Kings Island Haunt Friday

So you think there needs to be a t-shirt to capture the images of last Saturday night? ;-)

Last Friday (10/25) was I attended my first Halloween event at a non-Cedar Fair park. I was visiting Kennywood.

Overall, I found the haunts no more or less scary than those of CF. But the quality of the monsters were very inconsistent. The first two haunts were downright boring. After the first I decided to count the monsters in the second haunt. There were 16 and of those half didn't really do anything. Some would stare you down while others slowly walked around.

The next four haunts were on par with CF. Many of the same tactics as the other parks, maybe a new spin on the an old gag, but overall the same level of scare.

I did notice that the bad haunts were early in the evening with little or no guests in line and the better haunts were later with 30-45 waits to get in. Perhaps the monsters performed batter with the larger crowds. I don't know.

I do have to give Kennywood credit for trying to keep the guests in the queues entertained while they waited. I saw a DJ playing dance music, an old zombie movie shown on a hanging bed sheet, and a juggler was walking around.

As for the crowds... For the first hour all the rides and haunts were walk-on or 1-2 trains. As this rate we made our way back to the Old Kennywood end of the park quickly, where we spent our second hour. After that the crowds had filled the park and each ride and haunt had 30-45 minute lines.

Somehow, on my previous visits to Kennywood I have always missed getting their famous fries and I was denied again on this visit. Every window was open at the Potato Patch Fries, each with a huge line. I ended up getting pizza at Pizza Warehouse. It was the best amusement park pizza I have ever had. I love the crust.

The weather was cold with no wind. So it was quite bearable.