Halloween events huge at US parks

And then you have parks like Herseypark that stays open into the Christmas season, and the whole town has some sort of Christmas themed thing going on. But i guess that's what happens when you have one company that owns almost everything out there.

Having done Halloween events at a few parks I stand by my assertion that no one does it better than Knotts.

Moosh already knows I agree with him. Haunt at Knotts is the best Halloween event I've been to, by far. The amount of effort they put into the mazes, the spooks (especially the sliders), the shows, and the general atmosphere, definately makes the extra price of admission well worth it.

Having seen the special on Universal's Hollywood Horror Nights, however, has me wanting to try that one out sometime. It looks like the mazes have the potential of being better than Knott's.

Argh! Just found out some of my friends are going to Howl-O-Scream tonight in Tampa (and I can't go!). Never having done the EVENT at Knotts, my two favorites were Kennywood aand BGT.

Don't get me wrong, I loved HHN, but unlike Joe and a few others, I was *overwhelmed* by the crowds and really only got to "relax and enjoy" the Bill and Ted show....which was, you guessed it, EXCELLENT!

I've only done SFA's, PKD's, and BGW's. I bet you can guess which one was best...by far.

Does anyone know if Knotts Halloween event is better than Universal Orlando?

Everyone knows it is. ;)

You can't compare the two are they are two different types of events. I honestly can't really describe how they are different, they just are. Experience both and you'll know what I mean.

-SWooSH

no kidding its popular! I was at BGW last Saturday, and they RAN OUT OF PARKING SPACES!!!!

I overheard someone saying it took them an hour to get into the parking lot.

The howl-0-scream was excellent! and their new front of the line coupons are a great extra perk for just $15 with season pass. (good only for the haunted attractions and magic show.

Well I just came back from HHN and it seemed to me that it was very adult oriented (not sexually just the nature of the houses.....well a little bit sexually **see midway of bizzare**). But it was very gruesome and pretty darn scary to me. I just cant see how something can be better. Is it better in the scary sense or in the quality? I have never been to knotts but I would like to here what someone who has been to both think and see how they would compare and contrast!

Well...Knott's has two really good indoor rides (the Timber Mountain Log Ride and the Calico Mine Train) which are rethemed each year just for the Haunt. Universal has no such rides. I suppose they could retheme JP if they wanted, but still wouldn't be the same as the Log Ride. And there is no comparison to the Mine ride at all. These two rides alone make a BIG difference.

Then there is the acting talent which I think is better at Knott's. The Hanging show is better then Universal's equivilent too. (Aren't those Bill and Ted characters getting a little long in the tooth to be using still.?)

The lighting and special effect throughout is also better at Knotts I think...as is the entertainment package in general. THe mazes...hmmmm...that's a tough one. Some years KBF has done very well, other years or mazes not so hot. And Universal has done some amazing stuff in this regard...so I am going to call it a draw or even a slight edge to Universal.

Finally...you have to remember that Knott's was the one that started all this. It's worth it to check out just because of that fact alone.

Oh...and they still have kick butt rides like Ghostrider, Xcelerator and soon Silver Bullet to go with the Haunt goodness too. :)

...and chicken ;)

I could almost swear that *my* Universal did some really cool stuff to Jaws one year....the only time since the very first ride on it that I was able to ENJOY the attraction. To me, unless they're willing to really *update, upgrade, and enhance* the thrill and chill of Jaws, it looks like THE next attraction to go the way of Kong...

Gotta get back there with the dual-park thing, even though the reviews I've heard thus far have been less than stellar...when I get MY shot at it, the entire CityWalk complex will be *spookified*, and those boats they use for the on-site hotels, well....let's just call them the *Ships of the Damned*....

"The rivers will run red I tell ya" Capt Murphy, SeaLab as told to 'gator, and reported in an upcoming issue of ARN&R...

*** This post was edited by rollergator 10/24/2004 2:45:18 PM ***

The two park thing was alright, but I cant compare because this was my first year. Another thing I noticed was that on the DVD (I brought it and its a great buy!) they talked about in the end how they are thinking about using both parks and using a more hollywood/movie theme theme. But I think I would have liked it when the islands had the altered themes (the video focused on the year of the caretaker), but the scare zones work pretty well and it makes for the rest of the park to be a calm down zone (I know some people who doesnt like to be 100% submerged in the fright and want to be able to sit down and relax a little).

Also being that universal wants the event to be a totally different experience at night from the park in the daytime I dont think they will "spook" up an attraction, but you would think w/ all the universal monsters and successful horror flicks that they would create a year around horror attraction. I would love to take a tour of the good guy factory and have something go wrong...........and have a particular little doll try to claim my soul.

Hey im at work and its a little bored lol lol ;)

I think it was because of Kennywood. Once they started theirs, other parks seemed to have caught on and realized how much money they could make!