PKI Fear Fest

Did anyone else feel that Paramount's Kings Island's Fear Fest was especially bad this year? There was almost no Halloween themeing, ( literally ) there were hardly any ghosts are ghouls walking around the park trying to scare people, and when there were, they were simply wearing black clothing and makeup which you could probably buy at Wal-Mart. The walk through haunted houses, ( and drive through in the case of Route 666 ) we average at best.

I have never been to another park for their Halloween celebration, but it seems that other parks put A LOT more into their themeing and attractions. For instance, it seems that Knott's Berry Farm uses elaborate latex masks for their employees, and amazing themeing around the park. This is not the case at PKI.

Many people seem to think that this is because Kings Island thought there would be more families in attendance this year, so they didn't want to scare the younger children. I understand this, but only during the day. Hence the slogan "Fright by Night, Fun by Day" But this wasn't the case this year.

So, for those of you who have been to PKI's Fear Fest, and other Halloween sepcials, how does Paramount's Kings Island compare to the competition?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

What about the haunted house where you had to crawl, and the live girl was under the plexiglass looking at you. You must of missed that one, or went out the chicken exit too early.

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"Step on that lapbar and make it nice and tight!"

Our group was pushed out of the chicken exit. I wasnt happy. I thought some of the houses were okay.

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Hi.....whats your name again?

Tenchi-online.com Theme park photos and more. Your new home for the Jeff Siebert fanpage

whaa, whaa, whay, What do you expect for FREE?

Chuck, who paid 26.99 last year for less attractions and rides and thought it was great
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Charles Nungester.
It's official Lesourdsville Lake is closed for 2003

Ouch. Gotta love that animosity Agent Johnson. And yes, I did have to go through the chicken exit, so I wasn't able to see that particular part of Curse of the Crypt. Not that it was for me, however. I had a friend who didn't want to go through the crawl space, so I stayed with her while the rest of our group went through. I actually find the haunted attractions to be quite amusing, with only a few surprises here and there.

And I had a great time at Fear Fest. Probably the best trip all season long, and one of the best times I've ever had at the park. The fact that the themeing was sub-par didn't keep me from having an awesome time, I was just dissapointed. Its called Fear Fest for a reason. If they aren't going to theme the park, then it might as well just be the regular operating season.

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

I do agree that the themeing out of the haunted houses sucked this year. I dont agree that the actual event was a total bust. I've been to over 10 haunted houses this yeat including Halloweekends at CP and out of all of them PKI's ranked in some of the best. They were defantly worth it considering the fact I didn't have to pay 10 dollars a house like most single haunted houses anywhere else.

It seems like all haunted houses lack something these days. With all the legal issues that can happen if the actors even touch you its becoming rediculous. I have always heard stories about haunted houses from my dad where the actors could take you to different rooms and do stuff with you. Now days there is nothing like that.

To conclude this pointless ramble yes the themeing was weak but the haunted houses were not really that bad.

The reason the houses were not bad because (with the exception of route 666 and the modification to Curse of the Crypt), they are essentially the same houses that have been used at FearFest since 2001.

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Coney Island (Cincinnati) ride operator

The themeing was weak, but the houses were pretty decent. The spooks walking about was missed this year, (like the past when they had a walk-thru in the Paramount Gardens). But compared with the 1st season when they did the psych. ward at the top of the Eiffel Tower, The Mummy's Revenge, & The Chiller, (the meat locker below the Eiffel Tower with all the human body parts.

Well I have plenty of opinions on this year's FearFest (most can be read over in the Trip Report Section).

I have gone to MANY MANY haunted attractions and MANY MANY haunted parks.

If PKI was just PKI right now instead of PKI FearFest I would say it was awesome, when I go to a park expecting a Halloween Atmosphere it was a joke. PKI could have done SOOOooo much more. I understand after talking to some PR people that they were going for a family atmosphere this year, but I REALLY think they should have kept Fright and Fest seperate like they were maketing it to be this year.

I really wish at night they woul have had more lighting, fog, actors, etc. on the midways...just SO many little things they were missing (ie. pumpkins, constalks) That would have really helped with the "Fright" atmosphere of the midways. Decorate the store fronts a little, or stands.

Heck I would have paid extra money for the haunted houses, if it would have given them money to decorate the park. The rides are running great right now, so it's worth it for that, but after being to other parks halloween event, I felt bad for PKI.

As for other parks and how they compare. CP is another park that has toned down their theming A LOT. It has been the same for about the last 2 or 3 years. The whole park was REALLY decked out before Sept. 11 but it has been scaled back big time since then. The two best theme park halloween events this side of Knotts is SFWoA and Kennywood. Both those two parks put on one heck of a show for the money. It's amazing how both parks really transformed themselves for their events!

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"The Future of Roller Coasters"
-RollerCoasterGod
Haunted Ohio Parks...you've been warned!!
*** This post was edited by RollerCoasterGod 10/30/2003 8:39:55 AM ***