Photo TR: Kings Island Haunt, 2018

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

I'll try to keep this thread updated as I visit Haunt this year. Kings Island Haunt is one of the best Haunt events I've been to, and you can never get enough pictures of Kings Island at night during Haunt!

 

September 29th

My boyfriend and I were to meet up with DILinator and his kids. We took our time leaving the house and Walmart Subway REALLY took their time making our horrible sandwiches (I'm a Subway snob and I will NEVER eat at Walmart Subway again!), so although the park opened for Haunt at 6, we didn't make it until around 7:30.

Nothing like the atmosphere of KI during Haunt

Just a couple weirdos at Haunt

In case you already forgot where you were

We made our way to Flight of Fear to meet up with the crew, and I snapped some pics of the scarezones along the way. The scarezones don't officially open until dark, but there is still plenty to see!

Wasteland was a returning scare zone in the area that leads to Banshee

Foggy Banshee and Delirium

Coney Maul: a new scare zone this year

OOOooo

Wolf man, or something

Psychic tells me that Firehawk's future is grim

"We all float [up] here... and you'll float too!"

"Hey! HEY! Eye see you up there! Just what in the name do you kids think you're doing?"

I made sure to take this picture after Jack had already popped and went back down.

Pumpkin Eater was a new scare zone this year.

This new scarezone looked amazing during day and night!

I love this so so much. It's so grotesque and twisted.

The midnight hour is close at hand!

We found DILinator by Flight of Fear. I think he was hungry because of his Keto diet.

We met up with the crew and went to Flight of Fear. It's been a while since I had been on it, because riding KD's Flight of Fear last year kind of soured my opinion of KI FoF, but it's still a great ride and I forgot how much I loved it. It'll be great to get some more rides on it during WInterfest, but I probably won't prioritize it during Haunt.

 

After that, we of course wanted to ride the giga next door... oops, too soon? Read: say goodbye to Firehawk. It definitely seemed more popular than it was before the announcement. It also pulled a, "That's SO Firehawk," and decided to break down while we were waiting. DILinator and his kids took off to go ride Banshee and Bat while my boyfriend and I decided to check out the new Haunt, C.H.A.O.S.

 

C.H.A.O.S. is a replacement for Board 2 Death, an infamous RAWKIN_coaster Haunt maze, because I panicked and dipped out of it when I saw a scary animatronic the first time we went in it (Read: RAWKIN_coaster does not like scary animatronics). C.H.A.O.S. did not have any scary animatronics, so it was a "safe" maze. The premise is there is a corporation testing a chemical to help humans travel to space but it actually makes people go insane, or something like that. CarnEvil is gone this year (RIP), and C.H.A.O.S. reused the spinning room and funhouse mirrors from CarnEvil. It was a disorienting maze, but I wouldn't say it was all that scary. However, being amid the infamous Haunt "Conga-line" definitely detracted from this maze, and the scareactors didn't seem to be at their best either. To get the most out of this maze, I would suggest going to the maze early or letting some people go ahead of you so you can go through the maze without just mindlessly following the people ahead of you.

 

We saw that Firehawk was back open, so I texted DILinator before we put our phones in the ...you know what... and we got in line. I really do love Firehawk, and our 2nd-row night ride did not disappoint!

Would you brave a giant bony spider to get a drink?

After a little Coke Freestyle break, DILinator and the kids met up with us and we rode Firehawk again, this time in the 2nd-to-back. Again, the ride did not disappoint. We shed a quiet tear for Firehawk, took some pictures, and moved on.

Aww, how cute.

Your days are numbered

Goodbye, Firehawk. :'(

 

At this point, I wanted a beer from the KI "bar," (Read: most awesome bartender at KI/possibly only bartender at KI) and DILinator wanted a "Keto-diet friendly" drink. After procuring these, we hit up a couple of the food trucks before the Haunted Homecoming show, when DILinator and kids said, "Nah, Diamondback," and left us again.

 

New this year, Haunted Homecoming replaced Hot Blooded, my all-time-favorite Haunt show [that isn't at Knott's Berry Farm]. I had pretty low expectations for it, but I still wanted to see it. Haunted Homecoming kind of made no sense, but it was still entertaining and had plenty of sexy women and awesome costumes. 9 out of 10 I would do the TIme Warp with them again, but I still liked Hot Blooded better.

Haunted Homecoming had some really weird dance numbers, but it was really catchy!

"I'm Hot Blooded! Hot Blooded!" Oh wait...

By then, we had one more hour of Haunt and we realized how few things we had actually done. There was no way we were going to miss a night ride on Beast, so we decided to hit up the closest two mazes to Beast, Cavern of Terror and Slaughterhouse.

#ItsBigitsGone

Pumpkin Eater did have a scary, well-hidden animatronic. Thankfully, DILinator warned me about it.

I keep telling her to go see the eye doctor, but she never listens!

Slaughterhouse was the same as before. Bloody, but not all that scary. Cavern of Terror is in the former Tomb Raider building. We were shocked and pleased to find out that this year, "the madam decided to turn the lights out." Every third person gets a flashlight and must keep it aimed at the floor. I honestly am so impressed that KI chose to do this to add a new exciting slant to an otherwise dated maze. It definitely made the maze a lot more haunting! For those who don't know, this maze is based around a deranged wax museum. In the dark, you really couldn't tell which figures were real and which were wax. Very eerie. Also, there is a scary animatronic and yes, I ran.

Hmmm... I wonder what this means?

A Mystic Timbers Easter Egg. The boxes also had "1979" and "7359" as Beast references. Might there be other clues around this mysterious box? If there were, I didn't find them.

We met back up with DILinator and the kids at Beast, only to part ways again because we were waiting for the front. Managed to make it on the last train of the night, front row. Man, it never gets old!

Best time to take pictures with this sign: 1 am + when you don't have to wait for others to move.

Can't get enough of this sign

Best time to take pictures with this sign: 1 am + when you don't have to wait for others to move.

How did you get out of the shed?

front-row night rides never get old

[ratdogg68]

Great report, looks like a good Haunt.

[Philrad71]

Thanks for the report - KI's haunt is a really good time.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Awesome pictures, and great review! Looking forward to more! Pumpkin Eater looks freaking amazing!

 

I'm sad I can't make it out there for Haunt, so I'm just going to live vicariously though you!

[PKI Jizzman]

Great report glad you enjoyed Haunt?

 

Help me. What was the big animatronic in Board 2 Death? I cannot remember but really enjoyed the dark humor aspect of that maze.

[prozach626]

Nice TR. Looks like you guys had a good time.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

Thank you for the support, everyone!

Great report glad you enjoyed Haunt?

 

Help me. What was the big animatronic in Board 2 Death? I cannot remember but really enjoyed the dark humor aspect of that maze.

The one that scared me was a creepy-looking rat or mouse thing in the Mousetrap room (I later learned when I went back, had no idea what it was supposed to be the first time).

The first time we went in the maze we were also some of the first ones in after they had evacuated the maze for an unknown reason. I thought it was really dark inside and I couldn't see, which added to my fear. At the time, I thought maybe some of the lights had gone out during the technical difficulties. Later, I realized the "darkness" was probably just my eyes not being adjusted to the dark of the maze after standing outside in the daylight.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Nice report! I appreciate the Pokémon egg from Firehawk; currently walking that one. It'd better be a Kangaskhan.

[DILinator]

Great TR, RAWKIN! It was fun meeting up with you and your boyfriend again, and spending some more quality time at KI! Three straight years now, and I look forward to making it four next year! Sorry we couldn't do any Scare Mazes together this year, but hopefully by next year, the kids will be ready to venture in some!

 

BTW, I found your picture of "me" after my Keto diet VERY amusing! Hopefully, it doesn't go that far!

 

Here is the on-ride photo from the kids first ride ever on The Beast, after you abandoned us for your amazing front row last ride of the night!

Like I said on the KI page, the kids were blown away! lol

[cparkes92]

Looks like a fun time! How were the ride lines?

[cfc]

Looks like fun. Kings Dominion does a pretty good job with their Haunt, too (hoping to check it out this weekend).

[boldikus]

Great report! I love Kings Dominion & Dorneys Haunts, this one looks pretty good too. I'll make it out to KI eventually. I was thinking next year but 2020 seems to be the move.

[RAWKIN_coaster38]

Nice report! I appreciate the Pokémon egg from Firehawk; currently walking that one. It'd better be a Kangaskhan.

I made sure to send that Firehawk gift to you when I got it, I'm glad you got an egg. Hoping for Kangaskhan for you but it'll be funny if it's something dumb.

Great TR, RAWKIN! It was fun meeting up with you and your boyfriend again, and spending some more quality time at KI! Three straight years now, and I look forward to making it four next year! Sorry we couldn't do any Scare Mazes together this year, but hopefully by next year, the kids will be ready to venture in some!

 

BTW, I found your picture of "me" after my Keto diet VERY amusing! Hopefully, it doesn't go that far!

Yes, we've started a little tradition. Hopefully we can continue it next year as well! And I'm glad you got a kick out of the Keto DILinator picture. Was hoping you would.

 

Looks like a fun time! How were the ride lines?

DILinator should be able to speak more for this, because he rode all the rides and I didn't. Nothing I rode was more than 20-30 minutes and the smaller coasters were walk-ons. The app said Timbers and Diamondback got 45+ but I never went and confirmed.

[jedimaster1227]

This is a great report! Thanks for sharing!

[DILinator]

Looks like a fun time! How were the ride lines?

DILinator should be able to speak more for this, because he rode all the rides and I didn't. Nothing I rode was more than 20-30 minutes and the smaller coasters were walk-ons. The app said Timbers and Diamondback got 45+ but I never went and confirmed.

 

We were able to ride Diamondback 3 times, Mystic Timbers 2 times, and then Banshee, The Beast, Flight of Fear, Firehawk, The Bat, Backlot Stunt Coaster, and Adventure Express all once! Longest wait was Firehawk (shocker), two separate times (it went down the first time we went there), at around 30 minutes. Never personally waited longer than 15 minutes for Diamondback, both early on, and later once night fell. So if it drew those times the app said, I didn't experience that. I had the shortest wait I'd ever had for Mystic Timbers right after it opened for the night (it was delayed opening for some reason) at around 10 minutes, if that. Second wait at night was maybe 20 minutes. Banshee was around 15 minutes, FoF about 20 or so minutes, and The Beast, last ride of the night, was almost a walk on, shockingly! Maybe waited 5 minutes on that. The Bat was around 5-10 minutes, and BSC and Adventure Express were walk-ons.

 

So, as you have probably deduced from that write-up, lines were very minimal for coasters all night, and it was probably the shortest waits, and the most coasters I've ridden, in four years of doing KI Haunt now! Definitely my favorite trip there, though being with my kids was probably the biggest reason for that! I understand that KI Haunt lines, as they do at most parks, get longer the closer to Halloween you get, so understand that if you're trying to accurately gauge lines. This was the second earliest I've gone in the season, I believe, and the lowest lines, so take that for what you will. Obviously, personal experience may vary.

 

I simply love going to KI for Haunt, and can't recommend checking it out enough! Just consider possibly going on a Saturday, if you want to ride a lot of coasters, and do a lot of Haunts, because with the lines that the Haunts were drawing, even the other night, this early in the season, you're not going to get to do a lot of both on a Friday night! And of course, on a Saturday, lines will likely be longer for both anyway. I just know in the three years prior I've gone, I only ever went in 2-3 Haunts, and rode half as many coasters as I did this most recent visit, where I went into no Haunts. Hopefully this information was helpful!

[coneyislandchris]

Great trip report! I wish I had read it on Saturday before pulling the trigger on the Haunt passes for my son and myself, as I wouldn't have skipped the wax museum one. Had I known that they were doing the flashlight thing and it was in the old Tomb Raider building, I'd have made sure that we got that in on Saturday.

 

(Also seconding thanks for the Pokemon egg from the Beast!)