Posts Tagged ‘Cedar Scare’

SCARE ZONE SPECIAL REPORT: CEDAR SCARES 2012

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

As most of our Haunt Stalkers know, this year marks the 40th Anniversary of Knott’s Scary Farm. Over the past 15 years, since joining the Cedar Fair theme park family in 1997, the curse of Knott’s Scary Farm has spread throughout all of the parks creating the largest theme park haunt franchises in the country. While you’ll find common maze themes across the parks such as Nightclubbing Vampires (Club Blood), Cannibalistc Butchers (Slaughterhouse) and Sinister Sideshow Clowns (CarnEvil), each park offers it’s own unique ‘cut’ of these themes mixed with their own local offerings making them all worthy of a haunt stalking (if you can get to them all).

We’ve already provided some extensive coverage of the Knott’s Scary Farm 40th Anniversary Haunt offerings. Now here’s a look at the 2012 haunts taking place throughout all the other the Cedar Fair parks, which includes California’s Great America, Cedar Point, Valleyfair, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Canada’s Wonderland, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Carowinds.

 

California’s Great America Halloween Haunt

California’s Great America (Santa Clara, CA) has released full details for their2012 Halloween Haunt. This year, the event is adding another maze, Madame Marie’s Massacre Manor, bringing the total number of mazes to seven. Club Blood is also getting a new layout and some new scenes, to go along with its new name: Club Blood Re-Vamp’d. Great America’s Halloween Haunt opens September 28. Scare Zone visited the park last year and found the event to be a good value with some excellent actors and many solid mazes. You can read our 2011 review here.

Mazes:

  • * New for 2012* Madame Marie’s Massacre Manor - Money does not always buy happiness. For Madame Marie, this could not be more true. As Louisiana’s wealthiest heiress, Madame Marie has perfected the art of Voodooism. Enter her Manor with caution as there is nothing richer in her eyes than blood. Your visit in her lavish home will leave you breathless.
  • *Updated for 2012*Club Blood Re-Vamp’d - Follow the creatures of the night to the hottest nightclub around, Club Blood. This club has it all, the latest beats, the hottest dancers, but there’s just one problem…it’s overrun by hungry vampires waiting to feast on their next victim. Watch your neck or you’ll be next!
  • Carnevil - Hurry! Hurry! Step right up and don’t be shy! The most gruesome carnival is back in town. Get ready to face your worst childhood fears as demonic clowns and other freaks of nature terrify guests at every corner where they have turned the tables to make you the attraction!
  • Cornstalkers - A cult of evil scarecrows lies in wait in this overgrown path of debris, hay bales and cornstalks. Guests must weave their way through this twisting maze of bedlam, dodging a series of dead ends and avoiding the stalkers who are “dead-set” on forbidding anyone to escape.
  • Slaughterhouse: Annhilation - There’s too many people in the world and not enough food. This Slaughterhouse takes care of both problems. A constant feed of humans are being subjected to the grinders which keep the river of blood flowing through this dark complex. It’s a virtual cornucopia of bloody remains as parts are ground into a tasty meat treat, using a very special recipe which includes one very special ingredient … You. Do not let the fear paralyze you as you attempt to escape from the edge of Annihilation.
  • Toy Factory - Once a place where dreams were made, this toy factory is now a place where nightmares come true! The maniacal factory workers are manufacturing a variety of disturbing new toys and novelty items for their demented amusement, using any part available, including human parts. Buyers beware as your favorite toys have now been turned against you, or you’ve been turned into one of them.
  • Werewolf Canyon - Be careful as you venture deep into the murky woods through a hunter’s trail where the hunters have become the hunted. A pack of blood-thirsty werewolves have taken revenge on those who dare invade their domain. With only the full moon’s light to help you navigate through…can you make it out alive?
  • Black Widow’s Cavern - Dare to enter the old, abandoned loggers run, now overrun by deadly spiders.

Scare Zones:

  • Dead Man’s Cove
  • The Gauntlet
  • Underwood Alley

Shows:

  • Blood Drums
  • Ghostly Glow Party
  • Overload’s Resurrection
  • Culture Pop

Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends

Sandusky, Ohio 

An eerie howl echoes across the midway. Strange shadows skitter over the cabins along the Frontier Trail. Is that a fog rolling in from Lake Erie, or is it a presence from beyond preparing to materialize before your terrified eyes? Beware. The spooky chills of Halloween combine with the thrills of the world’s biggest collection of rides and roller coasters during Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends. Celebrating 16 years of “monster fun”, this year, Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends will include 4 haunted houses and 6  mazes (scare zones).

Dates:

Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, September 14 – October 28, 2012

Haunted Houses:

  • *New for 2012* Eden Musee: Wax Musuem & Chamber of Horrors - This “big new haunted house” is a creepy throwback to the traditional wax museum that was once located along Cedar Point’s main midway in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s an indoor haunted attraction that will be located within the Mean Streak roller coaster’s infield.
  •  Eerie Estate – This stately mansion harbors deep, dark secrets guarded by ancient inhabitors seeking revenge and looking for more permanent residents.
  • Club Blood – The infamous vampire night club “takes another bite” out of your nightlife!
  • Eternity Infirmary – Patient’s can check in, but can’t check out!

Scare Zones:

  • *New for 2012* Cut Throat Cove- Meet the motley crews of sunken ships, left deserted on this island. But mind yer steps – they’ve been waitin’ for rescue for over 100 years.
  • Fear Faire – Step into a menacing, medieval marketplace.
  • Maniacal, Mechanical Screamworks - Journey into science fiction past and future to explore a sinister, steamy subculture of  a world that never was, but might have been.
  • CornStalkers – Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • CarnEvil – The crazy clowns and lurking sideshow freaks are waiting to share their special brand of entertainment with you.
  • Blood on the Bayou  - Lurking along the dark fetid waters of the bayou are mysteries too dangerous to explore, too twisted to explain.
Shows:
  • The Edge of Madness: Resurrection
  • Boeckling’s Banquet

Halloween Haunt at ValleyScare

Shakopee, Minnesota

Every weekend night, evil takes over the park. Zombies, Psychotic clowns and other twistedness that will haunt you and your friend’s dreams. This event is too intense for anyone under the age of 13… or anyone, for that matter.

Dates:

Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, September 24th through October 30th

Mazes:

  • Chateau du Damne (Lair of the Vampire) - Experience the many rooms of this Renaissance castle, and be prepared to be seduced by the blood-hungry vampires that are waiting to sink their teeth into you.
  • Mr. Cleaver’s Bloodshed – Murderous butchers and plant workers in a gruesome meatpacking plant.
  • Mangler Asylum – Dr. Mangler conducted dreadful experiments on the local unfortunates and now, a collection of living fears and phobias are waiting to wreck havoc on your innocent soul.
  • Carnevil in 3D – The crazy clowns and lurking sideshow freaks are waiting to share their special brand of entertainment with you.
  • Carnage at Crimson Isle – Pirates thought long dead, have turned the isle into a black and bloody battleground of shock and horror.
  • Hellside Farm - At sunset, the abandoned Hillside Farm transforms into Hellside Farm as the demented residents begin to look to harvest their next victims.
  • Camp Wekilou – After being temporarily closed due to the mysterious disappearance of campers, Camp Wekilou is ready to reopen its doors and welcome new campers. The only question now is will everyone make it out alive?

Scare Zones:

  • Blood Creek Cemetery – At night the fog thickens at Blood Creek Cemetery and the dead will rise to take your soul in order to enter the great beyond.
  • Abnormal Alleys - Bring your barf-bags, keep a tight grasp on your loved ones, and don’t drink the water!  ValleySCARE condemns society’s most off, deranged and twisted to the odyssey of abnormailty. 

Shows:

  • Blood Drums 
  • Eternal Jamation
  • Mick Manglers Madness and Mayhem

Halloween Haunt at Dorney Park

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Dorney Park will transform into “the East Coast’s top scare attraction in the area” again this fall.  This fall, Dorney Park kicks off haunt season early with  Zombie Invasion II on Friday, September 14th and the Haunt VK Zombie Run on Saturday the 15th.

Zombie Invasion II, is the second annual takeover by zombies and costumed beings of all kinds! This event will be a preview of terrors to come during our Halloween season and allows guests to experience the event in costume, a HAUNT first. While the monsters will not be lurking around the midways just yet, guests will get a sneak peek at what HAUNT V will have in store for fear seekers this fall. Guests can come in make up or be zombified by professional make up artists at the park. In addition, guests will have access to our always thrilling ride attraction line up.

Then for those who survived, zombies will be unleashed for a morning run at the Haunt VK Zombie Run! Costumes aren’t required but are highly recommended!

Dates:

Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, September 14th through October 30th

Mazes:

  • *New for 2012* Desolation - this may be the park’s biggest haunt of all time, themed as nightmarish journey  through a  zombie apocalypse.
  • *New for 2012* Bloodshed - warning someone is home at this cannibalistic hillbilly house.
  • Backwoods – Ghost stories come to life at a summer camp.
  • Grave Walkers  - Zombies rise from a cemetery.
  • Age of Darkness – Beware of the black plague and it’s victims!
  • Cutthroat Island – Meet the motley crews of sunken ships, left deserted on this island. But mind yer steps – they’ve been waitin’ for rescue for over 100 years.
  • Death Trap -Play a twisted game and make the right choices; all that’s missing is Billy.
  • Cornstalkers - Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • Terror Square – These wild west outlaws don’t take kindly to city slicker folk
  • Mansion House Hotel  -An elegant and mysterious hotel with deadly secrets.
  • The Asylum - A collection of living fears and phobias are waiting to wreck havoc on your innocent soul.
  • Psycho Circus – The crazy clowns are waiting to share their special brand of entertainment with you.

Shows:

  • Eternal Jamation
  • Harley Newman Professional Lunatic

Worlds of Fun Halloween Haunt

Kansas City, Missouri

Every weekend night, evil takes over the park.  Zombies, Psychotic clowns and other twistedness that will haunt you and your friend’s dreams.  This event is too intense for anyone under the age of 13.  Or anyone, for that matter.

Dates:

Open weekend nights, September 15th through October 27th.

Mazes:

  • *New for 2012* Zombie High - The hallowed halls of Zombie High beckon you back to a horrific homecoming of flesh eating hellions. Don’t be tardy. If you make it out alive, you can consider yourself “Saved by the Hell!”
  • *Updated for 2012* Lore of the Vampire Featuring Club Blood - Over a century’s worth of bloodthirsty vampires lurk within the walls of this catacomb of the undead. Venture underground into Lore of the Vampire’s Club Blood where human victims are drained of their life to nourish the children of the night. 
  • Blood Shed – Processing at the Old McDonald Slaughterhouse has gone horribly wrong.
  • Outlaws Revenge – The spirits of Boot Hill Cemetary ascend each night looking for those who sentenced them to death.
  • Master McCarthy’s Doll Factory – In an abandoned toy factory a psychotic serial killer turns his beautiful victims into life-size porcelain dolls for his personal collection.
  • London Terror – Step back in time and into the fog-filled streets of London where the villains of the night are terrorizing the townsfolk.
  • Fright Zone – Hordes of Sceamsters lurk in the nightmarish shadows and blinding fog of the Fright Zone.
  • Corn Stalkers - Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • Asylum Island - The fear factor intensifies at an infirmary where the criminally insane are in control.
  • Carnevil -Step back up as the killer clowns, freaks, and demented animals have returned to town.

Shows:

  • Blood Drums
  • Meat Cleaver High
  • Overlord’s Awakening

Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland

Ontario, Canada

Get ready… something evil is coming and everybody’s dying to get in.

Dates:

Open Weekend Nights, October 5th through 28th.

Mazes:

  • *New for 2012* Iron Empire -  Desperate Rebels fight for control against oppressive Government forces seeking to enslave the citizens of a once free country. Forced into hiding to survive; the neo-Victorian steampunk movement is rising and the war is now on the Rebel’s doorstep. The Rebels take up arms and fight for their freedom, in a last attempt to escape the tyranny of the Iron Empire.
  • Blood on the Bayou – Lurking along the dark fetid waters of the bayou are mysteries too dangerous to explore, too twisted to explain.
  • Miner’s Revenge -Murdered miners stalk anyone brave enough who digs in their haunted lair.
  • Cornstalkers - Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • The Asylum – The fear factor intensifies at an infirmary where the criminally insane are in control.
  • Kingdom of Carnage – Let the brave of heart and noble of spirit beware! Chivalry is dead at Castle Carnage which has long been feared for its twisted reputation for using medieval torture methods on prisoners.
  • Mother Noose – When the Brothers Grimm set out to tell stories from the countryside, they never imagined the dark horrors and unhappy endings they would encounter.
  • Red Beard’s Rage - The ship is in dock and Red Beard and his undead crew await new victims to help them satisfy their bloodlust.
  • Clowns at Midnight -  The 1937 big top fire doomed the circus and now the clowns and circus freaks are looking for fresh blood to continue their demented performances.
  • Club Blood - The infamous vampire night club ”takes another bite” out of your nightlife!

Shows:

  • Blood Drums
  • The Underworld
  • Skeleton Crew

Halloween Haunt at Kings Island

Kings Island, Ohio

There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.  Screams of pure panic pierce the night. There’s nowhere you’re safe in the most immersive horror experience around — Halloween Haunt at Kings Island.The bloodcurdling horror and nightmarish madness of Halloween Haunt features more than 500 ghastly creatures emerging from the darkness, highly-intense and bone-chilling attractions and some of the most hair-raising rides on the planet like the Beast and Diamondback roller coasters!

This year’s Haunt features a line up of 12 haunted “mazes” (some sound more like scare zones to us) and 3 shows along with their signature thrill rides. Halloween Haunt is included free with park admission to Kings Island.   Kings Island 2012 Gold and Cedar Fair Platinum Season Passholders can enjoy unlimited admission to Halloween Haunt.

Dates:

Open Fridays and Saturdays, September 21st through October 27th.

Mazes:

  • *New for 2012* Madame Fatale’s Cavern of Terror – Madame Fatale has just passed her final psychological evaluation after a decade of incarceration. Join her for the Grand Re-Opening of her museum of oddities and wax. You’re on her guest list; she and her friends will be dripping mad if you don’t show up!
  • Mysteria – Prepare to enter into a new dimension where nothing is as it appears. The world of Mysteria… your senses will never be the same! Enter at your own peril!
  • Holiday Horror – The holidays are right around the corner… EVERY corner! Get ready to experience all of the holidays like never before in this horrific attraction.
  • Carnevil - Join the circus like you wanted to when you were a kid… permanently! This is not your run-of-the-mill Big Top. Only the most determined will make it out alive.
  • Club Blood - This popular night club has never been so bloody good! The club’s exotic dancers are dying to meet you. Come in for a bite. Stay for as long as you like. In fact, you can stay forever!
  • Massacre Manor – The Manor is for sale. Never mind the rumors of murder and torture – it’s priced to sell! Potential buyers adescend into a fortress of fear and encounter many of the Manor’s inhabitants – most of them long since departed.
  • Slaughter House – Looking for a good cut of fresh meat?  You’ve come to the right place.  The butcher shop is open and you never know who – or what – is on the chopping block.  A real meat-lovers delight!
  • Urget Scare – A deadly plague is spreading with destructive speed.  At the local hospital, the virus has begun spreading from patient-to-patient.  If the virus doesn’t kill you, fear might!
  • Wolf Pack – The moon is full and there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.  There is something in the woods… and it’s hungry.  Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?  You will be!
  • CornStalkers - This frightful cornfield will scare the yell out of you!  Countless scarecrows rule the overgrown ruins of this formerly vibrant community.  Intruders beware!  These guardians of rubble take their jobs very seriously.
  • Cut Throat Cove – Meet the motley crews of sunken ships, left deserted on this island. But mind yer steps – they’ve been waitin’ for rescue for over 100 years.
  • Tombstone Terror-Tory – Covered bridges and foggy terrain disguise the evil that lurks in every direction aboard this midnight train. But don’t be alarmed. You’re guaranteed to make it to your final destination!

Shows:

  • *New for 2012* Graveyard Shift
  • *New for 2012* Blood Drums
  • Hot Blooded

Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion

Doswell, Virginia

There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.  Screams of pure panic pierce the night. There’s nowhere you’re safe in the most immersive horror experience in the Mid-Atlantic region — Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion.The bloodcurdling horror and nightmarish madness of Halloween Haunt features ghastly creatures emerging from the darkness, highly-intense and bone-chilling attractions and some of the most hair-raising rides on the planet like the Intimidator 305 and Dominator roller coasters! Halloween Haunt is included free with park admission.  Kings Dominion Gold and Cedar Fair Platinum 2012 Season Passholders can enjoy unlimited admission to Halloween Haunt. Halloween Haunt is intended for mature audiences.  This event is not recommended for children.

In addition, Zombie Invasion  will kick off this year’s haunt on September 28th. This event will be a preview of terrors to come during our Halloween season and allows guests to experience the event in costume, a HAUNT first. Guests can come in make up or be zombified by professional make up artists at the park. In addition, guests will have access to our always thrilling ride attraction line up.

Dates: Open Weekend Nights, September 28th through October 28th.

Mazes:

  • *New for 2012* No Vacancy - The guest rooms have been prepared and the staff is eagerly awaiting your arrival. Welcome to the Inn at Darkside Manor! Enjoy the best of yesteryear and take a break from the hectic pace of today. Enjoy a cocktail in the Gentlemen’s Lounge or sit back and enjoy a classic in our impressive Library. Just be warned – once you check in… you will never check out.
  • Outbreak: The Evolution - A virus has taken over a local town and there’s limited hope of survival.
  • Doll Factory – In an abandoned toy factory a psychotic serial killer turns his beautiful victims into life-size porcelain dolls for his personal collection.
  • Camp Killauee – With the mysterious disappearance of campers, the nights of fun are done and murder is the new camp game.
  • Club Blood - The infamous vampire night club ”takes another bite” out of your nightlife!
  • Slaughter House - A one of a kind factory tour to see how your favorite meats make it on to the table.
  • Cornstalkers - Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • Blue Ridge Bloodbath – Welcome to a mountain family’s twisted home bloodbath.
  • Medieval Macabre – As plague ravages the land, the graveyards are full, but there is always room for more.
  • Toxic Plague – Brave the twisted tunnels of the putrid sewers as malignant millipedes and rotten rodents crawl out of their dank holes to feast on your flesh.

Scare Zones:

  • *New for 2012* Cleaver Brothers Carnival - Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls you have seen the rest now step right up and experience the best. The Cleaver Brothers have set up their midway and invite you to experience a carnival like no other. Enter a world where the extraordinary comes to life and your worst nightmares will seem like a pleasant dream.
  • *New for 2012* Primevil: Thw Kuru Curse - Set in a distant jungle, the inhabitants here have lived with one rule… eat or be eaten. In this cannibalism filled land you will get a chance to explore this long forgotten cursed village. Watch your step and steer clear of the locals – their idea of a great meal will be your living nightmare.
  • Ironworx – Journey into science fiction past and future to explore a sinister, steamy subculture of  a world that never was, but might have been.
  • The Lair – A small clan of vampires has taken refuge in the dark.
  • Necropolis -  At night the fog thickens and the dead will rise to take your soul in order to enter the great beyond.
  • Feary Tales - When the Brothers Grimm set out to tell stories from the countryside, they never imagined the dark horrors and unhappy endings they would encounter.

Shows:

  • Uprising
  • Elvira’s Supersition
  • Blood Drums
  • Nigh Shift

SCarowinds Halloween Haunt

Charlotte, NC

Carowinds is transformed from a “theme park” to a “scream park” as it opens SCarowinds’ Halloween Haunt XIII, the largest, most horrific Halloween event in the Carolinas. The thirteenth anniversary of SCarowinds promises to be more tormenting, terrifying and bloodier than ever with the addition of more than 500 sinister monsters lurking to terrorize guests at every corner.

SCarowinds’ Halloween Haunt XIII operates on select nights from September 14- October 28 from 7p.m. to midnight and from 7p.m. to 1a.m. on Saturday, October 20 and 28. This event is rated PG-13 and may be too intense for young children and is not recommended for those under the age of 13. No costumes or masks are permitted in to this event.

Mazes:

  • Fury – An experimental military drug cocktail that mutates, disfigures and weaponizes its human subjects  who are now pitted against mankind.
  • Cornstalkers - Scarecrows ready for the new harvest of flesh.
  • The Asylum – Insanity is your only hope of forgetting the horrific sights and sounds within this twisted Asylum.
  • Last Laff 3D – Clowns and circus freaks are looking for fresh blood to continue their demented performances.
  • Camp Killauee – With the mysterious disappearance of campers, the nights of fun are done and murder is the new camp game.
  • Defex - A “disassembly line” for defective toys.
  • Silver Scream Sinema:  - A “sinematic” tour of some of the creepiest horror films ever made.
  • Dead Inn: - Bed bugs are the least of your worries as the over-attentive staff kills to ensure a good night’s sleep.

Scare Zones:

  • Feeding Frenzy - Blood-thirsty horde of hardcore vampires terrorize this gritty, high-impact scare zone.
  • The Cemetery - Unsettled spirits await you in the mist on the grounds of the Cemetery.
  • The Playground – It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
  • Executive Graveyard: Watch your back while wondering through this sacred graveyard as the dead have their rotting eyes on you.

Shows:

  • Blood Drums
  • Eternal Jamation
  • Creatures of the Night

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Haunt News, Haunt Profiles, Haunt Reviews, International Haunts, Knott's Scary Farm, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Virginia | 5 Comments »

Haunt Review: Knott’s Scary Farm 2011

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

This past weekend we kicked off our seasonal “Haunt Stalking” with a trip to the original theme park Halloween Haunt, Knott’s Scary Farm (KSF). We have a special affinity for KSF as it was the first haunt we went to 19 years ago, which began our ongoing obsession with haunts. In the past, Knott’s has offered some of the most original and scary mazes around, such as Dominion of the Dead, Nightmares, Uncle Ernie’s Madhouse, Red Moon Massacre, Santa Claws Mountain, Curse of the Werewolf, Deadman’s Wharf, Toxichem, and Revenge of the Dead. However, over the past few years we have become concerned that the original scare factory seems to be losing its touch and becoming a monster retirement home.

Last year, we were very disappointed with KSF as many of its mazes felt dated and the scares were few and far in between. With Universal now offering one of the scariest and most elaborate haunts in Southern California and smaller haunts such as Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, The Haunted Trail, and Sinister Pointe introducing new scare tactics, it seemed as if KSF was riding off in a hearse to the haunt graveyard.

There was excitement about Knott’s new 2011 mazes, Delirium, Endgames, and Invasion Beneath, which promised to continue the innovation we saw in last year’s Virus Z. In addition, older mazes like Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre were supposed to be upgraded to become “more sinister” experiences.

Going to KSF this year, we were somewhat skeptical, but also hopeful, about their ability to ramp up the scares. So, this year, we’re glad to say that KSF was successful in pumping some new blood into their haunts. Overall, 2011 is more elaborate and scarier than it has been over the past few years. We like the direction that they are headed in, but it still doesn’t have the level of intensity that we’ve come to expect over the past 19 years.

REVIEWS:

One our ‘Terror-spondents” wore a  heart rate monitor to measure how scary the mazes really were by seeing how much their pulse increased. We’ll include these new pulse ratings along with our traditional 1-5 skull rating system. We do our best not to spoil the mazes for those who’ve yet to experience them, so we won’t provide scare-by-scare reviews, but we will share highlights and our overall opinions on the effectiveness of the mazes.

MAZES

Lockdown – The Asylum: The inmates really are running the asylum in this nightmare prison, and insanity reigns supreme. The inmates are out of their cells and their minds. And don’t scream for help, this hostile takeover has the authorities running for cover!

Last year, we were thoroughly disappointed with our experience inside this maze. It was low energy and we even saw one monster accidentally scare another. However, this year Lockdown is by far the most improved and even scariest KSF maze of 2011! The monsters were rampaging all over, literally chasing us down the dark corridors where it almost became hard to catch our breath between scares. While many of the scares in this maze still rely heavily on the monsters hiding around the corner, they accented their scares with loud banging and had two sided walls where they could scare you twice around the same corner. The  loud sirens and mix of flashing lights and dark rooms added to the maze’s disorientating effect.

As a theme, Lockdown is getting a little old and generic. But with this year’s energetic talent and amped up scares it’s hard to say it should be replaced. Perhaps Knott’s can create a new way for us the experience the madness inside the Asylum in 2012?

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 4.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +46

Delirium *(New for 2011): In the deep recesses of the mind, on the clouded brink of sanity, lies the wasteland of Delirium. A place so gruesome that our imaginations fall short in comprehending its horrors. Reality slips away as the line between the waking world and nightmare dissolve. Welcome to complete madness.

After escaping Lockdown, you immediately go into this maze. While it’s nice to go from one maze to another, it also can be distracting as it would be better for guests to have a moment to catch their breath, and reset their pulse, before venturing directly into another maze.

Like Lockdown, this maze is an indirect sequel to the past Asylum mazes where now we’re going inside the mind of one of the demented patients. The entrance is amazingly elaborate where we have to enter the “mouth of madness” and then pass through the stomach of the bloody beast.  This opening scene features enlarged animated eyes, teeth and claws reaching for you, and it really draws you into Delirium’s nightmarish dimensions.

Once inside, we encountered many disturbing scenes, which included people spewing cockroaches, monstrously large flesh-eating maggots, and hideously bloody monsters hiding under the beds. This maze also featured some of most interesting lighting effects and props at KSF. It’s obvious that they put some time and money into this maze. We did notice a few familiar scares from past mazes like Malice in Wunderland and Nightmares, but they were used in new ways and would only be obvious to veteran Haunt Stalkers.

What we enjoyed most about Delirium was the fact that they didn’t just rely on the typical ”monsters around the corner” scare. They used new scare tactics such as monsters in the ceilings, walls, and under the floors. They also had a couple of double scares where the monsters teamed up to terrorize victims. This was definitely the best of the new mazes and lived up to its hype. We hope they continue to make moderate changes to this mazes to keep the nightmare fresh in years to come.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 4.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 3.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +30

Terror of London: Step back in time and into the fog-filled streets of London where a host of infamous characters are on the prowl terrorizing city dwellers.

 

This maze still has some of most elaborate sets at KSF and has kept a consistent level of  scariness over the past few years. This year, there did seem to be many more monsters inside this maze as we were immediately assaulted by multiple monsters during the first scene, which takes place inside a London pub.

This maze has a good mix of monsters who are there to scare and those who’s presence is simply to add to the eerie atmosphere. Our favorite moment was in the outdoor graveyard where we encountered a surprisingly new and loud scare.  We liked the extended brothel and sewer scenes. And per our review last year, we like that in the final scene they switched out the Dr. Frankenstein laboratory for a dark and bloody torture chamber, which better fits with the proceeding scenes. We believe that maze may have a couple more years of “death” left in it at KSF.

 

 

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 4 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 3.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +21

 

Slaughterhouse: Farmer Willy will think you are prime beef as he sets out to auction you off to the highest bidder, tenderize you with his chainsaw, and grind you into a tasty meat treat.

This maze features some of Knott’s goriest set pieces. One of our favorite scenes is still the human head garden which reminds us of the 80′s classic movie Hotel Hell. This year’s incarnation was consistent with last year but there seemed to be fewer monsters compared with last year and many of the monsters’s masks looked like, rubber masks.  It also would of been better had more of the slaughter “victims” been real actors in makeup opposed to dummies and animatronic props.

If Knott’s decides to continue Farmer Willy’s the mayhem, which they probably will, they should redesign the layout, improve the lighting effects and props, and bring in more real-life victims.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 2.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 2.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +17

The Doll Factory: A twisted museum of death and disfigurement as you are pursued by the Marionette Murderer, a psychotic killer who turns his beautiful victims into life-size porcelain dolls.

This year we were the only ones inside the maze which made a big difference compared to our experience last year. Most of the monsters act out scenes to create a sense of creepiness, but we were rarely startled, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as each maze is to designed to offer guests a different experience. The highlight of the maze is the back-bending, backwards-walking doll girls who are extremely disturbing to look at. There are some elaborate scenes, such as the doll sewing room and mannequin freezer, but many are showing their age and wear from the years of use.

This will be the Doll Factory’s fifth and final year, and while it seems to have been a haunt favorite, we believe it’s truly run its course…3 years ago.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 2.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 1.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +8

Dia De Los Muertos in 3D: The screams of La Llorona echo around you and the creatures of the night crawl from their crypts.

This maze is known more for its design and 3D effects rather than scares. Visually, the maze is very stimulating, with a lot of black light and bright colors. There are also some very cool looking scenes, like the church, graveyard, Amazon jungle, and Aztec sacrifice temple. However, this year, the maze had nearly no monsters in i,t and any ones we did encounter seemed tired and lazy with their scare tactics, which was very disappointing. Perhaps our timing was bad, but this maze also wasn’t very scary in years past. One room that did get us scared was the one with hanging skeleton piñatas, where some turned out to be real-life monsters.

While we’re screaming “no mas” for this maze, we assume that KSF will bring it back again next year. !Que horror!

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 1 Skull
  • Pulse Rating: +6

Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre in 3D: It’s the greatest slaughter on earth with clown carnage galore!


 

 

 

Back in 1992, the first maze we ever went in was Uncle Ernie’s Madhouse, a clown maze which scared the crap out of us (like an unloading clown car). But over the years, we’ve grown tired of the KSF clown mazes, which have basically featured the same sets with different names (e.g., Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns, Killer Clown Kollege).

This year, the most current reincarnation of the clown maze for the past few years, Uncle Bobo’s, was revamped, and the improvements are noteworthy. While it still has a tone of  “humorous horrors,” they also added some more dark scenes to really distrub those who suffer from Coulrophobia (fear of clowns). We particularly liked the ice cream room, which featured a decaying clown corpse frozen inside an ice cream cone.

The killer clowns inside also have stepped it “right up” and were more aggressive and menacing than in years past. Our criticism is that this maze is still all about the “monster around the corner” scares, which are very predictable and not scary. Even 19 years ago, Uncle Ernie’s featured clowns on bungees who jumped off of platforms at unsuspecting guests.

It seems no matter how much we cry, like the tears of a clown, a clown-based maze will be an ongoing signature of KSF. Therefore, we can expect Uncle Bobo’s or another crazy clown uncle to return to next year’s haunt. As long as they continue to be more scary than funny, we’ll go along with it.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 2 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +26

Cornstalkers: Plunge into rows and rows of rotting corn and try to evade the blood thirsty monstrosities seeking to impale you on their razor sharp scythes.

This maze is exactly the same as in previous years. The sets do seem to get more basic as the years go on, but it is one of the darker mazes at KSF with very narrow walkways that provide a suspenseful and fun journey through the set up cornfield. There also is an impressively large animatronic monster featured in the maze’s final scene. Some of the scarecrow masks and costuming could be more elaborate, as they look very similar to the Batman Scarecrow villain masks.

There actually seemed to have been too many monsters inside this maze. There were so many, not all of them could even hide. This is also a maze that is scariest when you go through it in a small group. If you end up in a line inside the maze, the scare factor diminishes significantly. Unless, you suffer from formidophobia.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 3 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +30

Virus Z: A small town is overrun by infected cannibals, zombies and blood-thirsty corpses.

Last year this maze was one of the best. This year it was lame. We guess it hit the sophomore slump, which we’ve seen before with other mazes, such as Cornstalkers and Lockdown. While it still has a very impressive set and some of the better make up effects,  the monsters were low energy and lazy. We even missed the vending machine zombie who scared the mess out of us last year. The best scene of this maze is the office set, where we found the monsters with the most energy lurking in the cubicles. The other problem with this maze is that it has many large open areas, so it is harder to get scared. Coupled with lazy monsters and it becomes an instant bore. Next year, they need to create tighter walkways and give the monsters some vitamin B12 before this maze’s rating becomes a buried skull.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 1.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +6

Fallout Shelter: Where the insane residents haven’t seen the sun since the Atomic Age.

There was a slight improvement to this maze over last year’s version. Once again, we were the only ones inside, so we received the monsters’ full attention. This maze does have some extraordinary animatronic props, and it’s very claustrophobic in sections. The problem with Fallout Shelter is that the story isn’t coherent and the theme is hard to get. In addition, it’s considered a 3D maze, but the 3D effects are minimal, so it’s hard to tell if there was anything that was really supposed to be in 3D. If anything, the 3D glasses merely cause a sense of disorientation, which makes everything a bit fuzzy and actually does contribute to the fear. But if this maze does return next year, we’d like to see some more props and a bit more 3D effects.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 2.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +24

Sleepy Hollow Mountain: Travel thought the dark woods of Sleepy Hollow featuring the legendary headless horseman along with ghosts, ghouls, witches and goblins.

This is a haunt layover on Knott’s famous Timber Mountain Log Ride. This was a little better than last year, when it debuted. The potential for this attraction is great, but it still falls short. It still has the problem of having very few monsters. In the past haunt versions of the log ride, we remember there being many more monsters attacking from the sides of the waterways. On the final lift hill where there are a lot of great places for monsters to pop out, it just never happened. It didn’t happen last year either. We do wonder if CAL OSHA, which has been much stricter on theme parks in recent years, has had any impact on where monsters can be inside the ride.

There are some great looking set pieces, and the mountain’s atmosphere helps to sustain the ride, but at the end of the night, the effect of a good haunt is lost without the presence of monsters terrorizing us through out the ride.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 2 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +18

Endgames: Warriors of the Apocalypse: The world as we know it has ended.  The survivors in this barren desert have scavenged to rebuild society.  The rich and the powerful have turned all others into slaves for sport.  Enter the post apocalyptic arena where gladiators are forced to battle to their deaths for entertainment.  Are you game?

A new maze for 2011, Endgames was inspired (loosely) by the Hunger Games book series. Most of the maze has a standard post-apocalyptic, industrial feel with a bit of gore mixed in, but the twist to this maze is the addition of video screens throughout. The screens show live feeds of people walking through other parts of the mazes, which would be a great way to heighten the suspense…if those other people were getting scared. Crowds were light on the night we attended, so there wasn’t much action on the video screens. The feed is also streamed live on the Internet, but the live feed is filled with commercials, so if you have friends watching for you in the maze, they might miss you. But we do appreciate the addition of the interactive video effect. We see some potential in this maze as the years progress. Overall, we didn’t find it to be too scary, but the sets were pretty detailed and interesting.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 3.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 2.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +18

Invasion Beneath: LIVE FROM KNOTT’S BERRY FARM: Details are sketchy but eyewitnesses report that the Calico Mine Ride has been invaded by creatures of unknown origin through a large fissure in the earth’s core.  The creatures posses advanced weaponry and are extremely hostile.  The military has just infiltrated the mountain to try and rescue the survivors and combat the violent attacks.  Stay tuned…

Every time the Mine Ride gets a new theme, we get excited. We remember the old days when the Calico Mine Ride was one of the scariest Haunt attractions, and we hope that a new theme will inject new life into an old favorite for us. Sadly, for at least the past decade, the Mine Ride has not been scary, and 2011 is no exception. The new theme is simply confusing. There are monsters in military fatigues and machine guns. There is evidence of aliens who, to our frustration, never really materialize (imagine how awesome it be to really deck out the Mine Ride with some seriously creepy aliens?). There’s also a scene with three giant grim reapers that does not seem to fit with the theme at all. (Someone didn’t get the memo that Cavern of Lost Souls ended years ago.) Like the log ride, this attraction also lacks the number of monsters needed to make it scary. Again, we suspect that the small spaces between the mine train and the walls are probably an occupational hazard for monsters, and that’s why we don’t see them in there anymore. Despite this year’s disappointing theme, we won’t give up hope for the Mine Train. We know it has the potential to be great. We’ll keep waiting.

Ratings:

  • Haunt Design: 1.5 Skulls
  • Scare Factor: 1.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +9

SCARE ZONES

Ghost Town: This is a Knott’s classic, and walking through the fog-filled streets doesn’t stop being a nerve-wracking  good time!

  • Scare Factor: 4 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +32

 

 

Carnevil: Some disturbing antics from the Crazy Killer Clowns who are on the loose in the streets. These guys are fun and not very scary, but they are engaging with guests and full of pranks. These are also some of the biggest hams and will eagerly pose for your pictures.

  • Scare Factor: 1.5 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +2

 

The Necropolis: This is the newest scare zone, premiering last year.  It features Victorian Steampunk vampires in the most elaborate costumes of all the scare zones. This year, the monsters were much scarier, and it was an improved experience over the first year. The monsters were even scaring people who dared to look down to text or who were walking out of the bathrooms (then having to go back in).

  • Scare Factor: 3 Skulls
  • Pulse Rating: +24

Shows

Ed Alonzo’s Psycho Circus of the Bizarre: The Misfit of Magic brings slight-of- hand, slight-of-mouth and slight-of-mind to this insane, psycho-sensory, twisted production.

This was the only show we stopped to watch, and we’re glad we did. It was very entertaining. We found ourselves wishing the show were actually longer so that we could see more of Ed’s magic tricks. His humor was a bit corny, but it worked. There were a few too many “dance” numbers. If they could replace the dancing with more magic, this show would be awesome. Definitely stop in to see this show if you have the time.

Overall Scare Zone Rating for Knott’s Scary Farm: 3.5 Skulls

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Reviews, Knott's Scary Farm, Southern California | 12 Comments »

2010 Haunt Profile: California’s Great America Halloween Haunt

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Tonight we continue our special Scare Zone report “Cedar Scares,” with a look at California’s Great America’s Halloween Haunt located in Santa Clara, California.

 

Since joining the Cedar Fair family in 2007, California’s Great America began it’s haunt transform in 2008, making this their 3rd year of fears. They are now billing themselves as ”Northern California’s Biggest and Best In-your-face Halloween Experience” and promises to “desecrate California’s Great America with more blood, terror and gore than ever before!”  This blood curdling Halloween Haunt features more than 500 ghastly creatures, six spine-tingling haunted mazes, four themed scare zones, one themed attraction,  and live stage shows.

This year’s 6 mazes includes the 3 of Cedar Fair’s favorite haunt themes;  Cornstalkers, Club Blood (why does every Cedar Scare park have to have this lame maze?), and Slaughterhouse.

There are also 3 mazes, unique to this park, that haunt stalkers can find this year.

Toy Factory: Once a place where dreams were made, this toy factory is now a place where nightmares come true!  The maniacal factory workers are manufacturing a variety of disturbing new toys and novelty items for their demented amusement, using any part available, including human parts.  Buyers beware as your favorite toys have now been turned against you, or you’ve been turned into one of them. This maze sounds slightly familiar to Knott’s Doll Factory or the Dfex maze at Scarowinds.

 

Werewolf Canyon: Be careful as you venture deep into the murky woods through a hunter’s trail where the hunters have become the hunted and a pack of blood-thirsty werewolves havetaken revenge on those who dare invade their domain. With only the full moon’s light to help you navigate through…can you make it out alive? This sounds like it can be a very good maze as the werewolf theme isn’t used frequently at haunts, but it has offered some great chills in years past at Knott’s with haunts like Red Moon Massacre.

Carnevil: Hurry! Hurry! Step right up and don’t be shy! The most gruesome carnival is back in town. Get ready to face your worst childhood fears as demonic clowns and other freaks of nature terrify guests at every corner where they have turned the tables to make you the attraction! The good ole’ clown concept…. nuff said.

In addition to the mazes, Great America takes another lead from Knott’s by converting their log ride into a haunted attraction. This year they are borrowing the Black Widow’s Cavern theme. The ride is described as: “Dare to enter the old, abandoned loggers run, now overrun by deadly spiders.  Get caught in the web of the horrific arachnids as you travel the trough of terror on the old logger’s path of doom.” The one problem with this ride is that unlike Knott’s Timber Mountain log ride, there is no mountain therefore, very few areas for them to stage any real scares.

This haunt also ups the scares with an impressive 4 Scare Zones, with 2 of them being fairly orginal themes to this park. The line up includes:

The Gauntlet:  Deep within the fog, these tortured, scarred souls are out in full force and ready to unleash their fury on anyone who dares to run The Gauntlet!

Dead Man’s Cove: Ahoy mateys! The captain and his cold-blooded crew are in search of their missing treasure, only this treasure isn’t your ordinary booty, it’s your soul!

Underworld Alley:As night falls upon this forsaken graveyard, the deceased awaken from their graves looking to wreak havoc on those brave enough to enter their terror-tory.

Witch Doctor’s Trail: Watch your back! These crazed zombies are under the witch doctor’s spell and out to bring back as many souls as possible to their master.

Overall, this haunt sounds like it’s going to be a great time for Haunt Stalkers in CA’s Bay Area, and we look forward to hearing the reports and reviews from those who visit this year.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Profiles, Haunt Videos, Knott's Scary Farm, Northern California, Screaming Soon | No Comments »

Trip Report: Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween Haunt (Part 2)

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Tonight we complete our trip report from Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween Haunt 2010 part 1.

Returning Mazes

3D Mazes

Dia De Los Muertos: The screams of La Llorona echo around you and the creatures of the night crawl from their crypts. This maze is known more for its design and effects as opposed to scares. This is a very visually stimulating maze, with a lot of black light and bright colors. The 3D isn’t fully effective, so it doesn’t quite make or break this maze.  The monsters tried their best to scare us, but again, they’re using the usual ”around the corner” tactics. I think we can tolerate this maze for only one more season, with a few changes. 2.5 Skulls*

Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre in 3D: It’s the greatest slaughter on earth with clown carnage galore! This maze is supposed to be full of “humorous horrors,” but its theme has run its course, and the humor and horror are slim to none. The clowns seem to get lazier year after year and also look tired of it all. Knott’s should retire the clowns, as even with different names (Carnival of Carnivorous Clowns, Killer Clown Kollege), the clown maze has more or less been the same for over the past 10 years. 1.5 Skulls*

 

The Rest

The Labyrinth: A journey through a forgotten forest and into the dark catacombs that lie beneath a ruined castle. This maze originated as Beowulf Labyrinth Into Darkness in 2007 and served as a movie promo. The following year they dropped the Beowulf name, and three years later we are still wandering through this maze wondering what the storyline is. The first half of this maze is outdoors and is very close to the Montezuma’s Revenge roller coaster, so this section of the maze is compromised by the noise and track lights. The indoor section gets better and offers some fun scares, yet this maze has only about 4 different types of costumes that all the monsters wear, so there isn’t much variety in their looks scene after scene. The monsters also seem to be more focused on being sexy or mysterious as opposed to scary. Again, the old tactic of having monsters stand in a room full of mannequins is used in this maze, and if you just look down at their feet you can tell whether it’s a real person or not. The rock monster at the end is still a very cool prop and does a good job at distracting us before a final scare pops out!   2.5 Skulls*

Black Widow’s Cavern: An abandoned mine overrun by a horrific pack of deadly arachnids. The classic Calico mine train used to be one of the most nerve-wracking rides at haunt, with the inward-facing seats forcing guests to sit with their backs to the wall. However, with the spider theme that started back in 2001 with the Curse of the Spider maze, it’s time to douse this haunted attraction with some bug spray. Even the animatronic spiders looked tired of it! How about using  The Descent as a theme for this ride; now that would be something scary. 2.5 Skulls*

Cornstalkers: Plunge into rows and rows of rotting corn and try to evade the blood thirsty monstrosities seeking to impale you on their razor sharp scythes. This is the most improved maze of the year. When it premiered 2 years ago, it was one of the scariest and most interesting maze concepts. In its 2009 sophomore year, the maze fell way short of its prior glory and was somewhat of a let down. However, they have tweaked some of the issues and made a darker maze with narrow walkways, providing a suspenseful and fun journey through the cornfield. The scarecrow masks and costuming could be more elaborate, as they simply use the Batman Scarecrow villan masks. We also couldn’t find any reference to the Wizard of Oz like they had opening year, but they still use it in the map’s maze description. 3.5 Skulls*

Cornstalkers

Terror of London: Step back in time and into the fog-filled streets of London where a host of infamous characters are on the prowl terrorizing city dwellers. This maze has the best sets and a couple of unique scares. The monsters also do a good acting job, with some convincing British accents. It’s a little disturbing to see some of Jack the Ripper’s infamous rape and murder scenes now being used for our modern day entertainment; nonetheless, they offer some of the maze’s scariest moments. This maze also has one of the most bizarre finales with Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory–we thought he was German(?).  3.5 Skulls*

Slaughterhouse: Farmer Willy will think you are prime beef as he sets out to auction you off to the highest bidder, tenderize you with his chainsaw, and grind you into a tasty meat treat. This maze has has some of the most aggressive monsters and features some very gory set pieces. One of the highlights was the nod to 80′s classic Hotel Hell with the human garden. The scare factor seems to have increased in this year’s incarnation, but the quality of the props is on the lower end of the scale compared with the other mazes. 2.5 Skulls*

The Doll Factory: A twisted museum of death and disfigurement as you are pursued by the Marionette Murderer, a psychotic killer who turns his beautiful victims into life-size porcelain dolls. The concept of this maze is unique and could be interesting, but aside from a few elaborate scenes, most of the maze is just a walk through a dark hallways. This is another long maze where the scares are infrequent.  *2 Skulls

Doll Factory

 

R.I.P., Please

Asylum: Lockdown & Club Blood: These remaining 2 mazes need to be dead and buried. They are barely worth the extra energy and time they require to walk to the backside of the park they’re located in. These mazes suffer from generic themes and low-grade sets.

When the original Asylum premired back in 2003, it was the scariest maze of the year; however, 7 years later, a revised storyline, and the new location have all but ruined the one-time classic. This was also the maze where we saw one monster accidentally scare another (WTF?). This was hilarious to see but a bad show for the monsters.

Club Blood also has had a few infusions of “new blood” over the years, but now the scare supply has run dry. This maze has too much lighting and loud music, which makes it more annoying than scary. It also doesn’t help that the sexy vamps are anything but; one of them looked like a Snookie vampire. This maze was also full of overzealous security guards, as if we were in a real club and a fight was about the break out.

Knott’s better scrap both of these mazes and either extend its investment in the 11 other mazes or create 2 more with unique themes, higher caliber talent, and the new scare tactics that we’ve been dying for. There’s a 2011 opportunity waiting on this side of the park. 1.5 Skull

Returning Scare Zones

Carnevil: More Killer Clowns 1.5 Skull*

Ghost Town: This is a Knott’s classic, and walking through the fog-filled streets doesn’t stop being a nerve-wracking  good time! 4 Skulls*

Scareboy

Shows

Per our own Terror Tips, we don’t spend much time watching any of the shows at haunt, as we would rather go through the mazes. We did catch a portion of the Blood Drums show, which was a high-energy drumming show a la Stomp with the performers in some Steampunk’ish ghoul costumes. We also caught a quick glimpse of The Hanging, which was using the same gags as always—a celebrity walks on stage, makes a pun about their persona, and then gets punched, slapped, thrown, and killed on stage.

Conclusion

While it may sound like we didn’t enjoy our night at the Scary Farm, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Crowd-wise, it was much better than Universal, and as far as overall value, you can’t beat Knott’s. The problem lies in the fact that for repeat visitors (this was our 18th year), there aren’t enough new offerings year after year. Today’s haunt audience is more sophisticated, and Knott’s hasn’t fully invested in refreshing its haunt to bring its scares up to today’s tastes; the haunt of 2010 doesn’t look very different from 2000. In addition, with Universal’s HHN growing year after year and offering more modern terrors, we want to see Knott’s step up its game to remain competitive. We’d hate to see the “granddaddy” of haunts fade away. We don’t take Knott’s Scary Farm for granted, and they shouldn’t take us for granted, either.  We look forward to better and more scares in 2011.

Overall Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween Haunt 2010 rating: 3.5 Skulls*

* Skulls rate on a scale of 5.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Reviews, Knott's Scary Farm, Southern California, Trip Report | 4 Comments »

Trip Report: Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween Haunt (Part 1)

Monday, September 27th, 2010

After having a day to recover (physically and emotionally) from the disastrous opening night at Universal, we dusted ourselves off and headed down to the Scary Farm. This evening couldn’t of been any more different than the one we had at HHN as the park was practically empty! We arrived a little after 6:30, bought our discount tickets, got quickly wanded by security, and within 5 minutes we were inside the gates of doom.  

On a side note –  The one problem Knott’s needs to fix is the parking. The ‘scam’ of blocking the entrance to the main parking lot, forcing you  to either drive directly into the more expensive “preferred parking lot” or drive around another .25 miles to get into the back gate of the main parking lot, is a nuisance and irritating. The truth be told, if you get there early enough, a spot in the main parking lot is the same distance, if not closer, from the entrance as the ”preferred” lot, so we’ll keep driving around if Knott’s insists.

Anyhow, once inside the park we enjoyed an evening with no crowds, energetic monsters, and familiar scares. We did not wait in a single line all night, except for about a 5-minute wait for our second time through Sleepy Hollow Mountain. Also, the monsters should definitely be commended for doing a great job on a day that saw temperatures in the 100s. Even the monsters in full, furry bunny suits were giving it their all!

Knott’s the grandaddy of theme park haunt events which serves as  an advantage and also as a disadvantage. The advantage is, they have 13 mazes with a wide array of themes, so there’s bound to be something that’ll scare the skeletons out of you. This advantage is also a disadvantage as the number of mazes almost makes it feels as if they are stretched too thin where only a few mazes get the full budget sets and scares while others are just recycled memories from the Haunt scrapyard. Therefore, the experience through Knott’s mazes isn’t always consistent (even in the same maze) nor scary. The other problem is Knott’s has failed to come up with new types of scares. They still rely on the monster in the corner or behind the curtain as the main scare tactic. It’s 2010, and we expect more, how about some surprises from the floor or the Howl-O-Scream style “boo doors” where monsters pop out of seemingly solid walls? Besides these shortcomings Knott’s still offers a fun and fulfilling event that is worth going back to year after year, even if it’s just to be in the Halloween Spirit. So without further ado here is the rundown of the good, the bad, and the Knott-so-scary.

New scare zone:

The Necropolis.This scare zone featured Victorian Steampunk vampires haunting a city of the dead. This was one of  our most anticipated additions for 2010. As promised, the costumes and monsters were very interesting to look at, but as a scare zone there were few set pieces and it was difficult to tell where the zone started and ended. The monsters also paraded around as a group so it was more about atmosphere than scares here. The most impressive costume was the lady with the metal mouth and the wheel-arm guy. Overall, the effectiveness of the zone didn’t reach expectations. We hope they improve on what they’ve started this year. 2 Skulls *

 

Necropolis Scare Zone

New mazes for 2010:

Sleepy Hollow Mountain, featuring the headless horseman legend with ghosts, ghouls, witches and goblins. While we’re happy to say good riddens to Pyromaniax, Sleepy Hollow Mountain was only a little better. The potential was far better than the actual ride. The problem here was the lack of monsters on the ride. We counted only 3 the first time we went on it and 4 the 2nd ride. This is a 4.5 minute long ride therefore it averages less than a scare a minute which isn’t good. With this ride you can see that they were banking on the set pieces and atmosphere to sustain the ride but at the end of the night the effect of a good haunt is loss without the presence of monsters terrorizing us through out the ride. 2.5 Skulls*

 

Sleepy Hollow Mountain

Virus Z, replicates a small town overrun by infected cannibals, zombies and blood-thirsty corpses. This maze was one of the highlights of the night. It had a very impressive set and high energy monsters. The first scene in the diner, is cleverly built with an open design, allowing people inside to get scared while building apprehension to those who are walking up. The vending machine zombie was the best scare of the night! The maze does recycle some past mazes such as the movie theatre room from Horrowood Hotel, and the zombie laden gym from Hatchet High but they are sparingly woven into the new theme so it doesn’t feel like a recycled maze. The maze does have many open areas so it is harder to get scared but the monsters in here are relentless so they attack even if you see them coming.  4 Skulls *

Fallout Shelter, where the insane residents haven’t seen the sun since the Atomic Age. This maze replaced the tired and predictable Alien Annihilation 3-D laser-tag maze with a new and predictable alien 3-D maze. There were some cool sets and it was very claustrophobic in sections which added the experience. The  problem with Fallout Shelter is that the maze is very long so the gap between scares is big. It would of been better to make it a little shorter, and have the scares come faster. In addition, they said it was a 3-D maze, but upon entering we were told we won’t need the glasses until the end.  At the end no one told us when to put on the glasses and it was hard to tell if there was anything that was supposed to be in 3-D.  2.5 Skulls *

* Skulls rate on a scale of 5.

PART 2 of our trip report, with reviews and ratings on the returning mazes and scare zones, continues HERE

Don’t Leave Yet…

  

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Reviews, Knott's Scary Farm, Southern California, Trip Report | 5 Comments »

2010 Haunt Profile: Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt

Monday, September 20th, 2010

Our tour through Cedar Scares continues tonight with a look at Kings Dominion Halloween Haunt. Kings Dominion is located in Doswell, Virginia, in Hanover County, 23 miles north of Richmond and 83 miles south of Washington, DC, on Interstate 95. The 400-acre park was named after its sister park, Kings Island in Kings Mills, Ohio. Both parks were originally built and owned by Kings Entertainment Company and are now a part of the Cedar Fair family.  While Kings Island was named as a combination of Kings Mills (its location) and Coney Island (the theme park that it was built to replace), Kings Dominion’s name was more than likely a reference to Virginia’s nickname  ”Old Dominion.”

Beginning this Saturday, September 25, the atmos-fear of Kings Dominion will fill with shrieks, screams, and scares as Haunt returns to life.  This year’s line up includes three new mazes, a part of a total of nine mazes, and five scare zones. They also boast having more monsters and creepers than ever before, making Kings Dominion the Mid-Atlantic’s PREMIER Halloween-themed event.

The three new mazes actually are anything but new, with The Doll Factory, The Asylum, and Camp Killaue. All of these mazes can be found at other Cedar Scares parks, and the themes are anything but truly original. Nonetheless, they’re new to this park, so local guests should find these to be real thrillers.

Of the remaining six haunts, once again there’s Club Blood and the Slaughterhouse.  The other four in the line up include the following:

Alien Outpost
We have all heard about Roswell and its alien sightings – but are you aware of Doswell’s? Creatures from outer space have landed – and it does not appear they have come in peace. After venturing through this area, you’ll really want to phone home.

Blue Ridge Bloodbath
Mountain life is slower, less complicated… boring. One family has found a way to add some excitement to their life, and you are the main course. This is not the scenic Blue Ridge you have heard about. Welcome to one family’s twisted Blue Ridge home, welcome to the bloodbath.

Medieval Macabre
As plague ravages the land, sending millions to a hideous demise…survivors seek vengeance for the deaths of their loved ones. Consumed with hatred, they mutilate the innocent as they search for someone to blame. The graveyards are full, but there is always room for more.

Toxic Plague
Grab your bug repellent and face your worst nightmare. All of the slimy, grimy creatures of the night are dying to slither into your hair, ripple across your hand, and ooze over your skin. Brave the twisted tunnels of the putrid sewers as malignant millipedes and rotten rodents crawl out of their dank holes to feast on your flesh.

Here are Scare Zones for 2010:

Carnevil
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages – step right up and fear for your lives. Join us for the best show in town…where our freaks do more than entertain and our clowns are looking for their next meal. Once you enter our midway – you may not get a chance to leave…

Central Stalkway
It’s always midnight in this garden — the question is — is it good or evil? Hidden behind the great mausoleums, stalking behind the trees and rising from the ground, the ghosts and spirits of this cemetery are always looking for a few folks to move in….permanently.

Feary Tales
Jack & Jill…. Hansel & Gretel… Little Dead Riding Hood… Take a walk through our twisted nursery and see the other side of your childhood friends. Go beyond the dead time stories and see what happened when they lived unhappily ever after…

The Harvest
In the twisted hills of old Virginia, the farmers have finished up for the year. Watch your step as our farmers prepare for their next big harvest. The fields and animals get a break as our farmhands turn all of their attention to you.

The Ruins
Journey back in time to an undiscovered land. The rules are simple – eat or be eaten… kill or be killed. Danger is around every corner in a land where ancient rituals and evil collide. Welcome to the ruins.

All in all, Kings Dominion has a very solid line up of mazes in store for this season, and we’re most excited to hear about their new versions of the Doll Factory and The Asylum, along with the new Ruins Scare Zone.

For the most up-to-date information regarding Kings Dominion or Haunt, please visit www.kingsdominion.com.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Profiles, Haunt Reviews, Knott's Scary Farm, Virginia | 7 Comments »

Cedar Scares: Scarowinds

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Tonight we continue our special Scare Zone report “Cedar Scares,” with a look at Scarowinds haunt located at the Carowinds park in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Joining the other Cedar Fair parks, Scarowinds transforms into a haunted playground during the month of October. This was the opening weekend, and the park is marketing 2010 as “Scarowinds X,” claiming that this is their “10th year of fear,” which is not quite accurate as last year was marketed as the “10th season of screams.” Given the fact they started haunt in 2000, this really is the 11th season. Nonetheless, this should be another good year for Scarowinds.

This year’s haunt features 8 mazes and 3 scare zones. Once again, Cornstalkers and the Asylum find their way into the line-up of mazes. In addition, there is Laff 3D, which is yet another deranged clown–themed maze. There also is Camp Killauee, which is similar to Dorney Park’s Backwoods maze,which loosely references Friday the 13th. They also have the Slaughterhouse, which is a long-running maze at Knott’s Scary Farm, taking its victims though a human meat factory.

There are three original mazes to Scarowinds that haunt stalkers can find this year.

Defex: This is a new maze for 2010 and is simply described as a “disassembly line” for defective toys. This sounds slightly familiar to Knott’s Doll Factory.

Silver Scream Sinema: A “sinematic” tour of some of the creepiest horror films ever made. Perhaps you’ll become an extra in a nightmare where our director makes the final CUT.

Dead Inn: Bed bugs are the least of your worries as you desperately try to check out from our quaint little inn, in one piece. Our over-attentive staff would kill to ensure you get a good night’s sleep!

The scare zone line up  for 2010 includes 3 terrifying areas that will make the journey through out the park more forebording.

Feeding Frenzy: Our blood-thirsty horde of hardcore vampires goes straight for the throat in this gritty, high-impact scare zone.

The Cemetery: Death is nothing compared to what the unsettled spirits of our not-so-dearly departed have in store as they await you in the mist on the grounds of the Cemetery.

The Playground:Swing by to let our twisted tikes show you that “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”

This haunt sounds like it’s another winner from the Cedar Scare haunt collection, and we look forward to hearing the reports and reviews from haunt stalkers who visit Scarowinds this year. Here is a special report from WCNC of what we can expect to see at this year’s Scarowind “X”. In addition, here is a clip courtesy of our friends at Screamscape.

Open on weekend nights from September 17, 2010 through October 31, 2010.

7pm-Midnight (1am on Oct 23 & 30)

Admission:

General (all ages) $42.99

VIP add-on: $16.99 Includes Pre Scare dinner buffet and early haunt entry.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Profiles, Knott's Scary Farm, North Carolina | 5 Comments »

2010 Haunt Profile: Dorney Park

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Since joining the Cedar Fair family in 1997, the curse of Knott’s Halloween Haunt has spread across to the other parks in the company chain . Tonight we continue our special Scare Zone report “Cedar Scares,” with a look at Dorney Park located in one of the U.S. Haunt capitals, Pennsylvania.

Dorney Parkis one of the most popular amusement parks on the East Coast centrally located between NYC and Philadelphia in Allentown, PA. . The park features six roller coasters, other adult and children’s rides, and Wildwater Kingdom waterpark. The park itself is said to be haunted which adds to the intrigue of this haunt. It is said that there is a ghost that haunts a part of the park near, what is called the Dominator. This is an old building that houses an arcade, a few small shops and eateries. Connecting two of the eateries is a corridor that leads to an old mine shaft. There have been reports of a man seen by the door that appears and disappears just as quickly. There have also been reports of strange noises and occurrences throughout the building.

Dorney’s 2010 haunt will feature a few mazes that can also be found at other Cedar Point haunts including; Club Blood, The Asylum, and Cornstalkers. Dorney’s haunt actually features an impressive 11 mazes listed under the categories of outdoor and indoor mazes. It seems that some of the outdoor mazes are actually scare zones but a few seem to be interesting as stand alone haunt concepts. We’ll give you a run down of their “unique” outdoor and indoor mazes along with our impressions.

Outdoor Mazes

Backwoods: Wilderness survival is essential at Camp Cudie.cThis reminds us of Camp Gonnagetcha, which is the log ride haunt that was at Knott’s and California’s Great America park in prior years. This theme is always scary for those of us who grew up with Friday the 13th.

Terror Square: Souless outlaws wanted Alive or Dead!Western themes aren’t used as frequently at haunts but tend to be very effective. Of course Knott’s defines this theme with their ongoing Ghost Town scare zone. There’s nothing creepier than walking through a dark and foggy Ghost Town.

The Gauntlet:   The condemned criminals and slaves move to battle those who decide to enter.This also was a scare zone at Knott’s in years past. This theme takes on the medieval era and allows for some interesting monsters and ScareActors.

Pirate Passage: Curious Captain Brown, a scourge of the seven seas dares you to pass. His crew is three sheets to the wind so don’t be caught or you may become shark bait!This is obviously a scare zone and uses another popular haunt theme, killer pirates. Once again, Knott’s covered this theme a few years ago with Red Beard’s Revenge. This maze actually was effective so a Scare Zone with Pirates has the potential to shiver some timbers as well.

Headstone Hollow: These zombies have risen in search for food, trespassers beware, they’re hungry for you! While the zombie theme has been done so many ways and times it’s actually nice to see a zombie maze that takes it’s lead from the original Night of the Living Dead instead of the radiated, toxic infused, post-apocalyptic zombie movies of the past 10 years.  The effectiveness will be contingent on how well the ScareActors pull of their rolls as the menacing undead hungry for our flesh.

Death Trap:Enter this sick world of twisted games as our mastermind’s confessions unfold.This outdoor maze is their version of Saw. The death trap concept isn’t the most terrifying one, but they can have fun with this if haunt victims are “forced” to engage in the games.

Indoor Mazes

Psycho Circus 3D: The circus is in town for one night only and our crazy clowns plan on delivering a killer performance.Clowns… Yikes! Over the years there have been many variations of the killer clown theme. Some go for for scary and others go more for the laughs.When this theme is accented with 3D the clowns can appear closer and scarier than they really are.

Mansion House Hotel: Once a luxurious stop for travelers of quiet distinction now a popular stay for those who appreciate the charm of the unusual. Our question, is it a mansion or a house? This Dorney Park original has the potential to be very scary with a mansion/house that’s full of unexpected surprises. They say curiosity killed the cat so keep your loved ones and nearby strangers close as you investigate this maze. Our thoughts that this is the most elaborate of the four indoor mazes. In fact, they posted some blueprint photos on their facebook page and the layout looks enormous!

We look forward to hearing the reports and reviews from haunt stalkers who dare to enter Dorney’s Haunt. All in all, this one sounds like it’s worth a trip to PA to check out and it proudly continues Knott’s haunt tradition.

 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Haunt Reviews, Knott's Scary Farm, Pennsylvania | 4 Comments »

Cedar Scares: Halloweekends

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

While we’ve already provided some in depth coverage on Knott’s Scary Farm (KSF), it wouldn’t be “fair” if we didn’t also provide info on its scary relatives across the country. Since 1997, Knott’s has been a part of the Cedar Fair theme park chain, which includes California’s Great America, Valleyfair, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park, Carowinds, and Cedar Point. Since joining the Cedar Fair family, the curse of Knott’s Halloween Haunt has spread across to the other parks. In this special Scare Zone report “Cedar Scares,” we’ll review the Cedar Fair family of horrifying haunts across the country.

Tonight we’ll start our report with a look at Cedar Point’s Halloweekends.  This year’s event will start the weekend of Sept. 17th and run through Halloween. The first Halloweekends took place at the end of the 1997 season (after Knott’s joined the family) with just a few haunted houses and minimal Halloween decorations. Over the years, the seasonal celebration has grown to much greater proportions with terrors found throughout the park with different fear factors. The event has become so popular, in fact, that attendance during Halloweekends often rivals the busiest summer days, and the number of weekends has been expanded to accommodate the demand. However, unlike Knott’s massive line up of mazes, Halloweekends features a modest four mazes. Nonethless, they have a few interesting mazes and scare zones in their line up (along with a few familar names).

First up, there’s Club Blood, which is a duplication of the “vampire-saturated nightclub” maze at KSF. Next, there’s Dr. D. Mented’s Asylum For the Criminally Insane, which sounds similar to the Asylum: Lockdown maze at KSF. This one is fairly self-explanatory. Then there’s Happy Jack’s Toy Factory, which is described as, “When is a doll not a doll? When it’s a fiendish, evil creature seeking revenge on humankind. You’ll never turn your back on a stuffed bunny again!” This maze seems like an interesting hybrid of Knott’s The Doll Factory and Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre. Finally, there’s Eerie Estate, which is a completely unique concept for Halloweekends. In this maze, victims enter a “stately limestone mansion that harbors deep, dark secrets, guarded by ancient inhabitants seeking revenge and looking for more permanent residents”.

Halloweekend ups the scares with an impressive five Scare Zones, compared to Knott’s three. The line up includes: Terror Island (undead pirates pillage and plunder), The Fright Zone (a fog-filled street full of sneaky sliders), Fear Faire (mid’evil monsters), Carnevil (crazy clowns and sideshow freaks—also a zone at KSF), and Cornstalkers (this is a full maze as KSF and features corn trail filled with scarecrows who are bored with just frightening the birds).

Cedar Point is actually a significantly bigger park than Knott’s, which raises the question as to why their haunt line up is rather small. Perhaps as the years go by and Knott’s has more “retired” haunts to share with the rest of the Cedar Fair family, we’ll see the Halloweekends maze line-up increase. With the addition of at least three more mazes, we’d be enticed to make the trip out to Ohio to check out Halloweekends. Until then, we’ll keep our fears near with Knott’s.

Halloweekends Info:
Hours

Sunday: 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Friday: 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM
Saturday: 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM

Special Hours: 10/10: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Admission

Junior: 19.99
Ages 3-61, under 48″ tall in shoes
Senior: 19.99
Age 62 and over
Funday (Regular One-Day): 45.99
For guests ages 3-61 who are 48″ tall or taller
Starlight: 29.99
Valid after 6 p.m. Fri., 5 p.m. Sat. & 4 p.m. Sun.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Haunt Reviews, Haunt Videos, Knott's Scary Farm, Ohio | 9 Comments »