Los Angeles Haunted Hayride 2014 Report

[ILoveRides]

Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is a haunted attraction located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The main centerpiece at LA Haunted Hayride is a 25 minute hayride through large sets filled with monsters and performers. Various other mazes and entertainment enhance the event, making it a great spooky place to spend a full evening. Check out our report below to see everything this event has to offer!

It’s a cold, foggy, spooky night...

The perfect time to check out Los Angeles Haunted Hayride!

Right off the bat we were greeted (and scared) by some creepy characters.

This guy would hide in the trees and then burst out at unsuspecting guests.

He even walked over some people.

This character is doing his best Edward Scissorhands impression.

The Hayride is to the left, so lets go left!

Notice the VIP line on the left with no people in it, and the general line on the right with lots of people in it. Suffice to say, we highly recommend purchasing VIP tickets if you attend Hayride!

The Hayride is located in Griffith Park’s old abandoned zoo. You ride past haunted scenes in a hay-covered trailer pulled by a tractor.

But before you can board the ride, you get corralled into a small cage where you get to know the people around you very well!

The tractor pulls up...

You’re freed from the cage and allowed to board...

And once everyone is seated, you venture off into the haunted darkness! Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to film or photograph the ride, but we really liked it! It’s creepy and beautifully artistic. The scale of the sets and props is impressive - I would guess some of the sets are 30 feet tall, and there are several large animatronics that get very close to the vehicle.

The ride exits through a tent where you can purchase Hayride merchandise...

Like these water bottles...

And these shirts.

Next up, we checked out the Seven Sins Sideshow.

This “maze” consists of seven different rooms where you must complete an action to view a freakish character representing one of the seven deadly sins.

First up is this greedy character.

He doesn’t look too happy, so lets move on!

Each room is pretty random and unexpected.

It’s a lot of fun not knowing quite what to expect after you complete each action.

This fake mirror effect was neat.

My favorite room would have to be the one with the giant turd! There were more sins, but we’ll leave them as surprises - we don’t want to spoil the fun since the unexpectedness is part of what makes this great!

Once outside we took a spin on the Scary Go Round.

You get to ride on a skeleton horse.

And what makes it super unique and fun is that it spins backwards! How cool!

It’s totally worth a ride!

Here’s a dead horse joke to go with this dead horse picture: A dead horse walks into a bar and orders a whisky. “I’m sorry, sir,” says the bartender, “We don’t serve spirits!”

Next up, the House of the Horsemen maze.

The maze takes place in an insane asylum.

So it should be no surprise that it’s filled with a bunch of crazy people.

And sexy ladies!

Lets hope they don’t break out of their straight jackets.

Lets also hope that no one is alive under those sheets.

Ugh, now we’re all going to die.

Wait? We didn’t die? Sweet! Lets get some food!

The owner of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is vegan, so the food at the event is entirely plant based. But judging by the huge food line and happy diners, people either didn’t know the food was vegan or didn’t care. (And since Spears and I are both vegan as well, we were psyched to finally be at an event where we could eat anything on the menu!)

Here’s the menu. There were so many delicious sounding options, it was hard to pick what to get.

We went with the Mac & Cheese Balls. (Yum!)

The Chili Cheese Nachos (Yum!)

And the Pumpkin Fritters (Extra super duper YUM!) The Mac & Cheese Balls and Pumpkin Fritters were our favorites.

There was lots of spontaneous entertainment at the event. These dancers appeared out of nowhere.

They were all tied together with a bungee cord, which made for some interesting dancing.

As fast as they appeared, they carried themselves off stage and were gone.

Spears made some friends while we were walking around.

If haunted mazes aren’t your thing, you can partake in some other activities like psychic readings...

Or pumpkin carving.

We headed up to a stage near the Hayride entrance to check out Blood Drums.

Blood Drums is a high energy percussion act.

It gets your rhythmic juices flowing! (Yes, I did just say "rhythmic juices")

You may remember Blood Drums from Knott’s Scary Farm, where they’ve performed in the past.

This is their 10th anniversary.

We thought their act was great. There’s lots of drumming and unique instruments.

And even a special effect or two. Here’s one of the performers shooting a fog gun.

The last remaining maze is In Between.

For this maze, the first person in your group gets a lantern, and you’re sent off into the darkness.

This is what most of the maze looks like. Using the dim lantern light and the light of an occasional strobe you must find your way out of the maze.

It was tough taking photos in the darkness of this maze, but here’s a hint of what you might see lurking in the darkness.

I spy someone screaming.

It looks like we’re in a warehouse of some sort. All I know is I want out!

We finally found our way out the maze only to be greeted by more creepy characters walking around.

On her way back to the car, Spears got hit with a mallet and was eaten by monsters. Such a shame!

We had a great time at Los Angeles Haunted Hayride! Thanks to LA Hayride for having us, and thanks to you for checking out our report. LA Hayride runs select nights through October 31st, don’t miss it!

Edited October 24, 2014 by ILoveRides

[cfc]

Looks like a great Halloween event. Kings Dominion also has a "Blood Drums" show, by the way, and the dead-horse carousel is cool.

 

I would've tried the "High Tensions Taquitos with Guacamole."

[ILoveRides]

Kings Dominion also has a "Blood Drums" show

 

Interesting. I wonder what the story is behind that. I assumed it was one group that was performing at different events, but maybe there are lots of groups using the same name?

[cfc]

^That's what I was wondering. I think all of KD's entertainment offerings, particularly for Haunt, are farmed out to different companies (whereas BGW puts together their own shows).

Edited October 24, 2014 by cfc

[Moose]

I like the combination of haunted hayride with mazes. The places around here its one or the other. For the ones that are just the hayride there doesn't seem to be enough to do to make a night of it.

 

Thanks for the report.

[Hilltopper39]

Awesome report. I've been reading all of the LA area haunt reviews over on grantland.com (sports and pop culture site) and the Haunted Hay Ride has gotten the best reviews so far which is awesome for an event I've never really heard of.

[Jew]

I'll be checking this out on my only Wednesday free all month!

[Jew]

Went last night...

 

Definitely fun, but not so sure it's the best bang for the buck in a crowded Halloween market. I agree with David that you definitely will need the VIP passes if you don't arrive early. We got there at 7:30 and barely got to do everything.

 

The Hayride features a bunch of vignettes along the route that are pretty cool, including one unique scare I haven't seen anywhere else (I won't spoil it) and a cool finale...but scare wise it's all the same (monsters going around the trailer).

 

The Four Horsemen maze is a unique concept where you go room by room and get introduced to the "horsemen" along the way. Actually had one scare get me when what I thought to be dummy was a person. Cool concept that just needs to be longer.

 

The Seven Sins Sideshow was a disappointment. Needs scares. Didn't help that the line was stopped for a 1/2 hour for what appeared to be the performers lunch breaks (we saw them running back inside).

 

The Dark Maze was fun. Very disorienting with decent scares. What made it fun is that we got paired up with another group, who had the lantern.

 

Definitely a HUGE improvement from when I first went 4 years ago.