Vffreak07's Thoughts About My Halloween Haunt!

[Vffreak07]

This is an editorial on my site, but I thought some of you might like to read this.

 

*Note* This is about Valleyscare (Valleyfair's Haunt) and my views on our haunt so don't be all "Zomg He's Bashing It!" It's just my viewpoint.

Valleyfair is a great amusement park. Rides, attractions, a waterpark, and the atmosphere make it a great place to be.

But once we get to the weekend September hours, the park starts to transform into a magical place filled with screams, shrills, and spooks.

 

For one, Valleyfairzone is your place for Halloween Haunt coverage. This year we should be very into the construction and everything that has to do with the preparation of the haunt, the beginning of the haunt, and of course the haunt itself. I don't know about any of you, but just seeing anything even as close as a pumpkin gets me excited for the haunt. Now for the actual editorial part. Why the haunt makes Valleyfair, the best time of year to go.

 

Apart from everything the park offers in the Spring and Summer seasons, Valleyscare offers much more. For one, the live entertainment choices are a plenty, although they could use some original shows. I often hear around the haunt time of the great shows specifically and Kings Island Halloween Haunt, and Knotts Scary Farms. That's one of the things Valleyscare lacks, but I could see improving in the near future. You have the kid friendly shows during the day, and the adult shows, as well as the amazing fire show at night. And of course the haunts. Valleyscare started off with these figures for 2006 and after that the figures for 2007.

 

2006:

Haunted Houses-3

Outdoor Walkthroughs-1

Scare Zones-1

Live Shows-2

(Those are all night-time haunts/shows/walkthroughs/zones)

 

2007:

Haunted Houses-3

Outdoor Walkthroughs-1

Scare Zones-2

Live Shows-2

 

In 2007, Worlds of Fun added 2 haunts to their lineup, Dorney Park added none, (But they're transforming into a Halloween Haunt this fall (See topic in the General Park Discussion Thread) so I'm presuming they will get at LEAST 1-2 new haunts if not more), Knotts got 4 new haunts (If I remember right. . .), and Cedar Point's Halloweekends got a new parade. (I'm not mentioning the paramount park haunts)

 

Now if I heard right, Worlds of Fun is adding 3 new haunts, and Knotts will be adding 2-3. With Cedar Point possibly at the back of the heard, we could be seeing them become a Halloween Haunt, and intensify up their haunt a bit with maybe another house or two, and also Dorney Park adding 1-2-3 next year. Now where does this put Valleyscare? Well, Hellside Farm last year, we can basically all say it was somewhat of a failure. To put it on the table, they have a LOT to fix in the Hellside Farm department.

1) The monsters. There was little to no experience in there. At one point I saw two female characters talking about how to scare someone. And as I looked at them, they looked back almost as if I was the monster.

2) They need to find a way to work with their surroundings. They could do a lot more. Just putting haybales in the middle of the walkway isn't enough. They literally need to make us feel like we're in a farm. . . not at Valleyfair.

If Valleyfair was smart, they'd go all out on theming. Kings Island came out of the Paramount deal with a lot of money put into their haunt. If I remember right, the numbers in the month of October this year were outrageous.

That is what a farm looks like, and what it should look like for Hellside Farm. Honestly, having chain link fences, green grass, and the non-obstructed view of Hydroblaster honestly does not cut it. And I BET, that Valleyfair can afford to dish out the extra couple thousand dollars, to really bring in a good scare zone. The only thing that got the farm feel for HSF was the scarecrows. But that was it. . .

EDIT-I just researched cornstalk prices, and if it's $20 for a bale, and lets say they need around 100 bales, (or less), that rounds up to around $2000 dollars. That's honestly not that much compared to the income that they get, but it is a little bit hefty for a single haunt.

 

Now after all, that's not the only thing they can fix. For one, I think that Valleyscare needs to spread out their haunt a bit more. The haunted houses are all in one area as of the last two years, but the other 3 haunts are fine. As of expanding, they need to draw more people to the back of the park. Right now, Renegade, Carnage at Crimson Isle, and Hellside Farm are the only things that are in the back of the park that anyone really needs to see. I'd love to see a haunted house somewhere past the path of the Renegade-Excalibur path. They could go as far as Thunder Canyon or anywhere else, but they really should utilize the back of the park to draw more people there. As far as how many new haunts we should/could get, my guess would be two at most, but we'll most likely get one (if none at all), but I can only hope for the best.

 

Thanks everyone for reading, and if you have any comments/thoughts/criticism/opinion, PLEASE. . . I encourage you to spark some discussion.

[Mr.Six]

Moved to Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys.

 

-Mike

[Kingbooba]

Interesting. King's Dominion's HH got some upgrades in 2007.

 

Anyway, can you give us a link to your site?