Jew

Hopefully some TPR member makes it out there to post a TR. Cool that they open up the facility.

Six Flags has never been known for food quality. Mooseburger was shut down for roaches at one point...

Haven't heard much out of Gravity Group in the states lately, so this would be welcome announcement.

Cruise ships are full of families that need something to do for the day... Is it bad my first thought is that these "investments" are just drug cartels laundering money?

^The point is they don't fully disclose this when selling them online. The average consumer is going to read it as "awesome, two meals a day every time I visit? Or 1if I come late? Sweet!" ...And then have to find out by visiting the restaurants that there are times.

Any news on the coaster?

Really need to make sure I visit next season!

Speaking of the dining pass and times...Six Flags did a very "used car salesmen" thing by burying the details of the pass in the fine print and being as vague as possible. The FAQ only says "lunch and dinner," without a mention of being locked into certain times. If you bother to read the fine print at the bottom, it states "Designated lunch and dinner timeframes vary by day" without providing any additional details.

Wait, what?

^You would think that they would be included in the IAAPA announcement if that was the case.

^there is no age too young for a marketing department to whore out to!

My understanding is that as part of the bidding process for rides, manufacturers will "design" rides as part of their bid. They'll come up with rough layouts free of charge before doing any of the real legwork in the hopes that they will land the contract.

Interesting that this will be an Oceaneering ride system...

Did anyone see South Park last night? Nailed our addiction to the game perfectly... I just got Halloween removed from my town...no Slimer for me

By trackers I meant that they give guests papers to turn into the grouper so they can know the actual waits and adjust accordingly. Wait times are not a science, there is always going to be discrepancies. Especially during Halloween, where there's no way to predict 100% accurate guest flow because of things like front of line passes, people who get extra scared and ruin the flow of the maze, and so on. Most fans (myself included), visited more than once already as it is. Even on the cheapest nights with the best discount, just two visits would be $70. A premium product like a Haunt annual pass shouldn't be considered a bargain. I can only assume that Knott's was hoping that pass holders would come in the park and drop extra money on food, drinks, trapped, etc. on every visit to offset the ticketing revenue. Judging by Disney's AP issues in this market, I am going to guess that was probably not the case. That's not true at all. Auditions were gone from the event for MANY years and only returned after HHN. The hiring process was as simple as camping out overnight to ensure you got an interview, a quick interview with a talent captain, and then you getting to chose an open spot at a maze if they liked you. Getting on streets was as simple as kissing Craig's ass while working build or being friends/family with a veteran in Craig's good graces. Varying shift lengths were also most definitely not around until HHN returned. Same with Scare School and character acting. That's my point. Knott's should stop pretending to try so hard to be like HHN since they don't have the resources of HHN. What the design, build, paint, FX, etc. department do is incredible considering it is all in-house, and I have no doubt that given the same resources as HHN could easily make something that exceeds HHN...but since they don't have those resources, the park needs to stick to what they are good at and known for. HHN will keep growing. In nine years, HHN has gone from 2 mazes+Terror Tram to 7 mazes+Terror Tram. Meanwhile Knott's has decreased the amount of mazes. Ironically, that same scare made it's debut at Haunt in Voodoo.... Here's the problem with trying to force characters at Haunt: It's a pretty safe assumption that the majority of the monsters are NOT actors by trade. But many them are people who enjoy getting to put on masks/makeup so they can be an asshole and do stupid things they would otherwise not do. THAT's what set Haunt apart in terms of scares. I went on a Thursday and finished all the mazes in a couple of hours. Then saw the Hanging. Since I don't care for Elvira at all, my group didn't want to to trapped or wait in the standby line for infected...I would have LOVED for that show to have been there. We left at 10:30, and that was with doing some of the mazes twice. That's the whole point of those shows. And more mazes (even if they are older and not as high quality). They help spread crowds around. And keep people in the park longer. My post was referring to the antics we used to get away with to entertain/scare the guests. Doing that now would most likely get a monster fired...

Judging by the new game icon (American flag with Peter), I'm guessing so! The two free clams you get for watching american dad clips is probably a telling sign too!

I'm not much of a broadway show person, but I do love the design of this theater. It's a modern without being pretentiously modern.

^In all my years of HHN, that would be the first time I've ever waited or heard about an actual 3 hour wait time. The park does wait time trackers at every maze throughout the night and none of them have ever come back as 3 hours. Two hours is usually the actual maximum. But anyways...back to the discussion of Haunt. The point is that IMO they are doing more damage to the event by trying too hard to be like HHN rather than trying to improve upon what they are good at. In the case of Haunt, what they are good at is harnessing the passion of their workforce and fans. People enjoyed the fact Haunt had so much to offer, which meant crowds were spread out and fans had a chance to see their favorite mazes for a few years before they were replaced. As I said earlier, HHN is a $77 event if you had to pay full price at the gate (if tickets were even available). Even with the AP discount, on some of the busier nights a ticket was $67. Meanwhile Knott's had to resort to offering a $75 annual pass to try and retain visitors. It's almost like Knott's management is OVER thinking it. "Let's try everything Universal does (auditions, nicer sets, staggering monster schedules, acting)...it works for them, so it HAS to work for us too!" instead of looking for ways to improve their already successful event. Have 13 mazes with the quality of their newer mazes, let monsters scare instead of act, put shows back in the birdcage (seriously...those improv shows were HILARIOUS) and Wild West (Marty Putz was AMAZING), and I'm guessing they'd find the would have no trouble selling out without the need to offer an annual pass. I LOVE Haunt, but this year I had the least fun I have ever had. It just didn't feel like the event had the same energy it's had in the past. It certainly didn't help a rides manager called me a line jumper for having the audacity to ask for tickets to infected for my party without them being there despite there being no signage or anything mentioning your whole party had to be there for the tickets, but you can just tell that the monsters are less about the scare and having fun now and more about the act. Gone are the days you could take an electric wheelchair, cover it in cardboard, and then drive around in it mocking people on Scion night...

Universal and Haunt are two entirely different events. What works for Universal won't automatically work for Haunt. The fact that they had to supplement Haunt attendance with the $75 pass for EVERY night (keep in mind that the full price at the gate for HHN is $77) would lead me to believe that even Knott's doesn't have confidence in the current model of Haunt. The quantity of mazes and shows is what differentiated Knott's from HHN, and while the design/production team at Knott's are extremely talented...they don't have the resources available that Universal does. Their best effort will only be considered "on-par" with HHN.

No wait time at HHN has ever actually been 3 hours. Lines are long everywhere for Halloween. I've waited 1hr+ at Haunt when I had no choice but to visit on a weekend. And that was with the 13 mazes. The difference is USH posts the wait time, so everyone knows its a long time and will immediately complain about it no matter what their actual wait time was. I know that Haunt makes a TON of money, but if guests were speaking with their dollars...they wouldn't have to offer a $75 pass good for EVERY night. The event would sell out on its own merits. The reason no one complains about HHN is because long wait times are posted and unfortunately have always been part of the event since its return in 2006. So it's part of the HHN culture (on both coasts). Unfortunately. Haunt suffers from the opposite. People have known Haunt to have lots of mazes and shows in certain locations for many years, so those missing areas make wait times much more noticeable at Haunt. Let's call it what it is and not try to sugar coat it...the decision was most likely a cost cutting measure. I highly doubt that the lack of fiesta village stage, bumper cars, balloon race, and some of the front entrance plaza (which could now make a great queue for infected standby if not a maze entrance...) were upsetting day operations guests so much.... If it were 10 NEW mazes every year, then I doubt anyone would complain. That would make for an incredible event.

Ted is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. His passion for haunt is unrivaled.

Fits in perfectly with their YOLO marketing campaign.

It looks like they took a chance wipe out another rides body on it. I doubt they have the ability to sell this to anyone.

^There's plenty they could have done "outside the box" without hampering capacity. Regardless, Infected doesn't change the fact they no longer use the bumper cars or fiesta plaza as a maze location. Put those maze locations back in play and the capacity of Infected isn't as much of an issue.

^I'd be scared of that patch vest guy too...