Haunt - Tricks & Treats Reviews 2023

[Orion742]

I was at the park last night and here is my review of Haunt 2023. 
 

The fog was not as much as past years but I do not blame the park it was incredibly windy and the fog machines endlessly were pumping fog but it wouldn’t stay.

Lines were fantastic, longest wait was 45 minutes for Diamondback.

Abandoned is a fantastic scare zone and by far my favorite at the park. 
                                                                              Alien X was lacking compared to last year I felt. Most the scare actors were wearing the same costumes and last year I felt there was a little more variety.

I finally got the chance to ride Sol Spin since it didn’t have a crazy long line. It’s an alright ride. I think I struggle more than most people because I can’t do spinning rides and it was a little more intense than I expected but I am definitely still glad it’s there.

It was freezing last night. The wind picked up at least a few MPH around 10pm. 

Overall I definitely liked this year’s haunt than last year. 
 

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, Tr0y said:

The park hates us to the point that they thought it would be funny to let all the wind in. 

They hate the fog because they hate you. 

[brenthodge]

1 hour ago, Snowball said:

It was extremely windy last night. The fog just blew away as soon as it came out of the machines.

 

1 hour ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

The fog was lacking again last night, which was very disappointing. Last week, it was a million times better.

There is this CRAZY thing called weather. It affects artificial fog. I swear, do we need to turn every windy night into a budget cut conspiracy theory?!?

[disco2000]

1 minute ago, brenthodge said:

 

There is this CRAZY thing called weather. It affects artificial fog. I swear, do we need to turn every windy night into a budget cut conspiracy theory?!?

At least they aren't blaming it on a certain person 

[brenthodge]

Lol. Don is blowing the fog up to Sandusky so he has a new feature article about migration of fake fog in the fall LOL. 

[disco2000]

Is it the 4th of July weekend 

[robintodd]

Just had my first major disappointment with KI and wanted to warn everyone here.  

I understand the "no re-entry after 6pm" for Haunt.  I went to KI this am to ride The Beast, Diamondback and have the Posiden dish at French Quater (it was fantastic!).  After the Bengals game I went to go pick up my grandson and take him to haunt for a couple of mazes and night rides on The Beast and they wouldn't let me in because "I was re-entering the park" after 6.  My understanding has always been that the meaning of that rule was that if you enter after 6pm (start of Haunt), you can't re-enter after 6pm.  The lady at the entry gate, her supervisor and 2 people in guest relations all said the same thing and how it was "clearly labeled".  

Low and behold I got home and looked on the website and found this:

Again, it says "during Halloween Haunt".  I inturpret this to mean that if you enter during Halloween Haunt, you can not re enter during Halloween Haunt.  And accroding to the webiste Haunt doesn't start till 6pm.  Again I did not leave the park after 6pm.  I left the part at Noon (which last I checked was not after 6pm) 

On the calendar for October 8th it reads:

So it seems that my interpretation of the rule was correct and according to the website I could enter Haunt (which started at 6) but not re-enter it once I left Haunt (after 6).

Just wanted to give this cautionary tale to others so they can be clear with what I experienced and what the policy says.

Very dissapointed in the confusing rule.   No biggie, just thought I'd let others know so they do get put in the same boat I found myself in.

  Oh well, live and learn.

 

[disco2000]

For as long as I remember it was as you experienced.  If you entered the park any time prior to Haunt and left you had to return to the park before the no entry time.

If the language is confusing, well seems to be the norm with Cedar Fair lol.  They always figure out a way to make it confusing even though they think it is clear LOL.

But yes, according to that screenshot, it is different than what they enforce.

Yet the FAQ says something different:

 

[gforce1994]

6 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

For as long as I remember it was as you experienced.  If you entered the park any time prior to Haunt and left you had to return to the park before the no entry time.

If the language is confusing, well seems to be the norm with Cedar Fair lol.  They always figure out a way to make it confusing even though they think it is clear LOL.

The issue with the bag policy is that if people are forced to keep their medical supplies in their cars, having to leave the park ends their night.

[BeeastFarmer]

22 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

The issue with the bag policy is that if people are forced to keep their medical supplies in their cars, having to leave the park ends their night.

First Aid is open until the last guest leaves the park. 

[gforce1994]

Just now, BeeastFarmer said:

First Aid is open until the last guest leaves the park. 

Yes, but first aid has general medical supplies, not something disease or condition specific. 
I ran into the issue last year, and am curious if it was fixed.

[Tr0y]

2 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

Yes, but first aid has general medical supplies, not something disease or condition specific. 
I ran into the issue last year, and am curious if it was fixed.

Just Dial 9-1-1. 

[BeeastFarmer]

5 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

Yes, but first aid has general medical supplies, not something disease or condition specific. 
I ran into the issue last year, and am curious if it was fixed.

Those supplies that you were worried about leaving in the car can  be left at first aid.

Glucose tablets can fit nicely in a zipper pocket as can an insulin pen either as a pump back up or primary source of insulin. 

If on a pump and/or CGM, extra supplies can be left at first aid. Dislodged infusion set or sensor is not emergent.  

Ive done all this for 11 seasons without issue. 

Epi pens would be a similar issue. There is no reason to carry around a kitchen sink in the park. 

[SonofBaconator]

I feel like if you communicate your issue with the park, they would throw you a bone if it’s a required medication. I don’t legally think they can deny people to have their medication handy but maybe there’s a loophole.

[BeeastFarmer]

3 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

I feel like if you communicate your issue with the park, they would throw you a bone if it’s a required medication. I don’t legally think they can deny people to have their medication handy but maybe there’s a loophole.

Sometimes, people like to complicate things more than necessary. But, my viewpoint is to make things simple to save myself hassle. I don't live in their shoes.  

[Snowball]

6 hours ago, gforce1994 said:

The issue with the bag policy is that if people are forced to keep their medical supplies in their cars, having to leave the park ends their night.

They make exceptions for medical bags. They put a band on the bag.

Source: Friend of mine was able to get in with a bag larger than the limit, they put a band on it and let her in after explaining that it contains medical supplies.

[chad_1138]

They started scanning guests in at 530 and holding up by the tower!

[CoasterJack]

Made my first Haunt trip of the year last night. Would say the new Alien Abyss maze is definitely a step up from CHAOS. 

Spoiler

For the new maze, I enjoyed the boarding room pre-show, and felt that the maze was a nice combination of blackout with CHAOS and a fun video game failed experiment gone wrong sort of spiel.

 

 

 

The park was packed, but still found plenty of things to do. Arrived around 6:30 to a 3 minute line for the ID and entry process, however my friend who arrived at 7:55 had a less exciting experience waiting for about 15 minutes through entry and security. Abandoned was a fun addition as a scare zone, I enjoyed the props more than the Rivertown Reaping in the past. I love all the decor throughout the park, but I agree that some of it feels a little stale. I love the theming and little details over the park, but some more additions could definitely help freshen up the experience. Again, not saying it was bad by any means, just that as someone who has attended Haunt every year consecutively for at least 15 years now, it would be nice to see a little more than just a new maze and scare zone per year.

The DJ in Coney Mall was a bit of a strange vibe, but later in the night the area returned to its normal, demented carnival music. Had the pulled pork sandwich with Mac & Cheese at Coney BBQ, and definitely hit the spot. Rides were all quite busy, with a 30 minute Adventure Express and Banshee queue being the shortest of the night, but I'll never turn down any chance for a KI night ride, especially on AE . Overall, for a 5 hour visit, getting 5 mazes and 4 coasters on a Haunt night ain't bad for the level of crowd. Felt the staffing felt adequate except for Hotel Michelle, but also could've just been myself missing all the scares .

Overall, I'd give my Haunt experience an 8.5/10. It felt good to be back in the park, witnessed minimal security problems as KI security was on any situation almost instantly. Food was great, maze lines moved quickly, a decent amount of fog in the main areas, and had a few personal favorite interactions with scare actors I've had in years. Not the best Haunt experience I've ever had, but certainly was a fun night in the park, especially for the amount of people there.

[brenthodge]

Is DrNightmare REALLY a show deserving of an actual stage in the center of the park? WTH was that? That could’ve easily been in coney on the mini stage or Action Zone or… no where and it would be fine. Wow. 
 

edit-but my 9 year old wouldn’t leave… new target demographic NAILED! 

 

[robintodd]

On 10/8/2023 at 8:34 PM, robintodd said:

Just had my first major disappointment with KI and wanted to warn everyone here.  

I understand the "no re-entry after 6pm" for Haunt.  I went to KI this am to ride The Beast, Diamondback and have the Posiden dish at French Quater (it was fantastic!).  After the Bengals game I went to go pick up my grandson and take him to haunt for a couple of mazes and night rides on The Beast and they wouldn't let me in because "I was re-entering the park" after 6.  My understanding has always been that the meaning of that rule was that if you enter after 6pm (start of Haunt), you can't re-enter after 6pm.  The lady at the entry gate, her supervisor and 2 people in guest relations all said the same thing and how it was "clearly labeled".  

Low and behold I got home and looked on the website and found this:

Again, it says "during Halloween Haunt".  I inturpret this to mean that if you enter during Halloween Haunt, you can not re enter during Halloween Haunt.  And accroding to the webiste Haunt doesn't start till 6pm.  Again I did not leave the park after 6pm.  I left the part at Noon (which last I checked was not after 6pm) 

On the calendar for October 8th it reads:

So it seems that my interpretation of the rule was correct and according to the website I could enter Haunt (which started at 6) but not re-enter it once I left Haunt (after 6).

Just wanted to give this cautionary tale to others so they can be clear with what I experienced and what the policy says.

Very dissapointed in the confusing rule.   No biggie, just thought I'd let others know so they do get put in the same boat I found myself in.

  Oh well, live and learn.

 

The saga continues.....

So I went to KI Saturday night (and Sunday).  On Saturday night I overheard the admissions person who scanned their passes explaining to the couple next to me that they couldn't re-enter after 6 (this was at 9pm).  They tried explaining that they had been in that morning and planned on coming back that night (same story as mine).  I went in and waited to see how this turned out and low and behold they were allowed entry into the park!  Two adults were allowed in after I, with my grandson, tried to get in at 7pm the Sunday before .  We were told there were no exceptions by the admissions person, their supervisor, and guest serveices. 

Seems like some consistency in their policy is needed.

As I stated before it would make much more sense to "reset" the re-entry rule starting at 6pm since that IS when haunt starts and re-entry is allowed during the daytime event.  

 

[disco2000]

9 minutes ago, robintodd said:

The saga continues.....

So I went to KI Saturday night (and Sunday).  On Saturday night I overheard the admissions person who scanned their passes explaining to the couple next to me that they couldn't re-enter after 6 (this was at 9pm).  They tried explaining that they had been in that morning and planned on coming back that night (same story as mine).  I went in and waited to see how this turned out and low and behold they were allowed entry into the park!  Two adults were allowed in after I, with my grandson, tried to get in at 7pm the Sunday before .  We were told there were no exceptions by the admissions person, their supervisor, and guest serveices. 

Seems like some consistency in their policy is needed.

As I stated before it would make much more sense to "reset" the re-entry rule starting at 6pm since that IS when haunt starts and re-entry is allowed during the daytime event.  

 

The one thing the park is good at is being inconsistent with implementation/enforcement of policies!

[BoddaH1994]

On 10/7/2023 at 2:30 PM, Tr0y said:

The park hates us to the point that they thought it would be funny to let all the wind in. 

Obviously the wind and fog is a different thing, but things like not being prepared for the first week, greatly cutting down shows, etc, is a result of their, “we have their money, why would we deliver any more than we absolutely have to?” mentality. They believe that they can diminish the product and people are so stupid that people will keep coming back. Perhaps they’re right. None the less, thanks for towing the company line again. This has been such a shining-star year to really cheer on the park. Hopefully you tell the SPX how great the trivia thing is instead of a show once he comes out of hiding and takes a selfie with you instead of doing his job. I know you find that impressive. Personally, I think the guests deserve better. 

[disco2000]

23 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Obviously the wind and fog is a different thing, but things like not being prepared for the first week, greatly cutting down shows, etc, is a result of their, “we have their money, why would we deliver any more than we absolutely have to?” mentality. They believe that they can diminish the product and people are so stupid that people will keep coming back. Perhaps they’re right. None the less, thanks for towing the company line again. This has been such a shining-star year to really cheer on the park. Hopefully you tell the SPX how great the trivia thing is instead of a show once he comes out of hiding and takes a selfie with you instead of doing his job. I know you find that impressive. Personally, I think the guests deserve better. 

 

Unfortunately you know they are right - regardless of the product offered and conditions changing, people keep coming and keep renewing.  As long as "new" passes sold every year exceed the number of existing passholders that don't renew, the number of passes sold show an increase and that is good enough for them with their model. 

Being a regional/local park in close proximity to so many that has a very strong season passholder base, people will renew even if nothing is added because the value is too great, especially now with the meal and drink plans.  Where else can you be fed 2 meals a day for roughly 170 days (all summer and weekends in spring, fall and winter) for $130?  People spend more than that in a mini quick trip to the grocery every week. 

Assume something like a lazer tag or putt-putt costs around $10 dollars and you spend an hour there, or a zoo or museum that is roughly $20 and you spend two hours there, the value to the consumer is $10/entertainment hour.  And one will probably buy food or drink as well.

For a daily admission to KI the cost/hour for entertainment is $3.5/hour, based on a daily admission that is $42 for 12 hours of entertainment (say a 10am to 10pm open to close), and the cost/hour of entertainment value is even less for a pass holder – far less.

As it relates to Halloween, depending on the day, Dent Schoolhouse will be around $30 and Land of Illusion is around $60 for a daily or $100 for a Haunt season pass.  On a cost/hr basis, KI beats that and offers more.  Now it terms of scares and experiences during Halloween, the others will be better, but that apparently isn't the audience KI is marketing either....

Simply put, the cost/hour of entertainment value is a fraction of almost any other entertainment venue.  The chain knows this.  That is their model.

Of course if enough time went by with no new additions and the park started to look run-down and not being kept up, then yeah they will start to see a decline in pass renewals.  Unfortunately I think it would take about 10 years of absolutely nothing being added before an appreciable attendance drop would occur. 

Unfortunately, warts and all, KI is still an incredible value and hard to beat on cost/hr of entertainment value.  As an example, people spend 4 times the amount of a gold pass per month for the privilege to belong to country club.  Heck some swim clubs monthly dues are the price of a gold pass.

So why spend on marketing and improvements other than some bare minimum?  Until people speak with their wallets and take their discretionary spending elsewhere, the park has no incentive to do more than is necessary.  They will still pull their 3.2million guests plus/minus 100,000 or so.

 

[BoddaH1994]

27 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

 

Unfortunately you know they are right - regardless of the product offered and conditions changing, people keep coming and keep renewing.  As long as "new" passes sold every year exceed the number of existing passholders that don't renew, the number of passes sold show an increase and that is good enough for them with their model. 

Being a regional/local park in close proximity to so many that has a very strong season passholder base, people will renew even if nothing is added because the value is too great, especially now with the meal and drink plans.  Where else can you be fed 2 meals a day for roughly 170 days (all summer and weekends in spring, fall and winter) for $130?  People spend more than that in a mini quick trip to the grocery every week. 

Assume something like a lazer tag or putt-putt costs around $10 dollars and you spend an hour there, or a zoo or museum that is roughly $20 and you spend two hours there, the value to the consumer is $10/entertainment hour.  And one will probably buy food or drink as well.

For a daily admission to KI the cost/hour for entertainment is $3.5/hour, based on a daily admission that is $42 for 12 hours of entertainment (say a 10am to 10pm open to close), and the cost/hour of entertainment value is even less for a pass holder – far less.

As it relates to Halloween, depending on the day, Dent Schoolhouse will be around $30 and Land of Illusion is around $60 for a daily or $100 for a Haunt season pass.  On a cost/hr basis, KI beats that and offers more.  Now it terms of scares and experiences during Halloween, the others will be better, but that apparently isn't the audience KI is marketing either....

Simply put, the cost/hour of entertainment value is a fraction of almost any other entertainment venue.  The chain knows this.  That is their model.

Of course if enough time went by with no new additions and the park started to look run-down and not being kept up, then yeah they will start to see a decline in pass renewals.  Unfortunately I think it would take about 10 years of absolutely nothing being added before an appreciable attendance drop would occur. 

Unfortunately, warts and all, KI is still an incredible value and hard to beat on cost/hr of entertainment value.  As an example, people spend 4 times the amount of a gold pass per month for the privilege to belong to country club.  Heck some swim clubs monthly dues are the price of a gold pass.

So why spend on marketing and improvements other than some bare minimum?  Until people speak with their wallets and take their discretionary spending elsewhere, the park has no incentive to do more than is necessary.  They will still pull their 3.2million guests plus/minus 100,000 or so.

 

All very true. 
 

Where it hurts is elsewhere. I have heard that a certain park is having solid HH attendance but very underwhelming individual ticket sales. This is a byproduct of the, “they’ll come no matter what” attitude. That may be true… for season passholders. But is it true across the board? 

[disco2000]

4 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

All very true. 
 

Where it hurts is elsewhere. I have heard that a certain park is having solid HH attendance but very underwhelming individual ticket sales. This is a byproduct of the, “they’ll come no matter what” attitude. That may be true… for season passholders. But is it true across the board? 

Absolutely!  And there comes a point when having all your eggs in the passholder basket is detrimental.  At some point the sheer number of passholders will have a negative effect on the bottom line and operations.

Historically CF has said daily admissions and company outings make up almost 50% of their attendance.  I think the number has been less post-covid, but it is still a good chunk.  If those disappear, where does a large chunk of their "new" revenue come from?  Is it squeezing more dollars out of the existing passholders with all these additional add-ons and one time purchases that keep popping up?  Is it going to the extreme and the only entry is with season passes so that they truly have all the money up front and can better allocate the spending?

 

[Tr0y]

8 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Obviously the wind and fog is a different thing, but things like not being prepared for the first week, greatly cutting down shows, etc, is a result of their, “we have their money, why would we deliver any more than we absolutely have to?” mentality. They believe that they can diminish the product and people are so stupid that people will keep coming back. Perhaps they’re right. None the less, thanks for towing the company line again. This has been such a shining-star year to really cheer on the park. Hopefully you tell the SPX how great the trivia thing is instead of a show once he comes out of hiding and takes a selfie with you instead of doing his job. I know you find that impressive. Personally, I think the guests deserve better. 

 

[disco2000]

Let's hope we never find out!  But we see a watered down Haunt every year and people keep coming.

People said we cheapened out getting Zamperla rides and a single instead of double seater Sol Spin, yet people keep visiting the park.

Maybe it isn't 10 years, but the point is they don't need a record breaker or major improvement every year or other year and people will continue to renew the passes and add-ons because they represent a great value.  I think we may see CF stretch the years and lower the budgets on attractions and see what impact it has, especially if the down year continues.

Sure they lose passholders every year that say "they haven't done anything new so we are skipping", but if for every 1 passholder than doesn't renew, they gain 7 new passholders, they are coming out ahead.

[BoddaH1994]

2 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

Given the long lines to get into KI for Haunt, it appears they are so far. No reason at this point to think that will change.

I just can't wrap my mind around this mentality. These are businesses engaging in commerce with customers, no one "deserves" anything more than the agreed-to transaction. Neither party is being forced to engage here.

Up at CP, they regularly have to stop letting people in the park on any Saturday without rain, and the park hasn't really added anything to HW in a while, so it stands to reason that the value proposition is skewed to the point that one of two things should happen:

1. Substantially increase the price of admission
2. Substantially reduce what is offered

People will complain in either case. I personally think they're making the wrong choice. Daily admission for the Halloween season should be MUCH more than it is during the summer, and only the most premium of season passes should provide access this time of year.

Sadly, you are 100% correct. Personally, I’d love to see higher prices and higher quality. They’d need to deliver on the higher quality consistently, though. 
 

When I was in high school, I worked at LaRosa’s. They were on this kick of making sure that people have the coupons that they claimed they had over the phone. Often they’d say they had something and show up without it, still getting the discount. They put their foot down and said we needed to, “train the customer” on the fact that it’s “no coupon, no discount.” It was painful but it worked.

Same is true for KI guests. Gold pass holders expect:

-Parking

-Admission

-Haunt

-Winterfest

-Waterpark

Beyond that is just details. 
 

I wouldn’t agree that it’s always been that each party agrees and that’s it. Hate to beat a dead horse, but look at all of the Prestige benefits that were quietly removed. They got away with it. They may do it again. 
 

Also, people have been promised a Haunt. They can deliver 10 houses or three. The customer made their purchasing decision before any of this was presented to them. Would they have bought a ticket if they saw the product presented? It doesn’t matter. It’s not like you can get a refund if you aren’t happy with the product. 
 

When I say that I think that the guests deserve better, I think I should clarify that you, me, Tom, Dick and Harry and even the park as an entity deserves better. This problem has gone back about 15 years. Passes are too cheap, bring-a-friend discounts come too often, and payment plans make the park too accessible. The park has been devalued terribly and it has given free license to devalue the actual product accordingly. Accordingly, individual ticket prices remain high, people know what they are getting and some of the most lucrative guests are opting to spend their money elsewhere. This is coupled with things that were never necessary in the past. The chaperone policy, very visible security, etc. This is the beginning of the end if the product drops and only SP people show up. 
 

53 minutes ago, KI Guy said:

Kings Island is a mature theme park in a mature market. Despite what Cedar Fair might tell the media, investment they've done over the last 15 years has largely been for maintaining revenue/attendance rather than growing it. The parks that go ten years without large investments have largely resigned themselves (or have been determined by corporate) to be mid-tier or lower tier parks with steady but more modest revenue/attendance.

Additionally, the long-term damage from lack of investment could be significant. Every ride except maybe wooden coasters would be 10 years closer to end of service. Corporate just can't hit pause on investment and not expect to have to make it up later, that is unless they are only thinking in the short term (imagine that!) or have a more modest vision for the future of the park.

When a park gets this large and frankly old, you have to consistently make major investments every 3-5 years with minor investments in-between just to maintain the status quo. It was different in the Paramount days when the oldest major rides were 25-30 years old. Now that's Flight of Fear rather than The Racer. And that's just rides, you can't forget infrastructure ages like everything else.

You know what would potentially increase revenue? Increasing the operating calendar. Last year a ton of parks figured that out, adding days and hours. Kings Island has been doing the opposite ever since Winterfest debuted. 
 

 

[SHMAN1]

Man….I miss the days when an event review topic was actually about the event and not just constant off topic bickering.

How about we swing back to Haunt. Has anyone gone the last couple of weekends, how has the weather affected crowds and experiences? 
 

What has been everyone’s favorite maze, scarezone, or show.

Anything that is back on the actual topic….

[disco2000]

The weather doesn't appear to have impacted attendance like one would think.