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Knott's Halloween Haunt Enthusiast Event Update!


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WARNING!!! This update is rated "PG-13" for language and adult humor. In the spirit of Halloween Events, this update is a bit more edgy and borderline offensive. While it's all in good fun and mostly clean humor, if you can't handle a few immature dick and fart jokes, we suggest you turn back now!

 

/end disclaimer

 

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Hey everyone!

 

Today was Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt Enthusiasts event!

 

The premise of the event is simple - groups who are theme park and roller coaster enthusiasts can come to the park and ride coasters and then get the bejeesus scared out of them at haunt! The event also included a Q&A session with the haunt directors, backstage tours of mazes, VIP access to shows, front-of-the-line maze access and much more!

 

And the coolest part of the evening was when the park raffled off the opportunity to be a "Haunt Monster" inside one of the mazes. Read on....

 

Today TPR is here for the Knotts Haunt Enthusiast event!

 

Translation: Welcome nerds!

 

It's funny because it says "Demon Drop."

 

I like this lanyard. It tells me I have a Very Impressive Penis!

 

TPR and Leslie Hall take over Sierra Sidewinder!

 

No one else was allowed to ride.

 

Only TPR members! Represent!

 

This is the maze Knott's presented to us during West Coast Bash.

 

No need to purchase 3D glasses tonight since we all have our Very Impressive Penis passes!

 

Silver Bullet was open which means we rode it.

 

This helix makes me have to pee!

 

This is my favorite horse in the park. Why?

 

This horse has beer!!!

 

LIAR. I don't see any beer in here!

 

"Enter Here to die!"

 

Hey chicks! If you want a piece if this guy's Very Impressive Penis... EMAIL DAN! mrt0ad13@aol.com

 

Leslie was even screaming her ass off!

 

Ghostrider was so awesome it made me leak a little

 

Meehoff

 

Quick! Get your pick up trucks! Someone save the sky tower!

 

Xcelerator is still the best ride in the park!

 

Gooooooing down!

 

Go Intamin!

 

Sexy!

 

Apparently, they sell fries here.

 

My favorite are the Carne Asada.

 

Finish the caption game!

 

30 seconds after this photo was taken...

 

EMAIL DAN to finish the caption and win a bag of crap! mrt0ad13@aol.com

 

"How much for the little girl?"

 

Montezooma is down for the count!

 

Mental note...get your spooky beer here later!

 

Virus Z! We will see you later tonight!

 

"Hey, can we borrow your truck to save the Big Dipper?"

 

It's spooky Calico Mine Train! Oooohhhh.

 

Text them now!!!

 

Noted!

 

Something seems not right about this.

 

These were the coolest people at the event!

 

The Calico Mine Train crew were awesome today!

 

Will gave us a great tour of the Glory Hole.

 

It's "spooky" because there are cob webs.

 

"Log Ride" - Classic Cedar Fair name!

 

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

 

"Dropsy and scanty secretions...Urinary weakness..." All problems coaster enthusiasts suffer from.

 

I put this here for Elissa.

 

K is for KidTums!

 

Time for us to take a break!

 

We found Piers' store!

 

Om nom nom!

 

Oh my god! He knows I quoted him! He's haunting my dreams!

 

Noted!

 

Montezooma's Revenge is open...this makes us happy!

 

Hey Bob, how's it going?

 

Zooooooom!

 

We rode Boomerang...not sure why...but we did!

 

Translation: Geeks go here.

 

Jeff Tucker and his Haunt Makers took time out if their day to answer our amazing questions.

 

The panel discussion was great...there needs to be a reality show based on haunt.

 

Time to go behind the scenes at Virus Z.

 

Virus Z is like an old Midwest town taken over by a horrible disease! Like 28 days later in Bowling Green, KY.

 

"What part of your body would you like to eat?"

 

BOOB CREDIT!!!

 

It's funny because it says pussy...cat.

 

They must be watching a Wes Craven movie.

 

Robb ponders... "Hmm... Why is my hand in my crotch?"

 

I wish I could say these were before my time.

 

Keep moving...keep moving...

 

Joey and Amy are swingers! Who knew!

 

You can call me Mr. Shadic.

 

I'M GAY!!!

 

I get the feeling these people probably had something to do with this maze.

 

Noted!

 

...and post to TPR!

 

Yummy!

 

I like head.

 

It's MEGA PIRANHA!!!

 

Another boob credit!!!

 

Remember when maze designer Daniel Miller showed us the concept art for Fallout Shelter at west coast bash? Now his maze has become a reality!

 

The entrance to Fallout Shelter.

 

Daniel gives us the back story if the maze...in short...you'll see a lot mutations!

 

Thank god!

 

Great theming!!!

 

Something for Piers and Tyler!

 

Oh noes! Joey is mutating into someone cool!

 

I'm not sure what this is but it's making me horny!!!

 

I LOVE MUTATED NIPPLES!!!

 

I found Elissa's penis!!!

 

Radioactive Bubbles!!!

 

I'm not even sure what this is but I want one!

 

Omg! I must have one of these!!! Half rodent, half turtle!!!

 

Snake bird human?

 

Spider Pig Spider Pig...

 

"Where's the gravy???"

 

Robb has gas.

 

Hooray gravy!!!

 

William says: Om nom nom!

 

They raffled off the chance for some TPR members to be Haunt monsters!

 

Here is the "before" shot.

 

Getting made "Scareactor beautiful" in the make up department!

 

John getting made sexy.

 

"Don't blink!"

 

"What have I gotten myself into?"

 

I gotta be honest, I'm kinda diggin' the eye liner look.

 

The make up department was very impressive. I was told they have about 40 make up artists and they do between 8-10 characters per night.

 

As you can see in this photo, there were several make up stations set up. Each actor takes between 15-30 minutes for complete make up.

 

"Hi mom!"

 

"You're not going to post this to Facebook, are you?"

 

"How much for your little girls. Sell them to me!"

 

This is Patricia. She made me look awesome!

 

I am Dr. Alvey and I will suck your blood!

 

The "after" picture!

 

Getting ready to go into our maze, Club Blood. Now, I'd like to chat about my experience just for a moment here...

 

First off, of all the crazy theme park "being an employee for a day" stunts I've been allowed to do, this is by far the most amazing and memorable moment!

 

As for what it was like being in the maze...

 

On one hand, I was amazed that people literally fell to the floor cowering over a simply **BANG** on the wall and me shouting "BOOGEY! BOOGEY! BOOGEY!" (I actually did this!)

 

On the other hand, watching some of the other scare actors who really had their act down was impressive to see first hand, and gives you a lot more appreciation for the hard work these guys do.

 

I did take a few liberties with my "character" so to speak, since it all happened so quickly being thrown in the maze, I didn't really have a chance to ask "what exactly does my character do?" I did ask if the haunt monsters were allowed to talk to people and basically I was told "As long as it isn't anything degrading...we are a family park", but keeping that in mind, I looked around, saw that I was in a hallway just before the "Club Blood" sign and the go-go dancers and chose to stare people down, creepily, and say things like "Welcome to the club", "Dance with our women", etc.

 

I took it upon myself to think "Ok, your character is a vampire welcoming people to his club." And do it in a creepy vampire way. The other helpful element of my hallway was that in the room on the other side of the wall was a large truck that had headlights that went off every 30 or so seconds. When those lights went off, I could see the silhouette of the guests who were on the other side of the wall projected in front of me. So I knew when they were about to turn the corner. And if my timing was right, and I learned pretty quickly how to pull it off, right before they rounded the corner **BAM!!!** ... I got 'em!

 

There were a few moments where just my presence standing in front of them would freak people out (understandable!) and the whole fear factor that they would have no idea what I was going to do to them, or I'm sure in their mind, what I was allowed to do to them.

 

In my short stint as a haunt monster, I did learn, or I should say this is what I took away from watching and interacting with the other monsters, is that they are there to have just as much fun as the guests are. But there are two very distinct sides to the coin. The monsters fun is to scare, creep out, freak out, while the guests are there to challenge those same fears. The guests come to the event to cower from the characters. If I was in the maze in just my normal clothes doing and saying the exact same things, it wouldn't be nearly as believable or scary...but a bit of makeup, a brief backstory for your character, and creepy smile and you could bring these guests to their knees. It was actually a very exhilarating experience! But having said that, everyone needs to remember...

 

Both parties, the guests and the actors, are there for the same reason - pure enjoyment!

 

Another observation I made was the amount of little kids that were brought to the event. I was really surprised to see parents with kids in strollers walking through the mazes. Do they have any idea how much the therapy is going to cost for that child???

 

Overall, it was so much fun! If you are an outgoing personality, and this sort of thing interests you, I highly recommend "moonlighting" at your local parks Halloween Haunt. It was not disappointing at all!

 

They couldn't have picked a better maze to put us in. We were all vampires, surrounded by...

 

Amazingly hot pole dancing women!!! YES!!!!

 

I was in the hallway RIGHT before this room. I would tell the guests "Come dance with my women" and many of them would get into the groove and break into a rhythm! From a psychological standpoint, it was very interesting to see how much control I had over the people walking through the maze.

 

Because they had no idea what I would do to them, they would follow my every instruction. Even the most buff macho strong guys broke into dance with their warms flailing and body limp and moving to the beat. Seriously, I'm a 40-year old dude in a vampire costume and I turned these big-muscle wielding dudes into flamboyant disco dancers! Amazing!

 

I can see why so many people audition to be haunt characters now. It's those few nights a year where you can transform yourself into someone totally different that has complete control over just about anyone! Even the guys that would walk through the maze and say "You don't scare me and pretend not to be afraid" were there because deep down they WERE afraid...even just a little bit.

 

During our Q&A session with Jeff Tucker I asked him what they look for during haunt monster auditions. And he said "Simply for people to act out exactly what we say. So if we tell them 'your a zombie melting under a hot sun', act that out...do it! Don't tell us HOW you would do it, we want to SEE it."

 

After being in the maze, I almost want to go through an audition now to see if I actually had would it took to do the job I was thrown into. Perhaps next year I can talk the park into letting me do an audition and posting a video for it! But seriously, there needs to be a reality show based around a haunt event. I think that would be entertaining on so many levels. My two hour experience of doing this taught me so much about the haunt industry in general, and I would love to cover this again next year to see how I'd do going back into a maze.

 

And also to give all of our readers some advance notice to come get a photo op with Robb Alvey dressed up!

 

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

 

"I like your women! Sell them to me! Dance with my girls!"

 

I'm going to suck your blood!

 

I want to send a huge THANK YOU to all the familiar faces I saw in the maze tonight. Many of you didn't recognize me until I started talking, which I thought was very cool! I think I saw at least 40 TPR members come through, and if you're one of the people who took a picture of me in the maze, please post them!

 

For those of you who texted me and missed me in the maze, I certainly hope the park will allow us to do this again next year!

 

John looked very creepy!

 

Knott's has certainly upped the bar in terms of their mazes since my last visit. Attention to detail was better, use of audio and environmental scares was improved.

 

I think what I love most about Halloween events is just the overall atmosFEAR of the park!

 

I see ziploc bag men!

 

The Doll Factory had some VERY creepy images.

 

I'm not sure what this is...but it's disgusting!

 

They sure have a thing about tied up women...I don't mind this in the least bit!

 

Jolly Jolly Jolly...Terror in Piers' town!

 

Jack is FAR more creepy at night!

 

Halloween Haunt was purely amazing this year! I really see where Knott's has improved their show and are making it stand out even more than before!

 

A **HUGE** thank you to Meghan, Jeff, Daniel, Tim, and all the Knott's staff who put together this event and helped us with our short stint in the maze. It was a very memorable experience for all of us! THANK YOU!!!!

 

--Robb

 

ps. Thank you to Joey & Amy Ray for the extra photos!

Edited by robbalvey
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They gave away two additional characters, and both were won by TPR members. I think the other two are Daniel from near San Diego, and John from Mission Viejo. All three are in club blood. Daniel is near the beginning of Club Blood on the left side. Robb is on the right wall immediately before the club/dance scene (near all the scantilly clad women of course) and John is after the club scene in the fat man room on the right. All are face characters. They look likevthey are having a blast!

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LOL OMG Robb that was you?! You asked me to dance with you cause you "liked me a lot"! I thought that was just a regular monster cause the voice was so different and I didn't look up at the face! Damn, I was looking for you in all the different mazes too! All night was like "hmmm, I wonder if that monster was really gay?" Now I know he was!

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It is awesome that Knott's did this for you guys!

 

And Robb, glad you experienced why monsters come back at all costs, because it is the most fun job on the planet! You nailed it right on the head too, it is amazing what will scare people and after some things you do or say you have to step back and laugh because your brain screams, "why did that work??"

 

Awesome photos people, now you need to trip out to CP for Halloweekends so I can say hello, or something else or whatever...

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I just arrived home from what had to be absolutely the best time I have ever had at Haunt...I always had an appreciation for all of the effort not only on the part of the park but of all of the talent, behind the scenes people, and crew do to keep making it a great event every year, and now even more so. I was already having a great day at the event but winning the opportunity to actually be a part of Haunt for the evening was just awesome. Major, major thanks to everyone at Knott's for such a great event. and for the opportunity and to TPR for offering the chance to go to TPR Members. I will post a TR telling a bit more about the experience once I have gotten some sleep but just wanted to say thanks for a great time to everyone instrumental in putting this together.

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Haunt does look amazing this year (haven't been since 2001). Howl-o-Scream at BGW and KD's Haunt are fun, but nothing near the level of what goes on at the Universal parks or Knott's.

 

Robb, maybe you should use that "vampire" look during TPR trips--might help to keep some people in line. A litte fog and a few pole-dancing vampire women would ensure that no one misses the bus ever again.

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Looks totally awesome. I was quite upset I had to miss this event yesterday/last night but after two previous nights of hauntings, I'm afraid it would have been too much.

 

I also have to confirm with Robb, when we were at Dress Rehearsal last week and at the event on Friday the amount of detail in the newer mazes is absolutely amazing. Fallout Shelter, Virus Z and Terror of London are on-par with the detail that Universal does (without losing the laid-back feel of Knott's Haunt), and that's a good thing.

 

What I thought was really cool about Fallout Shelter was the use of the coaster supports as the missile silo's. That was way awesome.

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Robb actually was pretty awesome in the maze, he didn't even break character. I was actually looking for him, and then I look up and he's staring me in the face. It was kinda startling to look up and see Robb all vampired out and the fact he didn't break character added the the creepy factor. And, of course, he got the best place in the maze, right next to the nasty pole dancers.

 

Aside from Robb, my favorite maze was Labyrinth, and the hanging was amazing. First time to Haunt for me and this event made it pretty sweet. Hope it happens again.

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Ok, so I went to Knott's Scary Farm about 4 years ago and was insanely disappointed. It was as if it was thrown together and just very, "Store Bought" If that makes any sense. I even went as far to call KSF a "can of crap" on my podcast. Well, judging from these pictures it looks like KSF has stepped up their game. Hopefully now that Universal Halloween Horror Nights is up and running Knott's will be stepping up their game, and it seems like they are, as far as their haunts go.

 

Very awesome photos and review! Thanks!

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