Halloweekends 2012

Oh that guy, yeah he hasn't been around for years.

I agree the Fright Zone's general lack of a theme (or general "Old West" theme) was great. I do think that the steampunk concept might work well in a haunted house, just not in the wide open spaces where they currently have it.

I also hope that this is the year we see the return of the live band to the Red Garter show!

Ensign Smith said:
Apparently Happy Jack's is not going to be transplanted elsewhere in the park. In fact, they're already ripping the lighting out of the haunt; I presume many of the props have already been yanked.

That's disappointing, as Happy Jacks was one of my favorite haunts. Like everyone else has said, I think this seals the deal that Disaster Transport's building will be going/gone by the time Halloweekends rolls around.

I agree that I preferred the lack of a theme in Fright Zone. The area does a good enough job of making its own theme.

Note my use of the word "apparently". I'm not guaranteeing it in stone; this information is only what I've been told, though I pretty well trust the source.

According to the Cedar Point Facebook page, they are already starting to look for their actors!

How long is the training process for the screamsters at CP?

I work at a haunt here in Nashville, and the 'training' is usually a weekend long or so, but I am sure there are a lot of special considerations for a place like Cedar Point that do not apply to a normal haunted attraction.

Hiring has been going on for nearly a month now. Screamster training consists of a couple hours of "Scare school" classroom style training. Then several hours of dress rehearsal where team leaders and other veterans work with the new Screamsters in their individual zone or house.

Scare-Zone is reporting the Knott's is adding a premium pay maze this year that requires a signed waiver to enter. You can go along or take a group of 5 others. Does anyone thing the Point will add something like this? If not this year, in the future?

Perhaps if they are going to go that route, they'll put that haunt on Millenium Island if the dinos aren't going to be part of Halloweekends. They would already have the infrastructure to deal with it being an upcharge attraction.

Personally I don't know how I'd feel about an upcharge haunt... I see that the projected price for the Knott's Haunt will be around $35. It would have to be pretty darn impressive to justify that kinda scratch.

From what I've seen around online, it will be $60 for prepay or $75 on site. 17 and under must have a parent/guardian with them. The price will get you and up to 5 others in so you can technically get it as cheap as $10 a head. Not horrible.

I think an upcharge haunt would be pretty cool. That could probably provide a more intimate setting for guests, therefore making the attraction more frightening.

That would have to be one hell of an impressive haunt. I know some places around the country that have offered some very outstanding premium haunt experiences. I'm not sure if I could see a huge amusement park successfully pulling off something like that, but if any of them can it would be Knotts.

Busch Gardens Tampa did it last year and received pretty good reviews for it. It actually sold out every night and most of that was pre-sale online. Universal had the idea awhile back and almost went through with having an up-charge "alone" house too but scrapped it last minute. Here is more info on 'Alone', the house that Busch Gardens came up with.

Then you have the Six Flags parks that require you to pay for every haunted house once you pay to enter the park.

Which is kind of ridiculous, especially since I've never heard anything to write home about regarding any of the Six Flags haunts.

"Alone" does sound pretty interesting. I found this audio/picture walk through complete with descriptions. Most of it seems pretty good, although perhaps lacking in intensity from some of the other "go through by yourself" experiences I've read about. The ending seems a bit anti-climatic, but then again, I've always thought the whole chain saw thing is way too gimmicky.

Apparently Six Flags does this as a means of crowd control and not because they are offering premium haunted attractions.

While never having been through them myself, I would imagine a theme park "alone" house would be a bit less intense than a local haunted house with the same concept. It is still hard to convince a park executive that it is ok to, by any means necessary, make the guest believe they are truly going to die.

Why offer a single up-charge haunt? What they should be doing is pushing the HW gate price up by $20+, in my opinion.

While it's not been by $20, the gate price has crept up a couple of bucks right before Halloweekends the last couple of years.

I understand that. My point is that I feel, given attendance trends during HW in recent years, the park is leaving a ton of money on the table.

I also think it wouldn't be a bad idea to reduce the Platinum Pass price, make it not valid during HW, and introduce a Diamond Pass (or whatever) at a $40 premium over the current PP, that does include HW access. Heck, maybe even charge an extra $50 for the Diamond Pass, and include preferred parking. I'd buy that.

Maybe make days that are blacked out for platinum passholders, like 4th of July and Saturdays during October.

^ thats a great idea, these days get crazy! When there are so many people in the park you cell
phone cant get signal thats crazy.

While I’m on that subject I would love to see them start bringing in the mobile tower trucks like they do for large stadiums. I heard a few families that would separate in the park and could not meet back up because they couldn't get their cell phones to work. Parking a few towers in soak city parking lot would help a lot!

KevinL332 said:
I heard a few families that would separate in the park and could not meet back up because they couldn't get their cell phones to work. Parking a few towers in soak city parking lot would help a lot!

No man they need to do what we did before cell phones and pick a time and place to meet up. And when you and your friend lose track of time and forget to meet your parents then your mom freaks out because she thinks you were kidnapped!

Haha on second thought you're right let's set up some towers so mothers in the park don't freak out!