Forest of Fear 2008
The Good: Secluded location and carnival atmosphere couple with some seldom-seen spectacles and a classic haunted house.
The Bad: The scariest thing about this place is the crowds.
The Bottom Line: Located in “upstate” New York (as in, north of NYC), this place is a romping good time, even if it is a little light on scares.
Atmosphere: 3/5
Talent and Sets: 5/5
Execution: 4/5
Overall:4
Address: 600 Route 17A Tuxedo Park, NY
Phone: (845) 351-5171
Website: http://www.theforestoffear.com/
Age Rating: PG-13 (families watch out, the place is FULL of teenagers and prone to racy humor)
Cost: ~$20 (coupons for specific dates available online)
Date of Visit: 10/10/08
During the warm summer months, Tuxedo is host to the NY Renaissance Festival, a mirthful celebration of all things middle age-y (and kinda nerd-y). During the fall, this location transforms into the Forest of Fear, a carnival-like extravaganza of questionable entertainment and commerce. The place is definitely fun, though not in a traditional haunted attraction sense. The location includes carnival attractions (mostly of the vomit-inducing variety), shops of occult and Halloween paraphernalia, tarot readings, lots of food, a fire-breather show, carnival games with a sadistic twist (clown-dunking and tomato throws are in use here), and generally dark, if not very scary fun. But at the center of the mayhem there is a haunted attraction: the Slaughterhouse. A somewhat massive structure, this 26-room house is home to more classic scares than contemporary ones, but we didn’t find it dated. Instead, we marveled with almost child-like wonder at how some of the things we were scared of as kids still can get us spooked, even without the obligatory chainsaw.
This was a tough rating to give. We had tons of fun here, but it’s just not SCARY. The house is fine, but most of the entertainment around it is hilarious, not terrifying. We were laughing most of the time, and even when the occasional wandering monster approached us, they usually had a quippy one-liner to put everything back on the side of lightness. This is not to say it wasn’t fun, because it definitely was. We just don’t want to be disengenious about how scared you’ll actually be, which is “not very.” Also, none of this applies to the haunted house. The house was aptly scary, and tons of fun, though it’s still not the scariest we’ve seen this year.
This was actually the easiest category to rate the attraction. The entertainment was flawless. Firedancers/breathers, monsters that stood still for 15 minutes in order to catch that one really good scare, wandering beasts, creepy little girls, incredibly rude brides, chiding carnival barkers and super-dedicated setwork that really shows the people who made the house were taking great care. Overall, this was just as close to perfect as we’ve ever seen.
The execution rating for this attraction suffers almost exclusively because of the line. There, I said it, and it needed to be said. Everything else is well-done, and you’re free to wander, so it’s hard to get lost. But we waited an hour and a half to get into the house, and by the time we got in, the line was about twice as long. I know overcrowding is not the house’s fault, but when you know and expect enormous crowds, you should always seek to achieve a balance by modifying the aspects of the waiting time you can control to offset those you can’t. The other thing that’s mildly annoying is the fact that almost everything here costs additional money. The $20 only gets you through the door and on 2 carnival rides. Food’s extra (and STEEP), tickets are extra, shops are (obviously) extra, readings are extra…but you’ll notice we still rated this area highly. These are at best mild annoyances, and they do not detract from the fun at all. Besides, the area is laid out very intuitively, and you’re free to wander from place to place. Plus, the fire show and admission to the house are also included in the ticket cost, so that’s nice too.
Conclusion: We had a great time. This was all sorts of fun, and we’ll probably head here again next year. The actors and set-makers are both talented and dedicated, and the plethora of things to see and do make the ride well worth it.
Final Score
[rating:4]
Have you visited this haunted house? Rate it and tell us what you think!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Bayville Scream Park 2008
The Good: Strong set-work and excited talent make the houses fun.
The Bad: Execution is a little sloppy, which can lead to getting lost and interrupt the experience.
The Bottom Line: A dramatic improvement over last year, this park presents a decent offering of fear and a pretty good time.
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Talent and Sets: 3.5/5
Execution: 3/5
Overall 3.5
Address: 8 Bayville Avenue Bayville, NY 11709
Phone: (516) 62-GHOST (624-4678)
Website: http://bayvillescreampark.com/
Age Rating: PG-13 (some gory scenes and heavy-duty scares)
Cost: $15-$40 (depending on the number of houses you visit; more if you want a Speed Pass)
Date of Visit: 9/20/08
As some of you might remember, we actually reviewed Bayville Scream Park in 2007. We were...less than impressed with a multitude of elements at the park. High cost, low body count, excessive crowding, and a lack of atmosphere came together to form a pretty disappointing feature. So it was with great trepidation that we approached our latest trip to this adventure-come-horror park. They were first on the list, since they opened a good bit sooner than most attractions, so we figured the lines wouldn't be terrible; unfortunately, a lot of attractions learn little from the mistakes of the past, and we figured these guys were no exception. We are happy to report, for the most part, we were wrong.
We wanted to get a broader perspective on this attraction, so we gathered a few friends and headed out to this locale. We got horribly lost on the way there, but that's a story for another day (it bears noting, however, that if you are heading to this park, you should have good directions on hand, since a lot of the trip seems to be small wooded roads). Even as we arrived, we were encouraged: the night had a low, thick fog, the sun had long since sunk under the horizon, and BSP was alight with the sounds and flair of fear. We crossed the wrought-iron double gates into the park, and got even more excited as we took a look around. The park had music piping through the pathways, and decorations appropriate to the atmosphere adorned almost everything we could see. What's better, no crowds! I mean, practically deserted. How often do you see that in Long Island? Unfortunately, we were informed that only three of the five available attractions were open, so we're going to work based off the three we did visit, as well as the park as a whole. We eagerly purchased our tickets and moved to the first attraction. Read below to find out more.
Like I said above, the park had some help from the evening, since nothing says horror like darkness and fog. That said, we were suitably impressed with the overall atmosphere of the place. The music and decorations were appropriate (as opposed to completely absent last time). I cannot stress enough how important this is to an attraction, especially when you don't have any "wandering monsters" (actors dressed to scare wandering the park). Since the park lacks these, it relies almost exclusively on set-pieces and sound to establish a mood, and this place does well establishing a spooky atmosphere. From the corpse-littered hearse out front, to the eerie internal sets, BSP has a good grip on the atmosphere. Of course, it's still located on a popular main street, and you can't help but remember that as you walk into the place, but the park does a decent job of wiping away most of the casual air and replacing it with mild foreboding. On the internals, the houses are spooky and theme-specific, and do a good job of sticking to the moods they espouse.
Wow, what an improvement! The houses were actually very much like last year, and all the familiar pieces were there; but the talent was far more excited and ever-present, and it makes ALL the difference in the world. We were only able to enter three attractions: Bloodworth Manor, Uncle Needle's Funhouse of Fear, and the Temple of Terror. We went to the Temple of Terror first.
The Temple of Terror is an outdoor labyrinth, and one of the few I've ever seen actually work. You can get lost easily as the walls repeat themselves and sounds reverberate across the attraction. Last time we walked it, we ran into four actors total, and all of them at the end of the maze. Being that it took us almost 15 minutes to traverse it, this was really not an appropriate number of actors. This issue was happily corrected, as actors crawled all around the maze this time, and other packs of people were hounded into confusion by dead-ends and sudden turns filled with howling monsters.
Uncle Needle's Funhouse of Fear is still the high point of the park, offering a zany mix of fun and fright. Painted in vibrant colors that "pop" off the walls, courtesy of 3-D glasses provided at the door, and filled with a cadre of crazy clowns, this house is exactly what a twisted carnival attraction should be. Our group spent equal amounts of time laughing and screaming, and we hands-down enjoyed this attraction the most out of the three.
In Bloodworth Manor, we really didn't see a lot that was new, though it was a relief to see no line, since the waiting area has not changed from the last time we were there. We can imagine it would still be an excruciating experience to have to wait 20-30 minutes with the same 45-second recorded introduction welcoming you to the house (also unchanged from last year), but we thankfully were not subjected to the torment. The highlight of Bloodworth Manor is still the pig-room, a room that is streaked with gore and filled with the pained squealing of suffering pigs, though I'll also note they added another element to the house that sticks in my mind at the very end (I won't ruin it, but it's right as you exit). Everyone in our party agreed this house is actually a little too long, and we felt quite harassed by the end. Our advice to the squeamish or extremely easy to scare is to save your energy when walking this house, because it's a little too intense for the casual viewer.
The rating here remains "good, not great." We thought the layout of the rooms was fine, and the park's paths are pretty intuitive. But, the waiting areas remain the same (see Bloodworth Manor above), and we got lost more than once in a couple of houses (again, see Bloodworth Manor). This is not a huge issue or anything, but it really detracts from the flow of the night when you suddenly find yourself behind the scenes looking at wiring and recording equipment instead of the next room. This is not a very difficult problem to solve; marking the doors more clearly and positioning actors to block certain sensitive doors would do wonders for these issues, and you could probably ease up the looped video in the BM lobby; we don't have to hear the count welcome us every second we're there.
The last item we thought we'd mention is that there isn't a lot to DO, outside of the attractions. Food is scarce (there may have been a vendor out in front of one attraction selling pretzels, or nuts, or something), and there is really nothing to speak of other than the attractions (I think there was an arcade or souvenir store, but it appeared closed). For a haunted park, it's a little surprising to not really see anything to do on-site. But for the most part, these issues don't detract from the overall effect, and you'll probably find yourself overlooking these minor inconveniences the next time a guy runs out at you from the next corner.
Conclusion:
We think this park has redeemed itself. Having seemingly learned some lessons from the past, BSP uses atmospheric music and ornaments, strong set-building and a large contingency of excited talent to create a genuinely creepy and occasionally hilarious atmosphere. There are some minor issues with the layout of the place, but nothing you'll consider unforgivable. Those somewhat pricey tickets are finally worth it, and we think if you attend this year, you're likely to have a great time.
Final Score
[rating:3.5]
Have you visited this haunted house? Rate it and tell us what you think!!
The Bad: Execution is a little sloppy, which can lead to getting lost and interrupt the experience.
The Bottom Line: A dramatic improvement over last year, this park presents a decent offering of fear and a pretty good time.
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Talent and Sets: 3.5/5
Execution: 3/5
Overall 3.5
Address: 8 Bayville Avenue Bayville, NY 11709
Phone: (516) 62-GHOST (624-4678)
Website: http://bayvillescreampark.com/
Age Rating: PG-13 (some gory scenes and heavy-duty scares)
Cost: $15-$40 (depending on the number of houses you visit; more if you want a Speed Pass)
Date of Visit: 9/20/08
As some of you might remember, we actually reviewed Bayville Scream Park in 2007. We were...less than impressed with a multitude of elements at the park. High cost, low body count, excessive crowding, and a lack of atmosphere came together to form a pretty disappointing feature. So it was with great trepidation that we approached our latest trip to this adventure-come-horror park. They were first on the list, since they opened a good bit sooner than most attractions, so we figured the lines wouldn't be terrible; unfortunately, a lot of attractions learn little from the mistakes of the past, and we figured these guys were no exception. We are happy to report, for the most part, we were wrong.
We wanted to get a broader perspective on this attraction, so we gathered a few friends and headed out to this locale. We got horribly lost on the way there, but that's a story for another day (it bears noting, however, that if you are heading to this park, you should have good directions on hand, since a lot of the trip seems to be small wooded roads). Even as we arrived, we were encouraged: the night had a low, thick fog, the sun had long since sunk under the horizon, and BSP was alight with the sounds and flair of fear. We crossed the wrought-iron double gates into the park, and got even more excited as we took a look around. The park had music piping through the pathways, and decorations appropriate to the atmosphere adorned almost everything we could see. What's better, no crowds! I mean, practically deserted. How often do you see that in Long Island? Unfortunately, we were informed that only three of the five available attractions were open, so we're going to work based off the three we did visit, as well as the park as a whole. We eagerly purchased our tickets and moved to the first attraction. Read below to find out more.
Like I said above, the park had some help from the evening, since nothing says horror like darkness and fog. That said, we were suitably impressed with the overall atmosphere of the place. The music and decorations were appropriate (as opposed to completely absent last time). I cannot stress enough how important this is to an attraction, especially when you don't have any "wandering monsters" (actors dressed to scare wandering the park). Since the park lacks these, it relies almost exclusively on set-pieces and sound to establish a mood, and this place does well establishing a spooky atmosphere. From the corpse-littered hearse out front, to the eerie internal sets, BSP has a good grip on the atmosphere. Of course, it's still located on a popular main street, and you can't help but remember that as you walk into the place, but the park does a decent job of wiping away most of the casual air and replacing it with mild foreboding. On the internals, the houses are spooky and theme-specific, and do a good job of sticking to the moods they espouse.
Wow, what an improvement! The houses were actually very much like last year, and all the familiar pieces were there; but the talent was far more excited and ever-present, and it makes ALL the difference in the world. We were only able to enter three attractions: Bloodworth Manor, Uncle Needle's Funhouse of Fear, and the Temple of Terror. We went to the Temple of Terror first.
The Temple of Terror is an outdoor labyrinth, and one of the few I've ever seen actually work. You can get lost easily as the walls repeat themselves and sounds reverberate across the attraction. Last time we walked it, we ran into four actors total, and all of them at the end of the maze. Being that it took us almost 15 minutes to traverse it, this was really not an appropriate number of actors. This issue was happily corrected, as actors crawled all around the maze this time, and other packs of people were hounded into confusion by dead-ends and sudden turns filled with howling monsters.
Uncle Needle's Funhouse of Fear is still the high point of the park, offering a zany mix of fun and fright. Painted in vibrant colors that "pop" off the walls, courtesy of 3-D glasses provided at the door, and filled with a cadre of crazy clowns, this house is exactly what a twisted carnival attraction should be. Our group spent equal amounts of time laughing and screaming, and we hands-down enjoyed this attraction the most out of the three.
In Bloodworth Manor, we really didn't see a lot that was new, though it was a relief to see no line, since the waiting area has not changed from the last time we were there. We can imagine it would still be an excruciating experience to have to wait 20-30 minutes with the same 45-second recorded introduction welcoming you to the house (also unchanged from last year), but we thankfully were not subjected to the torment. The highlight of Bloodworth Manor is still the pig-room, a room that is streaked with gore and filled with the pained squealing of suffering pigs, though I'll also note they added another element to the house that sticks in my mind at the very end (I won't ruin it, but it's right as you exit). Everyone in our party agreed this house is actually a little too long, and we felt quite harassed by the end. Our advice to the squeamish or extremely easy to scare is to save your energy when walking this house, because it's a little too intense for the casual viewer.
The rating here remains "good, not great." We thought the layout of the rooms was fine, and the park's paths are pretty intuitive. But, the waiting areas remain the same (see Bloodworth Manor above), and we got lost more than once in a couple of houses (again, see Bloodworth Manor). This is not a huge issue or anything, but it really detracts from the flow of the night when you suddenly find yourself behind the scenes looking at wiring and recording equipment instead of the next room. This is not a very difficult problem to solve; marking the doors more clearly and positioning actors to block certain sensitive doors would do wonders for these issues, and you could probably ease up the looped video in the BM lobby; we don't have to hear the count welcome us every second we're there.
The last item we thought we'd mention is that there isn't a lot to DO, outside of the attractions. Food is scarce (there may have been a vendor out in front of one attraction selling pretzels, or nuts, or something), and there is really nothing to speak of other than the attractions (I think there was an arcade or souvenir store, but it appeared closed). For a haunted park, it's a little surprising to not really see anything to do on-site. But for the most part, these issues don't detract from the overall effect, and you'll probably find yourself overlooking these minor inconveniences the next time a guy runs out at you from the next corner.
Conclusion:
We think this park has redeemed itself. Having seemingly learned some lessons from the past, BSP uses atmospheric music and ornaments, strong set-building and a large contingency of excited talent to create a genuinely creepy and occasionally hilarious atmosphere. There are some minor issues with the layout of the place, but nothing you'll consider unforgivable. Those somewhat pricey tickets are finally worth it, and we think if you attend this year, you're likely to have a great time.
Final Score
[rating:3.5]
Have you visited this haunted house? Rate it and tell us what you think!!
Darkside Haunted House 2008 review
Darkside Haunted House 2008
The Good: Good atmosphere, good set-work, good talent, good execution.
The Bad: Everything is just good, and little stands out; the Haunted Village is a little weak this year.
The Bottom Line: A regional staple in Long Island, this house has deviated little over the years from its winning formula; this leaves us satisfied but longing for a little more bite.
Atmosphere: 4/5
The Good: Good atmosphere, good set-work, good talent, good execution.
The Bad: Everything is just good, and little stands out; the Haunted Village is a little weak this year.
The Bottom Line: A regional staple in Long Island, this house has deviated little over the years from its winning formula; this leaves us satisfied but longing for a little more bite.
Atmosphere: 4/5
Talents and Sets: 3/5
Execution: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5
Address: Route 25A Wading River, NY 11792
Address: Route 25A Wading River, NY 11792
Phone: (631) 369-7227
Website: http://www.darksideproductions.com/ds.htm
Age Rating: PG-13 (some gory scenes and heavy-duty scares)
Cost: ~$20 (cheaper on Thursdays and Sundays with coupon)
Age Rating: PG-13 (some gory scenes and heavy-duty scares)
Cost: ~$20 (cheaper on Thursdays and Sundays with coupon)
Date of Visit: 10/03/08
Darkside Haunted House is really one of the quintessential Long Island haunted attractions. Every year,they attract tons of people to their semi-remote location in Wading River. The aged house, surrounded by dark woods and fields, provides a ready-made environment for scares. They also customize the yard on the side of the house and change it to a "haunted village", which is really just a winding pathway to the house, with lots of sheds/cottages along the way.
Darkside Haunted House is really one of the quintessential Long Island haunted attractions. Every year,they attract tons of people to their semi-remote location in Wading River. The aged house, surrounded by dark woods and fields, provides a ready-made environment for scares. They also customize the yard on the side of the house and change it to a "haunted village", which is really just a winding pathway to the house, with lots of sheds/cottages along the way.
The house's surroundings and decor all convey the right attitude, even with the hot dog car parked out front. The exit to the house is in the front, and the sounds and sights of teens running screaming from the house as you pass by the exit are a welcome enhancement to the overall tension. The ticket booth is unapologetically detached from the rest of the environment, and the line manager/gravedigger uses a walkie-talkie to radio in names in plain sight, which kind of ruins the awesome touch of using people's first names in the monsters' taunts. Still, none of this really detracts from the overall atmosphere, it just prevents the house from scoring perfectly in this category.
Maybe our repeated trips to this house have dulled the edge in this category, but we though this was all a little ho-hum. Talent is suitably excited, and some entities are downright spooky, but, by and large, it's just par for the horror course. Sets are intelligently crafted, but again lack any overwhelming panache. To put it in perspective, I remember only one spot where I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle: there is a room deep in the house itself where body parts hang from the ceiling unceremoniously. When we walked through the door into this room, all the noise was drowned out, and an eerie silence took over, occasionally punctuated by far off screams. Awesome moment, sure, but we walked out of that room without anyone spooking us. Why wasn't there someone here? This was a prime opportunity missed...even I would have jumped out of my skin at some hook-wielding maniac in a mask made from someone else's flesh here, but instead, we walked out feeling a bit queasy. The whole experience is like this; you get the sense of a lot of "near-misses".
Execution is all about how the house is actually run, the mechanics of the attraction; how the experience "flows". The score here is not indicative of any real failure, but rather a sense of something missing. There are no spots where you walk behind the curtain accidentally, and exits are clearly marked. Lines make sense, though they can get pretty unwieldy. There are even concessions and porta-johns. the score here is somewhat about the little things: the obvious radio-in mentioned above, the somewhat inflated entrance price, the line cutoff at midnight (we've been victims of the turn-around because they thought we would not make it in), the somewhat hassling parking arrangement. Again, this is not to say the house fails, per se, just that some things could, and should, be improved.
Maybe our repeated trips to this house have dulled the edge in this category, but we though this was all a little ho-hum. Talent is suitably excited, and some entities are downright spooky, but, by and large, it's just par for the horror course. Sets are intelligently crafted, but again lack any overwhelming panache. To put it in perspective, I remember only one spot where I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle: there is a room deep in the house itself where body parts hang from the ceiling unceremoniously. When we walked through the door into this room, all the noise was drowned out, and an eerie silence took over, occasionally punctuated by far off screams. Awesome moment, sure, but we walked out of that room without anyone spooking us. Why wasn't there someone here? This was a prime opportunity missed...even I would have jumped out of my skin at some hook-wielding maniac in a mask made from someone else's flesh here, but instead, we walked out feeling a bit queasy. The whole experience is like this; you get the sense of a lot of "near-misses".
Execution is all about how the house is actually run, the mechanics of the attraction; how the experience "flows". The score here is not indicative of any real failure, but rather a sense of something missing. There are no spots where you walk behind the curtain accidentally, and exits are clearly marked. Lines make sense, though they can get pretty unwieldy. There are even concessions and porta-johns. the score here is somewhat about the little things: the obvious radio-in mentioned above, the somewhat inflated entrance price, the line cutoff at midnight (we've been victims of the turn-around because they thought we would not make it in), the somewhat hassling parking arrangement. Again, this is not to say the house fails, per se, just that some things could, and should, be improved.
Conclusion:
What can we say? While we weren't necessarily wowed, we also weren't necessarily disappointed. Nothing new or super-cool, but it was pretty good. This was an adequate time, and it was fun for what it was. While not our favorite, if you are within driving distance and want something to do, this is definitely worth checking out.
Final Score
[rating:3.5]
Have you visited this haunted house? Rate it and tell us what you think below!!
What can we say? While we weren't necessarily wowed, we also weren't necessarily disappointed. Nothing new or super-cool, but it was pretty good. This was an adequate time, and it was fun for what it was. While not our favorite, if you are within driving distance and want something to do, this is definitely worth checking out.
Final Score
[rating:3.5]
Have you visited this haunted house? Rate it and tell us what you think below!!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Scare World was auctioned off!
2 years ago, Ruben and I went to Scare World, Home of the 13 Floors just on the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware. If you've never heard of this place before, a quick search on the Internet will leave you in utter excitement for this haunted house, but will not answer many of the questions you'll want answered. There is no website that I can find associated with Scare World. There is a YouTube video posted 2 years ago from them, which includes an address. It promises 13 floors, the next floor more horrifying than the last! In the comments section, people claim that they had to sign waivers to even enter the haunted house, and brag about making it to the last floor.
So, Ruben and I took the plunge and traveled the 3-something hours to Delaware, only to find a K-Mart parking lot with some tents and cheap looking cardboard cutouts. We stayed at the hotel across the street, and luckily we found pamphlets for the Bates Motel, which was about 30-40 minutes away. We went to Bates instead (review is posted).
Why am I writing about this now, 2 years after we came across this practical joke of a house? Well, it looks as if Scare World is closed and has been auctioned off. So much for the 13 floors...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOF5ZZsmhng
http://www.nortonauctioneers.com/Auctions/Scareworld/Scareworld.pdf
So, Ruben and I took the plunge and traveled the 3-something hours to Delaware, only to find a K-Mart parking lot with some tents and cheap looking cardboard cutouts. We stayed at the hotel across the street, and luckily we found pamphlets for the Bates Motel, which was about 30-40 minutes away. We went to Bates instead (review is posted).
Why am I writing about this now, 2 years after we came across this practical joke of a house? Well, it looks as if Scare World is closed and has been auctioned off. So much for the 13 floors...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOF5ZZsmhng
http://www.nortonauctioneers.com/Auctions/Scareworld/Scareworld.pdf
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Screamseeker.com is down, but we're not!
Halloween is rapidly approaching, and this year we're traveling to Ohio to check out the Haunted Hoochie! We've very excited about this haunt. We'll also be visiting Pennsylvania to check out the Eastern State Penitentiary!
We are still compiling our footage from last Halloween, so keep one eye open for our reviews of Long Island's haunted attractions! And be sure to comment to let us know if you agree or disagree with our reviews.
We are still compiling our footage from last Halloween, so keep one eye open for our reviews of Long Island's haunted attractions! And be sure to comment to let us know if you agree or disagree with our reviews.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Horrifique Has a New Home!
Everyone (all twelve of you),
Horrifique has a brand new home on the web at www.screamseeker.com. We are a completely new outfit; same no-nonsense reporting though. Please come check us out; there's lots to see and do. And we'll be updating more frequently now, so check back often!
Horrifique has a brand new home on the web at www.screamseeker.com. We are a completely new outfit; same no-nonsense reporting though. Please come check us out; there's lots to see and do. And we'll be updating more frequently now, so check back often!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Haunted Attraction Review: Six Flags Great Adventure Frightfest
RATINGS
Theme: 4/5
Effects: 3/5
Execution: 1/5
Atmosphere: 1/5
Value: 1/5
Total Rating: 2/5
Location:
Six Flags Great Adventure and Safari
1 Six Flags Boulevard
Jackson, NJ 08527
732-928-1821
Website: http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/index.aspx
Pricing: Expensive ($40 or more per person, plus $25-$35 in parking, and about $20-$60 in refreshments)
Recommended Age Group: 10+ (if you're over 13, this may be too tame for you)
Attractions:
Awakening Parade
Many "haunted" shows
4 "Haunted Trails" (already existing areas of the park populated by actors in costume)
1 Haunted Walk (new attraction)
Wheel of Fright (horror game)
Coffin of Fear (horror game; not active during our visit)
PHOTOS:
VIDEOS:
Ugh...Frightfest. Great Adventure's FF is a huge event; it attracts tons of people, horror buffs and thrill-seekers alike. The main attraction is, of course, the theme park elements; huge coasters and amusements tower into the night sky, dwarfing all the lesser elements of the event. But we weren't there to rate roller coasters; we were there for FF itself, from the Awakening Parade, through haunted music shows and dolphin acts, hypnosis and haunted walks. We were there to experience the Fright!
In theory, anyway. In practice, the only thing we experienced was overcrowding on an epic scale. Within minutes of the Awakening Parade (which was pretty good, actually; see video embedded above), we were rushed by literal hordes of people, and every haunted attraction was full to bursting. The transformation to Frightfest occurs promptly at 6:00PM; by 6:20PM, the line for the haunted forest was estimated at almost an hour long, and the attraction didn't even open until 7PM! There was plenty of screaming, but not the kind you'd hope for; packs of irate mothers and terrified kids were everywhere (which is why we went 10+ on the age recommendation). According to employees at the park, the haunted hayride seen in years prior was discontinued, and most of the remaining haunted attractions were less than impressive. The effects and general theme were excellently executed, and the talent was spot-on; unfortunately the 20-40 actors they had were simply insufficient compared to the thousands of visitors to the park. It was a challenge to even find people in costume half the time, and every opportunity for entertainment was obscenely overcrowded. We walked around for about two hours with absolutely nothing to do, simply because we could not find a single line that was not ridiculous (see the video below).
So to summarize, is Frightfest interesting? Yes. Is it fun? It could be. Are the actors good? They're dedicated to the scare and often pretty talented. Do we recommend it? No. It's just too damn crowded. Any attempt to do anything fun is quickly quashed by gargantuan costs for refreshments ($4 water...and it's Dannon...) and enormous crowds. What scares there are lose all impact because of the crowding, and what fun you may find hiding in every corner will be quickly seized upon by the packs of roaming thrill-seekers desperate for an escape from the more crowded park elements. If you have a family, and lots of tweens, you might be able to make something worthwhile out of this event; otherwise, please, for your sanity's sake, stay away.
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