Photo TR: Kings Dominion's Haunt 2014

[cfc]

Ah, autumn. Beautiful leaves of red, orange, and yellow swirl in cool breezes; the smell of pumpkin-spice lattes and beer; and fog billowing out of Kings Dominion as screams and body parts fill the air . . . ah, autumn, indeed.

 

Yes, Haunt (and Howl-o-Scream) season is in full gear in the Old Dominion. But how does Haunt 2104 differ from Haunt 2013? I went there last Sunday night to find out.

 

There's no Miner's Revenge maze in Old Virginia this year, thanks to the controversy it generated last year. Medieval Macabre over in the bumper car pavilion has been replaced with the "return" of the Maze of Madness, which is more like the Asylum maze that used to be what is now the Dinosaurs Alive gift shop. Corn Stalkers and Club Blood have received nifty new facades, and the Doll Factory, Slaughter House, Zombie High, and No Vacancy mazes are back, as are the park's usual scare zones and the Haunted House 3D flick. They also have two new shows, but I didn't have time to see them. Oh, and Outbreak: Evolution in the Flight of Fear queue is still bad, and you can still take a spin on the Blue Ridge Bloodbath car ride.

 

But even though it hasn't changed all that much from last year, I still enjoyed Haunt. KD's sacreactors tend to be more "in your face" than those at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and they do pile on the atmosphere. All in all, it was a fun evening hanging out with some of TPR's Virginia members: Steve, Jeremiah, and NIcole.

 

Here's a look.

As you can tell by the tower's evil boogie-boogie eyes, it's time for Haunt. Well, the sign is a dead giveaway, too.

I think every Cedar Fair park has an official Haunt Hearse.

We were all in deep mourning for the Sky Ride.

Why is the pumpkin so sad?

Because it never got to ride El Dorado, which died at such a tragic, young age.

KD's new ropes course looks like a real killer.

Even Camp Snoopy is terrifying!

Remember--you have been warned!

Look away, lest you go mad!

Snoopy will suck your blood, then eat all your pizza.

Oh, yeah. The kids will love this one.

I don't think we're in Camp Snoopy anymore. Just a hunch.

Each year, the Flight of Fear hosts KD's worst maze. This year is no exception.

Hmm--Maze of Madness is supposed to be a contemporary insane asylum gone horribly wrong. Yet the facade screams "Medieval Macabre."

Candy Apple Grove takes on new charm in the fall of the year.

Yay! Slaughter House is open! Let's go get us some BBQ.

Why, just rub a little Memphis seasoning on him and he'll be right tasty.

"I . . . SEE . . . YOU!"

Thumbs up for red-carpet service . . .

. . . in Club Blood.

These little "fire-nadoes" are kind of cool.

Behold the TWINE OF TERROR!

"Yeah, it's OK sucking blood and stuff . . . but I really wanna direct."

The Club Blood building isn't quite as impressive at its facade. (Good sets and hot, blood-sucking go-go dancers inside, though.)

Good job parking that bus, Steve. Looks like you'll be taking your driving test again.

The boogie-boogie eyes are everywhere!

I wonder if Zombie High has a yearbook committee or an AV club? (This is a good maze. I particularly like the clueless principal on the PA as you enter.)

Hmm--based on the position of the debris, maybe Steve backed the bus in here.

Always have pride in your beaver.

Haunts are better with random fire. More to come.

Edited October 9, 2014 by cfc

[coasterbill]

Why do they always close Flight of Fear for a terrible maze? I think I speak for everyone when I say that we'd prefer they leave Flight of Fear open all night. It's one of the more popular coasters in the park.

[cfc]

Prepare for more terror!

Look closely, and you may see a spider.

Again with the boogie-boogie eyes.

Even the snack bar is cursed!

Here's a fixer-upper opportunity in the Necropolis. It can be yours for a song and a pact with Satan.

Hail Hydra!

Looks like Steve met a friend. Or maybe he owes this guy a soul?

"I . . . SEE . . . YOU . . . and your car in the parking lot."

No Vacancy has the best sets of any of KD's mazes. But you'd better be sure to tip the staff, lest your stay be less than pleasant.

In case you hadn't noticed, KD likes fog.

I think this is for one of their new Halloween shows--or maybe it was just a particularly creepy wedding reception.

"Spread out! Hot chick with an ax coming through!"

The fountains run red--with your blood!

Cornstalkers has been improved a bit for 2014. The monsters have plenty of hiding places, where they just blend into the corn stalks . . . Oh, I get it--they're corn STALKERS! Oh, how droll.

It even has a nicer facade than last year.

Steve bumps into friends everywhere.

Yeah, yeah, I know . . . you see me.

The other sign says "Feary" (as in "Feary Tales"), but people kept standing in front of it.

"Oh, yeah, I am hung like a horse . . . damn! Stupid lie-detector nose!"

"Yes, it's only your nose that grows, dude."

Feary Tales was pretty good on Sunday night. Those adorable characters were really aggressive.

Doll Factory is still one of the standout mazes. I really like the finish.

I think that guy in the center just wants to hang out.

When Botox treatments go wrong.

Only you can help prevent horrible pole-dancing accidents.

Cannibals have condos?

These decorations are compliant with the cannibal homeowners association covenants.

"Watch me pull a rabbit, er, half a rabbit outta my hat!"

Meet Piss Off, the Clown.

Er, you didn't mention having a beard on Craigslist.

This is Blood Drums, only there's no blood at the moment.

Ironworx is a steampunk scare zone.

"We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. You will join us. Hey, we have beer. Come back . . ."

Good night and pleasant dreams from Kings Dominion.

[cfc]

Why do they always close Flight of Fear for a terrible maze?

 

Because it's easier than removing the maze from the queue and packing it up?

[sspaz1000]

Great TR chuck! If I enjoyed haunt type activities I think it would be good fun, but I don't so I'll just keep enjoying pictures.

[KingB24]

Loved the captions, as always. Glad you had a good time! Come back and see us again in Zombie High.......

[tanthonyam]

So what was the controversy from that Miner's maze?

[cfc]

^It had to do with the theme of the maze itself, which involved vengeful miner ghosts who had been left for dead following some sort of disaster. A group claimed it was "disrespectful" to the families of those who had been killed in actual coal-mining accidents, and this raised a bit of a stink.

[OrlandoGuy]

Really enjoyed this report! Question, though, are all the mazes the same between years? Aside from two shows, nothing new was added between this year and last year? Do they at least change the layouts or scares within each recycled maze?

[mike541x]

Nice TR Chuck. The façade for Club Blood looks impressive! I'm hoping I'll be able to make it out to Haunt this year.

 

Why do they always close Flight of Fear for a terrible maze? I think I speak for everyone when I say that we'd prefer they leave Flight of Fear open all night. It's one of the more popular coasters in the park.

 

[cfc]

Really enjoyed this report! Question, though, are all the mazes the same between years? Aside from two shows, nothing new was added between this year and last year? Do they at least change the layouts or scares within each recycled maze?

 

Club Blood, Doll Factory, Slaughter House, Outbreak, No Vacancy, and Zombie High were pretty much the same. Corn Stalkers seemed a little different (more twists and turns).

[Nozzy]

Nice pictures Chuck!

 

It was awesome to see you, as always. I have to agree that the Scareactors here seem to be much more entertaining than at Busch Gardens- I liked that the people in the mazes actually would talk to you or follow you around, while I feel like at Busch it's always the same "Get out!" that I don't even find to make much sense (as opposed to the Slaughterhouse Butchers imploring me to hang around for a while). Glad I finally got to experience all of the mazes KD has to offer.

[Intimidator305]

Thanks for the update, Chuck!

 

I'll finally be getting to the park for Halloween Haunt next Friday and Saturday to wrap up the season. I've heard mixed reviews for the return of Maze of Madness so I'm looking forward to checking it out for myself. I was always a big fan of The Asylum when others weren't.

[cfc]

^The old Maze of Madness used to be in a tent full of fog, chain-link fence, and strobe lights. It was fun when the scareactors "worked" it by bouncing off and climbing on the fences. Asylum (and the new version of MOM) have higher "production values."

[mhuffva]

I thought the Club Blood maze had been changed around, especially the very first half of the maze. You used to walk all the way to the rear of the building, in what I called the "alleyway", before turning and going through the rest of the maze. Now, you only go about 1/2 way down the right side of the building before turning left toward the center. Wonder if that back right corner is the new Skeleton room?

 

The new facade for Club Blood looks great! Too bad it has to be so far from the actual building. With the haunt building being hidden so far back in the middle of Hurler, I assume the facade was placed at the beginning of the queue line to give it a more commanding presence at the end of the midway.

 

Zombie High's nice facade was placed much closer to its Haunt building. The park poured a new concrete pad for it to sit on and the school bus was moved to the front. I assume this was done to prevent the Zombie High and Club Blood facades from crowding out each other out in that area.

 

Ironworx scare-zone did receive a couple new prop pieces / sign on the end nearest the Eiffel Tower.

 

The folks in white are the park's new flash mob. They replaced the zombies dressed in black from the previous years of Haunt. These folks perform on International street, Old VA, and around the western end of Candy Apple Grove (Blood Drums stage area).

 

As Chuck stated, outside of "Maze of Madness", most mazes are the same. It seems the park focused more on entertainment this year with 3 new shows and the "new" flash mob.

 

New shows this year are "Eternal Jamnation: Lost Souls" at the Kings Dominion Theater. This show has a little story line to it and the cast is pretty good. Its much better than last years "Edge of Darkness". That poor show went over the edge and never came back!

 

On the International Street Bandstand is "Fright Night". This is the 1st Haunt show, at that location, that features LIVE VOCALS in the production as well as strong choreography. All the previous Haunt shows there were mainly a dance show with lip-synching.

 

Finally, the 3rd new show is "Skeleton Crew". This is performed on an temp stage near the entrance to Stunt Coaster in Safari Village. This is more of an acrobatic show with trampoline artists, cyr wheel, fire juggler, suspended silks performer. Pretty talented folks. The folks that produced this show is a French Canadian company out of Quebec. They are doing similar Haunt shows for 4 other Cedar Fair parks in the mid-west / northeast.

 

I've also heard nice things about the park's new Haunt VIP Meal prepared by the new park executive chef. This is a sit down 3-4 course meal in Kings Dominion's VIP dining room/lounge (above Starbucks). Served each Saturday, and now Sunday. I think next weekend is the last time to experience this meal. (I don't think the meal is offered the very last weekend of operations).

[cfc]

They do a special meal at Dorney, but it's actually inside the dining room of one of the haunted houses.

[Meteornotes]

Nice report. I think this is the only local park that I've never been to their Halloween event. Maybe next year...

 

dt

[jray21]

Great report Chuck! I'd like to visit the park during Haunt. It looks like they do pretty good job!

[johnychen]

Great report. I was just there last night. I did the skeleton key parts of the mazes also which the majority was just gross and not scary.

[mhuffva]

They do a special meal at Dorney, but it's actually inside the dining room of one of the haunted houses.

 

It seems that Cedar Fair is stepping up their game when it comes to food across the park chain. Some of the larger/most visited CF parks have had an executive chef for the last couple seasons. Parks like Carowinds and Kings Dominion hired their chefs this year. It appears that corporate wants more culinary oriented folks in the food & beverage departments.

 

At KD, Chef Paul was hired in June. He has tweaked a few things in the general park food service. Since he came in the middle of the high summer season, he has been limited in what he can do across the park for this year. I have heard rumors he really wants to kick things up for 2015.

 

Chef Paul has been creating food related special events late this summer and into the fall. He dabbled in an outdoor full service bistro on International Street (Bistro 75) in August. He did a one day event called "Tower Tastings" in September. He set up food on the lower observation deck and folks could buy a ticket to go up to the top of the tower to try the food out. I think he had 7-8 items to nosh on and Champagne shooters to wash the food down with. Course, he is now doing the Haunt VIP Meals on Sat & Sun.

 

There is a nice writeup on a site called CPFoodBlog. This is an unofficial site dedicated to the food service across the Cedar Fair chain (not just Cedar Point). There is a nice review of KD's 2nd Haunt VIP meal (and a link to the 1st KD Haunt meal preview/review). You might have to scroll down a little to get to KD's food entries.

[Hilltopper39]

Great report Chuck, looks like the seasonal parks around the country have really stepped up the quality in the haunt events over the past couple of years.

[snowboardtogo]

Thanks for the solid pics!

 

Debating between going to KD or BGW this weekend for their halloween events.

 

Definitely leaning towards KD now!

[coastercrzyjames]

Wow, great photo TR of KD's Haunt Chuck! It looks like a really solid event, I'll check it out in the future. This year I was only able to attend one event so far, and it was at SFGADv. for their Fright Fest. It's been a dream of mine to be able to take the month of October off and just do nothing but theme park Halloween events. Maybe some day!