Kings Island Haunt Friday
I'm the biggest fan of Halloween I know, and I tend to find the park haunts to be average, as well. They're still fun for what they are, and beats nothing, but I'm constantly seeking better.
Went to Ghostly Manor last night and was very, very, very pleasantly surprised. What a huge difference. The gags and scares were non-stop, both animatronic and human. Such a good time. I'm glad I went, and I'll be back again soon.
^^I can understand that perspective in a way. I mean, if you really expect to be genuinely scared by an amusement park haunt event (and you're not a 13-yo girl), you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.
Having done Cedar Fair's Halloween events since the very first Halloweekends at CP, I expect no more than a few jumps from mostly high school - college actors in houses that can be set up in a week or two. I also expect to laugh at the absurdity of Halloween.
With those expectations, I've been beyond satisfied (even though the haunts might be average in comparison to some dedicated event). As the Halloween season has become increasingly important, the level of detail keeps improving too (especially in the houses that are left standing year round). Oh, and there's always the park's whole collection of rides at night, some in fog, that have people making trips all year alone.
Gonch, what would it take to truly frighten you, and is it something that can even be done in a walk-through haunted house? If you go in knowing that you aren't going to get hurt and that there isn't any real threat of danger, then unless you have a specific fear (tight spaces, the dark, spiders, snakes, etc.) it's hard to imagine anything that really gets to you.
Chris Baker
www.linkedin.com/in/chrisabaker
Jeph said:
With those expectations, I've been beyond satisfied (even though the haunts might be average in comparison to some dedicated event).
With those expectations, I see no value in it or reason to visit. Expecting mediocrity doesn't suddenly make mediocity acceptable.
With that said, I think those were my expectations. I know it's going to be the same old same old. Every amusement park is. That's why I'm generally ok with visiting once every 5 years or so.
It was fine. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 5. Perfectly average. As I mentioned, I'm sure a vast majority of their guests enjoy themselves quite a bit.
Bakeman31092 said:
Gonch, what would it take to truly frighten you, and is it something that can even be done in a walk-through haunted house?
Honestly, nothing. And I've admitted as much many times. I still think the person that figures it out is set to make a fortune. I'm not sure it can be done though.
How do you create a "for real" mindf*ck when the entire premise requires you to suspend disbelief in the first place? That's the great paradox of these things.
What I (we?) found ourselves doing was noticing the scenery, the costumes, the actors more than ever. That's the first sign they're not pulling me in...and I expect that.
Like I said, I love this stuff. I've done highly themed parties for the kids a few years (including backstories, websites, clues, themed invitations and video) and we toss together at least some assemblance of decoration (lights, fog, props) for trick-or-treat night too. I'm one of those people.
I suspect it's like a musician seeing a band play and noticing the musicianship more than the show or a magician seeing another magic act and watching the individual moves more than the overall illusion itself - that's how I feel at these things...especially ones that aren't that outstanding in some way. (and note that 'not outstanding' doesn't equate to 'bad' - it means what it means...not outstanding in any way)
We did Haunted Hoochie a few years back.
When the opening scene is a dude putting a rifle in his mouth and blowing the back of his head against the wall, you're more in line with my sensibilities. It still wasn't scary...not even remotely, but it was a lot more fun than I've ever had at an amusement park haunt.
Look, I get it. These parks will always be packed for this stuff. Halloween is wildly popular and amusement parks offer the best value (I seem to remember saying that in a podcast many moons ago). Who isn't going to choose to drop the kids off at a park with all it has to offer for the price of admission when compared a more localized thing that offers 1 or 2 mazes for almost the same price? It's Wal-Mart. It's McDonalds. It's middle-of-the-road, cheap and easy. That's why it works.
But I'm a pretentious, snobby Halloween douchebag. I want filet mignon and cashmere. McDonald's and Wal-Mart can't satisfy those cravings.
Lord Gonchar said:
With those expectations, I see no value in it or reason to visit. Expecting mediocrity doesn't suddenly make mediocity acceptable.
It's perfectly acceptable when it's just one facet of the overall experience. That might be more difficult for you to understand, because you've repeatedly stated that you think Kings Island is a thoroughly mediocre park.
In contrast, I think the Haunt stuff is just icing. I look forward to seeing a place I already like decorated for Halloween (this applies to CP as well). I particularly love parks at night, and Haunt is an opportunity to experience 7 hours of it. Fill the park with fog, decorations, and monsters, and it's already awesome for me. Then, it's an overwhelming battle of which rides, haunts, and shows to do in the limited amount of time.
While the haunts themselves might not be the quality of something like Erebus, it doesn't matter. I still find them fun, and the overall experience of KI Haunt is so different than what a local haunt can offer.
Anyway, I guess by Gonch standards, it went from "sucks balls" to "very average" in the last 5-6 years. Great job, KI! ;-)
Jeph said:
That might be more difficult for you to understand, because you've repeatedly stated that you think Kings Island is a thoroughly mediocre park.
Only in the same sense that it's difficult for you to understand that what you look forward to actually is very mediocre.
It's perfectly acceptable when it's just one facet of the overall experience.
I might buy that if it were an additional layer on top of a normal operating day. But much of the park is closed and it's ticketed, advertised and essentially sold as a separate event. The Halloween stuff is the point. That is to say, if the Haunt stuff weren't in play, the park would be a crippled version of itself.
If it's just icing, they cut away half the cake and filled that space with icing...really, really, mediocre icing from a can. The kind you can find in the baking aisle of any discount store for a buck.
Anyway, I guess by Gonch standards, it went from "sucks balls" to "very average" in the last 5-6 years. Great job, KI!
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars, Kings Island. Someday you might not just be the other park in Ohio.
In all seriousness though, let me restate my case with the same disclaimer I did initially:
Lord Gonchar said:
It was still pretty boring.
Now, let me explain. I put that on me and not on the park.
It's not you, Kings Island Haunt. It's me.
Lord Gonchar said:
Only in the same sense that it's difficult for you to understand that what you look forward to actually is very mediocre.
A quick scan of the haunt enthusiast websites, and they actually align with my opinion. First of all, like I said, you can't compare a dedicated local haunt like Haunted Hoochie to a park event. They don't either. As you can see, Kings Island ranks as the 7th best haunted park event. That's hardly "very mediocre," and pretty amazing when you compare it to parks with bigger budgets like Universal Studios. Also note that KI's event is ranked a notch above CP's, again, exactly like my opinion before ever having looked at that website.
That is to say, if the Haunt stuff weren't in play, the park would be a crippled version of itself.
Likewise, if the coasters, rides, games, shows, and everything else that encompasses Haunt weren't in play, Haunt would be a crippled version of itself.
I can't ride a bunch of roller coasters, watch shows, and play games at a dedicated local haunt, thus the overall experience is not comparable. This is why I said the haunted attractions are one facet of KI's event, and why the overall experience is worth a visit even if the haunts themselves are average in comparison to the best dedicated haunts in the world.
Jeph said:
As you can see, Kings Island ranks as the 7th best haunted park event. That's hardly "very mediocre," and pretty amazing when you compare it to parks with bigger budgets like Universal Studios.
I can't believe you just really just tried to toss that out there as proof or validation.
Really, it's no big deal. I'll say it for a third time:
It's not Kings Island. It's me.
And for the record - all the park haunts are pretty mediocre. So it's the 7th least mediocre amusement park halloween event based on an arbitrary list created by a website two years ago.
Heck, I'll even play along and point out that according to those rankings, it's the best Halloween Haunt at an amusement park in Ohio.
If that list helps you digest my opinion, then I'll allow it.
I can't ride a bunch of roller coasters, watch shows, and play games at a dedicated local haunt, thus the overall experience is not comparable.
Some of the bigger 'event' type Haunts most certainly feature live entertainment and games. But point taken.
Either way it seems you're splitting hairs now. At no point did I say the overall experience of visiting Kings Island during Haunt was pretty average. I simply said the Haunts were (and that I put it mostly on me, not the park - for the 4th time now)...and you agreed.
Which is why I'm not sure why we're still having this back and forth. You're entitled to like average things much in the way I'm entitled to be smug about them.
So you go to Haunt and I'll make fun of you, ok? We both win. ;)
I understand that he is only the 12th rated Gonch out there, whereas KI is the 7th rated haunted park event. ;)
This Isn't A Hospital--It's An Insane Asylum!
Yeah, but GonchWorld.com has no credibility. Their rankings are little more than linkbait.
Lord Gonchar said:At no point did I say the overall experience of visiting Kings Island during Haunt was pretty average.
Lord Gonchar said:
(Answering a question of overall experience) It was still pretty boring.
(After discussing the overall experience) All-in-all, I found it very average.
With those expectations, I see no value in it or reason to visit.
It was fine. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 5. Perfectly average.
Who isn't going to choose to drop the kids off at a park with all it has to offer for the price of admission when compared a more localized thing that offers 1 or 2 mazes for almost the same price? It's Wal-Mart. It's McDonalds. It's middle-of-the-road, cheap and easy.
(After I repeatedly stated that I look forward to the overall experience) Only in the same sense that it's difficult for you to understand that what you look forward to actually is very mediocre.
So wow... Either you poorly communicated that, or I'm glad you've changed your stance to agree with me now.
Had you come back to CB and said that you did KI Haunt solely for the haunted houses, and you found them mediocre, I wouldn't have thought about it twice. In fact, I actually expected that opinion from you.
But, you questioned the reason to visit when I agreed that the haunted houses were average in comparison to the best dedicated ones. I answered. That was the reason for the "back and forth." I saw your snobby disclaimer the first time. ;-)
If you thought the haunts were mediocre, you should have just ridden rides instead. Oh wait, those are mediocre too (but improving!).
Universal parks (and maybe others in CA/FL) seem to have leg up on creating a more a intense Halloween experience. I'm hopeful that will translate to other parks at some point in the future. For now it seems like many parks (KI especially) have been trying to just keep up with the demand. They have to have like 10 haunts and 10 walk through areas just to handle the massive amount of people that show up.
It might also be worth mentioning that KI was the one who had the Halloween display of Steve McNair and Michael Jackson a few years back that did not go over so well. I'm not sure that has any real impact on "pushing the envelope" or not.
Oooh! Oooh! Wait!
I came across a list that mirrors my opinion too! This one is just 3 weeks old, from a major US newspaper and restates my opinion in an uncannily similar way too!
LA Times Top 13 Mazes at Theme Parks Around the World
From the article:
"I purposely left out any entries from Six Flags' Fright Fest and Cedar Fair's Halloween Haunt because I find those events interchangeable and unimaginative with a conga line of identical sexy vampire, killer clown and murderous butcher mazes."
I think I win the "I found someone with an opinion like mine" link battle of 2013.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now on to the petty stuff:
Had you come back to CB and said that you did KI Haunt solely for the haunted houses, and you found them mediocre, I wouldn't have thought about it twice. In fact, I actually expected that opinion from you.
This is what kills me about CoasterBuzz sometimes - the expectations to be ridiculously specific.
The worse part is that I kinda was.
Go back and read my initial post. All those words you bolded refer to what I posted initially - and I only talked about the mazes, shows and scare zones. I didn't mention a single other thing. How could you not understand that I was talking about the Haunt elements exclusively?
I can't believe I have to do this...
(Answering a question of overall experience) It was still pretty boring.
I was answering a question about Kings Island's Haunt (see the title of the thread) Replace with:
Haunt was still pretty boring.
(After discussing the overall experience) All-in-all, I found it very average.
Never mentioned anything in that post except Haunt.
Replace with:
All-in-all, I found Halloween Haunt very average.
With those expectations, I see no value in it or reason to visit.
Posted in reference to your expectations...of the Halloween Haunt stuff.
Replace with:
With those expectatation of what the Haunts deliver, I see no value in the Haunts or reason to visit for them.
It was fine. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 5. Perfectly average.
Again, referring to my post - which talked about Haunt stuff and only Halloween Haunt.
Replace with:
Haunt was fine. One a scale of 1-10 the haunt elements I've been discussing were a 5. Perfectly average.
Who isn't going to choose to drop the kids off at a park with all it has to offer for the price of admission when compared a more localized thing that offers 1 or 2 mazes for almost the same price? It's Wal-Mart. It's McDonalds. It's middle-of-the-road, cheap and easy.
Oh my God. In this one I even specifically mention the mazes.
Replace with:
Who isn't going to drop the kids off at a park halloween event with all it has to offer for the price of admision when compared to a more localized halloween event that offers 1 or 2 mazes for the same price? Halloween Haunt is Wal-Mart. Halloween Haunt is McDonald's. Halloween Haunt is middle-of-the-road, cheap and easy.
They all refer to Haunt specifically. I'm not sure how I can make it any clearer. At no time did I refer to the entire park until you did and I got away from it just as quickly.
There's absolutely no reason to have to type things out that specifically. I can't believe anyone didn't understand the my initial post and following opinions were talking about the Haunt stuff.
We're at "Bill Clinton trying to talk his way out of trouble" levels here.
So wow... Either you poorly communicated that, or I'm glad you've changed your stance to agree with me now.
Conversation is a two-way street. 50/50 chance it was poor comprehension rather than poor communication. My money is on the former.
This past Friday, Oct. 11, I took some friends for their first visit to KI Haunt. I made sure we arrived by six to see the wall of monsters at the opening of the gates. The youngest in our group (11) was impressed, as I hoped he would be.
Haunts - We hit Board to Death, CarnEvil, Cornstalkers, Delta Delta Die, Holiday Horror and Urgent Scare. CarnEvil was the longest wait of about 15-20 minutes. The rest were walk-on or near walk-on. A few times I felt like there were empty spots in the haunts. Like it wasn't fully staffed or they were off on a break. I realize there needs to be an ebb and flow, peaks and valley in the experience, but this felt like the haunt was lacking. Mind you, this is a minor point and only happened a few times, but I did stand out in my mind. Overall the haunts were as good as I expected. The usual Cedar Fair variety. (On Oct. 25 I will get my first taste of non-CF haunts at Kennywood. I'll report back then).
Rides - WindSeeker, Racer and Tower were walk-on or near walk-on. Flight of Fear and Firehawk were about 15-20 minutes. Beast was 50 minutes. Diamondback, which we skipped, looked like it was about a 45-60 minute wait.
Theming - The pizza eating raccoon at LaRosa's Pizza in Rivertown was extremely impressive and lifelike.
jameswhitmore.net
^^I figured I'd return to find an over-quoted mess. It blows my mind that you'd seriously go through every quote and replace "it" with "Kings Island Haunt" and still not get it!
This is the last time I'm going to say it. In my perspective (and every other perspective I've even seen), Kings Island Haunt IS Kings Island with a Halloween theme. Cedar Point Halloweekends IS Cedar Point with a Halloween theme. Six Flags Fright Fest IS Six Flags with a Halloween theme (In fact, they don't even include haunted houses with admission to Fright Fest!).
So when you keep referring to KI Haunt as being boring and average, I take it that you're saying Kings Island with a Halloween theme is boring and average. I mean, it had to be if you found it so dull that after a few hours, you preferred to sit in the drive-through at Steak 'n Shake.
You are the one being oddly specific here. I'm talking about these events in general: they are a combination of many aspects and experiences. You can't seem to look past KI Haunt as their collection of haunted houses. Do you look at Cedar Point Halloweekends as a collection of their 4 haunted houses as well? Man, the night would be over quickly there! Which takes me to this:
If you dissect any amusement park event, the experiences are generally mediocre. You can almost always find better dedicated haunts, concerts, food, live entertainment, shopping experiences, floriculture, games, etc. The only thing that truly stands out as world-class are their coasters and thrill rides. But, it's supposed to all come together as an experience of variety that is just flat-out fun. Not every individual aspect needs to be best.
It’s a little sad for me that you had this huge amusement park to yourself, and you couldn't find anything to keep you from being bored. You seem to have a passion for photography. Why didn’t you bring the camera along and score some awesome night shots? You claimed to have a great time at Beast Buzz, so what changed? Was it the people that you were with? You know what we were always taught growing up? It’s often true.
It looks like JOz, James Whitmore, and others here on CB actually understand what KI Haunt is. My advice: If you are only content with the best experiences, skip low-budget amusement park events altogether, or stick to the thrill rides...or use your mind to find creative ways to keep yourself entertained.
Jeph said:
This is the last time I'm going to say it. In my perspective (and every other perspective I've even seen), Kings Island Haunt IS Kings Island with a Halloween theme.
Just because it's your perspective doesn't afford you the luxury of applying it to my words and changing them.
I tend to disagree. Seems pretty clear to me the discussion was about the Haunt elements - the things that are different from a normal visit to KI.
It’s a little sad for me that you had this huge amusement park to yourself, and you couldn't find anything to keep you from being bored.
It's a lot sad to me that you're so worried about my opinion of Kings Island's Haunt event. Really, it's just little ol' me. It doesn't matter.
I can't imagine doing any more than thinking, "Wow! What does that guy like?" and moving on.
Yet here we are 8 days and 18 posts later still talking about it.
You seem to have a passion for photography. Why didn’t you bring the camera along and score some awesome night shots?
I did. :)
(not really night shots, but, you know)
You claimed to have a great time at Beast Buzz, so what changed?
Surely you understand the differences between the day at the BeastBuzz enthusiast event and a standard Friday night at Haunt.
You know what we were always taught growing up? It’s often true.
And how many times now have I said, "It's not Kings Island. It's me."
I think this is six. You're just repeating what I already said in a different way. I know it's on my shoulders. If calling me boring makes you feel better, then great. Maybe you'll let it go now. But I already said (yet again, in my original post) that not enjoying it was on me. So why are you still parroting me a week later?
It looks like JOz, James Whitmore, and others here on CB actually understand what KI Haunt is.
I understand what it is too...boring. (bah dum ching!)
Look, it's not my cup of tea. A lot of people do like it...very much so. I've been saying that since the very first post I made. Why are you still harping on it? I agree! People like Kings Island's Haunt event. I don't. I suck. I'm horrible. I don't get it.
What else do I have to say to make the insanity stop?
My advice: If you are only content with the best experiences, skip low-budget amusement park events altogether, or stick to the thrill rides...or use your mind to find creative ways to keep yourself entertained.
My advice: Don't waste time worrying about my opinion of something so much. You're not saying anything I didn't say (it's pretty average, lots of people like it, not enjoying it is on me and no one else, etc.) and you seem to be hung up on the idea that I - me personally - think that the additional Haunt elements added for the Halloween event are pretty average. Let it go. It's really not a big deal.
In closing...
Sucks.
You must be logged in to post
