would prefer the park improves the event and makes it into something that would be worthy of a separate hard ticket, where even most or all pass holders need to buy a ticket.  But it would take a lot of changes to get to this point.

Frankly I recommend checking out the shows, and getting night rides on the coasters, at Kings Island.  Then just head to some of the many better haunt events and houses in the area.  If you’re up for traveling, Knott’s Scary Farm, Halloween Horror Nights on either coast, and either Howl-o-scream event in Florida are all much better events.

[shadowscare]

Alright, here’s my full review from Friday, 9/22. It’s my first Haunt visit in 10+ years and to sum it up… we had a good time, but my how the mighty have fallen. (very minor spoilers ahead)

Arrival:
At 5:45 we found a mob of people crammed in shoulder to shoulder waiting for the gates to open. Once the gates open, you have to pass through a chaperone check which creates a major bottleneck. They have to find a better way. Back in the day. I still vividly remember the fog building behind the gates, then seeing them open up to a rush of scareactors storming the crowd. It was absolutely epic, and oh how I wish they would bring it back. Instead there is now… nothing. No opening sequence at all.

The Haunts:
Keep in mind we went straight from the gate to the first maze, and only went on two coasters between he first maze and Cornered, which likely helped with the short waits.

Madame Fatale’s Cavern of Terror:
Walk on. We were one of the first few people in the maze, and thought it was excellent. Good theming, the scareactors were on point, and a few jump scares mixed in to make it a well rounded haunt. didn’t feel short on scareactors so my hopes were high for the rest of the night. The hostess at the entrance was really into her character, setting the tone for the maze.

Slaughterhouse:
Near walk on. It was as good as advertised and very gory. Felt like it could’ve used another character or two but by no means sparse. Scareactors were into it and some good jump scares mixed in. But can someone tell me what the point of the air-blown feathers in the glass cases was all about? It was in the middle of the journey and felt out of place. Thumbs up to the shaking bodies on the walls. It’s a simple animatronic but effective in creating an unsettling vibe.

Killmart
We waiting maybe 20 minutes here. I loved the setting inside but… where is everybody? It was sparse, little to no jump scares and lots of missed opportunities. Thumbs down.

Hotel St Michelle
Short wait. I liked the theme of it. Felt a little light on scareactors there, and outside of the hallway scene not much in terms of jump scares. We thought it was fine.

Cornered
Waited around 30 minutes for this one, getting there around 8:00pm after bailing on Alien Abyss. Wow… this one is bad. I guess it’s worth the walk through if the line is short but otherwise, skip it. They’re barely even trying in this one.

Alien Abyss
Holy crowded line, Batman! This place was packed all night. The queue was nearly full when we stopped by on two separate occasions. After reading on datapoint here of an hour wait with only two and a half rows of the queue filled, we probably would’ve been there 90-120 minutes. We gave it a shot, but the line barely moved, and saw lots of people bailing out. I mean, we have season passes so we figured we’ll visit again and just head straight for it before the crowds arrive.

We hit St Michelle, Cavern of Terror and Slaughterhouse a second time later at night. All had short waits of under 15 minutes. Slaughterhouse definitely had more scareactors in it the second time around. The other two lost the effect of jump scares as the folks in front of us were moving very slow.

Scare Zones:
Coney Maul: So uh… where is everybody? And what’s with the pop music?
Pumpkin Eater: Short, but a cool area. But again, pop music?
Alien X: Eh.. not much going on here. Costumes feel more UFO encounter and less scary flesh eating alien.
Abandoned: The marketing photo makes it look like it’s more than it is. But it’s a fun, though short zone to walk through.

Rides
The Beast, Stunt Coaster, Drop Tower, The Bat, Banshee, Orion (had the longest wait of the night, though still just 30 minutes), and Mystic Timbers. The Beast is still meh, Mystic still rocks, and the others were as expected. Well, except for The Bat. We sat front row for a ride in the dark. Now, I don’t know if it was the mild, dry air, or perhaps the darkness that enhanced the journey, but holy smokes was that thing hauling like never before. What a rush!

Other notes:
-Outside of the mazes, and maybe just a couple of the “scare” zones, it felt like any other night at the park.
-The ambiance is nowhere near what it used to be.
-Fog is limited to the scare zones, and fairly sparse for the most part.
-The only chainsaw encounter in the entire park was at Abandoned, which I found surprising.
-I was surprised by the number of young kids there. KI makes it VERY clear this is not for kids. I mean, I saw a family with toddlers going into Killmart. An infant, yes an INFANT being carried out of Slaughterhouse. A four year old being forced to go into Cavern of Terror, crying, screaming “I don’t wanna go!” What on earth. I could go on.

Did we have fun? Yes, of course. Are there missed opportunities? Yes, many.

[Timchat2]

How does this year's Tricks and Treats compare to last year? Are there obvious cuts like with Haunt?